"From this day on, Fatekit, you will be known as Fatepaw. StarClan honors your bravery and spirit, and we welcome you as an apprentice of GrassClan. Your mentor will be Heatclaw." Fatepaw touched noses with Heatclaw.
"Fatepaw! Fatepaw!" Few cats yowled out her name. Icecatch, Foxcloud, and their friends looked away. Graypaw had yowled the loudest, which made Fatepaw burst with pride and happiness. Although not many cats had said her name, it made Fatepaw proud that some cats had even bothered to say it.
"What are we going to do? Can we explore the territory?" Fatepaw asked Heatclaw.
Heatclaw chuckled. "Slow down," he meowed. "You can go pick out your nest in the apprentices' den."
Fatepaw nodded and walked towards the apprentices' den. She was improving at walking, but she couldn't really run yet. When she got there, she met Graypaw, and her eyes lit up, but her spirit quickly became crushed when she saw Emberpaw in the den as well.
"Fatepaw! Are you picking out your nest?" Graypaw asked. Fatepaw made an effort not to stare at him for too long.
"Y-yes," she stammered. "Um…any suggestions on what nest I should pick?"
"Here, you can have your nest by me," Graypaw offered. Fatepaw was delighted. She was going to sleep by the cat she liked. Emberpaw overheard the conversation and curled her lip. She was sleeping far away from Graypaw. Emberpaw stalked up to him.
"Why do you let this ugly creature sleep next to you, when there's a much prettier cat that's so far from you?" Emberpaw batted her eyelids at Graypaw, all flirty-like.
"She's nice, unlike you, who just wants to flirt with me all the time," Graypaw retorted.
Emberpaw opened and closed her mouth rapidly, like a fish out of water. She glared at Graypaw, then at Fatepaw, and meowed, "FINE! Don't be with your future mate, then!" Emberpaw stormed out of the den.
"Future mate?" Fatepaw echoed. How would Graypaw like her later? Fatepaw thought.
Graypaw sighed. "She annoys me to no end," he meowed.
"Fatepaw! Come out here!" Heatclaw's voice sounded.
"Okay!" Fatepaw replied. She looked at Graypaw. "I'd better leave," she meowed. Graypaw nodded. "See you later!"
Heatclaw was waiting outside for Fatepaw. "Okay, so I know you have no tail-so you are going to learn how to walk, run, jump, and do everything that requires balance," he said.
Fatepaw nodded enthusiastically. This was it; she could become a normal cat, though she knew that she would never be able to pass for normal. "I can walk," she piped up.
"I know, but- no offense- you aren't very good at it," Heatclaw replied. "So, what I want you to do are to spread your paws out, and shift your weight every time you take a step forward. You probably already know this, but you've got to practice doing this."
Fatepaw tried, and she failed. She got back up and tried again. This time, she could take a couple of steps. Heatclaw nodded. "Good, but practice more. The more you practice, the more you'll get used to this, and you'll be able to walk with ease."
They spent the rest of the afternoon learning how to walk correctly, and they did a little exercise on running, but Fatepaw failed. Fatepaw, did, however, master walking. She did exercises in camp, like walking to the elders' den and back to the apprentices' den. She never stumbled once, and she was able to shift her weight and balance to the other side quite easily.
"Alright, we're done for today. Tomorrow I'll teach you how to run, and the next day I'll teach you how to jump. After that we'll practice hunting and battle training, like a regular apprentice. But throughout your training, I'll pull you over randomly to show me your walking, running, and jumping. Do you understand?" Heatclaw meowed.
"Yes, Heatclaw," Fatepaw nodded solemnly.
"Good. Now you can go get a piece of prey to eat, and chat with the apprentices," Heatclaw mewed. Fatepaw walked away.
When Fatepaw finished her piece of prey, she bounded, wait no, walked, over to the apprentices' den. All of the apprentices were there-Mintpaw, a light gray tabby she-cat, Pinepaw, a dark brown tabby tom, Windpaw, a tortoiseshell she-cat, Graypaw, and Emberpaw.
"What'd you do today?" Graypaw asked Fatepaw.
"Learn how to walk," Fatepaw replied. She heard a snort coming from Emberpaw, but all of the other apprentices nodded solemnly, because they knew that she was disabled, and that they should respect Fatepaw's feelings.
"Walk?" Emberpaw sniffed. "Ilearned how to do that when I was a kit."
Fatepaw couldn't take it any longer. Her fur bristled. "Well, I'm sorry that I'm crippled! I didn't want to be born this way. Everyone else avoids me, and that hurts, but insulting me is even worse. I HATE YOU!" Fatepaw stomped out of the apprentices' den.
Every cat stared at Emberpaw, their mouths open. "What?" she asked. "She deserves to be insulted. Look at her, for StarClan's sake! SHE'S UGLY, AND SHE'S DISABLED!" Emberpaw shouted.
A snarl came from Graypaw. "What if you were her? What if you were avoided by everyone in the Clan? What if someone made fun of you, when you're trying to gain respect?" Graypaw chased after Fatepaw, and Emberpaw gaped.
"Fatepaw! Come back!" Graypaw meowed.
Fatepaw turned around. "What is it?" she said icily. "Do you want to make more fun of me?"
Graypaw pressed up close to her, their pelts just barely brushing. "You know I wouldn't do that…" he murmured. Happiness bubbled under Fatepaw's pelt. She wanted to stay here, frozen forever, but then Graypaw yawned. "I'd better get some sleep," he mewed. "You should get some too."
Fatepaw nodded, and she walked over to the apprentices' den. But before she could get there, Windpaw came up to her. "Playing with your mate?" she purred.
Embarrassment flooded her body. "He's not my mate," Fatepaw protested.
Windpaw snorted. "Oh, please. Every apprentice knows that you and Graypaw have something." Windpaw flicked her tail and padded to the apprentices' den. Fatepaw followed. She snuggled in her nest, next to Graypaw, and fell asleep by the sounds of Graypaw's steady breathing.
Well this was a nice chapter. I like it. Review please, I only have 5 reviews. I'm not demanding for reviews, but I'd like reviews, for praise and constructive criticism.
