a new apprentice [tag: ShadowClan meeting #2]

Moonlight filled the ShadowClan camp, familiar and soothing as it slid over Webpaw's sterling and ebony pelt. He had walked at the back of the little patrol, Rosestar leading the way and the grey kittypet between them. He couldn't decide how to feel about the whole business of Rosestar inviting a kittypet into ShadowClan. He thought back to the magpie that the cat had killed as a peace offering, thought of the starlight in his eyes and the speed with which he moved. Not so tender as a traditional kittypet, so it would seem. His mind replayed Rosestar's invitation, the ultimatum she had offered to the kittypet and his stomach churned with it. Webpaw trusted Rosestar's judgment almost without fail but this time the traditional teachings of shadowClan warred with what she had offered. The war raged in Webpaw as he walked, his paws automatically matching those of his mentor, moonlight sliding over his pelt and shadows caressing his flanks. When they entered the camp, his gaze flickered to the apprentice den where Spottedpaw and Blossompaw slept peacefully, curled up together with Webpaw's empty nest to one side. He wanted to go there, curl up close beside Blossompaw and sleep until dawn. Maybe he'd wake up and find this whole thing had been a dream.

'Webpaw, you may either get some rest or stay here with the kittypet. It's up to you.'

Rosestar's voice drew Webpaw from his mind, making his ears twitch and his amber gaze flicker to her. She was saying she needed to speak to the medicine cat...oh this whole business could turn into something very serious very quickly...Heart tripping in his chest, Webpaw looked at the kittypet as Rosestar walked away toward Sparrowpelt and Crowpaw's den. Fear gleamed in the cat's eyes, nipping at Webpaw's nose and loosening his subconsciously tensed muscles. The temptation to curl up beside his friend slid away in light of this young cat's fear. He was no older than Blossompaw...she would tut at him endlessly for leaving someone afraid and alone in a place with powerful cats they did not understand.

"It'll be ok," Webpaw murmured, sitting back on his haunches and curling his tail over his paws. "Sparrowpelt and Crowpaw are nice."

Used to being on the edge of important meetings, as being Rosestar's apprentice often involved these spontaneous events, Webpaw watched quietly as Sparrowpelt and Crowpaw appeared from their shared den. He didn't talk to Crowpaw much since the black tom was often busy with Sparrowpelt but no one ever called him cruel or mean and much the same was said of Sparrowpelt. Medicine cats, from the little Webpaw knew of them, tended to be a similar breed. Quiet, collected, deep in thought. Maybe in another life Webpaw would have been one of them, if StarClan had smiled on him in such a way but in this life he felt comfortable and calm in Rosestar's shadow, amber eyes watching and tracking as each cat laid eyes on one another. The kittypet, Twotone as he was called, was facing a crossroad. Fate and destiny, things of elder tales, were playing out here for Webpaw to see. And so, Webpaw watched, watched for what Rosestar had witnessed and what the medicine cat may seek.

In his mind, Webpaw imagined the strings of a spider web, silver in the inky blackness, tying cats together. Twotone was crossing wires now and he had a choice to make. His path had intersected with Webpaw's midnight hunt, with Rosestar. Fate. Destiny. Choices. One path led him back to the twolegs and a life of safety. A second path led to a loner's solitary existence chasing mice in abandoned barns and fighting off rogues. And this...this that Webpaw was baring witness to...it was unheard of. A path not trodden in ShadowClan, well worn by WindClan and ThunderClan but rocky and difficult in the shadows of the pine forest. All three were choices, and based on what happened right now...a whole new story could be written. For better or worse.

Amber gaze lingering on Twotone, Webpaw's mind whirled. The young cat was afraid...it was genuine. No trickster, thief or spy would wear their heart so plainly. It was in the twitch of his tail, the gleam in his eye. It was controlled as well as an untrained cat could do so, stamped down and covered with a respectful facade but Webpaw could see it. Twotone was trying. He spoke with earnestness in his voice that was usually heard in kits that believed the world was fair and just. Gaze flickering to Crowpaw, Sparrowpelt and Rosestar, Webpaw tried to peel back the facades, to see the paths they were looking at. Crowpaw would obey Sparrowpelt, honor the medicine cat's decision, question it privately perhaps but accept it in time. Rosestar...her decision was laid bare in the very fact Twotone was standing in the ShadowClan camp rather than the border. Sparrowpelt...she would honor StarClan, honor her leader as her leader honored her with laying this decision at Sparrowpelt's feet.

Sitting, surrounded by his betters, Webpaw wished Blossompaw would come bouncing out of the apprentice den to break the tension. It hung heavy in the air, the weight of their decision. Faintly Webpaw wondered if they felt it or if it was his imagination. He felt it. It rested heavily on his shoulders, not smothering, not yet but it could sour quickly if Onyxfeather or Sparrowpelt found anything they didn't like. What would he do then? What would Twotone do? If claws came out and fangs were bared...Webpaw's gaze flicked to Twotone. Webpaw hoped it wouldn't come to that but who knew? Onyxfeather had yet to join them and that one voice could turn the tide of this whole conversation. So, Webpaw stayed still and silent, ears up and eyes alert, watching the ebb and flow of his clanmates and this recent stranger. He tried to keep his muscles loose and his body small, unassuming but calm and passive despite the whirl of his mind.

Onyxfeather slipped out of the shadows like a wraith, amber eyes bright in the darkness. Webpaw would be lying if he said the new deputy didn't at least intimidate him. The strings Webpaw liked to imagine when watching exchanges like this tightened as the deputy spoke. Onyxfeather was not wrong, and perhaps was wise to play devil's advocate in this particular scenario but Webpaw did have to remind himself to breathe. He imagined the strings around them, tying them all together, being pulled tight as the black tom spoke his piece. The tension needed to ease or Rosestar may be swayed to sending Twotone away and though Webpaw had spoken little to the new cat, he felt like that decision was not appropriate here. Twotone was genuine here, had spoken without falter save for a shiver of fear from time to time. Webpaw knew what the older cats feared, though he didn't know if Crowpaw did. Crowpaw knew most things and thought long and hard on things Webpaw seldom gave a glancing thought so perhaps he did. It was Leaftalon, the threat of the rogues that skirted ShadowClan's borders and were responsible for so many lost warriors and apprentices. Rosestar spoke of the bloody business sparingly but Webpaw knew enough, was friends with enough elders to hear their stories about it.

'You and Webpaw can share that bird. We are going to speak privately for a moment.'

Webpaw was drawn from his musings at his mentor's words. He nodded to Rosestar, his mind still whirling with thoughts as he watched the higher ranks slip away. He tried not to feel a twinge of jealousy that the private conversation included Crowpaw. Medicine cats, and their apprentices, were higher in the clan and the silver tabby knew better than to ask to join his mentor. Rosestar had few qualms about letting Webpaw join her during most meetings, her only rule that he remain quiet and respectful unless absolutely necessary. Webpaw knew the rules and without an invitation, he did not ask. Instead the small tom got up and slipped closer to Twotone, letting his sleek silver tabby pelt brush against the younger cat's long pelt in what he hoped was a friendly gesture. It had always soothed Webpaw's nerves when Blossompaw did it.

"You did well," Webpaw said, speaking softly so as to not rouse his clanmates, his amber gaze following Rosestar and the others as they clustered away. "Don't mind Onyxfeather...he's a bit...rough but he means well." Reaching out with a paw, Webpaw nudged the magpie Twotone had killed. "Your kill, you get first bite."

Tucking his paws under his small frame, Webpaw crouched beside Twotone and curled his tail around his side. Next to the drying longhaired cat he looked ridiculously small considering he was probably older than Twotone but Webpaw was used to such things. He tried to relax, in part so that maybe Twotone would feel he could do the same. No claws had been unsheathed, no fangs bared. So far the whole business was going well. Things were a bit more tense with Onyxfeather but overall that wasn't a surprise. Twotone was a kittypet or stray or loner or whatever. He was non-clan and that made him different, and dangerous despite his harmless appearance. He was unknown. Well, Webpaw had always liked those things so he let his muscles uncoil and tried to find comfort in the moonlit camp. Soon dawn would light the horizon and the others would wake up...most likely to an apprentice ceremony.

"They'll change your name...but I think you'll like it. Our names give us pride, tell us who we are. You'll see, it'll be alright." Webpaw wished Blossompaw was here. She'd know what to say to cheer up the nervous tomcat...Webpaw was rubbish at those kinds of things, or so he thought.