leafpool

I have mine done! Sorry it took so long!

Two kittens walked along,thin and ragged. Abandoned by their mother,the she-cats were searching for twolegplace,hoping to become kittypets. Instead,they found GladeClan.

…

“Finchpaw! Bloompaw! Finchpaw! Bloompaw!” Cats surrounded Bloom,chanting her name. Her new name. She was Bloompaw,an apprentice of GladeClan. No longer a loner,as they called them.

Bloompaw. The word left a bad taste in her mouth. It didn’t sound right. She had always been Bloom,and her sister had always been Finch. Why did they need an added part just to denote how old they were?

Something touched her side,and she jumped. Whipping around,she was greeted by a reddish tom,waving his tail “You ready to go?”

“Go where?” He rolled his eyes.

“On a tour of the territory,mouse-brain.” Mouse-brain,she remembered someone calling her that. For about a week,a medic took care of them,claiming they needed to make sure they were healthy. During that time,a small bengal would frequently sneak in at night and ask her questions.

“Hey!” The tom’s voice snapped Bloom out of her trance. “Are you coming?” She knew he was joking,but her fur prickled as she started following him,feeling like something was twisting her stomach. She couldn’t seem to do anything right.

…

“This is Ryepaw,Dustpaw,and Lupinepaw.” The tom,who Bloom had learned was named Treeshade,informed her. “And Dustpaw’s going to show you some basic battle moves today while Ryepaw and Lupinepaw spar.”

Dustpaw looked somewhat surprised,but didn’t say anything. That worried her,had she done something wrong already? Treeshade gave her an encouraging smile and walked away,leaving her alone with them.

“We can practice over here.” She led her to a log that had claw marks etched into it. “You can sharpen your claws on this if you need to.” Bloom nodded weakly,not looking forward to battling. Still,Dustpaw continued “Let’s start with something easy…”

…

By the time they were done,Bloom was panting heavily. She had never fought someone before,and even with her claws sheathed,Dustpaw’s blows hurt. The she-cat was quicker and more prepared,while she struggled to keep up. Bloom laid across the springy grass,trying to catch her breath. Dustpaw was grooming herself,not even winded.

Maybe she was destined to struggle for the rest of her life. Or maybe she should have let Finch join GladeClan without her. Living alone seemed easier than learning all the strange terms and customs of clan cats. Maybe she was always going to fail-maybe that was her destiny.

…

Bloom wearily collapsed into a moss nest,her fur filthy. It was nearing dusk,and many of the others were outside talking,but she didn’t have the energy to interact with them. Dustpaw and her had another mock attack,which ended with her bleeding and covered in dirt even though it was supposed to be gentle.

She sighed,hearing Finch call to her from the clearing. The she-cat pulled herself up and slowly made her way out.

“Have you met Lupinepaw yet? He’s nice.” Bloom felt anger build under her skin,threatening to seep out. How was she doing so well? How could she act like all this was normal for them?

She didn’t say anything,instead stared at her paws. There was an uncomfortable silence,but Finch soon tried again.

“Wanna get some food?”

“I just want to sleep.” She didn’t look up,more irritation flooding her body. Even she hadn’t eaten since early that morning,her stomach had been too twisted in knots to be hungry.

“Okay…” Finch padded away,settling down near the other apprentices. In that moment,Bloom felt the bond they had slipping away,being replaced by emptiness. Finch never gave up on talking to her,even if she was sad or annoyed. She normally had a way of cheering her up,but that wasn’t the case this time.

This time,Bloom glared at her sister,she flexed her claws and stalked away,ears flat.

…

A ginger tabby led Bloom,Finch,and a blue-grey she-cat called Rainfern along a pungent scent marker. It was her first patrol,and she didn’t see the point. She also didn’t like the strong odor colliding with her nose as they moved. Treeshade told her it might take a while to get used to clan smells,but she didn’t realize it would be this bad.

Suddenly,they came to a stop,and Bloom almost ran into Rainfern. A light brown cat stood in front of them,his fur ruffled and a mockingbird by his feet.

“I didn’t realized I’d crossed the border,I apologi-”

“Stop with the excuses.” The ginger tabby snarled,sliding his claws out. A spike of panic went through her,was he going to attack him?

The tom’s breathing picked up,he lowered his head. “Please,my brother’s sick,I-”

The tabby crept closer as he backed away,leaving the prey behind. He showed no signs of aggression,only desperation. Bloom looked wildly between Finch and the blue molly. Finch was uncomfortable,she could tell,but she wasn’t trying to stop what was going on. She just shifted her paws and cleared her throat .

“That’s enough,Flametalon.” Rainfern said. “Yes,he trespassed,but the proper thing to do is take the bird and give him a warning.”

“If you let him off easy he’ll think he can do it again!” He bared his teeth,raising a large paw in the air. She couldn’t take it,her heart was pounding too fast,she felt like she was going to be sick. No,no,no,no-

“No!” Bloom screamed,darting away from Finch and to the unfamiliar cat’s side. “No,no…” She was gasping,she was shaking,she was lightheaded,and she needed to protect him.

“What are you doing?” Flametalon growled,focusing his dark stare on her.

“I…” Half-formed words were stuck in her throat,dissolving with every breath she took. She didn’t know what to say,she couldn’t tell them the real reason she jumped to help him.

…

Bloom felt eyes bore into her side,and she hesitantly looked up. On the patrol,Rainfern had butted in and forced Flametalon to leave the cat alone,which made him angrier. Finch hadn’t talked to her on the trip back,and was now somewhere helping the medic.

Sitting near her was a striped tomcat with intense gold eyes. He stared at her with an unreadable expression. “You defended a loner for stealing prey.” He said finally.

“He didn’t know he had crossed a boundary.” She whispered,reciting the words.

“That was most likely a lie.” He stood up,still inspecting her. “You’re still very attached to your life before living with us. That will effect your performance here.”

Bloom recoiled at his words,knowing they were true. He blinked at her before walking away to speak to a cream colored she-cat with pale orange swirls on her pelt,the one that everyone addressed as Fawnstar. She strained her hearing,picking up bits and pieces of their conversation.

“Loyalty…hasn’t been here very long…didn’t think about it…” A third cat piped in,and Fawnstar looked frustrated.

“Not technically old enough…help the clan grow stronger…” They abruptly stopped,and the third cat gave her a stern look.

She sighed,shuffling away. Bloom knew they were discussing her,and it made her scared. From what she heard,Fawnstar seemed to be on her side,but what did ‘technically not old enough’ mean? Was there a certain age she was supposed to be? Everything was so complicated and confusing,she wouldn’t doubt if she had already broken some rule.

And there was one question she kept asking herself,repeating it,trying to come up with an answer she could express out loud.

Why did she miss being a loner so much?

…

Sunlight flickered through the thin woods as Bloom raced through them,a light breeze blowing. She spent most of her time outside of camp now,away from the stares and remarks of clanmates-cats she felt no connection to,not even Finch.

Her sister had become much more attached to GladeClan than she would have assumed, forming friendships and playful rivalries,not speaking to her most of the time.

A sharp smell hit her,and Bloom halted at a border,uninhabited land beyond it. She yearned to be out there-beyond the clan rules,beyond the whispers. But she couldn’t leave Finch…could she? The molly was still her sister,but she hadn’t been acting like it.

Thoughts overwhelmed her,and she clumsily sat down,a sharp stone poking her leg,though she didn’t move. She stayed like that for a while,considering the options. She never got to decide, however,as a soft voice sounded next to her.

“Are you alright?” It was Fawnstar.

“I’m fine.” Bloom snapped,a pang of guilt going through her afterwards. The cat she was speaking to had the power to exile her,she shouldn’t disrespect her. A tiny voice in her mind asked if being kicked out would be so bad,and she ignored it.

The leader nodded,settling down next to her. “How are you doing in training?”

“Fine.”

“Are you the other apprentices treating you fairly?”

“Yes.” Ryepaw’s face flashed in her head,the scathing remarks he shot at her,the glares he gave her when he thought she wasn’t paying attention.

“How has your mental health been?” The question caught her off guard,and she stumbled over her words,something that rarely happened.

“I…how exactly…I don’t know how to answer that.”

“Try.” Fawnstar held compassion and kindness in her gaze,but Bloom refused to let her defenses down.

“I’ve…I’m fine.” She ducked her head,becoming very interested a blade of grass.

“You can always talk to me or the medicine cat if you need to.” With that,she stood up. Bloom followed.

…

A pair of pale yellow eyes appeared before Bloom,and she narrowed her own. It was Finch,a determined look on her face.

“We’re going hunt so we can make up and not be so sulky around each other.” She sighed,slowly trailing behind her sister. She was always straightforward,not leaving any room to argue. But the she-cat doubted she had a good reason for shunning her for half a month.

Once they were away from camp,Finch spun around and huffed. “Okay,let me start.”

“I’m sorry I’ve been so distant,when we first got here I thought adjusting would be easier,but it wasn’t. I’m still getting used to things. And I wanted friends so much I listened to all the bad advice Ryepaw gave me. He said that hanging out with you less would make me more popular. He also was mean to me a lot,so I guess I should’ve known not to pay attention to him,but here we are.”

“That one day you got mad at me stuck,and I held onto the grudge for a while. I’m sorry,I just…I had Dustpaw and Lupinepaw and a few warriors even,and they liked me. I felt like I didn’t need you anymore,I-I don’t know,honestly. I shouldn’t have pushed you away. It took me getting really sad about not having you there for me to do this. Er-an elder did give me a rant about keeping your siblings close and family bonds and all that,too.”

Bloom felt weight be lifted of her shoulders,felt her breathing ease. Finch was sorry,Finch realized she did something wrong,Finch and her were together again.

“Thank you.” She whispered,then took a deep breath. “I thought you didn’t care about me anymore. You had friends and I didn’t-I was jealous,even though I wasn’t trying to talk to anyone or start relationships. I don’t get all the weird traditions and codes they have,I even considered leaving. I was…I am stressed and confused and ready to give up,and I should have apologized earlier and-”

“Hey,” Her eyes filled with tears,and Finch scooted closer. “we both messed up,and I know how much you hate admitting you’re wrong.” She laughed weakly. “Now c’mon.”

“We haven’t caught anything.” Bloom said.

“Yeah,that was mainly an excuse to get you out here with me.” She laughed again,genuinely this time.

…

A flash of beige fur caught Bloom’s attention,and she turned to see Dustpaw standing near her. “May I sit with you?” She asked,smiling politely.

“Sure.” She moved over,taking a small bite of the lizard a pregnant she-cat had given her to try. It was chewy,and had an odd aftertaste,but it wasn’t exactly bad.

“It’s nice to see you and Finchpaw getting along again.” Dustpaw commented,rubbing her ear.

“Oh,yes,we…sorted things out.” The two were silent for a while,with no need to create noise when things already surrounded them. It was a lively day,cats bustling under the early summer sun. Bloom still didn’t use terms like ‘green-leaf’,but at least she knew what clan cats were saying when they talked to her.

A familiar silvery grey tom plopped down next to them,holding a mouse in his jaws. Lupinepaw mumbled a hello around his food,tearing into it hungrily. “Uh,I had to practice fight against Weaseltail,he kicked my butt in front of my mentor and Ryepaw’s!

“Chew with your mouth closed!” He rolled his eyes,but did as Dustpaw told him.

“Seriously,out of all the younger warriors and he had to volunteer. I think he just likes beating cats up.”

She watched Dustpaw tease and Lupinepaw complain,she listened,not feeling the need to give her opinion. After a while,the tom nudged her.

“You’re zoning out.”

Bloom blinked,focusing her vision. “Sorry,I’m still paying attention.”

“It’s fine.”

Lupinepaw eyes gleamed with happiness-he was always happy,or at least content. He always tried to get her to be social,even introduced her to his uncle the deputy. And she pushed him away,and she knew she hurt his feeling,and she should at least try to do something.

“Would you two like to…ah…”

“Go for a walk? Play hide-the-stone?” Lupinepaw offered,tilting his head.

“Or just hang out?” Dustpaw interjected.

“Um,one of those.” Bloom’s fur felt hot,she didn’t handle the conversation gracefully at all.

But they smiled,they smiled and stood up and she went with them. And they taught her how to play hide-the-stone and mossball. And she had fun,and wasn’t worried about what they thought of her and if she was saying the right thing.

The molly was now pawing a twig,mind flitting from topic to topic. “You okay?” Lupinepaw came up to her and surveyed the stick.

“Yeah,” He grabbed the twig and stuck his tongue out,she playfully snatched it back.

“I’m adjusting.”