Chapter 3:
"You have to leap higher than that if you want to win. No! Even higher! Are you two even listening to me?"
Cinderpaw flinched away as Boulder got directly in her face. His eyes were narrowed with rage and his breath was hot against her cheek. His anger was scary, and his words fueled her on. As he stalked past her to threaten Thornpaw next, Cinderpaw took another massive leap.
The muscles in her legs cried out in protest as she soared through the air. She reached as far as she could with her forepaws, extending her claws wide in an attempt to reach the hanging branch above her. But to her dismay, all she could grasp was air. She came plummeting back down to the earth. She twisted too late and fell awkwardly onto her side.
"Pitiful," Boulder spat as he circled back around to her.
She looked up through her pain to see Thornaw beside her, still leaping for the same goal. They had been working on this since dawn, trying desperately to achieve the warrior's demands. This was only their third day of their apprenticeship, and already they were failing his expectations. But Thornpaw was determined, and so was she.
So under Boulder's scornful glare, she scrambled back to her paws and tried again. Again, and again, she leaped into her air. But her untrained legs could only carry her so far. As she picked herself up for yet another try, her screaming muscles finally gave out. With a sharp cry of pain, her legs wobbled and she fell.
It was at the same time that a yowl of victory had split the air. She looked up in alarm and saw that Thornpaw had finally, desperately, reached the lowest hanging branch. He was hanging precariously by one paw, his claws sank into the softened bark. His hindlegs kicked wildly in the air. With a massive grunt, he reached upwards with his second paw and somehow managed to haul himself onto the thin branch. He turned, panting, and looked down at Cinderpaw and Boulder through a gaze clouded with exhaustion.
"Now that's a warrior!" Boulder praised. "Climb down now, Thornpaw. It's time we return to camp and let Brightflower know how much of a failure her apprentice is."
Thornpaw hesitated in the tree. He shuffled slowly and awkwardly along the swaying branch until he reached the tunk. Then he looked at the short drop and froze.
"Jump! Now!" Boulder's voice boomed, yet Thornpaw didn't jump. The warrior took a threatening step forward, his claws flexing and leaving scours in the soft earth. "You're going to regret it if I have to come up there and get you."
Thornpaw inhaled sharply, then leaped from the tree. He landed heavily beside Cinderpaw, then stumbled a short distance until he regained his balance.
"On your feet, Cinderpaw. You're on tick duty for the rest of the day. If you're going to choose to be useless in battle training, you might as well do something productive around the camp."
Cinderpaw tried to get to her paws and was immediately shoved forward. She stumbled, then collected herself again. She lifted her chin bravely as Boulder stalked past her, then lowered her head miserably as he continued on ahead. The warrior didn't even glance back to make sure that the two young apprentices were following.
She fell in step with her brother, who glanced at her sheepishly. In a lowered voice, he whispered to her, "You'll get it next time, Cinderpaw. Boulder's training is tough, but I know you'll reach that branch eventually."
"Eventually isn't today. Now I'm stuck on tick duty!" Her voice rose with frustration. Boulder paused in his stride, his ear twitching ever so slightly. It was the smallest move, yet Cinderpaw shied away at once. She clamped her jaws shut and spoke in a whisper only when Boulder began to walk again, "What is Brightflower going to say when she hears about this? She's going to be so mad!"
Thornpaw shrugged as he walked. He replied, "Brightflower might be angry with you, but she isn't a mean cat. Not like Boulder or Clawface, at least."
"I wish I had Littlecloud as a mentor. Brightpaw is so lucky." Cinderpaw sighed wistfully.
Though Littlecloud was one of ShadowClan's youngest and most inexperienced warriors, only being two seasons older than Cinderpaw herself, he was one of ShadowClan's nicest cats. He was far more soft-spoken than his Clanmates, and not nearly as quick to anger. When she and her littermates were still young enough, he'd give them badger-rides around the camp, and play cat-and-frog with them when no one else would.
Brightflower however, was old and cranky. She had intended to retire to the elder's den after her youngest kits were made into apprentices. But unfortunately, the treacherous and exiled Yellowfang had killed her kits, her own siblings, and she was called to mentor Cinderpaw instead of retiring. Grief and hatred had made Brightflower bitter. Her sharp-tongue seared Cinderpaw at any chance she could get.
Just as she expected, Brightflower was furious. Cinderpaw shrank back fearfully as the warrior glowered down at her. "Tick duty for a day, Boulder said? Let's make that a moon! Until you decide to take your training seriously, you deserve to be punished. Go now. Get out of my sight."
Cinderpaw ducked around the warrior and scurried towards the medicine cat den. Her legs still felt weak from training and her belly growled with hunger, but she ignored these to please Brightflower.
The medicine cat den here was made from two large, boulders surrounded by ferns that leaned together to create a spacious cave. Cinderpaw stepped into the darkness.
"Oh, hello Cinderpaw. Is something wrong?" Runningnose spoke up in the darkness. He had been sitting along the back of his cave and sorting some newly collected herbs. Runningnose, like Littlecloud, was another one of the few cats that she enjoyed and trusted in ShadowClan. He was usually nervous and jumpy around the warriors, but was extremely passionate about his work. When she was younger and played cat-and-frog with her littermates, she'd often hide in his den while he worked.
"Brightflower has me on tick duty for the next moon," She told him as she limped further into the den.
Runningnose's eyes were observing, though rheumy. They followed her limp and he said, "Did you hurt yourself during training?"
She nodded, sitting down on the den floor with a wince. She told him briefly of what had happened with Thornpaw and Boulder.
"I'll get you some strengthening herbs. But don't tell anyone I've given you them, okay? StarClan knows what Brightflower would say to me." Runningnose turned to his herb storage and began to throw together a combination of herbs. "Here you go. You eat this while I get that mouse bile for you."
The herbs he had given her were a mixture of white flowers and dark blue berries. She sniffed at them curiously, then lapped them up. The berries were tart, but the other herb helped stop the taste from lingering for very long.
"What were these herbs?" She asked as he returned with a twig that he had dipped into mouse bile.
"Chamomile and juniper berries. They'll help you recover from that training and strengthen your muscles." He set down the twig before her and returned to his sorting. "I can't stop you from being sore the next couple of days, but hopefully that treatment will shorten it."
Cinderpaw thanked him and grabbed the stick gingerly in her jaws. She always hated the smell of mouse bile. It made her want to gag. But she knew better than to complain. Still limping, she hurried across the camp to begin her chores.