Chapter Nine
"Hey, Dawnpaw…"
"Hold on a second." The apprentice's eyes were tracking back and forth. Her hindquarters wiggled back and forth as she prepared to spring.
"Dawnpaw!"
Dawnpaw let out a frustrated growl as the strange bird leaped into the air. She sprinted forward, spraying sand high into the air. Behind her she could hear Thistlepaw spluttering and broke into laughter as she gave up the chase. The bird squawked angrily from the air.
"What do you want, lizard-brain?" she giggled, circling back around to where her friend was sitting. His black coat was gilded from behind by the sun's light. Thistlepaw flicked his tail at the reddish orb hanging above the roiling salty water.
"Oh, StarClan! Have we really been here that long?"
"Yup."
"Well come on!" Dawnpaw barely gathered a breath before she was sprinting back up the ravine. The rocks streaked past in one red blur, with the roaring of the water receding behind her with each passing breath. She could hear Thistlepaw's thumping pawsteps behind her, but that was all the notice she paid to her friend. Amberslash was going to kill her. The second her paws hit sand she leaped forward even faster. The sky was the dun yellow that followed a hot desert day, the horizon behind the sheer brown cliffs the barest tinge of red.
Dawnpaw had a newfound hatred of this time of day.
"Hurry, Thistlepaw!" she barked out between gasps. Those coyotes could be anywhere.
He grunted and pushed up to run beside her. Their two pelts moved in unison up and down the dunes, like a hare and its shadow. The light was fading fast. Already there was little evidence of red near the horizon, a deep purple spreading across the sky like a bruise. It spread like the pain that was radiating once again from Dawnpaw's ribs.
The scent that Dawnpaw was dreading most finally reached her nose: rotten vulture-meat and musty, stale fur. Her heart leaped in her chest but she couldn't push herself any faster. Thistlepaw drew nearer, as if he were going to shove her forward with his shoulder. The camp can't be much farther away, she thought desperately.
"I guess you get to see some coyotes today, Thistlepaw," she gasped out. She couldn't run any more. She didn't think she could survive a fight either. Her paws drifted to a halt, scuffing furrows in the sand. Thistlepaw's amber eyes met her green ones.
"Good thing Batclaw taught me some battle moves, then," he replied. His face was devoid of emotion.
Dawnpaw didn't turn as she heard the coyotes surge over the dunes. They formed a ring just like the sand dunes, concentric circles that formed a sealed pit. Thistlepaw's fur stood on end, his amber eyes burning and his fangs gleaming as he hissed at the ugly creatures. They snarled and barked right back, their hungry eyes running over the apprentices.
One leaped at Thistlepaw from behind. Dawnpaw jumped forward and slashed it across the nose, sending it whimpering away. Another lunged for them, allowing Thistlepaw to latch onto its neck. He clawed and bit until the thing howled, but Dawnpaw was left exposed. She met one of the coyotes' eyes as it prepared to jump.
A brown and white form slammed into the coyote from the side. Suddenly the little valley between the dunes was alive with the sound of cats and coyotes writing in battle. Dawnpaw couldn't do anything but shrink into herself and avoid the blows. She couldn't move, she could hardly breathe. The mess of coats confused her eyes and the vulture-meat clouded her sense of smell.
A paw nudged her shoulder. Dawnpaw sprang up with unsheathed claws, eyes wild. Thistlepaw pulled back. "It's okay, they're gone," he whispered gently. Dawnpaw felt her heart slow down slightly.
"Dawnpaw!" Lizardclaw was looming suddenly over the two apprentices. Dawnpaw shrank back into herself, unable to face the anger she could see in her father's expression. "What do you think you were doing out here? Didn't your last encounter with these things teach you anything? Since you've been an apprentice, all you've done is cause trouble. I thought I taught you better than that!"
"I—I'm sorry, father…"
Lizardclaw had already turned away. "Everyone get back to camp," he growled, and paced off through the sands. Dawnpaw got to her feet miserably.
Stormslash brushed gently against her side. "We've been searching for you two all day. I'm sure he was just worried," he murmured, his blue eyes bright amidst the oppressive gloom. Dawnpaw mustered a small smile.
"Maybe," she agreed. Her eyes flicked to her father's tight form as he led the patrol back home.
The whole camp was assembled when they walked into the rocky hollow. Worried or angry eyes gleamed in the half light from every direction. Dawnpaw was glad to have Stormslash's warm bulk at her side, especially when Hawkstar stepped forward from the crowd.
"Dawnpaw, Thistlepaw," he said, his voice deep and deadly serious. "I'm not going to ask where you've been. It doesn't matter. No matter where you spent your day, the fact remains that you both shirked your duties and endangered your Clanmates by putting yourselves in danger. Look at their injuries, you two. That's what you're responsible for."
For the first time, Dawnpaw saw the scratches and bites covering the patrol. Her eyes flashed to Stormslash and the bloody gash on his shoulder. He gave her a shrug and a smile, as if it were no big deal—but it was. Dawnpaw's ears flattened against her head in shame.
"Since we can't trust you two to stay in camp and train as you're supposed to, I'm forbidding either of you two to leave the camp without your mentor's supervision. Be thankful I'm not doing more." Hawkstar turned and padded into his rocky cave den. The rest of the crowd took that as their signal to disperse as well, leaving Dawnpaw and Thistlepaw alone in the clearing.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. Thistlepaw turned his amber eyes on her.
"I'm sorry too," he said. A smile flashed onto his face. "Sorry we got caught."
"What?"
"Today was the best day I've ever had, aside from the coyote thing. They'll get over it and things will get back to normal soon enough." The normally serious tom nudged her and then trotted to the apprentice den, probably hoping to get some sleep before Batclaw came to take him away for training. Dawnpaw felt her spirits lift.
A different pair of amber eyes blinked from the shadows out of a creamy pale smudge. All Dawnpaw could see was disappointment. It only took a moment for Amberslash to fade back away into the shadows, and then she was gone. Dawnpaw plodded into the apprentice den and curled up in her nest.
Light was already slanting into the cave when she awoke. Thistlepaw and Falconpaw were already gone, but Dawnpaw could make out the matching creamy pelts of Sparkpaw and Brightpaw curled together on the other side of the sandy den. She blinked around blearily as she heard rocks skitter at the entrance of the den.
"Come on you three, wake up!"
Sparkpaw groaned and gurgled. "Five more minutes, Redwing," he mumbled, then flipped over and resumed snoring. The russet warrior slunk into the den, reaching out to awkwardly shove her apprentice.
"Come on, stop being lazy, Sparkpaw, we need to go train." It was clear she was trying to be firm, but she was falling short of moving the young tom. Brightpaw finally stirred.
"Oh hi, Redwing," she mumbled. "What brings you here?"
The poor warrior's ears flattened. "We're all going to train together with Amberslash and Lizardclaw today," she said. That at least got the apprentices' attention.
"Well why didn't you say so?" Sparkpaw meowed, and popped out of his nest and out of the den. Redwing immediately turned tail and streaked after him, ears still pressed back against her head.
"Sometimes I feel bad for her," Brightpaw mewed. Dawnpaw nodded. She knew exactly what Brightpaw meant.
The sunlight played gently on their fur as they emerged from the den. The breeze whipping across the sand reminded Dawnpaw of the previous day's adventure. The thought brought a grin to her face. As if she could read the younger apprentice's thoughts, Brightpaw looked over and smiled slyly.
"You're not the only one to have had an adventure, you know."
Dawnpaw laughed. "Oh yeah?"
"Oh, StarClan yes. Have you heard about the time Sparkpaw got stuck in a crack on the mud flats? It took us half a day just to get the furball's head out, and that wasn't even the worst part…"
~oOo~
Redwing and Sparkpaw's trail brought the two creamy apprentices to a part of the territory Dawnpaw had never seen before. It still rankled that after nearly a moon of apprenticeship, Dawnpaw had hardly any training to speak of. Brightpaw trotted confidently into a rocky bowl scooped out of the cracked ground, leaving the younger apprentice to follow. Their mentors were already there.
Dawnpaw felt guilty… but mainly it was because she didn't really feel guilty. Amberslash and Lizardclaw could rake their eyes over her all they wanted, but she agreed with Thistlepaw—the previous day had been one of the best days she'd ever had. She was only sorry she'd gotten caught. That didn't stop her from putting on a contrite expression as she skittered down the side of the bowl, of course, but it did make her feel better.
"Nice of you to join us. We thought you'd wandered off again," Lizardclaw growled, leveling a glare at his kit. Dawnpaw's ears flattened. She deserved that, but the scathing tone still hurt. I'm still not sorry, she thought defiantly at him. Her green eyes flicked to her mentor.
"Since you're so determined to get yourself into trouble, we thought it would be a good idea to teach you some fighting basics," Amberslash explained coolly.
"It's about time," Dawnpaw muttered. Lizardclaw whirled around.
"What did you say?" he growled.
A cheerily false smile spread across Dawnpaw's face. "Nothing, father," she chirped. Amberslash grabbed her ear in her teeth and roughly dragged her away.
"Ow, get off me!"
"Have some respect, Dawnpaw," Amberslash hissed. "You're embarrassing yourself and you're embarrassing me." Dawnpaw wrenched her ear loose with a hiss of pain.
"Sorry, sorry," she muttered. "I'll do better. Now can we train?"
Amberslash's eyes were blazing like the sun, but she dipped her head. "We cats are usually smaller than our opponents, so slashing and battering at eye level will be useless against, say, a coyote. That's what I'm going to teach you anyway, so at least you'll be able to spar."
The moves were laughably easy, nothing that Dawnpaw couldn't have figured out in her sleep. Without claws, they amounted to nothing more than rapid slaps and jabs. Dawnpaw had no doubt they'd be useful in a fight, but there was no way she'd win a battle using these dinky tricks.
"Got anything else?" she asked Amberslash. She glanced over at Sparkpaw and Redwing, who were sparring already. Sparkpaw charged at his mentor, but instead of jumping out of the way, Redwing stepped to the side and deftly rammed her shoulder into him as he breezed past, sending him skidding face first into the sand. Dawnpaw flicked a tail. "Like that?"
Amberslash glanced at the other pair and flicked her eyes back to her own apprentice. "You want to try that, do you?" Dawnpaw nodded, grinning. Amberslash charged without warning, sending up sprays of sand. She covered ground more quickly than Dawnpaw expected, making her sidestep clumsy. She had to make a split-second readjust, lowering her shoulder into Amberslash's leg rather than her shoulder. A laugh leaped to her throat as Amberslash went tumbling.
The golden warrior climbed to her paws, irritation flashing in her eyes. "Good job, Dawnpaw."
"Are you guys ready to spar yet?" Sparkpaw shouted. He had sand clumped all over his fur, but his tail was still twitching with energy. Brightpaw rolled her eyes and tucked her tail around her paws, looking to Lizardclaw.
"Dawnpaw will spar whether she's ready or not," he growled.
"I hope you're ready to improvise," Amberslash murmured, still looking annoyed. Dawnpaw just grinned. She felt confident. Fighting seemed to come much more naturally to her than hunting did.
Sparkpaw leaped to his feet. "Alright new meat, let's see what you've got." Dawnpaw just grinned.
He stalked forward, his tail twitching like hers sometimes did before a kill. Now that the pressure was on, Dawnpaw could feel the desert sun beating on her back, sending prickles through her fur. It reflected off the burning sand, blurring Sparkpaw's ginger outline. She didn't want to make the first move, however, so she edged away to the side, keeping her eyes on his.
She saw his eyes narrow and she tensed for his strike, satisfaction rushing through her as she recognized his predictable charge. She sidestepped easily, but instead of slamming into his shoulder as she'd seen earlier, she suddenly changed her mind. Her hind legs bunched and she leaped onto his back, tangling his claws in the longer fur around his neck. He immediately rolled, giving Dawnpaw only a moment to try and leap away. The breath rushed out of her as the heavier apprentice slammed down. His bright eyes appeared in front of hers. "Give up yet?" he asked, nearly nose to nose with her.
Dawnpaw narrowed her eyes and grinned. "Not quite," she sang, and with a mighty heave flung him off with her hind paws. He landed with an 'oof' a mouselength away and Dawnpaw leaped atop of him, battering at him with her paws—just like Amberslash taught her. Sparkpaw began to laugh.
"I give, I give!" he yelped, chuckling. Dawnpaw danced away, a grin as big as the sun enveloping her face. Sparkpaw hopped to his feet and shook out his fur, sending sand everywhere. "Not bad, freshkill," he called.
Amberslash had a coolly appraising look on her face. "I agree, Dawnpaw. Perhaps next time you get yourself into trouble, you'll be able to get yourself out of it too."
"That's the idea," Dawnpaw shot back. She sat next to her mentor for the rest of the session, watching the older apprentices spar and savoring the taste of triumph. It definitely felt good to know she excelled. Now the setback from her rapidly healing injury didn't seem so immense.
This new confidence was a good feeling.
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