Chapter 26 The Final Assignment/Border Fight
A quarter moon had passed since Rivershimmer's death, and grief still waved over the clan; except, Shimmerpaw and Glimmerpaw. With the help from their mentors and uncle, both apprentices managed to recover from their grief and continued training. Both slave and warrior apprentices had grown a lot these past moons, and today was their final assignment. Stormpaw was overjoyed and Lightclaw shared the young tom's amusement. Both cats met up with everyone else at the entrance. Shimmerpaw, Glimmerpaw, and Blizzardpaw were overjoyed and boasted about what their warrior names could be as Echoshine and Moonsong were calming them down until Frozenpelt signaled for everyone's attention.
"Alright, now as you know, today is your final assignment. This assignment is a hunting assignment. You guys are going to catch as much prey as you can, and then bring it back to camp before sundown, got it?" he meowed.
Stormpaw, Shimmerpaw, and Glimmerpaw nodded enthusiastically, but Blizzardpaw flicked his ear annoyed.
"Why can't we do battle assignments? Like going one on one to see who's the better fighter?" he asked.
"Because the last time something like that happened, Lightclaw nearly killed his mentor." Moonsong teased.
"Really?" Blizzardpaw asked surprised.
"Wow, that's so cool." Shimmerpaw meowed amazed.
Lightclaw glared at Moonsong and his ears were back.
"I didn't mean to hurt Foxwhisker, it just…happened. I just got carried away, that's all." He muttered.
Lightclaw's glare looked like a killing glare. Moonsong, Frozenpelt, Stormpaw, Blizzardpaw, Shimmerpaw, and Glimmerpaw had feared expressions and Echoshine looked at Lightclaw, ready to attack if he tried. It was clear to Lightclaw that even if that was just six moons ago, cats still haven't let it go. Echoshine looked back at the crowd.
"Now remember, we will be watching you and making sure you don't stray out of the territory. Glimmerpaw will be hunting around the eastern border, where are you guys hunting?" she meowed.
Everyone snapped out of it and calmed down. They looked at Echoshine and Glimmerpaw.
"Shimmerpaw will be hunting around the southern border." Moonsong meowed.
"Blizzardpaw will be hunting around the northern border." Frozenpelt meowed.
"That leaves Stormpaw to hunt around the western border." Lightclaw meowed.
"You better be careful, Lightclaw. Darkheart and the slaves are hunting over there." Frozenpelt meowed surprised.
"You should be careful too, Frozenpelt. The other half of the party are hunting over the northern border too." Moonsong meowed.
"Well, then it wouldn't hurt to help." Lightclaw retorted.
All eight cats left camp, but they stopped and the apprentices got ready. Each apprentice positioned themselves to the territories their mentors choose and waited for their signal.
"Ready, go!" Frozenpelt meowed.
The apprentices bounded off into the woods. Their mentors waited for a few minutes, then ran after their apprentices. Stormpaw stopped running and started walking. He sniffed the air for any scent of prey and caught the scent of rabbit. Stormpaw got into his hunting crouch and stalked the undergrowth until he peaked through some tall grass and came across a plump rabbit eating snow-buried seeds. Stormpaw checked the wind and unsheathed his claws. With one giant leap, he landed on the rabbit and bit his neck. Once the rabbit was dead, Stormpaw buried it and continued hunting. Lightclaw had been watching him and saw that Stormpaw had caught a mouse and two sparrows and buried them in the dirt. Suddenly, Lightclaw heard faint screeches, yowls, and wails from a distance. Stormpaw's ears perked and he sniffed the air.
"L-Lightclaw!" he called out.
Lightclaw walked out of the bushes and approached Stormpaw.
"It's okay, I'm here." He meowed.
"Lightclaw, I smell foxes!" Stormpaw meowed.
Lightclaw smelled the air and could smell the horrible stench of foxes, but he also smelled Darkheart, the hunting party and…blood. Lightclaw's eyes were wide.
"Come on." He meowed.
Lightclaw ran after the stench, with Stormpaw following him.
"What about my assignment?!" he asked.
"A cat's life is more important than an assignment!" Lightclaw reminded him.
Stormpaw called himself a mousebrain and questioned why he said that? Stormpaw wanted to hit his head on a tree and reminded himself to never ask selfish questions like that again. Lightclaw and Stormpaw stopped and peaked through tall grass and saw Darkheart, Duskpaw, Tinydawn, Nightpaw, Blackfur, Applepaw, Leaftumble, Gingerpaw, Sunpelt, Shadowpaw, Blossomsnow, and Mistypaw fighting three mid-grown fox cubs and the mother fox. Lightclaw looked over and saw Glowfur and Shinefur just sitting there. Glowfur watched with a smirk and Shinefur looked worried. Lightclaw was enraged.
"ATTACK!" he yowled.
Lightclaw and Stormpaw raced into battle and Lightclaw leaped and scratched the mother fox's muzzle. Shinefur and Glowfur stood up in shock. Lightclaw landed on the ground and rolled to avoid the fox's bite. Lightclaw jumped onto the fox's back and bit the back of her neck, drawing blood. The fox yowled in pain and Lightclaw kept going. After a few moments of clawing, biting, fur ripping, and drawing blood from both sides, the mid-grown fox cubs whimpered and retreated. The hunting party stopped and were breathing heavily. Lightclaw attacked the mother fox again; this time, he scratched her side and her other cheek. The mother fox tried to bite Lightclaw, but he was quick and she kept missing. The mother fox was covered in scratches and was bleeding, Lightclaw's fur was ruffed up and a bit dirty. The only injuries he had was a couple of small scratches and they were bleeding. Finally, the mother fox turned and ran after her fox cubs. Lightclaw sat down and was breathing heavily. He looked around; the hunting party was covered in scratches and were bleeding, and Stormpaw's fur was ruffled and dirty and he only had a scratch. Lightclaw looked at Glowfur and Shinefur. Shinefur looked worried at Stormpaw and Lightclaw and Glowfur looked stunned and angry at Lightclaw. Lightclaw turned to Glowfur; enraged. He leaped at him, slammed him into the ground, and scratched his face. Glowfur yowled in pain as blood came out of his wound. Cats stared at Lightclaw with horror and Lightclaw barred his teeth at Glowfur.
"You didn't help them?!" he growled.
"They can fight them themselves." Glowfur sneered; wincing in pain.
"Lightclaw, get off of him! He…He has a point." Shinefur pleaded.
Lightclaw looked at his adoptive mother; appalled and enraged.
"Don't tell me you agree with him?!" he yowled enraged.
Shinefur didn't answer; her head was down, her eyes closed, and her ears flattened. Lightclaw stared at her appalled, surely she wasn't serious, right? Then again, it was no secret that Shinefur liked Glowfur. It had long been known that there was a fling between those two, but when Whitestar got in trouble, he was forced to mate with Shinefur, so the relationship had to be put on hold. When Snowstar died, Whitestar broke it off with Shinefur, but promised to help care for Stormpaw and Blizzardpaw. Now, Glowfur and Shinefur were trying to mend their relationship, even if it meant for Shinefur to watch as slaves were fighting off a pack of foxes. Lightclaw looked back at Glowfur and saw him smirking. Lightclaw looked at the others.
"Stormpaw, go get your prey, we're heading back to camp. Come on." He meowed.
Stormpaw ran off to get his prey. Lightclaw got off of Glowfur and lead the others back to camp. When they almost reach the camp, Stormpaw caught up with the rabbit, mouse, and sparrows in his mouth. Shinefur looked at him proudly, but Stormpaw looked at her with a sad gaze. When the group reached the camp, Frozenpelt, Blizzardpaw, Moonsong, Shimmerpaw, Echoshine, and Glimmerpaw were waiting by the entrance. When the group reached them, they all looked at them; shocked. Frozenpelt approached the group; horrified.
"Lightclaw, what in Starclan's name happened?!" he asked horrified.
"While Stormpaw was hunting, we scented foxes and heard cries for help. When we got there, we saw the hunting party being attacked by a pack of foxes. With our help, we managed to chase them out of our territory." Lightclaw explained.
"I see. Most of you are covered in scratches and are bleeding, so why does Glowfur and Shinefur barely have any scratches?" Frozenpelt asked suspiciously.
"Shinefur and Glowfur just watched. The only reason Glowfur has a scratch is because we both fought after the foxes were gone." Lightclaw hissed.
"You did what?!" Frozenpelt yowled enraged.
"Oh come on Frozenpelt, those cats could fight without us." Glowfur sneered.
"It doesn't matter! It's your job as watching the hunting party to make sure that you protect them as well. Wait till Whitestar hears about this!" He growled.
Shinefur and Glowfur looked at each other nervously and Frozenpelt led the group inside with Lightclaw beside him.
"So did you guys meet the other half of the hunting party?" Lightclaw asked.
"No. Their scent was faint, so they must've head back to camp now." Frozenpelt meowed.
Lightclaw nodded and when the group entered the camp, a yowl came from Dustfoot and she ran over to her kits. The whole clan became alarmed and Daisypetal approached the group.
"Frozenpelt, what happened?" she asked.
"Don't ask me, ask Lightclaw." He meowed.
Daisypetal looked at Lightclaw; he returned her gaze with a glare.
"What's going on?" a voice asked.
Everyone looked up and saw Whitestar coming out of his den. He was horrified when he saw Lightclaw and Stormpaw covered in scratches, and he ran up to them.
"Lightclaw, what happened?!" Whitestar asked horrified.
Lightclaw growled and glared at him. As he did, more cats approached the group; including Doespring and Cloudberry.
"While Stormpaw was hunting, we scented foxes and heard cries for help. When we got there, we saw the hunting party fighting a pack of foxes. We went in and managed to fight them and chased them out of our territory." Lightclaw explained.
"I see, and what did Glowfur and Shinefur do? They look like they barely have any scratches." Whitestar meowed.
"Glowfur and Shinefur just watched! The only reason Glowfur has a scratch is because we both fought before we went back to camp!" Lightclaw hissed.
"YOU DID WHAT?!" Whitestar yowled enraged.
"Oh come on Whitestar, those cats could fight for themselves!" Glowfur sneered.
"Yes Whitestar, it's common for warriors to do that." Moonsong meowed agreeing.
"IT DOESN'T MATTER! IT'S GLOWFUR AND SHINEFUR'S JOB TO PROTECT THEM AS WELL!" Frozenpelt yowled enraged.
"Enough. I want to see all of the warriors and the apprentices in the group, in my den. Doespring, take the hunting party to your den and heal their injuries." Whitestar ordered.
Doespring nodded and escorted the hunting party to her den. Cloudberry looked at Whitestar.
"Hold on Whitestar, can I treat Lightclaw and Stormpaw's injuries and Glowfur's scratch?" she asked.
"Very well, but make it quick please." He signed.
"I'll try." She promised.
"Apprentices, put the prey you caught in the fresh-kill pile, but give some to the elders please." Whitestar ordered.
"Hold on a minute. Shimmerpaw, do you mind if I take two of your mice?" Cloudberry asked.
Shimmerpaw shook her head and dropped two mice on the ground. Cloudberry grabbed them and took them the her den with Lightclaw, Stormpaw, and Glowfur behind her. Daisypetal looked at Shinefur.
"Did the hunting party catch any prey?" she asked.
"No, we barely had time before the foxes attacked them." Shinefur explained.
Daisypetal nodded and headed towards Whitestar's den.