Pinefoot's Story, Chapter I

My name is Pinefoot, formerly the deputy of StoneClan, and now, a wanderer without purpose. I would like to tell you the story of my life. Truly, the reason for this is not only because I have nothing better to do, but because I need to get this off my chest. There are many cats in this forest who would want to hear my story, but none of them would like it. As soon as my own Clanmates found out the truth about me, I would be instantly an outsider among them anyway. This is the main reason why I have left.

I guess I should start at the beginning. My mother's name was Petalsplash, a faithful warrior and queen of StoneClan during it's golden age. But when our Clan leader Rumblestar allied StoneClan with ForestClan, her whole world changed.

Yellowstar was the leader of ForestClan at that time. He was arrogant, cocky, and always up for a battle, even if it went against the Warrior Code. I don't know how Rumblestar, a wise Clan leader who followed StarClan, could have possibly allowed our two Clans to become one, except for the fact that Yellowstar's she-cat deputy, Acornfoot, had long been in love with him. The joining of our two Clans was always bound to end in disaster, for even StarClan themselves were against it. But before the cats of the stony valley and the cats of the dense forest could clash in battle, something else happened.

With ForestClan and StoneClan so closely allied, warriors began to take mates in the other Clan. This was a benefit for Rumblestar and Acornfoot, and probably just what they had planned with Yellowstar from the beginning. But for Petalsplash, it sealed her fate. Only moons after her old mate had died, she fell in love with Yellowstar and soon found out that she was expecting his kits. And one of those kits was me.

Now it is out in the open; I am not pure StoneClan, for Yellowstar, the hated leader of ForestClan, is my father. My mother Petalsplash paid a high price in the end, as did we all when ForestClan tried to take over StoneClan's whole territory. When Rumblestar refused to fight Yellowstar for the territory, his deputy Icestream was forced by her Clanmates to exile him and all of those who still followed his command. In the moons that followed, StoneClan endured one of the bloodiest battles the forest has ever known. During the battle, Petalsplash, who had just begun to realize her error, was crippled in battle by a ForestClan warrior and was never able to walk again. I was only a kit, Pinekit, at that time, and oblivious to all of the bitterness of my Clanmates around me.

When I turned four moons old, Petalsplash finally told me that my father was Yellowstar. She made me swear to keep it a secret, and I did, hardly knowing what I was getting myself into at the time. I had no clue of who Yellowstar was. For all I knew at that age, I assumed that he had once been a great StoneClan leader who had died in battle, and that my mother didn't want me to mention him merely so that I would not sound boastful. But as I grew up and became an apprentice, I quickly realized how very wrong I had been.

Petalsplash died only a few sunrises after I received my apprentice name. Greencough suddenly claimed her life, and our medicine cat Shadecloud could do nothing to stop it. I was Pinepaw at that time, training with my best friend, Talonpaw. Since my mother Petalsplash and Talonpaw's mother Eveningcloud had been friends since they were apprentices, it only came as natural that we became friends as well. Even though I was a full two moons older than Talonkit, we became apprentices on the same sunrise. Talonpaw and I became even closer friends once we started training, because my mentor Eagleflight and his mentor Olivefur were brothers and both respected senior warriors. Talonpaw was always there for me when my mother joined StarClan, and I realize now how much I still owe him for that. It hurt worse than anything I've ever known, because she was my last kin in all of StoneClan.

My apprentice days were fairly normal in the moons that followed Petalsplash's passing. Eagleflight taught me the ropes of being a loyal warrior of StoneClan and rehearsed the Warrior Code with me daily. I learned how to hunt in between the rocks properly and how to spot lizards and small furry animals in the thin cracks between stones. We would quite often train with Olivefur and Talonpaw, who were learning similar things. However, my apprenticeship wasn't completely 'routine'. In addition to my best friend Talonpaw, I would frequently train with the Clan's other four apprentices, Coalpaw, Shalepaw, Tigerpaw, and Daypaw. Training with these particular cats turned out to be very interesting.

Coalpaw and Shalepaw were littermates, but very different in many respects. She was solid black, he was white with gray markings. She was adventurous, he was easy-going. She preferred a hunting challenge, and he preferred wandering about the territory on a patrol. She was constantly pulling pranks on the other apprentices, while he was always sleeping the day away. Coalpaw and Shalepaw were like day and night. However, their mother had died just like mine had, and they fiercely defended one another. I remember often envying their closeness, wishing that I had a littermate, but fortunately Talonpaw, who had no littermates either, served as enough of a brother for me. But now I am almost glad that I don't have anyone important to loose, because when her brother Shalepaw drowned at such a young age, Coalpaw's outlook on life was changed forever.

Onto a slightly lighter topic now. Mistfoot tells me that I'm too serious, but... I'll get to her later. I can't think about that now or I'll get completely distracted. Whenever she pops up, either in the forest or just in my head, I tend to loose my train of thought, especially when it's on something deep and important such as this. Wait... I'm just more off topic now. Anyway, as I was saying, my apprenticeship did have a few perks. I remember all of the good times us apprentices had, especially on our first assessment day back in leaf-fall.

Our mentors paired us up to hunt together. Though I was sure that I would be hunting with Talonpaw, I secretly wanted to hunt with Coalpaw for just once. It wasn't that I was sick of Talonpaw, but I had recently begun to notice how beautiful Coalpaw was. And, it was just my luck that Eagleflight decided to pair us up for the hunt, while Talonpaw went with Tigerpaw, and Shalepaw went with Daypaw. I couldn't help noticing how our mentors had paired us up, a tom and a she-cat, and I wondered if it was some sort of sign from StarClan that Coalpaw and I were meant to have a future together. But, sadly, she showed me right off that she had no interest in me at all, and in a none too polite way at that.

Whilst we were out hunting, Coalpaw made a 'kindly' suggestion that I should try and catch one of the lemmings that were grazing out by the ravine. I just knew that this was my chance to show off my hunting skills, so I took her advice and started stalking one. It saw me. It ran. I chased. It ran harder. I followed and pounced. It fell over into the ravine... And so did I. That is one day that I will never forget. It took Shadecloud and Antwhisker hours to put cobwebs on all of my scratches and to pull the stones out of my pelt. My couldn't even groom myself for days because my fur tasted of dust and earth.

It took me a while to forgive Coalpaw for that one. I think she had only meant it as a joke, but it sure wasn't funny to have all of the warriors in StoneClan making cracks about lemmings every time I patrolled the ravine with them. It took them moons before they finally let me live that one down, and even Talonpaw brought it up more than once. I still can't believe how bored they must have been to taunt me like that. Anyone could have tripped into the ravine. I remember one time when Volekit wandered off and practically walked into the ravine, but did anyone make jokes about her? Of course not! Besides, I was trying to feed the Clan, and impress Coalpaw. Did they seriously have nothing better to do than talk about lemmings all moon?

Now that I think of it, my apprenticeship wasn't as happy as I'd remembered it to be. Not only were Coalpaw and I on the verge of a civil war after the whole lemming incident, but I always heard the other cats saying how Talonpaw and her made such a perfect match. Both Coalpaw and Tigerpaw liked Talonpaw, and Shalepaw and Daypaw were practically made for each other, but nobody cared about me. Pinepaw, all alone in his own Clan. Story of my life.

~~Pinefoot