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Chapter 12: An Apprentice

"Tired, much?" Pebbleshine whispered in my ear. I shot a sideways glance at her; nothing but concern and affection filled her eyes.

"I've been worse," I answered quietly, trying to focus on the glittering river ahead of us. It was the truth, though; it had been several days since Thistlefoot's death, and my spirit had somewhat returned. Out of pity, I suspected, Thrushstar had assigned me to lead a border patrol that morning. Yet I did feel a sliver of pride creeping its way into my heart when I accepted the task.

To join me, I'd planned to choose three cats who company I more or less enjoyed. Crookedjaw's place was assured by my quick forgiveness for his obviously mistaken advances, and I was comforted by his watchful, alert face as he padded next to me. Pebbleshine had healed rapidly from her battle wounds, but it was clear that she wasn't done mending the damage to her heart. While on the patrol I meant to apologize to her, but I couldn't quite muster up the courage. Her expression was so tender and warm at the moment that I felt unworthy to ruin it.

The third cat was meant to be Birchfrost, but she had been mysteriously absent during the last few times I searched for her. Probably too excited about being able to go out without a mentor's eye fixed on her, I guessed wryly, but still, I was disappointed. Instead, I asked her former mentor, Reedheart, to join us. He had accepted without a word, but now he had slowed down so he was many tail-lengths behind us. The gray-and-white warrior obviously had much more seniority than me; was he simply angry I was chosen to lead the patrol?

"I think we need to renew the scent markers over by that part of the river," Crookedjaw suggested, pointing his tail to a section of the river that was blocked off by a lone willow tree.

After a few moments of silence, I suddenly realized that three pairs of eyes were fixed on me, waiting for my decision. Clearing my throat, I nodded. "It would be best to cover the whole river. How about you and I go the upper half, and Pebbleshine and Reedheart take the bottom half?"

Pebbleshine and Reedheart exchanged an unreadable glance, but both nodded and headed downstream side-by-side.

"Saved you again," Crookedjaw murmured teasingly as we made our way in the opposite direction. I growled in a mock menacing manner, bounding up ahead of him. However, as in our apprentice days, he was swifter than me; before long his paws were pounding alongside mine. Grinning, I bared my teeth and broke into a sprint of breakneck speed, reveling in the blast of wind that hit my face.

But my friend had a little surprise in store for me. Out of nowhere, a powerful force shoved me from behind, causing me to trip and fall onto the muddy riverbed. Sticky, disgusting mud grabbed onto my fur, quickly drying it into unseemly clumps. Crookedjaw's laughter rang out strongly as I spat and clambered up to face him, disheveled and disoriented.

"You're going to pay dearly for that," I hissed, unsheathing my claws. Before I could do anything, we both heard a piercing scream from quite far downstream. Without a word, we rushed to the source.

Pebbleshine was pinned down by two ragged ginger toms, bravely yowling and spitting underneath their suffocating grips. Crookedjaw immediately tackled one of them, bringing him crashing into the dust, and as soon as Pebbleshine was free, she lashed out at the other one.

Reedheart was surrounded by not one, not two, but three battle-fit cats, their tails whipping back and forth menacingly. The warrior was doing his best, growling and spinning around so he wouldn't be caught by surprise, but I noticed his leg was dragging behind him. You're so stupid, Forestcloud! I mentally slapped myself. He wasn't so far behind because he was sulking; he still has some sore battle injuries!

One of the cats advancing on Reedheart, a skinny gray she-cat, launched herself at him with an earsplitting shriek. The other two followed suit, crushing Reedheart underneath their weight. With a furious yowl, I leapt and landed on a dark tabby tom, sinking my teeth into his shoulder. Reeling backwards, he used his last bit of strength to toss me off his back. My muscles were getting the familiar rush of adrenaline as I quickly counterattacked, slashing his cheek. Our eyes met for a brief instant; his were a dark amber, alight with crazed fury. I was taken aback for a moment. Was it my imagination, or did he look somewhat familiar?

My second of hesitation was my second of weakness; the tabby grinned sinisterly as my head snapped backwards sharply. Neck aching, I lay panting on my back, looking up at a scarred, smirking face I'd hoped never to see again.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't little Bushy. My, you've grown up. We thought you were dead for sure, after you ran off on us like that," Lester purred in honeyed tones, tracing the stripes on my face with a single claw. "But instead you joined the packs of 'civilized ones'! How sweet. Isn't that sweet, Ozzy?"

The dark tabby whom I'd had cornered only a few moments previously leaned over Lester's shoulder and spat in my face. "Very sweet," Ozzy growled as I snarled in disgust.

"Lester, we've got all of them. The she-cat is unconscious; Spark and Flint have got the two toms under control," the gray she-cat reported, appearing at Lester's side. I recognized her as Sierra, one of my mother's sisters. Ha. "Sister" wouldn't be the word to describe her. They couldn't have been more different, I thought nastily, glaring at me. Mother was sleek, kind, loving. Sierra always smelled like cow dung and adored sucking up to Lester. Obviously that hadn't changed.

However, her idol didn't pay the least attention to her news. "Look, Sierra," he cajoled, not taking his eyes off my furious face. "Look who we have here. It's your beloved niece, Forestbush. You remember her mother surely? And her extremely negligent, stupid, 'handsome' father, who quite enjoyed his popularity among the young she-cats....even when he had a mate and daughter to take care of...."

Sierra narrowed her eyes, fixing me with an icy glare. If her intention was to keep me from challenging his insult, it didn't work in the least. Although the remark about my father pierced me the deepest, I was too hurt to retort to it. "My name is not 'Forestbush'!"

"Oh?" A cocky grin spread across Lester's face, proving I'd fallen into his trap. "I thought these 'civilized' cats gave their slaves two-part names. You did keep the cherished name your parents picked out for you, didn't you, even when you joined these rascals? What was the other part of your name? Rat? Fink? Skunk? Coward?" He accentuated the last word with a couple of crushing kicks to my ribs. "Well, which is it, Forest? What is your name?"

Trying to blink away the tears of pain threatening to overflow, I responded in a horse whisper. "Forestcloud."

Harsh laughter burst out of the rogues' throats. "Forestcloud?" Lester repeated gleefully, thoroughly relishing the ashamed expression on my face. "Forestcloud? Well, that's a proper name, that is. Proper for a dainty litter liar!" Another sharp blow to my ribs; his eyes turned dark with anger, silencing the chuckles. After studying me for a few seconds, he snapped his head towards Sierra. "Kill her. Kill them all, for good measure. We need to let those Clan cats know what we're here for."

His companions nodded briskly. Ozzy followed him as they ambled out of my eyesight, presumably to murder Reedheart, Pebbleshine, and Crookedjaw. The mere thought of my Clanmates' throats being torn out, their bodies left rotting and tattered until other warriors found them, made me tremble with rage. With a wary glance at Sierra, whose eyes had longingly traveled after Lester, I scrambled up to my feet and knocked her on the ground instead. The others rogues whirled around, but I had gotten the element of surprise I desired; within moments, I had raked my claws on each of their pelts, leaving them blinded by their own spurting blood.

Instead of the customary Clan command of "retreat", Lester snarled furiously and simply scampered off, the other despicable rogues at his tail. I was left panting heavily, heart racing and body aching, claws sunk a least a mouselength in the soft dirt. Realizing I had won, I hurriedly checked the condition of my Clanmates. Pebbleshine had indeed been knocked out, but was still breathing faintly. Reedheart looked as if he would collapse any second, so I rushed to support him with my shoulder.

Crookedjaw padded over, blood dripping from a gash on his cheek. "That was amazing. You were very brave, Forestcloud." As he spoke, he moved to take the burden of Reedheart, but I shook my head.

"I can take him. You carry Pebbleshine."

"Of course." Much to my embarrassment, Crookedjaw dipped his head, new respect glowing in his eyes. Was this what it felt like to be deputy? I wasn't so sure I wanted that power anymore, if I had to confront my past constantly, as I did today.

"....and so, finally, when he'd finished praising you, and telling me over and over how thankful I must be to have a friend like you-"

"Why did you tell him in the first place? You weren't even there!"

"Well, I got a good enough description from Crookedjaw. One that was, mind you, woven with boundless admiration and awe. You're as precious as StarClan to him now."

"Hmph. Why didn't he tell Thrushstar himself, then?"

"Does it matter? Forestcloud, you've got half the Clan drooling at your paws!"

"What a lovely picture, Birchfrost. Thank you."

"Shut up. You know what I mean. Anyway, if you'd pipe down for a minute, I can tell you the really good news!"

"Oh, I can't imagine it. Hmmm, let's see....Voleclaw is so wrapped up in hopeless reverence and adoration for me that he wants me to have his kits?"

"Close."

"Seriously?"

"You mousebrain! The day Voleclaw adores you, I'll sprout wings, fly over to ShadowClan teritory, and eat frogs until I vomit."

"Care to back up that bet?"

"Stop changing the subject. The real news is Oakkit's apprentice ceremony is today....and you'll never guess who Thrushstar chose to be his mentor!"

"You."

"As if. Come on, guess again."

"Crookedjaw."

"Stop playing dumb, Forestcloud. It's you!"

"Me?"

"That's what I said."

"I'm going to mentor Oakkit? The Oakkit? The Most-High-Esteemed-Snobby-Son-of-The-RiverClan-Leader Oakkit?"

"Please don't make fun of me. It's great! This is the opportunity you've been itching for since you came to RiverClan."

"And how, may I ask, did you come by this knowledge?"

"What? Your ambition or your amazing almost-mentorness?"

"My....what did you call it? Ambition?"

"A lot of things come out when one is asleep, young Forestcloud. What kind of things do you dream about, anyway? Sounds interesting."

"Oh my.....holy foxdung.....Birchfrost, you...."

"I'm just kidding! Ha, you should've seen the look on your face! No, actually, it's obvious. To me, anyway. I'm your best friend, remember? I 'read your mind.'"

"Ha ha. You're hilarious. Did you say the ceremony is tonight?"

"Uh-huh. Actually, it's starting really soon. Hey, hey, relax! Groom yourself first. And don't bother waiting up for me...I've got a cough I want to see Brambleberry about."

Without much of an elaborate ceremony (at least, not any more than for a regular apprentice), I, Forescloud, indeed became the mentor of Oakpaw, the reddish brown son of Thrushstar. Meows of congratulation were still ringing in my ear when I went to sleep that night. My jubilation and pride was shortly snatched away from me the next morning, however, when I was rudely awakened at dawn.

"Forestcloud is la-a-a-a-zy, Forestcloud is la-a-a-a-azy. Get up, get up, get up! I want to hunt! I want to hunt!"

"Oakpaw," I mumbled, swatting him away with my eyes half-open, "why, for the love of StarClan, are you up already?"

Much to my disappointment, Oakpaw sat up, took a breath, and proceeded to list the (annoyingly) logical reasons for his intrusion. "Loudpaw was up a long time ago, and his shuffling woke me up. I tried to go back to sleep, but Falconpaw's snoring kept me awake. Then Swanpaw-"

"Alright, alright, I get it." Stretching, I clambered out of my nest. After a shot of rapid grooming, I braced myself for his next outburst. "What would you like to do?"

"The river! The river!" Oakpaw squealed, immediately bounding out of the warriors' den at breakneck speed.

Seeing my openmouthed stare, Embertail, mentor of Falconpaw, chuckled lightly, "You'll get used to it."

I certainly hope so, was my silent response as I dashed out of camp. Oakpaw was quick for an overgrown kit; he was perched at the bank, peering over into the river when I finally reached his side. "Hazelcloud made me promise that I'll give her the first one I catch," he told me excitedly, entranced by the glimmering silver fish.

I snorted. "First you have to know how to catch one." Knowing that I finally had his full attention, I cleared my throat. "The most important thing you have to remember is to avoid letting your shadow hover over the wa-"

A loud splash, followed by a screech of distress, interrupted my lesson. Both Oakpaw and I raised our heads and searched for the source of the sound. It wasn't hard to find; a tiny blue-gray head was bobbing above the pounding current, its jaws opened in a desperate scream.

Before I could tell Oakpaw to remain on the riverbank, my stupid apprentice had launched himself into the swirling river. He was a surprisingly strong swimmer, but there was no way he could grab the kit and still remain above water. Realizing that yelling at him would do no good, I slipped easily into the water, propelling myself towards them.

When I reached Oakpaw, the kit was dragged fully underwater. I felt Oakpaw's muscles tense as he prepared to dive, but I growled loudly to stop him. Instead, I plunged beneath the waves and locked my teeth around the sinking kit's scruff. She wheezed and gasped as I swum to the other side of the river and released her, climbing up onto the bank myself afterwards. Oakpaw licked the shivering kit as I shook thousands of droplets off my coat.

"What were you doing?" I demanded as soon as I was relatively dry, noticing she smelled strongly of ThunderClan. "You should know better than to go near the river!"

Oakpaw nodded solemnly in agreement as the little blue-gray scrap meowed, "I was curious. My mother told me there were lots of pretty fish in the river, so I wanted to look. I didn't mean to fall in!" she added defensively, as if we had suspected her of doing so all along.

"You're from ThunderClan, aren't you? Where is your mother? What's your name?"

"My name is-"

"Bluekit!" a distraught voice yowled from the forest. A pale gray queen, flanked by a pair of tabby warriors, emerged from behind a few trees. When she saw Bluekit, she rushed over, nuzzling and warmly licking the sodden kit. "Where were you? We were looking everywhere! You've got the entire Clan in a panic! How could you run off like that? Oh Bluekit, my Bluekit...." Her words melted into a relieved purr; she failed to notice Oakpaw or me in the slightest.

This wasn't the case with the ThunderClan warriors. The larger one stepped forward menacingly, his eyes narrowed warily. "How did our kit end up in your territory?"

"Who said she was in our territory?" I retorted cooly. "Your precious kit was drowning in the river. If I were you, I would be thanking us, not accusing us."

"Leave them alone, Thistleclaw," Bluekit's mother snapped, pausing from comforting her kit. "I'm sure no honorable RiverClan warrior would steal a kit. If she says Bluekit was in danger, I believe her. Look at how soaked the poor thing is!" Her yellow eyes softened as her gaze traveled over Oakpaw and me. "Thank you for rescuing her. I am in your debt."

Oakpaw's chest puffed out proudly, arrogant thing that he was. "Well, you've had quite an adventure for your first day," I whispered sarcastically as we swam back to our territory. "Angered your mentor beyond belief, saved a kit, swam, and encountered enemy warriors. I'd say that was enough, wouldn't you?"

The little fox merely grinned, his eyes alight with mischief. "That was only the morning, Forestcloud."

Sorry for the broken promise about updating. However, next week is my last week of school, so I definitely will be updating more often soon. Review! :)