As Maplepaw and Blazestar explored the rest of the island, Blazesong struck up a conversation. “So, what cats live here that you know of?” Maplepaw looked thoughtful for a second before answering. “Well, I know of a few rogues who live here, but I don’t know anything about them. They scare me, so I try and stay away.” Purring, Blazesong rubbed her head against her apprentice’s. “I won’t let them hurt you.” Maplepaw, suddenly bashful, skipped ahead a little bit. “There’s also a pet who lives here, I think his name is Moon.” “Pet? You mean like a kittypet?” Maplepaw scoffed. “Yeah, sure. Whatever that means.” “It means like a cat who lives with Twolegs.” Maplepaw nodded. “Yeah, he’s one of those. He wanders out here during the day though, I guess his Twolegs let him out? He’s pretty harmless, though; all he does is lay around near the lake, so I wouldn’t worry about him.” Blazesong stopped and puffed out her chest. “Me? Worried? I’m not worried. I’m actually curious to meet this kittypet. You said he stays near the lake?” Maplepaw looked at her, confused. “Yeah, but Blazestar, why do you want to meet a kittypet?” “You’ll see. In the meantime, take me to the lake.” Maplepaw, looking utterly perplexed, simply followed her mentor’s orders.
***
It didn’t take the two she-cats very long to arrive at the lake. Laying in a bright patch of sunlight was a fat, blue tabby tom who looked like he’d never gone hungry a day in his life. He stretched out lazily in the sun, casually batting at a butterfly who flew near his head. “See?” Maplepaw said. “Harmless.” Blazesong, though a little apprehensive, pushed on. “No, I’m sure he’s got something under that fluffy exterior. Come on, let’s go talk to him.” Pushing through her doubts, they walked up to the tabby. When he saw them approaching, he sprang up, fluffing out his fur so much he looked like a moss ball, and yelled, “Please don’t hurt me!” Maplepaw stifled a laugh and shook her head. Blazesong tried to remain more cordial. “It’s okay,” she began, trying to look calm. “I’m not going to hurt you.” Moon, unconvinced, backed up more. “Then what are you going to do? Eat me?” Blazesong, trying to hide her exasperation, attempted to placate the frightened cat. “No, Moon, we aren’t going to eat you.” The kittypet’s eyes went even wider. “Great StarClan, how did you know my name?” Starled beyond belief, he raced backwards, before he realized he went too far and fell directly into the lake. Maplepaw shrugged. “Not my problem.” Hissing, Blazesong mumbled a curse before jumping into the lake to save the fat cat. It took her a while to even grab onto his scruff, because it was so surrounded in fat. By the time she hauled him up on the shore, she was soaked, and felt like she could sleep forever. Moon, on the otherhand, looked shocked. “You—“he began, wide-eyed. “You saved me.” Blazesong scoffed. “It was the decent thing to do. Anyways—” “No,” Moon interrupted. “You saved me.” Blazesong and Maplepaw exchanged glances. “Yes, I did.” “Then it must be destiny. I am forever in your service.” The tabby cat tried his best to boy, but his wet paws slipped out from under him, and he faceplanted into the mud. The young apprentice glanced sideways at her mentor. “Are you sure this is someone you want in your surface?” Blazesong swallowed her doubts. “We have to start somewhere.” Then, speaking louder, she continued. “Fine, then, Moon, you can join Maplepaw and I. For now, though, you’ll have to take a warrior name, and you’ll be my deputy.” Moon looked up at her, shocked. “Wait, you’re a warrior? My mom used to tell me stories about those! I thought they were all made up.” Then, he seemed to realize what you said. “You mean, I get to be a warrior?” Blazesong sighed. “Yes, Moon. Let me perform the ceremony.” He sat up quickly, licking his pelt as clean as he could manage, and then looked up expectedly at his new leader. She began slowly. “I say these words before StarClan, so that the spirits of our warrior ancestors may hear and approve of my choice. The new deputy of our clan is—“ she paused, before continuing. “Moonpelt.” Then, with a quick mischevious grin at Maplepaw, tapped her paw on top of Moonpelt’s head, completing the ceremony. Moonpelt looked like he might pass out. “Great StarClan,” he said, almost to himself. “I’m a warrior now!” Maplepaw and Blazesong exchanged glances. Then, Blazesong sighed and said: “it’s going to be a long day.”
***
Moonpelt did not prove himself to be a very useful addition to Flameclan. As they wandered around the island, searching for hunting grounds, a camp, and other cats, he constantly seemed to annoy the two she-cats. He scared all the prey away with his loud stomps, he annoyed them with his constant chatter about his Twolegs and plants, and seemed terrified at all times that another cat was going to jump out of the shadows and kill him. Maplepaw, walking ahead of their bumbling deputy with Blazesong, looked up at her leader. “Are you sure about this one?” Blazesong, hearing Moonpelt whine about his paw pads, wince. “Truthfully, no.” “Then why don’t you tell him off? Because right now, it’s looking more like he’s the apprentice, not me.” Although the leader’s pride was hurt, she knew her apprentice was right. She put on her best scowl, before turning to Moonpelt. “Moonpelt!” she yelled, stalking right up into his face.”If you want to be a warrior, you have to get used to your pawpads hurting. Unless you want to go back to your Twolegs. Do you rememebr what the warrior code says about kittypets?” Moonpelt looked down at the ground, ashamed. “A warrior rejects the soft life of a kittypet.” “Good. Now act like it.” With a fierce lash of her tail, Blazesong turned and caught up with her apprentice. “How was that?” she whispered. “Good! It seems to have shut him up.” Blazesong pricked her eyes, before realizing she was right. Moonpelt had gone quiet, resigned to following them. Blazesong felt relieved he had stopped talking, but couldn’t shake the residual feeling of guilt. Changing the subject, Maplepaw looked up at the sky. “It’s starting to get dark,” she commented. “We should find somewhere to rest.” Piping up from behind, Moonpelt spoke. “There are some trees by the lake with some holes in the bottom. We can stay there. There’s a whole field of poppy seeds nearby, too, so we can all get a good nights sleep.” Curious, Blazesong turned around. “Poppy seeds? How did you know that?” He looked at her like she was a kit. “Everybody knows that, duh.” Blazesong shifted her weight, but said nothing. “Let’s go back to the lake,” she finally decided, allowing the tabby to take the lead. Had she made the right choice?
*** When they arrived at the lake, it looked almost red from the low light. Quickly, Blazesong sent Maplepaw to gather moss for their nests, while she poked around a nearby berry bush for something small to eat. They had managed to catch a few mice on the way, but Blazesong was still starving. She came upon a few dark purple berries, and was about to eat one, before Moonpelt came sprinting up behind her. With a quick bat of his paw, he scattered the berries. Furious, she turned on him, hissing. “What did you do that for?” Unfazed for once, Moonpelt fluffed up his pelt and hissed back. “Mousebrain! Do you want to die? Those are deathberries!” Blazesong felt as though her blood had turned to ice. “Deathberries?” Moonpelt nodded solemnly. “Yes, they grow all over here. I thought ever cat knew about them, but I guess not.” Calmer now, he touched his muzzle to her ear. “Just be careful next time, okay?” With that, he turned around, helping Maplepaw with the last of her moss. Blazesong looked up to the sky, feeling a great, tumultuous weight settle onto her shoulders. “Starclan, why must you make things so difficult for me?” A shout from Maplepaw interrupted her thoughts. They had finished gathering the moss, and were ready to join her for sleep. Blazesong, tail twitching and thoughts elsewhere, slowly followed them into the base of the tree, unsure of her own fate, or the fate of her tiny clan.
*** When she finally awoke, it was still dark outside. For a minute, she was convinced she was in her den back home, before she realized that only Maplepaw was by her side. She was about to lay her head back down on her paws, before she realized Moonpelt was missing. Afraid, she stepped out of the tree, and looked around in the dark clearing. Besides the soft noise of the crickets chirping, the night was utterly silent. A soft breeze occasionally ruffled the tall grass, but the lake was so still it looked like the night sky itself. At the curve of the lake, Moonpelt sat, completely still, looking almost silver in the moonlight. Blazesong approached him slowly, and sat next to him without saying a word. Moonpelt didn’t acknowledge her. Instead, he slowly lifted his gaze to the stars. A slight breeze ruffled his thick pelt, swaying his long fur along with the ferns. He looked one with nature right then, as though he could reach one paw out and touch Silverpelt without even trying. After a few moments, Blazesong broke the silence. “You don’t want be deputy, do you?” Moonpelt initially tensed up, leaning his body away from hers. When he realized she wasn’t angry, just sad, he relaxed his shoulders, and let out a long, deep sigh. “No.” With that, Blazesong felt like she’d lost an old friend, filled both with intense looking and inexplicable sorrow. Instead of trying to explain it, she just turned her head and looked out on the still lake. The moon and the stars reflected off the deep water, looking as though someone had taken the sky and flipped it around, and stuck all of StarClan underneath the water. Although she couldn’t see the appeal, she knew it was beautiful, and she knew what she had to do. “Moonpelt,” she began, speaking slowly. He looked at her calmly, blue eyes almost glowing in the low light, looking almost like he belonged in StarClan already. “Do you want to be a medicine cat?” He looked as though she had offered him the moon. He let out a soft purr, almost inaudible against the croaking frogs. “Can I?” Blazesong nodded. “Of course you can. I’m sorry I ever doubted you.” Moonpelt looked at her, with no sense of hatred in his eyes. “You’re forgiven, Blazestar.” Sensing they had nothing else to say, she got up, and turned her eyes on him one last time. “Goodnight, Moonpelt. Thank you.” Taking notice of every step, Blazesong walked back to her den, feeling a deep sense of peace lay over her soul.