"Branchpaw! Hurry up, you slow hedgehog!" Creekwhisker called from the distance. Branchpaw was in GrassClan's forest, trying to keep up with his mentor, Creekwhisker.
"I can't run as fast as you!" Branchpaw yelled through his gasps. "S-slow down a bit!" Instantly, Creekwhisker sped to a stop, and turned her head to look at her apprentice. From the look on her face, Branchpaw could tell he had done something wrong. He fell silent. Creekwhisker slowly padded back towards him, her expression furious. Branchpaw's tail and ears drooped, and his body trembled.
"What. Did. You. Just. Tell. Me. To. Do?" Creekwhisker hissed.
"I-I..." Branchpaw was lost for words. Afraid, he took a step away from his mentor, and as a result, she took a step closer to him.
"Speak!" she commanded.
"I asked you to slow down a bit so that I could catch up," he meowed softly, trying to seem confident.
"You did not ask me. You told me. That is unacceptable. What are you, Branchpaw?"
Branchpaw had been asked this question many times before. "A-an apprentice," his voice was hardly a whisper.
"And who am I?" Creekwhisker demanded.
"My m-mentor."
"So who is in control, Branchpaw, me or you? Who is allowed to tell the other what to do?"
"You are, Creekwhisker."
"Then remember that and don't tell me what to do ever again." With that, Creekwhisker trotted off ahead of Branchpaw. He reluculantly followed. As they walked in silence, Branchpaw noticed that they had passed Training Hollow, which was the place that Creekwhisker was going to take him.
"C-Creekwhisker?" he broke the silence. "I thought we were going to go to Training Hollow?"
Creekwhisker turned her head. Branchpaw froze in fear. "Not anymore," she meowed through gritted teeth. "Now I'm taking you somewhere else. No more questions!" she spat. Branchpaw clamped his jaws shut and willed them not to open again. At last, they reached the river, the border between GrassClan and StoneClan's territory. There was a fat log stretching over the river, a pathway so that GrassClan cats could easily get to the Gathering Place on Gathering night.
"Stop," Creekwhisker ordered. Branchpaw did. Creekwhisker turned around, her tail nearly touching the edge before the river.
"Branchpaw." she mewed softly, her anger seeming to fade away. "Sootstar received a prophecy the night you were born. A StarClan cat informed him of the future. That you, Branchpaw, would be the next leader of GrassClan. As his deputy, he told me about this prophecy."
What? Me? Why me? Is it true? I'm going to be the next leader? Branchpaw wished he ask his mentor these questions, but he could not, due to her orders.
"We're crossing the river, now. You go first," Creekwhisker gently nudged Branchpaw over to the log. He slowly but surely began to cross it, his heart punding over the news that had just been delivered to him. He didn't even question why Creekwhisker was bringing him into When he was about halfway across the log and Creekwhisker was following, she began to speak again. The calmness and kindness in her voice suddenly dropped.
"Do you know what this prophecy means to me? Do you know, Branchpaw?It brings me great disappointment. GrassClan will never survive with you as it's leader. So I simply cannot let that happen." Without any warning, Creekwhisker shoved Branchpaw off of the log into the rushing water where he would surely drown. He grasped onto the bottom of the log, and his claws dug into the wood. He hung over the water, but he could not hold on for long.
Creekwhisker bent down and stared into Branchpaw's eyes. "Pathetic," she hissed. She began to detach Branchpaw's claws from the log. He would soon fall into the river. Terror ran through Branchpaw's entire body, terror he had not ever felt before. Branchpaw could not beleive it. It was a nightmare come to life.
His mentor was trying to kill him.