Finally back! How are we only on chapter two? Don't worry, I'll get that fixed. I'll be updating more often and begin doing shoutouts here to the people who review. Hope you enjoy!
Flameheart88 - Glad you're enjoying the book so far! :)
"Oh would you hurry up already, Shadepaw?" Lightpaw moaned. She was sitting outside of the apprentices den with Hickorypaw. "Give him some time" Hickorypaw said. "He's probably just tired."
It had been a quarter moon since the battle with StoneClan. Shadepaw's belly was still hurting from his cut.
"I work my tail off everyday! I do way more than him. If anything, I should be the one getting some sleep for once." Lightpaw growled. "Be patient, he's coming." Hickorypaw told her.
Shadepaw was still trying to get up. He was really tired from yesterday. Shadepaw went on the dawn patrol, hunted for a while, and had battle training with Hickorypaw. Of course he would be tired! Why couldn't Lightpaw understand that?
He blinked the weariness from his eyes and stepped outside. The sun was shining bright, making Shadepaw squint. It was a much different atmosphere than the apprentices den. "It's about time!" Lightpaw exclaimed. "Sorry?" Shadepaw meowed. Oh StarClan, why is she always like this? Impatient and rude.
Shadepaw shook the thought from his mind. He and the other apprentices were being assessed today. I know she doesn't want to be late, but she could give me a break, right? Right? Shadepaw followed the others outside. They were supposed to be meeting Lightningstripe in the Evergreen Grounds.
"How are you feeling today, Shadepaw?" Hickorypaw asked. "I'm okay." Shadepaw meowed. "How are you?"
"I'm doing great! I'm a little nervous for the assessment, but I'm also excited." Hickorypaw smiled. Seeing his friend happy made Shadepaw smile too. Hickorypaw was usually a positive cat. Even when she's nervous, she still has a smile on her face. I don't know how she does it.
"Don't worry, you'll do fine." Shadepaw comforted her. "Thanks." Hickorypaw replied, blushing.
Shadepaw watched his sister and Hickorypaw battle. Lightpaw slashed at Hickorypaw's head with unsheathed claws. Shadepaw gasped when he saw blood swell on Hickorypaw's head.
"You can do it, Hickorypaw!" Shadepaw encouraged. But it didn't look good for the tortoiseshell apprentice. Though Hickorypaw was finally able to scratch Lightpaw's shoulder, it soon went downhill.
Lightpaw dodged Hickorypaw's scratches and jumped onto her back. She bit down hard on Hickorypaw's leg, making her wail in pain. Hickorypaw grabbed Lightpaw by the scruff and tried to throw her.
But Hickorypaw wasn't as strong as she had thought, and Lightpaw didn't go very far. The white apprentice immediately jumped up and clawed Hickorypaw's ear. Lightpaw moved with lightning speed and hit hard. Hickorypaw was no match for the older apprentice.
Lightpaw, once again, easily escaped Hickorypaw's attacks. She twisted around Hickorypaw's leg, jumped onto her back again, and dug her claws into her back. Hickorypaw tried to counterattack, but it didn't really work out for her. Lightpaw was still attached to her back.
"Very good. Lightpaw, you can stop now." Lightningstripe said. The tall, gray deputy was sitting next to Shadepaw. "No way!" Lightpaw exclaimed. "We're not done! I was just getting started!"
"I don't want to hear it, Lightpaw." Lightningstripe told her. "Hickorypaw, go see Ivywillow and get your scratches checked out." "Thank you, Lightningstripe." Hickorypaw said, out of breath. She dipped her head and then limped back to camp.
"Well now what am I supposed to do?" Lightpaw demanded.
"Well, Shadepaw hasn't fought yet. Why don't you two have a practice battle?" The deputy suggested. Shadepaw's heart sank. He usually had a lot of respect for the deputy, but right now he wanted to claw his ears off. Fight Lightpaw? She'll destroy me! She's the best fighter out of the apprentices! I mean, yeah there's only three of us, but still!
Shadepaw reluctantly got up and trotted onto the battlefield. "Hurry up! Why must you be so slow!" Lightpaw groaned. "Why must you be so impatient, rude, arrogant-" Shadepaw muttered under his breath.
"What are you saying? You mumble too much!" Lightpaw demanded. "Nothing." Shadepaw told her. He took a deep breath. Maybe she'd go easy on him? No, of course she won't. She'll enjoy beating me. She always has and always will.
"Are you two ready?" Lightningstripe asked. "I was born ready!" Lightpaw exclaimed. "I guess." Shadepaw meowed.
"Alright, begin!" Lightningstripe shouted.
Lightpaw dashed at her slower brother. Shadepaw tried to dodge, but Lightpaw was too fast. She hit Shadepaw with her shoulder and knocked him onto his back. She jumped onto his belly and began clawing away at it. Shadepaw flinched at the pain. I have to get her off me somehow.
Shadepaw noticed her tail was close to the ground. He used his back legs to grab ahold of her tail and threw her off. Shadepaw got to his feet, but winced at the pain. His old sound from the StoneCkan battle reopened and currently dripped blood onto the grass. And it was almost full year healed. Shadepaw couldn't help but sigh.
He fought through it and jumped onto his sister's white back as she got up. Okay, okay, it's going okay. Now what? Oh, I got an idea! Shadepaw dug his claws into Lightpaw's back just like she had done to Hickorypaw. But this time, Lightpaw was able to shake him off. Shadepaw landed on the damp gras with a thud.
"How'd you do that?" Shadepaw exclaimed, scrambling to get up. "I'm stronger than you and bigger than you. It was like knocking a dead squirrel off my back." Lightpaw told him. Shadepaw's pelt started to bristle. Did his sister really have to be so mean all the time?
"That's it!" Shadepaw yelled as he jumped at his sister. He clawed her ear and drew blood. Lightpaw hissed at him and swiftly scratched his muzzle. Shadepaw could feel the crimson blood trickle down his muzzle and fall gently on the ground.
Shadepaw scratched Lightpaw's leg. She grunted from the pain. Lightpaw tripped him using her front legs and incredible speed.
She bit his black shoulder and slashed his belly. Shadepaw fought back and slashed her front leg. Lightpaw flinched in pain, leaving herself vulnerable. Shadepaw pushed her off. Lightpaw counter attacked and scratched Shadepaw right above his eye. Shadepaw fell to the ground.
He was in agony. Blood ran down his face as he tried to catch his breath. As a last resort, he clawed Lightpaw's nose when she charged at him, drawing blood. She hit her brother once more on the head. But this time, Shadepaw was too exhausted to fight back.
Lightpaw jumped on his back and bit down hard. Shadepaw squirmed from underneath her. This time, she held on tight. Shadepaw rolled over, crushing his sister. He was able to jump up and claw at her belly. Though he cared for his sister, it felt good to let his anger out on her.
Lightpaw was rarely nice to him. Ever since they were kits, she always wanted to be better than him. And part of that meant always putting him down. This time, I'm not going to let her win. I'm much better than I give myself credit for. No, I'm much better than she gives me credit for.
"I'm tired of letting you put me down all the time! I'm not going to take it anymore, Lightpaw!" Shadepaw yelled. "It's time that I stand up for myself and my friends. You bully Hickorypaw because she isn't as good of a fighter as you. When Clawfrost was an apprentice, you constantly scratched him because you were just jealous that he was just as good at fighting as you!"
"Shut up!" Lightpaw yelled, pushing him off. "Let's be real, the three of you never included me when you hung out! I can't help that I'm better at fighting than all of you! I can't help that you're not as good as me!" Lightpaw scratched his muzzle for a third time.
"Silence!" Lightningstripe yelled, stepping between the two. "You fought well, but I will not allow you two to yell horrible things at one another!"
"I'm sorry, Lightningstripe. I just got really mad and-" Shadepaw began. "No excuse. You two are going hunting. Don't go together. You might kill each other. Hopefully Thunderstar won't delay your warrior ceremonies because of this." Lightningstripe said, walking back to camp.
Great! My warrior ceremony will get delayed. Just what I wanted to hear. When Lightningstripe was out of sight, Lightpaw scratched Shadepaw's muzzle again. "What was that for?" Shadepaw snapped. "This is all your fault! You started it with your stupid remarks!" She spat.
"If you had been a better sister to me, I wouldn't have said all those things about you!" Shadepaw hissed. He wasn't going to deal with it. He walked away from his sister, happy to leave her behind for once.
"I'm sorry about what happened, Shadepaw." Clawfrost said. Clawfrost came with Shadepaw to hunt for SnowClan. "I just-" Shadepaw signed. "I just said such horrible things. I mean, she did deserve them, but it felt as if someone else was in control of me. I didn't feel like me when I yelled at her."
"It's okay. Nobody could blame you. Lightpaw has treated you badly ever since you were kits." Clawfrost told him. "If it weren't for you and Hickorypaw, my life would be such a mess." Shadepaw meowed.
He smelled a mouse nearby and immediately got into position. Shadepaw saw it scurrying around by a nearby rock. It was too busy eating a seed to notice the black tom approaching. As Shadepaw crawled closer, he became less focused. He stepped on a twig, alerting the mouse.
Shadepaw ran after it. Luckily, he caught up to it and killed it with a bite. "Thank you, StarClan, for this mouse. I'm sure the elders will enjoy it." Shadepaw whispered as he picked his catch up.
"Good job. I mean, stepping on the twig wasn't good, but at least you got it." Clawfrost meowed. "Yeah, I guess I lost focus." Shadepaw said. "I'll bring this back to camp. I want to go see if Hickorypaw is feeling better after her fight."
"Sure, I'll meet you back there in a little bit." Clawfrost told him. Shadepaw said goodbye as he trotted back to camp.
He stared up at the tall evergreen trees around him. Though they were still green and full of life, leaf bare was coming, and coming soon. The nights were already feeling colder. Shadepaw breathed in the smell of the pine trees. That was one thing he loved about SnowClan's territory. The pine trees. They always filled the air with a great smell.
Sure, the fallen pine needles were annoying to step on, but Shadepaw didn't mind it as much as other cats. Clawfrost hated pine needles the most. He had big feet, so they would usually poke him more often than they poked Shadepaw and his small, black paws.
Shadepaw walked into camp and realized he walked into an apprentice ceremony. "Tigerpaw! Snakepaw! Darkpaw!" The clan cheered. Shadepaw dropped his mouse so he could cheer along. He felt bad for missing out on their ceremony; the least he could do was cheer for them.
As the cheering ended and the cats dispersed, Shadepaw grabbed the mouse and ran to the elders den. Yellowfur, an elder with ginger fur, greeted him. "Oh, hello Shadepaw. What a nice surprise!" She purred. "Hello, Yellowfur. I caught a mouse and I wanted to see if anyone in here wanted it." Shadepaw explained. "I've already eaten, but Lavenderfur hasn't. She's asleep now, but I'll give it to her when she wakes up." Yellowfur said. "Thank you, Yellowfur." Shadepaw said, dropping the mouse in front of the ginger elder. "No, no, thank you." She smiled. Shadepaw nodded and headed outside.
He looked at the medicine cat den for Hickorypaw, but didn't see her anyway. "Ivywillow, have you seen Hickorypaw anywhere?" He asked. "I think she went to show the new apprentices their new nests in the apprentices den." She said, not even looking up. She was busy assorting her herbs. They smelled fresh. She probably just got those. With leaf bare on the way, she probably wants to be prepared.
"Thanks, Ivywillow." Shadepaw said. He started to walk away, but Ivywillow stopped him. "Hold it right there! Look at you! You're bleeding!" She exclaimed, rushing over to him. "Inside the den, right now. No buts." Ivywillow escorted him inside.
Shadepaw watched with curiosity as Ivywillow got to work. She was busy making a poultice for his cuts. He sat as still as he could as she applied strong poultices and cobwebs onto his cuts. "I knew Lightpaw was a good fighter, but I didn't think this good." Ivywillow was saying.
"You should see her cuts. I didn't go easy on her." Shadepaw smiled. "Stay still. You don't want that poultice dripping into your eye." Ivywillow ordered. Shadepaw was about to nod, but caught himself before he did. "Yes ma'am." He said.
"How long do I stay here?" "You'll sleep here tonight and tomorrow night. After that, you should be okay." Ivywillow told him. Great. Two nights in a den full of really weird smelling things. I guess it could be worse. Lightpaw could be here with me. No, I'm not even going to think that. With my luck, she'll be stuck in here with me.
"Ivywillow, can you come quickly? Shellclaw started her kitting!" Stormfang ran into the den saying. "I'm coming." Ivywillow said. She grabbed a couple of herbs. "Boy, I wish I had an apprentice." She muttered as she ran outside towards the nursery. I'm happy Shellclaw is kitting. SnowClan could use a couple more cats. Shadepaw yawned. It was a little early for sleep, but his bones ached and he had nothing better to do since he was confined to camp. He shut his eyes and feel asleep, curled up in his nest.
Finally! Chapter Two is done! I know this was really short and kinda boring, but trust me, it will get better. The first few chapters are a bit of a setup, but once Shadepaw gets his warrior name, it will get way more interesting. This chapter's question: Now that Shadepaw finally stood up to his sister, how long do you think it will last? Or do you think she will finally LIGHTen up and show him some respect. I'm so sorry you had to read that pun. Thanks for reading!