Crystalpaw’s Clans

Maya Smith

Chapter One

Crystalpaw was aware of Wavepaw, her sister and only littermate, standing beside her.

“Wavepaw!” Hawkstar’s growl alerted her that this . . . omen, or something . . . was actually important. “Don’t you dare. . . ! You two are banned from RiverClan!”

“Wavepaw!” Crystalpaw felt her sister freeze beside her. “No!” She turned to Hawkstar. “No! She was just standing up for me! Don’t ban her!” Crystalpaw hissed, “Just me! Please!”

Hawkstar let out a sigh and turned and walked to his den. “Lead a patrol to escort them off our territory. They are no longer RiverClan!” He shouted over his shoulder to Willow, “Do you want to join now? Think about it!”

“What?” Crystalpaw stared in disbelief as Willow nodded. “So, we are kicked out of RiverClan just because you really want Willow? What, because he has a deathly bite? Or because I didn’t complete the stupid prophecy? The one where I go to StarClan?”

“StarClan!” Willow glared at Crystalpaw. “StarClan wants you more than RiverClan! But now, because you’ve disrespected your elders, the Dark Forest would want you! Go join TigerClan! Go join TigerStar.”

Crystalpaw was pleased to hear a few gasps from her former clan mates. But she wasn’t going down without a fight. “We don’t talk about the Place of No Stars! You won’t go to either, because you are a dumb rogue!” she snarled. “And we don’t talk about RiverClan’s faults! That’s when we had a different leader! A rogue shouldn’t go babbling on about stuff like that!” She was surprised to hear herself standing up for her clan. “All you want is power! You have no loyalty!”

Willow snorted. “No, you don’t! You have no loyalty! You can’t even die for your clan, you’re so . . . selfish!”

Crystalpaw shook her head. “Dying for your clan is different. You all wanted me dead!”

“Also . . .” a tiny whisper of a cat came from beside her. Wavepaw! “Also!” her sister stepped forward, letting her voice be full of distrust and disgust. “What if the prophecy meant you’ll win the war, if you sacrifice . . . ban . . . Crystalpaw? And me? Maybe. . . !” She stared desperately at HawkStar’s den. “Come out, Hawkstar, I know you’re listening.” Crystalpaw was impressed to see her sister standing in front of her. She wanted to congratulate her when all the cats turned to face the leader’s den.

“Come on,” Wavepaw whispered. “We have to go! That will only keep them distracted for a little while.” She faced Crystalpaw. “Let’s . . . run.” Too shocked to say anything, Crystalpaw followed her sister to the entrance of camp.

Crystalpaw silently said her goodbyes and set off for a new life. Once they reached the end of RiverClan territory, they quickly swam to WindClan territory. They were both exhausted and decided to make camp on that side of the river.

“Do you think we . . . are rogues now?” Wavepaw asked. “We’re not even warriors!”

“Calm down,” Crystalpaw told her. “We are just loners for the moment.”

“But what clan will we go to?”

“Not WindClan; the water there isn’t fresh,” Crystalpaw told her.

“And ShadowClan territory. . . ? No, just no.” Wavepaw shook her head, and Crystalpaw nodded. “But ThunderClan is bossy! RiverClan’s the best!” Crystalpaw had to agree. RiverClan was the best clan in the lake, forest, StarClan, and even the Dark Forest.

“I’ll take bossy over bad water, being chased off our own territory, and foxhearts,” Crystalpaw decided. “In the morning, I’m going to ThunderClan.”

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Wavepaw shrugged. “I’m going to go to WindClan. I like running, even if its water is horrible.” Crystalpaw stared in dismay as her sister looked at the moor. “I love feeling the wind in my fur,” Wavepaw told her sister. “I want WindClan.”

Crystalpaw bristled. “But I’ll be in ThunderClan!” How could her only kin, and clan, be in different places?

Wavepaw thought. “You could come with me?” She looked pleadingly at her sister. “You are my last kin.”

Crystalpaw snorted. “I’m not going to be a WindClan cat! Their water, it’s just . . . You can’t swim!”

“But . . .” Wavepaw's voice trailed off as she shook her head. “Never mind, I can do this.”

“I’ll get . . .” Crystalpaw meowed, “Never mind.”

As the two cats slept together, Crystalpaw couldn’t help wondering: Would she ever get a warrior name?

Chapter Two

Crystalpaw was running back home. She just got her first piece of prey—a fish.

“How cool!” Wavepaw was running beside her. “That’s a big piece of prey!”

As they neared the entrance of the camp, Crystalpaw noticed Hawkstar walking toward them.

“Hawkstar?” Crystalpaw was surprised to see her leader out of camp. Wavepaw slowed down and Crystalpaw did the same. Soon, they were standing in front of their leader.

Wavepaw’s tail twitched. “Hawkstar. How are you—”

“You are both banned from RiverClan! You failed your mother! Failed her!”

“W-what?” Crystalpaw was surprised by her leader’s sudden outburst. “But . . . why?”

Wavepaw snorted. “Now I must go to WindClan.” She meowed. “I love it.”

“But the water is bad.” Hawkstar growled. “You didn’t complete the omen from the stars!”

Crystalpaw felt the world crumbling around her. “Huh? What’s happening?” She stared at Wavepaw as she grabbed Crystalpaw’s fresh kill. Hawkstar just grunted with a smile on his face as he turned and walked toward camp.

As Crystalpaw sat down, one thing became clear: She couldn’t depend on any other cat but herself. No kin, and no clan. She was all alone.

“Crystalpaw! Crystalpaw!” She blinked in confusion as she felt a paw gently pushing her. “Wake up!” It was Wavepaw. Why was she here? She abandoned her! But . . . she was here . . .

Crystalpaw blinked. A blurry figure loomed over her. She slowly turned to see the moor in front of her. Memories flooded back about what had actually happened. Wavepaw would be leaving today to WindClan, and she would be going to ThunderClan. Crystalpaw stood up and stretched. She noticed Wavepaw washing herself, muttering. Crystalpaw’s ears twitched. “Worried?”

“No, but . . . we are apprentices.”

“We already passed our assessment.”

“So how about we just give ourselves warrior names?”

“We’ll do it to each other,” Crystalpaw declared. “OK?”

Wavepaw sighed but nodded. “You first, name me!”

Crystalpaw rolled her eyes and sat down. This was going to be hard. Waveheart? Wavefall? Maybe she should give her littermate her mother’s warrior one. No, Waveglaze? Wavefrost? Finally, she decided what it would be.

“Wavepaw, from this day forward you will now be known as Wavestream. StarClan honors you for your speed like a stream.”

Crystalpaw dipped her head. “Wavestream! Wavestream!” As she yelled her sister‘s new name, she wondered if she’d feel happy again. She noticed her sister’s eyes turn round in wonder, and her soft, gentle purr. Finally, it was her time.

Crystalpaw waited, looking up time and time again to see her white-and-silver littermate’s face turn into a hard, thinking one.

Suddenly, she looked up, and Crystalpaw knew it was her last moments of being an apprentice.

Wavestream cleared her throat. “Crystalpaw, from this day forward, you will now be known as Crystalstripe. StarClan honors you for your hunting and fighting skills. And your silver, tabby fur—mostly the tabby—is like stripes.”

Crystalstripe? As Crystalpaw got used to her warrior name, she noticed Wavestream glancing anxiously at the moor. She’s thinking about what it’s going to be like when we separate. Crystalstripe agreed to be worried. In RiverClan, we had a whole clan. But now we only have each other.

“Well, I guess it’s time to say goodbye,” Crystalstripe finally meowed.

Wavestream sighed. “I . . . well, OK, but could we say proper goodbyes?”

Of course, fish-brain, Crystalstripe thought, we’re littermates. “Well, of course,” Crystalstripe snorted. “Unless you’re going to abandon me slowly.”

“Huh?” Wavestream seemed to shrink beneath her pelt.

Crystalstripe rolled her eyes. “Everyone has! Our father, mother, clan, and now you! The one cat I thought I could trust.”

“But we . . .” Wavestream shook her head.

“I thought littermates couldn’t be separated,” Crystalstripe growled. “And, Wavestream, you made me think that! Just to leave me like the rest!”

Crystalstripe felt anger bubbling inside her. She had been abandoned by every cat. At least in ThunderClan she’d get a fresh start. Hawkstar always told her that she and Wavestream were half-clan.

They never knew their father, and Shortfall, their mother, had died giving birth to them. Not to mention the omen from StarClan that she was destined to die, and now that she didn’t, they kicked her out of the clan! Now her sister was leaving, and Crystalstripe would be going to a clan she doesn’t know and is known to be bossy and can’t swim. And all the other cats of ThunderClan would treat her like Hawkstar did, like a half-clan.

She now had to do that all alone. Maybe that’s what StarClan meant, that she’d always be alone.

“Crystalstripe?” Wavestream’s soft breath rang in her ear. “I’m sorry, but I just . . .”

Crystalstripe snorted. “Just what? You’re sorry?” She hissed. “Because you betrayed me?”

“I didn’t mean to!” Wavestream backed away from her, her voice turning into a wail. “I like the wind! And running!”

Crystalstripe curled her lip. “And going away from your own kin!” As the two sisters began an argument, Crystalstripe heard paw steps and shook her head as the strong scent of WindClan warriors bathed her muzzle. I guess Wavestream’s gonna leave now.

“But you could—” Wavestream tried to meow something, but Crystalstripe interrupted with a shove.

“Hear that, fish brain? Paws! Smell that? WindClan!” Crystalstripe growled quietly. She expected her sister to be worried like her, but of course she wasn’t. Instead, her eyes lit up as her pelt bristled with excitement.

“Where?” Wavestream asked. “I can’t believe it! I didn’t even have to go that far to—”

“A patrol,” Crystalstripe noticed. “Probably a border patrol.”

Wavestream’s whiskers twitched. “This is my chance! I’m gonna . . .” Her voice trailed off as she stared at Crystalstripe. “Go . . .” she finally whispered.

Crystalstripe bristled. “Goodbye, traitor.”