Real fast note before I start- sorry for not uploading the allegiance, I will soon, I promise!
Also, Rainbowpaw is purposely a Mary-Sue
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Boapaw padded silently behind Tigerpaw as she droned on about maned wolf prowling around the territory that had been spotted by a Rainclan patrol.
He yawned, still majorly tired from the gathering.
He blinked away some crust in his bright green eyes and scrunched up his face for a moment.
Closing his eyes once more, this time not opening them, he began to doze off and the sounds of the monkeys calling and the birds squawking.
Something abruptly tapped his cheek.
Boapaw yelped and jumped up, unsheathing his thorn-sharp claws. In front of him, Tigerpaw squeaked and stumbled back in surprise.
"What was that?" she hissed, the fluffed fur on her back flattening.
Boapaw yawned and shook his head. "I dunno… what were you saying?"
Tigerpaw snorted and her tabby tail twitched. "Nothing… I uh… let's just go, the patrol lost us and we better catch up." she muttered, looking back over a small ridge where Boapaw caught a glimpse of a cat slipping over. "Before we get in trouble." she added.
Boapaw nodded. "Um, ok. Yeah."
Tigerpaw spun and hurtled after them. "Race ya!"
Boapaw shot after her but his pawsteps were uneven and he found himself tripping over roots, which was unusual. "Ungh, Tigerpaw… wait… wait…" he yawned again and tripped, falling on his muzzle.
A sharp agony shot through it and he moaned in pain. He pushed himself up, groaning and turning to see what he'd tripped over. In a patch of grass on the flattened trail, he found the torn up carcass of a small spider monkey lied there, dead. His whiskers twitched in excitement and confusion as he sniffed it. It smelled strongly of something unusual and he tilted his head to the side. That certainly wasn't cat, or any raptor bird either. Glancing at a few bite marks he found that whatever had killed the little creature had large, elongated jaws and frighteningly sharp fangs.
The bushes swished ahead of him and he looked up. A pair of gleaming eyes gazed warily at him.
Boapaw blinked in surprise, and stumbled back in shock. "Oh… hello…" he mumbled, trying to find it in him to smile in reassurance.
The shadowy eyes looked notably alarmed and Boapaw bit his lip. "It's ok!" he quickly added. "I'm not going to hurt you!" the apprentice promised.
He took a step forward and the creature's eyes widened. Boapaw blinked slowly, trying to reassure it. "Are you another cat? You don't smell likes one…" he began trying to start up a conversation. "But that's not bad! I mean, I've only ever smelled clancats so I guess i didn't realize we smelled so-" he was cut off as a growl sounded from behind him. A loud rumbling noise like thunder. Not an angry moan. Not a cat growl.
Swallowing dryly, the young tom slowly began to turn around. Before he could see fully what was attacking him, there was an angry yip and he felt jaws wrap around his neck and he was roughly shaken as blood splattered from the sharp teeth.
Boapaw screamed in agony and swiped at the air, hoping to slash his attacker's jaw. "Help!" he screeched, pain surging through his body as his head began to throb, his brain aching from being thrown around in his head so much.
From the bush's, a small, reddish beast with a small ruff on his neck stalked out timidly, eyeing the scene carefully. It had a long, black muzzle and large, blue eyes.
A maned wolf… he thought in horror, remembering vaguely hearing tales of the murderous monster as a kit in the elders den. I thought it was bigger… unless… Realisation hit him. That one's just a kit! Tigerpaw had mentioned they'd been seen earlier. If only he would've listened… now he was going to die...he hung his head, falling limp as his struggles only seemed to tire him out. He quietly yowled and moaned as blood splattered the ground, painting it a terrifying red.
"Let my apprentice go, you giant mangy rat!" an angry snarl sounded and suddenly he felt the grip on his scruff loosen as he dropped to the ground, landing on his paws, but collapsing almost immediately.
Across the trail, he was dimly aware of the monstrous creature struggling to his paws as he was surrounded by the hissing patrol.
"Boapaw? Boapaw! Get up!" Fishfoot's frantic voice sounded from nearby and a shadow loomed over him, only darkening his vision more. He was shaken again and he groaned in protest.
"Fishfoot, stop!" a faraway voice yowled and pawsteps drummed the ground before he could see speckled, white and brown paws. "He's had enough! If you want to help him…" Jaguarheart's voice droned off and Boapaw gave up on trying to stay conscious as darkness swallowed him completely.
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"Hey, Kitty, you in there, bud?" a gentle voice coaxed Boapaw out of his sleep and he blinked in confusion. "Hmmm?" he hummed. "Where am I?"
A reddish tom stood a few tail lengths away,his pink tongue flicked over his pink muzzle once. Antface…
"What am I doing in the-" Boapaw tried to sit up only for pain to shoot through neck and down his spine. He squeezed his eyes shut and hissed, ears flattening against his head.
"Oh no no no no! Don't do that! You do not want to do that!" Antface assured him, quickly hurrying over and nudging Boapaw down into his soft, moss nest lined with macaw feathers.
"Oh, that wolf sure did do a number on you! Everyone thought you were dead! But it wasn't too bad of a bite actually, I'm more worried about your head. How ya feeling now though?" the hyper tom drummed eagerly, his eyes wide with curiosity and a bit of worried.
His scruff was still throbbing and a headache was slowly awaking in his head but the young tom was happy he wasn't on a tour through Starclan. He shifted slightly in his nest. "Like a dead mouse…" he muttered, Antface's response being full of concern. "But I feel ok now!" he quickly added. "Except my head is kinda sore. How long have I been sleeping?"
Antface looked relieved for a second. "Well… that's just to be expected. And I can help that. Also, one moon." he chirped.
He padded away briefly, leaving Boapaw alone. "Huh?" Boapaw mumbled, bewildered.
A small, black beetle crawled across the tom's paws and he batted at it in boredom. It clung to his paw and he watched as it crawled to the tip of a claw before spreading it's elytra and flying up and out of the den. He snorted enviously and rested his tabby head on his front leg. He wished he could fly out of the den but he had a feeling he'd be sitting in the den for days to come.
He turned to look at Antface as the young medicine cat padded back towards him, a leaf with a brownish paste in his jaws. "You've been asleep for one moon."
"What? One moon?" Boapaw cried frantically, eyes growing wide, and pupils slitting.
Antface laughed and placed the leaf besides Boapaw's face, smiling reassuringly. "I'm joking."
"Oh… heh heh…" Boapaw laughed queasily. He stared at the paste, unsure.
"Cocoa beans." Antface explained. "If you mash them up, they're good for a headache… that is, if you don't eat too much. They can give a stomach ache like all the Darkforest." Antface grinned a little. "Don't repeat that last part to your mother by the way, and if you do, don't tell her you heard it from me."
Boapaw nodded and reached down, placing a paw on the leaf and lapping up the paste with his rough tongue. It tasted it weird, not bad, but far from good. Swallowing the mashed beans dryly, he suddenly realized just how thirsty he was. "Ungh… can I have some water to wash it down, Antface?"
Antface nodded, grinning. "Sure thing!" he bounced away towards the corner of the den, where a pile of moss sat as well as a small puddle in a large dent in the ground. Antface stood on his hind paws, leaning against the stone wall with his front. He pulled at a stone, wedged between a crack near the top of the wall until a small stream of water spilled out, filling it to the brim, and then starting to flood out.
Antface squeaked in surprise and struggled to push it back in. When he finally did, he took one of the wads of moss and pushed it against the puddle that was now forming around the small indent and dropped it in front of Boapaw who stared at him in amazement. "That was so cool! How'd you make it do that?"
Antface grinned. "Oh! It was discovered moons ago by-" he paused and his chirpy expression dropped. Grief flooded it. "Beachstone…" he slowly muttered.
Boapaw felt a pang of sadness for the medicine cat. He had vague of Beachstone from his kithood, a beautiful, feisty she-cat with sharp blue eyes. She was snappy at times, but for the most part, she had been kind and caring.
She had died less than a moon before Boapaw's apprenticeship, struck down by a golden cat.
Boapaw could remember Antface had been close with the former medicine cat, and it was obvious to most that he had a heavy crush on her. She'd died only days after Beechstone had given her apprentice his name, as if Starclan wished for it to be, as if they knew of Antface's crush… but Starclan couldn't be that cruel… right?
He sighed at the tom who stared drearily outside of the den, beyond the hanging vines. Boapaw leaned forward, wincing as a sharp pain stabbed his neck before lapping at the moss gingerly, string up at a solemn Antface.
The vines at the entrance suddenly lifted away as a grey shape made it's way through. Fishfoot blinked at her nephew before sighing with relief. "Oh, thank Starclan you're ok! We really thought we'd lost ya there, Boapaw."
Boapaw smiled at her. "Yeah, well…"
Fishfoot looked back up at Antface,shuffling her speckled paws. "So when will he be ready for more training, Antface? Tomorrow maybe? Day after?"
"Mmm…" Antface bit his lip and looked away in discomfort, his eyes still slightly dazed after mourning. "A quarter moon…? Maybe two?"
Boapaw gasped and Fishfoot did the same a heartbeat later. "That's half a moon though! He can't be that injured! He doesn't look it!" she hissed, tail fluffing in distress.
"A whole two quarter moons…" Boapaw moaned, dropping his head down in his paws and lashing his tail.
Antface crouched down, ears back and teeth bared in nervousness. "I said maybe! Maybe two!" the lithe tom squeaked, glancing back and fourth.
"Maybe? Maybe?! He'll still be in here for seven sunrises!" she squawked, glaring at no cat in particular.
"I'm sorry, Fishfoot!" Antface slowly rose up, tilting his head to the side and giving a feeble smile. "But it's not that bad, really!"
Fishfoot snarled and closed her eyes, spinning towards Boapaw. "Ugh, and you! What were you doing with that wolf anyway?" she narrowed her eyes.
Boapaw tried to melt into his nest. "I… I didn't… mean-" He was confused and scared. This was a part of Fishfoot he'd never seen.
"You should have stayed with the patrol! Then none of this would have ever happened!"
"But I didn't know!" Boapaw wailed but his voice was drowned out by the angry she-cat's scolding.
"Fishfoot, that's enough!" a loud voice boomed and both cats looked up in surprise to see Antface glaring down at them. "I understand you're angry," he began. "But taking it out on your apprentice won't do any good! Boapaw needs to keep calm and still to heal up and he just can't do that with you screeching his ears off. I'll have to ask you to leave while Boapaw takes a nap."
Boapaw blinked in surprise at the nervous cat as he stared Fishfoot out of his den. She huffed a small "Sorry" before disappearing into the clearing.
Silence. Boapaw licked his lips after a few moments and dipped his head before cringing. "Thanks you." he quietly mumbled.
Antface kept his eyes at the exit, they were stern, but not angry. "You're welcome." he replied gently without looking away.
Boapaw sniffed and lied his head on his paws. "I have to take a nap?" he whined, feeling once more like a kit.
Antface finally turned his attention away and stalked towards his herb store. "Yes."
He groaned but didn't argue, closing his eyes. He wrapped his tail tightly around him and tried to get comfortable.
Unfortunately, as much as he struggled to put his mind to rest, he just couldn't sleep. Anxious claws tore at him as his imagination ran wild and his legs twitched, wanting to run and jump and the need to sink his claws into prey.
He kept as still as possible, not wanting to hurt his neck as he struggled to sleep.
When the tom opened his eyes again, his mouth was dry and it was dark out, that much he could see from the vines. He blinked in surprise and his mouth opened wide as he stared.
"Awake?" Antface's voice broke him out of his shocked trance and he turned his head, ignoring the strain in his scruff.
"Can I have moss? With water, please?" he asked, his voice cracking with dryness.
Antface nodded. "Yep! Give me a moment, kit." he meowed as he turned towards the crevice which still was filled to the brim with fresh water.
Boapaw wrinkled his face in disdain. "Why do you keep calling me that?"
Antface took a wad of moss and his teeth and his head hovered above the water. "Call you what?" he said through his fangs before dipping down to wetten the dry stuff.
"Kitty, kit. I'm not a kit, so why?"
Antface looked surprised. He turned and started back towards Boapaw. "Hmmf…" he looked up, as if wracking his brain for an answer. "You know, I never actually knew why." he said as he dropped the dripping moss at Boapaw's feet. "Do you want me to stop?"
Boapaw didn't reply for a moment. "No." he finally said. "You can keep saying it."
Antface chuckled. "Alright then."
Boapaw flashed him a toothy grin before beginning to suckle at the moss, pulling water from it. He gulped down water until he felt content and his mouth was dry before standing up and stretching.
"Nononono! Wait, no!" Antface cried but he was too late.
Boapaw squealed in pain as his neck burned angrily, throbbing and sending him into shivers as he collapsed to the stone ground besides his nest, whimpering.
Antface sighed. "That's uhh… not something you're gonna wanna do… at least not until your neck's feeling better, Kitto."
Boapaw whined and remained still, not wanting to feel the pain again.
Antface gently nudged him back into his moss nest. "Why don't you just relax?" Antface murmured. "I have to go sort some herbs."
He straightened up and began to turn around when the vines at the entrance trembled. A petite, tortoiseshell face peered in, blue eyes sparkling. "Is Boapaw awake? I heard a cry." his sister quietly spoke. Her eyes met with Boapaw's. "Oh, brother, you're ok!"
"Oh, hi Rainbowpaw…" Boapaw hissed.
Rainbowpaw smiled. "Oh, Boapaw! I'm so happy you're ok! I thought I'd lost you. I would have that wolf attack me anyday if it meant keeping it from getting you!"
"Hello, Rainbowpaw. You seem perky today- more than usual too." Antface warmly spoke to the apprentice.
She purred and sat down. "Thank you, Antface! And thank you for saving Boapaw, too!"
He ruffled his pelt and shook his head. "Mm, he saved himself. All I did was stop the bleeding. Any cat could've done that." He paused to dig his barbed tongue between a persistent bit of dirt in his toes. "Not any cat could just survive a wolf attack, especially with his neck so close to snapping."
Boapaw leaned in closer, cursing a wave of pain that followed, silently. "Huh?"
Antface turned to look at him. "Oh, I didn't mention that?" he asked. "I swear, I thought I had."
He bent down to lap at his paw. "When they brought you in here" he started, "They thought you're neck was broken but fortunately it wasn't, although you got close."
"Oh." Boapaw murmured.
"Yes, well brother, it's ok now! And I'm so happy you're alive!" Rainbowpaw cut in, her tail flicking.
"Rainbowpaw! It's time for training!" Shrewflight yowled from outside.
Rainbowpaw's eyes glinted with excitement and she flexed her claws. "Oh, yay! Training! I love training!"
"You love everything." Boapaw muttered, too quiet for her to understand.
"Hmm, what was that?" she tilted her head and leaned in next to his face.
"Rainbowpaw! Now!" Shrewflight's ordered.
"Oh, I better go! He sounds mad! Bye, Boapaw, Antface!" Rainbowpaw shot out of the den, tail lashing behind her.
Boapaw snorted in annoyance. She was so perfect! Too perfect, and Boapaw absolutely hated it. Why couldn't she be more like everyone else? He rolled his eyes.
Antface strolled up to him and sat down. "Boredness getting to ya?"
Boapaw yawned. "Uhh… yeah. That's it." he lied. He wished Tigerpaw would come in. Where was she? He'd have expected her to come greet him, check up on him, by now.
Antface stood, ready to finally go sort his herbs.
"Antface?" Boapaw asked, before the russet tom could take a step.
Antface twisted his head around. "Yes, Boapaw?"
"Where's Tigerpaw?"
Antface's playful grin melted away as his face fell. His shoulders slumped, almost as much as they had when Beachstone died.
"Boapaw… she's gone."
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Longish chapter to pay up for last chapters shortness and the long holdup thing
