Well it's time for Smokepaw in Smokeclan which should be renamed Deathclan but whatever
Smokepaw padded into camp, two mice and a squirrel in his jaws.
"Good catches." Redpaw congratulated him, grooming himself nearby.
"Thanks." Smokepaw grabbed a thrush. "Want to share?"
"Why not?" The ginger apprentice bit into the thrush, and the two of them ate in silence for a bit, until Smokepaw broke the silence between them.
"How did your fighting assessment go?"
Redpaw stopped and looked at him. "Good. I fought Willowpaw, for some reason. Gave her a fun nick in her ear to remember me by."
Smokepaw smirked. "Good. I wonder what your warrior name will be."
Redpaw shrugged. "I wonder what yours will be."
Smokepaw sighed, suddenly feeling less hungry. "Well, I have to win my assessment first."
"You'll do fine." Redpaw reassured him. "After all, it's only Crowpaw."
"Only Crowpaw." Smokepaw gave him a disbelieving glance. "Really."
"Yeah, against you, he doesn't stand a chance." Redpaw faced him, his gaze knowing. He dropped his voice to a whisper. "Especially with your newfound powers."
Smokepaw stared at him in shock. "How did-"
"Smokepaw! It's time!" Graymist called out from across the clearing, his tail-tip twitching in impatience, but also fear.
Smokepaw rose to his paws, padding away from Redpaw.
"Good luck!" The ginger apprentice called after him before taking another bite of thrush.
Smokepaw forced himself to calm his nerves as he approached his mentor. "Let's go."
Graymist only spun and padded out of camp, Smokepaw behind him.
I'll have to use my power. I guess that I took Hazelpaw's advice, I've been using it more than ever. I think that I've gotten fairly good with it.
The black apprentice was already waiting, and he glared at Smokepaw as he came in.
"Be ready to get crushed, Smokekit."
Smokepaw only smirked calmly in response, taking his place across from Crowpaw. "Whatever you say."
Shadestar padded in not far after Graymist, and the gray warrior backed away hurriedly, taking his place at the edge of the clearing.
After what happened with Tigertalon, no cat dared cross the leader, and Smokepaw felt a little flash of fear now being in his presence, though he shook it away.
"Alright, you know the rules. Don't kill each other, once someone is actually down then end the fight, whatever." Shadestar looked bored. "Now go."
Crowpaw launched himself at Smokepaw immediately, luckily, since Smokepaw was a smaller target, he was able to dodge, and the battle began, with them trading blows. Smokepaw received one on his shoulder, but he ignored the pain, slashing his claws down Crowpaw's flank. Crowpaw swept his tail under Smokepaw's legs in response, losing his balance, but Smokepaw recovered at the last second, and spun, catching Crowpaw off guard. Crowpaw lashed out a paw at his throat, an illegal move, out of anger, and Smokepaw's power flashed, causing Crowpaw's paw to freeze slightly. The black apprentice's eyes widened but Smokepaw raked his ears, causing him to hiss and continue the fight. None of the older cats seemed to notice anything, Graymist was still watching the fight and Shadestar had begun to clean his claws, glancing up every once in a while.
It might be better if he isn't looking. Lower chance that he'll find out about my power that way. I don't think that Graymist has-
his thought was cut short as Crowpaw unbalanced him yet again, and Smokepaw hissed, recovering his balance almost immediately.
"Don't think you can fool me again."
He dodged another blow, and leapt at Crowpaw again, the two of them rolling to the ground in a flurry of claws and teeth.
Crowpaw tore his ear, and Smokepaw hissed in pain, raking his claws down Crowpaw's underbelly. Smokepaw didn't know how this fight would end, but he knew that he was still mostly on defense.
"When are you going to start trying?" Crowpaw hissed, finally pinning him down.
Smokepaw thrashed wildly. I can't lose!
Crowpaw smirked. "Or this the best of your ability?"
Smokepaw raised an eyebrow challengingly. "You want to see the best of my ability?"
Crowpaw's face turned to fear when he realized what Smokepaw was talking about, but it was too late. Power surged through Smokepaw as he threw Crowpaw off, his power causing the black apprentice to fly across the clearing and land with a loud thump at the other side. He didn't get back up again, though Smokepaw could see his flank rising and falling gently. "I…"
"How in Starclan's name did you do that?" Shadestar asked, the gray leader's attention had flashed to him.
Graymist also looked shocked, he obviously didn't expect his apprentice to do what he had done.
Smokepaw was about to open his mouth to tell some kind of lie, he didn't know what he was going to say, but he knew that he couldn't tell Shadestar the truth, the leader would either not believe him or… Smokepaw didn't want to think about the other possibility.
A sickening feeling rose inside of him when he looked at Crowpaw's still form, it reminded him of what Hazelpaw had looked like.
He tried to shake the memory away, but it stuck stubbornly, a little nagging voice began to whisper in his head, one that he had tried to ignore for so long.
You did this, both times. You're a monster. The only reason that that power was given to you is so you can be strong, because you're so weak already, you barely can beat a mouse, much less a cat.
Smokepaw took another step back, suddenly feeling faint, he heard Shadestar repeat the question, but he didn't know how to answer, he felt like he was going to be sick- he turned and raced out of the training hollow, heading away, his chest was burning, but he had to get away, he had made the same mistake that he had made last time.
Hazelpaw, now Crowpaw… I truly am a monster.
He ran faster, not even checking to see if anyone was following him, he couldn't face anyone right now, not after what he had just done.
He finally stopped, trembling, and sank to the ground, all his adrenaline and energy fading, he was so tired of Smokeclan life, so tired of being angry and afraid all the time… Tears streamed down his face, but he didn't try to blink them away, he let them fall, letting them pool on the dusty ground below him.
He heard the soft patter of paws behind him, but he knew who it was already, and he was glad it was at least her, and not someone else.
"Hi Nightfrost." He murmured, note even turning to look at her.
"What happened?" She replied, becoming visible. "I thought that you had your assessment today."
"I did." He whispered in reply, sitting up slowly. "And I passed."
well... poor Smokepaw, I guess. I hope that everyone is staying safe!
Have a good day (or night) and keep writing!
-Mintflight&PhoenixEcho2007