Chapter 15
Two days have passed since Sleekwhisker died. One day since the search party for her body. One day since the vigil for her. Now there was nothing.
Quillfeather had given her the day off. Foxpaw paced around the apprentice den, thinking. Maybe there was something she could do around camp. At least, something enough to keep her thoughts away from what she didn't want to think about.
The thing that hurt to think about.
Earlier today Yarrowpaw managed to drag himself to his nest. Thistlepaw was excited. Foxpaw was…
She didn't know. She was glad he wasn't dead, but other than that…
Sleekwhisker never resurfaced. She didn't have a body to bury. That made everything worse. Yarrowpaw was alive.
Yet he didn't even try to help himself when he found that out. He just… gave up. Sleekwhisker saved his life, and he didn't even try to make it worth it!
She shouldn't be mad at him. She wasn't even sure if she was, but he should have at least tried to get up!
Foxpaw gave her head a shake, clearing her thoughts. There was no point in getting upset right now. She wouldn't be able to work off her emotions anyways.
Free day off. Seemed more like a curse than a blessing. Emotions were hard. She wanted a distraction, not time alone with her thoughts!
Well, not alone, I guess. Foxpaw thought, turning her gaze towards where Thistlepaw was seated, beside Yarrowpaw, who lay dejectedly in his nest, his gaze flicking around the den.
Thistlepaw leaned close to Yarrowpaw and said something, nudging the tom, who was unresponsive. She let out a sigh, before getting to her paws and padding towards Foxpaw.
" Well this is boring," She announced loudly, her fur fluffed, and her dejected gaze unmatching with her loud and cheerful sounding voice.
Foxpaw twitched an ear in acknowledgement, before turning back towards the entrance of the den. Apparently Thistlepaw wasn't done speaking though. The she-cat stopped beside her and stretched, letting out a yawn.
" So, what now? I mean, we have an entire day to ourselves! " She nudged Foxpaw, as if to grab her attention.
Foxpaw was already paying attention, so the entire action was unnecessary anyways. She twitched an ear, again, to show that she was, infact, listening, scanning the parts of camp that weren't obscured by the den.
" I always found it interesting," Thistlepaw said after a few seconds of silence, " that apprentices are never taught to fight in closed spaces. I think it'd be a useful skill to have. "
Foxpaw moved her gaze to Thistlepaw, wondering if she was going somewhere with this. Sure, there were some tighter spaces in BirchClan territory, Foxpaw would admit that, but it wasn't like they'd be fighting in tunnels, right? She probably wouldn't be able to fit in some of the smaller ones anyways.
" Well, who says we can't teach ourselves? " Foxpaw asked after realizing that Thistlepaw probably expected some sort of answer.
Thistlepaw twitched her ears, before leaping to her paws and backing away swiftly. Foxpaw followed the older apprentice with her gaze, wondering if she somehow offended her, but the she cat's eyes were bright.
" Yeah!" She said when she was a bit farther away, lowering herself into a crouch. " I, Thistlepaw, challenge you to a fight!"
Foxpaw hesitated, watching Thistlepaw. Oh, what would it hurt? She wanted something to do anyways and she'd be a mousebrain if she turned away the chance at having something other than sitting around to do.
" I accept. " Foxpaw said, tensing her muscles.
That was all the older apprentice needed. Thistlepaw dashed forward, her head tucked close to her chest. Foxpaw sidestepped the attack and the she cat spun around, leaping towards her. So much for accommodating herself to the closed in space of the apprentice den.
Foxpaw dashed under the apprentice, turning her head and firmly grabbing the she cat by the tail and tugging Thistlepaw back towards her, causing the apprentice to fall to the ground with a grunt. Foxpaw spun completely around and slammed her paws on Thistlepaw's back, who wriggled underneath her before falling still.
Foxpaw hesitated. It wouldn't have been that easy to have beaten the older apprentice, right? Foxpaw frowned, before loosening her grip on Thistlepaw, who managed to squirm away, letting out a few gasps, before quickly spinning around and batting Foxpaw on the nose.
" Hey, maybe don't pull so hard on my tail next time! She teased, quickly dodging Foxpaw's swipes.
Thistlepaw reared up and managed to land a good few swipes on Foxpaw, triumph in her eyes. Foxpaw ducked her head away and gave a swift swipe at the offending she cat's paws, before slamming her head into the now unbalanced apprentice.
Thistlepaw fell backwards, hitting the thorny wall of the apprentice den. The she cat let her body hit the ground, not even attempting to get back to her paws.
" Well, you bested me!" She gasped, looking up at Foxpaw and upon seeing her concerned look, purred.
" I'm fine!" Thistlepaw added, rolling her eyes.
Foxpaw shifted her expression to look indifferent, turning to look in a different direction. That direction ended up being the entrance of the apprentice den, where Risingdusk watched with a disapproving look.
" What is going on here?" She asked, a hint of frustration clear in her tone of voice.
Thistlepaw snapped her gaze towards the deputy, stumbling to her paws. " Battle training!" She said, not a single trace of guilt or concern in her voice.
" In the apprentice den?" Risingdusk hissed, narrowing her eyes.
" We were practicing combat in closed spaces. " Thistlepaw explained, dropping her gaze.
" In the apprentice den?" Risingdusk repeated, her tail lashing.
" No, we were practicing in the warriors' den." Foxpaw muttered under her breath. What type of question even was that?
"You're joining the hunting patrol. " Risingdusk said, her gaze turning swiftly to Foxpaw, her voice cold.
" Cool! " Thistlepaw stood beside Foxpaw, her eyes wide with excitement.
Risingdusk frowned, looking at the other apprentice. A different she cat appeared from behind the deputy, peering into the apprentice den with wide eyes. Foxpaw was pretty sure that the she cat in question was Cloverleaf. Foxpaw had never actually talked to her, as it seemed like she was trying to avoid her.
Foxpaw could vaguely remember her warrior ceremony, which is all she really knew about Cloverleaf, who was staring at her as if she had just confessed to murdering the she cat's entire family.
" No, you can clean out the elders' den. " Risingdusk said briskly after a few moments of silence, turning away.
" But Swiftstar said that he wants all apprentices on-" Cloverleaf started, immediately stopping at the look Risingdusk gave her.
" Me and Swiftstar aren't in agreement right now. He can't keep delaying giving Yarrowpaw a new mentor, and Lightkit and Darkkit need their apprentice ceremony. " Risingdusk snapped, her fur bristling.
Foxpaw looked at Thistlepaw, who had a concerned look on her face.
" We don't have all day!" Risingdusk turned back to Foxpaw, narrowing her eyes.
Well, she got what she asked for.

*

Hunting. That's what they were supposed to be doing. Prey was still scarce and they hadn't found anything.
That's how they ended up by the border. Not the IceClan border, the other one. The one that held the twoleg place. They didn't share a border with the twoleg place, but it was close by. She could faintly hear the thunderpath in the distance.
Crunch!
Risingdusk stopped, sniffing the air. Cloverleaf tensed, fur bristling. Foxpaw scanned the area. Was that prey? Or was something passing through? The sound definitely came from beyond their border.
Was it a fox? Foxpaw took a step forward. Even if it was, she would still defend her clan.
It turned out that the noise wasn't a fox. It wasn't prey either. A young tom bursted through the undergrowth, his fur fluffed and his breath coming out in gasps.
He skidded to a halt, his gaze meeting Foxpaw's. He took a step back before looking behind him. He turned back, his gaze showing confusion, along with fear as he looked at the rest of the patrol.
Looking back again, he took a shaky step forward. " I- they're-" he looked back again, seeming to lose whatever kind of nerve he had dragged up.
" What do you want?" Risingdusk asked, her tone nowhere close to kind.
The young tom took a step back, his eyes managing to get somehow wider. " Please d- don't hurt me." He whispered, crouching to the ground.
Another crunch sounded. The tom yelped and raced forward, ducking behind Cloverleaf, who hadn't said anything. Foxpaw turned to look at the now intruder, who looked absolutely petrified. Risingdusk let out a hiss, looking about ready to say something scathing, before three other cats appeared.
These newcomers stopped, looking at the patrol. Cloverleaf slightly shifted, as if attempting to hide as much of the younger tom as possible. Her efforts seemed to work, as they barely gave her a look.
" What an interesting trio. " one of the cat's observed, her whiskers twitching as her gaze fell onto Foxpaw.
She looked hardly out of breath, compared to the other two. Another thing about the speaking cat was that her eyes were two different colors. Foxpaw tensed her muscles, watching the group closely.
" I could say the same to you. It must be hard to find prey when you're racing around and scaring it off. " Risingdusk said, forcing her fur to be flat.
The deputy turned her gaze to Foxpaw, a warning clear. Holding back a huff of indignation, Foxpaw looked away and sat down, curling her tail around her paws. Risingdusk was making an attempt to stay civil and she clearly didn't want things to go south.
" Prey? I guess you could say that." the she cat with multicolored eyes said, her gaze betraying nothing.
Another cat behind her snorted. She turned her gaze towards the offender, bristling slightly. He looked away and she turned her attention back onto the patrol.
Oh. They had been chasing the tom. Foxpaw forced herself not to look at him, instead shifting her gaze to her paws. What did he do?
Risingdusk and Cloverleaf seemed to realize that too. The deputy twitched an ear, while Cloverleaf looked away.
These aren't clan cats. Foxpaw had to remember that. They could just want to harm the young tom, without him having done anything. Or maybe he just put his paws slightly out of line. Foxpaw didn't know the whole story, even though she really wanted to.
Did the young cat really do something bad, or were these cats just cruel? She shifted her paws, looking up at the other trio.
" Well, good luck on your search. Try to be more quiet, you might have more luck. " Risingdusk said, dipping her head.
" Will do. " the she cat said, looking back at her companions. " As should you two. " she hissed.
" Of course Sylva! " One of the toms said, holding his head high.
" Right. I'll try to make sure Pluto figures out how to step quietly!" The other tom said, ignoring Pluto's hiss.
Sylva shook her head wearily, letting out a sigh. She dipped her head to Risingdusk before turning away, shoving Pluto as she made her way back into the undergrowth. There were a few tense seconds of silence as the two toms looked at each other before following.
The patrol watched the trio leave silently. Risingdusk was stiff, while Cloverleaf tensed her muscles. It was only when their scent faded that Risingdusk turned to the younger tom, before saying, with a sharp tone: " You've got a lot of explaining to do. "