Foxpaw stretched, and blinked sleepily, slowly becoming aware of his surroundings. It was noon, the sun bearing down on the clan with weak rays. Foxpaw lay there for several moments, relishing in the heat of his nest. He looked around the den, confused at the several nest around him, before jerking awake, remembering the previous day.
Foxpaw looked to the sleeping cats around him. They were slowly staring to stir, but jerked awake when Foxpaw jumped up, yelling loudly. 'Guys wake up! We need to get to training! We overslept! Wake up! Wake up!' Foxpaw bound through their nests, jostling the cats awake.
'I'm up! I'm up! Stop jumping on me!' Deerpaw protested, pushing the distressed fox away.
'Guys! We're already late! Get up get up get up!' Foxpaw bounced around once more, and stopped when the Apprentices clambered to their feet sleepily.
Lightpaw was the last to climb to his feet, blinking his eyes rapidly. He startled awake when Deerpaw stumbled into him, almost knocking the small white tom over. 'Hey be careful! I'm still half asleep!'
'Sorry! But Foxpaw is right! We need to get to the training alcove before our mentors get there!' The Apprentices hurried to the Warriors den, hoping to catch their mentors before they left. To their dismay, the older cats had already left to the training alcove.
They raced across the dry grass, swiftly exiting the camp. When they had toured the territory yesterday, the alcove was one of the first things they had been shown, and their mentors had anticipated them sleeping in, so they made sure the new Apprentices remembered the location until they could recite where it was by heart.
Foxpaw counted the hills and ponds around them, remembering a trick Ivyleaf had taught them to help remember where the alcove was. The Apprentices came upon three squat hills quickly, and in the center was the training alcove, small ponds sprinkled throughout, with five annoyed cats in the center.
'Sor-Sorry we're late.' Honeypaw panted, trying to catch her breath from the long sprint.
Flyfoot's eyes held pity, but when Skyeye spoke, it was anything but. 'I am disappointed in you all, this is your second day, and already you're sleeping in.' The Apprentices bowed their heads, upset at themselves. 'We're sorry, it won't happen again.' Grasspaw muttered, eyes glued to the ground. 'It's alright, but you're going to need to train extra hard to make up for all this lost time.' Skyeye said, padding a little bit away.
The Apprentices looked up, excitement shining in their eyes. Flyfoot stepped up next to Skyeye, and sunk into a small stance, tucking her feet directly under her and her tail sticking straight up. 'This is a defensive position,' She said, getting into the lesson straight away. 'You use it only when you are about to run away, me and Flyfoot will show you how.'
The Apprentices watched in awe as the older cats acted out a scene. Flyfoot kept in the position she had shown them, while Skyeye had pulled herself up to her full height. Quick as an snake, she jumped, aiming to land on the smaller cat's back. But even faster, Flyfoot pushed down hard with her feet, pushing against the cold hard ground. She pushed up into Skyeye, knocking her away. Flyfoot sprinted a short distance away, before returning to the Apprentices.
'At that point, you run away, and hope to get more cats to help, because battling alone can be very dangerous, and if you can, avoid it.' Flyfoot meowed, tail curling around her paws. 'Now you will practice with each other, taking turns. Foxpaw, I would suggest battling with Ivyleaf, as you are bigger than the other Apprentices.' She said bluntly, looking the fox up and down, unimpressed.
The cats lined up, and clumsily pulled into the stance that had been shown. Their mentors correcting them by tapping at their feet until they were pointing the right way.
Foxpaw stood in front of Ivyleaf, nearly to her shoulder. He pulled himself into a small ball, and moved his feet to poke out of his coarse belly fur, like he'd seen with Flyfoot.
His tail wasn't as long as the other Apprentices, but he raised it anyway, fur blowing gently in the breeze. Ivyleaf corrected his head position, before standing in front of him again. The relationship between them was tense and awkward, and they had barely spoken to one another, unlike Foxpaw's friends, who were constantly asking questions.
After a moment, Ivyleaf prepared her stance, and meowed quietly, just loud enough for him to hear, even with his large ears, he had to strain to hear her. 'I'm going to leap, and when I do, make sure you remember the running part, go to the bulrushes behind me, okay?' He nodded, careful not to ruin his position. The other mentors had already done a practice round by now, and were re-positioning the cats, as they hadn't succeeded.
The pair were farther away from the rest, as they didn't want Foxpaw to barrel into the other Apprentices. Almost without warning, Ivyleaf jumped, Foxpaw could only tell a second before, by seeing her muscles tense, and tail fly out.
Foxpaw waited a moment, and pushed up, just as she was about to land on his back. He could feel her claws come out on instinct, pulling on his coarse fur. He pushed against the ground again, and she tumbled off him as he went flying away to the bulrushes. But, having never seen any, he flew right through them, and only realized that there was water under him when it was too late.
He landed with a large splash, scaring the few ducks in the shallow pond away. He came up sputtering, blinking mud out of his eyes to watch as the bulrushes swayed, revealing Grasspaw, who was holding back her laughter. She had a few smears of dirt on her fur, showing how many times she had failed. Obviously she had succeeded this time.
'Are you okay? Did you not know that bulrushes grow in water?' She could barely hold in her giggles through the sentence, and was laughing hysterically by the end.
Foxpaw glared at her, trying to pull his feet out of the soft mud. After a moment, one popped free, completely covered in the brown gunk.
Lightpaw appeared beside Grasspaw, and burst out laughing at the wet fox. 'Sor-sorry, but you look so funny!' He choked out, and gestured wildly at the fox.
By the time he had gotten his next paw out, Honeypaw and Deerpaw had come up next to Lightpaw and Grasspaw. Their mentors appeared soon after, and scolded the cats for not helping Foxpaw out of the pond. Ivyleaf appeared last, and watched as Hallowswoop waded through the mud to help Foxpaw release his last foot from the murky brown goo.
Foxpaw shook himself out, promptly spraying his young friends. He laughed as they jerked back, startled.
'Okay, okay, back to training.' Ivyleaf meowed at the cats, and led Foxpaw back to their original spot. 'Why did you let Hallowswoop help me, and not you?' Foxpaw asked, breaking the silence as he reset his stance. Ivyleaf was silent for a moment, and got into her own position before bluntly saying, 'I thought he might as well do it, if he was already in.' She quickly counted down, startling Foxpaw.
She leapt, and Foxpaw jumped prematurely, his head crashing into Ivyleaf's chin. He felt a sudden pain, before stumbling to the ground, he tried to recover, but she had leapt on him, keeping him from getting up. 'Ow.' He muttered, and pulled himself up when she stepped off him. Foxpaw could see a little blood on Ivyleaf's lips, when he stared, Ivyleaf noticed and turned away, hiding her mouth from view.
'Are you okay? Did you bite your tongue when I hit you? Should we go get Pebblesong?' Foxpaw asked, concerned. 'No, We can continue, I'll be fine.' She replied, wiping the blood from her mouth with a paw.
Foxpaw gave her a look, but she stared back at him, until he looked away, feeling awkward.
'Get in position, when you master it, we'll move on.' Foxpaw begrudgingly sank down to his paws, belly fur pushed nearly flat against the ground.
He watched in concern as more blood flowed through her lips, but didn't say anything as they went through the exercise again and again. The sun was starting to go down by the time the Appentices were allowed to take a break. They lay in the grass, relishing at it's near to none softness compared to the worn down dirt in the center of the training alcove.
Their mentors had said that they would be training in the dark, at least until the moon was up. The scared Foxpaw a bit, and even though he knew the only thing that could actually hurt them, would be another fox.
He mulled that over. Why would the other foxes be so mean? Why wouldn't they join the clans like he did? He frowned, remembering that the cats had been reluctant to accept him into the clan. They had even planned on killing him.
But maybe if he told the other foxes to not attack the cats, the clan would like him more? It would be difficult, since he hadn't learned much Fox Speak, and being taken from his den so young didn't help, seeing as nonethe clan knew Fox Speak.
Maybe he could try to learn more of it? But where would he find a kind enough fox to help, and how would he ask it if he didn't know the words?
Foxpaw thought and thought, hoping to have a plan before the break ended, but sadly, he didn't. He pulled himself up, and quickly forgot about his plan when Ivyleaf plopped herself down in front of the Apprentices.
'You've all mastered the defensive position, which I'm impressed with, and now you will learn the offensive position, remember, keep your claws in. We don't want any injuries.' She stared at Foxpaw as she said that, making him look down in shame.
He hadn't meant to hurt her! If anything it was her fault for not warning him. But on the other hand, an opponent wouldn't warn him. He guessed he should say sorry anyway, after they were done training.
This time, Ivyleaf demonstrated with Hallowswoop, who was a good head taller than her. 'We're going to assume that you will have a bigger opponent, so we'll teach you this move.' She turned to Hallowswoop, and he quickly went into an offensive stance. Ivyleaf pressed her body to the ground, spreading out as far as she could. Her tail lay flat against the ground, and when Hallowswoop lunged forward, she pulled all her limbs close, and dashed under the large tom, and turned, jumping onto Hallowswoop's back.
He shook his fur out, hoping to throw the small cat from his back, but to no avail, she was lifting her paws in such a way, it was like she was walking on a log, he was moving and she wasn't. Hallowswoop tried a different tactic, and moved close to the ground about to roll onto his back to crush her. But Ivyleaf anticipated that, and she jumped to the ground, and moved to rake her paw against Hallowswoop's soft belly fur.
'That is how you show him he should leave, by giving him a near fatal wound. We teach this so early in training, because you never know when we will get attacked.' Ivyleaf meowed, moving to help the large brown tom up.
Foxpaw was going up against Hallowswoop, being the largest Apprentice. After that, he would be the larger cat for Grasspaw.
Foxpaw lined up with the large long haired cat, and pressed to the ground like Ivyleaf had done. He didn't quite stretch out all the way, because Ivyleaf was smaller than him when he stretched. He nodded and Hallowswoop lunged, just like with Ivyleaf.
Foxpaw pulled in fast, leaving claw marks in the hard ground. He threw himself forward, aiming to go under Hallowswoop, but put to much power into his paws, and went flying up over the tom, landing on his back. Foxpaw slipped, and his paw got caught in Hallowswoop's long fur, knotting it around his claws.
Hallowswoop startled, sliding on the hard earth for a second before Foxpaw tumbled to the ground, leg twisting into a awkward angle. He felt his teeth clack together as he hit the ground, and felt the air leave his lungs.
Foxpaw stared in horror at his paw, it was twisted at an odd angle with his claws protruding more than they should, blood oozing out between them. It was suspended by Hallowswoop's fur, barely keeping it from getting dislocated.
He pushed himself to his feet as carefully as he could, nearly falling several times. When he finally righted himself, he twisted, moving his leg so it was behind him, before gently pulling it from Hallowswoop and pulling it up to his chest.
It was starting to swell slightly, and his shoulder was sore from being wrenched back suddenly.
Foxpaw noticed Ivyleaf coming up to the pair, and she immediately noticed his paw. 'What happened?' She asked, and Foxpaw explained as quickly as he could without jumbling his words. Ivyleaf studied it for a moment longer before she closed her eyes. 'It doesn't look broken or dislocated, but I think you should sit out until the rest of us are done.' Foxpaw watched her for a moment, watching to see if she was serious. 'B-But I can still train! I swear! Please Ivyleaf! I don't feel any pain!' She shook her head, and instructed the fox to sit and wait beside a pond, and dip his foot in the water.
Foxpaw gasped slightly when his foot was submerged in the water, not expecting the cold. But after a few minutes, the heat he felt in it went away, and he stubbornly took his foot out as soon as Ivyleaf had left.
*They didn't train much longer, as the wind was getting stronger and Foxpaw's foot was swelling more and more.*
Foxpaw limped slowly across the moor, supported by Ivyleaf. She didn't want him to put any pressure on his paw, so he had to awkwardly push against her shoulder. The other cats were in front of him, going slowly as well, exhausted by the long training session. Their mentors were impressed at their stamina, saying it was the longest training session they've ever heard of.
Foxpaw stumbled, tripping over a unseen pebble. Ivyleaf paused, letting Foxpaw right himself. He reluctantly leaned against the cat again, brushing his orange-brown fur against her own. Foxpaw didn't understand why she was so.. what would the word be? Rude? Inconsiderate? Detached? Detached was definitely it, seeing as she would barely look at her Apprentice.
Foxpaw studied her in the dark, she kept her eyes straight ahead, seeming to pretend he wasn't there. She was a very small cat compared to the other cats of the clan. But he could see her muscles rippling underneath her pelt.
Foxpaw focused on walking, pushing farther away from Ivyleaf. Sometimes he would test his paw, but an aching pain would shoot up his leg, and he would be forced to use only three again. When they finally made it to camp, Foxpaw's foot was aching mercilessly. Foxpaw by then was grateful for Ivyleaf, and was leaning heavily on her. His mentor told the others to go to bed, and could sleep in the next day, as they would need to rest their muscles.
She led him to the Medicine den, and had to wake Heatherfoot for her to treat them both. Foxpaw had almost forgotten about her tongue, but he quickly remembered as she licked her lips uncomfortably. The blood had dried around her lips, drying them out and the blood had started to crack, clearly making her uncomfortable. Foxpaw felt guilty for forgetting, and told himself he would be more careful next time.
Foxpaw plopped down in the patient nest, as Heatherbloom looked at Ivyleaf's tongue. It was cut jaggedly across the side, but it was slowly healing already and was sealed by a large scab. Ivyleaf was given a poppy seed, and was then shooed to bed.
Only then did the Medicine cat acknowledge the fox. She didn't say anything, but scowled at his paw, and prodded it roughly. Foxpaw yelped in surprise and pain, pulling his paw away instinctively. Heatherpaw jerked back, slightly startled. Foxpaw watched her, confused at her response.
She quickly recovered, and moved closer, gently poking his paw now. Foxpaw still grimaced, keeping himself from pulling his paw back again. Heatherbloom left without a word, and he could see her disappear into the herb storage.
Foxpaw shuffled, trying to get comfortable in the stiff nest. It had been unused since he was there several days ago, and the grass was dry and sharp. Foxpaw thought over his first training session, and he thought about how his claws had snagged in Hallowswoop's fur. He would need to apologize to him too, recalling the brown tom's fur ripping as he fell.
Foxpaw inspected his paw, and grimaced again at the sight. His claws were still bleeding slightly, but were nearly completely scabbed over, and his shoulder ached from the fall.
Thankfully, Heatherbloom had come back, and gave him a poppy seed for the pain. He gulped it down quickly, but had Heatherbloom started working on his paw before it's numbing qualities had kicked in.
He winced as she pulled his paw straight, and shoved two sticks on either side of his wrist, wrapping the sticks and his paw with a thin wad of spiderweb. Once his wrist was secured, she moved to his sore claws. She cleaned them with a strip of moss soaked in water, them rubbed a stinging paste onto them.
After that, she pushed them gently towards his paw, and he gasped in pain. She paused, and them wrapped his toes tightly in spiderweb, squishing his toes together, but not uncomfortably.
'Don't touch it, don't move it, and don't put any pressure on it. Come back tomorrow at noon.' She said bluntly, and left. He could hear her plop down in her nest heavily.
Foxpaw sighed, and hauled himself up, it was very difficult with his splint, and only having three paws to do it. Yet, he still managed, and by the time he was out the den, the poppy seed was taking affect, and he yawned, stumbling towards the Apprentice den.
He couldn't feel any pain in his paw, and he promptly fell into his nest, leaving grass flying up into the air. He was too tired to care at the moment, and very quickly fell asleep.
Hey hey! I am done! I can be glad to say that this is my longest chapter! *Confetti* Yay! I hope you enjoyed, and please review your thoughts! Before I go, I will be done editing my first chapter. I am happy at how my writing has improved.
Now, I kinda recently got a review about how using a apostrophe ( ' ) is difficult to read, and now I see how, I want to know on whether I should write new and old chapters with quotation marks (") instead. Please review and tell me! If I get three reviews to change it, I will, from here on out! That's all for now!
Bye!
o/ *Waves*