【 Ｃｈａｐｔｅｒ Ｅｉｇｈｔ】
"Ugh-God, Pouncepaw do you really have to sleep there?"
"Excuuuuse me for wanting to be comfortable!" The pale ginger tom replied, with an emphasis on the 'cuse'. "Plus, this really is the only place where I can sleep."
His brother let out a snort. "Why do I not believe that."
Pouncepaw frowned. "I don't like you very much right now."
Bearpaw grinned back cheekily. "The feeling is mutual"
Lightpaw heard Briarpaw let out a groan of distaste before curling tighter into a ball. For once, she agreed with the ill-tempered cat. Sandmist's kits had moved into the apprentices den only a moon prior, and it had been like this every night since. As you could probably imagine, the den was pretty cramped, and Lightpaw avoided being in the den at all costs. Training was going somewhat well, she had improved her hunting and fighting skills, although the latter still wasn't that great. Most of the clan cats had gotten over Lightpaw at some point, except for a stubborn few who still looked at her like she was an alien, which just happened to include Cloudwhisker. She hadn't spoken to the medicine cat since he caught her eavesdropping on Ravenstar and Blizzardstar's conversation. This wasn't because she was avoiding him, oh no. He simply wouldn't look at her. Every time she would go into the medicine den to chat with Moonpaw, he would act like the apprentice didn't exist. Which she supposed for most would be fine, but she still couldn't shake their conversation from the night of the gathering. Lightpaw still desperately wanted answers, but it was evident that no one would give her any, especially him.
She let out an over-exaggerated sigh as she heaved herself to my paws. If I stay here any longer I'm gonna go insane. She padded out of the den, feeling the nighttime air ruffle her fur. She started walking over to the fresh-kill pile, but stopped when she heard coughing.
A russet tom was hunched over slightly, and he was coughing loudly.
Lightpaw winced sympathetically. "That sounded like it hurt"
Foxtail turned to face his apprentice. "It kinda did" He wheezed.
"Have you gone to the the medicine den?" She questioned as she began grooming her pelt.
Her mentor shuffled his paws. "Pebbletail has been nagging me to do it for the past day and a half"
Lightpaw's ears pricked up. "Foxtail, you might be sick!"
He let out a raspy purr. "You sound just like her."
She flicked her tail good-naturedly. "Seriously, why haven't you seen Cloudwhisker yet?"
"It's just…" He trailed off absent-mindedly. "With all the conflict going on with Windclan, I wanted to get in some extra training time with you to perfect some battle moves."
The she-cat tilted her head in confusion. "I didn't think it had gotten that bad. Yeah, they did increase their patrols along the border, but do you really think it will lead to battle?"
He nodded. "Windclan has always been trying to take Thunderclan territory, I guess they've just stepped it up recently."
There was silence for a bit, before she finally replied.
"Don't let me stop you, I can train with another warrior, it'll be fine."
The tom looked borderline uncomfortable when she mentioned that, but slowly responded. "Are you sure? It won't seem like I'm letting you down as a mentor?"
Lightpaw let out a laugh. "Of course not. I feel like I would be letting you down as an apprentice If I let you die from a cold because of me."
He laughed, before breaking into another coughing fit. "Fine, Fine." He rasped. "I'll send someone out tomorrow to teach you some moves."
She nodded in return, before Pebbletail padded up to the two.
"Foxtail I can hear you wheezing all the way across the camp!" The tabby she-cat scolded. "I hope you were on your way to the medicine den!"
"He sure was" Lightpaw chimed in. The two she-cats shared a look of amusement.
"I swear" He mumbled under his breath playfully as he licked Pebbletail's shoulder affectionately.
"Ewww" She meowed as she squirmed away. "You'll get me sick!" The three purred, before the two warriors headed to the medicine den.
Lightpaw turned away from the fresh-kill pile, suddenly without an appetite. She internally groaned. Back to the apprentices den, I guess.
She must have been more tired than she thought, because as soon as she hit the ground I was asleep.
Lightpaw woke up to the sound of birds chirping, and of course, Bearpaw and Pouncepaw arguing.
Great.
She let out a yawn, before sleepily squeezing out of the den, into the blinding morning sunlight.
"Morning!" Lakepaw greeted as Lightpaw padded over to them. "How didja sleep?"
The golden-furred cat let out a single grunt, before Stonepaw burst into laughter.
"What's so funny" She meowed in a monotone voice.
"Not much of a-" He wheezed in between laughs "-morning person,huh?"
Lightpaw rolled her eyes.
"Anyway" he breathed, trying to control his laughter. "Guess what I get to do today." He meowed as I selected a thrush from the fresh kill pile.
"Whgf" His sister mumbled through her squirrel.
"I get to go to the Windclan Camp!" He exclaimed happily.
"Wait what?" Lightpaw's ears perked up in surprise, even though she had been half asleep for 75% of the conversation.
"Yeah, isn't it exciting?" The grey tom bounced on his paws. "Blizzardstar decided to send out a patrol to try and negotiate with them. He thinks it'll prevent a battle."
"Whatever works, right?" Lakepaw meowed absentmindedly as she buried the remains of her meal.
She shook her pelt anxiously. "Do you think if things go on the way they are there will be one?"
Stonepaw shrugged. "I don't know, at least Blizzardstar's trying to stop it."
"Speaking of Blizzardstar," Lakepaw meowed "Have you guys noticed he's been acting kind of…" she trailed off. "I don't know, weird recently?"
Her littermate nodded in agreement. "Yeah, ever since the gathering he's been off."
Lightpaw thought back to that night. The normally brave and upbeat leader seemed weak, almost helpless.
"Maybe he's just stressed? I mean he is the leader and all." As much as she wanted to believe what she said, she just couldn't. It all seemed so uncoincidental, the visions, the stares, the leader being on edge?
Maybe it was just because the apprentice was extremely tired, but she couldn't bother to wrap her mind around that concept. Not now at least.
"Speaking of Blizzardstar, again, here he comes" Lakepaw meowed, straightening her posture as her brother did the same.
The speckled tom dipped his head to both of the apprentices before he turned to Lightpaw.
"Have you eaten?"
"Oh-um yeah"
"Good." He nodded. "Are you ready for training?"
"What?"
He let out a strained laugh "Foxtail asked me if I could teach you some battle moves while he recovers."
Oh. Right. That.
The Thunderclan leader didn't look that good. Not in an appearances sort of way, but you could tell just by looking at him that he was drained. She couldn't help but feel a bit of pity for the poor guy, especially after hearing how upset he was during his conversation with Ravenstar.
"Right, I almost forgot."
Blizzardstar flicked his tail towards the exit, before looking up at the sky. "We should probably head out now, before it gets any later."
Lightpaw nodded in response and followed him out of camp, leaving behind Lakepaw and Stonepaw's shocked stares.
The walk to the training hollow was silent and awkward, and neither of them said a word. She attempted to engage in small talk a few times, but shut herself up before I ever even had said anything.
When the two got to the hollow it was around noon, and she had absolutely no idea what was going to happen.
"So, Foxtail tells me you like to fight more on the defensive side, correct?"
Lightpaw nodded. "I guess you could put it like that."
What might have been a small smile on Blizzardstar's expression appeared, but then vanished.
"I fought similarly as an apprentice. Some might see that method of fighting; tricking your opponents that is,cowardly, but I see it as smart." he paused. "If you do it correctly."
He then crouched down, and flicked his tail impatiently.
"Attack me."
"What?"
He rolled his eyes, almost playfully. "Just do it."
She crouched down and leapt at him, but was easily swatted away. He then turned around to face her again, and began to lunge towards him once more, before he stuck out his hind leg and she felt herself land with a thud. She grumbled to herself as she heaved herself up from the ground, where she stared blankly at the leader.
"Am I just going to get beaten up the entire day?" Lightpaw could feel an edge creep into her tone, but she didn't care.
He shifted his attention to the apprentice, his gaze piercing. "That depends if you're going to fight back."
That statement seemed to hold more power than it appeared to to the tom.
She nodded in response. "If you teach me."
The fire in his eyes receded a little bit. "Good. Now watch me."
Blizzardstar repeated his movements once again, and she made special note of how his hind leg protruded as he dogged out of the way to avoid a blow.
"You try."
Lightpaw gulped before slowly crouching down, and she tried to replicate the move, which didn't go well. She wasn't very coordinated as a human, constantly knocking into things and other people, and it was pretty apparent that stayed the same as a cat.
"Again."
So she did, and she did slightly better than before. The young cat's muscles weren't used to doing this, and as he kept making her repeat the move, she felt herself becoming worn out
"Again."
"Again."
After what seemed to be ages, her moves becoming more and more sloppy as time went on, Lightpaw finally spoke up.
"Blizzardstar" she wheezed, trying to catch her breath. "Can I take a break?"
His eyes widened, almost as if he had been snapped out of a trance. "Of course, I-" His shoulders slumped, his previously stern posture faded away. "It's getting late, we should probably head back."
The tom's sudden shift in demeanor unsettled the she-cat. Maybe this guy just has some crazy mood swings, she tried to convince herself as the two headed towards camp in silence. But part of her refused to believe that that was the case.
Blizzardstar stopped abruptly about halfway to camp. He sniffed the air.
"Do you smell that?"
She sniffed tentatively, and she got a strong waft of pine needles and earth as a result.
"Yeah," Lightpaw paused. "Do you think it's-"
With a flick of his plumy tail, he raced into the undergrowth, the opposite direction from camp.
She inwardly groaned, not knowing what to do. She finally ran after him, not knowing if it was a good idea.
Nice split second decision genius.
She followed his scent trail in the direction of the other strange scent. I'm kinda getting good at this whole cat-super-smelling-thing.
Lightpaw burst through the bushes clumsily, where she was greeted by the stares of two cats. One being Blizzardstar himself, the other being a darker gray cat, with slightly lighter gray paws. He had a powerful build, with flecks of gray around his muzzle. Needless to say, she was immediately intimidated, but also got an almost unsettling vibe from the cat. He seemed to think the opposite of Lightpaw, his initial reaction being shock, which was followed by an almost smug reaction.
"Well well well Blizzardstar, it seems your apprentice has found her way here, you must be very proud." His voice oozing with sarcasm as his black eyes met hers.
Blizzardstar opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off by the mysterious cat. "She's awfully pretty, for a replacement."
She seemed to have an out of body experience at that moment, his words circling her mind. That word struck a chord deep within in Lightpaw, and the terrifying part was she didn't know why. She could feel something else present in the area, and it didn't seem pleased either. The apprentice could feel rage, and sorrow surround her so powerfully that she almost didn't hear Blizzardstar's response.
"Lightpaw, go back to camp." He commanded her through gritted teeth.
"But-"
"Go."
She could feel countless emotions bubbling inside of her, the most prominent being confusion. Why didn't she have the right to know what was going on?
Lightpaw began to stalk away, and she barely caught the rest of their conversation.
"Wow, even used the same name, very creative Blizzardstar."
The blood pumping in her head prohibited her from hearing the rest of the conversation, but she didn't care. All of the events from the past few months, being turned into a cat, being put in this universe that she didn't have any control over, all of it piled up at once.
She needed answers, and she needed them now.
The dappled she-cat rushed into the camp, almost like a cat possessed. She headed for the medicine den, for once not caring if Cloudwhisker was there or not.
"Lightpaw!" The cream and gray medicine cat greeted "Whats up?"
Lightpaw sat down with a huff. "No one's telling me anything."
Moonpaw's ears perked up in interest. "What?"
She explained everything that had happened over the past few months, except for one tiny detail; that she wasn't a cat.
"Hmm" her friend pondered, deep in thought.
"Well," Moonpaw began. "The other cat said that you were, a what?"
"Replacement" Lightpaw mumbled.
"Right. He also thought that you were Blizzardstar's apprentice?"
She nodded, her mind connecting the dots.
"So your saying that Blizzardstar used to have another apprentice?" Lightpaw knew that statement sounded stupid, every leader has to have at least one apprentice to become deputy.
The medicine cat nodded. "Exactly. I don't remember the last time he had one, so it was probably before I was born, or I was too young to remember."
She thought in silence for a moment.
"You can go ask the elders, they probably know more than me about this. Sorry I'm not much help."
"Are you kidding? You've helped a ton." Lightpaw purred, before leaving the medicine den, purpose filling her pawsteps.
She glimpsed a small pale tom heading towards the entrance to the elders den, mumbling around a wad of moss in his jaws.
"Pouncepaw! She called. "Let me take that for you."
He tilted his head in confusion. "Is thif a pwank?" He meowed through the moss.
"No." She responded hastily. "I can clean out the den."
He perked up. "Really? Thanks Lightpaw!" He meowed cheerfully, before heading back the apprentices den.
Lightpaw picked up the bundle gingerly, before heading into the den. It was dark compared to the other dens, with a generous layer of moss coating the ground. Dozing inside the den were two out of the three elders, a brown and white she-cat was chatting amiably with a russet tom, while a familiar grey she-cat listened in on their conversation.
"Lightpaw!" Lakepaw greeted happily. "I didn't think you were on elder duty today?"
She shook her head. "I took over Pouncepaw's shift"
Lakepaw grinned as she continued to change the moss.
"So, Blossomflower," Lightpaw began tentatively. "Do you remember if Blizzardstar ever had an apprentice?"
The elderly brown and white she-cat turned to face the apprentice. "Oh of course dear, such a sweet young cat, in fact you-"
"Blossomflower" The older russet tom scolded. "I don't think you should be…" His voice trailed off as he contemplated what to say. "Telling them about that"
The apprentices shared a confused glance.
Lightpaw flicked her tail, before whispering to her friend "I'll tell you later"
She nodded, not completely satisfied with the other cat's answer.
Her attention shifted back to the arguing couple. "It's such a shame what happened to her, she was a very promising warrior," Blossomflower turned to the she-cat. "Why do you ask?"
Lightpaw befan to ask more, before Cloudwhisker shoved past her into the den.
"Everyone out, I have to check up on Blazestorm's breathing."
She tried to refrain from screaming right then and there. As soon as she was getting some sort of clue as to what was going on, she was cut off.
"But-" she protested.
"Now." His tone was similar to Blizzardstar's earlier that day, and she had a sinking feeling that the two were hiding something.
"C'mon Lightpaw, I'm sure we can hear more stories later." Lightpaw meowed, trying to make the situation more lighthearted.
"Yeah, alright." Lightpaw shot a glance in the medicine cats' direction, before exiting.
So, the theory that Moonpaw had created was correct, he did have a previous apprentice, and something had happened to her.
Lightpaw felt a chill course through her body
"You don't even know the beginning of it, but you will soon, Mia."
She froze. If she hadn't of been listening, she doubted that she would have heard anything.
"Lightpaw, you alright?" Lakepaw meowed, a hint of concern in her voice. "You've been acting kind of strange today."
She shook her head anxiously, as to erase what she had just heard. "Yeah, I think I'm just hungry." She lied.
"Right? I'm starved!" She mewed as she stopped next to the fresh kill pile, dragging a rabbit from the bottom. "Wanna share?"
Lightpaw plopped down beside her, and nodded absentmindedly as the grey she-cat began to dig in. The apprentice began to go on about her day, but Lightpaw didn't hear a thing.
It wasn't even the fact that she had felt something then, something that she had felt her entire time in the clans without realizing it. It was the fact that whatever it was knew, it knew she didn't belong here. It knew her name, and whatever it was, wasn't going away anytime soon.
【 Ａｕｔｈｏｒ＇ｓ Ｎｏｔｅ】
Hey guys, I apologize for not posting in literally forever, but I've had a ton of writer's block with this story, which is weird because I've already plotted out the entire thing. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this super long chapter!