The Kits

Well this is nice (Chapter 17)

Cinderpaw and Hawkpaw continued to meet each other at the cliff every night, but little did they know that somebody was watching them...

"Hawkpaw should be mine!" Rainpaw huffed. "Why does he insist on hanging out with that BROKEN loser medicine cat! I'm way cuter." She fluffed her sleek white fur, then turned to the almost identical tom that was hiding with her.

"Uh, yeah, Rainpaw... You're WAAAY cuter! But can we go home now? This bush is so annoying!" He started to scratch his head. "I think it might be–"

"QUIET, Dukepaw! Listen!" Dukepaw and Rainpaw strained their ears.

"I don't hear anything." "Exactly!" Rainpaw hissed. They tried to stay quiet, until...

"We know you're in there." They heard Cinderpaw mew. "Are you spying on us?" 

"No!" "Yes!" Rainpaw and Dukepaw mewed at the same time. Rainpaw cuffed him on the muzzle.

"No." She hissed again. "We're just... Enjoying this bush! This lovely, lovely bush..."

"Well in that case you must know that that 'bush' is actually poison ivy..." 

"You're bluffing!"

"I'm a med cat."

Rainpaw and Dukepaw leapt into the air and ran.

"THAT'S WHY I WAS SO ITCHY!" Dukepaw exclaimed.

"SHUT UP AND RUN!"

When Rainpaw and Dukepaw were out of hearing distance, Hawkpaw and Cinderpaw started to crack up.

"Was that actually poison Ivy?" Hawkpaw asked. Cinderpaw giggled.

"No!" They laughed even harder.

"Then why was that tom, 'Dukepaw' so itchy, then?" He mewed.

Cinderpaw put her paw on her mouth as if she was thinking. "According to my expert calculations, he has a case of paranoia." They giggled even more, before heading back to the cliff.

"Soooo... Do you really love me?" Cinderpaw asked. "Of course! I'll prove it, I'll jump off thi–" "Ok, ok, I believe you! Don't go dying for my approval!" She laughed a genuine, loving laugh that made Hawkpaw smile.

She has such a sweet laugh... So melodious, just like a– Before Hawkpaw could complete his simile, Cinderpaw let out a heavy sigh. 

"What's wrong, Cinderpaw?" She turned away.

"Cinderpaw?..." 

Huge, wet tears started to stream down her face.

"Cinderpaw!" He took her paw. "Cinderpaw, tell me what's wrong!" 

"I-I, it's t-too hard!" She said through her tears.

"Cinderpaw, just try to tell me! Come on, Cinder!"

She breathed in. "Hawkpaw... Y-yesterday I was h-humming in the m-medicine den, and and Longpelt came in, and she a-asked m-me why I was so h-happy, and I told him I l-loved s-someone who l-loved me back, b-but she told me 'Medicine cats c-can't fall in love! You should n-n-never s-see this tom again, he w-will distract you f-fr-from your work!'" She started to cry again. 

Hawkpaw quickly took her other paw. 

"Who cares about that nonesense! We love each other, and that's all that matters!"

"Hawkpaw, we can't be together! Not in this life!" 

"Then what about another?" A snide voice called from nowhere. "Hello, Cinderpaw, darling! I see you and your little friend are having a good time! I wanted to know if maybe, and just maybe, dearie, if he would like to join us as well?"

​​​​​​ "I will never join the Dark Forest!" He growled.

"M-M-Maplclaw?! B-but I thought you only appeared in dreams!"

The Dark Forest cat winked at her. "I made a little exception for my favorite kit!"

 Hawkpaw growled. "Stay back, Cinderpaw, she's evil!"

"No she's not! Please, Hawkpaw, can't you see she wants to help! You should join us, in fact!" 

He gasped, horrified to see the love of his life defend a Dark Forest cat.

"Cinderpaw, she's using you!"

"Sh-... she is?" "Of course! That's the kind of disgusting, low-life thing Dark Forest cats do." He unsheathed his claws.

"Lies!"  She hissed. "All lies!" "Oh, is it? Cinderpaw, we better–"

"CINDERPAW, WATCH OUT!" 

Suddenly, two kits their age bursted out of the forest. Just as they appeared, Mapleclaw disappeared. 

"BLACKPAW, BRIGHTPAW, why are you two here?!" "Because we were worried about you, sis!" Blackpaw cried.

Brightpaw started to slowly walk towards her.

"B-Brightpaw?" She started to get faster, until she was running. Cinderpaw flinched, not knowing what her sister was going to do to her. Brightpaw threw herself onto Cinderpaw, wrapping her in a warm embrace. Cinderpaw sighed, surprised at her sister. 

"I thought you hated me!" She mewed, still shocked. "Of course not, you're my sister!" Cinderpaw started to cry again, but this time, tears of joy. 

Suddenly, another kit rushed out, this one very out of breath. "I'm sorry, guess I'm not that fast, huh?" He said, breathing heavily. 

Blackpaw playfully cuffed him on the shoulder. "Slowpoke!" She said, giggling. He grinned at her, before wrapping his tail around her and purring. 

Cinderpaw's mouth dropped once seeing her old friend Foxpaw flirting with her foster sister. The shock was quickly replaced with pleasure.

"Well this is nice." She said, still hugging Brightpaw. 

"We love you, Cinderpaw, no matter what!" Cinderpaw didn't know what to say, besides, 

"I love you too."

♥♥♥

A Few Moons Later:

Cinderpaw purred happily as her sisters ran around the den excitedly.

"TODAY IS THE DAY, TODAY IS THE DAY, TODAY IS THE DAAAAY!" Brightpaw mews excitedly as she chases after Blackpaw. 

"I'm so excited!" Blackpaw agrees. "What do you think my warrior name will be? Blackrose? Blackvine? BLACKBERRY?" Cinderpaw giggles.

"How about Blackdeath?" Blackpaw stops.

"Oops, right. Black is a nice cat. Sorry."

She continues to run around. "Aw, it's ok." 

Bluefang stops Blackpaw and starts to groom her. "For such a pretty little she-cat, your name should be Blackbeauty." She said, purring in amusement. Cinderpaw mutters under her breath.

"I still like Blackdeath...."

She gets up and starts to run with her sisters, laughing.

"I'm so glad you kits could get along." They stopped and wrapped their tails together, smiling.

"Well you know us..." Brightpaw starts.

Blackpaw continues, "After any fight, we can always..." 

"Get back together!" Cinderpaw completes. 

Bluefang grinned. "That makes me so happy, my kits!" She started to get up. "Now, let's go become warriors!"

~Later, at the gathering~

​​​​​​"Blackfrost! Brightflame! Blackfrost! Brightflame!" The clan cats cheered for the newly appointed warriors. Meanwhile, Cinderpaw sat next to her mother and Longpelt in the audience. 

She was so excited for her siblings, she really was, but she longed to be up there with them, for her clanmates to cheer for her. 

She smiled as they came down.

"'Blackfrost', I like it! And Brightflame is a cool name, too!" They blushed.

"Aw, thanks!" They said in unison. 

"Tell us again why you aren't becoming a warrior with us?" Blackpaw meowed. 

She sighed. "Because I'm a medicine cat, so I get a different ceremony, and my training takes longer."

"OOOOOOHH. Ok." She said.

"Brightflame, Blackfrost! Come over here, please!" The leader calls out to them. They wink at Cinderpaw before heading off, leaving Cinderpaw behind. She sighed.

Furever alone.

A Few Hours Later

Cinderpaw was sitting in her den, playing with a ball of yarn, when her sisters come back, giggling.

"Ok, so you'll never guess what happened!" Brightflame purred.

"No, what?" Cinderpaw asked, curious.

They giggled some more.

"BRIGHTFLAME FELL IN LO-OVE!" Blackfrost teased. Cinderpaw's jaw dropped. 

"No. Way!" "Yes way!" Blackfrost put her paw on her heart.

"His name is Swiftbreeze, and he's a dashing WindClan warrior!"

"He asked me to meet him in a clearing tonight! I'm so excited!"

"So does the warrior code just doesn't matter to anyone anymore?" Cinderpaw asked. Blackfrost and Brightflame turned to face her.

"I mean, I'm a ThunderClan medicine cat in love with a RiverClan warrior, you two are ThunderClan warriors in love with a ShadowClan warrior and a WindClan warrior." 

They looked at each other and shrugged. "We like variety."

They laughed. "Well, I guess 'dare to be different', right?" Cinderpaw mewed softly. Blackfrost giggled.

"'Dare to be different.'" Brightflame purred.