After Tallstar's Revenge
Chapter 1
Deadpaw took in the cheers of his Clanmates. I'm an apprentice!
As the cheers died down, Talltail turned to him. "Are you ready to see the moor?"
Deadpaw nodded. "Of course!" He trotted after his mentor as they left camp. Pawsteps behind him told him that his littermates and their mentors were following.
Wind buffeted his fur when the left to heather tunnel. Pigeonpaw, Sorrelpaw, Doespring, and Stagleap filed out behind him.
"Where are you taking him first, Talltail?" Doespring yowled over the wind.
"The high moor!" his mentor yowled back.
"Do you want to travel together?" Stagleap asked. "It would be more fun for the apprentices."
Talltail nodded. "Good idea." He led the way down the trail.
As Deadpaw limped after him, he noticed the trail was a well-used rabbit trail. The faint scent of rabbit hung in the air.
The rest of the cats caught up with him.
"Isn't this exciting?!" Sorrelpaw mewed. "We're finally apprentices!"
Deadpaw nodded. "Yes. I wasn't sure if I was ever going to be an apprentice." He confessed.
A tail stroked his pelt and he realized that Talltail had dropped back.
"As long as I'm your mentor, you will be treated like every other apprentice. You will hunt and fight the same as other cats."
Deadpaw nodded. "That's all I could ever want."
Talltail bounded ahead as they left the heather and padded onto a grassy field and then onto a smooth gray boulder. Talltail bounded onto the rock and turned to face Deadpaw.
"Welcome to Outlook Rock. This is where warriors sit on the rock and scan the moor for danger. You can see a lot more than the moor though, like the Twolegplace and beyond." A faraway look passed through his eyes and though he was remembering something. The moment passed and a he waved his tail for Deadpaw to join him.
Deadpaw padded onto the rock and sat down beside his mentor. Talltail turned to face the moor.
"What do you see?"
Deadpaw narrowed his eyes against the sun and looked.
"I see the forest and the gorge and the pine forest and the Twolegplace!"
Talltail nodded. "Can you pick out individual things? Like a kittypet sitting on a fence or a hawk flying over the moor?"
Deadpaw leaned forward. "I see a buzzard flying over Fourtrees, a patrol along the ThunderClan boundary, a fox in RiverClan territory, and a dog in ShadowClan territory."
"Is the fox in their side of the river? And is the dog on the ShadowClan side of the border?
"Yes and yes."
Talltail let out a purr. "You've done very well for your first time. When it comes time for your final assessment, you will be tested on what you can see. If you can pick out so much without any training, imagine what you can see with a trained eye as a warrior." Talltail bounded off the rock and Deadpaw followed him.
The grass rustled and Doespring bounded out.
"Talltail!" she called, "We're going to split up. Have you shown him the Rock?"
"Yes! We are going to the high moor next." His mentor called back.
Doespring nodded and padded away with Pigeonpaw as her heels.
The ground turned sandy as they trekked further into the moor. They crested a rise before Talltail turned to face him.
"Welcome to the high-moor. This is one of the highest spots in the moor; the only higher spot is Outlook Rock. This is a great place for hunting rabbits." He paused. "Next, the border."
Talltail raced away and Deadpaw limped after him. A nasty scent washed over him.
Talltail stopped a few tree lengths from a black stretch of stones.
"This is the Thunderpath. I'm sure you've heard all about it. Monsters travel along it with Twolegs in their bellies. We normally don't get this close to it, but we will have to cross when we go to Highstones." He turned and started to padded.
"I'll show you the tunnel next." He called over his shoulder.
They padded alongside the Thunderpath until they came to a hole in the wall of the Thunderpath. Talltail stopped and swept his tail towards the hole.
"This is the tunnel. The ShadowClan border in on the other side. There are often battles here as it is hard to patrol and it makes a very good escape route for thieving Clans." He paused. "Too much blood has been spilled here if you ask me. Too many warriors lost. You remember Shrewclaw, right? Well, this is where he died." He stopped again, as though remembering the battle.
He turned away. "Next, Fourtrees."
They were racing along the moor until they came to trees in the distance. Talltail stopped.
"That is Fourtrees in the distance. This is where we go for the Gatherings. Beyond that is ThunderClan territory. We don't see a ton of them, but they have to cross the moor to go Highstones."
Deadpaw nodded and they bounded away.
They padded on into the moor. A faint roaring made Deadpaw prick his ears.
"What's that?" He called to his mentor.
"The gorge." Talltail replied without looking back.
They soon came to a crack in the moor and Deadpaw saw the river raging below.
Talltail stopped. "This is the gorge. This is a very dangerous place and be careful of where you put your paws. The ground can be unstable here. And don't be a rabbit brain like me and almost fall in."
He raced away and Deadpaw struggled to keep up.
They followed the river until it started to smooth out. Talltail stopped near the banks.
"Just beyond the river is RiverClan territory. We don't see they often either, as they normally stay on their side of the river and we stick to ours." He once again turned away.
"We're going back to camp now. I'm sure you're exhausted.
Deadpaw nodded. His paws were aching and eyes drooped from exhaustion.