Chapter 6

"Now try the back-kick on Seedpaw."

Muscles rippled beneath Pebblepaw's speckled gray fur as she followed her mentor, Patchstar's, order. She judged Seedpaw's distance from her carefully, eyes steady, then took her weight on her front paws, something she had trouble with earlier. "Good!" Robinfeather encouraged, as she lashed out with her back legs, knocking her sister off the ground.

Blackpaw admired the older apprentices' work ethic.

"Now, Blackpaw, try to defend against Seedpaw's front paw blow. Remember, claws sheathed," Robinfeather instructed, remembering the nick in the ear Pebblepaw got earlier from Runningpaw.

Seedpaw balanced her weight, and Blackpaw watched her muscles move. She remembered she had to use her mind and look at her muscles to see which paw she would use. The cats circled the fighting ground, hissing as if they were actually in battle.

Seedpaw flashed out her paw, and Blackpaw turned quickly, using her flank to defend the head-battering move. She didn't get a scratch.

Pebblepaw snickered at the young apprentice.

"I bet even Poolripple's kits could defend themselves from a front paw blow!" she teased, whiskers twitching. Robinfeather ignored the apprentices' chatting and nodded her head at Blackpaw, approval in her eyes.

"Poolripple's kits aren't even born yet, moss-brain!" Runningpaw meowed at the apprentices. Poolripple had just revealed to the Clan she was expecting Rockpelt's kits.

"I'll try harder next time," she promised Robinfeather.

"That's what I like to hear," the ginger she-cat murmured with warmth in her voice. "Dawnpaw would be proud."

"You didn't know Dawnpaw!" the sleek black apprentice couldn't help but shout at her mentor, but it was true. The ginger she-cat bowed her head and whispered, "I know."

Now it was Runningpaw's turn.

"Do a leap-and-hold!" Blackpaw screeched to Runningpaw, hoping he could hear her over the noise of the battle.

He did, magnificently. Runningpaw used his claws to grip on the back of Lionpaw as the creamy white tom ran around, useless.

"Back-rake!" she instructed her brother again. He followed her orders, with claws sheathed.

"Well done, Runningpaw. Now if you could do that with a bit less instruction," Patchstar shifted his eyes to Blackpaw.

"You mustn't distract the training apprentices, Blackpaw!" he hissed at her. Blackpaw lowered herself onto the ground in submission.

The remainder of the day Blackpaw had to sit at the side of the training area, watching, instructing in her mind. She got disappointed when the apprentices didn't use the most logical moves, but kept her mouth shut in respect to Patchstar.

"Training is over for today, apprentices," the leader announced. The giant black-and-white tom's eyes were proud as he looked at each apprentice. Pebblepaw was snickering to Seedpaw about the tiny black apprentice on the way back to camp. They passed the little mud patch by the entrance.

"Oops!" Pebblepaw purred as she knocked Blackpaw into the deepest part of the mud patch, on purpose.

"Pebblepaw, would you like to gather moss for the nursery for the next quarter moon?" Patchstar told his apprentice sharply.

"No," Pebblepaw mewed, almost incoherently.

Blackpaw decided to ask Robinfeather if she could talk to Pinestep. "Sure, but don't be long," her mentor mewed, obviously happy that her apprentice helped cats at other times rather than when she was just told.

Blackpaw slipped into the rocky cavern area beside the nursery shrub that was the medicine cat den. A skylight let some light in, and the rock under Blackpaw's pads was soft to the touch, worn down by generations of cats who lived before her.

"Pinestep?" the apprentice called into the shadows of the cavern, but no cat answered. She followed Pinestep's scent into a narrow cave, almost hidden by dead vines and piles of herbs. Blackpaw, curiosity getting the best of her, decided to explore into the cave.

It was completely dark, and the black she-cats eyes had to blend in with the darkness. The air inside was stale, and Blackpaw scented the mustiness of dust and stone. Following the medicine cat's scent, she finally stopped in a giant, pitch-black cavern that had tunnels branching off in different directions. Blackpaw stopped at each tunnel, scenting the air. Few tunnels smelled of moisture and ancientness, one smelled of Pinestep and one had the faint scent of... other cats.

The scent was not the sickening sweet scent HoneyClan cats have, nor was it the earthy, musky scent MudClan cats had.

It was the scent of stone, of fresh rain and of the cave itself. Blackpaw had to have been far, far away from the medicine cat den by now, and if she ran into Pinestep she surely would be scolded. Blackpaw could not risk a scolding in front of her whole Clan. In order to make sure no cat knew she had gone this way, she ran her paw along the ground until she found the familiar feeling of mud.

There was not a lot of mud, but just enough mud to cover her scent. After getting the mud caked in her fur without any particular pattern this time, Blackpaw decided to go into the tunnel that smelled of the stone cats.

Blackpaw's breath got quieter as the scent of the cats got stronger. There had to be a lot of these cats, but it didn't matter, anyways. She couldn't stop now.

Quietly, keeping herself from making any noise at all, she heard a voice. It was not any voice she recognized.

"Wildstar isn't doing well today, Emberfoot. I think it is almost time that you will become our rightful leader," the cat mewed happily. Who would be happy about their leader dying? Blackpaw wondered, then realized.

This was another Clan! Did Patchstar know about this Clan?

Blackpaw needed to run back and tell them all now, but something furry blocked her way as she tried to turn around. Sheer horror spread throughout Blackpaw as she realized what the furry being was.

"What are in StarClan's name are you doing here?"