#pondfang

"From here on forth, you will be named Beamsnow. ButterflyClan honors your valor and courage, and we welcome you as a full warrior of our community."

Burdockheart's heart swelled with pride as she watched her now former apprentice. If I'd had a son, she thinks wistfully, I'd want him to be Beamsnow. She blinked warmly at the tom when he twisted around to look at her, a bright smile on his face and his eyes shining with happiness. My son... I love you.

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ𐀔

"Well, it's healed," Pondfang grunted, poking at Pinedash's tail. "It'll probably be scarred forever, though."

"Because you're an awful medic," Pinedash spat. "If we'd had a real medic, I'd be fine!"

"I've had more than enough of your attitude!" Pondfang snapped. Pinedash flinched back, his eyes wide and his mouth open a little in shock. "We're one Clan now, so act like it! We're all doing the best we possibly can in this situation, except, it seems, for you!"

The den went silent. Stormclaw, in the corner, had uncurled from the tight ball he'd been in and was staring at Pondfang in awe. Pinedash was gaping, his expression one that you might expect to see on someone who'd just seen a sparrow made of solid gold take flight.

"Out of my den," Pondfang snarled. When he'd turned back around, Pinedash was gone, and he nodded to himself with satisfaction.

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ𐀔

Pondfang sucked in a hiss at the sight of Stormclaw's leg.

"It's bad, isn't it," the deputy asked miserably.

"It's not good." The skin was hot to the touch, and the wound was swelling. Pondfang was no expert, but he was pretty sure that this meant it was infected. He hoped on all hope that the infection wouldn't grow any worse over the next few days. He... really didn't know what to do.

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ𐀔

Sakari paced nervously in front of Pondfang's den. Cloud had started coughing during the night, and he'd looked miserable by the morning. It's just a mild cold, she told herself. That's all. He'll be fine in a few days. Pondfang slid out of the den and Sakari hurried over.

"He's alright, right? It's just a cold?"

"It looks like greencough to me," Pondfang sighed. "With leafbare coming... I don't know, Sakari. You might have to brace yourself." Sakari bristled, feeling hot with anger.

Shadowbloom coughed again. Pondfang frowned at her.

"Sorry," she wheezed. "I can't help it. I'd stop-" a coughing fit interrupted her, and it took a moment for her to catch her breath. "...I'd stop if I could."

"I'm pretty sure it's whitecough," Pondfang told her. "Or... maybe greencough? One of those. But probably whitecough." Shadowbloom squinted at him. He shrugged at her. She seemed to accept that this was the best diagnosis she would get and closed her eyes to take a nap.

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ𐀔

A piercing scream woke the camp. Pondfang scrambled out of his den and shoved cats aside to find Sakari, curled around the body of Cloud. Loud, hiccuping sobs came from her mouth as she begged him to wake up.

"Please. Please. You're fine, you're okay, you just have to wake up, Cloud. You just have to wake up and it'll all be okay. Please."

"You have not been with us long, but you have proven yourself a loyal cat and skilled warrior. Sorrelpaw, from this day on you shall be known as Sorrelfur. We celebrate your skill and tenacity, and we welcome you as a full member of ButterflyClan."

Sorrelfur raised her head proudly. She had done it- she had proved herself a true member of the Clan, worthy of being here. No one could deny her her place. She belonged.

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ𐀔

Shellpaw was feeling stressed. He could not properly express how stressed he was feeling.

Skyrumble's and Pondfang's tail wounds had become infected. Podpaw had caught whitecough, and Acornpool and Basspaw had caught yellowcough. Lynxfur had gone out for too long and came back with frostbite. Mintswirl and Shellpaw were up at all hours of the night, soothing coughs and pains and anything else they could manage. They were running low on supplies, and newleaf was a whole moon away.

Shellpaw had asked Mintswirl if leafbare was always like this, and they had only shrugged and said that these sorts of things tended to come and go in waves.

Shellpaw just... really, really, really needed a break.

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ𐀔

Gingerfleck blinked in surprise and the grey tom in front of him blinked back.

"Oh!" The tom said finally, dropping the mouse he'd been holding. "I'm sorry, is this your territory?"

"Ah- yes, it is."

"I hadn't realized. That's my bad! I was just looking for food for my kits, I hadn't realized I'd crossed into anyone's place."

"You have kits?" Gingerfleck asked, surprised. The tom looked quite young- barely older than Gingerfleck himself.

"Yes! Jay and Dove, they're the lights of my life. Their mother didn't survive their kitting, I'm afraid, but..." the tom trailed off, a shadow of sadness crossing his face before he shook it off. "Well, they seem alright without her!"

"My Clan has a warm place for your kits," Gingerfleck hedged. "We don't have a lot of food, but you seem like a good hunter. I'm sure if you're willing to help out, we could figure something out..?"

Mintswirl fretted over Stormclaw's broken leg as Shellpaw bandaged Pondfang's tail. "It'll be more likely to get infected than usual, since it's leafbare and they were injured by dogs. We'll have to keep very, very close eyes on these two."

"What if their wounds do get infected?" Shellpaw asked, pausing in his work and staring at Mintswirl with wide eyes.

"We won't worry about it for right now. If it happens, I'll walk you through it, but until then we'll just keep watch."

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ𐀔

"Guess what." Algaesky plopped down next to Burdockheart, her eyes wide and her tail flicking eagerly.

"What?"

"I'm pregnant!"

Burdockheart gaped at her friend before leaping to her paws. "Algaesky, that's excellent! I'm so happy for you! Do you know who the father is?"

"Thank you! Yes, I know the father. He's a barn cat who lives a little ways away from our territory- I'd been thinking about kits for a while, and he agreed to help."

"Congratulations!" Burdockheart pressed herself against Algaesky, and the two she-cats purred so hard their bodies shook.

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ𐀔

"Gingerpaw, you have trained hard and learned well. Your warrior name will be Gingerfleck. We honor your joy and your playfulness, and we welcome you as a full member of ButterflyClan."

Parsleystar's paws slip on the riverbank and she sucks in a gasp. She tumbles into the water and it fills her lungs. Oh, StarClan, she can't swim, she can't breathe, she can't get up to the surface-

Her vision goes dark, and when she blinks, she finds herself in a field of stars. Frozenwhisker stands before her, joy and sorrow entwining together on his face.

"Oh, how I've missed you," Parsleystar whispers, and she takes a step forward-

She wakes up gasping and sputtering on the riverbank, her Clan crowding around her.

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ𐀔

"We thank you for your service, and hope you have a long few years of rest."

Pondfang nodded politely at Parsleystar. He looked forward to settling into his new nest in the elder's den, towards being surrounded by peace, quiet, and the quiet murmurs of Lynxfur and Sakari. It'll be nice, he thinks, to get some rest for once.

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ𐀔

"Burdockheart, you will train Barleypaw. You did excellent with Beamsnow, and I trust you'll do just as well with him."

Barleypaw touched noses with Burdockheart as the Clan chanted her name, and he turned to look for Whiskershade in the crowd, a wide grin on his face. His heart dropped when he met Stormclaw's eyes and remembered that his mother wasn't there to see him become an apprentice, that she had died to give him life.

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ𐀔

"I'm sorry, Kitecrash, but Bubblekit has kittencough. Maybe since he's older he'll push through it better, but..."

Hickorymarsh is practically gasping for air between coughs by the time he finally admits something's wrong.

"I couldn't be sick," He tells Pondfang glumly when, at long last, the coughing fit subsides. "The Clan needs me to be healthy. We need as many healthy warriors as possible."

Pondfang didn't deign to give that a response, instead just giving Hickorymarsh a look that made the tom fold his ears and look away guiltily.

"It's yellowcough, I think," Pondfang said at last. "I can't be sure, of course, but that's what it looks like to me. You've got some yellow gunk coming out of your nose."

"Yellowcough isn't so bad, right?" Hickorymarsh asked hopefully. Pondfang snorted at him, and he looked cowed.

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ𐀔

Pondfang sighed in relief. The swelling in Stormclaw's leg had gone down, and the skin wasn't hot anymore. The tom was sleeping peacefully for once. This was good. This was great, actually. Pondfang had declared Shadowbloom free of whitecough earlier that day. Everything was going wonderfully for now. He could only hope it would stay that way for a while.

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ𐀔

"Algae, if you'd step forward please."

Algae blinked in surprise, and the Clan murmured. They'd expected that Sky would be apprenticed now that he was six moons, but instead Algae was being called up. The black she-cat stepped forward cautiously, meeting Parsleystar's eyes.

"This she-cat has proven that she belongs among us. Should she accept, we will welcome her into our fold. Algae?" Algae's heart quivered. She'd found a home here, where she'd least expected it. She'd learned the ways of Clan life from Lynxfur and Burdockheart, and watched Hickorypaw become Hickorymarsh. She wanted... she wanted to stay here.

"I do," Algae called. Parsleystar's eyes crinkled with joy.

"Then I, Parsleystar, leader of ButterflyClan, the Colony of Survivors, bestow upon you a warrior name. From here on forth, you shall be known as Algaesky."

A purr caught in Algaesky's throat as the cats around her roared her new name.

"Skypaw is now six moons old, and ready to be trained," Parsleystar continued after the Clan had calmed down. "Algaesky, I'm entrusting him to you. I know you will train him well."

A lump formed in Algaesky's throat as she touched noses with an eager Skypaw. To be given a new name, a community, and an apprentice, all within a few minutes... it was almost overwhelming.

"Lastly, Sakari has asked to stay with us. She has requested to keep her name, and I have considered this request carefully and decided to accept it. Sakari, from now on you are a full warrior of ButterflyClan. We welcome you warmly into our fold."

Skypaw scrambled away from Algaesky to chatter excitedly at his mother, and she watched her apprentice go, swelling with pride. Today had been a very, very good day.

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ𐀔

"Hey, Algaesky!" Skypaw called. "There's an old tom over here saying that he's looking for ButterflyClan!"

Algaesky bustled over, concern alight in her eyes. The tom looked quite nervous at the sight of her, but nodded to confirm Skypaw's declaration.

"I'm Minty," he introduced himself. "I have some healing skills, and-"

"Healing skills?" Algaesky interrupted. She turned the concept over in her mind. Pondfang would love to be a warrior again, she knew. And it would mean great things for the Clan to have a medic who- well, who knew how to be a medic.

"I'm pretty sure we have a position for you."

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ𐀔

"I'll be returning to warrior duties now," Pondfang announced immediately upon meeting Minty. "Good luck."

"At least stick around long enough to teach him the job," Parsleystar told him. "Not the medical job, of course. But the job of caring for Clanmates."

"Look at him," Pondfang scoffed. "He's practically trembling. He doesn't need to learn how to care for anyone. He'll have to learn to boss them around!"

"And you're very good at that, Pondfang. Very bossy. I'm sure you'll be a great mentor." Pondfang didn't seem like he knew whether this was a compliment or not. It could have been both. Parsleystar seemed like the kind of cat to compliment and insult you at the same time.

"I'm going back to being a warrior," Pondfang decided, squinting at her.

"Okay," Parsleystar shrugged.

"...I am."

"I didn't say you weren't."

"Fine! I'll teach him how to be bossy! But I'll be doing my warrior duties, not medic ones." Pondfang grumbled to himself as he rustled away. Parsleystar watched him go with a smug air about her before turning her attention to Minty.

"From here on forth, you shall be known as Whiskerpaw. Your mentor will be Tempestroar, and I know that she'll teach you everything she knows."

Whiskerpaw surged forward and touched her nose to Tempestroar's eagerly. The black and white she-cat looked surprised and delighted, and Whiskerpaw wriggled excitedly.

"We have to go hunting first," Whiskerpaw announced as soon as the gathered Clan had moved away. Tempestroar laughed.

"You'll have to learn hunting techniques before you can catch anything," she pointed out. Whiskerpaw felt a spark of disappointment, but shoved it aside. She's an apprentice now; she'll be hunting in no time!

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ𐀔

Pondfang peered closely at Algae's wound before shrugging.

"Looks fine to me," he announced. "It's scabbed over and isn't oozing puss, so it's probably not infected."

"Probably?" Algae's face twisted. "It's probably not infected?" Pondfang shrugged again.