Chapter 1: the rude awakening

Often, what takes for me to wake is a simple prod on the side. However, waking up seemed to be a bit more precarious today, as I was in, to say it simply, a nightmare. I could tell it was a nightmare. There are no such things as giant felines in our territory.

The creature lunges. A set of black claws swipes at me, catching me off balance. I tumble into a heap, hitting something I can't discern. I squeeze my eyes shut, blindly diving out of its grasp as it leaps at me once again. I fall into a muddy trench. The mud sticks to me as I try to get up, but I can't. A strange emotion runs through my mind as my frenzied writhing does nothing to help me.

The monster is now above me. I can tell from the deep breaths above me. I slit open my eyes. The feline's gray fur is all I see, along with a flash of something icy blue.

"Free me…" it hisses into my flattened ears. "Free me…!"

"How?" I mumble, half to myself. "What are you?"

"Valleypaw! Valleypaw, wake up!"

My eyes open wide to blinding sunlight, penetrating the darkness of the apprentice's den. I see Thicketpaw's stocky figure, his brown fur fluffed up.

"Why are you sleeping?" he hisses. "Fernsplash's going to kill you!" He nearly trips over his paws in a hurry to get out. "Come on!"

I groan, stumbling out of a warm, cozy nest into a cold afternoon.

"Why does it have to be leaf-bare when I have my final exam?" I say in annoyance. "Hunting and fighting in piles of snow isn't exactly my forte!"

"Well, bad luck for you," a voice replies. I bump into the speaker and look up, seeing a bunch of white fur.

"Creekwater!" Thicketpaw mews. "I'm ready for my second assessment!"

"That's all well and good, Thicketpaw," Creekwater admits, "but I'm afraid the stream froze over yesterday. Your swimming assessment has been postponed until that stream melts. On the other hand, your navigation assessment will be held today. Valleypaw," he continues, addressing me this time, "you will first be taking your hunting assessment. You will hunt alongside the north side of the stream. Your mission is to bring back two pieces of prey before sunhigh. You will have your fighting assessment tomorrow if you pass this one."

Grunting in acknowledgment, I pad past the warrior and head towards the entrance of the maze. I nod towards Roseclaw, who is standing guard. She narrows her eyes at me and sniffs; whether if it is in contempt or annoyance, I cannot be too sure.

Making my way through the swerves and turns through the maze that I call home, I think about the nightmare. Gray fur and icy blue eyes… In my life, I have yet to meet a cat who matches that description. I pass through another wall. The fresh snow crunches beneath my feet. The sunlight doesn't help much in quelling the cold feeling seeping through my tabby fur.

I shake myself from my thoughts and get a move on.

Circling the maze, I hear the dry rustling in the trees. Looking up, there is a very recognizable blue-gray pelt – one that I have become well-acquainted with. I snort.

"Hey, Thornpaw!" I yowl. "Why don't you come down and face me like a warrior?"

A poorly stifled laugh echoes down, along with a bundle of tortoiseshell fur. The medicine cat apprentice lands, lacking the grace she usually says she has.

"I'm not a warrior, I'm a healer," she laughs at my disgruntled face. "Besides, you should probably be hunting squirrels, not chatting with some medicine cat who just accidently fell from a tree. I got to get back hunting honey. Chat later!" Thornpaw swarms back up the tree.

I stare at the tree trunk for a few moments more before shaking my head and padding forward. Weird.

Thornpaw, to say the least about her, isn't exactly a friend – a former acquaintance, no more. I prefer to not dwell on the past for much longer, as I have more felines that I can call acceptable than she.

My wandering comes to a halt as I look up at the tree before me. A bird. Most likely a sparrow, judging from the flashes of creamy brown I'm getting. Stealthy as a snake, I latch onto the tree. Creeping up, the sound of rustling leaves is like having an avalanche happening around you. It's a good cover for me, however. A quick leap and a deft shutting of the jaws is all it takes – not a single call of help is uttered from the bird.

Satisfied, I leap down. I am less graceful when landing – it's apparent that the snow is melting a bit more quickly than usual. I slip and land on my side, nearly losing my prey in the process.

"Get it together, Valleypaw," I mutter to myself. "You still have a long way to go."

A while later, I have an additional mouse in my jaws and I'm proudly trotting back to camp. My belly rumbles inconspicuously as I pad back into the circular grove. I utter a slight grunt of greeting to a passing patrol. A couple of the cats nod back at me. I head over to the Sky Tree. There is a sleeping russet figure beneath. Unceremoniously dumping my two pieces of prey in front of the blissfully unknowing feline, my annoyance sparks. Squishing those sparks doesn't do much good, really. My tabby fur bristles up.

"Valleypaw." A calm voice speaks behind me. I whirl around to face a brown tabby. Fernsplash.

"Yes, Fernsplash?" I struggle to keep my voice from dropping into a growl.

Fernsplash pads forwards and sniffs at the bird and the mouse. "Two pieces of prey. Before sunhigh, I see." She nods, amber eyes speaking of approval. "I'll inform Flamepool that you passed this assessment. Go eat your share of prey. Then go accompany Larkeye, Redstone, Maplegrove, Feathernose, and Thornpaw on their herb-collecting and border checking patrol. Be back before sundown, okay?" Fernsplash presses her nose against my forehead. "Don't worry your old mentor."

I snort. "You're not that old," I say. "You're way younger than Risingsun. He's really old."

Fernsplash stifles a purr. "I'll thank you for that, but I doubt that Risingsun would be very happy to know that you talked about him like that."

"I'm sure he won't be very happy," I call over my shoulder. I make my way to the fresh-kill pile. It looks fairly scraggly – a lack of hunting patrols and also a lack of prey during leaf-bare, I suppose. Picking up a measly shrew, I trudge through a few snowdrifts, until a rather large bundle of fur knocks into me.

"Oof!" I choke out.

"Give up!" A voice hisses into my ear.

I let out a mock growl. "Never!"

"Then you've asked for it!" A small paw presses on the side of my neck.

"Bleargh!" I cry out dramatically. I let my paws go limp and my 'attacker' get off me.

"Yes!" a pale brown she-kit crows. "I caught the oldest apprentice in the clan off-guard!"

I groan. "Do you really have to rub that fact in my face, Rabbitkit? Especially when I've just been caught off-guard by a kit?"

"I'm four moons old!" Rabbitkit glares pointedly at me, fluffing out her pale ginger fur. "I can take you on any time I want!"

"Sure, sure," I chuckle. "Let me know when you get that squirrel off the ground." I put down my shrew. "Want to share?"

Rabbitkit's eyes brighten immediately. "Yes!"

"Hey!" Rabbitkit's brother, Owlkit, skids to a halt next to us. "I want some shrew!"

"You two have this," I tell them. "I'll just not eat today."

Rabbitkit tips her head. "Are you sure?"

"Very." My stomach lets out a rumble of protest. Rabbitkit and Owlkit exchange apprehensive glances. "Ignore that. Just eat the shrew, I'm going to go on patrol soon anyway."

"Okay!" Owlkit's the first one to pick up the piece of prey and rush off. "Thanks, Valleypaw!"

Rabbitkit nods and chases after her brother, yowling, "Hey, prey-stealer! Come back with that MazeClan shrew!"

I look at them disappear into the nursery. It was just a few moons ago that Thornpaw and I –

I shake my head. No. She decided to cut off the bond between us first, there is no need for me to keep on remembering those painful memories.

"Valleypaw!" A yowl echoes across the circular grove. I turn to see the silver tabby fur of Feathernose, who definitely does not look very happy.

I sigh deeply. I suppose my life just spins around in this manner. "Coming!"