Most of the time, Lilypaw prided herself on being one of the bravest cats in ThunderClan. She could hunt at Snakerocks without so much as batting an eye at the thought of the adders lurking in every crevice. She could face a ShadowClan invasion without turning tail and fleeing back to the camp. She could even stand up to Thistleclaw even though the gray and white warrior was considerably larger than her and probably could have sliced her open in one blow if he felt like it.
Somehow, however, all of her courage and bravado dissipated into thin air whenever she was faced with the task of climbing a tree.
Lilypaw couldn't figure out why that was herself. Everyone in ThunderClan climbed trees; it was just something cats did when they lived in a forest. Moonflower, Bluefur, Sunstar, and Snowfur all knew how to climb trees; it should have been as natural to her as breathing. Yet somehow, the thought of being more than a tail-length off the ground caused her stomach to twist into a knot and her heart to pound furiously against her chest.
"Y-you want me to climb the Great Sycamore?" Lilypaw asked, staring at Thrushpelt in horror.
"That's right," the sandy-gray warrior confirmed.
"Thrushpelt, that's ridiculous! You know I can't climb!" she protested, shaking her head fervently.
Thrushpelt purred. "You're a ThunderClan cat, Lilypaw. Of course, you can climb," he meowed confidently.
Lilypaw stared at him. "But–but it's so high!" she exclaimed. "I'll never be able to make it up. And what if I fall?"
"You won't as long as you use your tail to balance yourself," her mentor told her. "And I'm not going to make you go all the way to the top. We'll just go about three fox-lengths up today. Does that sound alright?"
"No! That does not sound alright!" Lilypaw screeched. "I'm staying right here on the ground, thank you very much!"
"Lilypaw, I know you're scared, but you don't have to be," Thrushpelt meowed soothingly. "You're going to be just fine, I promise. Your family would have my fur off if they knew I let anything happen to you, after all. And I'll be climbing with you."
"Well...okay, then." That didn't sound like it would fix anything to Lilypaw, but she could tell there was no way she was getting out of this one. "But you're going up first."
"Very well," Thrushpelt agreed.
The two cats continued along their way to the Great Sycamore in silence. As they drew closer, the knot of dread in Lilypaw's stomach slowly grew bigger and bigger until she was certain that she was going to make herself sick from fear. She knew she was being ridiculous, but she couldn't help it. Of course, she trusted that Thrushpelt would do his best to keep her safe, but he couldn't prevent every possible accident from occurring. Vivid images of falling out of the massive tree and hitting the ground below began racing through Lilypaw's mind, and she felt her limbs begin to shake.
"Thrushpelt, I really don't think I can do this," she whimpered, hating how pitiful her voice sounded even to her. Great StarClan, I sound like a kit!
Her mentor merely rested his tail gently on her shoulder. "You can do it," he told her firmly. "I know you can. Just follow my lead, and whatever you do, don't look down. Look, we're here now."
Lilypaw jumped slightly. In the midst of her growing terror, she hadn't even noticed that they had arrived at the Great Sycamore. Her heart still pounding rapidly against her chest, she craned her neck to look up at the massive tree. She had seen it countless times before while out hunting and patrolling, but now that she was faced with the daunting task of climbing it, the once-familiar sycamore appeared as foreign as an enemy camp. As she watched, Thrushpelt bounded on top of a branch about two tail-lengths off the ground with practiced ease.
This is crazy! Climbing this tree? There's no way I can do it! the white molly thought, staring up at her mentor. That's right. If I back out now, I can still spare some dignity.
"Lilypaw, come on!" Thrushpelt called down to her. He paused for a moment, then added, "If you make it up, I'll catch you a rabbit on the way home."
That made Lilypaw pause for a few heartbeats. Rabbits were her favorite food, and she had never passed up an opportunity to eat one. They were just large enough that they could make a good meal, they were nice and juicy, and unlike prey such as sparrows or chaffinches, she didn't choke on feathers every time she ate one. Almost instinctively, her mouth began to water slightly.
I suppose if I get a rabbit, it won't be too bad, she thought. Narrowing her eyes, she tensed her muscles and sprang up to join Thrushpelt on his branch.
"Well done," the sandy-gray tom purred.
"Thanks," Lilypaw replied, then stiffened as she realized what she had just done. Did I really just give in to a rabbit?
"Come on, the next one isn't much higher. Follow me," Thrushpelt ordered, leaping on top of another branch just above their heads.
Well, I guess there's no backing out now.
Bunching her muscles together, she sprang upward and landed beside her mentor. As she did so, however, a small gust of wind nearly knocked her off the branch. Lilypaw's heart dropped as it swayed precariously underneath her, and she struggled to bite back a scream of terror.
"Forget it! I changed my mind! I don't want the rabbit anymore!" she shrieked.
Thrushpelt shook his head. "Lilypaw, you're not even three tail-lengths off the ground yet."
"Yeah, so? What's your point?" she asked, gripping the branch even more tightly.
"Lilypaw, just take a deep breath and relax," her mentor told her calmly. "You're not going to fall out, I promise. Look, there isn't much further to go now."
"Don't make promises you can't keep!" Lilypaw yowled as Thrushpelt jumped onto the next limb. "And just how much further is 'not much further'?"
Barely managing not to make herself sick, the white-furred apprentice leaped up to join Thrushpelt on his branch. She held her breath as she landed, then let it out in a shaky sigh of relief when the wind didn't pick up again. Even so, that didn't stop her from digging her claws into the bark until she was certain that she would rip them out if she tried to move.
StarClan, help me!
"I can't do this!" Lilypaw screeched, her chest heaving as she fought the urge to vomit. "Thrushpelt, I made a grave mistake! Tell my family I made a brave farewell!"
"You're almost there, Lilypaw. Just two more branches and we can climb back down," Thrushpelt meowed encouragingly.
"Two more?" Lilypaw shrieked.
"That's right, just two more," her mentor confirmed. "The next one is a little higher up, so climb onto it using the trunk instead of jumping."
Nodding, Lilypaw clenched her teeth and inched her way over to the trunk of the Great Sycamore. To her relief, latching her claws onto the trunk and pulling herself upward was almost as natural as breathing. Thrushpelt was right; it was easier than jumping. She climbed up for a few heartbeats before settling down on the next branch, letting out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding in.
Don't let me fall!
"Just one more, Lilypaw. You're doing wonderfully," Thrushpelt called out.
Lilypaw just nodded, too petrified to even think about speaking now. She was about to spring onto the next branch, then changed her mind and scaled up the trunk instead. Once she had reached the final branch, she slid over to sit beside the sandy-gray warrior. Part of her was almost tempted to look down, but she refused to give in, staring straight ahead of her instead.
"Alright," she meowed flatly. "I made it. Now let me get down."
"Certainly," Thrushpelt purred, and Lilypaw wanted nothing more than to swipe her claws over his ears. Was he mocking her?
Somehow, the climb back down seemed to take even longer than the climb up. As Lilypaw discovered, although her claws were perfectly suited for scaling up a tree, they did little more than get in the way when going in the opposite direction. In the end, she had to settle for turning herself around so that her tail was pointing toward the ground and inching her way down slowly. The moment her paws hit the ground, Lilypaw collapsed onto her side.
"I'm alive!" she cried happily.
"Of course," Thrushpelt meowed. "I told you that everything would be okay."
"I guess," Lilypaw agreed. Now that she was safe on the ground again, she had to admit that the experience hadn't been quite as terrible as she had expected. "But let's not do that again."
"Well, we need to keep practicing in order to get you more comfortable, but we can stop today. Why don't we pick it up again tomorrow?" the sandy-gray tom suggested.
Lilypaw thought for a few heartbeats. "Okay, then."
"Excellent," Thrushpelt meowed. "Now, I believe I promised you a rabbit, so why don't we hunt on our way back to the camp?"
Lilypaw nodded and followed her mentor through the forest, scanning the area of any sign of unsuspecting prey. The tension in her muscles had relaxed slightly and her heart had finally stopped battering itself against her chest. She was safe again–for now. Sooner or later, she knew that she would have to get used to climbing, but for now, she was more than happy to settle down with a nice, warm rabbit because she definitely deserved it.
So yes, Lilypaw is acrophobic. There's no real reason or backstory behind this; heights just freak her out. I alluded to her having a fear of heights slightly in chapter six, and I wanted to expand on that a bit more.
Thanks for reading!
-TheShadowedWarrior