CHAPTER TWO

"Stop fidgeting."

Sootpaw resentfully obliged, lying limp in the moss bed as Birchcloud systemically began applying cobwebs to his wounds. The slim grey tom worked quickly and efficiently, unfazed by the deep gashes which scored the apprentice's heaving flank. Sootpaw gritted his teeth as a particularly nasty bolt of pain shot through him, leaving him gasping for breath in its aftermath.

"If you don't hold still I can't help you." The medicine cat's voice was brisk, but when he looked up, Sootpaw saw the concern amplified in his bright amber eyes. It was easy to forgot how experienced the small tom was, but Birchcloud had seen wounds like these many times before. He reluctantly lay back in the moss as the last cobweb was applied to his skin.

"How do you feel?" asked Birchcloud, padding over to sit beside him. He tucked his paws in neatly underneath his body, his tail sweeping over them. The tom wasn't exactly of impressive stature, but there was an air of somberness surrounding him that made Sootpaw uneasy. It was like the medicine cat was the only cat who didn't praise everything he did or laud over his skill.

"Like I just fought a fox," he replied with a groan.

Birchcloud looked him over with a critical eye. "You're lucky that you weren't hurt more. When I first saw your wounds, I thought they were far more serious."

"Hah." The dark grey apprentice snorted. He wasn't lucky at all. It had all been skill. He was the best out of all the apprentices, and there was no way any fox would have been able to take him down. Still... his expression grew stormy as he remembered the fear that had bit at his belly when he had felt the fox's presence and seen the red burn of its fur.

No. That hadn't happened. He had been anxious, that was all, eager to go into battle and uncomfortable waiting for his opponent to show his snout.

Sootpaw didn't know the meaning of fear.

"Just rest. In a couple of mornings, you'll be fit to start training again," instructed Birchcloud with a terse nod. Sootpaw murmured his agreement, jaw clenched. There was no way he was going to wait more than a day before he jumped back into training. His wounds would heal fine, but he needed to keep pushing himself. If he didn't, he might lose his skill, and then Falconswoop wouldn't approve of him anymore. His father was known for his critical eye.

As the flecked tom turned away from his patient, there was a rustle at the entrance of the den. A slim figure made her way in cautiously, amber eyes round as they took in the size of Sootpaw's wounds. She let out a strangled gasp and rushed to his side.

"Sootpaw! I heard you fought a fox, but I didn't realize that it was going to be this bad!" Flowerpaw exclaimed worriedly, still frozen, her eyes transfixed by the sight of the gashes. "What if they scar?"

He flicked an ear lazily in her direction. "You should have seen the fox after I was done with him," mewed the dark grey tom. Flowerpaw nodded dumbly, but she still seemed unsure. Sootpaw sighed. "I carved him right up."

Flowerpaw relaxed a little and sat down, tortoiseshell fur blending into the den's floor of dirt and dried pine needles. Beyond her, life progressed as normal in ShadowClan. The hollow was filled with activity, cats dragging in prey and kits bounding around or scuffling underneath the shadows of the towering pines. Longing stirred in his heart. He wanted to be back in action now.

"You're right," she said at length, scuffing her paws shyly on the ground. "I shouldn't have worried. You're such a great fighter."

"I know," Sootpaw grunted. He stretched out his body in one elegant movement, burrowing deeper into the moss nest. His side stung, yet the pain was diminishing somehow, as if it was being sapped from his body and transferred somewhere else. Really, this whole being wounded thing didn't hurt as much as the other warriors played it up to be.

Flowerpaw was still sitting shyly by his side, casting baleful glances at him and looking away abashedly when he caught her. He took the opportunity to study her. She was pretty enough, with sleek fur and a thin but muscled frame. Nothing like that RiverClan she-cat he had seen at the Gathering, though. No, she had taken his breath away...

Which was another reason that he wanted to be back on his paws. There was a Gathering coming up in less than a few nights, and if he wanted to see her again, he had to be ready. The fox had simply been a stroke of bad luck, that was all. And even if he missed her at the Gathering, he would still see her on patrol again.

He needed to find out her name.

Flowerpaw was still waiting patiently by his side.

He sighed. "How was your training?" Sootpaw asked, more because he wanted to break the silence than because he actually cared. Flowerpaw would make a good warrior someday, he was sure of that, better than his mouse-like brother, anyways – but he was going to make a great warrior, so it didn't really matter to him how his denmates turned out.

She brightened up considerably. "It was good! After you went on patrol, Falconswoop and I went and practiced battle training near the lake. He told me I was doing alright, but it wasn't anywhere as good as what I've seen you do. I tried to do that move you showed me, the duck and hook – it worked out alright, but it could have been better."

Sootpaw nodded. The duck and hook had been the first real battle technique he had learned as an apprentice. The tom had mastered it moons ago, but it was alright that Flowerpaw was still struggling with it. He didn't expect anyone to be able to do it as quickly as he could.

There was a long pause, and then the tom realized that she was waiting for him to say something. He sighed again. "It's good that you're still training. What about Kitepaw? Did he come with you and my father?"

Flowerpaw shook her head. "No... Falconswoop wanted to get him to come training with us. But Seedfur was out on patrol with you and she was letting Kitepaw gather herbs with Birchcloud. They were just coming back when she and Hailstripe brought you in."

"Right," mumbled Sootpaw groggily. To be honest, the moments leading up to his encounter with the fox were all in a blur. He had been out patrolling the RiverClan border with Seedfur and Hailstripe, the deputy and his mentor, when the fox they had driven off a moon ago had returned. He had attacked it first, and then Seedfur and Hailstripe had worked together to drive it off. After that, they had brought him, bleeding and fading into unconscious, back to camp.

"That was brave work that you did, back in the forest." Sootpaw and Flowerpaw both looked up, startled. Hailstripe was making his way into the den, the faint tabby marks on his white pelt visible in the evening light. He was staring at Sootpaw, a warm glow in his eyes.

"I did what any warrior would have done," mewed Sootpaw. "I protected my Clan."

"Not many warriors would have thrown themselves headfirst into a collision with a fox," said Hailstripe, flicking his long white tail. "It was reckless, but it showed courage. Once you tone down that impulsive head of yours, you'll make a great warrior."

Sootpaw all but ignored the compliment. "I'm not impulsive," he said resentfully, flicking his tail in irritation. He sighed, and added, "But thanks, Hailstripe."

Hailstripe's amber eyes shone with warmth, but Birchcloud gave the young tom an appraising look. Sootpaw looked away from the medicine cat, suddenly uncomfortable. Why was Birchcloud the only one who couldn't see what great talent he had?

"I imagine Falconswoop will have a few words to say to you," purred the deputy. His tone was light-hearted, but the respect in his eyes when he looked at Sootpaw had been real. The dark grey apprentice felt a heady flash of satisfaction run through him.

"What will Falconswoop want?" asked a deep voice. Sootpaw turned, surprised, to see his father standing behind Hailstripe at the entrance to the den. Behind his proudly held chin and powerful shoulders was Kitepaw, evidently trying to make himself as small as possible.

"To tell Sootpaw how brave he is," said Flowerpaw in a small voice. Falconswoop turned his steely gaze onto her and she shrank into the loamy floor, both intimidated and awestruck by her powerful mentor.

Falconswoop nodded. "He did well," the tom mewed, stepping forward to run his eyes over Sootpaw's injured flank. Then the brown tabby flicked his tail at Kitepaw, though he didn't condescend to look at the dark brown tom still lingering behind him. "Better than my other son would have, anyways."

Kitepaw cast his eyes to the ground and scuffed at it with a paw. Sootpaw didn't feel an ounce of pity for his brother. It was his own fault if he was too busy following Birchcloud around like a lost kit to actually do some training. Even Flowerpaw was stronger than him, and she clammed up whenever Falconswoop appeared.

"Kitepaw?" Falconswoop prodded gently. "What do you think? Was Sootpaw brave?"

"Yes," said Kitepaw nervously. He slowly raised his head and fixed Sootpaw with a hesitant gaze. "I'm glad you're okay."

"Thanks," said Sootpaw halfheartedly. Knowing his litter-mate cared about him was nice, but he really just wanted the others to get back to discussing how brave he'd been.

Hailstripe didn't seem to find fault with the exchange that had just occurred. After all, ShadowClan was about toughness and self-reliance, and there was no room for any cat who wouldn't work. But Birchcloud was watching Falconswoop carefully. Sootpaw had heard vague mention of a history between the medicine cat and his father, and he wondered idly if that was what made Birchcloud so wary of him.

It was the slim grey tom who broke the silence. "Sootpaw, I'm going to give you some poppy seeds," he mewed, moving closer to him and inadvertently pushing Falconswoop away. The well-muscled warrior said nothing, but he narrowed his eyes as he stepped back. "They're going to help you sleep, alright?"

Sootpaw nodded and looked down at his paws as Birchcloud pushed some seeds towards him. They were neatly arranged on a bed of pine needles, but bile rose in his throat as he stared at them. He didn't need to take poppy seeds like a weak old elder, and besides, it didn't even hurt – certainly not as much as Birchcloud seemed to expect it to.

Falconswoop was apparently of the same mentality. "Come on, Flowerpaw, let's go," he said with a snort, beckoning to his apprentice. She shot a reluctant glance at Sootpaw before rising to her paws and following Falconswoop out of the den.

They were only gone for a moment when Hailstripe nodded to Sootpaw and then turned briskly to the medicine cat. "Eaglestar wants to see you in his den..." he said quietly. "Let's go."

Birchcloud nodded and the two older toms walked out, brushing past Kitepaw as they did so. The brown tabby was still standing there shyly, as if he wanted to come in but was unsure of his place. After Falconswoop disappeared from view, he relaxed visibly.

"Are you just going to stand out there or what?" asked Sootpaw, narrowing his eyes. The light was fading fast, Kitepaw becoming no more than just a dark blur against the shadowy hollow.

Kitepaw looked up, startled. Then, after checking over his shoulder to make sure that their father wasn't watching, he came in and sat down beside Sootpaw. "How are you feeling?" he asked, slowly grooming bits off moss from his brother's fur.

"I'm fine," boasted Sootpaw, giving his chest fur a quick lick. "It doesn't even hurt."

Instead of being impressed by that statement, Kitepaw's deep amber eyes clouded with doubt. "You got attacked by a fox," he pointed out logically. "It should hurt. When you came back to camp, when I saw you... it looked like it hurt."

The problem with Kitepaw, realized the dark grey apprentice with a sigh, was that he thought too much. He was fine whenever Falconswoop was around, but when their father left, Kitepaw began to grow in confidence. If he put as much effort into training as he did into being scrupulous and pointing out the flaws in everything everyone said, he would have his warrior name by now.

"One, I attacked it," Sootpaw pointed out with a stab of irritation. "Secondly, maybe it would hurt a lesser warrior. Not me. Anyways, how would you know? You spent the whole afternoon gathering herbs with Birchloud."

This time, Kitepaw did wince. The accusation in Sootpaw's tone had shattered his confidence like wind plucking at loose scraps of grass. Scuffing his paws on the ground once more, the brown tabby was silent.

"Kitepaw...?" began Sootpaw hesitantly. Oh, for StarClan's sake – was his brother actually upset by this? ShadowClan cats were supposed to have a tough skin. That was what Falconswoop had always taught them. But no, the slightest obstacle in his path and Kitepaw buckled.

"Maybe..." mewed Kitepaw in a small voice, his shoulders shaking. "Maybe I find herbs interesting."

Sootpaw recoiled from this idea as if lightening had struck. "No. No, you don't find herbs interesting at all. You're training to be a warrior, Kitepaw. A warrior."

"Right," mumbled the tom. He looked down, fixating on where one claw was idly tracing a circle on the marshy ground. Kitepaw was retreating back into his shell, his shoulders sinking and his fur lying flat on his skin. Sootpaw felt an unusual pang of sympathy stirring within him, and while he tried to push it away, it wouldn't be dissuaded.

"Alright," he said with a sigh. "I know that... maybe you're not as good as Falconswoop wants you to be. But that's no reason for you to give up, Kitepaw. You can still be a good warrior if you try. Don't let yourself get distracted."

Kitepaw fixed him with a glance that was both wise and fragile. For a brief moment, Sootpaw had the feeling that he had said the wrong thing, that Kitepaw's problem and feelings were infinitely more complex than he could ever have guessed. But then the notion was gone and Sootpaw's gaze flickered back to the poppy seeds that were lying in an unappealing pile by his nest.

"You should take those," said the brown tabby decidedly. "They'll help you get better."

Sootpaw rolled his eyes. "Really?" he asked sarcastically, poking at them distastefully with a slender grey paw. "No, I thought Birchcloud was giving them to me so I wouldn't get better. Good thinking, Kitepaw."

Something flashed in Kitepaw's eyes and for a moment Sootpaw felt a strange feeling churning in the pit of his stomach. Then it was gone, and Kitepaw got up to leave. "Just take them," he said sagely, looking at Sootpaw over his shoulder.

The second his brother had left the den, Sootpaw felt his chest sag with relief. He sighed and lay back against the moss, still eyeing the poppy seeds. It wouldn't hurt to take one or two, would it? If he didn't, Birchcloud would be angry. The medicine cat simply didn't understand that Sootpaw wasn't in much pain, that he was strong and able. The dark grey apprentice craned his neck forward, catching a few of the seeds on his tongue. He swallowed them hesitantly, blinking out into the darkness of the night.

Slowly the shadows faded and the discrepancies in the grey evened out as his eyes closed, and the last thing the tom remembered before he tumbled into a deep sleep was hearing an unfamiliar yet comforting voice rumble into his ear.

X X X X X X X

A/N: I love Sootpaw, but he's going to have to learn some humility. I feel good about this chapter; I think I captured him a lot better than I did Dawnpaw, but I hope she turns out okay in the end. Anyways, thanks to eternal-ni6 for reviewing, that means a lot to me, you're awesome! Thanks :)

So leave a review, tell me what you think, and the next chapter should be up soon.

Thanks,

PurpleVNeck :)