'Clan Comes First'
Duskpaw walks behind Berrybreeze at a trot, Tawnypaw walking at a similar pace besides him. He looked around at the surrounding grassy mounds, his paws treading across the sandy soil that accompanied their territory. As they progressed towards the border, the scent of Soulclan grew stronger, and Duskpaws face wrinkled in disgust. He looked over to Tawnypaw and saw a similar expression on her face, and when they made eye contact they chuckled at the shared disgust.
"Ugh, how do Soulclan stand their own stench?" Tawnypaw huffed, speeding up catch up to Berrybreeze. "Are they all without noses?" She giggled.
"They probably don't think they smell bad. We probably smell bad to them." Berrybreeze mewed, looking over to his apprentice. "Don't worry about Soulclan, thats some grown cat stuff."
"We're gonna be grown eventually!" Tawnypaw argued, flicking her tail tip.
"Well, ya ain't grown now, so hush up before you get a badger to find us." Berrybreeze chastised, stopping as they came upon the border. He glanced around over it, observing Soulclan's misty moors. Duskpaw came over next to them and looked over as well, the mist thick and obscuring most of anything visible beyond the unseen scent border. He felt a chill go down his back, like he was looking at something he wasn't supposed to. The sound of a running river was muffled in the background, and a frog quietly called. Berrybreeze broke the look he had and stood over the border to mark it, then walking along. Duskpaw and Tawnypaw followed, rubbing their cheeks on the grass of the border and any clumps of coastal shrubs they came upon. As they continued down, the sun started to set, causing the sky to turn a bright orange and yellow color. Dusk was coming upon the territories. Duskpaw looked up and noticed clouds drifting on by, slowly, and peacefully. He almost envied them, just going with the flow, not having to think or do anything other than to exist. As he was staring at the sky, he ran into the back of Berrybreeze's haunch as he suddenly paused. The faint sound of movement from across the border made Duskpaw's hair stand on end, and he looked down and across to barely see the movements of cats moving in the mist, looking like nothing but streaks in the air.
"It's a Soulclan patrol. Stand a bit behind me, younging's." Berrybreeze mewed softly, flicking his tail to gesture for them to take steps back. Duskpaw and Tawnypaw obeyed, backing up just behind Berrybreeze and training their eyes on the mist. Berrybreeze's fur stuck up, his back muscles twitching with agitation. You could see them rippling under his golden marbled pelt, and his eyes changing from their regular happy demeanor to one with ferocity. A pair of eyes gleamed at them from the mist, and a long legged cat with sleek, white fur with gray patches. She walked out of the cover of the mist, and sat a couple tail-lengths from the invisible scent border. Breezepelt let his pelt rest a little, and he lowered his tail, which was erect with agitation. Another molly came out of the mist, one with pointed features and short, glimmering white fur, and brilliant aqua eyes. The two mollies sat next to each other, and a small face was peering from behind white molly with grey spots. Berrybreeze sat down as well, curling his fluffy tail around his paws.
"Hello, Boneclan." The all white molly coos, fluttering her eyes innocently.
"Streamsplash. Spottedsnow. Glad to see you're doing well." Berrybreeze mewed with a blink of his eyes. Duskpaw and Tawnypaw looked over to the cats with curiosity gimmering in their eyes, and Berrybreeze looked sharply at the two she-cats. "Do you need something from us, or are you just gonna stare at me all day? Sorry, but I don't play for the other clan." Berrybreeze taunted, snickering and lashing his tail. Spottedsnow, the all white molly, bristled her fur in agitation.
"Like we'd stoop as low to be with vermin like you. You're all just as good as foxes." Spottedsnow growls, standing up and lashing her tail about. Streamsplash gets up as well, and looks to Spottedsnow.
"Don't give them what they want, Spottedsnow. You know better." She mewed calmly, then making direct eye contact with Berrybreeze. "We want nothing with you, we are just minding our business on our own territory. Come on." Streamsplash flicked her tail and walked to the left of the patrol, Spottedsnow following her after throwing a final glare towards the Boneclan patrol. The little brown Soulclan apprentice stayed where he was, gazing across to their border and looking at Duskpaw and Tawnypaw. Tawnypaw rose a paw and gave a little wave, and Duskpaw looked suspiciously at him, and the Soulclan apprentice just smiled and flicked his tail in greeting.
"Oakpaw! Hurry up!" Streamsplash called, causing Oakpaw to jump and dash away to catch up with the two warriors, their forms fading away into the mist. Berrybreeze gave a big sigh, and turned around to look at the two apprentices.
"As you see, that was Soulclan. Still curious?" Berrybreeze asked, giving the apprentices a skeptical look.
"Uh, kinda, yeah." Tawnypaw mewed, cocking her head slightly.
"Well don't be. They aint nothing but a lick short from choking on their own fur." Berrybreeze chuffed, lashing his tail around and beginning to walk away towards the right of the border. "Come on, we're here to do a job and we are gonna do it." He flicked his tail to motion for the apprentices to follow him, and they did so, rubbing their scent on the bushes and trees that are by the scent line. They soon were approaching what looked to be a large hill on Soulclan's territory, and the sound of the river running and the splashing of the lake lapping the shore growing louder as they approached.
"Are we getting close to the lake? I've always wanted to see the lake!" Tawnypaw exclaims, trotting forward and closer to Berrybreeze.
"Yes, and we should be there just in time to see where it gets its namesake from." Berrybreeze purred, picking up the pace and quickly trotting through the mounds of grass, Tawnypaw and Duskpaw right on his heels. The stretching of grassy mounds came to an end, and opened up to see a sandy shore, with the sun just barely above the lakes horizon. Berrybreeze sat by the edge of where the mounds changed into shore, and looked to Tawnypaw and Duskpaw.
"If you apprentices wanna check out the lake, we can stay for the sunset before making our way back. It's a real piece of eye candy." He mewed, crouching down and gazing across the waters. With a name like Boneclan, you'd not imagine such a gorgeous sight on its territory, but where there is pain and bloodshed, nature finds a way to make the world beautiful again. Tawnypaw's eyes gleamed as she raced up to the shore, slowing as she actually reached the water, apprehensive to get her paws wet. Duskpaw trotted over to follow, stopping a little ways from the shore, wrinkling his nose at the thought of wet fur.
"I'm not getting my paws wet." He stated, sitting down and curling his fluffy tail around his paws. He looked over the water, his eyes reflecting the beautiful rainbow of colors the sunset painted across the sky, and small puffy white clouds rolling along peacefully. Duskpaw was entranced by the sight, and was only brought out of it when Tawnypaw directed a splash of water at him, getting his fur slightly wet.
"Hey!" Duskpaw retorted, to which Tawnypaw used her paw to splash more water at Duskpaw, causing him to run for cover. She stuck her tongue out playfully and scampered down the shore with Duskpaw, splashing water all the while. Her fur was dark and sleek, and the water caught the colors of the sky on it, causing it to seem like Tawnypaw was running in the sunset. Duskpaw felt his face flush, and he kept staring at her as she ran alongside them, him on the shore and her running in the water. He was so distracted that he lost his paws, and he fell down on his face in the sand. He got up and shook off his fur, feeling embarrassed, just to be greeted by Tawnypaw walking up to him and laughing. He couldn't help but laugh with her, enjoying the moment. Berrybreeze walked over to them and smiled, and Tawnypaw shook her fur out to try and release a majority of the water, and Duskpaw did the same. They were still laughing, and Berrybreeze couldn't help but give a chuckle himself. The sun began dipping under the horizon, streaking the sky with purples and pinks, and the dark of night settling in instead of the bright blue sky. The three watched it, staying silent, appreciating the moment and the sounds of water lapping ashore. It was a peaceful scene. Tawnypaw sat next to Duskpaw, and as she was admiring the sight she found herself leaning onto Duskpaw's shoulder. Duskpaw felt his ears get hot when he noticed, and he gulped and kept looking to the sunset.
Berrybreeze got up as the sunset dipped fully out of sight below the horizon, and he stretched his paws, kneading them into the sand as he yawned.
"Alright youngins, it's just about time for Silverpelt to come out, so lets be on our way back home." Berrybreeze mewed, shaking his pelt free of any sand still clinging onto him. Tawnypaw got up, stretching her legs in a similar way, and she smiled at Duskpaw when he shook his pelt out.
"The sunset was so pretty! I never knew something so amazing was on our territory!" Tawnypaw exclaimed, prancing around happily and jumping from the tops of grass mounds. She didn't seem to be tired, despite the onset of darkness. Duskpaw nodded in agreement, walking behind Berrybreeze as he led them back to camp.
"Are there any other cool spots in our territory, Berrybreeze?" Duskpaw mewed, his ears perked with curiosity.
"Well, we got the Basking rocks that we passed by that is parallel to that Cave o' Silence them Soulclanners got. We also have the Battle Clearing, but y'all have been there already. Then there's the climbing tree, which I'm also sure you've seen. Otherwise, we just got lots'a meadows and grass and dirt." He mews, still steadily trotting towards camp. "It ain't the prettiest but it works for us." Duskpaw nodded as he spoke, the smell of home growing stronger as they kept going. Tawnypaw eventually jumped down from the grass mounds and walked alongside Duskpaw, looking to him.
"The lake is really pretty, huh?" She mewed, slowing down her pace a bit as she began talking.
"Y-yeah, Its nice. I didn't know we had any nice things in our territory." Duskpaw mewed, looking up to the sky as the stars began poking their light through the dark sky. "I thought it was all just grass and sticks." He chuffed jokingly.
"Haha, yeah. Its nice, knowing not everything is bad out there. Atleast, in our territory." Tawnypaw mewed, smiling as they approached the entrance to camp. Duskpaw followed behind her as she slipped down the ramp into the canyon camp. Blackstar was laying inside his tree stump den, his yellow eyes watching the camp carefully, his pupils slits. Berrybreeze came in behind him, walking over to Blackstar.
"Blackstar; We ran into another Soulclan patrol across the border, but otherwise we remarked the border and saw nothing unusual, sir." Berrybreeze mewed, sitting down and at attention.
"Good." Blackstar meowed, glancing over to Duskpaw and Tawnypaw. "How was Duskpaw with your apprentice, Berrybreeze?" Blackstar inquired, his ears twitching as his interest peaked.
"They seem to get along quite well, sir. Like two peas in a pod." He purred, curling his tail around his paws.
"I see. Dismissed."
"Goodnight, sir." Berrybreeze mewed with a dip of his head, padding over towards the fresh kill pile. Duskpaw glanced over to where Blackstar lay, his eyes nervous, and Tawnypaw tapped his shoulder with her tail tip, taking him out of his trance.
"Bushpaw and Whitepaw seem to be back from their patrol too." She observed, padding over to where the two apprentices sit chatting by the apprentice's den. Duskpaw followed in suit, glancing back to Blackstar and seeing something in his gaze that made a chill go down his spine. He was almost angry looking, but why?
"Duskpaw! How was your patrol? It was your first one, right?" Whitepaw exclaimed, trotting up to meet her brother and purring. "What kinda stuff did you see?"
"Oh- well, we saw these creepy Soulclan cats." Duskpaw started, sitting down and licking his chest fur.
"They weren't all that creepy. I thought they were kinda pretty!" Tawnypaw mewed, glaring at Duskpaw before smiling again. "That little apprentice didn't seem all bad-"
"Another apprentice?" Whitepaw chirped, her eyes widening. "Momma told me all the apprentices in Soulclan had to cross the Roaring River and stay in a cave all night! I thought they would freeze to death."
"Well this one was very much alive." Duskpaw snorted, rolling his eyes. "I don't get why you guys are all so interested in Soulclan, they don't matter as far as I'm concerned."
"It's good to be educated about the enemy, at least, Duskpaw." Bushpaw chimed in, looking slyly to Duskpaw.
"I guess, but calling them pretty isn't exactly preparing to fight or anything." Duskpaw mewed, throwing a sly look back to Tawnypaw.
"Oh, you're just mad cause your paws got wet on the patrol!" Tawnypaw teased, shoving Duskpaws shoulder with her own.
"Oh, did you two see the Sunset Lake?!" Whitepaw mewed, standing up and perking her ears.
"Oh yes. Duskpaw was much too scared to play in the water though." Tawnypaw mewed, sticking her tongue out at Duskpaw.
"Hey, it's not natural for cats to swim, alright?" He grumbled, wagging his tail in annoyance.
"Soulclan does it." Whitepaw remarked.
"Soulclan isn't at all natural." Duskpaw huffed, laying down as the sky began turning dark and the stars were peeking out from behind their dark shroud.
"Whatever. Tell me about the lake!" Whitepaw pressed, scooting over closer to Duskpaw. "Pleeeease?"
Duskpaw gave a dramatic sigh and smiled, caving in. "Alright. Well, it was really something to see. It reflected the colors of the sky perfectly, it was like a second sunset! Tawnypaw was running through the water and the colors were splashing all around her, it was so pretty." Duskpaw mewed, retelling what Tawnypaw, Berrybreeze, and him had saw.
"Awww, are you calling Tawnypaw pretty, Duskpaw?" Bushpaw mewed, wiggling his eyebrows.
"W-what? N-no!" Duskpaw stuttered, suddenly flustered.
"You don't think I'm pretty?" Tawnypaw mewed, looking with a hurt expression to Duskpaw.
"W-wait, no- I mean- I think-" Duskpaw kept tripping up on his words, and he eventually decided to just stop talking all together, his embarrassment overwhelming him. The three apprentices giggled together, and Bushpaw touched the tip of his tail to Duskpaws shoulder.
"Hey, no need to be shy buddy." He chuckled.
"Shut up." Duskpaw groaned, covering his ears with his paws.
"Alright alright, enough teasing my poor brother." Whitepaw giggled, laying on her back and looking up to the stars. "If you look up, you can see silverpelt in the sky!"
Duskpaw looked up, and surely enough, the stars of Silverpelt were shining in the sky, full view. He was surprised they could see it, considering Boneclan's worship of the Dark Forest. Maybe Starclan still believed in them, despite everything. Duskpaw glanced over to Tawnypaw and saw the stars reflect in her brown eyes, bringing out all the other colors hidden within her eyes. Duskpaw stared for a while, before he felt something behind him, watching.
He looked behind him to see the large, bulky form of Blackstar standing behind him and his peers, and he nearly jumped out of his pelt. Instead, he gulped, and looked to Blackstar, waiting.
"Duskpaw. Go to sleep, now. I have a special training session for you tomorrow." Blackstar almost cooed, if his hoarse voice was even capable of doing so. "The rest of you, make sure you've ate and go rest as well. Its late." He ordered, glaring at all of them beforeing walking away, back to his den. Duskpaw sighed, as they all collectively did, and meandered over to the apprentices den, Tawnypaw following since she had ate already too. Duskpaw curled up into his nest on the far side, and Tawnypaw goes to hers near the entrance. Duskpaw yawns and stares at the wall of the apprentices den until sleep overtakes him, and he drifts off into unconsciousness.
Duskpaw awoke by being prodded with a paw, and he grunted with annoyance until he saw Berrybreeze.
"Hey champ. Blackstar wants to take you and Tawnypaw for some sparring. Up and at'em." Berrybreeze chuckles, and Duskpaw spots Tawnypaw already roused and up. He sat up and shook out his pelt, licking his chest fur and running his paws over his ears before padding out of the apprentices den. He fluttered his eyes as the piercing light of sunrise hit him, and he blinked to see Blackstar with Berrybreeze sitting by him and Tawnypaw next to Berrybreeze. He trotted up to Blackstar and met his eyes, Blackstar looking cold as usual. He flicked his tail to gesture for the patrol to follow him, padding up the ramp out of camp.
"Today we will be group training. Duskpaw, it will be good to spar with someone your own age." He remarked, glancing back to his apprentice shortly before continuing forward. They reached the sandy training clearing in no time, and Tawnypaw seemed really excited.
"Have you trained before, Tawnypaw?" Duskpaw mewed, his head cocked to the side.
"Oh, well, not yet. I'm really excited though!" She exclaimed happily, running to her mentors side. Duskpaw gulped and stood over by Blackstar, both mentors at the far sides of the clearing.
"Stay here, me and Berrybreeze are going to do a demonstration." Blackstar mewed, touching his tail tip to Duskpaws shoulder and walking towards the middle of the clearing. Berrybreeze did the same, and the two mentors faced each other. Berrybreeze crouched down and pounced towards Blackstar, and Blackstar rolled to the side out of the way of the pounce, avoiding the attack. Berrybreeze then ran over to Blackstar, trying to swat his face but Blackstar moving out of the way so that Berrybreeze's paw flew over, barely hitting the leaders torn up ears. Berrybreeze continued his assault, and Blackstar continued to dodge, and Tawnypaw and Duskpaw watched the two as they moved with intense curiosity and awe. They stopped, Berrybreeze panting a bit and Blackstar still stoic as usual.
"Now, Duskpaw, did you see the roll I used to maneuver away from Berrybreeze's strikes?" Blackstar inquired, to which Duskpaw enthusiastically nodded. "Good. I want you to practice that technique for now." Blackstar ordered, then looking to Berrybreeze, to which he nodded.
"Tawnypaw, I want you to be the attacker in this situation. Come at Duskpaw with sheathed claws, but all the might you have! Keep your feet squared on the ground and throw your blows with your shoulders. You got this!" Berrybreeze mewed, his eyes gleaming happily and his tail tip flicking back and forth with excitement. Tawnypaw nodded, and walked over to the middle, and Berrybreeze walked over to the sidelines. Duskpaw and Blackstar mirrored there movements, and Duskpaw stood in front of Tawnypaw, waiting for an attack.
Tawnypaw crouched down and pounced at Duskpaw suddenly, and Duskpaw immediately dropped his body and threw it to the side to try and roll gracefully like Blackstar had, but instead he rolled onto his side and Tawnypaw was able to easily get another strike in. Duskpaw scrambled to his feet, getting up and bracing for another attack. Tawnypaw tried to strike him with a paw, but he was able to duck and dodge it. Tawnypaw then tried again from the other side, and Duskpaw continued ducking and moving. Blackstar was watching with intent, his eyes trained on the two apprentices. Berrybreeze was cheering for Tawnypaw, saying she was doing well, while Blackstar stayed completely silent, just watching.
"Switch the roles now. Duskpaw, go on the attack. Tawnypaw, dodge." Blackstar meowed, sitting up and curling his tail around his paws, something dark flickering in his gaze. Duskpaw nodded and switched to offense, Pouncing on towards Tawnypaw and her trying to dodge him. It seemed she was having a harder time picking it up, or maybe wasn't taking it as seriously, because she kept rolling to the ground and letting Duskpaw pin her down. Blackstar was grumbling, and Berrybreeze looked nervous.
"Tawnypaw, try to put more power into your roll. Pretend it's an enemy cat." Berrybreeze meowed, his tail swishing behind him. Tawnypaw was distracted by this, and Duskpaw full on tackled her to the ground, chuckling a bit as he did so.
"Duskpaw. Take this more seriously. Attack harder." Blackstar mewed, standing up now, looking over the apprentices. Duskpaw looked to Blackstar and nodded quickly, jumping off of Tawnypaw and taking a couple steps back. Tawnypaw shook out her fur and smirked at Duskpaw, bracing herself. Duskpaw ran over to Tawnypaw and pounced towards her, but Tawnypaw managed to avoid him this time with a successful roll, but Duskpaw was quick to recover and used his paws to trip up Tawnypaw, making her lose her footing and fall on her side. Duskpaw took advantage of this to land an attack, thumping her on the shoulder with his paws. He hesitated to go for the face, knowing it wouldn't feel great, considering Blackstar had done that to him and he didn't like it. Tawnypaw got up and hissed, headbutting Duskpaw in the chest and dashing away. Duskpaw wasn't prepared for this, and he grunted as she headbutted him, but he recovered and came at her again, lashing a paw out and trying to swipe her legs out from underneath her, but she continued to evade, and Duskpaw was just too bulky to catch up to her nimble movements. Tawnypaw kept giggling as she dodged Duskpaw's sloppy attacks, and it almost looked like they were playing a game rather than training.
"Duskpaw! Come here." Blackstar barked suddenly, his tail tip flicking around and his pupils slits. Duskpaw came to a halt, flattening his ears on the top of his head and going over to Blackstar. He stood in front of him and looked up, afraid of what he would say.
"I want you to unsheath your claws. Really make the attacks matter. That apprentice isn't taking this seriously. You know this is serious though, right?" Blackstar mewed, getting closer to Duskpaw and staring intently at him, judging his reactions. "When she runs, grab her by the tail, as hard as you can." Blackstar whispered, then sending Duskpaw back. Berrybreeze looked concerned and anxious, and Tawnypaw was looking at Duskpaw as he walked back curiously.
"Duskpaw, attack! Tawnypaw, dodge." Blackstar ordered, sitting down again and curling his tail around his paws. Duskpaw ran towards Tawnypaw and pounced, and just as he predicted, Tawnypaw rolled away. However, as she did so, when he landed he quickly grabbed Tawnypaw's tail as she was getting back on her feet, grabbing her tail with his jaws. Tawnypaw panicked, and began grappling with Duskpaw, to which Duskpaw raked his claws into Tawnypaw's haunches. Tawnypaw shrieked out in pain, and she tried to pull away, and Duskpaw held tightly onto her tail, and a sickly crunching sound could be heard, and Duskpaw immediately let go upon hearing this. Tawnypaw yowled out in pain, and her backside was bleeding from the claw marks on her haunches, and her tail was crooked half way through. Berrybreeze rushed over to his apprentice, fur spiked on end. He looked over to Duskpaw with rage gleaming in his eyes.
"Why did you use your claws?! That's against the warrior code!" Berrybreeze hissed, causing Duskpaw to shrink back.
"Blackstar told me to!" He squeaked out, crouching down on the ground and looking at Tawnypaw's writing form.
` "Her tail…! Ugh, move!" He growled, picking up Tawnypaw by the scruff and rushing away with the crying apprentice, pushing Duskpaw out of the way. Blackstar padded over to his apprentice, standing next to him.
"Good job. She'll remember this." Blackstar mewed, touching his tail tip to Duskpaws shoulder. "You don't need her. Her feelings aren't as important as making her into the perfect Boneclan warrior." Blackstar told Duskpaw, padding forward and towards the exit of the hollow.
"I didn't want to hurt her!" Duskpaw protested, causing Blackstar to turn around and come back to Duskpaw standing in front of him and towering over the small apprentice.
"It doesn't matter what you want, it matters what is good for the clan!" Blackstar growled, unsheathing his claws.
"How is it good for us to hurt each other?!" Duskpaw hissed, standing taller now wrinkling his face up in anger. "I was making a friend! Now she'll hate me!"
Blackstar swiped Duskpaw across the face, one claw scoring deeply into the ridge across his nose and opening his skin up. Duskpaw immediately reeled back and hissed, crouching to the ground defensively.
"Friends bring you down. The clan is what matters, not your friends, not your family, no one! The only thing that matters is becoming strong and overcoming your battles, and those battles might be against your own clanmates; You have to be prepared to sacrifice everything!" Blackstar spat, getting in Duskpaws face and bearing his teeth. "Now get up." Blackstar stepped away from Duskpaw, allowing him to stand up. Duskpaw was shaking and clenching his teeth as he stood up. Blackstar was right. Family was the reason he was in pain. Friends are the reason he's being punished right now. He looked up to Blackstar and stayed silent, looking at him in the eyes. "Go to the otherside of the clearing. We aren't done training yet." Blackstar mews, standing and watching as Duskpaw walks over to the other side of the clearing. "I won't stop coming after you until you master the rolling dodge. I don't care if it takes all day." Blackstar mews, squaring his paws on the ground and tensing up in preparation.
"I don't care either." Duskpaw growls, crouching down and bracing for his attack.
"That's the spirit." Blackstar meows with a sly smile, before charging at his apprentice.