Chapter 5: The Wait in Enemy Territory
Duskpaw was astounded by the Riverclan camp. There is lush green grass that didn't feel scorched by the sun. The reed dens looked much warmer than the gorse bushes Windclan used for dens. The cats were sunning themselves in the clearing whilst sharing tongues with one another. Duskpaw saw Sparrowpaw go into a den that was farthest from the camp entrance. Mistystar, Riverclans leader was jumping on to a rock that looked a smidge smaller to tallrock in Windclan. Mistystar yowled, "We made it to Windclans camp without much aggression, and we learned that indeed it was a Windclan warrior that killed Horsewing," The crowd of Riverclan warriors that weren't inside the reed dens gasped and some nodded their heads like they had known all along that a Windclan warrior killed Horsewing.
'Why are some of them acting like they didn't know already, didn't Sparrowpaw who found Horsewing mewed that he scented Windclan' thought Duskpaw. Mistystar continued, "Harestar knows who killed him and will give us the information in exchange for Duskpaw, who Harestar willingly let us take him so that we could be sure that he would give us the information tomorrow at sunhigh. The meeting is adjourned," Mistystar mewed, then she leapt off of the gray rock and padded into the side of it.
Duskpaw wondered 'Where will I stay, will I stay in their apprentice's den?' Duskpaw was stopped in his thinking, "Hey, what did you think of Sparrowpaw's skill?" asked Spikefur. Duskpaw snorted, "Anyone could have smelled Windclan scent and found that tuft of fur in Horsewing's claws," Spikefur shook his head, "Stripepaw was guarding the body and didn't notice the fur in Horsewings claws, she looked around for evidence and found none. Sparrowpaw has a keen eye when it comes to hunting, so naturally he'd be able to pick on hard to see clues faster than any cat. His father Softfeather used to have keen eyes, but one of them was blinded when he attacked a fox. Three claw marks and an eye gone, every cat says that he should be proud of those injuries, since he beat that fox alone, and only had that to show for it. You see that dark brown tom with the three claw marks on his face with no eye in that space. That's him. Ever since then he has made new battle moves to cover for his blind side, like Brightheart of Thunderclan. Although Brightheart hasn't gotten any apprentices, while Softfeather has,"
Duskpaw asked, "Why?" Spikefur mewed, "It's because Mistystar doesn't want to wait for a kit born blind, or born blind in one eye to apprentice to Softfeather, granted a blind cat is a better Medicine cat because they have to rely on smell and their paws to tell them what's going on around them, like Jayfeather of Thunderclan does. Brightheart is a good fighter because she can still see out of one eye. But also cats tend to underestimate her strength in battle because of her only having one eye. Cat's can't sneak up on blind cats so easily because their hearing is so good. Which is why a cat, if they lose their one eye in battle, is good at battles, especially if there is a lot of undergrowth or it is nighttime," Duskpaw nodded. He wondered how many kits have tried sneaking up on Softfeather.
Sparrowpaw came out of the farthest den away from the camp entrance and was heading straight for him and Spikefur. "I made you a nest in the elders den Duskpaw. Grayfur and Bramblethron are excited to have you sharing their den, because they can tell you about Riverclan and answer most of your questions that you have about our way of life," mewed Sparrowpaw to Duskpaw. 'Sleeping in the elders' den, huh, well I guess it's better than nothing' thought Duskpaw. "Isn't there room in the apprentices den?" asked Spikefur. Sparrowpaw replied, "Nope, remember Nightpaw, Stormpaw and Ravenpaw are going to be sleeping there from now on. Though I wonder why Mistystar made them apprentices now, they reached their sixth moon a few days before the gathering, but I guess she wants all the apprentices to have an exact moon or more of apprenticeship before they go to the gathering," After Sparrowpaw mewed that he headed towards the fresh kill pile which was in the middle of camp.
"Spikefur, am I allowed to have some prey?" asked Duskpaw. "Sure, we have to keep you in good condition or Harestar could revoke giving the information to us when we give you to him in a bad condition." replied Spikefur. Duskpaw headed to the fresh kill pile, he was disappointed to see that there was only fish to see on the pile. He chose a gray fish with black dots on it. He took it over to the patch of grass that was near the den that Sparrowpaw came out of. He assumed that it was the elder's den.
He took a bite of the flesh from the fish he chose. It had a watery tang to it, almost like you were eating water. The meat was rough, but as soon as the rough part was gone the flesh was more soft. Like how a rabbit's flesh was. A rustle from the den behind him startled him, but he relaxed when he saw a gray tom with green eyes and a light brown tabby with black stripes with blue eyes come out of the den. "You must be Duskpaw, how does that trout taste?" Duskpaw gulped the piece of trout down his throat and replied, "It doesn't taste bad, and it's nice to have a little variety then just eating rabbit all the time, ah, are you two Grayfur and Bramblethorn?"
The gray furred tom replied, "I'm Grayfur and the she-cat next to me is Bramblethorn," Duskpaw noted that he could have probably easily guessed who was who. But he shrugged it off, it would be rude to guess their names, even if he was right in who was who. The pair walked over to the fresh kill pile. They both picked a brown looking fish, with diamond-like scales. The scale's looked kind of yellowish. They both sat down in the patch of grass near their den. Duskpaw focused on eating the rest of his, what did they call it, oh, trout. Once he finished he began to wash himself. The rays of sunlight were getting dimmer and dimmer as sunset approached. He finished washing himself and looked at Grayfur and Bramblethorn. They were almost done eating their fish. He walked through the bramble screen.
He was surprised at how big the elders' den was. There was space for at least 10 more nests. He noticed that there are big black seashells woven to the reed den. He wondered why they put black seashells at the end wall of the elders' den. It was strange to him. He also noticed that the outer edge of the two elder's nests had seashells woven into them. 'How do they clean the elders' bedding when they have seashells in them?' thought Duskpaw. He found his nest, there are feathers in the nest he's supposed to sleep in. He sat in the nest and waited for the two elders. They appeared shortly after and sat in their nests.
Duskpaw mewed, "Hey, I have a question, what are those black seashells on the wall for?" Grayfur answered him, "They represent that we made it this fair in life and that we deserved our rest after everything we've been through. The apprentices' den has blue seashells to represent that they're no longer going to pure innocent kit's, but are going to be trained to hurt cats for the sake of their clan and have opinions on certain things that they might have ignored because they were kit's who were just learning clan life. Also it represents that they're going to have experiences that will form their behaviour and belief on topics that warriors talk about with no kits. The nursery has pure white seashells. It represents that kits made it to kithood and that they're pure and innocent. The warriors' den has orange seashells, which represent that they have become a warrior and are able to act on their opinions and beliefs without so much resistance from other warriors. Also when apprentices become warriors they have a spark in them, which is what the orange represents as well. All those seashells represent milestones that they made it to,"
Duskpaw made note of that, and asked, "Why did Riverclan do that?" Bramblethorn answered this time, "The first warriors of Riverclan found fascination with the treasures they found in the river, which is seashells, they began collecting them and decorating their bedding with them. Eventually when we evolved into the apprentice and mentor system, the leader at the time thought they should do something with seashells to celebrate the milestone of making it through kithood, apprenticeship, warrior and elder. The prettiest shells that fit with kithood was the white ones, since kit's are usually innocent and pure and white means pure, so they put the white seashells in the nursery weaving them in the back wall. They found blue and since it was the second prettiest seashell they found they put it in the apprentice den. I'm afraid there isn't really a meaning for the blue seashell being in the apprentice den, but the orange in the warriors den is a different story. A warrior found the first orange seashell when we lived in the old forest. He saw the orange colouring as the determination and spark of a warrior. It was also really pretty. The black in the elders den represents the strife of life and the sadness that life has sometimes. The elder who found the first black seashell had a troubled past and was very old. The leader accepted her seashell and decided that black was the seashell that should be woven into the den. Because life is not all prey and sunshine. But we are proud of black because you can find happiness in life even though it seems like shadows are swirling around you,"
Duskpaw was awed by the fact that Riverclan was so in tune to the river that they used what treasures the river provided them and made becoming and surviving warrior life a happy thing, even if some cats didn't survive the journey. Riverclan made it special to be an apprentice, warrior, kit and elder, especially when some kits, apprentices and warriors don't make it to all the stages of clan life. "Wow," mewed Duskpaw awestruck. Grayfur and Bramblethorn purred at the apprentice's amazement. "Well let's go to sleep, you have a long day ahead of you," mewed Bramblethorn. Duskpaw nodded, yawning as he put his head down and put his tail tip to his muzzle. He let the faint sound of the river carry him to sleep.
A songbird woke Duskpaw up. He saw sunlight filter through the den. He shook scarps of moss off of his fur. He walked out of the den to find that the sun was not that high in the sky. Duskpaw sat outside the elders' den, and began to wash himself. He saw Spikefur, an orange tabby tom with tiger-like stripes covering his fur, a calico she-cat, whose amber eyes were filled with sorrow. The orange tabby whispered something in the she-cats ear, but she shook her and whispered her reply. 'That must be the warriors' den,' thought Duskpaw as he saw Spikefur and the orange tabby, and calico headed to a den that is to Duskpaw's right. Spikefur yowled a little loudly, "Sparrowpaw, Stripepaw, Beaverpaw! Come to the training hollow immediately!" Duskpaw faintly heard mewls of protest come from the den. Then he saw Beaverpaw, Sparrowpaw and a dusty coated tabby she-cat. Her stripes are a dark brown compared to her light dusty brown coat, he assumed that she is Stripepaw. The six of them padded away to the camp entrance and disappeared through the bramble tunnel.
Duskpaw watched another trio of three apprentices walk out of the apprentices' den. One of them spotted him and ran up to him. The she-cat had blue eyes and is all black. "You must be Duskpaw, I'm Ravenpaw, these are my brothers Stormpaw and Nightpaw," mewed the black she-cat. Her black tail pointed to the tom cats who are beside her. The one that she pointed to when she mewed 'Stormpaw' is a black tom with a brown underbelly and has two brown dots above his eyes. Nightpaw is a black tom with gray paws and a gray muzzle. His blue eyes were looking at him with confusion. Duskpaw mewed, "Yes I'm Duskpaw," The three cats' eyes lit up in excitement. Stormpaw mewed, "We'll take you out of camp, so you can come hunting with us," "But Stormpaw, we're a day into our apprenticeship, how can we possibly hunt, let alone fish," mewed Nightpaw. "Besides, our mentors are having us do the elders' ticks and bedding, while Sparrowpaw and the others do their hunting mission. I know he will pass with flying colours," mewed Ravenpaw all dreamy like.
'That she-cat must have a crush on Sparrowpaw if she's certain that he will pass the hunting mission' Duskpaw thought as Stormpaw and Nightpaw glanced at each other. "Anyways can I help you guys? I got nothing to do here," mewed Duskpaw. Nightpaw snorted, "And let an enemy warrior see more of our territory," Ravenpaw gave him a glare and mewed, "Of course, we can listen to the elder's telling stories while we do their ticks," Stormpaw muttered, "You realize there's only two elder's, right?" Ravenpaw ignored Stormpaw's comment. Ravenpaw turned around and mewed, "Come on Duskpaw, I'll show you the best moss gathering place in Riverclan territory, while my littermates do Grayfur's and Bramblethorn's ticks," Duskpaw followed Ravenpaw out of camp, he heard Stormpaw and Nightpaw groan. Ravenpaw led him over stepping stones, and this time he did not fall into the river.
The grass felt softer than the grass that grew on the moor, which was strange to him. He could see Ravenpaw up ahead in the thick forest. Duskpaw thought 'How can they be okay with living beside the river and living in dense undergrowth, then again every clan that lives in a forest probably wonders how we Windclan cats are okay with feeling the wind and sun on our pelts all day.'
Ravenpaw stopped near a big oak tree that had a tone of moss near the base of the tree. Duskpaw began bundling the moss into a tight circle, careful to not leave any thorns in the moss that he collected. He put one of the bundle's on his back, securely, then grabbed the other bundle in his mouth. He saw Ravenpaw looking at him funny. He didn't understand why. Ravenpaw picked up her moss, and headed back to camp.
Once they reached the camp he saw Mistystar talking with some warriors. He headed to the elder's den with his moss with Ravenpaw. He ducked his head, not wanting to hit the bramble screen. He saw Grayfur and Bramblethorn washing their pelt's. "We're here to do your bedding," mewed Ravenpaw cheerfully. Duskpaw dropped his moss onto the floor of the den. "Can I have your old bedding please?" asked Duskpaw. Grayfur nodded and stood up out of his mossy nest. "Just let me take the seashells out of the bedding for you, Duskpaw," mewed Grayfur. He watched Grayfur take the seashells out of the nest and onto the floor. "Here ya go Duskpaw," mewed Grayfur. "Hey, Ravenpaw, where do I put the old bedding?" asked Duskpaw. Ravenpaw reponsed, "You can put it in the back of the den, or in the river," Duskpaw grabbed the old bedding and put it onto his back, because he didn't want to taste old bedding. Duskpaw placed it at the back of the bramble barrier to fix a hole that was likely to go unnoticed by the elders, and warriors.
Duskpaw went back to the den, and found Ravenpaw starting on making the new nests. "You can take my old bedding pile and place it where yours is," mewed Ravenpaw. Duskpaw did as she asked, placing the bedding at the outside back of the den. Duskpaw heard a yowl, he looked up to see Mistystar on the tall rock. "I am leaving to the border with Duskpaw, since it is going to be sunhigh soon," With that she leapt down from the rock and padded towards Duskpaw. Mistystar mewed, "Are you ready to go?" Duskpaw nodded eagerly, 'I can't wait to go back home, although I will miss those two elders, because I still have questions for them.' Mistystar led him out of the camp and to the Windclan border. They padded in silence as they traveled through the forest.
Duskpaw saw Harestar at the treeline, and couldn't see or detect any other Windclan warriors. "I trust you have brought the information we require in order to give you Duskpaw back," mewed Mistystar. "Yes, but I'm afraid you're not going to like it. Our murder is Hawkeye, she is a keen and loyal warrior. She fell in love with Horsewing, and was mad when her feelings weren't received or noticed by him. She blamed Horsewing for not falling in love with her. She decided that if she couldn't have him no one could," mewed Harestar.
Duskpaw hissed, "Just because her feelings weren't received by Horsewing it doesn't mean you take his life. There are other toms out there that she could've fallen in love with, besides the warrior code says that we should not take a mate that's outside our own clans. Was her lust for him so blinding that she could not see why he probably didn't love her back," Harestar and Mistystar nodded in agreement. "Anyways, we've dealt with Hawkeye, she was banished and I've sent word to Thunderclan to be on the lookout for her since we banished her from clan territory," Mistystar purred in agreement. "Well I'll be off now, I'll tell my clan what you told me," Mistystar mewed, then bounded off into Riverclan territory. Harestar asked, "How was Riverclan camp?"
Duskpaw meowed, "Alright, I slept with their elders, learned some things about Riverclan and met three apprentices today," Harestar didn't respond back to Duskpaw. 'I wonder what's on his mind, being leader must be a big job, I'm glad I'm not the leader,' Duskpaw thought as he and Hareatar padded to Windclan camp. A flurry of brown fur met Duskpaw as he entered the camp. "Oof," mewed Duskpaw as the brown fur pinned him down. "Hi Duskpaw, I'm glad you came back today, safe and sound," mewed Molepaw as she got off him. "I'm glad I came back too, if I spent any longer in Riverclan I'd become a fish," Duskpaw joked. Molepaw purred. "You two lovebirds, stop cuddling and start moving to the sandy hollow, so we can show you how to attack another cat," mewed Swiftwind as she padded up to them.
Molepaw and Duskpaw replied, "It's not like that!" Swiftwind snorted, "Yeah, whatever," A pale ginger tabby with dusty looking stripes walked over to them. "Duskpaw, my apprentice, it's good to have you back," mewed the ginger tabby with brown eyes. "It's good to be back, Sanddust," Swiftwind mewed, "Alright, enough with the it's good to have you back Duskpaw, and get to training," Sanddust muttered, "Whatever you desire my mentor," Swiftwind ignored him and lead the group to the training hollow. Duskpaw felt the soft sandy floor touch his pads. "Hot!" yelped Duskpaw and walked backward into Molepaw. Molepaw mewed, "It's natural for it to be hot, since the sun has been shining on it all day, but you've also been in Riverclan for a day, so it might take you a little while to get used to the hot ground, again,"
Duskpaw gave her a glare and then padded away onto the hot sandy floor of the training hollow. Sanddust mewed, "Alright today we'll just be play fighting, so claws sheathed. Me and Molepaw are enemy warriors, Swiftwind I want you and Duskpaw to come at us with all your strength,"
Swiftwind nodded and prowled towards Sanddust. Molepaw leaped into the air and landed on Duskpaw's back. Duskpaw flopped onto his back, making Molepaw be crushed by his weight . Molepaw squirmed free from his back and spun around to face Duskpaw. Duskpaw dodged a blow to his cheek and hit Molepaw on the muzzle with his forepaw. He leaped onto her and pinned her to the ground, he felt her go limp, but he stayed on top of her, aware that she might be doing the classic trick of go limp when your attacker has you pinned.
Swiftwind yowled, "Victory for me!" Duskpaw let Molepaw go. "Good job Duskpaw, I think it was great that you didn't fall for the going limp trick,'' mewed Molepaw. Duskpaw nodded in agreement. Sanddust came up to them. "So what did you learn?" Molepaw answered, "That not every cat falls for the going limp trick," Duskpaw purred in agreement. "Well what I learnt is that she-cats are just as good at fighting as toms are so don't underestimate them.," mewed Sanddust as Swiftwind approached them. "Well let's get back to camp, I assume that it's been a long day for the both of you, so when we get there you can eat," mewed Swiftwind. Duskpaw's stomach growled, and he realized how hungry he was. He hadn't eaten anything since last night. The group padded wordlessly back to camp.
Duskpaw chose a rabbit from the prey pile. Molepaw had chosen a finch. They dropped the prey in front of the apprentice's den and both cats took a bite of their prey. Duskpaw relished the taste of rabbit. 'I wonder, what would I do if I was stuck in Riverclan camp for a long time, would I get used to the river lulling me to sleep and the taste of fish? Well I can't keep spouting what ifs cause the case was solved and I'm beside the love of my life. Though I won't tell that to Sparrowpaw, he would just tease me about liking her,' Duskpaw thought as he ate beside Molepaw. Duskpaw and Molepaw left the remains of their prey and headed into the apprentices' den. Duskpaw curled up beside Molepaw. He let her breathing lull him into sleep.
