Welcome to the chapter where we see actual character…development? I don't know, there's a bunch of arguing in this. And glaring. That seems to be a theme with my chapters. Huh.
Anyways, enough of that. Thank you all for the amount of favorites and follows I've received so far!
Now onto the responses!
Darkerpaths: This Clan is the only one that will be featured in this story. Think SkyClan, but not entirely. And no, they aren't actually SkyClan. But other characters are going to appear, have no fear about that. The first non-Clan cats will appear in chapter 8.
Random Reviewer: I understand why you reason that this should go in the crossover section, however I don't feel like I am stepping on anyone's toes by posting it here. If it really bothers readers then I may move it, but no one else seems to have a problem. Thank you for your concern though.
MS: Thank you very much! I hope you continue to enjoy my fic!
Okay, long intro over. Let's get to the kitties!
Disclaimer: RWBY is property of RoosterTeeth, and Warriors is written by Erin Hunter. I own nothing.
Rosepaw leapt, swiping at a low flying butterfly as it swirled over her head. Missing by barely a claw-length, she tumbled to the ground with a trill of laughter, rolling across the clearing to the base of one of the many trees filling the area. Before, it'd been against the rules for a kit to leave the camp alone. Now she was able to come and go as she liked!
Well, as long as Quickriver didn't have something for her to do.
The change between being a 'kit' and being a 'paw' had overwhelmed her at first. Responsibilities had never been more than making her nest, and even then the bedding was provided by cats that could actually leave the camp. Now she was not only supposed to help with all of the nests in the camp, but she could be sent to fetch moss, or made to assist Palefeather gather herbs, or help to repair a break in one of the dens or camp wall.
Granted, she hadn't been instructed to do any of those things in the last three days, but Thunderpaw was very insistent that it was coming.
And, according to Blazeflower, apprentices were also responsible for getting fleas and ticks off of the older cats in the Clan. Thankfully, they had no elders and Wolfbelly showed no signs of willingly giving up his duties.
Besides, Rosepaw was half-certain that Blazeflower had been lying.
But the new apprentice didn't have time to do anything like that, as Quickriver had her out and about with him all day every day. It was only today that he relented in giving her a break while he joined a hunting patrol.
Even the first night of being in the apprentice den was a huge change! After all, she'd been mostly by herself in the nursery for a while, sans the occasional appearance of Blazeflower or Patchwhisker. So it wasn't hard to understand that moving in with three other cats in a new den might be strange for her.
Still...it'd been an interesting first night.
(Flashback)
Paws dragging by the time they reached the camp, Rosepaw and Quickriver were greeted by the night patrol exiting the hedges that shielded their home. Meadowbrook led the way, followed by Crowtalon, Petalstripe and Blazeflower. Both Meadowbrook and Petalstripe had nodded to her as they passed, while Crowtalon rubbed a paw to her head affectionately. Blazeflower stopped briefly as the others went on, explaining that she had to make up for missing the morning patrol.
Apparently Moonglade hadn't forgotten about Blazeflower's earlier absence after all.
Quickriver had already slipped into the camp as the two sisters spoke, and Rosepaw promised to tell Blazeflower all about her experience the next day before letting the older she-cat go to catch up with the patrol.
She ended up being thankful that her mentor had gone in first, as she had had a feeling that Patchwhisker had been waiting on the other side to bombard her with questions. Instead, Rosepaw had emerged to the entertaining sight of Patchwhisker fumbling for words as he tried to explain to Quickriver why he had nearly jumped on top of the silver tabby seconds before.
Rosepaw saved her father from further embarrassment by appearing, and his words turned to ones of concern at her tired state. She spent a few moments assuring him that she was fine, just tired, before she finally yawned for the third time in a row and was ushered off by Quickriver.
Patchwhisker nearly followed her to the apprentice den, but Quickriver once more intervened, steering the other tom away to the warrior's den with exuberant talk of needing rest for the dawn patrol.
Whether or not he'd known he was helping his apprentice to make a break for it, she wasn't sure, but she was grateful all the same.
Finally, Rosepaw turned her attention to the apprentice den. Situated in a giant fern bush under the lone tree in the camp, the den was large enough to accommodate a number of apprentices... but the concept of sharing space daunted her.
No, she could do this. She hung out with Goldenpaw and Thunderpaw all the time! And they'd shared a den only a few moons before! Snowpaw too, though the white she-cat had hardly ever played with them.
Pushing through the first few giant ferns, Rosepaw blinked. While the den had no actual roof, the tree's branches and leaves provided ample cover, and the outer plants were tall enough to give some privacy. The ground inside the den was covered by firmly pressed fern leaves, which provided the foundation of the nests, though the Clan also added moss and feathers for comfort.
Immediately, she spotted two of her new denmates.
Goldenpaw was lying in his nest, sprawled on his stomach so as to not upset the places the thorns had dug into on his rump. He might have even been sleeping by now, if not for the other cat laying across his shoulders, pinning him as she playfully tugged at his ear with her teeth. Goldenpaw seemed resigned to his fate as designated chew toy, though he did try and raise his head when he spotted Rosepaw. Thunderpaw noticed his sudden shifting and looked up, letting go of the golden tom's appendage with a grin.
"Welcome home, Rosepaw! Well, welcome to your new home! I mean I guess the Clan itself is our home, but you don't sleep in the clearing! Oh, speaking of: Me and Blazeflower made you a nest already so you didn't have to worry about it! Come on, try it out!"
Goldenpaw uttered a praise to StarClan as Thunderpaw crossed the small space between nests and patted one of the empty ones with a grin.
Rosepaw found herself purring as she had made her way to the nest, noticing that it was the only one without a heavy scent of some other cat's ownership. She dropped into it without a second thought, ready to fall asleep right there. "Thanks, Thunderpaw."
"Hey, I helped too!"
Rosepaw managed a laugh that turned quickly into a wide yawn. "You too, Goldenpaw. Goodnight."
Thunderpaw had different ideas. Digging her paws into the side of Rosepaw's nest, she stared down at the other expectantly.
Rosepaw's ears twitched and she looked up. "Err...what?"
"So? So? How did you like the Grove? And the fox den? Wasn't it awesome?"
Even Goldenpaw, who seemed to have been sulking until that point, had lifted his head and given her his attention eagerly.
Now, Rosepaw loved talking with both of them. But she was way past her limit of energy and just wanted to sleep for a moon.
She was saved by the appearance of their final denmate, Snowpaw. The white she-cat brushed the ferns aside with a paw, and made her way to the next opposite Rosepaw's and beside Thunderpaw's. Sitting down, she gave Thunderpaw a questioning glance, but overall ignored the hubbub as she set to grooming her fluffy pelt.
Both Thunderpaw and Goldenpaw gave her brief hellos, the former quickly going back to nudging at Rosepaw.
"Come on, Rosepaw! Did you see the flooded river? What'd you think of it? How-"
It was only then that Snowpaw addressed the orange she-cat, ears folded back crossly. "Thunderpaw, I'm sure Rosepaw can regale you with her first adventure tomorrow, when she's actually able to think straight."
"Aww, you're no fun, Snowpaw!" Thunderpaw whined, neck craned to see the white she-cat.
"Yes I am!" Snowpaw huffed. Her expression would've been hilarious at any time Rosepaw wasn't half-asleep. "Either way, I have to get up early for the dawn patrol."
"So?"
Snowpaw scowled at the chipper orange cat. "I was late and didn't get to eat the last two times because you insisted on going on and on all night about anything and everything! So please," she stressed the 'please', "save it for tomorrow."
Thunderpaw had shrugged and relented with less fuss than Rosepaw would have thought, hopping back to her own nest. Rosepaw yawned and sent Snowpaw a grateful glance.
But Snowpaw had already turned away from them all.
Quickriver had been merciful the following morning, letting his sore apprentice sleep in as he went off with the dawn patrol. She'd need to be in tip-top shape for tomorrow, he'd told her upon his return.
That evening had been the first time Rosepaw got the chance to actually talk with her father, uncle and sister as a group since the ceremony. After napping away some of the remaining fatigue from the night before, Rosepaw had plenty of energy to tell them all about her first outing. Thankfully, Thunderpaw and Goldenpaw showed up during her story, so they didn't miss much.
The next day, Rosepaw woke up feeling refreshed and ready to go, just as Quickriver had anticipated. And she was lucky to have gotten such good sleep, considering the full day ahead of her. First was a beginning hunting practice; Quickriver showing her step-by-step how to stalk different kinds of prey. They worked on her stance and how to move along the ground to approach a mouse without alerting it. A little after Sun-high, Quickriver called the lesson to a halt.
The rest of the day, he'd said, would be for running.
"Running every day will help you to be faster and have better endurance. You were exhausted by the time we made it around the territory once, and that's because you haven't grown accustomed to that much distance. Naturally, you'd eventually be able to traverse the territory without issue, but where's the challenge in that? You'll only get faster by pushing your limits," Quickriver had explained.
And so they have raced all along the hills, Quickriver showing the smaller cat no reprieve until well into the evening. Rosepaw wasn't certain what the end goal of all this was, but by the time she was in her nest, she was positive that Quickriver was just trying to train a cat he could one day race with. Everyone moved too slow for him, and now he could fix that with his own apprentice.
The following day started with her first dawn patrol, alongside Quickriver, Blazeflower and Amberfang. Rosepaw had been fearful that she'd be too tired to travel so far, but with the sound sleep she'd achieved as well as the pep shared by Blazeflower, it became much easier. Admittedly there wasn't much learning to be done though, with the two sisters romping around and Quickriver's tolerance for such behavior. The silver tabby dashed about the border as they went. He knew that while there was a time to be serious, believed that as long as the job was done efficiently, there was no reason to discourage the duo's play. Besides, he quite preferred the lackadaisical parts of life and even tried to partake in the banter whenever he paused in his speeding about. Other than Amberfang, they were the perfect image of a bunch of eccentric dorks. Amberfang herself had a tendency to walk at a slight distance from the others, lost in her own thoughts even as she watched the others frolic instead of work. Every time Rosepaw looked back at her, the black cat had a small smile, though her distinctly torn ears quivered at minute sounds nervously. At least they could tell Moonglade honestly that more than one of them had actually been watching for disturbances.
Thankfully after returning, Rosepaw was once more set free to relax and rest her paws. Her mentor assured her that her paws would grow stronger from so much activity, so that was a plus, at least.
The most recent morning, that morning, Quickriver had informed her that he was going with a hunting patrol and wanted her to take the time to better familiarize herself with the territory. What had started out as an earnest attempt to memorize each of the forest border-markers had derailed quickly. Having spotted the a butterfly resting on a rock border-marker, she fell into a sort of game, pretending the insect was an enemy cat and had to be chased out. Thus the chase began.
If she'd been paying better attention, she would have realized the racket she was making with her romping around and exaggerated battle noises.
((All caught up to the start of chapter))
"What do you think you're doing?!"
Rosepaw flinched, losing her concentration, her balance, and the butterfly. She toppled over and collapsed with a groan. Ripped from her imaginary game, Rosepaw rolled onto her paws to try and get her bearings.
Instead of landmarks, however, her attention was drawn to Snowpaw as she burst from the bushes. Her white fur bristled with frustration and she looked about ready to skin Rosepaw alive.
"Um...learning about butterflies?"
"You complete dunce! You scared off my prey!"
"What?" Honestly, she wasn't sure she'd ever heard Snowpaw this loud before.
Rosepaw backed up a few paces, shaking her head to lessen the small ringing in her ears.
"My bird. The one I was hunting." Snowpaw looked upwards and raised a paw at a speck soaring through the sky. "That bird."
"Oh...Sorry, Snowpaw. I was, uh, looking around at the border-markers and got kind of side-tracked."
Snowpaw rolled her eyes. "Of course you did. You're not kit anymore, you know."
Now Rosepaw couldn't keep herself from retorting, "Hey, I've only been an apprentice for, like, three days! You can't expect me to know how to do everything!"
The white she-cat glared at the smaller apprentice. "You could still use common sense. Like knowing not to run around the forest alone chasing butterflies and yelling. Why are you out here anyways?"
"Quickriver said it'd be okay if I came out here for a bit while he was busy. Said I should get to know where each marker is."
"Then did he tell you that I was having a hunting assessment today?"
The smaller apprentice flinched. Every cat in the Clan knew that an assessment of an apprentice's skills helped to show their progress in that field. Being only a moon into her training, mistakes were acceptable in comparison to an assessment given prior to one's warrior ceremony. But Snowpaw treated it the same as everything else she did: with complete dedication.
Knowing this, Rosepaw struggled to recall her conversation with Quickriver. As usual, there'd been a lot of extra words thrown into the tabby's speech, but she didn't remember any mention of Snowpaw's assessment. Though Rosepaw might've zoned out once or twice, so...
"I don't...think so?" She shrugged sheepishly and Snowpaw groaned. "Well…maybe I can help you catch something else!"
"Hmph. That would be cheating." Snowpaw tilted her head with squinted eyes. "Can you even hunt? Like you said, it's only been three days."
"Quickriver taught me the basics!"
"…Like I said, it's cheating to get help of any sort in an assessment. So just stay out of my way. I would have been closer to finishing if you hadn't on that branch." Snowpaw paused, one paw in the air as she began to make her way out of the clearing. "In fact, you should probably just go home. I have to catch more than a bird and I don't need to run into you later as well."
Rosepaw felt her face scrunch up in indignation, but Snowpaw was already leaving. Watching until Snowpaw's bright white fur disappeared through the foliage, she gave a loud groan and flopped over onto her back, paws covering her face.
Ever since returning to camp, Rosepaw kept an eye and eye on the camp entrance for any sign of Snowpaw. Having been given some time to cool down, she hoped that the two of them could reconcile after the white she-cat's assessment.
It was close to sun-down around the time when Snowpaw returned from her assessment, Wolfbelly trailing behind jovially. To Rosepaw's joy, Snowpaw was carrying along a finch to make up for the robin Rosepaw made her lose earlier. It was big enough that Wolfbelly had to carry the other two pieces of prey, a mouse and a squirrel.
Rosepaw detangled herself from the play-fight she and Thunderpaw had been having, and raced to intercept them at the fresh-kill pile. Snowpaw saw her coming and glowered, though her mouth was muffled by the feathers so only her scrunched brows were visible.
Determinedly, Rosepaw pressed on, hoping her excitement and want to put the spat behind them would reach the other apprentice.
"How'd you do? Did you pass?" Rosepaw didn't wait for an answer, turning to Wolfbelly. "Did she pass?"
Neither got the chance to answer before yet another new, much deeper voice, chimed in. "Yes, how did you do, Snowpaw?"
Snowpaw set the finch down and straightened up as Blizzardpelt approached, meeting his refined stature with her own. His neutral expression swept over the group and his daughter's kills as he waited. Wolfbelly took the chance to set the mouse and squirrel down and gave a loud rumbling purr.
"She's only been an apprentice for a moon, Blizzardpelt. But she's quite the natural; passed as easily as a fish learning to swim. In fact, I would say that her skills are quite exemplary for her age! Nearly as good as me when I was…"
Even as Wolfbelly spoke, neither father nor daughter were listening, their attentions focused on each other.
Blizzardpelt and Snowpaw stared at each other, before the former finally gave a small nod. "Just as I would expect from her."
"I would have been done earlier, actually," Snowpaw folded her ears back as she glanced over her shoulder at Rosepaw "but she—"
Blizzardpelt's strict growl cut her off abruptly.
"A warrior doesn't make excuses. If you made a mistake you work so that it doesn't happen again. You did adequate today, and I expect that you will do even better in the future."
Snowpaw, still half-turned to glare at Rosepaw, raised her head and ears at Blizzardpelt's… compliment?
"…What does adequate mean?" Rosepaw murmured this to Snowpaw, who rolled her eyes out of impulse.
"It means I did okay, you dunce. Shush."
As Rosepaw frowned, Snowpaw finally turned back to Blizzardpelt and Wolfbelly, who'd fallen silent finally as they watched the two apprentices whisper to one another. "I'm sorry, father. You're right. I'll do my best in the future." At her kin's raised brow, she added, "I won't let this delay my progress."
Finally, Blizzardpelt allowed a faint smile cross his muzzle. "Good."
"It's about mealtime…I'll take the finch to Palefeather." Snowpaw snatched the bird by a wing and padded away, leaving Rosepaw sitting awkwardly with Blizzardpelt and Wolfbelly in silence. Giving a nervous chuckle, Rosepaw ducked her head and hurried after Snowpaw, before either of them had the thought of lecturing her.
"Snowpaw?"
The white she-cat was already at the mouth of Palefeather's cave. She paused, turning around to lock eyes with Rosepaw. Waiting.
"I just wanted to say good job. And I'm sorry about scaring that bird away, before."
Snowpaw hesitated, clearly conflicted as she refrained from her original choice of words. Finally, she set the finch down carefully and sighed, frowning, "I handled it. Just…just try not to get in the way again. My father was right: I have a lot to improve on and I can't make excuses or let someone else's inexperience bring me down."
Rosepaw forced down the bit of hurt at the other's double-edged words. Snowpaw was in the right, after all: If Rosepaw hadn't interrupted the hunt, Snowpaw might have finished much earlier. She shifted from one paw to the other and gave the older she-cat an uneven smile. "Wolfbelly was right too, though. You're already a great hunter despite your age!"
Snowpaw looked off to the side, but Rosepaw continued so that Snowpaw didn't dwell too long on the prior conversation. "Either way, I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you somehow!"
The eye-roll she received this time was more amused exasperation than anything, and Rosepaw felt her fur tremble slightly in hope.
Maybe there was a chance for a friendship after all!
Next chapter begs to differ, but whatever.
That's it for this chapter! Remember, I deeply appreciate all comments and forms of feedback, and will happily reply to any questions about this world that you may have. So please remember to R&R!
Side note: I will be going back to work on the flow of previous chapters, as I know I have a bad habit of missing information. Thank you for your patience.
Next Chapter: Crowtalon is in charge of a battle session for all of the apprentices, and the odd tension between Snowpaw and Rosepaw is only growing stronger. The criticisms of Blizzardpelt aren't helping, either.
