Chapter 3: Training
Dawntail shook out her fur. What a fight. She thought grimly. Why didn't I think of the move at the end?
She had sent out the dusk patrol when they returned to camp after the session, and she now walked along the SkyClan border, not looking at where she was going. She let her paws take her blindly, and buried herself in thoughts.
A failure. The first failure she had in fighting since she left the nursery. She had never been defeated one-on, never.
But this new-comer, a loner that just joined the Clan barely a day ago, just did. Dawntail was defeated in just three rounds. Three.
The scene echoed again and again in her mind. The feeling of being rolled over and pinned to the ground was unforgettable. She was struggling under the weight helplessly, unable to move. The claws beside her were dug deep into the ground, holding her down.
She won't forget that in a while.
Perhaps she should start training herself again. But with so little cats in the Clan, she, as the deputy, don't have that much free time.
She could not be defeated. Not again.
"Hey! Watch what you're doing! You just scared off my prey!"
Dawntail was startled, she pulled herself back together, alarmed. She checked her surroundings and felt slightly relieved. Still on the ThunderClan side, at least. Then she turned to face the cat on the other side.
It was an apprentice. Ivypaw. She remembered the name. The little white she-cat's blue eyes burned with range.
"Your prey? I don't see why it's your prey, you didn't catch it." She replied calmly.
"I would have caught it if you hadn't scared it away!"
"I'm on my side of the border, doing nothing, is that against the warrior code now?"
A new voice rang through the trees, "Ivypaw? Are you being rude again?" The voice was sharp. A few heartbeats later a pale grey she-cat with beautiful white dapples appeared.
"That's the ThunderClan deputy, Ivypaw, show some respect! She was not doing anything wrong! You shouldn't hunt this close to the border anyways. You could have crossed it!" Snowcloud snapped at her apprentice, to Dawntail she added, "Forgive my apprentice, Dawntail, she's still young."
"It's alright, I can imagine inexperienced cats making mistakes." Dawntail mewed. Snowcloud was friendly to her at gatherings, they were quite good friends. "How's SkyClan? How are your kits?"
"We're well." Snowcloud relaxed at the mention of her kits, "Sandpaw and Echopaw are doing great, they can climb higher than most of the warriors already."
"You're telling SkyClan's business to a cat from another Clan?" Ivypaw stared at her mentor.
"It's fine to be friendly to other cats, you know! Not everything is worth snapping for!" Snowcloud retorted sharply.
Dawntail's whiskers twitched, "You got your paws full on that one."
Snowcloud sighed, "She needs to learn her manners first, indeed."
"See you at gatherings, then." Dawntail mewed.
"And let's hope this feather-brained apprentice can be nicer next full-moon." Snowcloud replied, ignoring Ivypaw's protests and padded back into the trees.
Dawntail dazed after them for a while, then padded the way to her camp.
. . .
Night training seemed like a good idea. Dawntail brushed the fern tunnel and went out of the camp.
The moon glittered in the night sky, its reflection in the lake calm and undisturbed. Starry eyes of her ancestors shone brightly. No clouds were in sight.
She decided to do tree fighting first. she had the advantage of her long tail for balance, and her light weight could help her climb higher.
She arrived the Sky Oak and looked up to its top. This is high. She thought. But it's the best for tree training.
Tree training should be a SkyClan thing, but there are more trees on ThunderClan land, why not use them?
She leaped onto the lowest branch, then the next. She finally landed gracefully on a strong branch in about the middle of the tree. Perfect.
She first tried the basic moves on the branch. No skills lost. It included striking at an imaginary enemy trying to reach her branch, and swinging on her hind legs on a lower branch, batting her paws on cats that could be on the ground.
Her balance was still as good as it was before. Her strikes were still powerful and swift. Her mind was still sharp and clear.
So why, why, had she been defeated?
She won't admit that Bluebelltail was more powerful than warriors, certainly not overpowering a deputy. And definitely not her.
She scowled with frustration. She leapt down to the ground and headed back to camp.
She closed her eyes and curled up in her nest, only to find herself in a grassy clearing, sunshine pooling over her.
Sunshine? It's night! Then she realized she must be dreaming.
A cat was sitting a few tail-lengths away, his black pelt was sleek, scars were faintly visible under the thick fur.
Dawntail narrowed her eyes. This isn't a Clan cat, not a living one, at least.
She walked towards the cat, "Who are you? And, where are we?"
"Hello, Dawntail, I've been waiting for you." Came the reply, "You seek for better training, I hope?"
"Better training? Who's going to teach? You?"
"Maybe."
"Really? When are we starting?"
"Not so fast, let's get to know each other first." The cat stood up, now walking around Dawntail, "My name is Nightslash, you will not see my in the living world. Usually. I will train you in your dreams, if you are seeking for greater skills and perhaps, vengeance."
Train me in my dreams? Is this a StarClan cat?
"Err-I'm Dawntail, deputy of ThunderClan, and I'm hoping to have better skills, better than Bluebelltail, at least."
"Do you really want to train with me?" Nightslash pressed, "From the bottom of your heart?"
Dawntail took a deep breath, then looked up to him, "Yes."
. . .
It was the following night, Dawntail dreamed again, and found herself in a gloomy forest instead of the grassy clearing last night. She had assumed it as the real training grounds.
She glazed around. There are no stars in the sky... weird. The trees are dark, they loomed over the starless sky with its thick, black branches. Is this place for night training? She wondered. The place smelled foul. I need to clean my pelt before waking up in case my clan-mates think I've rolled in fox-dung.
"Hello, Dawntail." She jumped at the voice. It was Nightslash, the cat she had met the night before.
"Hi. What is this place?" Dawntail asked.
"This is where we will do our training from now on." Nightslash's green eyes glowed in the dim light, "Follow me."
She followed him into a clearing. It had dead leaves that were sticky on the soft ground. Sticky? Her nose twitched with disgust. She had a bad feeling about this place. But you asked for it. She reminded herself. You asked for better training, and this is the best place for it.
"Now, show me what you can do." Nightslash mewed.
As fast as a snake, he pounced aside then leapt again with claws extended, aiming for Dawntail's flanks. Claws extended? This is training! Dawntail thought in horror. Perhaps it's for training to jump into a fight and get out unscratched, and with claws out, there will be danger, then I'll have to train harder.
She dodged the strike just in time and unsheathed her own claws. I'll just have to match this toughness.
She used the brief time when Nightslash landed and regained his balance. She pretended to charge towards him, but aimed for his back. She had to jump off as he rolled, trying to squash her with his weight.
He rolled over and went back on four paws. "Not bad." He said, before dashing out for another strike.
Dawntail dodged again, but not fast enough. She felt a sharp pain as claws sliced open her flesh down her flank. Luckily, she avoided the worst of it.
The pain made her burn with range. But she realized something else with another pang of horror. This is a dream, but I can still be hurt, or worse, killed.
She lashed out her claws and stroke Nightslash's side. She missed slightly and the pain increased as she extended her body. It's just a scratch. She forced herself to ignore it. Though it's worse than the scratches she had from other battles.
She regained energy, thinking fast. I'm smaller than him. She thought desperately. What's an advantage for smaller cats against bigger ones? Speed! But Nightslash was fast, too. Then I just need to be faster.
She dashed towards the bigger black tom and aimed a strike at his muscle. She jumped back before the tom turned and dashed to another side. She flattened herself to the ground as Nightslash leapt and she moved forwards like a snake.
She exploded from the ground as soon as the tom landed. He barely had the time to turn around when Dawntail landed on his back. He let out a grunt of surprise and tried to shake her off. But Dawntail gripped firmly to his thick fur and refused to let go.
She finally relaxed a little when Nightslash seemed to calm down. But without warning, she was sent flying through the air as he suddenly shook her off and hooked her with his claws.
Before she had the time to scramble to her paws, a great lump of fur hit her, crushing her to the ground with firm and powerful paws. She was forced to drop onto her belly.
Pinned, again.
She clawed the ground but it was helpless. Her paws can barely move under the weight of the attacker. She was gasping for breath, but the force was only getting stronger.
She shrieked in pain as Nightslash ran his claws down her back, but it was hopeless for any cat to hear. This is the end. She thought. This is how I'm going to die, in this sickening forest, under this fierce, big cat's paws.
Voices came from somewhere seemed like far away, but she was too dizzy to figure out the words, and her ears were muffled with Nightslash's long fur.
Then the weight suddenly lifted. She gasped for the fresh air and staggered onto her paws a short while later. She looked up at the new cat, the cat who seemed like the cat who freed her.
"That's the new apprentice you told me about? The ThunderClan deputy?" The cat mewed, "What do they teach in the Clans lately? That doesn't look like a deputy in my time."
It was a she-cat, her pelt was a muffled dark yellow with brown patches.
"She's young, yes. But I didn't expect to be that easy." Nightslash replied, "I was teaching her the first lesson, Snakedusk, why did you make me stop?"
"I don't see why an apprentice shouldn't survive her first visit." Snakedusk growled, her yellow eyes were dark and unemotional, "Even a normal warrior should do better than that, but you're undersized, so it wasn't too bad. How come you are deputy? Foxstar does funny choices these days. It wasn't that surprising, for a rogue."
Dawntail stiffened, unable to protest. She was still batted from the fight.
"She's the best choice we've got so far, Snakedusk, she's already a deputy, don't you see? She could do with some training, though." Nightslash told her.
Snakedusk looked at Dawntail closely, as though examining a piece of prey, "I see. She's fast and clever, all she need is some real training."
"It's nearly dawn, you should go back now. remember to clean yourself up or else your clan-mates will notice." Nightslash dismissed her with a flick of his tail.
Dawntail backed away into the trees. She checked her wounds. Good, the bleeding had stopped. But the sharp pain was still there.
She licked her fur, trying to clean the foul smell off her pelt. Her wounds are hardy visible now, her clan-mates won't notice anything.
These cats are extremely powerful, and she's going to train with them. A tingle of pride and satisfaction flicked in her mind. She won't be defeated easily after this. She thought as she closed her eyes. Her body faded.
She woke with a start. I'm back in the warriors' den. Her clan-mates were still snoring in their nests. She checked her pelt again for any signs of wounds and the smell. There were none.
She looked at Bluebelltail's curled body. I will not be defeated by you again. She thought darkly.
I'll watch my tail if I were you, Bluebelltail.