Full Summary: Amberpaw is an adopted young apprentice that has grown up with her Clan and her own beliefs. After an encounter with a mysterious cat by the old Twoleg bridge, along with meeting a tom that hopes that they can be more than subtle friends that see each other every now and then, she ventures into the maze of her life to find the right path out. Set in the Forest territories, everything past the original series never happened. This takes place in the far future from Firestar, Leopardstar, Blackstar, and Tallstar. This story is based off a picture series on another website with the name and characters. This will follow the events of that series and after everything past has been set, will be updated with the pictures.
So, I feel really guilty for not updating my other stories, but it's because I just don't have the motivation to write these days...I'll see if I can start by just writing a few paragraphs a day, but updates will still be slow on my other stories. I hope you enjoy and please tell me if I've improved in my writing since Secrets of the Past!
Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own Warriors.
To Fight and Hunt
"Amberpaw! Come on over here, we're going for a training session today!" That voice came from a respected tom, Blackheart. With a pure black coat to match his name, his emerald-colored eyes flicked throughout the RiverClan camp, wondering where his apprentice could be. The camp wasn't that big, after all.
"I'm right here! Sorry I was late!" That time, it was a young she-cat that spoke. Found as a newborn kit near the edge of RiverClan territory with an unfamiliar scent, the apprentice, kit at the time, was assumed to have come from a rogue family and was then warmly welcomed in and raised with Streamtail's litter. Her first memories were made in the Clan, with no recollection of her previous life. That bit of history also explained why her pelt stood out against what people typically thought cats from RiverClan looked like. Instead of the usual blues, grays, and silvers, Amberpaw was a ginger tabby with white paws. The only physical part of her appearance that made her look at least a bit RiverClan was her bright blue eyes, a common trait in the Clan.
"You know, you could at least stay nearby every once in a while, Amberpaw. It gets old waking up to Blackheart yowling his head off every morning," Lilypaw mewed. Lilypaw was Amberpaw's best friend. She had a smooth silver pelt with eyes that matched the rivers surrounding the camp. Her comment prompted Blackheart to glance at the two apprentices.
"I'm not that loud. Besides, if there's anyone to blame it's Amberpaw herself. She's the entire reason why I supposedly wake you all up every day. Speaking of which, let's get going."
Amberpaw smiled and nodded. Before leaving the camp, she turned to Lilypaw. "See you later!"
"Bye!" The she-cat replied, curling back up in her nest. She knew that Blackheart loved to train Amberpaw early in the morning because later on at sunhigh, the normal training grounds would be filled up with most of the other apprentices and mentors. From what Amberpaw told her, she didn't seem to mind it at all. That might be because mostly she was still half-asleep and wanted to get the session done quickly so she could grasp a few more moments of rest.
In some other part of the territory, Amberpaw raced after her mentor. Just barely dodging clumps of reeds and deeper waters, they arrived at the Clan's most used training grounds. The grounds consisted of several clearings, with each one accompanied by a small lake or another body of water. There were bushes scattered all through the area along with various rocks and stones. The two chose a spot next to some reed bunches and began.
"I'm going to charge at you. You use everything you've learned so far and try to take me down. Simple enough?" Blackheart asked; his pelt ruffling in the recent winds.
Amberpaw nodded. "I'm ready whenever you are." She crouched down and assumed a stance similar to what one would use when hunting over in ThunderClan.
Blackheart nodded and sheathed his claws, which had come out on instinct. His apprentice was strong, and had much more potential to become stronger, but he still couldn't hurt her while they were training. The tom ran at his apprentice, who leaped to one side and spun around on her back paws to rake his back with sheathed claws. In turn, Blackheart took the hit and delivered a blow to the side of Amberpaw's head. Said apprentice then reached down and pretended to scratch her mentor's belly. Taking advantage of Amberpaw's current position, Blackheart knocked over her back leg and pinned her down.
Willowheart turned in the medicine den, putting down some marigold she had found earlier. On the way back from her trip around the territory, she had, unsurprisingly, found Blackheart and Amberpaw sparring. From the looks of it, it was going to be a nice training session. Willowheart herself had a silvery-gray pelt and soft blue, almost gray, eyes. She was the medicine cat of RiverClan, yet didn't have an apprentice yet. Neither members of the two recent litters showed interest in healing, but it seemed a little early to judge.
After rearranging the herbs in the medicine den, the medicine cat padded outside to meet a rising sun. Already the Clan deputy, Reedfur, was organizing hunting and border patrols. She could see the deputy stifling a yawn as he listened to Lilypaw go on and on about what she was hoping they would do today. Lilypaw is a good, young she-cat, Willowheart thought. But she shows too much energy in the early times of the day for Reedfur, and it definitely shows.
While stretching her muscles, Willowheart glanced around the camp to find Streamtail, Smallpounce, and Fishtalon leaving on a hunting patrol. Best of luck to them. It may be well into newleaf but prey is still scarce.
Blackheart shook his head after getting dunked into the nearby pond. His apprentice was still going strong, not even showing the slightest sign that she was tired. That trait is what confused some of their enemies in battle- often even when a fight had been going on for the longest time, Amberpaw wouldn't show that she was exhausted, or if she was wounded, that it hurt. If she was battered, she kept a knowing glint in her eyes and pushed herself onward. Blackheart himself, however, did not share that trait, but he knew when to retreat and rest for a bit. Sometimes going on in a battle when you reach your limits can be a very bad thing, and most of the time, the cause of your downfall.
He shouldn't have thought that at the moment. Right when he snapped back to reality, he saw Amberpaw charging right at him. She made a leap and struggled with her mentor for quite a while, fighting to stay on top of him.
"Are you tired yet?" Amberpaw asked, a small smile creeping onto her face.
"Not…a…bit," Blackheart responded, though it was becoming obvious that he was losing the match this time. Eventually he gave in and surrendered, leaving Amberpaw to cheer for a moment. "Come on," he said. "We're going hunting next."
Amberpaw nodded and stretched a bit, then followed Blackheart out of the training grounds, watching the familiar scenery change from serene grass and water, with the occasional tree and reed, to a more wooded area as they neared the border with ThunderClan. Watching the trees loom ahead, she realized that her mentor had led her to a place right by Sunningrocks.
Streamtail gave thanks to StarClan as she buried the water vole she had just caught. While Fishtalon congratulated the former queen on the close catch, Smallpounce had crept up on a few fish and was about to sneak in and make them part of RiverClan's fresh-kill pile when Streamtail walked up, tail swishing behind her.
"Smallpounce!" the she-cat called; mouth wide.
Smallpounce growled as the fish swam out of his reach. "What is it?" he asked, slightly annoyed at his loss. Those fish were big, and larger fish are harder to come by lately, the tom thought.
"Smallpounce!"
His head jolted up, realizing he had drifted off. "Can you repeat that?" he mewed, feeling a bit embarrassed.
Streamtail rolled her eyes before answering. "I was saying that unless you want to get left behind, Fishtalon and I are heading over by the training grounds for some prey next."
"Yeah, I'm coming. It's not like I'll get lost, though. This is our home territory, it's not like we don't know it," Smallpounce mewed, following Streamtail through the territory.
It didn't take very long for the trio to arrive at their new hunting spot, and they all split up to cover the entire area. Fishtalon crept through the brush with his eyes and ears alert. Leafbare wasn't too long ago, and the Clan still needed all the prey they could get during these times, he thought. Due to hearing a rustle from a nearby bush, Fishtalon snuck over and waited until the squirrel was turned away from him, then pounced, quickly delivering a killing bite to his prey. He then thanked StarClan for the prey, then dug into the dirt and buried it before moving on.
Streamtail took care to step lightly in case any prey heard her and hid before she could spot them. The dark gray warrior turned to the tree on her left and began creeping towards it. She looked around the area, wondering where her prey could be. She snapped around and dove for two mice attempting to escape from the scene. She made quick work of thanking StarClan and burying the mice, and then padded deeper in the tree-filled section of the territory.
Smallpounce shifted his weight as he waited for the right moment to strike at his fish. When he set off, his paws led him to the river by Sunningrocks. It seemed like a part of him was determined to catch a few fish since Streamtail made him lose those ones earlier. He blinked once he saw the fish beginning to swim away. Narrowing his eyes, the tom took a step, and then leapt at the fish. He made a big splash when he landed, but there wasn't any other prey anyway. Carrying the fish in his jaws, he buried it far from the riverbank and continued on with the patrol.
So, what did you think? Not too bad for a new story, right?
Oh, if anyone would like to draw a cover for this story, please PM me!
Please review!