Shards of Secrets

Episode one, season one of Prophecy to Burn~ enjoy~!

Shards of Secrets
"Flamepaw! Flamepaw!"

My new name. Hearing the Clan chant it so loudly, it almost seems like they all like me.

...Well, they already like me, but it sounds like they like me even more.

Just a minute ago I was Flamekit. Little, adorable Flamekit. Now, though, I'm Flamepaw. Ready to train and become a warrior, unlike my kit self, who didn't care about anything except playing and sleeping. My mentor is Shadowrose, a younger warrior with a gentle nature, who knows a lot about hunting.

But I feel ... different from the other apprentices. I can't explain how, I just do. Maybe it's because I'm new. Yeah, that's it.

Shadowrose pads up to me, waving her fluffy black tail. "Alright, Flamepaw. What would you like to do first: Explore the borders, or show me what you know?" she asks quietly.

I feel confident about my answer. But instead of a confident-sounding answer, I uncertainly meow, "Hmmm... whichever?"

She blinks and nods slightly. "I'll ask Cloudst-"

"No!" I cry hurriedly. Then, to seem less rude, I clear my throat and say, "L-let's go around the borders first." I didn't know being an apprentice could be so... how should I say it? Nervous? Uncertain? I must seem like a nervous wreck, because Shadowrose stares at me in confusion.

"Er... okay." she mews. "Go eat, and meet me at the fern tunnel. Oh, and take Moonsplash some prey, too!" She throws a glance at me over her shoulder as she turns and walks away to join her friends near the warriors' den.

I sigh in relief, then pad over to the fresh-kill pile. I nose around for a thrush, and pick up a mouse for Moonsplash, the DawnClan medicine cat. I weave between the ones that congratulate me for being apprenticed, nodding at them, and I eventually fight my way over to the den. I push the lichens aside to see a lump of silver tabby fur. "Moonsplash!" I mew, my voice muffled by the prey in my jaws.

He looks up in surprise, stiffening, but relaxes when he realises it's only me. "Hello, Flamek-" He stops himself, then corrects his mistake. "Flamepaw." His nose twitches as he notices the prey in my jaws. "Mouse?" he asks.

I nod and drop the mouse in front of him, loosening my grip on the thrush. "Mhm." I toss the thrush to the side and sit down, wrapping my tail over my paws. As Moonsplash takes a bite out of his mouse, I ask, "How did you feel becoming an apprentice?"

He looks up and swallows his mouthful. "Excited. Nervous." he says, shrugging.

"Really?" I ask, widening my eyes. "Like me!"

His eyes flash. Strange, but probably just a trick of the light. "Yeah, like you." He pushes himself to his paws, abandoning the mouse, and turns back to his herbs, sorting them into piles. "Except different." he mumbles.

He obviously didn't want me to hear him, but I had, and now I'm curious. "What do you mean?" I mew, twitching my ears.

Moonsplash looks at me, ears pricked. "Flamepaw." he meows slowly. "Flamepaw," he repeats, "have you heard of the Cursed prophecy?"

I widen my eyes. I'd heard of that before, from my mother. She'd told me that the Cursed were dangerous cats part of a dangerous prophecy, and that if they weren't killed, then they'd destroy all the Clans, one by one.

-tbc-