This chapter is more of a filler. It's also sort of short. To anyone who read Lily of the Valley, Snowpaw is a new character, to anyone who wasn't... she's still a new character I guess... Things WILL get more interesting next time this pov comes along, but I needed a chapter to explain certain things.
review answers at the bottom.
"Duck! Swipe left- No! Right. Stop leaving your tail exp-
Snowpaw groaned internally as she hit the ground with an audible thud, immersing her white fur in the fine layer of mud that littered the ground. It was at times like these that she regretted on taking up on Springleap's offer. Of course Gingerpaw would beat her every time; she was the only one allowed to train!
"Snowpaw!" Ruthless looked to be the most accurate way to describe Gingerpaw's mentor when it came to training. "Don't just lie there! Get up-Can't you see she's leaving herself exposed! Gingerpaw, never let your guard down, it could be you downfall in a real battle." Springleap was pacing now, muttering pessimistic words about the future of both apprentices.
Snowpaw leaped to her paws, lashing out at Gingerpaw's ears and cuffing them just hard enough to disorient the tabby she-cat. She was surprised when Springleap stopped yowling angry comments, and pacing, long enough for her to leap over her sparring partner and kick out her legs from beneath her. As a matter of fact, it almost looked as though she was paying no attention to the fight as Gingerpaw found her balance easily and retaliated by pinning a distracted Snowpaw's tail to immobilize her as she pummelled her with strikes given from sheathed claws.
"Darkclaw! What brings you here?" Springleap suddenly meowed with exaggerated volume. Gingerpaw and Snowpaw froze, exchanging worried glances as both of them scrambled to their paws and tried to come up with reasonable excuses. Luckily Springleap beat them to it, "I was just training with Gingerpaw."
"Why's Snowpaw's here with you?" He didn't seem particularly threatening as he spoke, but it was enough to kindle the spark of fear that she, Shadowfern, and every other cat like them surely harboured.
"I needed some cat Gingerpaw's height for target practice," She intoned with what was a carefully practiced act of undisguised boredom. Darkclaw appeared satisfied with her answer, but let out one last comment before answering his clanmate's question, "Snowpaw's much smaller, and you know Blackstar would be furious if he caught you practicing training moves with one of them. You should be more careful. Actually, that's why I'm here. You were supposed to be on border patrol with Troutwhisker, Sunstrike, and Goldpaw and I; you can't just keep on skipping your duties." With that, he left.
"Half-moon;Moonhigh. Got it?" Springleap mewed, padding towards the river after Darkclaw. Gingerpaw followed, casting an apologetic glance towards her before disappearing with a loud splash followed by a few harsh words of reprimand from her mentor for being too loud and scaring away all the prey. Snowpaw was left to mull what boring chore she would pretend she had been completing.
"Let all cats old enough to swim across the river gather here for a clan meeting!" Snowpaw flicked her ear; Flightstar always acted as though every cat was deaf when calling on meetings, but she was sure any cat near sunningrocks could still hear her.
"Vixenpaw, Deerpaw, and Snowpaw, please step forwards." Even if she had tried, Snowpaw couldn't have accurately described her feelings at the moment. Her heart nearly skipped a beat every time her eyes met Swallownose or Flightstar's, and she couldn't help the sinking feeling that had made residence in her conscience. She could see that Vixenpaw was just as scared, but Deerpaw's eyes were gleaming, his fur well-groomed, and he appeared confident that the punishment afflicted to random clan members would not be bestowed upon him.
From the corner of her eye, Snowpaw caught Gingerpaw, Goldpaw, and Reedpaw, casting reassuring grins her way. Goldpaw even took the risk of miming Flightstar's overly dramatic way of speaking, with exaggerated eye rolls. Gingerpaw halfheartedly joined him, but she was more careful not to be noticed by any warriors. Goldpaw, on the other hand, was promptly cuffed over the ears by an extremely unamused-looking Sleetfall.
Usually, the oldest cat was the first to be called forwards, but Snowpaw was forced to watch with increasing anxiety as first Deerpaw, then Vixenpaw were called forth and formerly accepted as apprentices of Riverclan after having passed the assessment that determined the course of their entire lives. Any other cat might have asked what the assessment itself was, but Snowpaw had been Riverclan her whole life, and she knew better than to try to get an answer. No cat other than Swallownose and Flightstar knew what the assessment was, cats were told that all they needed to know was that they had been evaluated since kithood, nothing more.
"Snowpaw, step forwards." Looking back at the ceremony, she told herself that she should have caught the tell-tale signs; the ones that were all she should have needed to confirm the fact that her apprenticeship was indeed about to take a turn for the worse.
"As you all know, after two days, new apprentices are evaluated." Another sign that Snowpaw hadn't noticed- the way that Flightstar the 'mighty leader' almost looked as though she felt guilty and slightly confused. "After much time, we have decided that it be best if Snowpaw trained alongside Shadowpaw." If cats had previously been chattering away amongst themselves, not truly paying attention, they were definitely all focused at that point. Snowpaw could practically feels their stares buring into her pelt.
"Meeting dismissed."
Snowpaw had of course heard stories of cats being frozen in shock, but it wasn't until that moment that she understood the true meaning of it. She saw cats leaving, knew that her friends had gone, and still, she sat at the same spot in the clearing. She should be upset, or annoyed, frustrated, embarrassed, and yet she felt nothing. It wasn't until she noticed one other pair of eyes directed her way that she felt feeling rush back to her limbs.
She was fairly certain that she probably looked rather dejected, and she she sat up stiffly, meeting the eyes of the calico she-cat that still sat at the edge of the clearing. Shadowpaw's eyes were filled with hatred, and Snowpaw was prepared to glare back at her until it occurred to her that the green-eyed apprentice's anger was in fact directed towards Swallownose, who was sitting at the mouth of his den, wordlessly observing the two apprentices.
She had hardly finished weaving reeds to block a gap in the nursery wall, that she was fairly sure Spotkit had made, when she was called by Troutflight. Sunhigh was nearing, and the light drizzle that had been hanging over the clans for the past few days had lifted, it wasn't uncommon for her to be bothered more frequently on days like these. "Snowpaw? Swallownose asked me to fetch you. Apparently a branch fell through the roof of the medicine den."
There were plenty of apprentices in Riverclan, six to be exact, and five out of those six were currently training. There was no name for what cats like Snowpaw and Shadowfoot were, and so the two she-cats had taken to calling themselves 'the chosen ones'. It irritated Swallownose when he caught them, but so far no cat had ever outright reprimanded them for vainly attempting to ridicule the clan leaders. There was no specific place for them in the clan either, but they tended to be the ones asked to fix dens, take inventory of herbs and prey, divide the former evenly amongst cats, help the medicine cats, etc. In between the tasks, they basically had nothing to do. They had no mentors, and the punishments for being caught training were strict:not worth the risk.
"Alright I'll take care of it." She mewed, dipping her head in so-called politeness to hide the way her eyes had narrowed in annoyance.
'Chosen' cats were often disreguarded and scorned, for they did not quite earn their keep the same way as the other. Most of all, any cat that crossed their path was often surrounded by a cloud of confusion, because there was no real reason to waste a perfectly healthy cat by forbidding them to train. They frequently theorized that there was something that they weren't being told, that something was off about the Chosen. Snowpaw and Shadowfoot were avoided, it was simple as that.
She reluctantly padded over to the medecine den, only to stop in her tracks seconds before she reached the entrance. Inside, it was airy and spacious, but that wasn't the source of her problem, which stemmed from the fact that it was nearly pitch-black inside the den. There was no branch protruding from the roof and no sunlight spilling into the dwelling. She began to back away as it dawned on her that Troutflight had been trying to humiliate her, only to find a mass of reddish-brown fur barring her way out.
For a brief moment she nearly panicked at the sight of Swallownose, green eyes narrowed and fur bristling in what she, through her own fear, was able to decipher as...also fear. "If you don't have a good reason to be here, the exit is that way." He flicked his tail towards the clearing.
She didn't need to be told twice. As she padded back into the clearing, unsuccessfully trying to ignore Troutflight and Sunstrike's snickers of laughter, she felt Blackfoot's stare boring into her back.
Someday you will be nothing but ashes and I'll be on top...
Riverclan allegiances(these will become more accurate with some events next chapter)
Leader:
Blackstar: Black tom with dark green eyes.
Deputy:
Brookpath: Brown tabby and white she-cat with blue eyes.
Medecine cat:
Swallownose: Red tabby tom with green eyes.
Warriors:
Alderstripe: White tom with grey tabby stripes and amber eyes.
Greyfeather: Dark grey tabby she-cat with amber eyes.
Shadowfoot: Calico she-cat with dark green eyes
Springleap: White she-cat with blue-grey stripes and odd eyes (amber and blue).
Mentor to Gingerpaw.
Sleetfall: Grey tabby she-cat with blue eyes.
Goldpaws mentor.
Darkclaw: Dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes.
Ebonyeye : White she-cat with extremely dark blue eyes.
Greyflash: Cream she-cat with one grey stripe of fur and grey eyes.
Mentor to Vixenpaw.
Quickeye: Brown and white she-cat with green eyes.
Mudpelt: Dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes.
Reedpaws mentor
Hailfoot: Grey tom with white paws and blue eyes.
Floodfur: Blue-grey tabby tom with unusually, or so at least for a Riverclan cat, long fur and green eyes.
Troutflight: Yellow tom with amber eyes.
Mentor to Deerpaw
Sunstrike: Yellow tabby tom with amber eyes.
Apprentices:
Reedpaw: Dark ginger tabby tom with green eyes.
Gingerpaw: Ginger tabby she-cat with green eyes.
Goldpaw: Grey tabby tom with golden eyes
Vixenpaw: Ginger she-cat with yellow eyes.
Deerpaw: Dark brown tabby tom with yellow eyes.
Snowpaw: White she-cat with black paws, tail-tip, and ear. Amber eyes.
Queens:
Morningdew: Ginger and white spotted she-cat with blue eyes.
Kits:
Firkit: Brown tabby she-kit with green eyes.
Spotkit: Spotted brown and white tom with green eyes.
Elders:
Lynxpelt: Tortoiseshell she-cat with grey eyes.
Badgerstripe: Ginger tabby tom with grey eyes.
I already said this-but sort of a filler chapter.
Review answers:
I-Really-Hope-Not: Thanks, sorry for taking so long to update.
SwiftstormWrites: Thanks for the advice, I tend to write sentences that are too long.
Fyremyst: Thanks, and you're actually completely right. I tend to have hard time describing emotions... But some mentions of the eyes are there for a reason that will makes sense at some point.
Silver:Thanks, I'll try.
Please review and leave constructive criticism.
-Key
