Chapter Nine

Jewelpaw opened her eyes and stretched. Maplepaw and Foxpaw were gone, but Tuftpaw was still in the den. Jewelpaw licked her lips and padded out of the apprentice's den. Tigerstrike was walking too, and they ran into each other. Jewelpaw felt a pair of fangs dig into her scruff, and she tore out of it's grip. She turned around.

"Fireblaze! What in the name of MoonClan are you doing?" She asked. Fireblaze flinched.

"I was just trying to help you up, and we need to train-"

"Well thanks to you my neck hurts now!" She hissed. Jewelpaw felt someone tap her shoulder. Tuftpaw was awake.

"Hey, Jewelpaw, take it easy okay? It's alright." He meowed. Jewelpaw relaxed. She turned her back on Fireblaze with Tuftpaw by her side.

"Thanks Tuftpaw. I swear to MoonClan, I'm about to rip him to shreds." She mumbled. Tuftpaw laughed.

"I noticed. Want to go hunting with me?" He asked. Jewelpaw nodded.

"Sure." She meowed. She followed Tuftpaw out of camp.

"Okay, there's a very specific spot that is the best for hunting." He meowed. Suddenly, Jewelpaw felt uncomfortable. Prey doesn't sit in a corner waiting to be killed. Jewelpaw's suspicion left her and she followed him. After walking for a while, Tuftpaw stopped and looked around. He sniffed the air and smiled. Jewelpaw looked at him.

"Where's the prey, why are we just standing here?" She asked. Tuftpaw smiled wider.

"Come, on, there's a really nice place where prey is plentiful." He meowed. Jewelpaw knew he was lying, but she wanted to see for herself. There was a tall silver Twoleg thing with holes. Tuftpaw jumped through one of them.

"Tuftpaw, are you sure this is a good idea?" She asked. Tuftpaw nodded.

"Of course, just jump through and I'll show you." He meowed. Jewelpaw nodded and jumped through. The edges were sharp and they raked down Jewelpaw's pelt. She let out a shreik in pain.

"Ouch!" She growled. Jewelpaw pushed herself forward and freed herself from the fence. Tuftpaw waited, and when Jewelpaw padded past him, their pelts brushed. She flinched at their closeness. Tuftpaw continued forward until they reached a shallow river. He stepped into it. Jewelpaw did the same. It wasn't until then, Jewelpaw noticed it was past dawn. Suddenly, Jewelpaw felt her tail twine with Tuftpaw's. His pelt pressed against hers.

"I love you Jewelpaw." He whispered. Jewelpaw leaped away from him.

"I'm not interested Tuftpaw. I just want us to stay friends. Not any further than that." She meowed. Tuftpaw pinned her down. Jewelpaw struggled, but he was too strong. Tuftpaw reached down and licked Jewelpaw's cheek. Jewelpaw kicked him with her hind legs, sending Tuftpaw off of her. She got up and ran, she jumped through the fence, and hurtled towards the river, in AirClan territory. Silentdawn was sitting down, looking across the river. Jewelpaw padded up to her mentor.

"Hello Jewelpaw. I've been awaiting you." She meowed. Jewelpaw smiled and unsheathed her claws.

"I'm ready for training." She meowed. Silentdawn smiled proudly.

"Good. You will fight with my assisstant Blackfall." She meowed. Jewelpaw's claws sheathed.

"Him? But you only taught me one move!" She protested. Silentdawn jerked her head towards Jewelpaw, making her flinch.

"I said, you will fight my assisstant Blackfall." She hissed. Jewelpaw relaxed and unsheathed her claws. Blackfall padded out of the shadows, his back was arched and he had huge claws. Jewelpaw's ears flattened as she looked at the massive, muscular tom. Jewelpaw ignored her fear and leaped at him. Blackfall screeched in suprise and was barreled over by Jewelpaw. Her blue fur stained red when Blackfall's fangs sank into her shoulder. Suddenly, Silentdawn and Blackfall stopped. Jewelpaw looked at them oddly.

"What?" She asked. Silentdawn licked Jewelpaw's forehead.

"There is a presence. Someone in your Clan knows that you train with me now. They are watching." She meowed. Silentdawn and Blackfall padded back into the shadows. Jewelpaw sniffed the air. She gasped.

"Shiningflame!" She meowed. The silver she-cat padded out of the shadows.

"You have another mentor? I thought you weren't the cat who would turn their back on their mentor!" She hissed in dissapointment. Jewelpaw drew her lips back in a snarl.

"He isn't my mentor. He's a tom in the Clan that doesn't need a place in my life!" Jewelpaw snarled. Shiningflame looked at Jewelpaw in amazement.

"Oh, apprentices. I won't tell anyone. Hey, remind me to tell you something when you're a warrior. Okay?" Shiningflame started to camp. Jewelpaw squinted at the she-cat.

Why is she acting so weird? Jewelpaw thought. She shrugged and padded back to camp, without noticing the shadow behind her...

OOO! What's the shadow? You want the next chapter? Review! Here's a goal:

If four people review to my story (different people) then I will put up chapter 10 and 11!

OOH! OOH! Okay, another goal:

If six people review, then I will make a warrior fanfic of someone's choice. PM me, with a persuasive sentence, and you could be the winner!

You basically just have to type in a couple of stuff, yeah and sorry this was terribly short, 10 and 11 are going to be loong, like 1,900 words each long. So four reveiws and 10 and 11 are up. YESS!

-GAPeach22