Chapter 2

Nettlepaw stood tall, blood dripping down his whiskers as his ice cold gaze raked over the body of the ThunderClan warrior he had slain. Jayfire's stare bore into the back of his skull and he turned around to face his mother.

"Excellent." The black tabby purred as she brushed along her son's thick fur.

"Very much so." Cardinalfoot commented calmly, flicking an ear at the mother and son. Nettlepaw felt his gaze land on him and he returned the stare to his mentor. Cardinalfoot simply smirked at him. "Palestar will be pleased to hear about this."

"Oh yes!" Jayfire returned with gleaming orange eyes to the deputy and then looking back to her son. She brushed her cheek against his neck. "Let us return, you should have first pick of the fresh-kill pile, right, Cardinalfoot?"

He nodded in agreement, kicking away the limp body of the ThunderClan warrior that the apprentice had just slaughtered and began walking through the pine forest back to the ShadowClan camp. He turned to look at his apprentice, Nettlepaw with a warm gaze. Nettlepaw glanced at him with cold blue eyes. "I did as asked." The apprentice said simply.

"You did." Cardinalfoot began. "And you did well. Your first kill as well, I believe. I knew you had potential when I first laid eyes on you."

"On account of my father?" Nettlepaw returned with a steady gaze. He lashed his tail a bit as his paws pressed into the marshy earth beneath him. Nettlepaw flicked a sharp dark gray ear at his mentor as though challenging the deputy. He didn't want to be praised simply for what his father had accomplished, but rather on his own skill and merit.

"Of course not." Cardinalfoot scoffed, getting a light giggle from Jayfire ahead of them. Cardinalfoot blinked slowly and then turned to face Nettlepaw's steady but hard gaze. "You are your own cat. You do have a lot to live up to, I understand that. But you are doing very well on your own."

The thick pine branches covering the entrance of the camp loomed ahead of them, two guard cats stood at the entrance. Nettlepaw nodded rigidly to both of them on the way in, pine needles scraping against his pelt. The camp was bustling with activity, Rockyspeck and Dewmask were entertaining their kits in the center of camp, Palestar watching from a tree stump near the leader's den. The night-black tom drew a tongue over his paw and washed his ear, still keeping close blue eyes on the rushing kits.

Palestar blinked when he noticed Nettlepaw and Jayfire enter the camp with Cardinalfoot trailing behind. The deputy walked past the mother and son to the leader and whispered for a bit to the leader, Nettlepaw suddenly felt a knot in his throat when Palestar landed his cold eyes on Nettlepaw. He stood up and approached them, sharp eyes trained on Nettlepaw.

"So you've slaughtered a ThunderClan warrior." He said with frost edging his voice.

"Yes, Palestar." Nettlepaw meowed steadily.

Palestar looked him over for a moment when Cardinalfoot added, "Jayfire and I believe that perhaps he should have first pick of the fresh-kill pile today."

Jayfire nodded in agreement to the deputy's statement. Palestar narrowed his eyes and turned around. "That sounds fine to me. You've done well, Nettlepaw. Your first kill I believe?"

"Yes, sir."

His blue eyes glinted over his shoulder as he looked at Nettlepaw with a sideways stare. He fully looked away and padded back to the tree stump. "Tell the kits. I'm sure they'd love to hear about it."

"Yes, sir." Nettlepaw replied stiffly, relaxing his muscles when he realized that he was no longer in Palestar's gaze. He released a breath he didn't realize he was holding as Jayfire lightly draped her fluffy tail over his shoulder.

"He's proud of you."

"He doesn't seem like it." Nettlepaw meowed quickly without thinking. He quickly turned away, his blue gaze flickering nervously. "I'm sorry, I meant-"

"No, I understand." Jayfire purred comfortingly, watching Cardinalfoot trot away from the others to speak to Nightstem, who was also watching the kits. "Your father loves you very much." She added in a lower voice, as though afraid Palestar would hear her.

Nettlepaw shook his pelt and walked away from her toward the kits, sensing the air of sudden rejection surrounding the molly. He stepped to the kits, ignoring the questioning glances of Rockyspeck and Dewmask. The large dark tabby sat down near the kits who were all turned to the apprentice at this point.

"Nettlepaw!" Fennelkitt squealed as he stumbled over his sisters, Goldenkit and Softkit. He skidded in front of Nettlepaw with large glittering amber eyes. "What did you do on patrol today!?"

Softkit and Goldenkit soon followed after their black brother with narrowed eyes. Goldenkit growled and snapped at her brother, "Don't walk over me like that!" She licked Softkit's cheek defensively. "You almost hurt Softkit!"

"You're not the boss of me, Goldenkit!" Fennelkit hissed.

Dewmask blinked at the kits and then stood up, waving his tail in a friendly manner to his sister. "I'll bring more food later." He told Rockyspeck. "Tell Stonewatcher I said hi!" The tom trotted over to Cardinalfoot away from the queen and kits. Nettlepaw blinked curiously at the exchange.

"Nettlepaw!" Fennelkit insisted with a small hiss. "Tell us what you did!"

Nettlepaw sat down, massive compared to the size of the kits. "I was on patrol with Jayfire and the deputy. We ran into a ThunderClan cat stealing prey on our territory. So," he dug his claws into the ground recounting the moment he sunk his claws into the small warrior's throat and ripping away at fur. "I attacked him, and then killed him." The apprentice licked his paw coolly as Fennelkit stared with wide-eyes.

"Can we go back to the nursery now…?" Softkit mumbled to Goldenkit.

"How did you do it?" Goldenkit ignored her sister, fluffing up her golden-brown tail.

"I pounced on him. And he rolled over into the mud." Nettlepaw began with a cold stare to the kits. "Then I cut open his throat with my claws." He raised his paw to show some flecks of blood that remained. Goldenkit and Fennelkit squealed in excitement. Fennelkit turned around and pounced onto Goldenkit, drawing a paw innocently across her throat with them both giggling.

"I'll kill you!" Fennelkit laughed.

"Nooo!" Goldenkit wailed as she kicked her brother off of her, circling each other around Rockyspeck, the queen obviously exhausted at this point. Softkit slowly crawling her way to her mother and buried herself into her stomach fur.

Nettlepaw lowered his gaze at the bloodied paw again and back at the kits play-fighting. He twitched his tail uneasily as he watched Goldenkit sink her teeth into Fennelkit's scruff with a declaration that she's "killed him". Nettlepaw suddenly felt sick to his stomach and he looked away, eyes widening as though in a realization. It didn't take long for him to shake away the thought. No. This is what Palestar wanted of me. The death of one measly ThunderClan warrior is justified. He was stealing prey… right?

"You seem distracted, Nettlepaw." Meowed a strong voice behind the apprentice. The dark tabby turned to look at Stonewatcher, the father of Rockyspeck's kits. The massive golden tom sat down next to Nettlepaw, and suddenly the apprentice felt like a warm gaze covered him. "I remember my first kill." He began calmly. "A RiverClan apprentice. We were fighting over some territory. It didn't take much for me to overpower her."

"An apprentice." He began. "Were you an apprentice at the time as well?"

"Yes." Stonewatcher affirmed, keeping his gaze fixated on his kits. "How old are you, Nettlepaw?"

The apprentice looked away, suddenly feeling uneasy. "Eight moons." He said calmly.

Stonewatcher gave a gentle chuckle and shuffled his paws until he was laying down on the soft earth. He smiled again at Nettlepaw who didn't return the gaze. Nettlepaw blanked out his stare over at the kits, but was really looking somewhere else entirely, somewhere not on this plane of existence. "You're an excellent apprentice. Perhaps one day you can become Nettlestar."

"No." Nettlepaw hastily said. "I don't think I can do that. I could never replace my father."

Stonewatcher gave a gentle smile and stood up, stretching his limbs. "I have a patrol to catch with Dewmask. I'll see you later, Nettlepaw." The tom walked over to Cardinalfoot and Dewmask, beginning to speak to one another.

Nettlepaw took another look at the kits. Softkit whimpering in Rockyspeck's fur and Goldenkit and Fennelkit mock-killing one another. He shook his head and turned to go to the fresh-kill pile to pick out something to eat, brushing away any doubts in his mind.