The Clouded Rose: The Story of Roseblossom [Chapter 12 is up!]

PROLOGUE
Greetings, young kits. Swirlstar told me to expect visitors. I bet you were wondering how I became so popular in the Clans. I wasn't always the great warrior I am now. In fact, I wasn't even born a Clan kit! Sit down and listen to my story, and you shall know the truth.
CHAPTER ONE: MY BEGINNING
There I was. Hot. Lonely. Afraid. I was in a deep, roasting part of the woods. I felt the hot air on my glossy, red coat. A small mouse lay by my side. With half of my remaining strength, I leaped onto it and started nibbling it.
I saw two cats. I started to run, but they caught up to me. One of them picked me up, and they both ran deeper into the forest. They made it to a place with a big waterfall, four dens, and a big ledge. One of them jumped on the ledge, put me down, and shouted, "May all cats old enough to catch their own prey come gather beneath Highledge for a Clan meeting!"
Cats started to come. The cat said, "I, Echostar, leader of RainClan, and Sunfeather, deputy, have found a small kit in the woods. She has a scent of no Clan, and she seems like she has no family. We saw her manage to catch a mouse, and we decided to bring her into the Clan."
So that's what's happening I thought.
Then Echostar said, "Now young kit, do you recall anything from your earlier kithood?"
I told my story, "I was born with a loving family who were called loners. Then one day, a big animal, I think it was a fox, it picked me up, and carried me away. It dropped me somewhere far away. That's when my eyes opened. I crawled a long way. Then Echostar and Sunfeather brought me here."
Echostar said, "So we shall bring you here, to become a warrior of RainClan. Until you become an apprentice, your name shall be Rosekit, in honor of your glossy, rose-colored coat."
Then everyone started shouting, "Rosekit! Rosekit! Rosekit!"
As I absorbed the friendly chants, I realised I didn't need my original family. I had family, I had prey, I had shelter. I was destined to be in RainClan. RainClan was everything I wanted, everything I needed. RainClan was my home.
CHAPTER TWO: THE TOUR
After a few seconds, everyone started walking to the dens, except for Echostar and Sunfeather. Echostar said "Rosekit needs a queen to take care of her."
Sunfeather said "I'll do it. I'll be able to both take care of her and take care of my deputy duties. And maybe you can help me, Rosekit."
I looked up from a ladybug and eagerly nodded. I mewed, "When are you gonna give me a tour?"
Echostar said "Right now. Let's go."
Echostar started to walk toward a den. Sunfeather and I caught up with her. In the den were mewing kits and queens taking care of them. "This is the nursery, where you'll sleep for now." Echostar said to me.
One of the kits ran up to me. "You must be Rosekit," it said. "I'm Rainkit. Welcome to the Clan!"
Echostar, Sunfeather, and I went to another den. This den had what looked like kits but were bigger. "This is the apprentice den. This is where apprentices sleep until they become warriors. When you become 6 moons old, you'll be here." Sunfeather told me.
Six whole moons? How am I supposed to wait THAT long? I thought.
We walked in to another den with big cats. And I mean REALLY big! "This is the warriors den." Echostar said.
Then we saw the Elder's den. Echostar sid "The elders are warriors or queens that retired. This elder here is Meadowstorm."
Meadowstorm walked up and said, "You must be the new one, Rosekit. Nice to meet you. It gets awful lonely here in the Elder den, so come up as often as you like to keep me company and maybe hear a story or two."
Echostar said "So that's basically the camp. You better run off to the nursery with the other kits."
I padded off to the nursery and thought There are so many cats in this Clan, and they each have their own den depending on their rank. How organized!
I knew I was gonna like this Clan now!
CHAPTER THREE: REUNITED
I was sitting in my patch of moss, minding my own business, when I saw these cats. There were 4 of them. They were foxlengths away, so I couldn't give a good description. I was afraid they were an enemy Clan or rogues, so I told Echostar immediantly. We ran up to them and showed claws, but then I felt like they should be trusted. I meowed, "Wait a second!" and Echostar calmed down a bit.
The cats looked familiar. One of them was a tom with rust-colored fur and brown eyes. Another was a tom with brown fur that was really dark at his muzzle, ears, paws, and tail; and dark blue eyes. Another was a she-cat with rose-colored fur and green eyes.. The last cat was a she-cat with rose-colored fur and amber eyes. She looked younger than me.
I said, "Do I know you?"
The bigger she-cat whispered to the rust-colored cat, "The voice. It's her!"
Then she turned to me and said, "Rose? It that you?"
How did she know my name? Then I realized I knew her voice. I said "Mom? Is that you?"
She said "Of course it's me!"
The rust-colored cat said "And I am your dad."
The blackish cat said "And I'm your brother."
It all came back to me. These cats were my family. I could tell their soft, warm voices from anywhere! I asked "But who's the other cat?"
Mom said "When you were stolen by that fox, I was expecting a kit. This is your sister."
I asked them "What are you doing here?"
Dad told the story. "When you were stolen by the fox, we searched for you right away. When your sister was born, we went a little faster. We tracked your scent all the way to here."
Echostar jumped into the conversation. "Rosekit has joined our Clan. She says that you are loners, is this correct?"
Mom said "Yes we are. We aren't proud of it though."
I said "Why don't you join me in RainClan? We could use the extra paws! Can they join, Echostar, please?"
Echostar said "If they want to, they can."
Mom said "We want to."
So we went up to HighRock and Echostar called the Clan meeting. She told them that my family was coming into the Clan. Echostar told them about the ranks and asked how old they were.
Mom answered "Our daughter is less than 3 moons. Our son is 6 moons. We think we're good enough to be warriors."
So Echostar declared, "The youngest one will be known as Applekit until she becomes an apprentice. The son will be known as Darkpaw until he becomes a warrior. The parents will be Petalblossom and Rustpelt. We welcome these cats, who are also Rosekit's relatives, into RainClan."
Everyone started chanting, "Applekit! Darkpaw! Petalblossom! Rustpelt!"
I lead Petalblossom and Rustpelt into th Warrior's den, Darkpaw to the Apprentice's den, and Applekit with me to the nursery.
Applekit said "This is gonna be great, Rosekit!"
I replied "You know what, Applekit? I think it will."
CHAPTER FOUR: APPRENTICESHIP
One morning, I heard Petalblossom and Echostar talking. After their conversation, Echostar jumped onto Highledge and said, "Let all cats gather under the Highledge for a Clan meeting!"
We all gathered underneath the Highledge. But Echostar told me to come up with her. Confused, I did as told. Then Echostar said, "I, Echostar, leader of RainClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down upon this kit. She has waited long and followed many rules of your Code, and I commend her to you as an apprentice in her turn. From this day forward, until she has recieved her warrior name, this apprentice will be called Rosepaw."
And, everyone started to chant my new name. "Rosepaw! Rosepaw! Rosepaw!"
I jumped off Highledge merrily, and Echostar made my friend Blossompaw into Blossomberry. I cheered with the crowd.
Darkpaw, my brother, ran up to me and said, "I knew this day would come. Now I can show you the apprentice area."
Was I excited! I followed him all the way to the Apprentice Area. We went to the moss and fixed up a bed for me. One of the apprentices, Ivypaw, congratulated me.
Sunfeather, the deputy, called me. I ran up to her, curious of what she wanted. She said, "Congratulations, Rosepaw. You will not have training today. You can have the afternoon to relax. The full moon will be up tonight. How would you like to go to a Gathering?"
Would I! I mewed, "That would be an honor!"
I just became an apprentice, and now I get to go to a Gathering! This would be great!
CHAPTER FIVE: MY FIRST GATHERING
This was the night of the Gathering, and I was so excited! Sunfeather, Blossomberry, Ivypaw, and I went to the Gathering Place. I couldn't believe how many cats were there! I went over to some apprentices from the other Clans. After a while, the Gathering began. The cats took their seats with their Clan cats, and the leaders went to Highstones. "This is the part where the leaders share the news." Frostlily told me. The StormClan leader, Goldstar, began.
"Not that long ago, we have recieved a new warrior. Sparklepaw has now became Sparklemist. She has accepted StarClan's ways and will keep them forever in her heart."
Then, after a while, Echostar came up.
"RainClan has certainly been blessed this moon. First of all, we have a new apprentice. She has waited patiently and accepted the Code. We now introduce Rosepaw."
Everyone cheered. It wasn't like my apprentice ceremony, where only cats from my Clan cheered. This time, cats from every Clan cheered. I blushed, though I don't think it was visible through my already rosey fur.
"Second of all," Echostar went on. "we have a new warrior. She has also accepted the Code. We now introduce Blossomberry."
Everyone, including me, cheered for Blossomberry.
When the Gathering concluded, RainClan was the last to leave. I was looking at the trees. Frostlily said to me, "These trees stand for the Clans. There are carvings in them made by the ancient Warriors."
I looked carefully for the carvings. In one tree, I found a carving of a cloud with a line coming out of it. That must've been LightningClan's tree. On another tree, there was a cloud with nothing coming out of it. Tha was probably CloudClan's tree. On the third tree, there was a cloud with a lot of lightning coming out of it. That might have been StormClan's tree. On the last tree, there was a cloud with small dots. That was most likely RainClan's tree. I started to walk away, but then I noticed something. On the bottom of RainClan's tree, there was a carving of a rose.
CHAPTER SIX: IVYPAW!
I couldn't stop thinking about the rose. Was it a prophecy from an ancient medicine cat? A doodle from a careless apprentice? I decided to try to forget about it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~(time lapse)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Finally, the time was right for Applekit to become Applepaw. That same day, after the ceremony, I was assigned to a patrol with Blossomberry and Whisperpaw, where we saw something terrible. I heard Blossomberry shout "I'll save you, sister!" Ivypaw was being attacked by an angry pack of foxes! I sprang up at the one nearest to her. It almost got me, but I was quick. After a long time of fighting, the foxes ran off,and we dragged Ivypaw to Silverrose.
Ivypaw was badly scarred, with an eye missing. Blossomberry stroked her, me still with that scared look. Finally, we saw her eye open. I bent down and whispered, "Don't worry. As soon as I find that fox, I'll make crowfood out of it."
CHAPTER SEVEN: THE MENTOR FOR ME
One day I was snuggled up in my mossy bed, dreaming of chasing squirrels. I didn't have a mentor so I slept in. Until Echostar called a clan meeting. I started to find a seat. Echostar mewed to me, "You should be up here, too." I couldn't be a warrior yet. I didn't even have a mentor. But I obeyed my leader and climbed up Highledge with Glimmerkit.
Echostar meowed, "Glimmerkit, you have proven yourself a worthy and dedicated member of RainClan, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you recieve your warrior name, you will be known as Glimmerpaw. Your mentor will be Silverrose." Silverrose had given up her place as medicine cat and became a warrior. Echostar continued, "I hope Silverrose will pass on all she knows on to you. Silverrose, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You have recieved excellent training and knowledge of the Clan, and you have shown yourself to be helpful and loyal. You will be mentor of Glimmerpaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to Glimmerpaw." Then while everyone cheered for Glimmerpaw. Silverrose stood closer to Highledge. Glimmerpaw jumped off and happily touched noses with her mentor. I wish I could feel that joy. The joy of having a mentor. I thought.
Then Echostar spoke again. "And now, as we all know, the mentor system was mixed up. However, one apprenticed was apprenticed before we got sorted out. That apprentice is Rosepaw. Blossomberry, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You have recieved excellent training, skills, and you have shown yourself to be smart and leader-like. You will be mentor of Rosepaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to Rosepaw."
I felt really good. Blossomberry was one of the smartest warriors in RainClan. Coincedentily, she was made a warrior the same day I was apprenticed. I jumped up and touched noses with Blossomberry. Everyone cheered for us.
"So, what do you want to do now?" Blossomberry asked once everyone settled down. "Well, I feel like hunting, and I could use some help improving my hunter's crouch." I mewed. "Then let's go!" Blossomberry and I ran off into our hunting grounds, and I wondered what exciting adventures we would go on.
CHAPTER EIGHT: ROGUES ATTACK
I was on a border patrol with Blossomberry, Whitepaw, and Mistystream. I was sniffing a tree. It had the strong stench of a cat that wasn't of any Clan I knew of. I decided to alert the others. "Hey guys! I smell another cat!" We walked along until we saw what I had smelled. It was another cat. We decided to talk to her before we got into a fight. "And just what do you think you're doing here?"
"I'm Shimmer, and I'm just hunting."
"You can't hunt here! This is RainClan territory."
"RainCLAN? I despise the Clans and everything about them."
"Shimmer, I'm feeling sota nice today, so I'll leave you with a warning. Get off our territory, or you WILL hate us. For shredding you to pieces." We unseathed our claws and hissed.
Shimmer ran off. And we went to camp. I sat down and plucked a fish from the fresh-kill pile. As I ate, I was thinking, What if Shimmer wasn't running away? What if she was getting recruits? What if a whole band of them come and attack? I tried to get rid of the thought, but I couldn't.
That Sunhigh, just as I had feared. Shimmer, and a huge bunch of rogues burst into camp. Apparently, Shimmer was the leader of them. Everyone was fighting. Silverrose helped Twilightpaw guard the medicine supply. Ivypaw and Dreamheart guarded the nursery. Shimmer darted at me. She pulled on my ear. I managed to wriggle free and jumped onto her back. She jumped and bucked, but I still held on. I was finally thrown off. She unseathed her claws, and I thought it was the end. "STOP!!!" It was Blossomberry. "You may have been able to break into camp, but no one, I mean NO ONE, gets my apprentice!" She grabbed Shimmer's back and dragged her to the ground, exposing her belly. I shredded her stomach and then, performed a killing bite. I meowed so loud the whole camp could hear me. Shimmer lay there, motionless. The remaining rogues ran off in a hurry.
I looked around. The camp was a mess. I had to go see Twilightpaw for my wounds. Then I was going to help rebuild the camp.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I was helping Ivypaw rebuild the nursery. Cherrykit had noticed my scar on my back. "Cool! A battle scar. You must be a good fighter, with a scar like that." Echostar came in, and dropped a big, fat, juicy rabbit near me. "Go ahead. You deserve it." My leader had took notice of my fighting and rewarded me. After eating the rabbit with Ivypaw, I walked around the finished camp. It looked good as new. Sunfeather saw me and said, "Good work, Rosepaw. You fought like a warrior back there."
I went to my den, her words still echoing in my mind. Like a warrior...
CHAPTER NINE: THE MOONFALL
I was running. Really fast. I was after a squirrel. I was running with all the speed of CheetahClan. I pounced on the squirrel, and killed it. I was running back, and I heard something. A big, hungry pack of dogs was running toward the camp. I ran almost to the camp, to the point where I saw the waterfall. I was relieved, but then the dogs started swimming through the river! I heard the squeals of my Clanmates. A big dog ran up and tore the squirrel from my jaws. Then it picked me up by the scruff and started shaking me roughly. I could still hear the screams of my Clanmates, trying to call me to help. "Rosepaw! Rosepaw! Rosepaw!" It suddenly faded into one cat's voice and it became louser. "Rosepaw! ROSEPAW!!! Rosepaw, get up!" I looked up and saw not a dog shaking my scruff, but Sunfeather lightly pressing on my back. I sighed, relieved I was only dreaming.
"What is it, Sunfeather?" I asked.
"Echostar told me to send you an important message. You're going to the Moonfall!"
I stood up. "Sunfeather, what's the Moonfall?"
Sunfeather told me all the details. "The Moonfall is a big, beautiful waterfall. At night, you can see the moon's reflection in the water. Leaders and medicine cats and their apprentices drink from it. Once they do, they fall asleep so they can share tongues with StarClan. When they wake up, they're not allowed to tell anyone about it. Apprentices go there to accompany their leaders before they become warriors."
The thought of becoming a warrior made me bounce up with joy. "Woah. When do I go?"
"You'll also be going with me and Blossomberry, your mentor. We leave tonight. Go and see Twilightpaw for traveling herbs."
"Okay." I padded off, looking for the tortoise-shell medicine cat apprentice.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hello, Rosepaw." Twilightpaw mewed. "I have your herbs ready." She pointed to one pile of herbs. "These will help with hunger, as there will be not a lot of time to hunt." She pointed to the other pile. "These are to keep your strength up."
"Thanks." I said.
"I'll give Sunfeather's, Echostar's, and Blossomberry's to them. See you!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We headed off. We got pretty far when I encountered something I never saw before.
"This is the Thunderpath," Blossomberry told me. "Here, monsters run across. But they only stay on the Thunderpath."
Echostar demonstrated how swiftly to run across. Then Sunfeather, them Blossomberry.
Then it was my turn. I was halfway, but a monster raged right toward me. I skidded across as fast as possible.
Once we finally got to the Moonfall, Echostar drank from it as Sunfeather had told me. She lay there motionless, then she got up. "Let's go home." Echostar meowed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After we got to camp, everyone greeted me. I was exhausted. I plopped down on my moss bed and thought, Woah. I went to the Moonfall. I've done so much. Who knows what's next.
CHAPTER TEN: A NEW NAME
The next day, Echostar called a Clan meeting. She told me to go up with her, so I did. Then she said:
"As you all know, by naming warriors we show that our Clan remains strong. Today, I will name a new warrior who has deserved this position for a long time. I, Echostar, leader of RainClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. She has trained long and hard to understand the ways of your noble Code, and I commend her to you as a warrior in her turn. Rosepaw, do you promise to uphold the Warrior Code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"
"I do." I mewed.
Echostar went on. "Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Rosepaw, from this moment, you will be known as Roseblossom, for you have had a great mentor in Blossomberry, and you, the rose, has certainly blossomed into a great warrior. StarClan honors your patience and optimism, and I welcome you as a full warrior of RainClan."
Everyone cheered, my mentor Blossomberry the loudest, "Roseblossom! Roseblossom! Roseblossom!"
I walked off the Highledge, and up to my mentor. "I'm so proud of you." she mewed.
I made my home in the warriors den. I got to sleep with the best: Blossomberry, Whisperbreeze, Silverrose, Mistystream, Sunfeather, Dreamheart, and all the others. This is not the end of my story. It's only the beginning. The beginning of many adventures, that will not end. I will keep on hunting, keep on fighting, keep on doing all I can for my Clan.
CHAPTER ELEVEN: FLOOD!
Now that it was Newleaf, the waterfall has been thawing. And it was thawing a lot. The constant rain didn't help much either. Then one day, it happened.
Water started gushing through the camp. I heard Sunfeather shout, "Flood! RainClan, head for high ground!" I jumped up and started climbing up a tree. The water was so high it rose up to only a few fox-lengths below my branch. I heard a shriek of terror from below. Cherrykit!
She was hanging on a small branch. The fierce waves often tried to hold her and the branch under water. Her paws kept slipping. I knew that the Warrior Code said I should never neglect a kit in danger. So I did it. I jumped back in.
I searched frantically for her. At last I found a branch, but no Cherrykit! I found her, desperately splashing and trying to keep her head up. I swam to her and grabbed her by the scruff. We made it to a tree. I scrambled up the tree to a branch. I placed Cherrykit down. I saw Sunfeather and Echostar run toward CloudClan territory. They might be our only hope. We scrambled toward them and headed toward CloudClan.
We made it to their camp. Our pelts were soaked. I heard Shimmerpaw cry "Mrrooow! Ambush!" and start swiping at Whisperbreeze, who easily pushed her away. After we explained everything, Swirlstar decided to temporarily let us stay. We were on dry land at last.
CHAPTER TWELVE: A NEW PROPHECY
Our camp was recovering from the flood and we were able to move back. We were rebuilding the dens when it rained again. Some cats raced for shelter. Most of us stayed out, including me.
It wasn't as wet as I expected. Twilightpaw, the medicine cat apprentice, was looking at one particular cloud. I wondered why until I saw it. Some rain from the ground is falling up into the cloud. It seemed like the rain was merging into the cloud. I wondered what it meant. Surely it was some sort of prophecy from StarClan. Twilightpaw wouldn't look away from it until it stopped raining.
"What does it mean?" I asked her.
"I don't know," she replied. "Maybe we'll get more details at the Gathering."
That night, Echostar had chosen Sunfeather, Twilightpaw, Blossomberry, Whisperbreeze, me, and a few others to go to the Gathering. Twilightpaw was talking with Rowanshade, the LightningClan medicine cat, and Mustardblossom, CloudClan's medicine cat. I decided to listen to them. Mustardblossom said that it happened in CloudClan, too. Rowanshade said a similar thing happened, exept their prophecy was a flash of lightning absorbing raindrops.
It was time for the meeting to begin. The first thing the leaders announced was about the prophecy. Suddenly, as Echostar was about to respond to something Swirlstar said, there was a huge storm. Cats took shelter wherever they could. The winds and the rain were so intense, the RainClan tree bent, and eventually fell. Suprisingly, no cats were harmed.
Suddenly Twilightpaw spoke out. "I cannot deny the truth any longer. It is StarClan's will that RainClan divides and joins with the other Clans."
We were to choose which Clan we were going to. I ran to the remaining trees. I stood shocked as I saw the rose carving from RainClan's tree on CloudClan's tree. "I shall live in CloudClan!" I finally said.
Most of us went to CloudClan. Others, like Twilightpaw and Silverrose, went to LightningClan. Some decided to stay loners, until they decide on a Clan at least.
Echostar said "I'm going to the Moonfall to remove all my lives exept for one, as I will not be leader anymore."
When the Gathering concluded and we got settled in our new Clans, I knew I'd miss RainClan, but I was sure there would be new adventures in CloudClan as well.