Thanks for the reviews guys! I hope you enjoy this next chapter. Keep reviewing! If you want more, you have to tell me!
Alone
Chapter 3
Wildpaw bounded down the side of the stone hollow and once again stood amid the circle of bristling pelts and bared teeth. Firestar now stood on the Highledge, his orange pelt flaming in the sunlight.
"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the Highledge for a clan meeting!" Firestar's yowl rang out in the camp. Wildpaw sat calmly before the Highledge as the other cats gathered around her. She noted with disappointment that no cat came near her. Then a black apprentice came up behind her.
"Hi! I'm Hollypaw! Are you that apprentice from Windclan?"
"Yeah. I'm Wildpaw."
"Cool!" The black apprentice immediately lapsed into silence as Firestar began to speak.
"Today an apprentice from Windclan has come to Thunderclan to leave her clan. Her name is Wildpaw, and she is Crowfeather's daughter."
Murmurs of surprise and distaste rippled through the cats below.
"I have enough reason to believe that this young apprentice should join us as a cat of Thunderclan.
Yowls of shock and outrage could be heard from the assembled cats.
"No, Firestar, you can't be serious," Dustpelt meowed angrily.
"I am very serious," Firestar said as he turned his steely gaze on Dustpelt .Dustpelt retreated after that.
"And with that, I hereby incite Wildpaw to join us as an apprentice of Thunderclan. Wildpaw, I will be your mentor." The two cats touched noses and turned to face the assembled cats. At first silence settled over the clearing, but then Hollypaw began to cheer tentatively. "Wildpaw! Wildpaw! Wildpaw!" Then Hazelpaw and Lionpaw joined in. "Wildpaw! Wildpaw!" Pretty soon most of the clan cheered along. Excitement coursed through Wildpaw. This felt almost as good the second time! Except these aren't your clanmates. Wildpaw shook her head slightly. They are now, Wildpaw.
After the ceremony, Wildpaw padded up to Firestar. "Does this mean I'll have to start my training over?" She asked worriedly.
"No," Firestar smiled. "I'll assess you on your current skills and see how far you have progressed, and then we'll go from there."
Later that day Firestar and Wildpaw padded through the forest; Sunlight filtered through the trees and turned the two orange cats' pelts to flames. Wildpaw's paws tingled with excitement. Imagine training with the famous Firestar! She was a little nervous about hunting, though. Would she ever get used to the dense undergrowth and trees that blocked out the sky?
"Now, Wildpaw, all you hunt on Windclan territory are rabbits, right?"
"Right," Wildpaw confirmed. "But I did catch that mouse when I first came here."
"That's a good start."
"Yeah. It was fairly easy, especially since I was coming in from the moors."
"O.K. Now we are going to head over to the Sky Oak, where we should be able to find prey, especially since this leaf-bare has been fairly good. Hunting there will be much different than what you're used to, though. Follow my lead and I'll show you how it is done."
Firestar led Wildpaw through the territory, and Wildpaw tried her best to take it all in. Imagine, someday she would be a warrior and patrolling these borders herself! They reached the Sky Oak too soon for Wildpaw. Beech nuts covered the ground around the tree. Already Wildpaw could smell the warm smell of a rodent. Firestar dropped into a hunting crouch. He crept forward silently, and the mouse didn't know he was there until it was too late. He dispatched it with a swift bite to the neck.
"Your turn," he said as he buried the mouse for later.
Wildpaw dropped into the same crouch Firestar had used. The stems and bracken beneath her felt uncomfortable on her belly, but she crept forward anyway. The fern fronds rustled as a mouse foraged for nuts and seeds in the dirt. Wildpaw stalked the mouse until she was almost on it, then she pounced. She felt a rush of satisfaction as she killed it and buried it for later. When Firestar and Wildpaw had finished hunting she had two mice and a squirrel to add to the fresh-kill pile.
She strutted through the camp, proud of her catches. Firestar had promised her that they would do battle training tomorrow. There she wouldn't feel so awkward and out of place. There she could fight!
That night Firestar led her to the apprentices' den. It was crowded: Hollypaw, Lionpaw, Berrypaw, Hazelpaw, Mousepaw, Cinderpaw, Honeypaw, and Poppypaw already occupied the space. Wildpaw pushed herself to the back of the den, away from the other cats. Loneliness washed over her as she watched Lionpaw and Hollypaw share tongues together. She should be back in her own nest and curled up against Breezepaw. But she was alone in a different clan.
Soft light filtering onto her pelt woke her in the morning. She padded over to the fresh kill pile and took a mouse. She crunched down on it, savoring every morsel.
"Come on, Wildpaw!" Firestar called to her. Wildpaw gulped down the rest of her mouse and followed Firestar out to the sandy training hollow.
"Now, Wildpaw, try to knock me over."
What?! Wildpaw thought. How am I supposed to knock over Firestar? He's twice my size! But then she looked at his paws and then to his shoulder. She sprinted forward and feinted at his paws, then thrust herself at his shoulder. He reared up high, slamming his paws into her legs and flipping her over.
"Nice strategy, but your eyes betrayed where you were going."
The training continued through the day, and when she was finished Wildpaw let out an exhausted, contented sigh.
"Nice job today, Wildpaw. You must have advanced far in your Windclan training."
Wildpaw purred at Firestar's compliment. When they reached the camp she slumped down in a heap by the fresh-kill pile. It had been two days since she had ran away from Windclan. Would they come after her? Did they worry for her? Would there be a fight? She missed being with her clanmates and feeling the wind of the open sky caress her pelt. Here she felt lonely among cats who thought she was their enemy. And tomorrow was the Gathering. Obviously she would be brought up. What would Firestar say? What would Onestar say? If she went, how would it feel to sit among her former clanmates?
Meanwhile, Firestar brooded in his den. Should he bring Wildpaw to the Gathering? No, he decided. It would be too hard for her to sit with her old clan. She could stay and defend the camp. With that decision made, Firestar yawned and settled into his nest.
The day of the Gathering dawned bright and clear. Wildpaw stood and shook scraps of moss from her pelt. Cats already milled about the camp. Firestar had assembled a border patrol headed by himself and a large hunting patrol headed by Brambleclaw.
"Let us be well fed for the gathering!" Firestar yowled and the cats cheered their approval. Wildpaw was heading to the fresh-kill pile to grab a vole when Brackenfur stopped her. "Come with me, Wildpaw. You're going on the hunting patrol."
Wildpaw nodded and turned away from the pile. Had that been warmth she had seen in Brackenfur's eyes? Was she finally being accepted? She had no time to contemplate that. She was going on a hunting patrol!
Brook gave Wildpaw an affectionate nudge as she walked out of camp. Wildpaw startled, then she remembered that Brook wasn't a Thunderclan cat, either. She had been accepted, though. Wildpaw would just have to prove herself to this clan!
Wildpaw raced through the forest, her ears always pricked for the soft, shuffling sound of prey. She had already buried three mice, which was an unusual catch in winter. But today was an unusual winter day. The sun shone brightly and there was a hint of warmth on the breeze. All the prey in the forest was out trying to find food. Then a tempting scent wafted to Wildpaw from a nearby clump of trees. Squirrel!
Wildpaw automatically dropped into her hunting crouch. Even this was becoming more natural to her. She was learning how to place her paws so that the undergrowth didn't crackle beneath her. She could see the bushy tail of the squirrel quivering above the fronds. She knew that hunting squirrel was much like hunting rabbit. It required a chase!
She launched herself from the bus she had been behind. The squirrel startled and scampered away. Wildpaw bounded after it, and the chase ended when the squirrel was clamped firmly between Wildpaw's jaws. When she trotted back into camp and placed her prey on the pile, she felt as if she was finally belonging.
