"Come on Shadepaw! You can run faster than that!" Larkpaw chided Stormpaw's sister relentlessly. His pale green eyes flickered with malice. Stormpaw let out a hiss and stopped running, dust clouded around her paws as she skid to a halt. Larkpaw eyed her warily; she was very defensive of her sister.
"I was just joking around," Larkpaw sneered as Stormpaw bared her fangs at him. Shadepaw was staring at her paws, her multicolored eyes were troubled.
"Lay off," Stormpaw said simply. Larkpaw opened his mouth with a retort but thought better of it and continued running. For that days apprentice training all of the apprentices were competing in a race. They all started at the Ravenclan camp and followed a worn down path to the white rock valley. The white rock valley lay just outside of clan territory, and was nothing but open moors of waving grass with giant white boulders scattered around the valley. No one knew for sure how the white rocks got into the valley, but of course there were legends.
Stormpaw twitched her whiskers, pulling herself out of her day dream. She quickly nudged Shadepaw and they continued running again, eager to catch Larkpaw before he could win the race. The other two apprentices, Birchpaw and Frogpaw, where in the very back. They were the least competitive of the apprentices, staying clear of the rivalry between Larkpaw and Stormpaw. Shadepaw was simply caught up in their feud because of Larkpaw's teasing.
The only sound on the open path was the trumming of the sisters paw steps as they ran. Stormpaw kept pushing harder and harder to go faster. They quickly caught up to Larkpaw, smugness was apparent on his face. Stormpaw let out a hiss and raced forward to cut him off. The both stopped running to avoid collision. Larkpaw let out a snarl of protest and tried to go around Stormpaw, but she shouldered him to the ground. He struggled to get back up but she kept him pinned down.
She could feel his heart beat pulse beneath her paw, he glared up at her and hissed but she held him. A cruel smile formed on her lips.
"Lay off my sister or I'll flay you, you piece off fox dung," she spat and let him up. Larkpaw immediately tore off and started running down the path again, fear and annoyance was obvious as he sprinted away for the second time. Stormpaw walked casually over to Shadepaw.
"You alright?" she asked protectively, making sure Shadepaw wasn't narboring any hurt feelings from Larkpaw's torment. If that conceited idiot hurt her I swear… Stormpaw thought to herself, her tail twitching.
"No I'm fine." Shadepaw said as she looked up at her sister admiringly. Her golden and purple eyes gleamed. All thoughout their apprenticeship shadepaw only grew to admire her sister more and more as Sormpaw fought her battles for her. But she also grew more dependent and reliant. That made her susceptible to teasing from Larkpaw, one of the more snobbish apprentices.
Frogpw and Birchpaw were okay, but they were quiet and never stood up for Shadepaw. There was another apprentice who Shadepaw considered to be her friend. She was quiet too, very soft-spoken and friendly. Shadepaw and the other apprentice became very close, Stormpaw was jealous though. Although she knew it was good for her sister to have a friend and she tried her best to be nice to the other apprentice. And with time she too developed a bond with her. The three were the best of friends, and Larkpaw left them alone when they were together. Birchpaw and Frogpaw even hung out with them too.
But everything fell apart when the twolegs came. They stormed the Ravenclan camp with caged and metal poles. Their bodies were covered in white pelts. The clan scattered and everyone got away…except for Blossompaw, their friend. She was captured, and the twolegs took her someplace far far away. Ravenclan sent out search parties but the white apprentice had vanished. Shadepaw became more fragile after that, and Stormpaw became more distant and cold.
She shuddered as the memory of Blossompaw was still fresh in her mind.
However Stormpaw quickly brushed the memories away and instead thought about training. She was by far the star apprentice of the clan, only fueling Larkpaw's jealousy. However Stormpaw could contend with him easily enough. She just had to keep his ego in check.
"Come on, I know a shortcut to the white rock valley. Larkpaw will never know what hit him," she said with bubbling excitement. Together they dashed off on a secret course Stormpaw had discovered just last moon. She had to slow her pace so that a panting Shadepaw could catch up, but they easily gained the lead again.
"What if…Larkpaw…tells on you…for attacking him?" Shadepaw asked between wheezes. Stormpaw paused and looked at her.
"No one will believe him, plus he's too terrified of me!" she added with a laugh.
"Yah and our dad is leader of the clan!" Shadepaw commented happily. Stormpaw looked at her sternly.
"Never repeat those words." she ordered and continued running, Nightstar's words rang fresh in my mind each day, I am going to keep your mothers secret, he had said. And so she too would keep the secret, even if it meant never having a complete family.
Shadepaw kept pace with her but looked downcast. The slightest scolding from her and she acted like Stormpaw struck her. She sighed deeply. Probably it was because she was already so tormented by Larkpaw, and she never had anyone but her sister to rely on.
It surprised Stormpaw how much of an influence she could have on some cats. But never mind that, no one could know Nightstar was their father. She suspected that her mother was still alive, and is a medicine cat of Cedarclan or Seaclan. Nightstar wouldn't allow them to go to any gatherings to find out. But Stormpaw wanted her mom to be happy, and if being medicine cat made her happier than she could then so be it. And it wasn't so hard dealing without her. She could barely even remember what she looked like. Or what she sounded like…Stormpaw could sense she was on the brink of tears so she put on her brave face for Shadepaw. All of her emotions seemed to vanish as she brandished her mask.
"Hello brave deputy of Stormclan, what news of the battle do you have to report?" she asked in a mocking deep voice as they ran. Shadepaw looked at her in delight, 'Stormclan' was her favorite game.
"Well Stormstar, the traitor Larkfang turned on us in the midst of battle. Then he fled like a coward." Shadepaw said in a mocking voice as well.
"I will send out our best tracker…uhhh…Frognose!" she said as she made up the name on the spot. Shadepaw erupted in a fit of giggles. She stopped running as she smelled their mentors close by.
"Hey Shadepaw, let's get back on the real path now. I bet everyone is going to be amazed at how fast you are!" she purred. They started heading to the designated finish line on the trail. She saw their mentors faces light up in shock. Well, Stormpaw's mentor Willowvine knew she would be in first place but Shadepaw's mentor Lilytail was happily surprised. Lilytail always scolded Shadepaw if she wasn't the best.
"Go run up ahead of me." she whispered to Shadepaw. Her sister took off like a rocket and sped across the finish line. She came in a "close" second. All five mentors grudgingly congratulated them on their victory, although Larkpaw's mentor was bitter. Larkpaw's mentor, Adderfang, let out a disappointed hiss. Stormpaw fluffed up her fur and thrust out her chest in a boasting prideful way. Shadepaw immediately did the same. She smiled at her and she smiled right back, then she set my gaze on the trail. She was dying to see the look on Larkpaw's face when he saw them.
"Hi Adderfang! I guess I won, huh. Those two pansy's Stormpaw and Shadepaw didn't stand a chance!" Larkpaw shouted out from the path. She growled inwardly at his arrogance. She could crush the little flea flat… Suddenly he got an eyeful of the two cats. His mouth literally hung open as his jaw dropped.
"What? But how? You never even passed me!" Larkpaw exclaimed indignantly.
"I guess we were just so fast you didn't even see us," she taunted. Larkpaw glared and fired back.
"I bet you had to drag your lousy furball of a sister all the way here though!" he seethed. Stormpaw sneered mockingly.
"Naturally, my sister came in first." she hissed. Their mentors separated them before they could start a brawl. The next cat to finish the race was Birchpaw, then Frogpaw. They all headed back to camp in high spirits, all pleased with their efforts. All except Larkpaw. He wouldn't be happy if a Starclan cat came down from the sky and licked him on the nose!
Stormpaw sat down by the fresh kill pile and selected at fat squirrel for her sister and her to share. She watched as their mentors padded away to the leaders den, to report the day's progress. She smiled happily; she'd been in training now for five moons. Any day could be their warrior ceremony; she drifted off into her fantasy land.
In her day dream every one of the apprentices got their warrior name except Larkpaw. He was banished from the clan. She could almost hear the cats chanting her name. Stormheart! Stormheart! They'd all call out. Or whatever her actual name was going to be. It was all she could do to not call out loud right then and there Stormheart.
That night Shadepaw couldn't sleep, she kept complaining of an aching stomach. The other apprentices where all fast asleep so Stormpaw moved closer to her sister and decided to tell her a story, one of the stories their mother had told them when they were both kits.
"Do you want to hear the story of white rock valley?" Stormpaw asked but she already knew the answer. Shadepaw nodded eagerly and settled down to listen. Stormpaw cleared her throat to begin.
"Once the white rock valley was a dense forest home to many foxes. Since foxes are greedy creatures they couldn't store their prey for fear of it being stolen, whatever they caught they kept with them at all times. One day a fox was walking around with all of his prey balanced on his back, when he saw a giant rock in the middle of the forest. The fox was tired and climbed onto the rock for a rest. When he awoke he was too lazy to want to carry all of his prey with him so he said, "rock, I will give you two pieces of my prey as gifts because you let me rest on your back."
The rock thanked him and the fox left with the remainder of his prey. That night the fox got terribly hungry and he ate all of his prey, having none left over. Now, fox was still feeling lay and he didn't want to go hunting. Instead he went back the rock to ask for his pieces of prey back. However the rock was mad, saying he wasn't giving back the gifts. The fox tried to steal them back, and the rock became enraged. The ground trembled and shook as all of the boulders in the forest began to roll, crushing the trees beneath them. The rocks rolled all around the forest, chasing the fox and crushing everything in their way. All of the other foxes in the forest hid in their dens, but because of all of the prey they kept with them they didn't have enough room and so their tails stuck out of the dens.
As the rocks rolled over them their tail tips were crushed and turned white, that is why foxes are red with white tail tips. And the rocks had crushed all of the trees in the forest, so it became a valley. And the rocks stayed where they stopped rolling, forever reminding foxes of what had happened. That is why there are so many boulders in white rock valley." Stormpaw finished with a yawn, Shadepaw was already sound asleep. Stormpaw smiled at her sister and licked her head before curling up to sleep too. But as she laid her silver head on her paws she saw Larkpaw's eyes open in slits, staring at her. He quickly closed his eyes and wrapped his tail around himself, faking to be asleep. But Stormpaw knew he had been listening to the story. She just didn't know why.