10
"Tigerpaw? Tigerpaw?" Tigerpaw awoke to the sound of someone calling his name, just outside the apprentice den. Tigerpaw blinked and yawned slowly.
"Sounds like your mother," Foxpaw whispered. "Remember, ApprenticeClan is a secret!"
"Of course, Foxstar," Tigerpaw purred, before padding out of the apprentice den. Dapplefur was gazing at him with misty eyes.
"I spent my first night in the warrior den that I have in moons," she whispered. "Come here, baby. It was lonely without you." Tigerpaw glanced towards the apprentice den. He didn't want to be embarrassed. But he had really missed sleeping beside his mother too. He took a step forward, and she licked his head gently.
"You've changed so much in the last moon!" she murmured, resting her chin on his head. "You aren't my little baby that ran off to ShadowClan anymore. You're eating real meat and becoming an apprentice….I just wanted you to know I was proud of you. I know I don't always show it, and I'm a little overbearing…but I love you, I really do."
Tigerpaw felt his throat choke up. "I love you too, Mother," he said quietly. They sat there for a moment, mother and son together, until Dapplefur drew away.
"I'm on the dawn patrol," she said with a slight smile, "and I admit, I'm excited to see the territory again. Train hard to day, honey, and don't worry. Snowflight's gentle enough."
Tigerpaw nodded and Dapplefur padded away, joining up with Lightcloud and Fawndapple. It appeared they were all going to patrol together. Tigerpaw smiled as his mother disappeared, and padded back into the den.
He expected some sort of jeer from Lionpaw, but none came. Instead, Lionpaw looked…lonely? Tigerpaw remembered that this was Lionpaw's first night without his mother too. Maybe he was wishing Lightcloud had come to wish him good luck too. Tigerpaw thought about saying something, but he was afraid Lionpaw would take it the wrong way, so he remained silent.
"If the dawn patrol is leaving, your mentors are coming too," Foxpaw said with a yawn. "The first moon is the hardest, early-wise, but they ease up after that." She smiled at them and snuggled into her nest. "Have fun training into the cold!"
Tigerpaw nipped her ear playfully, and they were about to get into a scuffle, when a growl greeted them at the entrance to the den.
"Sounds like Viperfang," Foxpaw whispered with a shiver. "Badgerpaw always had horror stories about him." She blinked at Lionpaw sympathetically. "I wouldn't keep him waiting." She nodded to Whitepaw and Tigerpaw. "Your mentors are probably waiting to," she said, and then yawned and wriggled deeper into her nest and closed her eyes.
The three new apprentices stood up together and padded out of the apprentice den. Sure enough, Firestorm and Snowflight were there as well.
"Come on," Viperfang growled, "you've already wasted most of the morning." Tigerpaw felt another pang of sympathy as Lionpaw followed his dark gray mentor.
Firestorm yawned slowly. His ginger coat was brilliant in the sun's light. His eyes were a bright green as he blinked kindly down at Whitepaw. He must be Foxpaw and Gingerpaw's father, Tigerpaw realized, and then let out a quiet sigh. He never even got to see his father.
"Come on, time's wasting!" Firestorm said cheerily, flicking his tail over Whitepaw's nose. "Snowflight and Tigerpaw are coming with us to look at the territory," he said with a smile. "Viperfang and his apprentice were supposed to come too, but it looks like that hothead is going without us."
Snowflight snorted. "Who are you calling a hothead, Firestorm?"
Firestorm rolled his eyes. "Come on, Snowflight," he said as he padded towards the camp entrance. "Or Brightstar will think that we are the apprentices!"
Whitepaw hurried to catch up to her mentor, while Snowflight and Tigerpaw walked together a little bit behind. I'll see the territory! He thought with excitement. I wonder how much of it is the same since I was alive?
They walked through the forest quickly. It was cool under the thick branches and leaves of the canopy. It was Greenleaf, so there were no fallen leaves to crunch under their paws, but plenty of twigs and fallen branches made enough noise.
"Just south from camp is a Twoleg path," Snowflight rumbled, "and Treecut Place, where humans raise pine trees. They cut them down during Greenleaf, however, and it isn't safe to go there now. That's about all there is to the south, besides the Twoleg nests, and I doubt you'll want to go there. Twolegs sometimes kidnap young apprentices that get too close." At first, Tigerpaw thought Snowflight was joking, but he didn't see a twinkle in the white warrior's eyes, as he had with Blackheart.
"We're just going around the borders, not the heart of the territory," Firestorm explained. "That will come later, I expect. It is quite a walk, so we'll rest now and then, don't worry. Now, smell the air."
Tigerpaw and Whitepaw both opened their mouths, catching the scents that the morning breeze was blowing towards them.
"ShadowClan!" Tigerpaw exclaimed. Firestorm smiled at him.
"You would know their scent, wouldn't you?" he purred, before nodding. "Yes, and something else, too."
"The Thunderpath?" Tigerpaw asked, catching it's sour scent on the breeze. Firestorm nodded again.
"Good work, Tigerpaw," he said, before facing the Thunderpath. "This is right around where we found you, actually. I think you crossed the border somewhere near here. Anyway, as Tigerpaw already knows, ShadowClan lies on the other side of the Thunderpath. We only cross if we absolutely must, and I'll show you why." He led the four of them to the edge of the Thunderpath. Whitepaw put her paw on it, and wrinkled her nose.
"It's sticky," she mewed with disgust.
"Ever so often, big monsters come with black tar in their bellies and spread it on the path," Snowflight explained. "They did it about half a moon ago. Now, get down as this one comes past." The four cats flattened themselves to the ground as a great monster tore past, sending flecks of the black tar onto their furs. They shook themselves and stood once it had passed.
Tigerpaw peered over the border, straining to see any hint of a ShadowClan cat he might recognize, but no such cats appeared.
"On to FourTrees!" Firestorm announced, and began walking along the side of the Thunderpath. "Sometimes monsters veer off the path, so stay alert." Yet again Tigerpaw hoped he was joking, but he could tell he was not. This just keeps getting better and better, he thought nervously.
They walked for a long time, hopping across a small stream that led under the Thunderpath as they went. They finally halted on a slope, below which were four massive oaks, stretching towards the sky. "That is where the four Clans meet during Gatherings," Snowflight said, "and it marks the center of the four Clans. There is a stream that goes around it. That stream flows south-east later, and so it marks WindClan's territory. It will be hard, but see if you can scent it from here." They raised their noses, and Tigerpaw thought he caught a whiff of WindClan scent. It wasn't smelly like ShadowClan's. Rather, it almost smelled clean, of wide-open spaces with very little trees.
"WindClan lives on the moors and hunts rabbits," Snowflight continued. "Their territory holds little else, and so most other Clans do not bother with them. Rabbits are hard to catch for such little energy, and so WindClan is fast and lean."
He pointed his muzzle south-east, following the stream. "That is where we are heading next; the stream feeds the river for which RiverClan is named." He blinked at the apprentices. "You two look tired, though. We'll stop here for a short time to rest." He nodded to Firestorm. "I'll be back," he said, before disappearing into the brush. He emerged several minutes later with two mice clutched in his jaws. He tossed one to Firestorm, before sitting down and tucking into his own. Tigerpaw and Whitepaw glanced at each other uncertainly.
"Well, you're hungry, aren't you?" Snowflight purred. They nodded. "Share with your mentor, then," he said, flicking his tail to Tigerpaw. "I'm not going to bite you, honestly."
Tigerpaw moved forward and took a bite of the mouse, chewing slowly. After he had eaten part of the toad in ShadowClan's camp, he had told his mother than he no longer needed her milk, that he could eat prey. She allowed him to, and he had been enjoying the musky prey of ThunderClan ever since. Still, he had to admit that they tasted better freshly caught.
The four cats finished their meals quickly and began to lick themselves clean, relaxing in the shade while the sun rose high.
"Hey!" Firestorm exclaimed. Tigerpaw and Whitepaw turned to see who he was shouting at. Viperfang and Lionpaw appeared, coming up the slope.
"You're resting?" Viperfang grunted. "You'll teach your apprentices to be lazy."
"I think we've taught apprentices before, thank you," Snowflight said stiffly. Viperfang shrugged.
"We went the opposite way, starting at RiverClan and working our way here," he said. "There's something…interesting there your apprentices might want to see."
Whitepaw smiled at Lionpaw, but he didn't smile back. He looked slightly shaken, a little afraid. Afraid of his mentor? Tigerpaw wondered, or has he seen something bad?
"We should go, then," Snowflight said, getting to his paws. "ShadowClan wasn't about when we patrolled there," he said. Viperfang nodded and flicked his tail.
"Come, Lionpaw," he ordered. Lionpaw glanced longingly at what was left of the mice, before following his mentor.
"He's pushing that apprentice too hard," Firestorm grunted, once the gray warrior was out of earshot. "It's only his first day."
Snowflight shrugged. "He did the same with Badgerstripe, and he turned out well enough," Snowflight said. "Let's go, then. I want to see what Viperfang was talking about."
They began following the small stream that Snowflight had pointed out earlier. Sure enough, it led to a large river. There was even a waterfall rushing past what looked to be the remains of an old bridge.
"This stream used to be a little walking path for the Twolegs," Firestorm explained, "but that Twoleg nest has been abandoned for years. Eventually a stream took over here, and the bridge collapsed during a rough flood."
They walked along the edge of the river, going father south-west.
"Sunningrocks is just ahead," Snowflight said. "We clash with RiverClan over it frequently, and it has changed paws many times."
Suddenly, he stopped and his tail rose. "RiverClan warriors," he whispered, and sniffed the air. "No, warrior. And blood…lots of blood. The mist from the river is making it hard to scent."He turned to the apprentices. "Stay here," he ordered. "Firestorm, come with me."
"We'll be right back," Firestorm assured them, before padding after Snowflight. They soon disappeared from sight.
Whitepaw was shivered. "I smell the blood too," she whispered. "I remember it from when you were kitted. I was only a moon old, but I remember Dapplefur screaming before my mother could get us out of the nursery…." She shuddered. "Blood is never a good thing."
Tigerpaw nosed her shoulder gently. "I'm sure everything's fine," he said, but as Firestorm and Snowflight took longer to return, he was nervous. Finally, he stood.
"I will be right back," he told Whitepaw, before following the scent of his mentor.