Chapter 11

(AGE UPDATEEE; Echopaw is not about 4 moons into her apprenticeship ((Also, in most of my stories I DON'T put in training and learning parts because it kinda gets in the way of the plot line ^w^)) 2-3 more moons to go Echo. You can do it ;w;)

Echopaw stared half-heartedly at the catmint, which was starting to spread inside the tiny hollow. A tiny stream of water trickled around them, which she had dug to give the plants the nutrition they needed. A moon had passed since Shimmerpaw's death, and the fox had succeeded in more killings. Embertail, Copperpelt, Creekmud, and two of Amberstar's lives had been taken. Echopaw hauled herself to her paws, shaking out her dusty coat. She made her way over to the herb stores, looking them over with her sharp green eyes. The burdock stack had fallen over, mixing in with the daisy. The whole store was a mess, herbs scattered everywhere. The nests were unkempt too. Echopaw frowned; she would have to start cleaning the den. It was starting to get warmer, since New-leaf was almost over.

She started to stack the herbs into their proper sections when Sunkit ran into the den, tripping over her tiny paws. Echopaw turned to look at the kit, bristling. However, Sunkit didn't notice, but squealed, "Willowkit got stuck in the bushes, can you help?" Echopaw let out a snort, following the young kit out into the camp, where loud, painful mews sounded. Echopaw quickly made her way to the bush, seeing the young kit stuck, face-first into a bramble bush, the long thorns snagging her long fur. Unsheathing one claw, Echopaw worked out one bramble stem from the bush, ignoring the pain that it left in her claw. Soon, she had made enough room to fully tug out the young kit, and the sight was awful. Willowkit wailed in pain, a long thorn completely stuck in her left eye. Echopaw shuddered in horror, "Dear StarClan, how did this happen?"

Sunkit whimpered, "She thought she saw a mouse in there, she thought that she could catch it so that Amberstar would make us apprentices." Echopaw didn't reply, only picked up the kit, who was covered in thorns and wouldn't stop her wailing. Echopaw made her way to the medicine cat's den, gently placing the kit in one of the cleaner nests. With a quick flick of her paw she scooped out two poppy seeds, and gave them to the young kit. Willowkit immediately lapped them up, and after a few minutes, fell asleep. Echopaw rolled the young kitten onto her belly, gently tugging out a thorn. These 'thorns' were odd, instead of the fat bases; they were thin and sharp, and stuck in really deep. Echopaw stuck her head out of the medicine cat's den and called out, "Sootpaw! Come help me with this!" Sootpaw's black shape shot out of the den, and the gray she-cat grumbled.

"What do you need?"

Echopaw frowned, the gray she-cat looked tired, and Echopaw shook her head, "Never mind." Sootpaw huffed, and she stalked back in the den. Echopaw narrowed her eyes, Fine, be that way. Grump. She turned and went back in the den, returning to the task at paw. She tugged out prickle after prickle, growing exhausted. There were still tons to go. Soon, the kit's back side was done, so she rolled the young kitten over onto her back. Her belly and neck areas weren't as bad, but she had a lot stuck in her fur, or in her paws. She gently eased out all the thorns, tossing them into a growing pile. Soon, she came to the kit's face and ears. Thorns were stabbed through her ears, stuck in her nose, lips, tongue, and gums. She cringed, feeling that maybe the mouse wasn't a mouse. Maybe it was a porcupine. Echopaw winced, and began pulling them out, and blood welled up immediately. She quickly finished the kit's mouth, which was now a bloody mess. Now there was only one more prick, the one in her eye.

She gently shook Milknose, her mentor, awake. The tom blinked once, and then muttered, "What is it?"

Echopaw gave an inward growl, "I need your help with something." The tom rose to his paws, which were shaking. She could tell the tom was getting old. Not wasting any time, she quickly led him to the young kit, and then gave an uncertain mew, "I don't want to damage her eye any further."

Milknose lowered his head, sniffing the kit's eye. He murmured, "You did a good job removing these quills, Echopaw. Let me handle her eye. I'd suggest that you go out so that you don't have to see this."

She frowned "The more I learn the better."

Milknose huffed, and unsheathing one careful claw, pulled the long quill out of the kit's eye. It didn't bleed a lot but Milknose continued with whatever he was doing. He spoke while carefully cleaning around the kit's eye with quick rasps, "It's too deep to treat with normal poultice, so I'll have to remove her eye." Echopaw flattened her ears but didn't flinch away. Swiftly, Milknose pushed one claw behind the kit's eye, cutting whatever it was on, and then pulled it out. Echopaw looked away, heading toward the herbs. Quickly, she grabbed burdock root, which prevented infection better than marigold, and cobwebs. She dropped the herbs, holding the cobwebs on one paw. Milknose grabbed the burdock root, chewing it into a pulp. Spitting it out, he carefully applied the pulp to the area prone to infection. Echopaw did her part next, covering and partially filling the kits socket with cobwebs. She grabbed the extra burdock, also chewing it up. She put it on the multiple wounds over the kit's body, only putting cobwebs over the larger ones.

Echopaw frowned, the sun would set quickly, and it was the night of the half-moon.

Milknose could tell what she was thinking and grumbled, "You'll have to go without me. My bones are getting too old for that trek. You know the way." Echopaw nodded, heading to the herb store and grabbing a mouthful of daisy leaves and heading over to the elder's den. Quickly, she distributed all the leaves to the elders, lapping up two for her journey. She backed out of the den, heading toward the camp entrance; the sun was starting to set. A voice stopped her.

Foxtrot growled lowly, "Where are you going?"

Echopaw snorted, pawing him on the nose, "The Shadow Pool, it's the half-moon tonight." Then she looked him in the eye, "Also, your nose is crooked."

Foxtrot pushed her away with one paw, and then muttered, "Well your nose is squished in."

Echopaw rolled her eyes, "Well, I'm leaving now."

Foxtrot stopped her again, "I'm coming with you, and there's no knowing if that fox is still out there."

Echopaw felt her claws prick with impatience, then snapped, "Fine, come with me." They headed out of the camp, and she headed toward the river. The border was bathed in AshClan scent, and she bent over and gagged. She had grown used to the LeafClan scent, and the scent up her nose was unbearable. Her eyes watered as she continued to walk, passing the log. Then she made a sharp turn. They were passing onto SweptClan territory now, trekking up a hill.

Her short legs made it harder to get through the tall grass, so she struggled through the weeds. She narrowed her eyes, tail lashing in frustration. She unsheathed her hooked claws, now cutting into any grass tangles. She refrained from growling, but she could see two blurry shaped walking in front of her, two tall figures, she guessed were a few other medicine cats. She bounded forward, tail raised slightly. She caught the scent of AshClan, and almost cringed again. Foxtrot tore after her, tail twitching as he caught the scent of his former clan. She flicked her long tail in front of him, then muttered, "Don't."

She could see the cave entrance from there, and the moon was almost at the top of the sky. She hissed, "Hurry!" Then took off, breathing a sigh of relief when the grass became short. Unsheathing her claws, she used them to run faster by launching off them each time her paws touched the ground. Foxtrot tailed after her, and soon they shot after the two AshClan cats. Echopaw looked back to see them running as well, but having a harder time. The entrance was getting closer, and soon, she skidded to a halt in front of it. Marshfoot and Mallowheart were there, and she sat down, catching her breath. Then she asked, "Where's Toadclaw?"

Marshfoot replied, "He was killed by a fox last moon." She dipped her head in sorrow.

Marshfoot eyed Foxtrot, "Why is here with you?"

Echopaw answered, "There's a fox on our territory that has killed many of our cats, and Milknose couldn't come today so he came for protection." Silence fell over the cats as the two AshClan cats arrived, she recognized one as Honeyshine. Another smaller cat was by her side, eyes round in fear. He was a small cream tom, with tiny little brown speckles covering his head, back, and tail.

Honeyshine sat down, eyes narrowed, "This is AshClan's new medicine cat apprentice. His name is Snickerdoodle. He came to use as a rogue and will be accepting his apprentice name here." Her eyes swept the cats as if challenging them to defy her.

Echopaw snorted, "Loosen up, this isn't a meeting between warriors about the head into war. This is the night of the half-moon, for StarClan's sake!"

The young apprentice, Snickerdoodle, seemed to relax a bit, but his eyes remained large and fearful. But Honeyshine growled, claws unsheathed, looking ready to spring. Echopaw whisked her tail in front of Foxtrot, and then locked gazes with the former medicine cat. Echopaw flattened her ears, narrowing her eyes and slitting her pupils. She knew her eyes always looked like deep pits of burning green, always flickering and giving an ominous look. Honeyshine sheathed her claws, looking away from her.

Mallowheart stood up, her white fur shining, then meowed, "It is time to enter the Cave of the Shadow Pool." Echopaw stood up, padding to the side of the young tom.

She purred, "Don't worry, you'll be fine."

He stuttered, "O-okay."

She narrowed her eyes slightly as they entered the cave, plunging her deep into fear.

Honeyshine began to speak, "Snickerdoodle, do you wish to become medicine cat?"

Snickerdoodle mewed quietly, "I-I do."

Honeyshine grunted, "Then come forward."

The young tom stepped forward, still trembling.

Honeyshine hastily spit the words out, "Warriors of StarClan, accept this apprentice and teach him to heal and stuff." The other medicine cats were all quite shocked.

Echopaw spat, "That was no ceremony!" Quiet mews of agreement rang around the cave.

Honeyshine sneered, "I'd like to see you do better, half-clan!"

Echopaw snorted, ceremonies were one of the things she was first taught, "Fine, I'll do the correct ceremony!"

She say on the other side of the pool, then mewed in the correct words, "Snickerdoodle, is it your wish to enter the mysteries of StarClan as a medicine cat?"

He looked up at her, "It is."

She let her eyes relax from their narrow as she spoke the next part, "Warriors of StarClan, I present to you this apprentice. He has chosen the path of a medicine cat. Grant him your wisdom and insight so that he may understand your ways heal his clan according to your will." She then meowed, "Do you wish for a clan name?"

The tom shook his head, and she returned to her spot by the pool, shooting a glare at Honeyshine. Mallowheart meowed, "It is time to share with our ancestors. Take a lap of water from the pool." Echopaw took a single lap, laying on her side and closing her eyes to sleep.

Echopaw flitted her eyes open, stiffening. Pain lashed through her immediately. She looked up, flinching away in horror. Silverpeak was there, a malicious glint in her eyes. Was Silverpeak dreaming too?

Silverpeak snarled, "Why did you defy my orders, you scum?!" She looked down at her paws, claws unsheathed. She backed away, bumping into another cat. She didn't turn to see who it was, but started to run, she ran out of the horrid camp, up the tunnel and into the cherry blossom trees. However, Silverpeak was on her tail, and eventually caught her, claws raised. She brought them crashing down, but Echopaw kicked her off, starting to run again, blood streaming from a scratch on her face, hindquarters, and her left shoulder. She panted heavily, but kept running, muscles burning.

She broke through the trees, coming to the river. Fear coursed through her as she trembled, leaning over to look at the river. She saw her reflection, there was none. Well more like it was a terrifying thing that stirred up old memories. The black shadowy cat looked up at her, the white eyes that had blood streaming from them. She took a step back, but couldn't. Something shoved her forward, and she fell into the river. Her eyes were wide open in fear as the shadowy cats returned, writhing around her, whispering their promises of power and glory, for her to follow her true destiny.

But, she caught a glimpse of one white cat, with bright blue eyes forcing its way towards her. Echopaw stiffened again, trembling in fear. Her pelt burned at the white cat got closer, it whispered, "Wake up. Get back to your camp." Her fur felt like it was burning off, and she let out a high-pitched shriek of pain.

"WAKE UP!"

Echopaw snapped open her eyes, muscles stiff and head swimming in pain. Foxtrot was by her side, as were Mallowheart and Snickerdoodle. Her pelt was bushed up in terror, some parts matted with blood. Honeyshine sneered, "Probably a kit-nightmare." Echopaw shot a half-hearted glare at her, before trying to stand. The wound on her shoulder opened up wider, spilling blood onto the stone ground. She stumbled toward the entrance, breaking into a run once she was out. Her paws patted down the long grass of the moor, sheer terror filling her as she ran back to the camp. Her wound bled, leaving a long trail to follow. She stumbled over one paw, twisting it as she fell. Foxtrot caught up to her, panting.

He grunted, "You run fast." She didn't respond, lying on the grass, still bristling. Foxtrot mewed warily, "You should calm down, it was just a nightmare, you'll be fine."

She shot back immediately, snarling, "A nightmare? Nightmare? I've been having these dreams since I was a kit!" She narrowed her eyes, "Why do you care anyways? You've always treated me like dirt since I was a kit, why do you care all of the sudden?"

Foxtrot flinched back, looking hurt. She regretted her words almost instantly. She murmured softly, "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to lash out like that."

He curled his tail around her, and whispered, "No, I'm the one who should be sorry. I was always bullied when I was younger, I guess I wanted someone to feel the pain I had gone through. I'm sorry."

His answer surprised her, but she settled into his long warm fur, "Apology accepted." He purred, nuzzling her between the ears.

He mewed softly, "Echopaw?"

She answered, "Yes?"

"I- I love you."

She purred softly, snuggling into his fur, "I love you too."

AN: OGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH uvu. Sorrrryyy this chapter took sooooo long to write. But here it is (I haven't updated since May, sorry sorry! -

(I also need to update Abandoned cause like I haven't done it in a year? I also need to rewrite the original one. And do CCC (sequel to overshadowed) and start Winged ughhhhhhh ;=;S