【 Chapter Six】
Lightpaw awoke in the same clearing that she had first been found in, the ground littered with stars. Where am I? Sitting up, she began to pad around the clearing. It definitely had the same layout as the normal clearing, but it seemed off.
"Hello?" Lightpaw called out, her meow echoing. Maybe It's because I didn't eat before I went to bed. That can cause weird dreams, right?"
"Hello?" Lightpaw repeated again, her voice mixing with the echoes of her previous call.
This is certainly different than anything I've ever imagined.
Turning around, she noticed a new entrance in the clearing than she had recognized before. What's that?
Curiously, she padded through the ferns, all the while still taking notice of the weird starry atmosphere. Lightpaw yelped in shock as she saw a she-cat sitting in the center of the clearing she had just entered.
"Jesus you scared me." She mumbled under her breath. "Who are you?"
The starry she-cat sat motionlessly, her eyes closed.
The golden she-cat blinked in confusion. "Hello?"
Still nothing.
Lightpaw padded up to the she-cat and cautiously poked her with a golden paw. "Are you dead?" When the she-cat stayed indifferent, she began to get angry.
"Who are you?" She repeated, sinking her claws into the dirt.
She began to shout at the cat, all of her frustrations from the past few days seeming to flow out of her.
"Who are you?" Lightpaw shouted, her voice becoming hoarse from yelling.
She didn't know what she did, but the she-cat wordlessly opened her eyes, revealing two glowing balls of light. Lightpaw flinched, trying to avert her gaze from the now increasing light. A muffled sound surrounded her, growing louder and louder. The mysterious cat opened her mouth to speak but was cut off.
"Lightpaw wake up!"
She let out a groan as she rolled over. "Wha-"
"Sorry to wake you up like that, but you were shaking" Lakepaw paused, a concerned look on her face. "And twitching"
Lightpaw sat up and tried to collect her thoughts "No-it's okay." The apprentices must have noticed her puzzled expression.
"What were you dreaming about?" Lionpaw asked.
"I'm not quite sure." The apprentice admitted. She looked around the den, noticing a certain cat wasn't there. "Where's Briarpaw?"
Lakepaw grinned. "She's out on a dawn patrol." She let out a sigh of relief. At least she didn't have to deal with Brairpaw's scrutinizing glares.
"Oh! That's right, I also woke you up because Foxtail wants to see us."
Lightpaw rolled her eyes in fake irritation at her. "Well, I wish you told me that earlier!" She meowed as she sat up out of her nest and began to push towards the entrance. With a mrrow of laughter, Lakepaw bounded after her.
"There you both are." Pebbletail greeted.
Lakepaw bounced on her paws excitedly. "What are we doing today?"
Foxtail purred in amusement. "Since neither have you have gotten an opportunity to hunt yet, we decided it would be best to teach you both the hunting crouch at the same time."
Lakepaw's blue eyes sparkled happily. Lightpaw, on the other hand, wasn't as thrilled. It's bad enough I have to eat dead animals, now I have to kill them too. As soon as she had thought it, she instantly regretted it. Stop being so self-centered, you have to hunt for the cats who brought you in. Snapping herself out of her thoughts, she just managed to hear the last of what Foxtail was saying.
"-You both should probably grab something to eat before we go, we might be out there
awhile." Lakepaw nodded eagerly and bounded over to the fresh-kill pile, where they each chose a piece of prey.
"So," Lakepaw mumbled as she bit into her thrush. "What happened in your dream?"
Lightpaw shook her head. "I'm not quite sure. I was in the clearing where you guys first met me, but it seemed…" She trailed off, not quite knowing how to phrase what happened. "Off."
Lakepaw tilted her head to one side "What do you mean?"
She then tried to explain how the clearing had looked but failed miserably.
"Okay," Her friend mewed hesitantly. "What next?"
"Well, then I noticed a trail that isn't there in real life, so I went through it." Lightpaw mewed.
Lakepaw nodded, her confused expression slowly fading.
"There was this cat sitting there, and I kept asking her who she was, but she wouldn't answer. Eventually, she opened her eyes, and she…glowed."
Lakepaw pushed away the remains of the bird. "What did she look like?"
Lightpaw thought for a second. "I couldn't really tell, but her pelt was made up of stars, and-"
"WHAT?" Lakepaw exclaimed, her eyes wide. She flattened her ears once she realized how loud she said that. "You saw a Starclan cat?" She hissed in a quieter tone.
She shuffled her paws. "…Starclan?" Aren't those the dead cats that screw up everyone's lives?
The grey she-cat rolled her eyes. "Yes Starclan, they're our warrior ancestors."
The she-cat nodded slowly. "Okay…so why is that such a big deal?"
"They normally only talk to medicine cats… I wonder what they were trying to tell you?" She wondered aloud.
Lightpaw shrugged. "I don't know. Why would they talk to me, I'm not even a clan cat."
Lakepaw looked like she was going to say more, but before she could Foxtail walked up to the duo.
"Are you guys done yet? It would be nice to leave soon."
She nodded quickly, flashing Lakepaw a 'we'll talk about this later' look.
The two followed the two warriors out of camp, and into the forest.
"Now," Pebbletail began. "There are two important things that are crucial to having a proper hunters crouch." She lowered herself down so that she was balancing her weight on all four paws.
"One; make sure that you are light on your feet. Being closer to the ground should help you distribute your body weight equally, which will make your pawsteps quieter."
"Two."
Pebbletail shifted her paws so that her legs were slightly bunched under her, but not completely tucked beneath her.
"Make sure that when you're ready to pounce, your paws get into just the right position for when you pounce." With that, the she-cat tensed her muscles, and pounced, landing neatly onto a leaf.
Pebbletail shook her tabby pelt before facing us. "Got it?"
Lakepaw nodded eagerly, kneeling down into the crouch, her plumy tail waving from side to side.
Foxtail came up behind the apprentice and shoved her tail downwards so it was straight with his paw. "You're going to scare off all the prey if you stalk up to them like that," amusement in his tone.
Lakepaw, unaffected by his words, began to slowly pad forward, her pawsteps quiet, before launching herself forward. She let out a surprised mrrow as she over-shot her leap, and landed with a thud into the ferns.
"Oww," She mumbled, holding a white-colored paw up to her face.
Lightpaw stifled a purr of amusement. I probably won't be any better.
"What did you do wrong there?" Pebbletail questioned, her eyes gleaming with amusement.
Lakepaw shuffled her paws. "I think I might have overshot a little."
Pebbletail nodded. "Good."
"Now that you've tried it, see if you can scent anything." Foxtail mewed.
The grey apprentice raised her pink nose into the air, sniffing for scents. Thinking that it wouldn't hurt if she did as well. She was met with an overwhelming amount of smells all hitting her nose at the same time. She nearly gagged, since she wasn't used to this. Of course, Lightpaw had always heard that cats had an amazing sense of smell, but clearly, she didn't realize just how powerful it was. The scents rose up around her, and it was difficult to separate one from another.
"Wait, I smell something!" Lakepaw meowed eagerly as she sniffed around. She gestured to the other side of the clearing. "Mouse."
Pebbletail nodded in approval. "Let's see if you can catch it this time."
The grey apprentice crouched down, her darker underbelly almost brushing the forest floor. She slowly crept forward, her gaze still intent on her prey. With a leap, she landed a few feet away, her paws skidding on the ground, and her prey grasped between her two front paws. She delivered a swift bite to the small animal's neck, and it went limp.
"Congratulations" Pebbletail purred as she stood beside Lakepaw. "The catch wasn't perfect, of course" she added. Her words didn't seem to faze the apprentice. She bounded over to the other apprentice, the mouse dangling from her jaws.
"mfhm look!" she mumbled. "I caught something other than a leaf!" Lightpaw gave her friend a smile as she tried not to look at the mouse carcass. She probably wouldn't like it if I barfed on her first catch.
Ignoring the unappealing feelings that were stirring in her stomach, she turned to face the warriors.
"Lightpaw, see if you can scent anything."
She gulped, hoping they couldn't see the uncertainty she was feeling, and she closed her eyes and stuck her pink nose into the air. The same scents she had smelled before greeted her, but this time it was a little less overwhelming. Lightpaw managed to pinpoint a specific scent, one that smelled dried leaves and the earthy tones of the forest. She bent down awkwardly in the crouch she had been shown before, trying her hardest to not make any noise. She slowly began to stalk forward, keeping her attention on the scent. As she peered over a patch of grass, she recognized the small form of a squirrel, its eyes alert. How has it not noticed me already?
Then, she suddenly remembered something she had once read in one of the books, about how they test the air to make sure their scent isn't being carried in the wrong direction. Lightpaw tested the air carefully, letting out a quiet sigh of relief when she realized that she should be somewhat safe. At least I'm doing something right.
Then she froze. The squirrel froze, its round eyes staring up at her in fear. Lightpaw stared back at it, whatever knowledge she had just learned about hunting was gone, her mind blank. She couldn't do this, she couldn't kill an animal. They both sat there for what seemed like an eternity before the squirrel quickly scurried away into the forest.
Lightpaw couldn't help but let out a small sigh as she joined the others. Foxtail's expression slightly faltered when he realized she wasn't coming back with anything. Her tail drooped. Great, the first thing I do as a cat of Thunderclan is mess something up.
They must have noticed her downcast expression because Lakepaw was the first to speak up.
"Hey," She meowed, padding over to her friend. "It's alright, at least you didn't sprain your paw trying to catch a twig."
She gave her a half-hearted smile as she shuffled her paws.
Pebbletail smiled at her kindly. "It's okay, I didn't catch my first piece of prey until a moon after I was apprenticed."
"And hey," Foxtail chimed in. "You did test which way the wind was going, and your hunter's crouch was nearly perfect."
Lightpaw felt warmth bubble up in her chest. At least they weren't patronizing her. Or maybe they were, she couldn't really read cat emotions that well yet.
"Well," Pebbletail mewed as she glanced up at the sky. It was fading into a deep orange, the bright blue of the daytime slowly fading away. "We should probably head back to camp, we'll continue training tomorrow." She began to head back to camp, Lakepaw close on her heels. Foxtail began to pad after the duo as well.
"Foxtail?"
He turned back to her. "Yes, Lightpaw?"
It still felt strange to be called that. She still felt as though it was her name, but It almost felt like when someone calls you your real name, without knowing you go by a nickname.
"I was wondering if I could stay out a bit longer." His eyes widened in surprise. "I-I mean, I'll come back, I'm not trying to run away or anything."
He purred in amusement. "I'm sure you won't, but make sure to be back well before moonhigh." Foxtail's expression softened. "I know it's probably difficult, trying to fit into a new place and all," He paused. "If you ever need someone to talk to, I'm always here."
Lightpaw gave him a genuine smile, that had a hint of sadness in it. I wish I could, but you probably wouldn't believe me if I told you who I really am.
He began to walk towards camp, his silhouette framed by the sunset.
"Oh, and Lightpaw? Training will still be bright and early tomorrow, I expect you to be awake and ready." With that, he promptly disappeared into the undergrowth.
When she had made sure the russet-furred tom had left, she let out a sigh, one that she had been holding in for a while. Why did she, of all people have to become a cat? Lightpaw certainly wasn't any good at it, she couldn't even hunt properly. She clawed at the ground in frustration.
If only I could show them that I can be like them.
Then everything when white.
Now I know what you're thinking. Oh look, the author's already written about four pages, so let's just call it a day and kill off the main character.
Hmm sorry, you can't get rid of her just yet.
Lightpaw let out a small gasp as her vision returned. She blinked rapidly, trying to get her vision in focus. She was still standing in a clearing, almost exact to the one she was in now. The she-cat could hear voices all around her, but they were muffled, and she strained to make out voices. There were five cats sitting in the clearing, none of which she recognized. They seemed to be talking to each other, but the words were directed towards herself. She tried to get up and move, but her body was steadfast, almost as though she had no control over it. Lightpaw heard another voice, this one somewhat clearer than the rest, but she still couldn't understand it. She felt her muscles bunch up, as she crouched down in a similar fashion as how she had before.
What is going on?
Lightpaw could feel herself moving slowly at a constant pace, the noises of the forest surrounding her like a hug. With a large leap, she lunged forward, and grasped something between her paws, before swiftly killing it. Her mind was racing, she was herself, but at the same time, she wasn't. Her vision began to go out of focus, the voices slowly started fading away, until there was silence. Then the world went black.
Lightpaw sat up with a jolt, her thoughts jumbled. Her heart seemed to be pounding, almost as though it would pop out of her chest. She looked around. She was back in the clearing, with the sun just beginning to set. None of the cats were there. I think I've officially lost it. She thought to herself as she paced around the clearing, trying to come up with some explanation for what just happened.
Lightpaw felt something on her face, and she swiped a small paw underneath her nose in curiosity. A small droplet of blood landed on the forest floor, and she backed away. Her breath hitched in her chest. Am I dying? She shook her head frantically, which probably wasn't helping her spontaneous nosebleed. Swallowing, she laid down and shut her eyes tightly. She was dreaming, and she didn't just somehow just imagine herself in a different setting and then wake up again. Lightpaw felt a throbbing pain slowly set in behind her eyes, and she slowly picked herself up. The throbbing was getting worse, and with each paw step she took the world seemed to shake. Slowly, the apprentice began to make her way back to camp, not being able to find an answer for what was tugging at the back of her mind.
What is wrong with me?
And why am I here?
【 Comment Replies】
Amy Is On A Sugar Rush: I'm so glad you like the story so far :D And thank you so much for the OC, I love him, he will definitely be showing up at some point in the future... Oh and don't worry, I totally ship LightxStone. I mean uh, you didn't hear that from me.
PheonixRune: Thanks so much for the review :D I'm glad you're enjoying it!
Sad Cannoli: First of all, thank you so much for all of your reviews! I loved reading them :D As for the family tree, I probably will be releasing it at some point once the spoilers have passed, It was an actual pain to make, so I hope it will come in handy. Also, I would love to have some OC's! If you have any, feel free to PM them to me if you want, although they probably will end up being in shadowclan. Thank you so much for the compliments :D I'm glad my writing style and characters aren't awful, that was one of my worst fears when starting out on fanfiction. Oh, and your theory, it may or may not be correct. I will say one thing, the prefix definitely has something to do with it. And thanks for pointing out those errors! I will be sure to fix them ASAP! Sorry this response was so long, I thought it might be easier to respond to your reviews in one big ol paragraph :D
Thank you so much to everyone who has favorited and followed the story! It means a ton :D Also just a lil reminder that I will be responding to the reviews in every chapter.
【 Author's Note】
*snaps fingers*
Guess who's been gone for a super long time without uploading?
mE.
And the sad part is, I don't really have an excuse, Well, I take that back. Fanfiction wouldn't let me have anything to do with my account for a few days, that was just swell. But now I'm back! And I'm so sorry I was gone for so long, hopefully now I should be good to go, since wow am I loving this story right now. Like in my (humble) opinion, the story is now really starting to get going, and I really hope you guys like this chapter. It's really long, and I tried to make it as interesting as possible. It starts out kinda boring, but then it picks up really quick.
um but before you start reading, I have to answer some of the WONDERFUL comments I got on the last chapter. I actually live off of reading the comments, its so fun to just see what other people think of the story, and even some theories about it. Feel free to comment on this chapter, it doesn't even have to be about the story for all I care, I love reading them :D
