CLOSED Oddness of Off Proportions

[Runfast]

Redfall leaped up - when he did the burning sensation faded quickly.
He could hear Mistpaw's soft mews - she was talking to someone? Redfall remembered where he was and he looked around. He was in the middle of a massive clearing, four great oaks towering over him, their branches reaching out to one another like best friends. He did a cat-whistle.
This was Four-trees!

Mistpaw, her companion waiting in the lush bushes, padded out to join Redfall.
"Hey, Redfall," she mewed happily. "You made it!"

Redfall whirled to face.
"YOU DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING ABOUT BEING PARALYZED!!!!"

Mistpaw rolled her eyes.
"If I had, would you still have done it?"

Redfall stopped short, thinking. He shrugged.
"...Maybe not."

Mistpaw smiled.
"And that's why I didn't tell you."

They both fell silent for a time, Redfall just looking and Mistpaw relaxing.
Finally Redfall mewed,
"Sooo... When will it happen?"

[Longstorm]

"Ah, that's right... I remember now," mewed a soft disembodied voice. "Whenever you were scared you would become impatient." A pretty, spotted she-cat padded out of the bushes. Spottedfur purred at Redfall, her kit and mewed, "You've come a long way, little one."

From all sides of the clearing emerged other cats, toms, she-cats, kits, elders - cats of all shapes and sizes, the scent of the star-studded forest heavy in their starry pelts, but the very faint scents of their old clans were still there.
For instance, a fire colored tom with brilliant green eyes and a sandy she-cat both smelled of oak and sand - Thunderclan, of course.

Spottedfur was joined by 6 other cats: an elderly stocky dark-pelted she-cat, a young sleek brown tom, a beautiful white she-cat, a black she-cat with a nasty scar on her face, an orange kit with blue eyes, and an apprentice with gray spots around her blind eyes. The seven looked at Redfall with serious eyes and they stepped forward as one.

[Runfast]

Redfall looked around at all of the passed on cats, dipping his head to the ones who had a single star on their forehead, meaning they were leaders. He looked at his mother, taking a deep breath as he did. If anything, he was really nervous at this point, fighting to control his heartbeat.

Mistpaw watched from the sidelines. This was Redfall's deal now.

The blind apprentice padded up first.

Redfall recognized her from his own time as an apprentice.
"Mistygaze," he murmured.

Mistygaze, who had been named shortly before her death, nodded to him and mewed,
"Redfall. You have come before us seeking your Leader name. We would give you nine lives, but Thornstar still lives with two lives remaining."

Redfall looked at his childhood friend and mewed,
"My clan needs me to-"

Mistygaze gave him a stern look.
"I wasn't finished. If you wish, you shall receive seven lives. If that is too few, then you may return home unchanged. It's your choice."

Redfall looked around at the starry cats. He felt so small right now! It made him feel like an unskilled apprentice all over again. He looked back at Mistpaw, but she shook her head, her eyes saying 'This is your choice, Redfall.'
Redfall closed his eyes and cleared his mind.
Finally, he looked up and mewed,
"I'll accept seven lives."

Mistygaze nodded and stepped forward to touch his nose.
"With this life I give you caution. Use it to look before you leap, unlike myself." Her eyes were a testament to what she was saying.

Redfall crouched in pain, the flashes of the final moments of Mistygaze's time in the light flashing before his eyes. So that's what it felt like to loose your sight, Mistygaze, he thought.

The second cat, the orange kit with blue eyes, padded up. His voice too old for his body, he mewed,
"With this life I give you compassion. Use it so that you may listen to the stories of the tresspassers of the borders and take them to heart."
Redfall was the kit - he was at the border mewing for help but the cats on the other side refused to listen to his story.
As the kit stepped back Redfall croaked,
"Wait! What's your name?"
The kit looked over his shoulder and mewed,
"Blue."
Redfall nodded to him and the kit disappeared among the ranks of starry cats.

As Redfall recovered from that life, the black she-cat with the scar padded up to him. Her voice was rough as she mewed,
"With this life I give you energy. When all others fall back, leap to the front in glory," she gave him his life.
It was like seeing all of his clanmates fall to fatigue around him - the enemy was near and his legs were about to give out but a surge of energy let him leap forward, claws slashing.

Redfall was gasping for breath - how was he supposed to stand this four more times?

[Guest]

The beautiful white she-cat padded up and mewed,
"With this life I give you mentoring. Use it well not only to train the younglings of your clan, but to guide all under your care." She touched his nose and stepped back.
Redfall could see that this she-cat had been mistrained and had died horribly because of it.

The sleek brown tom stepped up and mewed,
"With this life I give you justice. Use it to judge the wrong-doers fairly, regardless of clan." The tom touched Redfall's nose, and as he did, he could now see that this tom once belonged to Tawnyclan, then he joined Darkclan to escape ill-given punishment.

[Longstorm]

Now Spottedfur stepped forward, purring to Redfall,
"With this life I give you protection. Know that a leader and his clan is the same as a queen and her kits." She touched her nose to his.
Redfall might have been expecting a warm feeling, but instead he felt a great and terrible rage, and the willingness to die in an instant for those he loved.
She stepped back, and now the stocky she-cat stepped up.

"Usually, the previous clan leader has the honor of giving the ninth life. You are not receiving nine lives, and I am not Thornstar. But..." A single star gleamed on her forehead. "I am Darkstar." This was the leader that formed Darkclan. "With this life I give you hope. May you never lose sight of it." She touched his nose and Redfall could see a beautiful light shining at the end of a dark forest as he ran towards it. That was hope.

She stepped back and called, "I hail you by your new name, Redstar. Your old life is no more. You have now received the lives of a leader, and StarClan grants you the guardianship of Darkclan. Defend it well; care for young and old; honor your ancestors and the traditions of the warrior code; live each life with pride and dignity." At that, all of the cats in the clearing began to yowl,
"Redstar! Redstar! Redstar!"

A sleek, gray tom stopped calling the name a bit sooner than the others, padding up to Mistpaw.
"Rise, Mistpaw of Darkclan." The clearing fell silent, all watching the apprentice.

[Runfast]

The fluffy light gray she-cat with deep green eyes stood, looking at the sleek tom with wondering eyes. Mistpaw went up to him, dipping her head to him.

Redstar was feeling slightly overwhelmed, but he was feeling very happy as he watched Mistpaw.

[Longstorm]

OOC: Dude - you need to change your siggie!

IC: "I, Graypelt, having once been a medicine cat of Darkclan, call upon all here to look upon this apprentice. She has trained hard to understand the way of a medicine cat, and with our help she will serve our Clan for many moons. Mistpaw, do you promise to uphold the way of a medicine cat, to stand apart from rivalry between Clan and Clan, and to protect all cats equally, even at the cost of your life?"

[Runfast]

Mistpaw steadied her breathing and mewed,
"I do."

[Longstorm]

"Then, by the powers of StarClan, I give you your true name as a medicine cat. Mistpaw, from this moment you shall be known as Mistlight. StarClan honors your hope and courage, and we welcome you as a full medicine cat of Darkclan."
The cats of Starclan purred her name, and the forest of Starclan faded into the nothing and the two woke up.

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