Chapter 6
"The Midnight Sky."
2/2/18 - 2/3/18 - 2/4/18 - 2/6/18 -2/7/18
~ Vixenleap ~
Late in the morning, the blackish, dark grey she-cat ignores the sound of eager chomping. Sandpool cleans up the bones of the rabbit before cleaning her paws. Moonpaw is next to her mentor, finishing the last of her swallow. Raventalon pads to the two she-cats with importance in his step, Vixenleap had to roll her eyes at the skinny black tom.
"I thought you were supposed to be out on patrol." He sniffs to Vixenleap.
"Don't you have an apprentice to train?" She counters. Vixenleap already went out at dawn and is tired, plus it's none of Raventalon's business what she does with her time.
Raventalon grunts dismissively before looking at Sandpool.
"I'm teaching Puddlepaw on her fighting, it would help if you brought Moonpaw to train with her."
The stout, pale ginger, sand brown she-cat nods without missing a heartbeat.
"Sure!"
Sandpool looks at Moonpaw, after she finishes the swallow.
"It's time we start putting you to work."
"I've already went hunting before sunrise!"
Sandpool nudges her apprentice up. "A fit cat is a happy cat!"
Moonpaw mutters under her breath, but whether Sandpool heard it or not, she didn't show it. She and Raventalon leave camp with Moonpaw and Puddlepaw close behind, Vixenleap rolls her eyes again.
I know one thing… Sandpool better put him in his place.
Some cats were noticing how Raventalon is trying to get close to Sandpool after Cedarbark rejected her. Even though it's been largely hinted to Sandpool, she doesn't seem to care… or she could still be reeling from Cedarbark.
I still don't think Raventalon is good enough for her.
~ Mothspots ~
Wolfclaw made Hailpaw go ahead to follow a wafting scent of rabbit. Mothspots lays down, crouching down next to her brother, she sees the sewn up scars on his shoulder from the rogue attack.
"You were lucky to only come out with a few scratches." Mothspots says, nosing the scars on his shoulder.
"They were cowards." Wolfclaw sniffs.
"I… I heard that Softdawn saved you, too."
The mottled brown tom's muscles become tense beside her.
"Yeah, what of it?"
Mothspots frowns, and chooses her words, very carefully.
"I'm just saying… that was a huge risk she took. She's a medicine cat, after all."
"Hardly." Wolfclaw scoffs. "Why are you even talking about her like she's being noble?"
"She took a big risk - she's a medicine cat that took on a rogue, like a warrior! Doesn't that tell you something?"
Wolfclaw glances at her. "I don't care! It still doesn't change what she did to us! Are you willing to look past what she did to protect her place as a medicine cat?"
Mothspots sees a flash of white in her peripheral vision. Hailpaw's gaze flickers between the two littermates nervously. Wolfclaw stands up and nuzzles Hailpaw's forehead.
"This is a good catch. Let's give it to Cheetahspots and the elders."
Wolfclaw quickly brushes past Mothspots with Hailpaw at his heels, glancing at the dappled, golden brown she-cat with concern.
Mothspots knew Softdawn was still a touchy subject, but seeing Sandpool talking to Softdawn, she thought it would pass eventually.
But… is it enough for Mothspots to forgive, too?
~ Swanpaw ~
He hardly has a chance to chew when a dark grey front paw stomps on his greenish yellow perch.
"Alright, what's your angle?" Shellpaw growls. Swanpaw caught himself from snapping at Shellpaw, he raises his head from his perch.
"I was eating." Swanpaw said.
"And I was asking you a question." Shellpaw counters. "Why are you hanging around Heronpaw? You look down on us since we were kits and all of a sudden you're friendly."
Looking back, Swanpaw had been spending time with Heronpaw for the past two days now, which is more than Swanpaw originally wanted.
But it was none of Shellpaw's business!
"I'm so sorry if I show interest in bonds." Swanpaw said sarcastically.
"I find it weird that someone as cold as you would want anything to do with cats who's not your mother." Shellpaw retorts.
The dark grey, speckled tom removes his paw from the perch, still glaring at Swanpaw. "I don't trust you as far as a ThunderClan cat can swim. Stop bothering my brother or we're going to have a problem."
Shellpaw stalks away with a flick of his tail.
I'll talk to whoever I want! Swanpaw takes a big, ill tempered bite out of the perch. Once he finished eating, he licks his paws clean and hears faint yowling by the stream near the stone-bridge.
What in the world?
Curious, Swanpaw pads away from the apprentices den and approaches the reeds, and he immediately recognizes the two voices of Frecklespots and Cinderfall.
"I'm not going to let you ruin Swanpaw! He was fine until you came along!"
"Was he? I doubt it."
"I'll have you know that he was a good, obedient cat, but now he's becoming defiant ever since you poked your nose in where it doesn't belong!"
Swanpaw winces, looking over his shoulder and making sure no cat is listening in.
"Swanpaw is at that age! He's going to make his own choices that you don't like and befriend cats you don't like, you need to respect his decisions."
"Not if it will hurt him in the end! Do you know that he's mooning over Lilacpaw?"
"Yes, I do, and I support him whether or not he ends up with her. And about your comment about Swanpaw being 'fine', it's complete fish-guts! I saw him with scars on his pelt, he cried himself to sleep in my nest, he's confused and ostracized by cats his age because of whatever garbage you were filling his head with!
"And what were you doing when all this happened, where were you when he needed you the most, Frecklespots?! I won't defend the mistakes I made, but I'll be damned if I allow you to use Swanpaw as your bargaining prey any longer, so you might as well get used to seeing me with him."
Swanpaw hears paw steps and quickly hides behind a clump of reeds as Frecklespots storms off, and Cinderfall leaves after her, looking equally irritated.
The white tom slowly pads out and returns to camp, seeing Cinderfall eating a trout while Frecklespots is nowhere to be seen, but Swanpaw is staring at Cinderfall with newfound respect.
He defended me… he knows what I've been through.
Swanpaw wipes his eyes when Curlyfur pads to him, pausing when she studies his face. "Are you okay…?"
"Yes." He replies, shortly.
The light brown, long curly haired tabby she-cat continues to look at him in concern before dropping the subject.
"I have a surprise for you. Olivestar is going to watch your assessment today, and the winning apprentices will get to go to the Gathering next moon… but you didn't hear that from me."
Swanpaw winks. "Understood."
Curlyfur blinks in surprise and smiles. "It would be good if you became a warrior because of it. I might need to retire at some point."
"Because of your kits." Swanpaw chirps. He snorts at the startled expression on his mentor's face.
"How did you…? Inquisitive little thing." Curlyfur runs her tail over her bulging stomach. "Yes, I'm expecting. Sootdust said it would be fine for me to train you as long as I move to the nursery when the due date is close."
"Who's the father? We might as well get it out of the way."
Curlyfur purrs. "It's Stonefoot." She gives Swanpaw a hard stare. "But I haven't told him yet, I just found out last night - so no 'slip ups', got it?"
Swanpaw rolls his eyes. "Yes, ma'am."
As Curlyfur said, the RiverClan leader is by the stream near the grassy slope with Shadepaw by her side. Toadheart, Heronpaw, Tanglepelt and Perchpaw were there, waiting for Curlyfur and Swanpaw to arrive.
The first thing Swanpaw notices is that Shadepaw is very rigid, and she keeps glancing at Olivestar repeatedly, as if she is looking out for a sneak attack. Then, the brown she-cat nudges Shadepaw toward the three apprentices, where Shadepaw quickly sits next to Perchpaw.
"I'm sure you're all excited about Olivestar being here, but let's focus on the assessment." Tanglepelt said.
"We're sending you on a spy mission. Tonight, you'll go to ShadowClan and ThunderClan and try to find anything that threatens our safety."
"That's it?" Perchpaw lashes his tail. "We're not gonna ambush them?"
"I strongly oppose the idea, especially for ThunderClan." Tanglepelt retorts.
"You're only going to sneak through and watch from afar, you are never allowed to fight unless you're defending yourself. Just run."
"Sounds lame." Perchpaw snorts.
Tanglepelt glares at his apprentice.
"It's safe and lame, but if you want to be a dead fighter be my guest."
Just as the night arrives, Olivestar sees off the four apprentices as they leave the camp. Swanpaw leads the patrol since Perchpaw is beginning to bite on his nerves.
"So how does this work?" Heronpaw whispers to him. "Toadheart never said who does which."
"That figures." Swanpaw sniffs. "Their testing us to handle stuff like this."
Heronpaw purses his lips, scanning his amber orbs on the ShadowClan territory.
"This place is creepy…"
Overhearing the older apprentice, Perchpaw sneers. "Don't tell me you're scared."
Heronpaw growls as indignant anger washes over him. "Like you're one to talk! I can see your forelegs shaking like a leaf!"
Perchpaw's forelegs were indeed shaking badly, Swanpaw observes with a smirk. The mottled, bright ginger tabby tom glares at Heronpaw.
"Are not!"
"Oh, shut up. You sound like a whiny kit!" Swanpaw hisses.
"You're all being whiny kits!" Shadepaw spat, startling the three toms. Usually the chipper one of Daisypelt and Ferretleap's kits, it's a bit unnerving for Swanpaw to see.
"We should split up and end this quick." Swanpaw suggests.
Perchpaw nods, looking important - which irks Swanpaw to a degree.
"I'll stay with Shadepaw and go to ThunderClan."
The very dark brown tabby she-cat glares at Perchpaw with resentment.
"I'm already deciding on ThunderClan." Swanpaw said, dismissing Perchpaw's idea. "You can stick with Heronpaw right here, Shadepaw and I will go to ThunderClan."
"What?!" Perchpaw and Heronpaw exclaim in unison. The mottled, bright ginger tabby tom shakes his head.
"No I'm not, you're staying here!"
"Are a colorblind dog?" Swanpaw fluffs out his pure white pelt. "It won't take those ShadowClan brutes long to see me within five monster-lengths!"
"Like my fur is less brighter than yours."
Swanpaw pads to Perchpaw and scoops his fresh mud in his paw before smearing it on the younger apprentice's head. Perchpaw stands agape as Swanpaw steps back.
"Heronpaw can do the rest, no one will ever know what was in front of them."
His half-brother was certainly pleased with the task of covering Perchpaw in mud when Swanpaw and Shadepaw left.
Swanpaw growls in annoyance with the broken leaves getting in between his toes, and tripping over roots.
How can anyone live like this?!
"I have no idea where we are." Shadepaw whispers.
"Oh, good. I don't feel like a headless trout anymore."
Shadepaw brushes past him and kicks him behind a tree. She presses close to him and points her paw to a cream colored tom with white toes standing in front of the gorge.
"That's Berryheart. We're not too far off." Shadepaw said.
Berryheart yawns and pads down the gorge. Before Swanpaw can move, he feels warmth on his pelt and a horrible smell.
"What the Dark Forest?!"
Shadepaw shakes her front paw clear of the brown mess as she pads to a bed of lavender and bracken, rolling all over it.
"We should hide our scent before we head in."
"That's… good." Swanpaw concedes, though his nose is grossed out by the smell. "But what did you do to hide mine?"
"... You don't wanna know."
Shadepaw quickly leads Swanpaw to the gorge. The two RiverClan apprentices suddenly halt when they hear paw steps coming from inside the tunnel.
"Oh, fish-guts!" Shadepaw curses. The very dark brown tabby she-cat bites on Swanpaw's scruff and pulls him away before stopping by the edge. She headbutts Swanpaw's back and pushes him down into the camp with a thud.
Shadepaw leaps and lands on her paws, and Swanpaw can barely make sense of the pain coursing through his head.
"You almost killed me!" He hisses.
"But I didn't, did I?"
Swanpaw hisses again before looking where they were. He can smell different types of strong herbs, more specifically catmint and honey… He could only assume that their behind the medicine cat den.
Shadepaw and Swanpaw peek around the den, and can see no cat in sight.
"Well this was a waste of time." Swanpaw snorts.
"Yeah… Olivestar won't like this." Shadepaw's voice trembles.
The two RiverClan apprentices pad to the thorn barrier when a yowl catches them off guard.
"Who's down there?!"
Swanpaw's back leg moves back one step, and the voice echoes again.
"I can see you trying to run! So don't think you can get away from me!"
"Oh, my StarClan… That was Rosefoot!" Shadepaw cries under her breath.
Shadepaw runs behind the medicine cat den and grapples on the wall with Swanpaw following suit. However, a pillar of stone hits Swanpaw's chin and stuns him for a bit.
"Stay where you are!"
Swanpaw looks over his shoulder and sees the small, pinkish she cat glaring at him with tense shoulders. The white tom is frozen, scared witless, as Rosefoot slowly stalks towards him.
"Don't think just because I'm blind I can't see you." She warns him. Rosefoot roughly places her paw on the ground. "I'll always know where you are."
They weren't making it up… Rosefoot can see through the earth!
Swanpaw hoped staying still wouldn't give him away, but it was useless. Rosefoot rushes him with her teeth baring. Swanpaw leaps around the pinkish she-cat and runs out from behind the medicine cat den.
"Trespasser! You can't hide forever!"
Swanpaw's heart is thundering against his rib cage as he races through the thorn barrier, with the feeling that he's in perpetual darkness until he makes it out and sees Shadepaw waiting for him.
"She's right behind me - let's go!"
Though the words were coherent to Swanpaw, in reality, what Shadepaw heard was:
"Shishbehindmehgo!"
But the very dark brown tabby she-cat already knows to run with Swanpaw as Rosefoot appears from the thorn barrier, glaring at the two as they were far from her reach.
"Oh my StarClan! Oh my StarClan! Oh my StarClan!"
Swanpaw is visibly shaking as he makes it to the Greenleaf Twolegplace, and drops down on the ground with Shadepaw struggling to catch her breath as well.
"Thank Riverstar!" Shadepaw wheezes. "I shouldn't have gone first if I knew that was gonna happen, but I didn't think Rosefoot would catch up so quick."
"Don't remind me, please." Swanpaw whimpers. His brief encounter with the small, pinkish she-cat is still fresh in his mind.
"I don't think I'll sleep easy when we go back. My heart is shaking."
"You're okay, Swanpaw." Shadepaw said. "Even the Paw of Earth has to obey the borderlines."
The white tom's whimpers slowly turns into laughter, as he stands up and rubs his eye with his front paw. "I thought… she was gonna bury me in dirt! I was such a scared little minnow!"
Shadepaw purrs. "I'm glad you're feeling better. I probably would have fainted!"
Swanpaw is so caught up in his emotions, he failed to see Heronpaw and Perchpaw run up to them. Perchpaw squints at the two.
"What's so funny?"
While Swanpaw struggles to regain his composure, Shadepaw explains to the two toms what happened.
Heronpaw's eyes bug out when he looks at Swanpaw.
"Oh my StarClan, you ran into Rosefoot?!"
"You're making it up." Perchpaw protests.
Swanpaw growls softly, emotionally drained from the terrifying experience. Heronpaw notices this. "We should go back now… I'm gonna be dead on my paws in the morning."
"By the way…" Shadepaw looks over to Perchpaw, who shrinks under her gaze.
"How did you two handle things on your end?"
"Nothing!" Perchpaw yelps.
Heronpaw chuckles as he uses his shoulder to support Swanpaw. The four RiverClan apprentices cross the grassy slopes, back to their camp. In the small forest near WindClan, the Darkpool begins to swirl as the moon looms over it, blackened as the midnight sky.
A/N: Helloooo readers! I know it's a bit late to leave a note here, considering it's easier for me to post chapters without it, but! I still wanted to thank Fallenfrost and iDragonSpyro for reading and reviewing, as well as Iynne03. Also, thank you to Guest reviewer who pointed out that kittens don't get their eye color until a certain amount of time.
Considering the fact that I never grew up around newborn kittens to know this, it helps to know that. And it's also tells me to write it down or - and I guarantee you that I WILL forget it two days later!
Anyways... I wanted to do a little funny bit with Swanpaw actually having fun with cats his own age. It seems that near the end of Book 2 some of the readers want him to be happy, and I couldn't agree more. He just sorta grew on me more than I anticipated.
I look forward for more feedback in the future (and if I ever get to leave author notes on chapters again). I hope you have a great morning and weekend. ~ Kyubi