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The sound of cheerful chirping filled the forest. A pair of kestrels flew over the moor, scanning the ground for prey.
Silverpaw flashed to the side, but once again, was knocked off his paws by a deft blow from Hailbreeze. The grey warrior placed a paw of Silverpaw's neck, making a slashing motion with sheathed paws.
"You're dead," Hailbreeze mewed grimly. Silverpaw hissed. Hailbreeze was two times his size, and much more experienced.
"It's not fair!" Silverpaw was aware that he sounded like a whining kit. Hailbreeze's eyes grew cold.
"Death will not spare you just because you're inexperienced. Cats will aim for your youthfulness on the battlefield." Hailbreeze snarled.
With a quick lunge, Hailbreeze nicked Silverpaw's shoulder. Silverpaw was well aware of the thick blood that welled over the fur.
"Training with unsheathed paws is forbidden!" Silverpaw was shocked.
"There are no rules when you're fighting battles for your clan,"
So Silverpaw braced himself and charged to his mentor. He sprang off the trunk of a tree, springing toward Hailbreeze with paws unsheathed. Hailbreeze leapt to meet him. The two cats collided in the air, falling to the ground, tussling. Hailbreeze was on top, repeatedly slamming hefty paws on Silverpaw's head. Silverpaw's ears rang. Shaking his head quickly, he brought his paws up on Hailbreeze's belly, clawing out pawfuls of fur.
Suddenly, Hailbreeze grabbed Silverpaw's shoulders, forcing the apprentice into a crouch. Silverpaw struggled under his firm grasp to no avail.
Locking Silverpaw against the ground, Hailbreeze churned his paws against Silverpaw's spine. The light grey tom yowled in shock.
Thinking fast, Silverpaw struck his leg against Hailbreeze's stomach. The tom gasped and rolled off.
"That's enough for today. Good job," Hailbreeze mewed with the slightest hint of pride in his eyes.
"Hunting now. We will work on that crouch of yours,"
Silverpaw padded away into the undergrowth.
He did not look back to see a pair of horrified green eyes in a yew bush.
...
Sparrowcloud raced through the gorse tunnel and stopped at where Sleetstar stood. Sleetstar's eyes widened in happiness as his ginger and white daughter approached him.
"What's the matter, sweet?" Sleetstar purred at the expression on Sparrowcloud's face.
"I need to talk to you. Can we go to your den?" Sparrowcloud asked, pushing past her father and walking toward the leader's den.
"I-I guess. Headstrong as your mother," Sleetstar smiled, shaking his head as he followed Sparrowcloud into his den.
Sparrowcloud wrinkled her nose and sneezed.
"Dusty. You should get an apprentice to clean it out,"
"Get to the point, Sparrowcloud. What's this problem so serious that we need to talk in my den?"
Sparrowcloud growled quietly.
"Father," She began. "have you seen how that Hailbreeze is training his apprentice?"
Sleetstar raised his eyebrows.
"How is he training Silverpaw?" He asked, bemused. Sparrowcloud hissed in outrage.
"Claws unsheathed. Hailbreeze is running his apprentice down until Silverpaw is exhausted."
Sleetstar purred.
"So?"
Sparrowcloud stiffened.
"What do you mean?" She meowed, confused.
"Hailbreeze is an exceptional warrior who has trained excellent apprentices. Some cats may consider his methods to be 'questionable', but all warriors by him have proven themselves to be the best of the best times over," Sleetstar licked her ear lovingly.
Sparrowcloud drew away from him. She stormed out of the rock. Sleetstar shook his head quietly.
"Just like her mother."
...
Moonlight shone clear through the trees.
Silverpaw stalked through the undergrowth. There, captured in a beam of light, stood a magpie, casually pecking at a long-dead mouse. Creeping forth slowly, he put one paw forward at a time.
Unfortunately for him, Silverpaw's hind leg snapped a twig. The magpie stared at him for a moment before flapping away, squawking. Silverpaw gathered his hindquarters and made a huge leap, snagging the bird's wing with a claw.
He quickly finished the bird of with a clean nip to the spine.
Taking the limp body in his jaws, Silverpaw headed in the direction of Fourtrees.
When he arrived, Silverpaw saw no sign of life, other than the constant buzz of insects on a humid night. Confused, he looked around. One of the roots of a Great Oak appeared to be twitching.
With a mrrow of amusement, he slammed one paw down on the quivering tail.
"Watch it, that's my tail!" Dawnpaw's yowl chirped from inside the space. Silverpaw squeezed in carefully.
It was actually quite spacious within the roots of the tree, larger than the ThunderClan nursery. Cinderpaw was already waiting with prey at his paws; Silverpaw had been the last one to get there.
"I couldn't find a frog, so I brought toad instead," Dawnpaw mewed, embarrased. Cinderpaw edged away from the squishy looking creature.
"There is no way," Cinderpaw declared. "I'm eating that!"
Dawnpaw glared at him hotly.
"Suit yourself. Your hare doesn't look anymore appetizing to me," Dawnpaw huffed. Silverpaw stood between the two quarrelling cats.
"Split it up first. Then we'll decide which one tastes the best," Silverpaw pointed out. Awkwardly, he bent down to pluck the feathers from the magpie. Cinderpaw stood, unmoving at the edge of his vision. Dawnpaw was trying to peel the skin from the toad with little success.
After he had spat out the last feather from the fat bird, Silverpaw turned his head to Cinderpaw.
"Why aren't you getting the fur out?"
Flashing a quick smile, Cinderpaw placed one paw on the hare's skull. Grabbing the ears with his other paw, the WindClan apprentice pelted the fresh-kill with one movement.
"That was neat," Dawnpaw grudgingly admitted. Suddenly, Cinderpaw sprang up onto a gnarled root.
"I'm Cinderstar of DuskClan!" He crowed triumphantly. Dawnpaw jumped beside him.
"Dawnstorm, deputy of DuskClan!" The creamy brown she-cat refused to be outdone. Silverpaw gawked at the two.
"I'm not being the medicine cat! Fine, uh, I'm Silversilver of DirtClan," Silverpaw smiled cheekily.
Cinderpaw and Dawnpaw fell to the ground, laughing like a couple of starlings.
"Cinderdirt and Dawnbadger, I command you to stop!" Silverpaw forced his expression to remain serious.
Friendship was strange, wasn't it? Cats of his own clan despised him, yet he made friends easily with outsiders. Sighing wistfully, Silverpaw ducked his head down to take a bite of Dawnpaw's toad.
He never wanted this night to end.
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QOTD: Hailbreeze... What are your thoughts?