Chapter 6

Sagepaw hissed and flailed his legs. "Stop!" he grumbled.

"Get up, lazy mousebrain!" came a hiss, and he was shaken and prodded again.

He blinked wearily, yawning. Timberpaw stood in front of him, his paw outstretched. "What?"

Timberpaw rolled his eyes. "Get up, lazy furball! Leafstar told me to wake you."

Sagepaw shook his pelt free of clumps of moss and got up, yawning. "Fine, fine, keep your fur on," he muttered.

Timberpaw snorted rudely and padded out of the den, his tail twitching. "I'll see you later," he tossed over his shoulder.

The pale gray tomcat rasped his tongue over his coat, then rushed out of the den, looking around for his mentor.

Leafstar was sitting at the entrance of camp, her tail twitching. It was apparent that the she-cat was irritated, somethine she never was. The dappled she-cat was always patient and forgiving. But today, she was obviously the opposite.

"Um, good morning," Sagepaw meowed hastily, rushing over.

Leafstar's eyes narrowed. "Sagepaw, do get up earlier next time! How do you expect to train well if you're always sleeping?"

He lowered his head and licked his chest fur. "I'm sorry," he said quietly.

"Sorry doesn't catch sparrows!" the leader snapped as she beckoned with her tail and led the apprentice out of camp. "We'll hunt today."

Sagepaw nodded and scented the air. Mouse. He dropped into a crouch, slinking forward slowly. He slithered behind some brambles and watched as the mouse scurried around the forest floor. He hissed and leapt, catching the brown mouse successfully. He picked up the limp body, then padded back to Leafstar. She'd already managed to catch a thrush.

Leafstar nodded to him and motioned to a small mound of dirt where it was buried. Sagepaw put his mouse beside it and kicked dirt over it quickly.

***

"I think we've caught enough," Leafstar meowed as she returned with a squirrel in her jaws.

Sagepaw nodded in agreement, looking down at the pile of fresh-kill they'd made. He picked up all he could carry and headed toward camp, glancing behind him to see his mentor following, the rest of the fresh-kill in her jaws. I hope I've impressed her. I caught so much today, she has to be mouse brained not to see that!

Leafstar blinked at him, and she looked less… snappy.

Sagepaw padded toward the fresh-kill pile and dropped the fresh-kills. He scooted over so his mentor could do the same, then looked up at her expectantly.

"Good job," was all she said about his hunting. And to add to that, her voice sounded weary.

He dipped his head respectfully. "Thank you, Leafstar."

The dappled she-cat nodded and suggested, "Why don't you take something to Echosong?"

"Okay," he said, nodding his head in agreement. He rummaged through the fresh-kill, finally deciding on two plump mice. Carrying them gingerly by the tails, he slowly made his way toward Echosong's den, a small cave.

He peeked inside and called out around the fresh-kill, "Echosong?"

The silver tabby she-cat, who was in a corner sorting through herbs, looked up. "Hi, Sagepaw," she purred, her green eyes twinkling. "How are you?" she asked carefully.

Ever since he'd had that dream, the medicine cat had been treating him differently. But he had no idea why! Shrugging it off, he replied, "Fine, of course. Leafstar and I went hunting, and we just got back. Here's some fresh-kill for you."

He dropped the mice at her paws and took a step back.

The silver tabby's whiskers twitched as she bent over and took a bite. "Thank you, Sagepaw, it's just what I needed." She ate some more, then meowed, "So… your training going well?"

"Yes," Sagepaw answered curtly, not mentioning the foul mood his mentor had been in.

She blinked and nodded, then said, "And… you've been sleeping well?"

"I haven't had any more dreams," Sagepaw said bluntly, his voice on the verge of a growl.

Echosong looked up at him sharply. "You're sure everything is fine? There is nothing you want to speak to me about?"

He shook his head stubbornly. "No, I'm just fine." He turned and began to pad away when she called him back.

"I see how lonely you look sometimes. I've seen you and Mintpaw arguing. I was just wondering if everything was okay."

"Why?" he asked.

She let out a sigh. "Because, I'm the medicine cat. I care about my Clanmates."

Her words rang in his ears as the pale gray tom stepped out of the den, glancing around quickly. His eyes narrowed into slits when he saw his sister, again, sharing fresh-kill with Timberpaw. He fumed with jealousy and anger at the sight of them, pressed up against one another.

Gritting his teeth, he stalked over, trying to keep his fur lying flat.

Mintpaw looked up in alarm. "Oh, Sagepaw, hi." She got up quickly, as if ashamed. "Hey."

"Hi," Sagepaw managed to say, swallowing.

Timberpaw stood up and looked at Sagepaw calmly, though his amber eyes held challenge within them. This time, Sagepaw glared back at him, his eyes cold.

Mintpaw mewed something to the brown tom, causing him to look over at her.

Ha, I win, Sagepaw thought, still staring at his rival.

But he felt like he'd lost when Mintpaw gave Timber paw a lick on the cheek.

"I'll see you later," Mintpaw meowed, a hint of worry in her voice. She took one step back, then turned and left.

Sagepaw growled at the other tom. "Leave my sister alone. She doesn't need to be around filth like you!"

Timberpaw flinched a little, Sagepaw must've hit a sore spot. Then his nostrils flared. "Filth? Did you just call me filth?"

Sagepaw lifted his chin defiantly, totally unprepared for what was to come.

He was bowled over by a flurry of brown fur. Hissing and spitting, he clawed up at the bigger tom, his claws unsheathed. He vaguely felt claws digging into his shoulder, but he was immune to it. Fed by his jealousy and fury and frustration, he fought back fiercely.

Suddenly, the weight was lifted off of him. He blinked and looked around.

Sharpclaw had grabbed Timberpaw's scruff. The deputy's fur was bristled with anger. "What is the meaning of this?" he demanded.

Sagepaw slowly got up to his paws, faking injury. Timberpaw was glaring defiantly, but he didn't answer.

By now, Leafstar had made her way toward them. Her amber eyes were blazing in anger, and her fluffed pelt made her look twice her size.

Sagepaw cringed, his ears flattened against his head, readying himself to face his mentor's wrath.

"What is going on here? Two apprentices, from the same Clan, fighting each other?" Leafstar questioned, her sharp gaze raking across Sagepaw then darting over to Timberpaw. She looked up at her deputy demandingly.

Sharpclaw shrugged. "I just saw Timberpaw pinning Sagepaw down, and Sagepaw fought back. I dragged Timberpaw off as soon as I got here."

The leader huffed and turned back to Timberpaw. "Why did you attack him?"

Now, nearly the whole Clan was gathered around them. Timberpaw's mentor, Sparrowpelt, was glaring at the brown tomcat.

Timberpaw merely shrugged, not even opening his mouth.

At this, Leafstar let out an aggravated snort and turned to Sagepaw. "Well?"

The gray tom lowered his head in shame, letting out a sigh.

Leafstar let out a snarl and demanded, "You two, to my den!" Then she beckoned to Sparrowpelt as well. The four cats all squeezed into the leader's den.

***

Sagepaw let out a small sigh as Leafstar finally finished ranting. She dismissed Sparrowpelt and Timberpaw, then turned to her own apprentice.

"Sagepaw, tell me, what happened?"

He shook his head slightly. "It was silly, Leafstar. You'd be ashamed of me hear it."

To his surprise, his mentor did not persist. Instead, she announced, "You'll be punished."

"Right," Sagepaw meowed, lowering his head. He knew he'd be punished, but he hadn't expected it so soon.

Leafstar sighed. "No fresh-kill for the rest of the day. You'll be confined to camp the rest of today and all of tomorrow and the day afterward."

Sagepaw bristled. "But I haven't eaten a thing since last night!"

"You should've thought of that before getting yourself in a fight!" she snapped.

Sagepaw let out a sigh of defeat and mumbled, "Yes, Leafstar." Then he looked up. "What about Timberpaw? He attacked me first."

"His mentor will deal with him," Leafstar said matter-of-factly, sighing as if she didn't want to speak about it.

Sagepaw dipped his head and began to leave, his paws shuffling awkwardly, when Leafstar called after him, "Go see Echosong. You have some wounds on your shoulder."

He glanced down, and sure enough, small droplets of blood seeped through some minor wounds, inflicted by Timberpaw's claws. He let out a growl and made way toward Echosong's den, once again.

He let out a smug purr when he saw Timberpaw, already there. He had a deep scratch across his muzzle and some tufts of fur missing.

Echosong looked up and hissed. "You both need to stop acting like kits. I shouldn't have to waste my herbs on two apprentices," she scolded sternly as she looked over at Sagepaw's wounds. "Timberpaw, you can leave now." Then she began plastering cobwebs onto Sagepaw's shoulder.

He winced at how rough she was as she applied herbs and cobwebs to the wounds, gritting his teeth at the stinging sensation. When she was finally done, she let out a sigh and took a step back from the apprentice.

"Um, thank you," he muttered, shifting his paws awkwardly.

Echosong gave him a curt nod. "Stay out of trouble, Sagepaw," she said, waving her tail in dismissal.

He dipped his head and padded out of the den, shifting his shoulder a bit. Gazing across the gorge, he saw his sister speaking to Timberpaw. But he let out a sigh when she turned away from him and began padding toward her brother.

"Are you okay?" Mintpaw asked, giving her brother a lick on the nose.

Sagepaw shook her off. "I'm fine," he replied stiffly. "I just need some rest."

His sister nuzzled him gently. "Well, come on, then." She motioned with her tail for him to follow, then made toward the apprentices den.

Sagepaw shook his fur, then trotted after her, collapsing on his nest a few moments afterward. His sister curled up beside him, sighing.

Sagepaw was almost asleep when Timberpaw stalked into the den. The brown pelted apprentice glared at the two siblings, then quietly took his spot in his own nest and closed his eyes. Mintpaw glanced over at him a few times before turning her head away.

Yes I know I took forever to update, sorry, a lot has been going on. What did you think of the chapter?