Chapter 20

"Day One."

2/3/17 - 2/4/17 - 2/5/17

Littlefalcon breathes in through his nose and opens his eyes. His vision clears up to see the back of Ivyheart's head. He moves his front forelegs from her, and gets up to leave the warriors den.

The sun barely reaches over the camp, and the air is cold with the signs of Leaf Fall. Littlefalcon pokes his head inside of the apprentices den, he barely sees Thistlepaw sleeping on the far left next to Driftpaw.

Thistlepaw is on his back, his hind leg jerks, and his claws unsheathe unconsciously.

"Thistlepaw." He calls quietly. "Thistlepaw, wake-."

The dark brown tabby tom suddenly jumps out lashes his front paws in attack mode. Thistlepaw rolls on his stomach and looks around the den with wide eyes.

"Up." Littlefalcon finishes his sentence.

Thistlepaw sees him and steps out of his nest. He pads out the den and puffs his chest.

"I'm awake. Are we going to practice fighting?"

Littlefalcon shook his head.

"We're going to explore the territory first before we do any fighting."

Thistlepaw's disappointment, brief, melts into excitement. "Will we get to see ShadowClan or RiverClan?"

"Maybe. We'll just have to see how our day goes."

Thistlepaw runs to the thorn barrier first and vanishes in an instant.

"Thistlepaw - wait for me!" Littlefalcon chases after his apprentice. Thistlepaw was two fox lengths away from Littlefalcon when the black and white tom caught up to him.

"Rule number one: Don't run ahead of me unless there's fire right behind us."

Thistlepaw lowers his head and tail. "I'm sorry, Littlefalcon…"

"It's fine. Let's just go on our tour."

Finchblaze woke up around the middle of the morning, and he goes inside the apprentices den to look for Maplepaw. The nests were empty and the scents were stale, but recent.

He brings his head out and sees Lionfang preparing to leave with Hawkpaw.

"Hey! Have you seen Maplepaw?"

Lionfang points his tail toward the elder's den. Finchblaze groans as he pads to the elder's den, and sees Maplepaw sitting in front of Gorseheart with her tail twitching excitedly.

"Maplepaw." He said, catching her attention. "We have to go. Stop bothering Gorseheart-."

"She's not bothering me. She's been nothing but a sweetheart." Gorseheart said, rolling his eyes. "She's cleaned out our nests and asks us for stories to tell."

Finchblaze blinks. All his kit-hood Gorseheart never had a positive thing to say about him and Stormwhisker and Lionfang, and that was if Gorseheart was responsive.

"... Anyway. Come on, Maplepaw. We're checking out the territory."

Maplepaw nods and pads next to Finchblaze. They leave the camp, and Maplepaw looks at Finchblaze.

"Do you think we'll run into an owl?" She asks him.

Finchblaze snorts. "Don't be ridiculous. Whisperclaw told me that owls only come out stay night."

"I hope it comes out in the day. I wanna fight an owl just like Seabreeze and Jaystripe when they were apprentices."

"Maplepaw, I don't know what kind of spiel Littlefalcon is feeding you, but this is the real world. Life isn't all kittypet slop and Twolegs grooming your pelt, understand? You can't tell yourself that everything is always plenty of prey and no conflicts!"

Maplepaw stops in her tracks, looking at Finchblaze with hurt. Finchblaze instantly became guilt ridden. Leopardstrike may have been strict with him, but he never made Finchblaze feel bad like he did with Maplepaw.

Finchblaze pushes the guilt down.

I did the right thing. Maplepaw can't just go through life like it's a fairy tale.

Then, the young tortoiseshell took a deep breath.

"Well. At least I have a positive outlook on everything."

Maplepaw isn't deaf to the ridicule Littlefalcon is in, and when she asks his mate, Ivyheart, Maplepaw knows about the rivalry between the two brothers, one of whom is her mentor.

Finchblaze narrows his eyes on Maplepaw. The young tortoiseshell coughs and forces herself to smile.

"Can we start the tour?"

Finchblaze stares at Maplepaw for a heartbeat and nods, hoping to get this day over with.

Lionfang stops near the stream, and looks at the moors on the other side.

"WindClan lives on the hillside. They're known for their skinny bodies and being fast on their paws, so don't underestimate them if we go into battle."

"Or when." Hawkpaw mutters. "Is it true that Frogskip is trying to take us back?"

Lionfang frowns as he remembers Hawkpaw's WindClan father openly wanting his kits raised in WindClan.

"You don't have to lie." Hawkpaw adds.

Lionfang flicks his ear.

"Yes. I mean, he could try, but he'll have to get through us before he gets his way."

Hawkpaw smiles at Lionfang. The ginger brown tom left the stream, and enters the forest when Lionfang stops.

"Hawkpaw." He whispers to the dark brown tabby. "Use your nose and tell me what you smell."

Hawkpaw lifts his head and opens his mouth to pick up a scent. He looks at his mentor with wide eyes.

"A mouse."

Lionfang nods approvingly.

"Now, crouch down and stalk forward to where you smell the scent."

Hawkpaw nods and crouches down low, and slinks forward with his tail low to the ground. Hawkpaw sees a small, grey mouse, nibbling on a blade of grass.

He flattens his ears. Hawkpaw took a chance and charges for the mouse, and bites the mouse before it could run away. Lionfang pads behind Hawkpaw and examines his catch.

"Good one. Just don't become hasty in your catches and you'll do great."

Duskpaw presses his nose on Raccoon's paw pad.

"How is his temperature?" Hailstone asks him.

Duskpaw looks up from Raccoon's paw. "It's going down, so he's getting better."

Hailstone swishes his tail. "True, but the greencough is still there. His sickness is contagious and shouldn't be allowed around the healthy cats until he is cleared."

Duskpaw lowers his head. "Oh…"

Hailstone rubs his paw on Duskpaw's head.

"Don't be too hard on yourself. Nobody expects you to get it right on the first day."

"... Moony?"

Raccoon raises his head and looks around the den. "Where's my sister…? Where am I…?"

"Your sister is out hunting." Duskpaw told him.

Raccoon opens his glossy eyes, and tries to sit up in his nest.

"C-Can I see her?"

Hailstone steps in and says, "You shouldn't leave this den while you're sick, you could spread it to other cats. We'll allow her in, but you can't touch her or get too close to each other."

Littlefalcon and Thistlepaw return from the tour that evening, and Thistlepaw hurries to the fresh kill pile where his littermates were, excluding Duskpaw. Moon appears with a dove, Tigerflame padding next to her with a sparrow.

"Moon!"

The dark silver she cat drops her dove on the ground and races toward the medicine cat den where Hailstone stops her.

"You can talk, but keep it brief. His greencough is contagious."

Moon nods, and enters the den halfway. Raccoon smiles weakly and she feels her heart pang with sadness.

Raccoon's fur is ungroomed, and his nose is dripping and his eyes were glossy.

"Hailstone said you were hunting." Raccoon says.

"Y-Yeah! I got something for you." Moon quickly picks up the dove and returns to place it near Hailstone.

"I can't stay long. We'll talk more once you get better, okay?"

Raccoon nods, and lays his head on the rim of the nest. Moon left the medicine cat den and approaches the fresh kill pile until someone grabs her tail and yanks her backwards.

"Warriors eat first." Stormwhisker pushes her aside as he and Finchblaze pick out their prey. Moon notices how small the pile is.

"At least leave the bigger pieces for the queens or kits, will you?" She growls.

"What does a rogue know about loyalty?" Finchblaze growls back.

Moon narrows her eyes and flattens her ears.

"I wouldn't lay a claw one of us, either. Nobody trusts you, so you'll be kicked out along with your runt of a brother in the bitter cold." Stormwhisker sneers.

"Now be a good, pretty little she-cat and walk away."

Moon wanted to rip Stormwhisker's face apart. He hasn't been through the hardships she has, so she can take him.

But I can't. I have to think of Raccoon.

Moon slowly backs away, and turns around with an empty belly.

"And don't forget your place!"

Moon growls hearing Stormwhisker's voice. And the fact that Finchblaze did nothing to stop him.

To think, I actually liked him more than a possible friend…

"Hey, miss!"

Moon blinks out of her trance and looks around for the voice.

"Down here!"

Moon looks down on a pale tortoiseshell she-kit, staring up at her with dark green eyes. She remembers this tortoiseshell as Petalkit, one of Rosefoot and Windstorm's daughters.

"You're Moon, right?" She asks. Moon nods. Petalkit smiles and beckons Moon to lower her head, and whispers in her ear.

"I can help you with Stormwhisker."

Moon raises an eyebrow. "How?" She asks, deciding to humor her.

But Petalkit maintains a big, mischievous smile.

"Just find some crow food in the fresh kill pile, and leave the rest to me."

Littlefalcon barely got any sleep last night. Stormwhisker's screams scared him and every warrior out of their fur when he discovered a rotting crow in his nest.

Nobody knew how it got there, but the next morning everyone wasn't willing to let Stormwhisker forget how he screamed like a little she-cat.

Littlefalcon decides to take Thistlepaw out on his first hunting practice in the morning. He sent Thistlepaw on his own while he follows behind, five fox lengths away. Littlefalcon follows Thistlepaw near the stream when he sees a tiny, black tuft of fur stuck on a flower.

Wait… Is this my fur?

Littlefalcon bends down and smells it. The scent is very, very faint, but he recognizes his scent from the black fur. It must have ripped from his pelt back then where he hiding from Foxflame in the brambles.

How long has it been since I was that scared apprentice with low self esteem?

Littlefalcon drifts back to reality and hears water splashing. He looks at the stream and sees Frogskip before being pinned down by him.

"Get off me!" Littlefalcon hisses.

"What do my kits see in you? You can't even keep your eyes open for enemies!"

Frogskip unsheathes his claws and swipes them across Littlefalcon's eye. The black and white tom screeches with pain, and Frogskip backs off and crosses the stream.

"And you call yourself a warrior?!" Littlefalcon shouts at the WindClan cat as he becomes smaller and smaller in the distance.

Littlefalcon spits and stalks away to find Thistlepaw and leave as soon as possible. The dark brown tabby suddenly appears from the ferns with a shrew in his jaws, and drops it when he sees Littlefalcon's eye.

"What happened to you?"

"Nothing, I just ran into a thorn." He said. "Pick up your shrew and let's go back home."

Littlefalcon waits as Duskpaw applied celandine to his eye. Thistlepaw stuck to Littlefalcon's side, his claws digging into the dirt as if he is anxiously waiting.

"Thanks, Duskpaw. I feel great." He says.

Duskpaw smiles. "Good. Actually, dad, could you tell me how you got that?"

"A thorn-."

"That doesn't look like a thorn." Duskpaw cut in. "I've seen a thorn cut on Mistkit, and it wasn't this bad."

Littlefalcon feels Thistlepaw's eyes boring into his pelt. He was angry at Frogskip for trespassing and attacking him on his territory, but something inside him didn't want to make the kits more resentful of their WindClan father than they already are.

"Dad, who did this to you?" Duskpaw asks quietly.

Littlefalcon feels shame wash over himself.

"It was Frogskip, but-."

"Frogskip?!" Thistlepaw echoed, outraged. "He gave you that scar?!"

Thistlepaw's claws left scars in the ground. "That lousy rabbit muncher! I'll tear him apart!"

"Thistlepaw, breath." Duskpaw told him. Thistlepaw turned on his brother, his golden eyes blazed with fury.

"Don't tell me to calm down! I refuse to let this go - Frogskip needs to be punished for hurting Littlefalcon!"

"Thistlepaw!"

The dark brown tabby snaps out of his rant and looks at Littlefalcon.

"I'm not a defenseless kit, you know. I want you to feed the queens and take some breaths."

Thistlepaw snarls and stalks away, lashing his tail as he carries his shrew inside the nursery. Duskpaw looks at Littlefalcon.

"Frogskip attacked you because of us, right?"

"... Yes."

Duskpaw blinks sadly.

"Thistlepaw is right to be upset. Frogskip is going after you because of us."

"I know, but don't let Frogskip's actions affect you kits." Littlefalcon says. "He and Daisyleaf made their choices, you kits are old enough to make your own."

Duskpaw nuzzles Littlefalcon's muzzle.

"Thanks, Dad."

Littlefalcon woke up the next morning, stretching his front and back legs. He sees Thistlepaw looking through the fresh kill pile first sign of dawn. Littlefalcon approaches him cautiously after yesterday's outburst.

"Hey."

Thistlepaw flicks his ear.

"Thistlepaw, you're going to have to talk eventually. I know you're angry at Frogskip-."

"It's not just Frogskip." Thistlepaw mutters. He caught his breath and speaks up louder.

"I was probably close to you when I passed that stream. I was wasting my time on a stupid shrew while Frogskip beat you up, and I wasn't there to stop it from happening."

Littlefalcon shook his head.

"I haven't even taught you how to fight yet. You only learned a few moves from Finchblaze, and those were too advanced for your age as a kit."

Thistlepaw flattens his ears as his eyes became watery, and tears fall from his golden eyes.

"I still wasn't there to stop him… How am I supposed to protect my Clanmates if I can't protect my own father? I let you down…"

Littlefalcon reaches his front fore leg and wraps Thistlepaw in a hug as the dark brown tabby cries softly on his white chest.

"You didn't let me down, Thistlepaw. Cats die every day, from unexpected circumstances and expected circumstances that we can't control."

Littlefalcon looks at Thistlepaw in his glistening, dark golden eyes.

"Don't be too hard on yourself when things go wrong. You know that I will always be proud of you kits."

Awww! This is why I wanted Thistlepaw as Littlefalcon's apprentice!

Speaking of apprentices, what do you think of the relationships between the apprentices and mentors?

Finchblaze - Maplepaw

Lionfang - Hawkpaw

Littlefalcon - Thistlepaw

Hailstone - Duskpaw

Which is your favorite dynamic? Also, what did you think of the brief appearance of Petalkit? I think she's becoming my favorite. :)

Moon is such a devoted sister, don't you think? I believe she could've sent Stormwhisker running to Thrushwing if she could, she did it to Finchblaze.

Thank you for reading this and I hope you have a great evening. ~ Kyubi