Wow, I total forgot to write for a long time. A total of two months, maybe, since the History Rewritten update and a total of 3 or so months since the last Dawnstar's Legacy update. So I'm sorry for a lack of updates. I didn't die nor did I forget about my stories. School started and this year is pretty loaded and I'm trying to dance around my emotions for stuff too, as well as my visual art stuff taking flight.
I might make this story into a comic one day! (Or I could get someone else to do it.) But it's going to happen, maybe not soon but it will happen and I will put a link to it in my story updates just for you guys because my readers are the ones who make stuff like this possible.
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The weak light of the early dawn slowly poked its way into the reeds. Dawnpaw shuddered slightly as she opened her eyes; the light blinding her. Awkwardly she stood up to her paws. Instinctively she looked for her mentor who was no longer lying beside her. Panic shook her mind and then faded when she noticed Timberclaw pushing through the reeds back towards her.
Thank StarClan he's come back!
Dawnpaw found herself padding up to the tom. She was so close to him that their whiskers could touch. Timberclaw set his emerald gaze warmly on his apprentice and Dawnpaw stared back at him. Suddenly she felt uncomfortable at her mentor's gesture so she stepped back. Dawnpaw could see minor surprise in his blinks as she retreated. Then, Timberclaw broke the fragile silence.
"Did you want to talk to me about last night?" He asked honestly and innocently. Dawnpaw's mind flashed with images: Breezepaw, Blackwing, Embersoul and the secrets they carried, her encounter with the ones she trusted at the lake, Jayfeather's message to her. Dawnpaw wanted to spill out everything that had happened to her in her moons as an apprentice. She wanted her mentor to comfort her and tell her everything would be fine and that she'd be a warrior soon. But the grey she cat held her tongue.
What if he doesn't believe me?
"No, I don't." Dawnpaw answered. Timberclaw blinked again, almost hurt at her tone. Dawnpaw looked at the ground shamefully.
"Will you ever tell me about it?"
Dawnpaw blinked at her mentor. Would she ever tell him? Would he even believe her if she did? What if he thought she was crazy and sent her to Leafstep for treatment? But what would he say if he actually did believe her story? What would StarClan do to her mentor? What would StarClan do to her for sharing their secrets? Dawnpaw mewed back quietly.
"I don't know."
Timberclaw sighed. Dawnpaw felt ashamed for not telling him the truth. She continued to stare at the ground, refusing to meet her mentor's eyes.
"We're going back. I already told Waterstar and Embersoul that we'd be back. Luckily, they seemed fine with it. Waterstar said we should "night train" more often."
Dawnpaw didn't bother responding. She couldn't find anything to say to Timberclaw. Shamed still smoldered in her belly.
I'm sorry Timberclaw. Please understand that I don't want StarClan to do anything to you.
The pair then pushed through the reeds together. The dew filled ground felt soothing to their paws as they walked. Dawnpaw unconsciously followed her mentor, too numb to find the way back herself. The tabby tom led the silvery she cat through the thick weeds and mud that splotched the territory. Every few steps he'd lead her away from the mud puddles or hold the reeds back with his tail so Dawnpaw could step through. The acts reminded Dawnpaw of her mother.
I'm not a kit anymore!
The apprentice didn't bother protesting, however. She at least owed Timberclaw the luxury of looking after her after hiding so much information from him.
I hope he isn't mad at me.
The silver and white she cat feared Timberclaw's anger more than she thought. Dawnpaw wasn't sure why, even though she was sure Timberclaw would never take his anger out completely on his apprentice.
Before Dawnpaw knew it, the pair entered the camp. Embersoul was at the entrance on guard and the dawn patrol padded past them on their way out. The rest of the camp slept, save for Waterstar and the deputy, Mossclaw. Timberclaw let Dawnpaw walk ahead of him. She idly passed by her father until he stopped to nuzzle her gently. She gave Embersoul a small smile and he smiled back her.
Thanks, dad.
Embersoul's fluffy, ginger and grey tail swept over Dawnpaw's pelt as if to say "you're welcome."
Dawnpaw looked back over her shoulder and waited for Timberclaw. Her dark amber gaze scanned over the scene of Embersoul talking quietly to Timberclaw! Dawnpaw was mildly surprised that her father stopped him. The grey she cat had never seen the two talk so intimately together; not since Timberclaw became a warrior.
Maybe Embersoul just wants to know how my training is going.
But then Dawnpaw cocked her ears back towards the two toms. She was too curious as to what they were saying to keep walking ahead of them. The grey cat could only pick up a few words and phrases, but she was sure that Embersoul said "you're the best cat for her." What did her father mean by "the best cat for her?" Dawnpaw was positive that her father referenced her and Timberclaw.
I guess he just approves of Timberclaw as my mentor, right?
The apprentice's thoughts were cut off when Timberclaw came up beside her once more.
"Go to your nest, I'll bring you some freshkill. At sunhigh we'll train some more, ok?" Timberclaw meowed. Dawnpaw nodded at him and headed to her nest. Mistpaw, Thunderpaw, Shinepaw and Hawkpaw were asleep in their mossy nests still. Rainpaw's nest was empty so Dawnpaw assumed she went on the dawn patrol.
Dawnpaw flopped down in her nest with a soft "fwoomp!" The familiar mossy air made Dawnpaw's eyelids droop. She almost dozed off when Hawkpaw opened his blue eyes and squeaked: "You're back!"
Dawnpaw resisted the urge to hiss as her denmate.
"Yes, I'm back." She said tersely. Hawkpaw continued to chatter.
"What was night training like? Did ShadowClan sneak on our territory? It's looks like they did. I bet you fought them off and sent them screeching back to their camp."
The silvery she cat purred in amusement at tawny tom's questions.
"I did. I even beat the deputy." Hawkpaw's eyes shone with admiration.
"Cool! We should do some battle training sometime together."
Dawnpaw nodded.
"Sounds good." She replied just as Timberclaw appeared with a bluegill for her. Icepelt pushed in beside him to get Thunderpaw up for training.
Timberclaw set the bluegill by Dawnpaw's nest. He purred when she thanked him. Icepelt snickered.
"You can't coddle your apprentice, Timberclaw." She said. Timberclaw looked back at his sister amused.
"She deserves it. She was out all night training," The tabby tom boasted, "She even fought off the ShadowClan deputy by herself."
Dawnpaw felt her chest warm at the thought of Timberclaw's pride. Then Thunder awoke and stared in disbelief at Timberclaw and then at Dawnpaw.
"She did what?!" Thunderpaw nearly yowled. Icepelt shouldered her apprentice outside of the den.
"She fought like a warrior. Now after today you'll be able to do that too. We need to get going, let's go Thunderpaw." Icepelt mewed flatly. Thunderpaw stole one last glance at his sister with hostility before he reluctantly followed Icepelt out of camp. Timberclaw replaced Dawnpaw's view soon after. He licked her forehead nuzzled her before leaving for his own nest in the warriors den.
The silvery she cat felt her fur grow hot.
I'm sure a lot of mentors care for their apprentices.
Ignoring the feeling, Dawnpaw drifted to sleep.
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Sunhigh blasted an unnatural heat into the leaf fall air when Dawnpaw followed Timberclaw to a stream. The grey apprentice panted. She was much more accustomed to the chillier air of leaf fall than the heat. But Timberclaw insisted that the warmth was a good thing, especially for hunting.
Warmth my tail. My fur's too thick for this.
"Come on," Timberclaw called to her, "The sun will make the fish come out of their nests."
The brown tabby waded into the stream. The water barely reached his mid-forelegs. Dawnpaw stepped into the water, welcoming its coolness. She looked at her mentor expectantly, waiting for him to tell her what they'd be doing today. While staring at him she marveled at how much larger and stronger he seemed up close. Dawnpaw thought he'd be a fierce opponent in a fight due to his build.
"We're going to work on our underwater movements today. Last time I noticed you were a little stiff." Timberclaw said. Dawnpaw nodded. She had felt stiffness in her limbs the last time they practiced. It made her feel clumsy in the water and slowed her down when she chased fish in the river. Timberclaw ventured deeper into the stream to a part where the water reached his belly fur. Dawnpaw waded after him and stood in front of her mentor. Timberclaw shot out a paw. Dawnpaw watched the speed of his movements.
How can I live up to that?
Timberclaw continued his moves by sweeping his paw back towards his body. He then looked at his apprentice.
"You try. Let the water flow with you, not against you. Struggling against the water is bad for movement."
Dawnpaw whipped out her own paw with surprising speed. This time she felt less stiffness and the water pushed on her fur much less. Then, Dawnpaw arched her foreleg and pulled her paw back. The water flowed over her fur erratically, causing drag and slowness.
"What did I do in the last part, Timberclaw? It felt funny." Dawnpaw meowed to her mentor. But Timberclaw didn't seem to hear her. Instead he was staring into space.
"Timberclaw?"
The tabby tom shook himself out of his trance.
"Are you ok?" Dawnpaw asked. Timberclaw look surprised at her concern.
"Yes, just thinking," he replied, "do that again I didn't see it."
Dawnpaw mimicked the move she performed prior. Timberclaw watched intently, noticing her mistake on the second half of the move.
"You need to put more power into it when your pull your paw back. That way the water won't flow over it so oddly."
Dawnpaw nodded and got back to practicing.
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After using the whole afternoon of training, Dawnpaw and Timberclaw returned to camp. After what seemed like ages or practicing individual water movements, Timberclaw insisted on putting the training to good use by hunting. The two cats dove underwater and drove out a school of carp. With quick kicks and slashes the pair killed three fish. Timberclaw had expressed his approval to Dawnpaw on the way back to camp.
"Well done today," he said, "You deserve to eat something. And find something for me too. I'll join you in a little bit." With that said, Timberclaw went off with a group of warriors discussing things that Dawnpaw didn't hear. The idle sounds of the warriors were quickly replaced by Hawkpaw's voice as he approached her with a frog in his mouth. He gazed admiringly at Dawnpaw.
"Want to share this with Shinepaw and me?" he asked, eyes hopeful. Dawnpaw felt guilty about her response that she was going to tell him. She shook her head.
"No thanks, but I will another day. Timberclaw asked me to share a fish with him already."
Dawnpaw sighed to herself when Hawkpaw drooped and padded back to his sister. Shinepaw gave a sympathetic glance over to her and then turned to eat.
I promise I will some other day, Hawkpaw.
Then Dawnpaw saw Timberclaw padding back to her. He smiled warmly at his apprentice. Dawnpaw could feel her pelt warming as she smiled back. The silvery she cat felt her guilt fade instantly.
"You picked a good one, carp is my favorite." Timberclaw said before tucking into the meat of the tail. Dawnpaw laughed a little.
"Is that why you made me chase after that school of them earlier?"
Timberclaw smirked.
"Maybe…" He trailed off. Dawnpaw swatted him playfully with her paw. Feeling her hunger, she too ate a bit of the fish. Surprisingly, the flavor was subtle. It was no wonder that Timberclaw liked carp. Dawnpaw took another bite and savored it. Timberclaw followed suit.
"I like carp too," Dawnpaw said, "it's different than other fish." Timberclaw looked at Dawnpaw.
"I'm glad you do. I'm glad to share this one with you."
Ignoring Timberclaw's comment, Dawnpaw finished off the rest of the fish. Timberclaw took the remains and discarded them. Dawnpaw sat up straighter and began to groom herself.
Much to her surprise, Timberclaw came and sat down next to her. Then he licked her pelt. The silvery she cat shuddered; startled by the action. She backed up slightly from the tom. Timberclaw almost looked hurt.
"I thought we could share tongues. We haven't in a while." Timberclaw pointed out and moved his fur unnaturally close to Dawnpaw's. This time Dawnpaw didn't move back.
"Ok." She mewed before running to groom her mentor's pelt.
Why am I so awkward about this? This isn't the first time we've done this?
Dawnpaw then let the heat soak into her pelt when Timberclaw licked her ears.