I don't update quickly usually, you know. You should feel privileged. To be honest, I'm actually finding some muse for this, even though I have no idea where it's going. There are some weird twists I have in mind, but in terms of the main Plot I am actually clueless. It should reveal itself to me, though, eventually. For now, enjoy this chapter. Also, I just realised how much I had failed with Gustpaw's miraculous healing, so I decided to make this (and last chapter) a few days after the RiverClan attack, just if anyone was confused. Apologies. Also, massive thankies to 101Icestormxx, Wildheart22 and TheVampLuvr1 for their lovely reviews. I appreciate it :3
The Face of the Enemy
The air was fresh and carried the pollen-laden scent of Green-leaf. Gustpaw snuffled as a single yellow grain landed on her nose. She shook her head, trying to remove it. Embercloud whipped round and gave her an unimpressed but bemused look. Gustpaw ceased and lowered her head, padding just behind the older cats, feeling out of place and lonely without her littermates. Silverlark and Jaggedstep were sharing a light, cheerful conversation and Shadepool was up ahead, head raised and mouth open as he carefully scented the air, eyes searching ahead for any sign of intruders. They were heading to the ThunderClan border, where a small stream marked the line between the two territories. Embercloud padded just in front of her Apprentice, chin held high to show her constant contempt to the world around her. Gustpaw failed to understand how her Mentor was so bitter. Her sister Dawnsong was so gentle and kind, showing compassion to every member of the clan. Only their eyes and almost identical size proved that the two cats were sisters. Embercloud was harsh and it had been Gustpaw's luck to get her as a Mentor. If only she could make a tornado around her and prove what she could really do… Gustpaw knew this was not allowed, because she couldn't risk being shunned by her Clan. She didn't want them to be afraid of her, she want them to be proud of her. It was so unfair she had to keep such an amazing talent shut up inside her, leaving Cloudpaw to hog the limelight.
"How are your wounds healing Gustpaw? I heard you fought well against that RiverClan Apprentice," Silverlark had turned to look into the green eyes of the tortoiseshell apprentice, her expression holding a gentle maturity and her eyes held a glow of compassion. Gustpaw was slightly surprised the young warrior had spoken to her. She had also completely forgotten about the wounds. Clearly Honeyblossom had done a good job patching them up, plus it had been a few sunrises since the battle. Although now she thought about it, she could feel a small jab of pain stab at her shoulder as she walked.
"Oh, its fine now, thank you Silverlark. Honeyblossom looked after me well," Gustpaw replied cheerfully, ignoring the slight pain, knowing not to complain in front of the warriors, particularly her Mentor who had grudgingly given her a few days off training. Silverlark gave a nod and a small 'good' before turning back to Jaggedstep, who hobbled along proudly as though his walking was not impaired at all. Gustpaw admired the tom's perseverance as she watched him stumble forward, conversing lightly with Silverlark. She quickened her pace a jog as Embercloud left her side to tread beside Shadepool, who didn't say a word to the she-cat.
Eventually, after a long silence with only the sound of the paw-steps against the soft grass and the muffled sound of Jaggedstep and Silverlark's suspiciously hushed conversation to break it, the Patrol reached the ThunderClan border. Shadepool proceeded to mark it dutifully whilst Embercloud stared out into the endless forest of the opposing clan's territory, watching for any intruders. WindClan had been on high alert since the RiverClan attack. ThunderClan scent was strong but there was not a cat in sight. Their Patrol must have just left. Gustpaw scampered over to stand by Embercloud, staring wide-eyed into the forest with a look of awe on her face.
"Wow, it's so big. There are too many trees, how do they find their prey?" Gustpaw wondered out loud, feeling like an inquisitive kit again. Embercloud gave an impatient sigh.
"They smell the prey just like we do. They have more cover too, it's easier for them. Lazy fleabags," Embercloud growled, turning her head sharply as Shadepool moved out again with the other two warriors following after. Gustpaw looked slightly taken-aback: ThunderClan hadn't attacked so why was Embercloud so rude about them? ThunderClan were generally quite friendly. Gustpaw blamed it on her Mentor's spiteful personality and rushed after the retreating patrol.
It was a while before they reached the other end of the territory, all the time a silence hung over them like a depressed haze, making Gustpaw lower her head slightly as she wished one of her siblings was on the patrol too. She had no-one to talk to with all the older warriors around her, and even if she did have the courage they didn't seem in the mood to talk. Even Jaggedstep and Silverlark had stopped talking and were padding along quietly, heads raised to the wind. Embercloud and Shadepool sauntered side-by-side, ignoring the awkward silence as though it were a pesky fly. Gustpaw trailed a few paw-steps behind, feeling sad and lonely. This wasn't how she imagined her first Patrol to be.
Her thoughts were interrupted as the warriors halted, reaching the RiverClan border. Gutspaw's tri-coloured fur stood on end as she glowered at the approaching RiverClan patrol. Shadepool ignored it, marking the border as if nothing was there, as did Embercloud. Silverlark's eyes widened and her hackles rose automatically, standing close to Jaggedstep. Sure enough, the RiverClan cats stalking towards them, the lead being a grey tabby tom with blue eyes full of contempt. After him came two other warriors and two apprentices, one of which Gustpaw immediately recognised as the one she had fought in the battle. A growl rose in her throat, but she was quickly silenced by Silverlark's tail in her mouth and a warning glance from Jaggedstep.
"Well, well, what do we have here, Shadepool. Pathetic little RiverClan leading a pathetic little patrol. Oh, still sore about your defeat? Shame," Embercloud sneered, turning her face away from the opposite Clan's cats in disdain. The lead of the RiverClan patrol let out a snarl.
"Defeat? We didn't lose, we were being tactile. You WindClan mousebrains wouldn't know about that, would you?" Countered the cat, his tail lashing furiously. Meanwhile, Gustpaw took a few steps forward, careful not to cross the border, and glared at the blue-grey apprentice.
"You! I know you; you attacked me," Gustpaw snarled at the small Tom, who answered with a snort.
"Of course I did, that's what I'm supposed to do. Lucky Minnowstar called off the attack, or you wouldn't be here right now!" He sneered, eyes narrowed slightly as he himself took a single step forward. The other apprentice skittered backwards slightly, eyes wide.
"I would have been just fine; it would have been you who would not see the sun set!" Gustpaw snarled, her fur bristling and green eyes darkening with hatred. The apprentice only shook his head, rolling his eyes.
"Oh please, you WindClan cats are so weak. You would stand a chance agains-" the obnoxious apprentice was interrupted by the other apprentice, a white she-cat, nudging him.
"Um, Streampaw, are you sure this is a good idea? We did lose, you know…" she trailed off, her eyes flitting to the ground, paws shuffling nervously.
"Icepaw you are so pathetic! We didn't lose and you know it. Just because you didn't come doesn't mean you have to be bitter about it," the Tom snarled, baring his teeth at the she-cat, a sign that said 'be quiet!', before turning back to Gustpaw who looked a little horrified. She would never treat a Clan-mate like that!
"There's no need to be rude to your own Clan-mates. I don't really think you're worthy to speak to a noble WindClan cat," Gustpaw retorted, mimicking Embercloud's action of turning her face away in disgust. Streampaw, as he was apparently called, narrowed his eyes to slits but said nothing. Gustpaw only rolled her eyes; she had learnt some tricks from her Mentor, except Gustpaw wouldn't use them on her own Clan members.
"WindClan move out! Come on Gustpaw stop provoking them, even if it is fun. We don't have time to waste over these insolent, foul-smelling fleabags," Shadepool commanded, leading the patrol away from RiverClan and back towards camp without even so much as a glance back. The other three warriors followed, Silverlark scuttling nervously away, letting out a sigh of relief. Jaggedstep limped after nonchalantly as though nothing had happened. Embercloud simply padded away with Gustpaw trotting after, restraining herself from looking back at Streampaw. Instead, she flaunted her fluffed-out tail as her Patrol disappeared over the hills, leaving the RiverClan patrol just standing there, staring.
This time, it wasn't long before they were back at Camp. More cats were awake now, milling about and conversing light-heartedly. Dustfang was sharing a rabbit with his sister Meadowbreeze as Duskshadow peered lazily out of the nursery, Fadedkit close to her side. Ravenkit was nowhere to be seen. Gustpaw turned to wink at the kit, who gave a surprised blink in reply, but waved his tail in acknowledgement. Gustpaw gave a small purr and bounded down the slope that led into the Camp and pounced on her sister, who was still curled up, asleep.
"Wake up sleepyhead! I've been out on the Dawn patrol with Embercloud, Jaggedstep, Silverlark and Shadepool! We met a Riverclan patrol but they had nothing on us! We left them staring like they'd just seen a StarClan cat! It was great!" Despite Gustpaw's earlier reluctance to be a part of the Patrol, now it was over she was very excited to tell her littermates all about it, although she couldn't see Cloudpaw. Cinderpaw blinked open her eyes lazily with a groan, batting blindly at her sister.
"Why would you want to wake up so early? I'm so tired…" the grey she-cat trailed off, shutting her blue eyes again. Gustpaw pranced in circles around her, still eager to tell her drowsy sister all about the Patrol.
"And we checked the ThunderClan border, but they weren't there. But RiverClan were! And that apprentice I fought was there! Apparently his name is Streampaw; he was really mean to his Clan-mate. He deserved everything I gave him!" Gustpaw exclaimed, still bounding in circles around her sister, who only twitched an ear. Gustpaw stopped; crestfallen her sister wasn't even interested in her story.
"Fine, you don't want to listen! Where's Cloudpaw, I'll tell him," Gustpaw huffed, green eyes searching for her brother, but finding nothing. Cinderpaw rolled over, flickering her eyes open again to look at her littermate through clouded eyes.
"I think he's in the Nursery talking to Ravenkit. He woke me up going there a few moments ago," she mewed, resentful her brother had disturbed her. However, the grey she-cat finally rose to her feet, swaying slightly as she tried to restrain herself from lying back down again. She groaned, blinking her eyes as they adjusted to the light properly. Gustpaw tilted her head; the nursery? Why would Cloudpaw want to talk to Ravenkit? She wondered, giving her sister a lick on the ear before heading towards the nursery to see what her brother was up to. She passed by Duskshadow, who looked slightly confused.
"Another one? Cloudpaw went in looking for Ravenkit earlier, he's still in there. I didn't know Dapplefeather's kits were so attached to the nursery still," the earthy brown Queen commented, glancing down at Gustpaw with piercing gold eyes. Fadedkit peered around his mother's side, looking rather relieved.
"Hey Gustpaw! I saw you going out on the Dawn Patrol. How was it?" The black tom asked cheerfully, padding over to the tortoiseshell as she continued through the tunnel to the Nursery. Gustpaw was pleased to see Fadedkit happier than he was this morning.
"It was great! We met a RiverClan patrol, but they were no harm. I even saw the apprentice I fought in the battle!" Gustpaw explained, her eyes alight as she recalled the event. Fadedkit's eyes widened in awe.
"Wow! I heard you fought so well. I can't wait to become an apprentice too and then maybe I'll finally show my brother up," Fadedkit mewed wistfully, his voice dropping as they neared the two figured that were Ravenkit and Cloudpaw. Gustpaw bounced up to her brother, who turned to look at her with an unreadable expression.
"Hi Cloudpaw, I was wondering where you were! I went on the Dawn Patrol this morning, and it was so exciting!" She announced, twirling in a circle, careful to stop quickly so as not to start conjuring the wind. Cloudpaw hopped up from his sitting position, looking genuinely interested.
"Really? Did you meet any mangy RiverClan cats?" He asked, pouncing at nothing as he imagined jumping on a RiverClan cat.
"Yeah! I even spoke to the cat that attacked me! His name is Streampaw, and he's really mean!" Gustpaw cried, pleased one of her littermates was interested in her story. Cloudpaw gave a growl at the thought of the blue-grey Apprentice.
"I bet he was, all RiverClan cats are horrible! I wish I could have gone on that patrol so I could tear an ear or two," Cloudpaw growled, digging his claw into the earth and raking them along the ground, leaving a small trail. Gustpaw began to think that maybe Cloudpaw was just interested in hearing about RiverClan, not her. Of course he wouldn't care about what she did. She flattened her ears as Cloudpaw went off into his own little world, attacking an imaginary RiverClan cat. Gustpaw huffed and turned to Ravenkit, who was glowering in her direction.
"Why are you here Gustpaw? I was having a nice conversation with Cloudpaw when you interrupted!" He grumbled, narrowing his eyes. Fadedkit cuffed his ear, something changing in his eyes.
"Stop being so rude or I'll tell Duskshadow where you went this morning! It's not fair the way you treat everyone!" He scolded his brother, who promptly pounced on him, face set in a snarl. Gustpaw tilted her head and was about to interfere when Cloudpaw jabbed her with a paw.
"Leave the kits to play; let's go and find our mentors," he suggested before scampering away, and Gustpaw could do nothing but follow after, giving a final glance back to the scrapping kits. She shook her head and hoped they'd sort things out. She might get annoyed by her siblings but she'd never had a proper argument with them. She loved them too much for that.
"Gustpaw, Cloudpaw, there you are! We're going for another hunting session whilst Cinderpaw works on her fighting; Dawnsong says she needs some extra training," Timberfur called to them as they emerged from the Nursery. The woody-brown tom beckoned to them with a tail, explaining Embercloud was already at the Training Dip. The two apprentices nodded and bounded after the warrior.
Neither of them noticed Honeyblossom watching Gustpaw from the shadows of her Den with green eyes that weren't full with the usual spite and contempt. They were filled with fear.
And that sucked. That chapter really went nowhere, didn't it? Just some more Faded and Raven conflict and the introduction of Streampaw's name. Plus some more playing around with Cinder and Cloud since I still don't have set characters for him. Cloudpaw loves to show-off but I think he's nice really. Cinderpaw is just a little weedy, and she'll make for a very grumpy elder x3 Anyway, sorry for this plot-stalling chapter but I'll try pick up the pace with some thrilling hunting next chapter :D And yes, I changed my name again, sorry. I didn't like having numbers and I love tribe names. This AN is too long, ta-ta! Oh, and review to get a Silverlark plushie, because I like her! ~Si :3
