Wishpaw winced as Swiftwing pressed cobwebs into her side, staunching the flow from her open wound. His touch was gentle, but it still stung.
"Your first battle wound." He meowed, amused. She fought the urge to hiss, the pain making her cross. She whipped her tail across the sand, grains flying low in the air.
The medicine cat's den was neat and clean, with herbs lined up against the sandy walls. Further in, a bluish she-cat slept on a bed of freshly gathered leaves, her breathing labored but strong. Swiftwing applied a goldenrod poultice to Wishpaw's cut, paying the she-cat no mind.
"It might sting for a day or two, but you should be fine. May StarClan light your path, Wishpaw. I have nothing but confidence in you." He dipped his head respectfully, and she nodded back. She trudged out of the well-worn tunnel, crouching low despite the fact that the brambles were too far overhead to even graze her.
Dappledfur was sitting at the edge of the open moor, dappled grey-and-white coat catching the light. Four apprentices were chatting away at her feet. Wishpaw felt butterflies dance through her stomach.
"Wishpaw!" Lightpaw meowed energetically, eyes shining as her friend approached. A long-furred dark grey she-cat spun around, shadows from the gorse falling on her white chest. She exchanged a judgmental glace with the black tom beside her before looking at the calico kitten. The final apprentice, a pale grey tom, purred in greeting.
"Welcome to WindClan." Dappledfur meowed warmly, whiskers bouncing as she stood up. "Today we're going to be doing a bit of battle training. I would've preferred to show you around the territory, but unfortunately, a bit of a situation has arisen in the few minutes you were with Swiftwing, so they're going to be joining us today. Heatherpaw," she gestured with her tail to the smoky-colored she-cat, "her brother, Shadepaw," the raven-furred tom, "Lightpaw," the familiar snow-colored she-cat, "and Hiddenpaw," the silvery tom.
"Shadepaw, since you have a good grip on the technique, you will be helping out Lightpaw today. Heatherpaw, Hiddenpaw, you will be working together, and I'll be showing Wishpaw the basics."
She trotted a short distance through the sea of grasses, the murmur of a cold draft surrounding them. The sweet perfume of the vegetation surrounded them in the light of dusk.
"You surprised me earlier, Wishpaw." Dappledfur meowed conversationally. "That was very clever. Although quick-thinking is valuable, you need to work on your traditional moves. But first, let's see a bit more of how you fight."
Gulping in a breath of air, she moved into a crouch, ears flattened and tail tucked. Dappledfur dipped more gracefully, slowly moving forward. "Good form with the tail, but that's a hunting crouch, Wishpaw, not a fighting crouch." Wishpaw sprang forward, but Dappledfur deftly dodged sideways, pinning her down. She shook her head disapprovingly, and Wishpaw's whiskers twitched, embarrassed.
Her mentor let her go, giving her a moment to compose herself as she lay down in the sand. Heatherpaw snickered off to her side, making the young apprentice's ears flatten further.
"Sorry, Dappledfur." She meowed. But the she-cat shook her head. "Doesn't matter a whisker. Let's get to work. First, we'll start with the attack crouch."
When the sun fell below the horizon, Heatherpaw and Lightpaw trampled through the moor, returning to camp. Hiddenpaw and Shadepaw stayed behind, working on a more difficult move called an upright lock.
Dappledfur stepped back, sensing her young charge's exhaustion. Thus far, Wishpaw had lost every fight she'd been in. Sides heaving, she shook her head. "I don't want to leave until I can at least do a bit better." A glimmer of surprise and respect shone in the dappled cat's eyes. "Are you certain, Wishpaw? This is your first time."
It was Lightpaw's first time as well, but she was vastly more skilled. She would not be a charity case, the tiny kittypet-turned-clan cat who was nothing but a liability in loyalty and talent. And she wasn't a quitter.
"Very well then," Dappledfur replied, seeing Wishpaw anew.
After another hour's worth of practice, Wishpaw was able to seamlessly go into an attack crouch, and was even able to get Dappledfur once or twice with a forepaw slash, although she still was never able to win against the she-cat. It was only when the older cat personally refused to keep going that she stopped. Her weariness hit her all at once, and she nearly collapsed. Hiddenpaw and Shadepaw began their walk home just behind them.
"You're going to be sore in the morning." Dappledfur purred jovially. "But I'm proud of you, really." She ushered her apprentice towards the others sleeping on the cold sand under the stars.
She lay down a little ways away from Heatherpaw, and the long-furred cat inched away from her with a hiss. "Stay away from me and my brother, kittypet." Although offended, Wishpaw was too tired to argue. Lightpaw and Hiddenpaw were a little further away from the sibling duo. The former was curled up into a ball, sound asleep, and the other was laying on his side, vibrant blue eyes reflecting starlight.
"You were working as long as Shadepaw and I were. For your first time, that's quite a bit of dedication." His whiskers twitched, and he blinked sleepily. "Thanks. You two fought like LionClan." She meowed back affably, using the expression her mentor had earlier introduced to her.
He rolled over on his back, looking up to the stars. "You've only been here for a day, and you already seem like a full blooded clan cat. Although you might want to work on that temper." He blanched, mortified. "Sorry! I'm a bit too blunt."
Wishpaw purred in amusement. "No, no. You're right. I'm hotheaded, proud and illogical from time to time- or, well a lot of the time." She let out a good-humored mrrow.
"It's nice meeting you. I'm really, really tired though." She closed her eyes, putting her thin tail over her nose.
"Goodnight, Wishpaw." " 'Night, Hiddenpaw."
Rain splattered on her pelt as she awoke. Thunder rolled overhead, and damp spots spread across the sand. Two tiny kits peeked their fluffy heads out of the nursery, but were ushered back inside by their mother.
She-cats and toms were waking up to wet coats. Lightpaw wrinkled her nose as she woke up. "Mouse dung!" She hissed to herself, and then moved to wake Hiddenpaw, who blinked slowly. "What's going on?" He murmured quickly, disoriented. "Rain!" Lightpaw shook her pelt, running into a previously unseen tunnel beneath the gorse.
It was dark and earthy in the passageway. Heatherpaw and Shadepaw were already inside, licking droplets off of their fur. Hiddenpaw was last to appear beneath the dip, eyes slightly unfocused. A strange, stale scent filled the musty air.
Wishpaw looked around uneasily. "Where are we?" She ducked as a root hanging from the ceiling caught her ear.
Shadepaw snorted haughtily. "Can't you tell by the smell? It's an old fox tunnel. Apprentices use it when it rains- unless you want to get wet?" There was a hurtful edge to his voice.
The fur along her spine bristled. "Who ruffled their fur?" Lightpaw whispered to her, and a laugh escaped her. Her muscles relaxed.
"Great StarClan, is Hiddenpaw asleep again?" Heatherpaw murmured in distaste. "I swear, the world could literally crumble beneath and he still wouldn't wake up."
Unamused, her brother strode gracefully over to his friend, poking him sharply. Hiddenpaw awoke, squinting.
"Get up, featherbrain. Let's train." Shadepaw flicked his tail impatiently, and silvery tom groaned. "Who died and made you leader?" He meowed, getting an impatient hiss in response. "Okay, okay. Sorry." Hiddenpaw stretched, mouth opening wide in a yawn. Slowly, he followed Shadepaw into the main area of the burrow.
Wishpaw tilted her head curiously. "Why does Shadepaw train so much? He's already pretty good at fighting, at least of the cats I've seen." Lightpaw shrugged. "I don't know. I think he just likes to be the best, y'know. He doesn't like having anyone better than him, and Hiddenpaw bested him once, so now Shadepaw has forced him into servitude until he's sure he's unbeatable again."
"Should we train too, then?" She meowed. She wouldn't be as good as Shadepaw, but she did want to be a worthy warrior. "Eh. I'm not really all that interested in all the wrestling we usually do. You can train with Heatherpaw, though." Lightpaw winked conspiratorially.
"No." The she-cat's response was curt. The snowy cat next to her rolled her eyes. "C'mon, Heatherpaw." Heatherpaw looked annoyed. She curled her lip, her expression exasperated. "Alright." Her voice was high-pitched and menacing when she agreed.
A sense of foreboding came over Wishpaw. "On..." She was about to say 'second thought', but reconsidered. She didn't want to surrender, not to this uppity cat. She cursed her pride silently, but walked with her head high down the path.
Standing two fox-lengths away, Heatherpaw snarled. She sized her up, remembering yesterday's training. Like Dappledfur, Heatherpaw was much bigger than her, as well as more experienced. Since they were in a small space though, her size might work against her.
Using a quick and not-all-too-thought-through strategy, Wishpaw rushed against the wall, slashing at dark grey fur from the side. She was careful to keep her claws sheathed, however, not wanting to hurt her fellow apprentice.
Heatherpaw was fast. She twirled around, knocking Wishpaw off-balance with her tail before leaping atop of her. Impulsively, the calico flipped to her side, and her opponent leapt off to avoid getting her underbelly scratched.
As they began to circle each other once again, Hiddenpaw began to watch curiously. Shadepaw didn't have the same idea, though, and pummeled him into the ground. "StarClan's kits, Shadepaw, ouch!"
After just a moment of recovery, Heatherpaw made a move. She bounded with long strides, leaping at Wishpaw with teeth bared and claws unsheathed. Her rival pinned her, yellow eyes gleaming with manic triumph, making the young cat's fur stand on end.
"Heatherpaw!" Lightpaw scolded, voice fearful. "You're acting crazier than a fox in a fit. Calm down."
The terrifying look fading, she stepped off of Wishpaw, leaving her alone and out of breath on the loose soil. She lay on her back, staring upwards in shock.
"Still want to train?" Heatherpaw smirked, walking off. "I think the storm stopped, although you might want to keep hiding down here away from the big bad warriors, Bonnie."
"You okay?" Her friend meowed, concerned. Shaken, Wishpaw nodded. They reentered the rain-soaked landscape, sandy puddles wetting their paws. Dappledfur approached, her dappled coat clean and dry.
"You look rattled." She meowed to her apprentice. Lightpaw spoke for her. "She and Heatherpaw decided to train, but Heatherpaw took it a bit too far."
Understanding flickered through her gaze. "Ah. Come walk with me, Wishpaw. I've got something to discuss with you."
They walked through the glittering heather wordlessly after exiting the camp. "Sit down with me." Dappledfur meowed gently. "Listen, Wishpaw, this isn't fair, but there's something you have to understand." Her eyes were gentle. "Heatherpaw and Shadepaw aren't the only ones who will be bitter towards you. Of course, most of us will support you, but a lot of cats still won't. Some of them have faith in being 'wild-born', some will use the warrior code to justify it. Others will call you soft, no matter what you do. But you can't let it stop you. In order to be considered an equal to them, you'll have to work harder and be better. Again, it's not fair, but you'll have to deal with it. Do you think you can do that?"
"I… I think so." She looked up to meet her mentor's eyes.
"Are you certain?" Dappledfur meowed carefully.
This time she felt more confident. "I am. I'll just have to prove them wrong."
The later parts of this chapter were a little rushed, sorry! I hope you liked it though, and I'd really appreciate any reviews. Thanks for reading this far!
