Eight moons. Eight moons had passed since Squirreltail-My used-to-be best friend, told me she was to have kits. Within that same moon, she had the kits. I remember when she'd called me in to see them, which sort of shocked me, why would she ask me to see her kits? Why should I? Was I even her friend anymore, wasn't I forgotten? I shook the thought away. If I kept thinking like that, I would end up hurting myself with my own words. But what bothered me the most, was the kits. The oldest kit-She was a beautiful apprentice now-With a silver tabby pelt, but her eyes... She had the same warm, kind look in her eyes that her mother had, the same look that haunted me now. But the other, that tom cat... They were both apprentices. And I may have liked Silverpaw-But that tom, I shouldn't take it out on him, but that stupid little... Rah! He was a kind apprentice, he was cheerful and helpful and always seemed to find a way to make the kits smile, but that apprentice, that black pelted apprentice... Was the spitting image of his father. Tall, with a raven black pelt. The only difference was in the eyes. Amber eyes, if I remember, those taunting amber eyes of Blackstorm's, as if trying to carve into my mind the fact that I didn't have her-That he had taken away my last friend. But Spiderpaw, he had icy blue eyes. Not amber. Not taunting in the same way, warm and kind and happy, like his mother's. As if that wasn't enough-As if there could be anything possibly more irritating than that raven black apprentice-He was my apprentice. My first apprentice, and it had to be his kit. As if taking my best friend wasn't enough.
"Snowfeather,"
I was shaken from my thoughts by the sound of a soft voice. I glanced around. I was sitting in the camp clearing, it was almost suhigh I guessed, but I wasn't going to look straight up into the sun to check, that would be by far the stupidest thing I could ever have possibly done in my whole life. For now at least. I glanced down at the bright, icy blue eyes that stared up at me. Spiderpaw. Why did he have to bother me now? Why not some other time, why now? Oh well. He was my apprentice, what could I do?
"What is it?"
I almost growled at the poor apprentice, but it didn't break his smile in the slightest. Perhaps he was too used to it by now, that it didn't bother him? How was I to know?! Don't snap at me for just coming up with suggestions! Maybe if your suggestions weren't so mouse-brained I wouldn't have to!
What am I doing? How can I argue with myself? Bah. Forget it.
"Can we practice battle moves today?"
The smile on the black-pelted tom sickened me. It was that smile again, it was his smile again. My lips curled in a snarl as I almost snapped at the tall apprentice,
"Fine. Come on."
I turned and padded off towards the tunnel leading out into the training hallow not far away. I hated the battle training with his kit. Everytime I looked at him, I saw Blackstorm, and I couldn't help from wanting to rip his fur to shreds. But I had to keep reminding myself that this wasn't Blackstorm, this wasn't that mouse-brained furrball I hated, this was an innocent young kit. But despite all the times I had forgotten common sense and unsheathed my claws in training, it always caught me of gaurd when he said he didn't mind. Why wouldn't he mind? Did he just think it was an accident, that I mistook him for an enemy warrior? His scent was slightly different from the rest of the Clans-Which I never seemed to understand-But still! What if I ended up injuring him one day? What if one day...
I killed him...?
