Part 2: Pawsteps
Skykit rocked on her paws, feeling antsy. She and Briarkit had turned six moons and she knew that Leapstar would have to apprentice them and she just wished everyone would get up more quickly so that Leapstar would call the meeting.
"Nervous?" asked Goldenthorn, smiling proudly.
"As if!" Briarkit mewed from beside Skykit.
"Can't wait." she added. "Six moons takes forever."
"Three more moons for me." grumbled Risingkit from the nursery entrance.
"If it's three more moons for you…" started Redkit, beside her siblings- Slatefall had kitted a litter of three and they had been crowding up the nursery for a while now.
"That's four for us." Ravenkit told her brother as their sister Spottedkit looked at them in awe.
"That'll be forever!" Redkit complained.
"I'll come back and teach you stuff I learn." Skykit promised, and Briarkit nodded. "Me too."
"I heard someone was going to be crowding in on the apprentice's den, starting today." Wolfpaw had approached with a smile.
"It can't be that crowded since Fernblaze and Shellcloud got named." Skykit objected. "We'll be filling it back up in time for you older apprentices to ditch us for the warriors' den." She grinned at Wolfpaw. "You've been an apprentice for a long time, you'll be named before the next Gathering, I bet."
"You're on. Not before the next half-moon, to give you more of a margin." Wolfpaw replied cheerfully.
"Whoever loses does the other's chores for a day. Since if I lose you'll still be an apprentice." Skykit suggested.
Wolfpaw nodded just as Leapstar jumped onto the Highrock.
"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath the Highrock for a Clan meeting!" she yowled. Those cats still milling around sat down and paid attention. "Today we welcome two new apprentices into Clan life. Briarkit, come forward."
Briarkit obeyed, trembling with excitement. Leapstar continued. "From this moment until the day you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Briarpaw. Your mentor will be Foxstalk." Briarpaw moved as if to go touch noses with Foxstalk, but halted quickly as Leapstar spoke again. "Foxstalk, you have shown your cunning and courage, and I expect you to pass on all you know to this apprentice." Leapstar finished, and this time Briarpaw paused a moment before dashing to Foxstalk to touch noses.
Leapstar paused, and Skykit waited, looking up at her, only now apprehensive. "There are times in every generation of cats that challenge what we think we know and the way we do things. Skykit, come forward."
Now Skykit was scared. Was she not going to be allowed a normal apprenticeship because she had a couple extra appendages? She prayed to StarClan like never before, she just wanted to be a warrior, not even deputy or leader, she just wanted to be able to live life normally. It was bad enough that some cats like Driftpaw thought she thought she was special and that they resented any allowances made for her wings, she didn't want to be completely different.
"However," continued Leapstar, "not every change merits drastic responses, and as the future cannot be predicted as accurately as we might hope, for some changes we must simply allow ourselves to be flexible and face challenges as they come. Skykit, from this moment until the day you receive your warrior name you will be known as Skypaw. Peppermouth will be your mentor. Peppermouth, you have shown yourself to be creative and courageous, and I expect you to pass down all your skills to this apprentice." Leapstar nodded, indicating she was done as Skypaw touched noses with the grey-dappled warrior that had approached her.
"Briarpaw! Skypaw! Briarpaw!" cheered most of the crowd- though Skypaw noted that a few among them seemed uncertain about cheering for her, or, like Driftpaw, outright only cheered for Briarpaw. But she was glad to see that it seemed to be only a few cats.
Cats began dispersing, the dawn patrol going for a nap as the rest of the warriors and apprentices broke into training and hunting parties, as well as one more border patrol.
Peppermouth drew Skypaw over by Briarpaw and Foxstalk. "Today we'll show you the territory, and teach you a few basics- I know you probably already know some but we need to see where you are and if you've actually successfully learned the basics." Foxstalk meowed.
Peppermouth went on. "But training will wait until later in the day. For now, you need to know the lay of the territory and where we stand with the other clans. Politics are one of those things that are incredibly boring but so important. There will be a Gathering soon and you must know how to behave around the other Clans- which can currently be trusted and which are trying to harm us. Come along, we'll explain more along the way." She started off out the camp entrance, Foxstalk a pace behind, the apprentices running to keep up. They skidded out the main entrance and stared up the ravine. They hadn't expected it, as the dirtplace exit was shallower and easier to escape from. The warriors were leaping upwards easily. Skypaw jumped into the air, flapping partway up. "Come on, Briarpaw." She meowed. He jumped up to her and she dragged him on, and like that they scrambled up to the top of the ravine, where their mentors were waiting for them.
"Skypaw, I understand you're a little small to manage the climb, but try to avoid using your wings. Someday you may not be able to use them and you have to be able to use your paws." Peppermouth instructed. "Come along. We'll start with the far border."
They traveled swiftly through the forest, Skypaw keeping her wings folded- partly because she understood Peppermouth's point, but partly out of shame. It was unfair to Briarpaw that she could take a break from running whenever she wanted and he couldn't, so she wasn't going to.
Eventually they slowed, and Skypaw wrinkled her nose. "What's that smell?"
"That's the smell of the Thunderpath. Monsters travel along it, carrying Twolegs in their bellies between all the Twoleg nests. Don't go over there, it's incredibly dangerous- they keep dogs, they like catching cats and taking them away to live as kittypets, and that's if you don't get killed by a monster." Foxstalk explained. The apprentices nodded. "No Clans live along this border, and it's as far from Fourtrees as you can get. That direction leads to RiverClan, but first we're going to head to ShadowClan. It's important that you know their scent, because for the past few moons we've had very tense relations and some in the Clan believe it will result in war."
"Why?" asked Briarpaw.
Peppermouth answered. "They've been claiming that their territory is running low on prey and they need to expand into our territory- they make similar claims every so often but they seem prepared to back their claims with claws and teeth. We may have to defend ourselves from them very soon."
They travelled beside the Thunderpath for a ways, one of the warriors occasionally stopping to renew scent markers. After quite a long time, in which period the warriors had given a general history of the Clans and recent relations with the other three, the scent line turned slightly away from the Thunderpath. Skypaw breathed a sigh of relief as the scent faded. Suddenly, the warriors halted, and the apprentices caught up, standing beside them and looking down at the grove of trees at the base of the hill.
"This is Fourtrees." Foxstalk meowed. "Here we hold Gatherings. Rest a bit while we explain the rules of the Gatherings."
Skypaw withheld her groan at the thought of new rules to follow and took the opportunity to rest her tired paws.
Eventually they were off again, following the river and learning about RiverClan. They rested once more as they passed Sunningrocks, Foxstalk going over how they used to be part of the river and now they were contested by each Clan. Eventually they reached Treecut place and finished their circle of the territory at Twolegplace, returning to camp.
"You two can have a bite to eat, and as soon as we're all ready we'll go to the training hollow and see what you already know." Peppermouth meowed as they entered camp.
The apprentices nodded and went to the fresh-kill pile, where Briarpaw chose a rabbit, which they shared in front of the apprentices' den.
"Take your time, my pads are really sore." Skypaw hissed.
"Really?" Briarpaw asked, surprised. "Mine are already feeling much better."
Skypaw sighed and bent her head to the rabbit, eating as slowly as she reasonably could. Thinking back, she realized she hadn't spent as much time walking around as Briarpaw- was that why she was having a harder time than he was? And she'd been feeling guilty about being able to take a load off whenever she liked!
Peppermouth returned when Skypaw and Briarpaw were nearly finished with the rabbit. "Ready to go?" She asked. Briarpaw sprang to his paws excitedly, while Skypaw pushed herself up more sedately.
"I guess." Skypaw mumbled as Briarpaw exclaimed "I was born ready!"
Skypaw sighed and tried to perk up. Her paws didn't hurt nearly so badly, though this time the climb out of the ravine left her panting, though she stubbornly refused to break down and fly. I can run and keep running just as well as Briarpaw, she repeated over and over in her head. I have to. I'm going to be a warrior.
"Alright." Foxstalk meowed as they reached the training hollow. "Do you two know the hunting crouch?"
Skypaw nodded as they both dropped into their best crouches, which were okay after all that Wolfpaw had taught them, but they both had poor balance. Peppermouth adjusted their positions before saying, "try stalking forward now."
Skypaw moved forward, constantly correcting her balance, tail position, and trying to step more softly, meaning she was stopping often and moving slow.
Briarpaw was moving more quickly, though his walk was unbalanced and lopsided.
Foxstalk shook his head. "You've got a good handle on the crouch, but your stalking motions need work still." He meowed. "Let's see what else you know. Have you learned any fighting moves?"
Skypaw looked at Briarpaw. "Not really." She meowed.
"I mean, some of the apprentices play-fought with us and gave us pointers, but no specific moves really." Briarpaw agreed.
"Well, try to take me down." Peppermouth suggested. "We'll see how you do."
Skypaw glanced at Briarpaw, who met her gaze and blinked. He darted off to one side while Skypaw charged directly. As she expected, Peppermouth reared up, and she dove to get under her paws and knock her down- but the Peppermouth jumped over her. She skidded to a halt and turned, charging again, this time leaping slightly higher, paws reaching out to land on Peppermouth's back-, but this time Peppermouth dodged away, a flying hind paw sending Skypaw rolling away. Skypaw recovered, and hearing a grunt that was not her own, saw Briarpaw had barreled into Peppermouth's side and was hanging onto her back. Skypaw saw her go down for a roll and took the opportunity to race in and jump on Peppermouth's belly, fake-clawing it and leaping away as Peppermouth kicked out.
"Stop, stop." Peppermouth called out, pulling Briarpaw to his paws and stopping Skypaw from rising further into the air- she had been planning a drop attack. "Come on down." She added, and Skypaw obeyed, landing neatly beside Briarpaw and bracing herself for a scolding.
"While you both have little form or direction for your energies, you are both intelligent fighters and despite not knowing how to work your best as a pair, have evident potential. Skypaw, use your wings more- if you can get higher than your enemies can reach, you can get away from them where they can't chase you. Briarpaw, as long as you're still small your attacks need to focus less on the hit and more on the run. When you get larger, you might be able to wrestle down an opponent, but being speedy and unexpected, even if each attack is less powerful, will make you a more effective fighter." Peppermouth said, smiling.
Skypaw was confused, as she'd been expecting to be told not to use her wings since Briarpaw couldn't, or to get a breakdown of everything they'd done wrong. Huh. Skypaw thought.
"We'll have you spar against each other and other apprentices, so you can learn how to fight against someone your own size, and eventually against younger apprentices so you can learn how to fight off smaller cats who will use hit-and-run tactics against you. But for now, Briarpaw, I'd like to do some one-on-one training with you." Foxstalk said, padding away. Briarpaw followed, looking back at Skypaw, who smiled and waved her tail to indicate she didn't mind, she'd be fine on her own with Peppermouth.
When they had gone, Peppermouth looked down at Skypaw. "I'm going to give you some advice, Skypaw." She said. "You're special. Different. Quite obviously chosen by StarClan for something. But your brother and your friends might not be. It will be easy for them, one day, to resent that, so I'm going to tell you now to be the best friend you can possibly be to your brother and your friends, and your path will be so much easier to walk."
Skypaw stared wide-eyed at Peppermouth. "U-um. Okay." She replied.
"And if any cat is giving you real trouble, you come talk to me, okay?" She mewed, smiling at her apprentice. "I like you whole and sound, body and mind."
Weeks passed, but so far Skypaw's life seemed to be going better than the worst-case scenario Peppermouth had presented her. She had Wolfpaw, and Briarpaw, who seemed a touch more distant, though this was because more often than not Foxstalk insisted on training him separately. Instead, Skypaw was more often training with Driftpaw, Fawnpaw or Wolfpaw, if Peppermouth trained her with other apprentices.
In general, the patrols were quiet, though Skypaw noticed that some of the warriors seemed particularly tense when they patrolled the ShadowClan border.
One such time, as she, Peppermouth, Wolfpaw, his mentor Frostleaf, Honeybelly, Pigeonfeather, and Pikeslip had all been assigned to patrol the border together (Skypaw had been concerned about the size of the patrol, though the warriors were all their normal relaxed selves for the most part), Skypaw found herself being dragged sideways into a bush by Peppermouth. She wriggled around and peeked out from under the bush, watching the Thunderpath. "What's going on?" She hissed quietly to Peppermouth.
"There's a very large ShadowClan patrol on the other side, and they look as if they're going to cross. Pray that they don't, because they outnumber us by at least two to one, maybe more." Peppermouth mewed.
"Don't worry, Skypaw, I'm sure it'll be fine." Wolfpaw hissed from her other side. "Great big load of foxhearted cowards, ShadowClan, they really-" but his voice failed. Skypaw flinched as the ShadowClan warriors crossed the Thunderpath and spread out along the ThunderClan side.
"Skypaw, go back to camp for help as quickly as you can. Now. Don't let them see you go." Peppermouth hissed.
Skypaw lingered. "You'll be overwhelmed!" she protested.
"You don't know how to fight properly yet! The quicker you're back with reinforcements, the better off we'll be." Growled Wolfpaw.
With one last nervous look, Skypaw fled, getting well into the forest before taking off and flying at top speed over and around any obstacles, over the ravine and directly into camp. "We're in trouble!" She yowled, standing between the warriors' and leader's dens. "ShadowClan are attacking our patrol along the Thunderpath, you have to help!"
Warriors sprang to their paws and Leapstar came out of her den. "Lead the way, Skypaw, and tell me all about it on the way." She meowed, swiftly running for the exit. Skypaw nodded, leaping into the air and following above Leapstar and the quickest warriors until they reached the top of the ravine. She dropped to a height where she could fly and she wouldn't crash into the warriors. "They were crossing a few at a time when I left, amassing their forces on our side. We were in the bushes so they didn't know how few we were, so they were hanging back, but I could see that there were plenty on the far side waiting to cross." She meowed quickly. Leapstar nodded.
"When we get close, drop down and run with us. Hang back during the fight and help the heavily wounded get out of the way." She ordered. "You haven't been training long enough to be a part of a fight as hard as this may become."
Skypaw dropped to the ground and ran full-pelt the last several foxlengths, slowing only because there were no sounds of battle- only strong ShadowClan scent. She found Wolfpaw quickly and settled beside him. "What's happened since I left?" she hissed.
"We pretended to retreat and hid, now they've laid their scent markers and they're waiting to see if we come defend our border." Wolfpaw whispered back. "Thank StarClan you were so quick." He gave her a quick lick on the ear.
Leapstar approached out in the open, fury bushing out her tail and fur. "I give you this one chance to go back across the Thunderpath." She growled.
A light brown tabby with dark green eyes, who seemed to Skypaw like an important cat, laughed. "This is our rightful territory, Leapstar. We will defend it as such."
"So be it, Aspenstar. I had hoped you would see reason." Leapstar meowed. "ThunderClan, attack!"
"Stay back, please." Wolfpaw told Skypaw again, looking at her.
"Leapstar gave me orders. I have to." Skypaw mewed with a grumble. Wolfpaw touched her cheek gently with his tail.
"There will be other battles, I'm sure, unfortunately." He meowed. "Wait until you're able to survive one."
Skypaw nodded, then clawed her way up to a branch where she could see the battle well, and watched as Wolfpaw dashed out with the end of the ThunderClan party into the yowling mass of cats. She continued scanning the battlefield for hurt cats and, though many were clawed, none laid down too injured to move for a long time.
Then Skypaw saw Honeybelly fall limp under a pair of ShadowClan warriors. She tensed, watching the warrior to make sure it wasn't a trick- but no- the golden tabby remained bleeding on the ground after the other warriors moved on. Skypaw leaped down from the branch and raced onto the field, moving quickly past writhing knots of cats to the still warrior. She began dragging Honeybelly towards some bushes where he could lie out of sight and out of the way. She was halfway there when she was blindsided and pinned to the ground. She yowled as claws and teeth sank into her and she clawed back frantically, striking something soft occasionally- but her opponent wasn't letting her go. Soon enough she deliberately fell limp, giving up and closing her eyes, praying her opponent would let her go and leave her alone. Her ploy worked, and she felt the cat leap off of her. She cracked open her eyes and watched the dark shape move away, then she rolled to her paws and ran back to Honeybelly, finishing the task and racing back up the tree to lick her wounds and watch for more wounded.
She collected bodies of the wounded- Frostleaf was wounded badly in the leg and had to be helped off to the side, and Dawnwing and Flashtooth both collapsed. Skypaw no longer took rests- she just ran back out onto the field to collect whoever else was wounded too badly to continue. She didn't even notice when she started dragging away the ShadowClan wounded as well- she just saw an unconscious cat and pulled them away to bleed out on the sidelines rather than be trampled by the mass of fighting warriors.
At last ThunderClan beat back the ShadowClan party, thanks in part to Witherclaw's patrol, which had arrived late in the battle. Several of the cats Skypaw had dragged out early on were coming to- especially since not every cat had been bleeding to death, rather some of them had been hit hard or been cared for by the few conscious wounded. Aspenstar called the retreat, and the conscious ShadowClanners pulled away their own who couldn't walk.
Skypaw sat down and looked at herself. She was bloody all over, but as she licked it away she figured out that only about half of it was her own. Just a bite on her shoulder and plenty of claw marks on her belly, but mostly shallow wounds. She stood up and swayed, suddenly realizing that since she'd been running around the whole time since she'd been wounded she'd lost quite a bit of blood. A shoulder pushed up under hers, supporting.
"What happened to you?" Wolfpaw asked, concerned. "You were supposed to stay out of the battle."
"I got attacked while pulling Honeybelly away." Skypaw replied, leaning against him. "I pretended to fall unconscious and got whoever it was to leave me alone."
"And as soon as you became a traitor to ShadowClan you were fine." Foxstalk snarled, limping up to the apprentices.
"What?" Skypaw asked, startled. "I never!"
"I saw you helping their wounded." Foxstalk hissed. "What did they offer you to get you on their side? Or did you just volunteer?"
"My orders were to help the wounded- not just ThunderClan wounded, all the wounded. Besides, it's not like helping them did ThunderClan any harm."
"Any enemy warrior left alive is a threat in the future." Foxstalk growled.
"She was just helping." Wolfpaw shot back. "We won, anyway."
"She betrayed us today- no doubt their next attack will be on our unguarded camp when every warrior is out on patrol." Foxstalk accused.
"All I did was get some hurt warriors out of the way, I didn't fight anyone and I didn't pay attention to which clan the cats came from! They were hurt!"
"An admirable sentiment, Skypaw." Leapstar had approached as the argument heated up. "And yes, my orders were simply to help wounded cats. However, when it comes time for you to actually fight in battle, you may leave the enemy wounded alone, but helping them would be traitorous."
Skypaw nodded in acceptance and Leapstar turned to Foxstalk. "No more random accusations. If you have a concern you may inform me."
Foxstalk flattened his ears but moved away without making a reply. Skypaw sighed as she and Wolfpaw began heading back to camp.
"Well, I'm proud of what you did, Skypaw." Peppermouth had come up on Skypaw's other side. "I'm glad you seem to have thought about what I said."
"It was a good lesson." Skypaw replied with a smile. "Are you badly wounded?"
"No, I was lucky." Peppermouth replied. "Just a few small bites and scratches."
When they returned to camp, Briarpaw bounded over to greet the incoming patrol. "Skypaw! Are you okay?" he mewed, sliding in beside her.
"I'll be fine, I just need to lie down for a while." Skypaw meowed.
Briarpaw's eyes were wide. "Did you fight?"
"Not on purpose. Leapstar told me to get the badly wounded out of the way, and I got attacked while doing that."
"Oh." Briarpaw opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by Foxstalk, who had approached again.
"Briarpaw! Come on, we're going hunting, since there are warriors who will need feeding and can't hunt for themselves." He meowed.
"See you later." Skypaw told her brother, ignoring Foxstalk as she and Wolfpaw went to the medicine den to get patched up.