Chapter Four: First Day on the Job
"Hey there, Winterpaw!" Sunstreak meowed cheerily, flicking the white tom with his tail. "Congratulations. And having Copperstar as your mentor too!" He cast the leader a grateful glance. She was seated a few rabbit hops away, licking her paw and drawing it slowly over her ears, as if she were thinking. At the sound of her name she looked up and flicked her ears.
"Yes…Well, I'm sorry I forgot about you earlier, Winterpaw. Gingerheart neglected to mention you when she said that Whistlepaw was ready to be apprenticed." Copperstar murmured, staring down at Winterpaw. Her eyes were not angry or afraid, but interested. "I only hope you have all the makings of a warrior that Sunstreak claims you have. I trust his judgement."
Winterpaw felt his fur flush with embarrassment at hearing the leader apologize for something he'd been expecting. "I-It's not your fault, Copperstar." He insisted. "I'm used to disappointment by now."
"I don't think today will be disappointing." Copperstar jerked her head towards the camp entrance. "Come along. I'll show you the territory." She raced out of camp, Winterpaw hot on her heels. He had never been out of the ShadowClan camp before, and he was a little wary of barreling though the forest like this. But Copperstar knew what she was doing. She slowed after what seemed like a very long time and waited for her apprentice to catch up. Winterpaw was panting heavily, unused to running such long distances. Copperstar nodded and crept forward closely.
Winterpaw became aware of a foul stench that he'd never smelled before. He hissed and wrinkled his nose in disgust. "What is that smell?"
Copperstar waved her tail for silence and pulled herself through a last wall of bushes and stepped out onto short-cropped grass. Winterpaw gasped. A vast stretch of oily black stone covered the ground before them. It reeked of the same smell Winterpaw had detected earlier. "This is the Greenleaf Twolegplace." Copperstar explained. "Twolegs bring their kits here when the weather is warm to swim and play in the lake." She pointed with her tail to the expanse of water shining at one end of the black surface.
Winterpaw nodded. Sunstreak had told him about Twolegs and the strange things they do. He was glad there were none here today. It was late newleaf now, but the weather was still cool. Still, he had to ask, "Why would they want to swim in the lake? Do they think they're RiverClan?"
Copperstar shrugged. "I guess they like water. Across this Thunderpath is RiverClan territory." She jerked her head towards the woods on the other side. "But we cannot linger here. There is much more territory to explore." Without warning, she turned and dove back into the ShadowClan woods. Winterpaw scrambled around and chased after her.
Again, Copperstar stopped suddenly and Winterpaw had to skid to a stop to avoid crashing into her. She turned her yellow eyes on him expectantly. "What can you smell?"
Winterpaw shook his head and raised his nose into the air, taking a deep breath. "I can smell…Twolegs…and I think that's dog smell…And…Mouse!" He looked up at Copperstar hopefully. She nodded and her gaze locked on something over his shoulder. The white apprentice turned carefully and saw the little brown creature scurrying about near the roots of a pine tree. Dropping to the hunter's crouch Sunstreak taught him, Winterpaw began to slide forward slowly. The mouse's head shot up immediately and it shot away.
Flushing hot with embarrassment, Winterpaw turned back to Copperstar, expecting to be scolded and sent back to camp. To his surprise, Copperstar purred. "Don't look so down, Winterpaw. No one expects you to hunt perfectly on your first try." She raised her head and scented the air. "Let me show you how it's done." She crouched down just as he had, but Winterpaw noted she kept her weight evenly distributed and placed her paws lightly. Finally she pounced and emerged from the bushes with a mouse in her jaws.
"Here, eat this." Copperstar mewed, dropping the mouse at his feet. "Remember: Rabbits will hear you before they smell you, but mice can sense the vibrations of your paws through the ground. You had a good stance, but you put your paws down too heavy."
The white tom nodded slowly, drinking in his mentor's advice. Then ravenous hunger gripped his belly and he devoured the mouse quickly. He hadn't eaten all day. Once he was finished, Copperstar took off again, in the opposite direction of the Twolegplace. Another new smell hit his scent glands as the golden she-cat slowed to a halt again. "This is the ThunderClan border." She growled. "And there's a patrol coming this way."
Winterpaw flattened his ears in alarm. "Shouldn't we hide?" He mewed uncertainly.
Copperstar shook her head. "We've done nothing wrong. The border is there." She pointed with her nose to a large rock a few tail-lengths away. "And it will be good experience for you to meet cats from another Clan."
Soon he heard the sounds of cats crashing through the undergrowth. It was the ThunderClan patrol Copperstar had spoken of. They were obviously very confident in their own territory, not bothering to hide or move silently. Suddenly a huge black tom burst from the bushes with a snarl. "ShadowClan cats!" He yowled and leapt towards them.
"Stop it, Crushclaw." A calm voice ordered. The tom skidded to a stop and looked around at a calico she-cat padding up behind him, along with a small gray apprentice and a sliver tabby she-cat. A long black scar sliced the fur along the side of her face and half of her tail was missing. Her green eyes glittered with interest. Winterpaw shivered. This cat had seen many fierce battles.
Copperstar purred happily. "Good marrow, Thunderwolf. How is the prey running in ThunderClan?" The ShadowClan leader had always been friends with the ThunderClan warrior; ever since they were apprentices. That friendship didn't falter now that Copperstar was a leader.
Thunderwolf flicked her ears. "It was running well until this furball here went careening through the undergrowth like that." She gave Crushclaw a glare and he turned away with a snort. The she-cat nodded to Winterpaw. "And who's this?"
"Winterpaw, our newest apprentice." Copperstar meowed proudly. "I am mentoring him."
The gray ThunderClan apprentice stepped forward shyly. "Hi, Winterpaw. My name is Ticklepaw. Thunderwolf is my mentor." He mewed carefully, looking up at the calico to make sure she wasn't angry at him for starting a conversation.
Winterpaw relaxed a bit. ThunderClan seemed friendly enough. Why was his Clan always complaining about them? "Hello Ticklepaw." He replied, fixing the smaller gray cat with his red gaze. "How long have you been an apprentice?"
He noticed Ticklepaw flinch a little as he met his eyes. As always, his red eyes made the other cats uncomfortable. His voice shook a little as he meowed, "One moon. I'm still a beginner."
"Enough chit-chat." The silver tabby snapped. "Cometstar told us to patrol the WindClan border too. We've got a long way to go."
Thunderwolf rolled her eyes at the antsy she-cat. "Alright Snapfang." She sighed. "I'll see you at the next Gathering, Copperstar. Good hunting!" The patrol turned and disappeared deeper into ThunderClan territory.
Copperstar turned to her apprentice. "Well then, that's as much as we can do today. You look tired." She mewed quietly. "We should get back to camp."
--
Winterpaw padded into the hollow that made ShadowClan camp with his head held high and a squirrel clutched in his jaws. Its fluffy tail dragged along the ground and he was careful not to trip over it. He dropped the large bundle on the fresh-kill pile and looked around the clearing to where Foxmask and Whistlepaw were sharing a rabbit. Winterpaw crossed to them, aware of Swampleg, Flickertail and Birdcall glaring at him from across the clearing.
"Hello, Winterpaw!" Foxmask greeted him cheerily, her eyes glittering happily. "How was your first day of training? I saw that squirrel you brought in. What a catch!"
Winterpaw felt his pelt glow with pride at the young warrior's praise. "We ran into a ThunderClan patrol." He mewed, remembering how shy Ticklepaw had been when he saw Winterpaw's red eyes.
Whistlepaw's ears perked up at the sound of his brother's voice. "ThunderClan?" His icy blue eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What were they like? You don't look like you had to fight them."
"No, they were friendly enough." Winterpaw shook his head. Aside of being afraid of me. He added bitterly to himself. But then again, everyone is.
"That's better than I did my first day." Sunstreak chuckled, padding over to meet the small group of young cats. "We met a RiverClan Patrol the day I was made an apprentice. I had just chased a rabbit onto the Thunderpath. Before I could bring it back, I was surrounded by three huge warriors!" He shivered at the thought of it.
The two brothers crept closer to the deputy, their eyes huge and round. "Did you have to fight them?" Whistlepaw whispered, staring up at him in wonder.
Sunstreak puffed out his chest importantly. "Of course I did! My mentor was there to help, of course, but I did most of the fighting." He launched into an exaggerated story of grandeur while the two youngsters listened in utter awe. Foxmask laughed and shook her head before padding away to find some more serious company.
Flickertail glared at the deputy from across the clearing. His long tail twitched back and forth like a nervous snake and his dark eyes were narrowed to dangerous slits. "Look at that idiot, carrying on with those two apprentices." He growled quietly so that only Birdcall and Swampleg, who were sitting with him, could hear.
"With that apprentice and that demon." Swampleg hissed, unsheathing his claws and sinking them into the ground. Flickertail gave his former apprentice a small nod, not taking his eyes off Sunstreak, who had reared back dramatically to demonstrate the ferocity of the battle. "That demon that caused ShadowClan to starve through that long leaf-bare."
Birdcall opened her mouth to add something, but immediately closed it again as Whistlepaw suddenly looked around and fixed her with a hard blue stare. His eyes were full of cold fury, as if he had overheard their conversation. Alarmed, Birdcall quickly began sharing tongues with her mate. Whistlepaw nudged his brother and whispered something, flicking his tail at Flickertail, Birdcall and Swampleg.
Flickertail huffed indignantly. "Come on Birdcall, Swampleg. Let's go somewhere more private." He meowed loudly, leading the way to the warrior's den. The other two followed him, casting Winterpaw reproachful glances as they did.
Winterpaw shivered uncomfortably. He knew most of the ShadowClan cats didn't like him-And probably never would-But he couldn't help thinking Flickertail and his gang were about to cause some serious trouble for the whole Clan. He also couldn't help thinking that it all had something to do with him.
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WoooOOOooo…Foreshadowing. What sinister plots are Flickertail plotting? Will Winterpaw be able to stop them in time? Can Whistlepaw save him again, or will Winterpaw be in too deep by then?
Is it completely obvious that Winterpaw is in love with Foxmask yet?
All this in and more in the coming chapters, which will be up sometime if I'm not killed by finals this week. Of course, there's still some more rising action to take care of before we get to the climax.
OH THE SUSPENSE.
Yeah. Plz review kthx.