Oww!

The jab of a tail, not so gentle, woke Robinpaw out of her sleep.

Robinpaw blinked open her eyes to see Swallowpaw standing above her, an excited light present in her eyes. "Swallowpaw...? What is it...?" Her mew was heavy with sleep, and she wasn't entirely certain whether she was actually awake.

"Swallowpaw! I told you not to wake her up!" The exasperated mew of her mentor woke Robinpaw up the rest of the way.

Swallowpaw let out an exaggerated sigh. "But it's my special day! And she's my friend!"

The silver trainee quickly rose and stretched, wincing as her muscles were jarred by soreness from the tree climbing the day before. If I'd known it would hurt this much, she grumbled. I wouldn't have climbed that tree!

"It's alright," she mewed aloud. "I don't want to have to be woken up much more, so I need to get used to waking up early."

The meaning of Swallowpaw's words finally penetrated her sleepy brain, and she turned to gape at her. "You're...you're becoming a full member?"

Swallowpaw nodded. "Yesterday was my last test, to prove that I could look after others," she mewed. "You didn't see it, but Mousefang snuck into the bushes and jumped out to attack you! I fended him off." Her chest puffed out proudly, and she practically glowed with pride.

Robinpaw nodded, her denmate's words not fully absorbed. "But you're leaving?" First Quailwhisker, and now Swallowpaw...Robinpaw suddenly realized she and Thrushpaw would be the only trainees in the den.

Swallowpaw nodded as Foxtail padded over, laying her tail over her trainee. "But I wanted you to sleep in," sighed her mentor. "You deserved rest for that amazing tree-climbing yesterday."

Now it was Robinpaw's turn to puff with pride as the memory returned to her. The squirrel, killed with a bite while she balanced on the branch...

Thrushpaw purred, stretching up from her own nest. "Yeah! That was amazing," she mewed. "I've never seen anyone catch something tree-hunting for the first time!"

The other cats were stirring in their den as well; Robinpaw heard mews of patrols and competitions along with simple gossip. The silver she-cat noticed Quailwhisker curled around Owltalon; neither seemed ready to get up and move. Robinpaw's heart filled to see her friend so full of happiness and free of worry. A day of relaxation-- a relief for trainees, but surely a paradise for full members.

Robinpaw suddenly wondered when the ceremony was actually happening-- she'd apparently been supposed to be able to sleep in. "Foxtail? When is the ceremony?"

Foxtail purred. "Around sun-high," she replied, shoving Swallowpaw in mock irritation. "But your friend here barely let you sleep past dawn."

Swallowpaw licked her chest fur in embarrassment, ducking her head. "Sorry, Robinpaw. I was just so...excited."

Robinpaw twitched her nose in amusement, accepting her excuse with a nod of her head. "It's fine, Swallowpaw! I'd probably had done the same thing!"

Foxtail flicked her tail hesitantly, glancing out the entrance anxiously as if excited to go meet someone. "I'll let you guys figure out what you do for yourselves," she mewed lightly, padding out of the entrance of the den as casually of possible.

I wonder who she's going to meet? thought Robinpaw teasingly. I should ask her sometime...

Thrushpaw and Swallowpaw, however, were already arguing over what to do in earnest. Robinpaw eyed them worriedly before realizing that the argument was in jest-- neither was actually angry with each other.

"Hunting! Please?" Thrushpaw's yellow eyes widened in supplication, though Swallowpaw flicked it off.

"Come on!" mewed Swallowpaw. "Can't we practice battle moves? You went hunting yesterday-- and besides, you have to know how to defend yourselves!"

Thrushpaw rolled her eyes. "But I don't want to practice battle moves! There's a reason I'm not a Warrior trainee."

Swallowpaw turned to Robinpaw. "Come on? Do you really agree with her?"

But Robinpaw's mind was frozen, stuck in a place where bloodshed was the only way forward and the blood of others coated her fur and talons. The long-healed wound on her head began throbbing as the trainee remembered Brownkit's jesting voice, then Tankit lying bleeding on the ground...

No one tried to help him! The Leaders didn't call the Healer...they let him die! They wanted him to die!

Evidently taking Robinpaw's silence as disagreement, Swallowpaw turned back to Thrushpaw. "That settles it, them. Robinpaw agrees with me; let's go to the Training Ground!"

Robinpaw opened her mouth to protest, but her mind was still caught in the confines of memory. She felt scratches appear on her pelt, felt the claws of Lilyflower and Brownkit carve into it. They appeared one by one, and slowly leaked out warm liquid that clumped up her pelt. She tried to scream, but some scrap of self control stopped her from breaking down completely and letting her stay standing.

Finally, a single word escaped her mouth: "Help..."

With that, Robinpaw started to fall, only to feel someone-- Thrushpaw? Swallowpaw? catch her, and her vision began to darken.

Still, Robinpaw fought hard not to let the claws of darkness overtake her, sinking her claws into the reality of the soil as an anchor to consciousness.

"Robinpaw? Robinpaw?" Thrushpaw's worried mew slipped in and out of her mind, and she grasped frantically unto it. She focused on Thrushpaw, and her time she'd spent with her, and the darkness slowly lifted-- curtains torn apart by Robinpaw's frantic claws. She struggled to keep the gap open long enough to make eye contact with her closest friend.

"Thrushpaw?" asked Robinpaw weakly. "I'm so...tired..."

Robinpaw could feel Thrushpaw's heart quicken, her pelt pressed against her own. "Robinpaw, you'll be alright!"

Robinpaw nodded weakly, hearing footsteps and smelling Moonblaze and Swallowpaw's scents overwhelm her. "Thank you..."

And with that, Robinpaw let go of the dark curtains, and the claws of darkness pulled her into peace.

~----------------------------------------~

Robinpaw awoke to the scent of herbs and a familiar presence sitting beside her. She heard the pacing footsteps of a cat about her size and the scent of another, and her mind was filled with relief and happiness. "Thrushpaw? Foxtail? Swallowpaw?"

Immediately, Thrushpaw's footsteps quickened and hurried to her side. Foxtail sat up from her spot and breathed a sigh of relief, and Swallowpaw looked up from her place in the corner of the den.

"Robinpaw!" Thrushpaw mewed, burying her nose in her fur.

Robinpaw's spirits lifted and she felt relieved that her friend was there, with her. She turned her head to face Swallowpaw, who looked away in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry," she mewed quietly, her golden head dropping in utter remorse.

"It wasn't your fault," insisted Robinpaw. "When's your ceremony?"

Swallowpaw glanced outside of the den at the sun. "About now." She paused. "But if you're not well enough..."

Robinpaw waved her tail, dismissing the thought. "No! It's your time to become a full member." She rose from her moss bed, surprisingly steady on her feet. She walked past Swallowpaw outside, squinting slightly at the glare of the sun in her eyes. She heard her friends and mentor follow her, and she sat down beneath the tree to hear the call.

"All cats old enough to serve meet under the Great Tree!"

The cry came from Marigoldflower as the Leaders emerged from their places in the Tree.

The ceremony seemed to pass in a blur, with Poppyflower reciting the words with her paw on Swallowpaw's head. Robinpaw noted, belatedly, that she was indeed not alright, drifting in and out of focus. Her mind, however, was able to supply the words she missed with those from Quailwhisker's ceremony.

"...Swallowpaw, from this moment on, your name shall be Swallowtooth, in honor of your fierceness and excellence in the battle moves involving teeth."

Robinpaw snapped into focus, prepared to cheer for her friend, before realizing that there was another cat up there. Her sister?

This time, it was Lilyflower who came down from the tree, and Robinpaw shivered. Lilyflower recited the words over the apprentice, who Robinpaw assumed was a Servant, until she got to the last lines: "Gingerpaw, from this moment on, your name shall be Gingerfur." That was all-- no reason, no distinguishment. Just a mark of utter unindividuality attached to the end of their names.

Marigoldflower mewed something about them guarding the Leaders, and FloraClan erupted into cheers. "Swallowtooth! Gingerfur! Swallowtooth!"

Robinpaw joined them enthusiastically until the chanting stopped, and the cats went to congratulate the new members. Robinpaw headed toward Swallowpaw before noticing the large crown around her.

She sighed. I'll just congratulate her when she goes back to the den. She turned to head back there as well when she spotted Swallowtooth's sister, only congratulated by a couple other servants and an elder that Robinpaw could only assume was her mother.

Robinpaw felt a stab of pity, and began padding toward the she-cat.

Gingerfur turned at her approach, looking shocked. "Hello," she muttered, looking down at her paws.

"Congratulations," mewed Robinpaw. Her mew sounded hollow, false. She could tell that becoming a full member servant wasn't really any better than being a trainee, and she knew that Gingerfur could hear it in her mew. In the silence that followed, Robinpaw asked her a question she knew her brother would avoid answering: "What is it like? Being a servant?"

Gingerfur shrugged, still not meeting her gaze. "Not too bad," she mewed. "You just need to do what others say. It may be hard work, but...it's not like we could do anything else."

Robinpaw tilted her head, a little surprised by this answer. Another silence followed, this time broken by another question. "And do you...like anybody?"

Gingerfur finally looked up. "Like anybody?" she asked. "I mean, it doesn't really matter. For servants, anyway. No one want us, so we are normally just claimed for a little while."

"Claimed?"

"When a male of...higher rank is our mate for a while, though only until we have kits and raise them. Then, we're free until the next time." She paused. "Unless someone makes a permanent claim, and we agree."

The words the silver trainee had planned to say froze in her mouth as this statement sunk in. "And there's no escape?" she breathed.

Gingerfur shook her head. "But don't you know this?" she asked.

No...I didn't anything about know this, thought Robinpaw grimly, a sort of icy cold coming over her body as Gingerfur's words were carved into her mind. Why don't I know this? Isn't this important?

Robinpaw began running, running back to the den, not even bothering to say goodbye to Gingerfur. Her mind was too flurried, too haunted by the statements she'd just heard.

What kind of a place really is FloraClan? And what other secrets does it keep from those who inhabit it?

Wow, quite an action-packed (and long) chapter! I hoped you enjoyed (though it was a little late) and that I don't make you..run from this book from this last section. I know some people will...It's kind of like forced marriage, but it's temporary...and it sucks. I'm NOT advocating this in any way, in fact I'm more trying to make people aware of how much it ca sucks.

Anyway, that aside...what do you think of this new info? What did you think of Robinpaw's panic attack? And finally (though i know you haven't seen a lot of her) what do you think of Gingerfur?

~the ever-late Ember