OK BEFORE I SAY ANYTHING ELSE, PLEEEEASE BE SURE TO ANSWER QOTDT3! IT IS VERY IMPORTANT!
And that's right, the impossible has happened: Whisperblaze has decided to be generous and has rewarded you guys, the readers, with a chapter before she got 30/40 reviews. I'm early with this chapter. Crazy, right?! Anyways, you're welcome ;) I hope you like it, though I know you'll probably actually hate it…yeah…idk…
Oh, and I've decided to have a quote from every chapter be right before every chapter! I hope you like the ones I choose! They're my personal favorite lines from each chapter ;)
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"So don't get your hopes up. Because they're only going to crash. And you're going to get trapped beneath them."
~Skyheart
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"I'm sorry, but he has to stay here until he's better. I can't allow a warrior to carry out their duties unless they are fully healthy."
Miraculously, Screechpaw wasn't the one who ended up being the sicker of the two cats who'd been out in the rain. After one night in the medicine cat's den, she was back to being her happyish and somewhat healthy self. But not Ruffleslash. He'd contracted a serious cold, shivering viciously even in the newleaf warmth. Screechpaw felt awful about it, blaming herself as she usually did, but her mentor just waved her apologies off, saying it was his choice to follow her into the storm. And he wasn't sorry that he'd done it.
"But he's my mentor!" Screechpaw argued, narrowing her eyes at Wingfeather. "What am I supposed to do while he's in here? Sit around, watching the grass grow?"
"I wouldn't recommend it, but yes, that could pass the time," Wingfeather retorted as she sorted through a pile of herbs, shooting a glance at the silver and black tabby apprentice that was hissing at her.
Screechpaw huffed, rolling her eyes. She'd never really noticed how sarcastic the medicine cat was. At that moment, she wasn't exactly sure how she'd missed it.
"Well, if Ruffleslash isn't going outside, then neither am I." Screechpaw sat down with a sniff, staring unflinchingly at the medicine cat.
Wingfeather wasn't ruffled. "Yes, you are. You can't just shirk your apprentice responsibilities because your mentor has caught the sniffles. In fact," she added as she peeked out of the den, "here comes your substitute mentor."
Screechpaw blinked in surprise. "Substitute mentor?"
"Yes," Wingfeather answered, a hint of irritation creeping into her voice. "Since Ruffleslash can't teach you for the next few days, someone else will. Blazestar assigned you someone who he thought would do a sufficient job."
Curiosity and excitement filled Screechpaw. Not that she would want someone else to mentor her, but this could be fun. This way, she could get help from several different cats and her skills could be sharpened further.
I wonder who it is!
Oh trust me, you'll be very pleased with who it is. The sarcasm and delight dripping from Poolkit's voice set Screechpaw on edge.
What do you—
She couldn't even finish the thought from the intense amount of dread that filled her up. Screechpaw knew who it was. And she couldn't be less excited.
"Hi, Ruffleslash!" Her voice filled the room as she poked her brown and grey head through the entrance, yellow eyes lighting up as they fell on the tom. She stepped fully into the den, her tail knocking over a stack of herbs in her excitement, earning her a dirty glance from Wingfeather.
Ruffleslash smiled politely at the she-cat, dipping his head slightly. "Hey, Skyheart." She giggled at the sound of her name coming from his mouth. "So, you're the cat who's replacing me?"
"It would seem so." Skyheart's eyes flitted over to Screechpaw for barely a millisecond. In that fraction of time, she was able to convey so much to the apprentice. And none of it was good.
Ruffleslash wasn't a fool, though. He knew how much Skyheart despised Screechpaw and he knew how little his apprentice thought of the warrior. "You really don't need to do this, Skyheart," he meowed. "I can find someone else to mentor Screechpaw."
Skyheart was shaking her head vigorously before he had even finished speaking. "No, no, I'm perfectly fine with mentoring her for a few days! Besides, I'd do anything for you, Ruffleslash!"
Behind her, Wingfeather scoffed quietly and Screechpaw could hear her eyes roll in the noise. She completely agreed with her; how sappy and clingy could someone get?
Apparently as sappy and clingy as Skyheart was.
Ruffleslash shifted slightly in his nest and gave a small cough. "Well, er, thanks, but you really don't—"
"Trust me, Slashy, it's fine!"
Screechpaw had to bite the inside of her mouth to keep herself from outright laughing at the ridiculous nickname. It didn't keep her from smiling like a mouse brain, though, and Ruffleslash noticed, flicking his ear at her in annoyance and embarrassment.
"Well," he continued. "If you're sure, then I guess it'll be fine…"
"Oh, I'm as sure as can be!" Skyheart purred, overly exaggerating her happiness at the task. "And don't worry about a thing, I'm sure Screechpaw will be just fine!" Only how she said 'fine' sounded more of a threat to Screechpaw than it did an actual reassuring word.
"Um…okay…" Ruffleslash mewed, shrugging in defeat. "Have fun…I guess?"
"Oh, we will!" Skyheart exclaimed as she turned away from Ruffleslash, shooting Screechpaw a deathly glare as she passed her. Then, with one last flick of her tail and throwing a 'come on, Screechpaw' over her shoulder, she was gone.
No one said a thing in the wake of the absence of such a demanding presence. Then Wingfeather finally spoke, shaking her head as she did so. "Thank StarClan it's gone."
Screechpaw laughed. "Yeah, it can be a bit much, can't it?"
Ruffleslash rolled his eyes. "Ugh, you're telling me!"
Screechpaw looked at her mentor, empathy shining in her eyes. "I'm sorry you have to put up with that all of the time. It must be awful."
He shrugged. "Well, at least she's not secretive about it, right?"
Screechpaw smiled. "Is that a plus, though?"
Ruffleslash hesitated, scratching his head. "I...I'm not…sure…."
The two laughed, only to almost immediately be cut off by the medicine cat. "Don't you have somewhere to be, Screechpaw?"
She sighed. "Unfortunately."
Ruffleslash gave his apprentice a wink, which brought a smile to her downcast face. "Stay strong."
"I'll do my best."
Screechpaw sighed again as she headed outside, not surprised to see Skyheart blatantly glaring at her already from where she sat across the camp. At the sight of her temporary apprentice, she stood and padded through the thorn tunnel, not bothering to wait.
Not that I'd expect her to or anything.
I like her.
Ugh. Why?
Because she doesn't like you.
I should've seen that one coming.
Yes, you definitely should've.
Once she was out of the tunnel, Screechpaw followed Skyheart's rump from a few tail lengths behind her, being sure not to do anything that might draw attention to herself. She did not want to get on her bad side.
But after an eternity of silence, her curiosity and overall ignorance in the current situation drove her to speak. "So, uh, where are we going? What are we doing?"
The sigh mixed with a groan of annoyance reached her ears faster than she'd thought possible. Skyheart's cold and irritated yellow orbs whipped around to stare at Screechpaw angrily, narrowing at her menacingly.
"Why are you talking to me?" she growled, getting straight to the point.
"I, uh, was just—"
"I, uh, I—what? Are you so crazy that you can't even speak normally?"
Screechpaw's jaw fell, her eyes blinking in surprise. Nobody had even mentioned her unsteady state of mind in forever. She'd thought that most cats had forgotten about it by then.
Skyheart picked up on her shock, reading her mind. "What, did you think I'd forgotten or something? Think I forgot about your insane fits? Huh?"
Screechpaw was frozen from surprise. She hadn't thought anyone would be so outright rude about anything they wanted to say. After a long moment of awkward silence, she finally found it in her to shake her head.
"Good. Because I won't forget. And no one else has forgotten, either. No one will ever forget. How could they? You've certainly put on a show for the whole of this clan; falling out of the Great Oak, screaming at nothing, your weird, color changing eyes. If that's not crazy, I don't know what is.
"And another thing: you think I haven't noticed how you act around Ruffleslash? Because I have, oh, I have. Everybody has."
Screechpaw swallowed, terror and fear filling her up. Had the others actually noticed how she'd been acting around her mentor for the past few days, past halfmoon? Had she been that obvious?
No, I can't be obvious about something that's not there.
Oh, but is it really not there, Screechy?
Of course it's not there!
I can't tell if you're trying to lie to me or to yourself.
I'm not lying to you or me. I don't feel anything for Ruffleslash…right?
If you doubt yourself at all, Screechowl, that's got to be a clear sign.
But I like Wolfpaw, not—
"Well?" Skyheart snarled, flicking her tail in front of Screechpaw's face. "Do you think I haven't noticed?"
Screechpaw straightened, standing taller. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Skyheart scoffed. "Oh, don't play dumb. Well, dumber than you already are. I can see you have a thing for Ruffleslash."
"I don't, I swear!"
"Don't give me that! I don't want to listen to any of your terrible excuses and lies! I have eyes, you know! And let me tell you what I see when I look at you: a stupid, filthy little kit. Look at yourself! You're crazy and small. You're too dumb to keep your mind from going insane. You're ugly and ragged. You're pitiful and useless.
"And you're even dumber than I thought you were for thinking Ruffleslash could ever like you. Do you really think a tom like him could ever like someone like you? Don't you think a tom like him would prefer someone like me? Pretty, skilled, smart, fun. Everything you're not. And so much more. So don't get your hopes up. Because they're only going to crash. And you're going to get trapped beneath them."
Screechpaw swallowed, trying to keep a wail of hurt from rising in her throat. "I-I don't care what you say. And I don't care if you don't believe me when I say that I don't like Ruffleslash. I know how I feel. And I don't need someone like you to rub your opinions in my face."
Skyheart smirked, shoving her muzzle right in front of Screechpaw's. "Oh, but they aren't opinions, hon. It's a fact that Ruffleslash will never like you. Honestly."
Screechpaw swallowed again, tears rising to her eyes before she blinked them away. No, not here, not in front of Skyheart.
"I don't care about anything you have to say, Skyheart."
She narrowed her eyes. "And I don't care if you don't want to listen to me, but you'd better listen now and listen good, cat. If I see you talking to Ruffleslash about anything other than your stupid apprentice duties, you're going to be sorry. I'm warning you. Stay. Away. From Ruffleslash. Or else. He's mine."
With that, she whipped around, stalking off further into the forest, leaving Screechpaw to exhale a breath she'd been keeping inside of her throughout their entire conversation. She panted, eyes flicking desperately through the trees. She wouldn't believe what Skyheart had said, she couldn't.
But Poolkit wouldn't let her off the hook.
She's right, you know.
He could never like you,
Love you.
You're crazy.
And he's perfect.
He'd never even consider you.
You're nothing.
NOTHING.
And he hates nothing.
Despises nothing.
He hates you.
He wishes you were dead.
You should die.
Just die.
He'd be glad if you were gone.
Gone.
Just leave.
He'd be better off without you.
"No," Screechpaw whispered, shaking her head violently as the voices filled her mind. "No." They were lying. She knew this. Ruffleslash did care about her. And while he may not like her for anything more than a friend, he did care. He'd be sad if she died, even if that was all he was: sad. Not heartbroken, not crushed, but sad.
At least he'd be sad.
Pulling herself together, Screechpaw caught up with Skyheart, glaring at her from behind. She found the courage in her to run past the warrior, halting in her path.
"You didn't answer my question, Skyheart."
The she-cat snarled, rolling her eyes in irritation. "What question?"
"What are we doing?"
The simple question that had started their entire heated conversation.
Skyheart growled slightly, the expression only to be turned to one of contempt and sly happiness. "WindClan border. Hunting."
Great. Screechpaw should've known the warrior would make sure they were assigned to go to the place that frightened her more than anything in the world.
And this was just the first day of having Skyheart be her substitute mentor.
This was going to be fun.
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Author's Note Thing
2082 words. Kind of short but it works for this chapter.
If you're a fan of the Selection series, be sure to check out my selection fanfic, Mistake, and my book of one shots!
PLEASE ANSWER THE QOTDT3 FOR THIS CHAPTER! IT IS VERY IMPORTANT! THANKS!
DON'T FORGET TO VOTE ON THE POLL ON MY PROFILE PAGE! IT HAS TO DO WITH WHO YOU DON'T WANT TO DIE!
QOTDT1) do you think Skyheart should ever get a mate? If so, who?
QOTDT2) if you could choose one of the current apprentices in this fic to be made the leader of their clan, who would you choose? (out of Screechpaw, Shinepaw, Whiskerpaw, Spikepaw, and Wolfpaw. Preferably not Screechpaw because she's the obvious choice, but still XD)
QOTDT3) Ok, so I had the brilliant idea of making another warriors fanfic, but instead of being a normal fic, it would be a book of one shots for The Aspen's Screech! Would you like it if I did this?
Ok, so PLEASE be sure to answer QOTDT3! I really need to know! Anyways, don't forget to suggest, correct, and review! I'll update again once I get 30-40 reviews! Luv ya, my baes!
;)