Apprentice and Pregnant 2
Chapter 4: Firepaw, Shut Up
I'm your biggest fan, I'll follow you
Until you love me
Papa-paparazzi
Baby there's no other superstar you know
That I'll be, papa-paparazzi
I promise I'll be kind, but I won't stop until
That boy is mine
Baby you'll be famous, chase you down until you love me
Papa-paparazzi
Thornpaw felt agitated. He sighed loudly, trying to get his friends attention. Berrypaw, who was lying in the sun, took no notice. Redpaw gave him a glance but that was it.
I haven't played a prank in days, Thornpaw thought to himself. It's starting to make me feel restless. The rest of the clan have seemed to let their guards down a little, I think they think I'm done with pranks.
Guess today's the day to prove them wrong!
"SIGH," Thornpaw said loudly, not bothering to actually sigh.
"What do you want?" Berrypaw snapped, getting up at once. "All you've done in the past ten minutes is sigh and shuffle around. It's like, super annoying."
"Yeah, what's going on?" Redpaw put in.
"Okay, first things first, you knew I had something on my mind and you just ignored it?" Thornpaw said in a fake hurt voice. "How rude."
"You're bored because you haven't played any pranks lately, right?" Redpaw said.
"Hey, yeah," Thornpaw said in surprise. Sometimes I think they know me almost as well as I know myself. "What gave it away?"
"Wild guess," Redpaw mumbled.
"So," Thornpaw said excitedly. "What should we do? It's gonna be hard to top the owl prank but I'm sure we can think of something-"
"Have you already forgotten what Snakestar told us?" Redpaw interrupted him. "He said no more pranks. And Orangetail has finally calmed down. There's no way I'm gonna make him mad again, no sir. I got it bad enough when we got in trouble last time."
"Oh, forget about lousy ol' Orangetail," Thornpaw scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Come on guys, let's do something fun!" he turned to Berrypaw expectantly.
"Well, Snakestar did say…" Berrypaw mumbled, voice trailing off. He looked down at the ground, and Thornpaw stared at him in disbelief. "Well it's apparent you both turned completely lame overnight!" he cried.
"I just don't want Snakestar to get mad," Berrypaw defended himself hotly. "I don't know why you don't seem to care, Thornpaw. He's our leader. We have to do as he says."
"Yeah, yeah," Thornpaw mumbled, thinking of Snakestar. I wish I could tell them what Snakestar told me, about toning down the pranks instead of stopping them entirely. Man, this sucks.
"We wouldn't get in trouble from Snakestar if we didn't prank Shadowclan," Redpaw suddenly said in a joking voice. "Let's go to Thunderclan and mess with them a bit."
"Really?" Thornpaw said hopefully.
"No," Redpaw sighed. "No, Thornpaw. I was kidding."
"Can we please stop arguing?" Berrypaw growled. "Thornpaw, we want to play a prank as much as you, but it's a bad idea."
"Yeah, the gatherings tomorrow and if we piss off Snakestar anymore, he'll make us stay in camp for sure," Redpaw added sadly.
"True," Thornpaw mumbled. I guess they have a point there. I don't want to mess up my chances of going to the gathering; it's been an entire moon since I've seen Laurelpaw.
Maybe she's worth putting my pranks on hold for a while
"Alright apprentices," Swallow Star announced. "As I explained to you all earlier, I'm gonna make things a little more interesting today. You will be broken up into teams of three, and the team who catches the most prey today will get to go to the gathering tomorrow."
Laurelpaw looked over at Pinepaw excitedly, happiness running through her bones like lightning. Oh, the gathering! I can't wait! I haven't seen Thornpaw in nearly a moon; I can't wait to talk with him again!
My team is gonna win… I'm gonna make sure of that.
"Can we pick our teams?" Cracklepaw asked, sitting close together with Silverpaw and Firepaw. Laurelpaw rolled her eyes. It's apparent he's already picked who he wants in his group.
"No, I'm gonna pick," Swallow Star replied. "And even if I did let you pick, that wouldn't work, Cracklepaw. It wouldn't be fair to have a full team of tom cats against the she cats."
"Cause we're stronger," Firepaw whispered loudly.
"Strength is nothing if you're dumber than a stick!" Laurelpaw shot back at once, glaring at Firepaw. Firepaws eyes widened suddenly, clearly not expecting that. Everyone started to laugh except Swallow Star, Ivypaw and Firepaw.
"Laurelpaw, that's enough," Swallow Star said sternly. But his eyes were shining with amusement, and Laurelpaw knew he wasn't mad. Stupid Firepaw thinks he's the king of the world. Someone's gotta take him down a notch once in a while.
"Okay, I'm gonna pick now," Swallow Star said, looking at each apprentice slowly. Laurelpaw looked over at Pinepaw and Ivypaw, feeling sad that they were going to be split up.
"Okay, so team one is going to be Silverpaw, Ivypaw and Cracklepaw," Swallow Star said after thinking it over. "Team two is Laurelpaw, Firepaw and Pinepaw."
"Aw, come on," Ivypaw mumbled, sighing loudly and gazing over sadly at Firepaw. "I wanted to be on Firepaws team!"
"I separated you two for a reason," Swallow Star said under his breath. Laurelpaw giggled, staring up at him. I think I'm the only one who heard that.
"I didn't mean to say that out loud," Swallow Star said, smiling suddenly as he saw her laughing. "Oops."
"We're gonna win, I hope you know," Silverpaw called over to his sister. "Have fun 'guarding the camp' tomorrow."
"We're going to beat you with flying colors!" Laurelpaw shot back. But her voice was more confident than she felt. Cracklepaw and Silverpaw are the strongest apprentices… it sucks Swallow Star put them on the same team. Meanwhile I'm stuck with Pinepaw and Firepaw. Laurelpaw looked up as Firepaw approached her, looking annoyed that he didn't get put with his friends.
"Guess we're a team," Firepaw sighed loudly, looking incredibly unimpressed.
"You're so freaking rude," Laurelpaw hissed. "Just shut up."
"I don't know how," Firepaw said sweetly, leaning close to her and batting his eyes innocently. "After all, I'm dumber than a stick."
Laurelpaw didn't know how to respond, and was happy when Swallow Star started talking again.
"Alright, so on to the second part," Swallow Star said. "Obviously, I can't let two groups of apprentices go hunting all day without a warrior present."
"We'll be good, I promise," Cracklepaw called out.
"I'm sure you will be," Swallow Star replied. "But you can't go out by yourselves. And since Tigerstripe and I don't have anything to do today, we've decided to help each team."
Laurelpaw gasped, along with more than a few others. The leader AND deputy? Wow, this is so cool!
"And to make things a little more fun," Tigerstripe spoke up for the first time, walking up to the conversation. "We've decided that Swallow Star and I will both hunt too. Whatever we catch will be contributed to the team."
"Wow," Pinepaw breathed. She leaned over to whisper into Laurelpaws ear at once. "Oh my god. Swallow Star better be on our team. I'm sending a prayer to Starclan right now."
"If Swallow Stars with us, then you're gonna be distracted the entire time," Laurelpaw whispered back. "We should request Tigerstripe, that way you'll be more focused."
"No way, dude," Pinepaw said. "I want Swallow Star."
"Well, I want to go to the gathering!" Laurelpaw hissed back in frustration.
"Girls," Swallow Star cleared his throat awkwardly. "Um, yeah, you're not whispering very quietly."
"Oops," Pinepaw shut her mouth with a snap and looked down, clearly embarrassed. Laurelpaw rolled her eyes, not caring. I don't care if Swallow Star heard us. Maybe he'll assign Tigerstripe with us for sure now.
"I'll hunt with Cracklepaws team," Tigerstripe said suddenly, completely unaware of the exchange between Laurelpaw, Pinepaw and Swallow Star.
"Hell yeah," Laurelpaw overheard Silverpaw say to Cracklepaw. "Now we're gonna win for sure."
Laurelpaw felt a sudden wave of sadness and frustration. Tigerstripe is one of the best hunters in Thunderclan. Not saying Swallow Star isn't good, but everyone knows he's a better fighter than hunter. So they have both my brothers, Tigerstripe, and Ivypaw. Ugh, Ivypaws good too. And on my team, Pinepaws gonna be distracted and not do her best, and the rest of us are just simply not as good as the others.
Well, I guess I'm not going to the gathering. I give up already.
"What's wrong?" Firepaw whispered in her ear. Laurelpaw jumped and snapped her head around, face to face with Firepaw. The fur on top of his head was greasy and sticking up everywhere and his breath smelled like he had eaten a bunch of mushrooms. But the expression in his eyes was different, as if he actually cared. Laurelpaw braced herself for him to mock her, expecting sarcasm.
"Nothing," she hissed in his face.
"Okay," Firepaw shrugged awkwardly and looked away. At once Laurelpaw felt bad, realizing that he was genuinely asking. The one freaking time he cares, I act like a bitch. Go figure.
"Hey, Firepaw," Laurelpaw said quietly, turning around again. "I'm sorry-"
"Hey Cracklepaw," Firepaw interrupted, not hearing her. He walked away before Laurelpaw could apologize.
"Alright teams!" Swallow Star called out. "The competition starts now. May the best hunters win!"
Laurelpaw sadly walked towards the camp entrance, feeling agitated and angry. This is so unfair.
"We'll tell you all about the gathering tomorrow!" Silverpaw laughed as he charged past her, Cracklepaw right behind him. "Wait up for us to get back!"
"Shut up," Laurelpaw muttered under her breath. Ivypaw followed them, falling quite a ways behind. Her tail drooped low to the ground and she looked sad, clearly upset she didn't get to hunt with Firepaw.
"See you later," Ivypaw sighed as she walked by Laurelpaw. Laurelpaw gave her friend a sad glance in return. Looks like neither of us got what we wanted.
"Hey, cheer up a little!"
Laurelpaw turned to see Swallow Star padding up to walk beside her. He looked at her with confusion, clearly confused on why she looked so miserable.
"You were like, super happy before," Swallow Star said, ducking his head so he could get out the camp entrance without brushing his head on the thorns. "What happened? You look as if someone died."
"Oh, I'm fine," Laurelpaw replied, not really sure how to explain what she was feeling. "I just really wanted to go to the gathering."
Swallow Star shot her a funny look, smiling slightly. "Are you that sure that we're gonna lose? I'm kind of insulted."
"No, no," Laurelpaw said quickly, realizing how bad that sounded. "It's just that… oh, I don't know how to describe it."
"I do," Swallow Star said as they walked side by side into the territory. "You think our team isn't as good as the other one."
Laurelpaw shot him a sheepish look, feeling ashamed. He must think I'm so rude. Ugh.
"I know what I'm doing," Swallow Star said. "Our team is more structured than you may think. I would have liked Ivypaw to be in Tigerstripes group, but I can't have her with Firepaw for obvious reasons."
Laurelpaw snorted. "Yeah, no kidding."
"We'll be fine," Swallow Star smiled brightly at her, and Laurelpaw felt a little better. Swallow Star is the nicest cat ever. Treats everyone with kindness and respect, it makes me feel good.
"Laurelpaw, does Pinepaw have a thing for me?" Swallow Star asked, taking a quick glance over his shoulder to make sure the young she cat wasn't in earshot. "She seemed um, pretty eager for me to lead our patrol."
Laurelpaw stiffened, getting about twenty different flashbacks at once.
Swallow Star is so cute, he should be a cat in Starclan cause he's so dreamy.
Do you think Swallow Star noticed me today? I looked in a puddle and I think I look pretty good. Do you think he could tell?
Swallow Star smiled at me today. I'd say we're making progress in becoming mates, don't you think?
Swallow Star is my everything, Laurelpaw. It's not just a phase.
I'm in love with Swallow Star
Swallow Star is the reason of my very existence
"I dunno," Laurelpaw mumbled. "She might like you, it's hard to say."
Swallow Star looked over at her with a doubtful expression. "I think you're lying."
"Alright, she does," Laurelpaw sighed. "Just don't tell her I told you, kay? It was supposed to be a secret."
"Not much of a secret if you ask me," Swallow Star scoffed. Laurelpaw giggled, forgetting all about the gathering for a moment. I think Swallow Star is more than just my leader now. I think he actually might be a friend.
Which is good, but also sucks in a way cause I can't hide things from him cause he's the leader.
Sorry, Pinepaw.
"I don't want her to like me," Swallow Star mumbled.
"If you even look at her, she'll talk about it all day," Laurelpaw warned.
"Goddamn," Swallow Star swore.
"Alright, let's focus on hunting," Laurelpaw said, deciding that they shouldn't waste any more time chatting.
Swallow Star smiled and looked over at her, an odd look in his eyes. "Good idea."
"I have a bit of an plan," Laurelpaw said, thinking something over.
"Let me hear it."
"You have an plan?"
Laurelpaw jumped and turned around. Pinepaw and Firepaw had caught up, looking excited.
"Hi," Pinepaw said sweetly, staring at Swallow Star.
"Hey," Swallow Star coughed awkwardly and looked over at Laurelpaw. "What's this plan of yours?"
"Well," Laurelpaw said, feeling optimistic again. "I know for a fact that Silverpaw and Cracklepaw will hunt on their own. I don't think they would have thought about teaming up."
"So?" Firepaw asked rudely.
"What if we hunt in pairs?" Laurelpaw said, ignoring Firepaws terrible attitude. "One can distract the prey; the other goes in for the kill. That will save a lot of stalking. Also cuts out a lot of trial and error as well."
"Sounds great," Swallow Star said, looking very impressed. "Awesome thinking, Laurelpaw."
"Thanks," Laurelpaw said happily.
"So how should we divide up?" Swallow Star asked, looking over at Laurelpaw in a hinting way. Laurelpaw could tell what he was thinking, mentally sending her a message to pick Pinepaw as a partner so he wouldn't be stuck with her.
I'd rather be with Pinepaw anyway. Otherwise I'd be forced to go with Firepaw and that won't do anybody any good.
"I get Swallow Star!" Pinepaw declared loudly before Laurelpaw could open her mouth.
"Terrific," Swallow Star mumbled.
"But, Pinepaw, I wanted to be with you," Laurelpaw said feebly. She's not gonna change her mind, but I have to try anyway.
"I don't want to work with Laurelpaw," Firepaw growled, glaring up at her. "Pinepaw, be my partner instead."
"No," Pinepaw said happily, staring dreamily at Swallow Star.
Laurelpaw had had enough of arguing. Tigerstripes team has probably caught at least five things by now, and all we've done so far is bitch and whine about who gets who for a partner. We are going to win this thing, I have my heart set on going to the gathering and if I have to achieve it by working together with Firepaw, then so be it.
"Firepaw, let's go," Laurelpaw said.
"Alrighty then!" Firepaw said in a terribly fake cheerful tone. Laurelpaw hissed under her breath, trying to calm herself down. Don't let him get to you. Don't let him get to you…
"Alright," Laurelpaw said, looking determinedly at her team mates. "Let's win this damn thing."
