Disclaimer: Hollytuft, Fernsong, and Sorrelstripe aren't available when you go to select characters for the story, but 2/3 are in this.
"Hollypaw! No, go under him! Hollypaw, agh-" Cloudtail broke off his directing with a grunt, briefly shutting his eyes and sighing. He looked to Rosepetal who was sat beside him and murmured something to her. The black she-cat glanced between her brother, Fernpaw, and her mentor with tired eyes.
"We've been going over this for nearly half a moon, you should have it by now." Cloudtail told her, his tone level, but the way his fluffy tail was twitching told Hollypaw the senior Warrior was getting frustrated.
Hollypaw said nothing in reference to her mentor's words, just stood and got into position to re-do the move.
"Stop!"
Right as she was about to leap towards Fernpaw, Rosepetal lashed her tail. "Your tail should be low to hold your balance, and your paws further apart..." She used her own paws to nudge Hollypaw's limbs into place, the apprentice nodding in determination. Cloudtail stood to the side to allow the apprentices room.
Hollypaw launched herself forward, sloppily bowling her brother over. She yelped as she accidentally pinned her right leg under herself, Fernpaw easily pulling himself out from under her and pinning her down.
"Get off her Fernpaw." Rosepetal ordered her apprentice, the muscular tom complying. Hollypaw slowly sat up, panting from the struggle, and glanced over at Cloudtail. Her mentor was shaking his head, mumbling to himself before looking up to meet her eyes.
"I've shown you how to do it StarClan knows how many times, Hollypaw." The senior Warrior sighed, rising to his paws. "Stay here for a moment. I want to have a word with Rosepetal."
The two Warriors padded off, going outside of the mossy clearing. The black apprentice angrily swiped at the ground, a chunk of moss and dirt flying up into the air.
"Whoa," Fernpaw remarked, wincing as bits of dirt rained back down. "You'll get the hang of it." He mewed comfortingly, nudging her shoulder with his own. Hollypaw didn't respond, just quietly padded forward to the line of thick trees that surrounded the mossy hollow.
She head the voice of Rosepetal meow, "Today was supposed to be their mid-training assessment. I heard Sorrelpaw passed this morning with flying colors."
Cloudtail sighed heavily, and Hollypaw could hear his tail thumping against the ground. "Fernpaw isn't doing bad at all. Hollypaw though...she has no battle skill, and this morning she let two mice get away."
The young she-cat flattened her ears to her head, feeling completely ashamed of herself. He's right. I can't do anything for this Clan. She just didn't seem to have the natural abilities her littermates had. She lost her balance while trying to hunt squirrels and birds in the trees, and she was too clumsy and heavy-footed for catching voles and mice. And battle skills, well...the only thing she could hurt was herself. I'm completely useless.
"She must have some skill!" Rosepetal exclaimed, her tone exasperated. "She was named after Hollyleaf, after all." Hollypaw hunched down as she saw Rosepetal rise to her paws and pace back and forth.
"And Lionblaze is one of the most skilled cats in battle the Clans have ever known." Cloudtail pointed out, his ear flicking.
Hollypaw flinched as Fernpaw squeezed in beside her, straining his head forward to listen too.
"And don't forget about her mother. Cinderheart is one of the brightest cats I know." Rosepetal continued, earning a scoff from the white tom.
"Hollypaw isn't stupid, but she's not a genius either. Maybe she has a skill that isn't as common as you'd think." Cloudtail reasoned, and Hollypaw could see him tip his head to the side thoughtfully.
"My best skill is tracking. Perhaps she is fast, or maybe even a swimmer."
The she-cat appreciated her mentor having hope for her, but she shook her head. She could never run as fast as the other kits and apprentices, and she hated the water. When Squirrelflight had taken the apprentices out to learn to swim, it took her twice as long to catch on as it did the others. It felt as if StarClan had simply destined her to be basic, below average.
"It wouldn't be so bad if she wasn't so bad." Rosepetal retorted dryly, Hollypaw feeling worse by the second. Fernpaw rested his tail against her back beside her, whispering.
"You're not that bad. You have a hidden talent and we just have to find it." She looked over at him gratefully, but said nothing.
Cloudtail meowed nothing back, but turned to head back into the hollow. Hollypaw acted quickly, tackling her brother and rolling backwards with him to make it look like they had been practicing the whole time.
"Nice front-paw-blow!" Cloudtail called out, Rosepetal coming to the other side of them.
"Fernpaw, go for her belly!"
Hollypaw faltered as her brother's sheathed paws pummeled her belly, but she forced herself to recover. She smoothly wrapped her paws around his neck and jerked, flipping him onto his side, and then pinning him.
"I've never seen that counter attack." Rosepetal meowed, mouth slightly gaped in awe. Cloudtail watched with impressed eyes.
"Where did you learn that?" He asked, eye brows raised. Hollypaw looked at them, puffing out her chest in pride.
"I didn't, I just went with it." She mewed, glancing at Fernpaw with bright eyes. He stood up and fake limped, earning a chuckle from his mentor.
"Well, your battle skills might be a little slow...but you just invented a new move." Cloudtail mewed, amusement in his tone. His whiskers twitched and he swept the ground with his tail.
Hollypaw mewed a thank you, and for a moment felt better. She still hadn't found her hidden talent, but at least she was good for something.
A/N: Thanks for reading! If you like this, feel free to follow me, because I'm going to be writing many little stories like this from various prompts and challenges, mostly from the POV of ThunderClan's cats, but occasionally from the other Clans as well. Please review before you go :)
I'm not really content with the ending to this, and I didn't really put as much effort into this as my other stories, but meh. I'm quite busy and I had to go on and off all day to spit this out. My next ones will be longer and more descriptive.