Gingerpaw was alarmed by Silentpaw's sudden erratic breathing. He looked possessed as he stood there, eyes bulging, mouth foaming a little and paws dug into the sand as if his life depended on it. Lizardglare stepped forward, an attempt to take control of the situation. "Silentpaw, can you hear me?" He asked calmly. "It's me, Lizardglare. Can you hear me?" He repeated the question. Silentpaw's eyes remained terrified and glassy. Gingerpaw felt scare for her friend, this was behavior she'd never seen before. She stood behind Brambledip, ears flattened against her skull.
Brambledip barged past Lizardglare with a hiss "Silentpaw this stops now! Snap out of it!" He growled, shoving his face in Silenpaw's. That seemed to make a difference. Silenpaw's eyes seemed to re-animate, making a single twitching movement. Brambledip visibly recoiled as they met his own. They were indescribably hateful, something Gingerpaw had never seen before. The young tom's lips sneered into a foul snarl.
" I hate you! I hate you! I hope you die! I hope you die in battle! You're not my brother!" Silentpaw screamed. The voice was young and full of fear and frustration, it was nothing like how Gingerpaw would imagine her friend to sound like. It felt like the whole camp was watching as Silentpaw's eyes seemed to roll back and as he fell to the ground at Brambeldip's paws. There was a cold and uneasy tension. Lizardglare had backed away. Gingerpaw could have sworn that his eyes were watering. Brambledip looked back at his brother and for a brief second there was a look of immense guilt plastered on his face. It looked like he was going to say something, but Lizardglare had bolted off. Probably to the medicine cat's den.
She was in complete shock. Silentpaw couldn't talk, everyone knew that. He was called Silentpaw for starclan's sake! He'd got an infection as a kit and it took his voice away, Cloudfang has told his mother he would likely never be able to do so much as purr. She was disturbed by what he'd had to say and the fact it had been directed at Brambeldip. She couldn't see any correlation. One thing for sure was that Brambledip would not let this go.
Gingerpaw scurried to Silentpaw's side. Her first instinct was to check his heart was still beating. She pressed her ear to his chest cavity and closed her eyes. She was comforted by the gentle beat of his heart. She knew cats were staring.
"He needs to be in my den immediately" She looked up to the grave face of Cloudfang. Lizardglare stood a few feet behind the white furred tom. "He's going to be okay right?" She asked nervously as she backed away. "I'm not sure what's happened but I'll do right by him, don't you worry" He reassured her with a genuine smile. Lizardglare cautiously grappled Silentpaw by the scruff and began to gently drag him through the sand towards the grass entwined entrance of the medicine cat den. Gingerpaw took a step to follow them.
"I thought we had a training session to do?" Brambeldip said coldly. Gingerpaw shrunk back. Crabfang cautiously joined them at camp entrance having seen what had just happened. " You can choose not to do today's training session, I understand. However it would be useful to get started and maybe keep your mind off Silentpaw for a wee while" He told his apprentice. She could feel Brambeldip's narrowed eyes boring into her. She didn't want to but at this point she couldn't cope with Brambledip being snarky because she wussed out on her first training session. "It's fine, I'll go" She half-heartedly whispered. "That's the spirit, it might make you feel better for getting out of camp" Her mentor said as he nudged her encourangly. Crabfang nodded at Brambledip. "Let's get down to the beach"
Silently, Brambledip and Crabfang left the camp, Gingerpaw and Shadedpaw trailing slightly behind them. It was her first time outside the safe confines of her birthplace. The grasses continued for miles, adorning the tops of cliffs. Seagulls flew casually above and smaller birds flitted between the odd bramble bushes and rocks. They followed an established trail, a thin path carved out into the dune by countless generations of cats using the same routes. She wondered how often her father had padded along this same path.
Shadedpaw seemed to be walking quite close to her. She assumed he was a little more disturbed by what had happened than he was letting on.
The grasses danced around them in the breeze as they began to thin towards the beach. Gingerpaw watched as Crabfang and Brambeldip casually swerved to a trail that snaked down an embankment. There were pine trees lined up against the bank to Gingerpaw's confusion. " Why are there trees on the beach?" she inquired. "Twolegs put them there, they catch the sand and make the banks bigger" Crabfang explained "Not really sure why though. They are twolegs after all, they don't make any sense"
The apprentices trailed down after their mentors. Gingerpaw stepped onto the wet sand for the first time and shivered slightly. She'd get used to it. What really took her breath away was the giant expanse of water, sun reflecting off the surface like a mirror. "Woah" Shadedpaw said simply. Brambeldip smirked. "It's called the sundrown place. You'll learn how to swim and hunt in it eventually"
Crabfang rounded and sat down on the slightly damp sand. Brambeldip joined him, looking a little comical in comparison to the large cloud-like tom beside him. "In order to know what we're working with, I'm gonna have to see you fight" Crabfang told the apprentices. Gingerpaw looked at Shadedpaw, trying to get her mind away from Silentpaw. "Hopefully You'll both be competent enough to know to fight with your claws sheathed" Brambeldip added sarcastically.
The two apprentices looked at eachother, unsure of what to do. So Gingerpaw just threw herself at him. Cloudfang chuckled as the pair grappled, kicking sand up as they did. Shadedpaw kicked her in the stomach, causing a sharp pain. She toppled off a few feet away, hissing. Shadedpaw shook the sand from his fur and bounded towards her. Gingerpaw gasped not knowing what to do. She turned away and ran towards the bank, Shadedpaw hot on her heels. "Where are you going?" He panted.
Gingerpaw dug her heels into the ground as she leaped upwards, aiming for a pine tree. The young black tom skidded to a halt, confused as to what she was doing. The fiery apprentice dug her claws into the tree giving herself a few precious seconds to re-adjust. She was facing her opponent from above now. With new strength she fired herself from her tree down onto Shadedpaw; paws hitting him squarely in the back. His legs crumpled beneath him and his chest hit the floor. "Ha gotcha!" She said triumphantly. "Could you- Could you get off my back, I can't breathe with a lump like you standing on me" He wheezed, face smushed into the sand. She stepped off him grinning.
As he turned he scooped a pawful of sand and sprayed it into her face. "Son of-" Gingerpaw screeched as sand went in her eyes. Shadedpaw laughed. "Thought you were sooo smart" He teased. "I hate you and I'll get you back later" Gingerpaw half joked. She didn't hate him but she would get him back later.
"I must say I'm impressed, two good techniques!" Crabfang shouted at them from where he was sat. The pair of them trotted back to their mentors panting. "Shadedpaw that was a good example of a technique exclusive to Duneclan. However try not to lean on it, there isn't always sand. Gingerpaw... Unconventional, but effective. I haven't seen that one in a while…" He trailed off. Gingerpaw was a little let down, she thought it was pretty cool. Crabfang certainly seemed impressed by it at least.
….
Silentpaw became suddenly conscious of a tangy natural smell. He was not in Duneclan. He wasn't near home. The forest floor was dark, any natural light was blocked out by tall thin pines. The trunks were a blackish hue. He was standing by himself, in an unfamiliar place, in the dark. The stillness and the silence of the place should in theory be relaxing, but it was far from for Silentpaw. He heard the crunch of pine needles underfoot a few meters behind him. Whipping round, he saw a small she-cat sat by herself at the edge of a stagnant body of water. She was a brown tabby with long fur and ears tipped with velvety black fur like a lynx.
He took a step back, causing needles to crunch under his feet. The she-cat jumped and turned around. "Oh it's only you" She sighed. "Don't worry, you're not dead. Your body went through a lot back then, you'll wake up soon enough" She smiled reassuringly. "Who are you?" He demanded, he was surprised to hear a voice, but his mouth wasn't moving and it sounded muffled in a way. "Are my thoughts..can you hear me?" He sat up and put his paws over his mouth in shock. "Magic of a dreamscape I guess, yes I can hear you. Don't need to worry about being misunderstood now" She smiled at him. He couldn't help but feel warmth from her smile. He figured she could be trying to trick him into a false sense of security. "You were that voice- what are you doing in my head? Who are you?" He asked in a panic. She sighed and looked away.
"My name is Lilytail and I've been with you since you were born"
She's finally here! In the original Lilytail definitely got ignored which is stupid because she's stuck with Silentpaw. Feel free to let me know your theories. I used to ask questions at the end of the original so why not on the re-mastered version as well?