Chapter 9
Eaglepaw hissed as his mentor's jagged claws barely whisked passed his face. He jerked his head away at the last moment, barely avoiding the attack.
"Come on, Eaglepaw, focus!" Viperhiss growled, lunging at his apprentice once more. Eaglepaw leapt out of the way, sliding his claws down his mentor's flank as he skidded past him. "Much better." Eaglepaw crouched, panting heavily.
The two had been training since sunhigh, and the moon was beginning to fill the training hollow with a pale glow. The other apprentices and mentors had returned to the camp a long time ago, but Viperhiss insisted that they continued training until he was satisfied. And knowing Viperhiss, we'll be doing this all night! The brown tom had a long scratch on his foreleg, and his ears ached from the countless times his mentor had nipped them. Still, Eaglepaw found himself zoning out, his mind on the vivid dream he had had the previous night.
That prophecy, it was truly something. Who were those cats? What was that weird light thing? And why in StarClan's name was one cat shooting laser beams from its eyes? Eaglepaw was violently ripped from his thoughts as Viperhiss roughly pinned him, snarling in his face. "What is wrong with you?" The gray tom growled, nipping his apprentice's ear. "Stop zoning out!"
Eaglepaw hissed in pain, kicking his hindlegs into his mentor's belly and sending him flying off. The heavily scarred tom huffed, giving his apprentice an unimpressed look. "This is getting nowhere. Let's just return to camp."
Eaglepaw's shoulders slouched in relief at his mentors words. He was exhausted, and couldn't wait to sink into his nest and fall asleep. Of course, this couldn't happen, as an annoying ball of fluff came hurtling his way. The gray she-kit crashed into Eaglepaw's chest, making him stumble onto his wounded leg. He hissed in pain and annoyance.
The se-kit seemed to notice this, backing off slightly. "Oops. Sorry, Eaglepaw!"
"Whatever, Quailkit. Just watch where you're going next time." She nodded, bounding to her father that was standing nearby. Viperhiss purred at her, his eyes affectionate. Hmph, that's a first. Allowing the two to speak, Eaglepaw limped to the medicine den.
Cinderpaws was tending to Silkyspark, who was lying on her side. This was a common sight, as Silkyspark had suddenly fallen ill a moon prior. The medicine cat's back was hunched over as he rubbed the she-cat's flank, which was rising and falling quickly. The medicine cat's ears twitched as he noticed him come in.
"I'm guessing you've just finished training, Eaglepaw?" The dark gray tom mewed, a small hint of annoyance in his voice. Eaglepaw had visited this den almost daily, with some injury or another from his mentor's vigorous training.
"Mhm. I have a cut on my leg." At the sound of his voice, Silkyspark seemed to come to life, quickly lifting her head to look at him. Her green eyes were glassy and lost, but she smiled at the apprentice nonetheless.
"Hello, Eaglepaw. How was training?" Her voice was weak but still cheerful.
"Obviously not great, if he's here." Cinderpaws grunted, rising to his paws. He inspected the cut on Eaglepaw's leg, letting out a loud exhale from his nostrils. "Why can't your mate train his apprentices like a normal cat, Silkyspark?" The she-cat laughed in response, the soft sound replaced by sharp coughing. Cinderpaws whipped around, angling his head to Gorsepaw. "Treat Eaglepaw for me, will you?"
The small brown and white tom approached the much larger apprentice, shakily applying a herb juice to his wound. "D-Does this sting?"
"No." It truly didn't, as Eaglepaw had felt worse from his mentor's beatings. He held his arm out so the other tom could get better access.
"G-Good." The medicine apprentice mewed quietly, grabbing cobwebs. The apprentice was shaking so badly however, the thin material barely wrapped over the wound, instead covering Eaglepaw's paw instead. Eaglepaw looked at the sticky web, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion.
"Um… that's not where my wound is." He pointed to the correct spot with his other paw. "That's where it is. Can't you see?"
Gorsepaw realized his mistake, blushing madly. "O-Oh, r-right. I'm s-sorry." He peeled the cobwebs from the other tom's paw and placed them in their correct spot. "T-There."
Inspecting the work, Eaglepaw hummed quietly. "Than-" He was cut off by the sound of Cinderpaw's angry voice.
"Viperhiss!" The medicine cat yowled, his eyes livid. The gray warrior dashed into the den, his eyes falling on his mate.
"What happened?" The tom's mew was filled with worry.
"You happened." Cinderpaws growled, standing on his tiptoes to stare the warrior in the face. "Silkyspark is pregnant."
"What?" Viperhiss' surprised mew was replaced by purring, a rough, scratchy sound. "That's great news!"
"No it's not!" Cinderpaws hissed, cuffing the other tom over the ears. "She just gave birth to her other kits, not even four moons ago. Are you mouse brained? How hard is it for you to keep yourself away from her for just six moons?"
Viperhiss' face turned red as he stammered a response. "Wha-? I- I just- Nevermind that. She's pregnant! That's a good thing, yes?"
"You frog brained fool! That's a horrible thing! Her body is much too weak to go through another kitting, not this soon. You've put her in a dangerous position, Viperhiss." Cinderpaws eyes were livid as he glared at the warrior. "Now that I think about it, that explains her never-ending cough. Her immune system is too weak to fight it, because you couldn't keep your smelly arse away!"
The ShadowClan warrior fell silent, suddenly realizing the severity of the situation. "Can your herbs heal her? Isn't that your job?"
"I can only do so much, mouse brain. At this point, her fate is in StarClan's paws." Viperhiss had opened his mouth to say something else, but Eaglepaw had already left the den, not wanting to be in the tense environment any longer. He was followed out by Gorsepaw, who had also seemed uncomfortable during the altercation.
"That was awkward." Eaglepaw sniffed, looking at the tom beside him. The camp was completely empty, the large bright moon washing the clearing with a white glow.
"Y-Yeah. I feel bad for V-Viperhiss."
"Do you think she'll make it?"
The light brown tom shook his head in response. "I-I don't know. Cinderpaws is d-doing all that he can, b-but that's only so m-much."
Eaglepaw hummed, nodding slightly. "You've had that stutter ever since I was a kit. Do you mind telling me what happened?"
Gorsepaw seemed taken aback by this question, blinking his eyes rapidly. "I-I don't mind at all." He looked down at his paws, his pelt seemingly sparkling under the soft moonlight. "W-When I was a kit, I had s-snuck out of c-camp with my s-siblings." The tom paused, though not voluntarily, clearing his throat. Eaglepaw gave him a patient smile, encouraging him on. "F-Flowerpaw and B-Brownkit. We wandered around the t-territory, following a f-funny sound. That sound t-turned out to be a T-T-Thunderpath, a very active one t-too." His stutter seemed to be worsening as he recollected the story, prompting Eaglepaw to place his tail on the other tom's flank. "B-Brownkit ran onto i-it, wanting to p-play, then a m-monster came, at that same m-moment, Sweetblossom, my m-mother dashe out to s-save him… B-But the m-monster was too quick a-and rolled over her and B-Brownkit… Then she- T-Then she- She…" Gorsepaw was visibly shaking, unable to get the words out. Eaglepaw pressed his body against his in an effort to comfort him, giving the other tom a small lick over the ears.
"I understand. You don't have to say anymore." His golden eyes became dark as he thought of the situation. He never knew his father, but he knew that he would be devastated if something were to happen to his mother. "I'm sorry about your mother and brother. I'm sure they're watching you from StarClan."
Gorsepaw sniffled, nodding slightly. Before he could say anything, Mousestar approached him, a small smile one her face. "Eaglepaw, there you are. Why aren't you asleep?" He opened his mouth to answer, but was cut off. "Oh, never mind that, I'm glad you're awake. I need to show you something." She suddenly seemed to notice the other apprentice, her eyes flashing in concern. "Gorsepaw, are you alright?"
The medicine cat apprentice looked embarrassed, nodding quickly. "Y-Yes ma'am, I…" Before he could be questioned further, he scurried back to the medidine den, leaving Eaglepaw with his mother.
"You wanted to show me something? What?" He mewed, looking at her curiously.
Mousestar grinned, her face lighting up. "It's a surprise. Come on!" With that, she bounded out of camp, Eaglepaw close behind her.
Dashing through the thick forest, Eaglepaw kept up with his mother, his eyes wide with curiosity. I wonder what the surprise is? He silently noted where they were. This is the direction of the ThunderClan border… What are we doing here? Before they reached the border however, Mousestar made a sharp turn, running along it. Eaglepaw skidded behind her, almost crashing into a tree as he didnt expect the movement. Jeez!
The two continued to run alongside the border, eventually emerging in an area where the scents began to fade. This is no longer ThunderClan territory, I guess I was wrong. But we're starting to reach the edge of ShadowClan territory as well. Where is she taking me? As he thought this, Mousestar bursted into an empty clearing, the ShadowClan scent markers abruptly stopping. She began to slow, shortly stopping in the middle of the clearing. This is no longer ShadowClan territory. We're outside of the clans now.
"Hello?" Mousestar called, looking around. "Are you there?" Are we meeting some cat?
At the sound of her voice, the bushes at the far side of the clearing began to rustle, a figure stepping out. The cat was masked by the dark shadows of the bush, but Mousestar bounded towards them anyways. Eaglepaw followed behind her slowly, his claws unsheathed.
Mousestar was sitting next to the cat, her face glowing in delight. "Eaglepaw, I feel that it is time for you to meet someone."
He stood a few tail lengths away, still unable to identify who the cat was. As he got closer, his nose began to fill with the musky scent of ThunderClan. Wha-?
"Eaglepaw, I would like you to meet… your father." The cat finally padded out from the shadows, allowing the moonlight to reveal himself to the apprentice. Eaglepaw's eyes widened immediately in recognition.
"Hello, my son."
What!?
Author's Note:
New perspective! Though this is Buzzardpaw's story, I figured it would get boring alway reading from his point of view and decided to give Eaglepaw a chapter. He's important to this story too!
Chapter 10 is almost finished. I hope to have it out by tomorrow.
Thanks for reading!
