Chapter 10

"Higher, Buzzardpaw! I shouldn't be able to see you from here!"

Buzzardpaw hauled himself up the massive tree, its trunk seemingly stretching forever into the pitch black forest. He grunted at Darkendstreak's voice. Any higher and I'll reach StarClan's borders! Pulling himself higher, he leapt on a sturdy branch and looked down. He couldn't see the ground at all now.

"Okay … down!" He barely heard Darkenedstreak's voice from down below.

"What?"

" … said … down!"

Shrugging, Buzzardpaw climbed back down from the trunk, using the technique the she-cat had shown him previously. Russetprowl had taught him how to climb down the tree facing downwards, which made the descent seem more daunting and scary. Darkenedstreak suggested climbing down while still looking upwards, which definitely helped greatly. I learn so much down here… It's not all bad!

As his paws hit the damp ground, Buzzardpaw faced his night-time mentor, his eyes shining in pride. He had never climbed that high before. He was disappointed however, to see the unimpressed look on her face.

"That took way longer than it should have. I would make you do it again, but we have more training to do." With that, she turned away and padded deeper into the forest, her tail tip curling behind her. Buzzardpaw glanced at Eaglepaw who was sitting not too far away. The ShadowClan apprentice had his head down, staring at his paws intently as if they were the most interesting thing in the Clans. Buzzardpaw tilted his head slightly. Normally he's so hot-headed and confident… What's going on with him? He padded over to the other tom and tapped him lightly with his paw. Eaglepaw jumped at the touch, his eyes wide. Wow, he really was deep in thought!

"You okay?" Buzzardpaw mewed, his eyes furrowing in concern. He felt a connection with the other tom seeing that they shared a prophecy. He didn't want him to feel down. "You look like you're somewhere else."

"I'm fine." Eaglepaw mumbled, looking back down.

"Are you sure? You're-" He was cut off by Darkenedstreak's screech.

"What are you two fleabrains doing?" Her voice rang through the forest. It was obvious that she was a distance away, but she was yelling so loudly it sounded like she was right in the apprentices' ears. "We don't have all night!"

The two toms rushed in the direction of her voice without a word. They emerged in a large clearing with a few cats training along its edges. Darkenedstreak was pacing back and forth in front of Viperhiss, who was looking past her. Once the she-cat had noticed the apprentices, she stalked over to them quickly.

"Next time you pull a stunt like that, I'll claw your ears off." Jeez, we were only talking for three heartbeats! "We'll do some actual battle training now. Eaglepaw, you'll be fighting Viperhiss' apprentice."

Buzzardpaw tilted his head in confusion. Isn't Viperhiss Eaglepaw's mentor? "Viperhiss has two apprentices?"

Darkenedstreak nodded. "Yes, a day-time apprentice, and a night-time apprentice. Goosepaw!" She flicked her tail at a wiry black tom sitting a distance away. Buzzardpaw's eyes widened. That's a WindClan cat!

"Wait, isn't he from WindClan? Why would Viperhiss receive a WindClan apprentice?"

Darkendstreak's nose wrinkled in annoyance. "In the Place of No Stars, Clan boundaries don't apply. We're all cats that are looking to get stronger, and that's all that matters." With that, she took the two toms to a clearer spot a few tail lengths away. I still don't get it. Isn't it kind of, traitorous to work with cats in other clan, let alone train them? If cats are just going to forget boundaries like that, there might as well be just one Clan instead of four! Buzzardpaw shuddered at the thought. There were always four clans, and there would always be four clans, no matter what happens in the dream world. I guess they just have to forget their alliance in the waking world. But wouldn't that be tough?

He was shaken from his thoughts by his mentor's yowl. Goosepaw crashed into Eaglepaw, who still seemed mentally absent. The brown tom yowled and fell onto his back, swatting at his opponent feebly with his paws. The hits barely seemed to affect the smaller tom, and Goosepaw kept Eaglepaw pinned down.

"Use your claws Eaglepaw!" Darkenedstreak hissed, her pelt bristling angrily. He unsheathed his claws and batted them at his attacker, but Goosepaw simply moved his head away from the attack and pressed into the ground harder. Blood welled up around the area where his claws dug into Eaglepaw's chest. Buzzardpaw frowned. What's he doing? Eaglepaw seemed to be an excellent fighter, especially after how badly he had beaten his challenger before he received the prophecy. And that was a warrior! Goosepaw lifted one of his paws and brought it down on Eaglepaw's face, making him screech in pain. Blood spurted from the gash and Buzzardpaw winced inwardly. That was definitely going to scar.

He glanced over at Viperhiss, who had moved closer to observe the battle. The gray warrior's expression was aloof, and his eyes glinting coldly at the fighting apprentices. Uh oh, he's mad. He looked at Eaglepaw desperately. Come on Eaglepaw! Fight back! You're a part of the prophecy!

As if he could hear his silent plea, a wave of energy seemed to flow through the pinned tom. With a sudden strength, he shot forward, sending Goosepaw flying backwards. The black tom slid on the ground a few tail lengths away, crouching down. Fear flashed in the WindClan tom's eyes as his attacker stalked closer. Buzzardpaw felt his chest swell with pride. Yes! That was awesome! He glanced over at Viperhiss, whose face was still stony, but seemed to have melted slightly. He looked back over to the fighting apprentices to see that Eaglepaw had Goosepaw pinned now.

The black apprentice struggled under the huge tom's single paw, his eyes wide and glassy. Eaglepaw grabbed him by the scruff roughly, lifting the smaller tom in the air. Goosepaw's limbs flail wildly as he tried to escape the larger tom's grip, but his efforts proved unsuccessful, and Eaglepaw kept him hoisted in the air. Jerking his neck, the ShadowClan apprentice threw the smaller tom up in the air, then spun around, his rump crashing into Goosepaw's body and sending him flying across the clearing. Buzzardpaw's eyes widened in awe at the move. That was amazing! He watched as Goosepaw struggled to stand to his paws, clearly winded. Darkenedstreak stepped up to the black tom, sniffing him disdainfully.

"The victor here is clear, though Eaglepaw, I'm unimpressed with your faltering at the beginning of the fight." She mewed, scratching her ear with one of her hind paws. Eaglepaw looked down at his paws, his shoulders slouching as they were before. There's definitely something bothering him. If there wasn't, this fight would have been done a long time ago. I'm just glad he came through in the end. "Now move out of the way. It's Buzzardpaw's turn."

Buzzardpaw stepped into the clearing, wondering who his opponent would be. He glanced over at Goosepaw, who had slunk away under a dark bush to sulk. Eaglepaw was sitting down next to Viperhiss, his wound dripping blood onto his black paws. Buzzardpaw looked up to see a blue colored tom standing across from him. Darkenedstreak nodded.

"This is Rippleclaw. He will be your opponent." That's a warrior! That's not fair! Eaglepaw got to fight an apprentice! Buzzardpaw tried to hide his uncertainty but ultimately failed, Darkenedstreak narrowing her eyes at him. "Do you not think that you're capable of winning this fight? As a cat in the prophecy, you should be ready to face any challenge at any time." With that, she stepped back, giving the toms more room to fight in. "Are you ready?"

Rippleclaw answered the question by unsheathing his claws, his tail lashing as he glowered at the apprentice. Buzzardpaw mumbled a quiet 'yes' and gulped, unsheathing his own claws. He crouched down, awaiting Darkendstreak's command.

"Begin!"

Buzzardpaw barely leapt away as the large warrior came hurtling at him. Before he could turn around, he felt a flurry of attacks aimed at his hindquarters. Hissing, he dashed to the warrior's flank, barely grazing his pelt as the blue tom leapt away. He leapt for the warrior's head, slashing his claws down his ears and smirking as he heard his opponent hiss in pain. Leaping away from Rippleclaw's retaliation, Buzzardpaw jumped onto his back, struggling to pin him down. He grabbed the tom's scruff, barely hanging on as the RiverClan warrior jerked and bucked underneath him. Hooking his paws under Rippleclaw's, Buzzardpaw successfully pinned him, pressing the large warrior's head into the dirt.

Before he could revel in his victory, Buzzardpaw felt the air rush out of him as the warrior rolled over and crushed his attacker underneath his back. Winded, Buzzardpaw was unable to defend himself from Rippleclaw's mighty kick to his head, which sent him reeling across the soggy ground. Buzzardpaw shakily stood his paws, seeing stars and greatly disoriented. He blinked a few times, his blurry vision finally becoming clear again. Seeing the tom rush for him again, Buzzardpaw planted his paws firmly into the ground, barely keeping his footing as the huge weight crashed into him. Falling backwards, he screeched as his paw twisted awkwardly from the impact, his eyes welling up with tears from the pain. He kicked feebly at the warrior, his injured paw hanging limply on his chest.

"Enough!" Darkendstreak yowled, Rippleclaw immediately stepping off of the apprentice. He smirked at Buzzardpaw then moved back a few paces, allowing Darkenedstreak to check on the brown tom. Buzzardpaw clutched his twisted paw firmly, whimpering. The white she-cat sniffed it, then nodded. "I know what I have to do."

Without warning, she grasped Buzzardpaw's foot and jerked it forward, making the apprentice howl in agony. Unable to hold back the tears, Buzzardpaw licked his paw tenderly, glaring at the she-cat. "What was that for?"

"I had to snap it back in place." She sounded nonchalant, clearly annoyed by his crying. "Look, it's not broken anymore. You should be grateful."

Tapping his paw to the ground, Buzzardpaw realized that it didn't hurt as much as it hurt before, but the pain was still immense. She did help, but she could have at least warned me! Rising to his feet, Buzzardpaw held his injured paw above the ground, limping over to Viperhiss and Eaglepaw. Viperhiss looked through him, his eyes narrowed, and Eaglepaw continued to stare at the ground. Choking back tears, Buzzardpaw tried to appear strong and sat down next to Eaglepaw.

"Tonight," Darkendstreak started, pacing in front of the apprentices, "Was an absolute disaster." Buzzardpaw cringed at her words. "Horrible. Pitiful. Pathetic. How are you two supposed to complete a prophecy, if you cant even fight regular cats? Huh?" The apprentices stayed quiet, their heads hanging down.

"ANSWER ME!"

"I don't know." The toms mumbled in unison, their heads dipping even further. Buzzardpaw glanced up at the she-cat, who glared at them coldly.

"Tomorrow night, I expect better."

"But my paw!" Buzzardpaw protested, stepping on it. He hissed in pain as it touched the wet ground. There's no way I can train with this!

"Go to your medicine cat, she'll fix it." Darkendstreak huffed dismissively. "As a prophesied cat, you'll have to learn to endure pain. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Good. You should be waking soon." As she said this, her mew became more fuzzy, the ground around her fading. Buzzardpaw opened his eyes, sighing as he realized he was back in the apprentice's den. A faint glow lit up the shadowy den, indicating that it was not quite dawn, but would be soon. Buzzardpaw looked down at his injured paw, nettles of pain jolting through it as he moved. How am I supposed to explain this?