On her first day of taking care of Yellowfang, Firepaw was prodded awake roughly. She opened her eyes slowly, blinking sleep away from her eyes to see a very annoyed looking Dustpaw glaring down at her.
"Go get that mangy she-cat some fresh-kill before she wakes the whole camp!" he snarled. "For StarClan's sake, how did you sleep through her yowling?" He sniffed, stalking out of the apprentices' den.
He must be on the dawn patrol, Firepaw thought, watching him leave. She sat up in her nest and gave her fur a quick grooming before leaving the den to get Yellowfang a mouse from the fresh-kill pile. The apprentice then proceeded to walk to Yellowfang's den and linger at the entrance. I hope she won't be too grumpy…
"I can smell you out there, kittypet."
Firepaw jumped. She padded in and dropped the mouse in front of the she-cat sheepishly. "How do you know that I used to be a kittypet?"
"I heard it at a gathering a couple moons ago. A couple apprentices were gossiping about how a ginger kittypet had joined ThunderClan. Seeing as how the only other ginger apprentice was your former deputy's daughter, I figured it was you," Yellowfang answered, immediately gulping down the mouse she'd been given.
She flattened her ears. "I used to be a kittypet, yes. I'm an apprentice of ThunderClan now."
"Was your father a kittypet? Your mother a kittypet?"
"Well, yes-"
"Having kittypet blood just isn't the same as having warrior blood. Just run back to your twolegs, why don't you? I can't believe you've even lasted this long. It's humiliating to be fussed over by such a lowborn cat such as yourself!" Yellowfang sneered.
Firepaw was trembling by the time the old she-cat finished. She wasn't trembling with fear, nor was she trembling with sadness; she was trembling with rage. "How dare you?" she spat. "You're just a miserable excuse of a she-cat! You'd be humiliated being cared for by a clanborn cat! You'd be humiliated being cared for by a cat from your own clan! You're humiliated to have to be cared for in general. Well, guess what? You're just going to have to deal with being cared for! Bluestar ordered me to care for you, so I will, no matter how rude or obnoxious you are!"
The gray she-cat stared at Firepaw with wide orange eyes. Firepaw suddenly felt somewhat bad about what she'd said. Suddenly, Yellowfang started to make a low, harsh wheezing sound. The ginger apprentice's eyes widened as she stepped forward. "Yellowfang, are you… wait, are you laughing?"
Yellowfang was, in fact, laughing. A purr was rumbling from deep inside her chest as she replied, "You certainly have spirit, kittypet. I'm tired and my leg hurts. I need something to put on this wound, so go and find that pretty medicine cat of yours and ask her for some herbs. I think goldenrod poultice will help. And while you're at it, get me some poppy seeds to chew on. This pain is killing me!"
Firepaw nodded silently, wide-eyed and surprised by the old she-cat's sudden mood change. She turned and quickly bounded over to Spottedleaf's den. She paused at the entrance of the den, staring around. She'd never been to this part of camp before… she'd never had a reason to.
Spottedleaf poked her head out from a spot behind a large clump of grass. "Oh, hello, Firepaw. What can I do for you?" The medicine cat radiated friendliness, and Firepaw found herself relaxing in her presence.
"Oh, um, Yellowfang wanted some herbs for her leg… she said something about a goldenrod poultice and some poppy seeds," the ginger she-cat mumbled awkwardly.
The tortoiseshell nodded. "Alright; I'll throw some marigold leaves in, too. If she dresses her wound with them, it'll keep off any infections."
A few moments later, the medicine cat returned with a bundle of leaves. "Make sure Yellowfang goes easy on the poppy seeds, will you? A little pain is useful; it'll help me judge how well she's healing."
Firepaw nodded and picked up the herbs carefully with her teeth. "Thanks, Spottedleaf," she mumbled around the leaves, and padded back to Yellowfang. As she was padding to Yellowfang's den, she noticed Tigerclaw staring at her with narrowed eyes. The small ginger apprentice paused and turned her head to blink curiously at the dark warrior. He turned his head away. Firepaw tipped her head in confusion before continuing to the former ShadowClan medicine cat's den and dropped the herbs at Yellowfang's paws.
"Good," the flat-faced she-cat grunted. "You can go now."
It had been three days since Yellowfang had come to camp, and of course, Firepaw was still caring for her.
The ginger apprentice had stopped to talk to the other apprentices, curious as to what they were doing with their mentors today. She wished she was out training again… all she got to do was hunt.
"Lionheart's taking me to the Great Sycamore to practice my climbing," Graypaw meowed.
Ravenpaw licked one of his paws and drew it over an ear. "Tigerclaw and Whitestorm are taking Sandpaw and I to do some battle training."
Firepaw sighed. "I wish I could do some battle training…"
Sandpaw cast a sympathetic look at her. "I'm sure Bluestar will let you train again soon. She knows that training the apprentices is important."
Still downcast, she turned to Dustpaw. "What are you and Stonefur doing, Dustpaw?"
The dark brown tabby shrugged. "We're going to go on a hunting patrol with Runningwind, Mousefur, and Longtail."
"I wish I could go," she grumbled.
Stonefur padded over. "Dustpaw, we're ready to leave. Come on." He paused, glancing at Firepaw. "My mother will let you get back to warrior training soon, don't worry. You're doing a good job with Yellowfang."
Firepaw looked up at him. "Thanks, Stonefur."
Stonefur nodded, signaling to Dustpaw with a flick of his tail that they were leaving.
Firepaw turned back to Graypaw, Ravenpaw, and Sandpaw. "I better go see how Yellowfang is. Have fun, you three." The ginger apprentice turned and padded back to the fresh-kill pile, taking a sparrow off of the top and dropping it at Yellowfang's paws. "Can I do anything else for you?"
She opened her eyes. "I think I have some ticks. Get me some mouse-bile, would you?"
Firepaw went to Spottedleaf's den, requesting for some mouse-bile. The medicine cat left to the back of her den briefly before returning with a stick with oddly smelling moss on the end. She set it down and told Firepaw, "Make sure not to take the moss in your mouth; your mouth will taste foul for days. Wash your paws in the river you use the moss."
The she-cat nodded, taking the stick in her jaws and returning to Yellowfang. Taking the moss into her paws, she pressed it onto the she-cat pelt where the ticks were.
Yellowfang's eyes had been closed, but she half opened one as she heard the kits play-fighting. Suddenly, to Firepaw's surprise, she stiffened. The ginger she-cat paused, watching the kits play-fight.
Sunkit had launched himself on top of his brother, Stormkit, who was pretending to be the ShadowClan leader. "Feel my teeth, Brokenstar!" he growled.
Stormkit squirmed underneath his littermate's body. Suddenly, he gave a powerful heave and flung the gold-and-white tom off of his back. With a startled squeak, Sunkit tumbled into Yellowfang's side.
The old she-cat instantly leapt to her feet, causing Firepaw to stagger backwards, mouse-bile in paw. She spit violently, glaring at the kit. "Stay away from me, you scrap of fur!"
Sunkit took one look at the enraged she-cat and turned tail, running back to Mossheart, who glared furiously at Yellowfang. Stormkit stared at Yellowfang for a moment before cautiously backing towards the safety of the nursery.
Firepaw frowned at Yellowfang. Her eyes were burning with a rage Firepaw had never seen before. She'd thought that the old she-cat had looked vicious when they first met, but this was different… "I think the kits are just finding it hard being confined to camp," she meowed carefully. "They're getting restless, that's all."
"I don't care how restless they are!" growled Yellowfang. "Just keep them away from me!"
"Don't you like kits? Did you never have kits of your own?"
"Don't you know medicine cats don't have kits?" she hissed furiously.
"Well, yes, but I heard you used to be a warrior," the apprentice ventured.
"I have no kits!" Yellowfang spat. She pulled herself away from her. "Anyway," her voice lowered suddenly. "Accidents seem to happen to kits when I'm around them." Her orange eyes were clouded with emotion. She laid her chin on her forepaws and stared ahead. Firepaw blinked as the older she-cat sighed and let her shoulders sink.
"I finished with your ticks," she mumbled. "I'll leave now." She backed out of the den, sighing. She padded towards the camp entrance, pausing to watch the queens and elders work on the camp barrier. Everyone had been a little edgy since Bluestar had announced WindClan's disappearance a few days ago.
Halftail padded up to her. "Where are you going, Firepaw?"
"I was going to go for a walk, to be honest," she mumbled sheepishly.
"Don't come back without any prey," Halftail meowed. "The clan could use some."
A few days later, Speckletail padded over to Firepaw as the ginger she-cat was leaving Yellowfang's den.
"Hello," Firepaw meowed. "Are you going to see Yellowfang?"
"Why would I want to see that unnatural creature?" Speckletail snorted. "No, it was you I was looking for. Bluestar wanted to see you; she's about to call a meeting. She just wanted to be sure you were in camp."
Firepaw tipped her head in confusion. As she opened her mouth to ask why, Bluestar called the familiar words for a clan meeting as she sat on top of the Highrock. The cats gathered around the base of the rock, curious to see what their leader wanted.
"I've decided Firepaw has cared for Yellowfang long enough. It is time for her to get back to her warrior training. To speed up the process of training our apprentices, I shall take on Firepaw as my own apprentice."
There were a few gasps and shocked meows. Bluestar was taking on an apprentice?
"Congratulations," Graypaw meowed, headbutting his friend's shoulder. "It's considered an honor to be mentored by the clan leader."
Firepaw blinked at him. "Thank you… I can't believe she wants to mentor me!"
Bluestar leaped down from the Highrock, signaling that the meeting was over. She padded over to Tigerclaw and Lionheart, murmuring quietly to them. Lionheart and Tigerclaw both nodded, seeming to agree with what the blue-gray she-cat was saying. As she walked back to her den, the two warriors went to Ravenpaw, Graypaw, and Firepaw.
"We will be giving you an assessment today," Tigerclaw growled.
The three apprentices leaped to their paws, giddy with excitement.
"When will we start?" Graypaw meowed.
"We're leaving to start the assessment right now. Follow us," the tabby answered, prowling out of camp.
Once they'd reached a large white rock in the woods, they stopped. Tigerclaw raked his eyes over the three apprentices before addressing Graypaw. "Graypaw, you go towards the stream and hunt there."
"Yay," he mumbled. "Wet paws for me!"
Firepaw purred with amusement as he left. Poor Graypaw; he hated getting his pelt wet.
"Firepaw, you go towards the twoleg place." Firepaw blinked in surprise before leaving.
She paused as she reached a grassy area by the twoleg place. She scented rabbit! She scanned the area, trying to spot the creature. She pinpointed its location easily; it was nibbling at some dandelions by the base of a tree. Grateful that she was downwind of the small mammal, she crept silently towards it. When she was in striking distance, she leapt, killing it with a sharp nip to the neck. She lifted it, pleased with its weight. It was definitely good and plump. It'd make a good meal for the queens… She buried it quickly and returned to her hunt.
On her way down the path, she caught a sparrow, a crow, and two mice. Proud of herself, Firepaw paused to rest for a moment.
Snap!
She whipped around, bristling. She scented an unfamiliar cat! She crept towards the noise, green eyes narrowed dangerously. Whoever was on ThunderClan territory would regret it. Spotting the intruder, a black and white tom, she launched herself at him.
The tom yowled in surprise and attempted to fight back. However, seeing as how Firepaw had battle training (though, her moves were a little rusty, having not practiced for days…), he was easily dominated. She pressed a sheathed paw to the tom's throat. "Who are you?" she growled.
"I- I- I was just looking around! Don't kill me, please!" the tom wailed.
Firepaw blinked, tipping her head. That voice was familiar…
"Smudge?"
The tom looked even more frightened. "H-how d-do you know my name?"
"It's me, Ember! You know, the she-cat who lived next door to you? We were kits together!" She removed her paw from his throat, sitting back on her haunches.
"Ember?" Smudge's amber eyes widened. "Is it really you? Did you find the wild cats again? Or are you living with new housefolk? You must be, considering you're still alive!"
"No, I live with the wild cats now," she meowed.
"But you're so thin! Don't you eat?" he fretted.
"I catch my own food," she snorted. "I don't need housefolk to feed me." She paused, frowning at him. "Smudge… you smell… different."
He blinked in surprise. "You must just be used to the wild cats' scents."
"No, I would never forget your scent- I grew up with you!" The ginger she-cat narrowed her eyes for a moment before the realization hit her. "You've been to the Cutter!"
"…the what?"
"The Cutter- I mean, the vet!"
"Well, yes… anyway, I need to go. Mealtime soon, ya know?" he shrugged his plump black shoulders.
"Alright, just go carefully, Smudge. Not all wild cats are as friendly as I am with house cats."
Firepaw caught another sparrow before returning to Tigerclaw. Apparently she was the first one back, because Graypaw and Ravenpaw weren't there…
"I've got loads more prey back there," she meowed. "I buried it-"
"I know exactly what you did," Tigerclaw growled. "I've been watching you."
Bushes rustled, signaling Graypaw's return. The gray tom spat out a squirrel. "Yuck! Squirrels are too furry. I'll be picking hairs out of my teeth all evening!"
Tigerclaw ignored him, staring off into the distance. "Ravenpaw's late," he observed. "We'll give him a bit longer before returning to camp."
"Tigerclaw, what if he was bitten by an adder?" Firepaw fretted, glancing in the direction of the Snake Rocks worriedly.
"Then it's his own fault," Tigerclaw answered coldly. "There is definitely no room for fools in ThunderClan."
Silence followed his statement. Firepaw and Graypaw exchanged worried glances while Tigerclaw sat motionlessly, apparently lost in his own thoughts.
Firepaw was the first to scent Ravenpaw's arrival. She jumped to her paws as the black tom leaped into the clearing, looking oddly pleased with himself. Dangling from his jaws was the long, diamond-patterned body of an adder.
"Ravenpaw! Are you okay?" Firepaw questioned, flicking her tail.
Graypaw rushed forward to examine Ravenpaw's catch. "Did that bite you?" he mewed in awe.
"I was too quick for it!" he purred loudly. Then, catching his mentor's eye, he quickly fell silent.
Tigerclaw fixed the three excited apprentices in his cold amber gaze. "Come on," he grunted, "Let's collect the rest of your prey and get back to camp."
Tigerclaw strolled out of Bluestar's den once the apprentices had finished bringing all of their prey back to camp.
"Firepaw, Bluestar wants to see you."
Firepaw's eyes widened nervously. "Alright, I'm going…"
As she padded into her leader's den, Bluestar was just finishing grooming her blue-gray pelt. The she-cat looked up. "Firepaw," she greeted. "Tigerclaw told me he saw you with a kittypet today. He said you started out fighting with him, but ended up talking."
The ginger she-cat's pelt prickled uncomfortably. "Well, yes… he was a friend from when I was a kittypet," she admitted.
Bluestar blinked at her before sighing. "Do you wish to return to your kittypet life, Firepaw? Perhaps I expected too much of you…"
"No!" She jumped to her paws, bristling in alarm. "My place is here, Bluestar, in ThunderClan. Talking with Smudge today was nice, but it made me think about how I was glad to have left my housefolk. My life is so much better here; I know I belong here."
Her blue-gray leader was silent for a long moment. "Very well. I believe you."
Firepaw let out a sigh of relief. That's good…
"I spoke with Yellowfang today," her leader meowed conversationally. "She thinks a lot of you. She's a wise old cat, you know. I suspect she wasn't always bad-tempered. Indeed… I think I could grow to like her."
Firepaw felt an unexpected glow of pleasure at her leader's words. Maybe, while she'd been caring for Yellowfang, her admiration had grown into affection, despite the old cat's bad temper. Whatever the reason was, she was glad Bluestar liked the gray she-cat.
"Anyway… despite showing bad judgment in talking to a kittypet, Tigerclaw was impressed with your hunting skills. In fact, he reported all three of you did well. I am pleased with your progress. You will come to the Gathering- all three of you."
Firepaw beamed. "Thank you, Bluestar!" However, remembering the other apprentices, she frowned. "What about Dustpaw and Sandpaw?"
"Those two will stay behind and guard camp," she dismissed the thought with a wave of her tail. "You may go now."
Graypaw and Ravenpaw blinked in surprise as Firepaw bounded happily towards them. They'd been waiting nervously by the tree stump. Firepaw sat down by her friends, beaming.
"What did she say?" Graypaw demanded.
"Tigerclaw told us you'd been sharing tongues with a kittypet this morning," Ravenpaw burst out. "Are you in trouble?"
"No," Firepaw meowed. "Bluestar wasn't happy about it, though. She thought I might want to leave ThunderClan."
"What? Of course you don't! …right?" Ravenpaw frowned, flicking his skinny black tail nervously.
"Of course she doesn't!" Graypaw meowed.
"Yeah, you'd hate that," she snorted, swiping at her friend affectionately with a ginger paw. "You need me to catch mice for you! All you catch these days are hairy old squirrels."
Graypaw dodged out of the way of Firepaw's blow, rearing up on his hind legs to retaliate.
Firepaw ignored him, though. She was too excited to play-fight. "You'll never guess what else she said!"
Ravenpaw tipped his head, while Graypaw immediately sat back down and asked, "What?"
"We're going to the Gathering!" she purred.
Graypaw let out a yowl of delight and bounded up onto the tree stump. One of his back paws knocked the adder flying onto Ravenpaw's head.
The black tom spat with alarm and surprise, turning on Graypaw. "Watch it!" he hissed crossly, shaking the adder onto the ground.
"Scared it might try to bite you?" Firepaw teased. She crouched down, hissing, and sidled up to Ravenpaw.
Ravenpaw's whiskers twitched and he retorted, "Some snake you'd make!" He leaped onto Firepaw and rolled her easily onto her back.
Graypaw reached down from the tree stump and tugged on Ravenpaw's tail. As Ravenpaw turned to whack him with a forepaw, Firepaw jumped to her paws and leaped into the both. Graypaw went flying from the stump, and the three cats tumbled in the dirt. Finally they fell apart, settling down, panting, by the tree stump.
"Are Sandpaw and Dustpaw coming, too?" Ravenpaw panted.
"Nope!" Firepaw grinned, unable to disguise her triumph. "They get to stay behind and guard the camp."
Ravenpaw looked up to the darkening sky. "I wonder what the Gathering will be like."
"I bet it'll be amazing," Graypaw replied excitedly, circling in his spot. "All of the awesome warriors will be there. Clawface, Mudclaw, Leopardfur…"
Firepaw had stopped listening. She found herself thinking about Tigerclaw and Smudge. It had been bad luck that the warrior had been observing her when she met her old friend. Why couldn't he have been watching Ravenpaw or Graypaw instead? In fact, it was bad luck that Tigerclaw had sent her so near to the twoleg place at all!
A dark thought entered her mind suddenly. Why had Tigerclaw sent her so near to her old home? Had he wanted to test her? Could it be that the dark tabby warrior didn't trust his loyalty to ThunderClan?