A/N: And with this sixth and final chapter, we come to the end of our little marathon. I hope you all enjoyed the steady flow of content these past two weeks, and as a reminder, this chapter is technically not plot relevant. It was just something I wrote as a bonus of sorts to help lighten the mood from the rather dour ending to the previous chapter while also getting to do another one-shot about Oakpaw. Feel more than free to skip it if you want.
Composure
An abrupt and thunderous flash of pain exploded against Oakpaw's side, sending the towering tabby into a collapsing heap of brown fur onto the forest floor. There was a booming thud as he crumbled that reverberated slight tremors shifting through the earth, sending a sizable cloud of dirt and dust airborne. It sprinkled down, raining gravel and dark specs over his felled form. He groaned, feeling a tight constriction in his chest that made breathing difficult.
It was as if he'd just been bludgeoned by a badger, the pain was so staggering to bare. A flicker of bright red and yellow dots danced at the corners of his vision, partially leaving him dazed. With a grunt of exertion, he rolled over to a hunched position, taking deep and prolonged gulps of air in an effort to regain his breath. Every inhalation was like a thousand tiny pricks of claws along his flank. Despite the blinding pain, tumbling from such a height in the tree above had bruised more than just his body.
Staring up into the canopy of trees, he could only watch in dismay the visage of a darkened puff of fur fleeting higher into the sanctity of the treetops. And just like that, poof, his catch was gone.
Shaking his head wearily, Oakpaw wobbly climbed back to his paws, his fur a frazzled and infested mess of crumbled leaves and stained grass, as he rose to his full height. He winced at a slight creak in his bones as the brunt of his full weight bared down on them. It was just his luck that the day was already conspiring against him. Just once he'd like the sun to shine favor upon him.
A noise like incessant sneezing began echoing around him. Oakpaw's eyes darted around the forest, ears angled outward, in an effort to pinpoint the source. He did a complete sweep of the area, spinning around in a complete circle, before finally locking sight onto a nearby bush.
Heartbeats later, a dark brown tabby fell from out of it near close to hysterics. He lie on his back, paws straight up in the air, laughing in an obnoxious manner that reminded Oakpaw vividly of a wheezing elder. He recognized the tom immediately and almost reflexively his face twisted into an annoyed scowl.
"What do you want, Adderpaw?" Oakpaw nearly spat out his name.
Like himself, Adderpaw was one of BoulderClan's apprentices and a particularly ever present thorn in Oakpaw's side. To say they were on good terms was akin to exclaiming the sky was a hue of yellow or that cats could breathe underwater.
Adderpaw climbed to his paws after eventually running his own laughter thin. Even still, he couldn't keep his whiskers from twitching with obvious mirth as he met Oakpaw's irritated expression. Just the sight of him sent his fur bristling. It took everything inside of Oakpaw to not reach out and cuff him and his smug face right over the head.
"You just don't know when to quit, do you?" Adderpaw mewed, grinning widely at him. "How many has it been now, Oakpaw? Four, maybe five times that you've fell out of a tree?" He shook his head as though baffled. "Maybe take the hint, huh? You're way too big and clumsy to be up there."
Oakpaw's scowl deepened. His already frayed patience was quickly evaporating the longer Adderpaw remained in his presence. It was embarrassing enough to have failed capturing a squirrel, but another for Adderpaw to have been the one of all other cats to see it happen.
"If you're just here to harass me, I suggest you leave now," he growled irritably. "I'm really not in the mood today."
Adderpaw's grin widened a bit more. "Well, lucky for me then I actually have a reason to be here other than just laughing at you. An order went out for all of the younger apprentices to meet in the training grounds. I was told to inform you so you can go and find Cedarpaw. You two were the only ones missing from camp when it was issued."
"They couldn't have sent literally anyone else to say this?" Oakpaw asked in exasperation.
"They could have, but I volunteered to do it," Adderpaw snipped back, the grin still plastered across his face. "Try not to trip over those badger paws of yours on the way to the training grounds. You might shake the ground worse than you did after that fall."
With that parting jeer he turned tail and darted off into the forest, echoes of his odd sneeze sounding laughter carrying after him. Oakpaw watched glaringly as he went, his fur burning hot with frustration.
"Smug, sniveling piece of fox-dung," he grumbled under his breath.
As if his day hadn't started off poorly enough already. He cast a final fleeting look up into the treetops again where his lost catch had vanished. Pushing the growing disappointment down, Oakpaw released a tired sigh and began padding away, realigning his attention now to finding Cedarpaw.
Last he'd seen her was earlier in the day, brimming around camp about swimming. A not too significant distance away on the outskirts of the forest lie a small remote lake. Knowing her, Oakpaw guessed she'd likely gone there in the spirit of exploring or something. He picked up the pace on his running. The lake was still far enough that if he didn't hurry there was a huge chance they'd get in trouble for being late.
An image of Adderpaw's smug face flashed through his mind at the thought of showing up late. Oakpaw narrowed his eyes. Like I'd ever give him the satisfaction.
Oakpaw broke from the clearing of trees to stand atop a slight ledge, overlooking the scenery of the lake below. Light refracted off of the clear surface, giving it the impression of hundreds of sparkling stars in the water. Scanning around the lakeside for Cedarpaw, Oakpaw instead caught sight of a different cat.
Fernpaw's cream fur stood out prominently in the sunlight. She sat alone by the bank of the lake, appearing to simply be staring at the water. In any other circumstance it would've been weird to see the medicine cat apprentice here, if Oakpaw hadn't remembered she and Cedarpaw were friends. Her being here surely then meant Cedarpaw was nearby.
Fernpaw's head rose from the water's surface at the sound of his approaching pawsteps. She darted her eyes nervously in his direction before frantically looking away the moment he tried making eye contact. There was a slight fidget to her movements as he came to tower several tail lengths over her. Her gaze remained downcast the entire while.
"H-Hi, Oakpaw," she greeted meekly. Her voice was low and airy, like listening to a soft breeze.
"I'm looking for Cedarpaw," he mewed. "Have you seen her?"
"She–she's down there," she lightly intoned, making some sort of indiscernible motion with her head jut then. He wasn't sure if that her was attempt at helping or just a part of her fidgeting.
"Where?"
"The lake," Fernpaw said. "She's at the bottom of the lake."
"What?!" he cried out in a blaring tone, which in turn caused Fernpaw to dart back, wincing painfully. Her eyes grew wide as double full moons, pure panic pooling from them in waves. "Why?" he demanded of her, fangs partially flashing. "Why would you let her do something like that? She could be dead right now for all we know!"
"Sh-she said she saw something. There's something at the bottom of the lake, so she swam down there to see if she could get it."
"Cedarpaw says a lot of things. That doesn't mean you actually let her do any of it!"
Fernpaw was essentially cowering from him at this point, but in his anger Oakpaw didn't notice just how uncomfortable he was making her. He dwarfed her considerably, making for an intimidating figure that engulfed her entire body twice over.
"Oakpaw, are you giving Fernpaw a hard time?" a familiar voice called out to him.
Fur drenched and plastered to her body, Cedarpaw stood less than a couple foxlengths away from them, appearing completely fine. At some point during him talking she must've broken the surface of the water and waded her way onto land. Oakpaw turned from Fernpaw to fully face her and watched as Cedarpaw's eyes widened.
"What in the stars happened to you?" She asked, casting a look up and down his body. "You look awful."
"I fell," he deadpanned. She stared at him. "It was a tree," he admitted. Cedarpaw continued staring. "It was a big tree, okay? I'm fine now, don't worry about it."
He didn't need her fussing over him. The lingering embarrassment from earlier was more than enough. Cedarpaw peered curiously into his eyes while slightly tilting her head to side as droplets of water fell from her face.
"Okay, what's wrong? You're being even more surly than usual."
"I am not," he huffed. "Besides it's not important. We've gotta go. There was an order for the younger apprentices to meet in–."
"Has he been like this since he got here?" Cedarpaw asked, abruptly turning to address Fernpaw.
"Uh, a bit, maybe," she hastily murmured, shooting worried glances in his direction.
"I thought so," Cedarpaw mewed, nodding. "Don't to take it to heart, okay? He's really just a giant grumpy furball."
And as if to emphasize her point, Cedarpaw then slapped one of her soggy paws onto his side. There was an audible squish as it connected and Oakpaw immediately glared at her while she simply flashed a playful smile back. Fernpaw's eyes darted between the two of them.
"Well, if you say so," she replied, though the uncertainty was still clear in her tone. "Oh!" Fernpaw suddenly exclaimed, seeming to remember something else. "Cedarpaw, did you find what you were looking for?"
Cedarpaw's eyes lit up like a kit. "Yep!"
She excitedly scampered away for a moment to return heartbeats later carrying a pure white stone before plopping it down in front of them.
"It was shinning," she told Oakpaw, her face brimming brightly as she did. "And look, touch it. See how smooth it feels!"
Fernpaw padded forward and did as she asked, rubbing her paw across the top of the stone. Her expression changed to one of surprise, staring at Cedarpaw in mild awe, who in turn smiled giddily back at her. He'd seen enough.
"Look, I'm sure your stone is probably more interesting than me, Cedarpaw, but I did come here for a reason," Oakpaw said, finally drawing the two she-cats attention onto him. "The younger apprentices are suppose to meet up in the training grounds right now. That includes you. So dry up and let's go."
Cedarpaw turned to look at Fernpaw then. "I guess I gotta go for now," she mewed cheerily. "Wanna walk back halfway with us so you can get to camp?"
Fernpaw politely shook her head. "No, I'll be fine. I need to grab some herbs for Dewdrop before heading back, anyway. See you guys later."
For what took longer than he felt it should've, Oakpaw was finally on his way with Cedarpaw to the training grounds. They'd parted with Fernpaw and were making haste to arrive in a reasonable enough of time.
"Did you really need to bring that with you?" he said to Cedarpaw, glancing to the top of her head.
Before they'd properly left the lake, Cedarpaw had insisted upon bringing her new found stone. Displaying more than double the amount of dexterity and balance he possessed, she'd made it so the stone now resided firmly on her head. It didn't budge even the slightest as they ran.
"It's my treasure," she mewed back. "I can't just leave it behind."
Oakpaw sighed. He knew the futility in trying to reason with Cedarpaw over stuff like this. If she wanted to bring it then let her.
"Oh, and there they are," a voice greeted the pair of them entering the training grounds.
Oakpaw immediately spotted a line of seven cats assembled in tandem, all looking in their direction. Adderpaw was instantly noticeable from the group, being that he was snidely mouthing something at him that Oakpaw couldn't make out, but knew was most likely a taunt of some kind.
He ignored the tabby with extreme prejudice, instead turning to direct his attention at the warrior that had spoken when he and Cedarpaw had come padding in. He dipped his head at once to the glossy gray tom in respect.
"Sorry if we're late, Crowflight."
Crowflight was one of the fairly newer additions to BoulderClan's ranks as a warrior, and a tom that Oakpaw happened to respect quite a lot. Unlike a lot of the older warriors in camp he was, by far, the easiest one of the bunch to approach. He knew how to be attentive and receptive, which in turn made him a bit of a favorite among the apprentices.
Crowflight gave an easy shake of his head, smiling goodnaturedly at him. "Not at all, Oakpaw. You and Cedarpaw actually got here just as I was about to start. Why don't you join the others in line and I'll get to the lesson."
He and Cedarpaw obeyed at once, falling right into line beside the rest of the apprentices. Together, they all stood neatly in one row awaiting patiently for Crowflight to begin. The gray warrior padded in front of them.
"Before we can properly begin, I have a question that needs to be answered," he mewed. "Who here can tell me what the most important asset a warrior should have is? Hint: it's something that several of you gravely lack."
"Focus!" Adderpaw shouted eagerly, sneaking a side glance at Cedarpaw, who was currently engrossed with the stone on her head.
The smugness in his tone was bare. Anger flared through Oakpaw then and he turned, his mouth curled mid-sneer, to snap on the tom. Pulling from the dredges the vilest thing he could say then, Oakpaw readied a sharp barb when Cedarpaw shot him a knowing look and shook her head, briefly smiling. So she was paying attention.
He bit his tongue, smothering the burning urge to verbally unload on Adderpaw. Unfortunately, if she was fine with it he'd have to drop it, regardless of how much it infuriated him to do so.
"Close," Crowflight said. "Very close in fact. Focus is incredibly important, if not the second most important thing you should have. There's something else just above it, though. Anyone else want to take a guess as to what?"
"Composure."
A ripple of surprise spread across the line of apprentices. Even Oakpaw felt a momentary flash of awe at the response. A slew of perplexed eyeballs zoned in on Cedarpaw, who absentmindedly continued to tilt and balance the stone on her head, the complete depiction of indifference.
Crowflight nodded in satisfaction, shooting a pleased grin in the she-cat's direction. "Precisely, Cedarpaw. Excellent response. How well can you keep a cool head under duress? Patience without composure means nothing. You might as well be standing around panicking for all the good it'll do you."
"How in stars did you know that?" he whispered to her.
"Wasn't it obvious?" Cedarpaw replied.
Not for him it was. If he'd been forced to answer, his planned response was patience being the most important asset.
"Today we're going to test just that and see how well the lot of you perform," Crowflight continued. "It's apprentices versus warriors. Search and rescue. Kits have been taken by a rival Clan and it's up to you to track down and save them while defending against the opposition."
"Sounds easy enough," Brackenpaw said, speaking up from the line.
Crowflight grinned at him. "Who said that was all?" A sea of uncertain looks passed between the apprentices. "You won't just be facing us–you'll have each other to contend with as well. Three teams of three, and we'll be picking leaders for each one." He turned his back suddenly on them to indicate to a weird clump of sticks, protruding from the ground in the far back corner of the area. "You see those?" he mewed. "Whichever of you three pick longest stick are those that will be chosen."
Oakpaw's stomach churned. Great, two things he was terrible at–competition and teamwork. This couldn't possibly end well for him.
One at a time, Crowflight would randomly call up a cat and have them pull a stick up from out of the ground before returning to line with it. Cedarpaw was just returning back to the group with a particularly small stick, no wider than her own face, when Crowflight called out the next name.
"Oakpaw, you're up!"
He felt subconscious walking out in front of everyone, knowing their eyes were on him. The faster he grabbed a stick the sooner he'd be back out of the center of attention. Oakpaw padded over to the clump of sticks and immediately grabbed the nearest one to him. He pulled it out of the ground without looking and headed back to his spot in line next to Cedarpaw.
"All right!" Crowflight mewed, after the last of the sticks had been taken. "Let's see which of you will be our three leaders." His eyes began tracking across the line. "Brackenpaw!" he mewed. "Pinepaw! And finally...Oakpaw! The three of you step forward, you're our leaders."
The stick clattered from Oakpaw's agape mouth and his heartbeat begin racing madly. Him? Another churning in his stomach made him feel as if he was going to be sick.
"Oakpaw, what's the hold up?" Crowflight called, snapping him out of his daze. "Come on, let's go."
Starting to feel the eyes of the other apprentices on him again, Oakpaw hurriedly moved forward to join Crowflight and the other two apprentices. He stood next to Brackenpaw who was by Pinepaw.
"Before we get to choosing teams I'd like to explain a few things you should know. On the CloudClan border is where the lost kit is located. It'll more or less be a race there, but believe me when I say it won't end that easily. You'll be running from one end of the forest to the next, to reach the SwampClan border with the kit first, thereby winning. In the midst of that, however, you'll need to fend off the warriors who are stationed throughout the forest waiting to ambush you while also contending with rival teams. Leaders, choose your cats wisely."
Brackenpaw and Pinepaw both gave Crowflight a nod of understanding while Oakpaw did his best to keep his frazzled nerves under control.
"Crowflight," he whispered quickly, trying to avoid the attention of the others. "Could I possibly switch with someone else?"
The warrior turned to him in surprise. "Switch? Why would you want to do that?"
"I just think there's probably someone better suited for the position than me."
"Oakpaw, the point of this exercise is to place you in an unfamiliar and uncomfortable situation," Crowflight explained, quietly. "Your reluctance is even more of a reason why you should have this position. Don't run from it, meet it head on." And then he raised his voice so that now everyone in the training grounds could hear him. "Oakpaw, you have the first pick of the six remaining apprentices. Make your choice."
He hesitated, standing there completely dumbstruck unable to formulate words. Crowflight gave him a slight nod, as though silently encouraging him forward. Oakpaw looked towards the line of six apprentices standing before him.
"Cedarpaw."
Her name was the only one he could think of in such a distressing moment. He looked towards her with pleading eyes, trying to silently communicate for help, but unfortunately Cedarpaw's gaze wasn't even on him.
Her attention lie upward to the stone on top of her head, completely focused on keeping it perfectly balanced. When her name was called she didn't even look his way. Padding forward, her eyes stayed attached to the stone all the way until she finally stood beside him.
"Brackenpaw, choose yours," Crowflight ordered.
"Adderpaw," he stated at once.
It was a strong first pick. Despite Oakpaw's personal opinion of him, Adderpaw happened to be one of the fastest apprentices in BoulderClan. Brackenpaw was smart enough to know someone like him would be invaluable to have in such a situation. Fox-dung, he cursed inwardly. It was only now he realized how horribly he'd already messed up. No thought had been put into picking Cedarpaw first. He'd simply panicked.
Adderpaw strutted his way across the training grounds, his demeanor radiating with confidence at having been one of the first cats chosen. He gave Brackenpaw a nod of acknowledgment before sliding in along side him. From there Pinepaw chose Mistpaw, one of the best trackers in camp. And just like that it was suddenly his turn again.
"Only three left now," Crowflight mewed. "These are your final picks, so be mindful of how it affects your group dynamic."
Oakpaw stared at the remaining trio. His brain was whirling mad, trying to produce double effort now that he knew to build his team accordingly. What was valuable? What did his team need contend with rival warriors and apprentices? Strength? Intelligence? There were just so many options to choose from.
"Swiftpaw would be pretty good," Cedarpaw casually remarked. "He's really quick, ya know."
That was true, he thought. Oakpaw's eyes scoured the line to land on the slender silver grey tom. He may not be the most physically imposing of cats, but someone as agile as him would do wonders for their group.
"Swiftpaw," he called.
Before Swiftpaw had taken less than a total of five pawsteps from the line, Brackenpaw's voice was already calling out to pick his final cat.
"Duskpaw."
Oakpaw fumed inside. Fox-dung! That was another great pick by him. Duskpaw was one of the most adept fighter's in the Clan. He'd be a big threat to anybody there not on Brackenpaw's side. That left just one. Pinepaw picked Rabbitpaw. Much like Adderpaw and Swiftpaw, he was a quick cat in his own right, though possibly not as fast as the other two.
"And that's it!" Crowflight called. "Before we start the exercise officially I'll give you all a moment to prepare yourselves. Remember, this is meant to test your ability to think on the fly and maintain your sense of selves in a high pressure situation. As a reminder, claws are to be sheathed at all times. You may fight if you have to, but never with the attempt to genuinely harm–only to escape."
"What does the kit look like we're searching for?" Brackenpaw asked. "You never specified."
The bottom of Crowflight face split into a long smile. "That'll be up to you to find out," he mewed while giving a playful wink. "Just head for the CloudClan border. I'm sure one of you will spot it."
Crowflight allowed them space to talk amongst themselves. Pinepaw was already huddled up with Mistpaw and Rabbitpaw, most likely talking over strategy, their heads close together. Oakpaw turned to his team of Cedarpaw, who was still playing around with the stone on her head and Swiftpaw who–.
"Tough break there, Swiftpaw," Adderpaw remarked, sardonically to the grey tom. His mischievous grin that Oakpaw found so infuriating had made an appearance again. "Not like you would've had much chance on Pinepaw's group either, but it definitely would've been better than paired up with badger paws and stone-brain there."
He nodded his head to indicate Oakpaw as 'badger paws', and Cedarpaw as 'stone-brain'. Swiftpaw simply rolled his eyes, more or less dismissing the taunting remarks, but something popped in Oakpaw. Adderpaw had spent the better part of the day taking snide stabs. If it'd only been at his expense Oakpaw might've let it pass by, but he'd chosen to include Cedarpaw one too many times.
"Will you just shut up!" Oakpaw demanded, angrily. He moved to stand directly in front of Adderpaw, utilizing the full brunt of his size for all it was worth. "If for no other reason I'll make sure we win today just to rub your nose in it."
The dark brown tabby's nostrils flared boisterously with contempt then as he stared at him with a domineering glare in his dark eyes. "How about a wager then, huh? Loser has to take over tick duty for the other for an entire moon."
"Knock it off, Adderpaw," Brackenpaw warned. He'd noticed the squabble brewing between the two of them and inserted himself. "This is gonna be hard enough without you adding some mousebrain stipulation."
He shot a stern look in Adderpaw's direction, who reluctantly started to back off.
"Fine then, I accept."
Both apprentices suddenly turned to stare at Oakpaw. Even Swiftpaw's eyes appeared to widen, hearing Oakpaw's declaration. He boldly met Adderpaw's eyes, daring him to take the challenge. Adderpaw seemed to flounder about in front of him like a fish on land before rediscovering some of his old confidence.
He snorted loudly at him. "You better not complain when we win then!"
"I can't believe I just did that," Oakpaw moaned aloud, his face partially buried in the dirt.
"Why do you let Adderpaw rile you up so easily?" Cedarpaw asked, for once not focused on her stone. "He only does it because he's knows you'll react."
Now that she pointed it out it seemed even more obvious now that he'd been baited. After agreeing to the wager with Adderpaw, their respective groups had spread apart to talk and plan amongst themselves. The instant Oakpaw got out of ear shot of anything Adderpaw could've possibly heard, he instantly slammed his face into the ground.
He was a mousebrain of the highest order. If leading a group hadn't been difficult enough, he'd had to go and make it even worse. Should he lose now, instead of just being momentarily embarrassed for a bit, he was now guaranteed full on humiliation. Adderpaw would never let him live this down. Oakpaw could just envision that smug grin of his everyday for a moon straight. He'd lost before it even started.
"It's already over," he groaned. "It–."
Cedarpaw suddenly nuzzled her face in the side of his neck.
"What are you doing?" Oakpaw exclaimed.
He pushed Cedarpaw away from him. His pelt was fluffed out, alight and tingling with embarrassment.
"You're my good luck, remember? Gotta make sure it rubs off on me. In fact everyone should. Come on," she mewed to Swiftpaw, grinning. "Let's group up and rub on Oakpaw!"
"Touch me and you're dead!" he growled. He glowered in Swiftpaw's direction, daring him to try.
Oakpaw felt a sharp flick to his left ear. "Stop being rude, Oakpaw," Cedarpaw lightly chastised. "That's not how you lead a team."
"I didn't ask to lead it in the first place," he grumbled. Cedarpaw looked him in the face for a long moment. "What?" he asked, starting to feel uncomfortable.
"Sit down," she mewed simply.
"For what? I don't understand–."
"Oakpaw, just sit."
He hesitated, unsure of what she was planning. Cedarpaw's expression gave nothing away. With some reluctance, he did as he was told and sat down in front of her.
"Good," she mewed. "Now, Oakpaw, I want you to stop worrying about everything's that going on and just focus on the stone on my head."
"Cedarpaw, I–" he began, before she shot him a disapproving stare.
"No, talking. I just want you to listen and pay attention. Now, back to the stone. See how it stays completely still on my head?" she indicated to the motionless white stone. "That's because it's unbothered. There's nothing to disrupt it. Now I want you to lower your head."
Oakpaw did as he was told, and in one fell swoop of motion Cedarpaw slid the stone that was on her head directly onto his. Less than a heartbeat later the stone toppled from his head, clattering to the ground. Cedarpaw gave him a knowing look.
"See?" she mewed. "It fell right off as soon as it landed on your head. It can't balance in place if its foundation is unstable. No matter what, it'll fall off every time until the problem's fixed. Do you understand?"
Oakpaw released a deep sigh, feeling some of tension lessen in his body. "Sorry," he mewed, looking apologetically from Cedarpaw to Swiftpaw. "I do understand."
It'd taken doing things in her own way, but Cedarpaw's message had ultimately gotten through. Oakpaw released another deep sigh. He needed to clear his head. Take it simple, he told himself. He'd been chosen to lead this group, so he should do the bare minimum and at least try.
"Better?" Cedarpaw asked, a tiny smile playing at her lips.
He nodded. "Yeah, thanks. I think I can work out something now."
"Leaders, ready your teams!" Crowflight's voice carried throughout the training grounds. "The exercise will begin on my call. Remember, first team to make it to the SwampClan border with the kit wins!"
"We haven't prepared anything!" Oakpaw said in horrified realization.
"It should be fine," Cedarpaw replied, bending down to return the stone to the top of her head. "We'll just go with the flow and see what happens. Right, Swiftpaw?"
The grey tom nodded in compliance. "Yeah, I'm starting to think this team of ours will probably do better heading in without one." He winked in Oakpaw's direction, which caused the tabby to sheepishly look away.
He didn't deserve to have these two on his team. That much was clear to him. Despite his rueful nature throughout, they were both still choosing to support him in their own ways, even when he'd done nothing to deserve it. It'd be a traversty if he didn't do something to return that goodwill.
"Ready yourselves," Crowflight commanded. "Good luck everyone, and go!"
The pace was a lot more frantic than he could've originally predicted. At once every trio began a mad dash through the trees, soaring across the underbrush as though they'd grown wings. Brackenpaw's group was clearly in the lead, a decent few foxlengths ahead of everyone else.
"Look out!" came a sudden cry from Brackenpaw up ahead.
His trio of him, Adderpaw, and Duskpaw suddenly split apart just in time to avoid the pounce of a warrior that'd jumped from the side of a tree trunk. Heartbeats later they reassembled and continued running.
"Head right, head right!" Oakpaw urged to Cedarpaw and Swiftpaw.
They followed his word and circled the far outside of the warrior, keeping a wide berth. Crowflight wasn't joking, he realized. There really were warriors waiting to ambush them. Weighing his options, Oakpaw decided to keep them on the far outside from the straight forward path through to the CloudClan border. It'd mean they'd most likely show up last to everyone else, but also meant that he'd keep the three of them safe if he did.
Occasionally they would catch snippets of or see flashes of warriors jumping out to slowdown the other groups. Oakpaw stayed true to his intuition and kept them on the outskirts far away from the commotion.
"Trees are clearing up ahead," Swiftpaw remarked. "CloudClan border should be near."
Moments later they exited the cover of trees and out into the open. The CloudClan border reside no more than a couple of foxlengths away, but that wasn't what he was focused on. Where, he wondered. Where is it?
His eyes darted around the surrounding area, catching glimpses of Brackenpaw and Pinepaw's groups already present and searching. Even with the interruptions by the warriors, they'd still managed to beat them there.
"Spread out and search," he told Cedarpaw and Swiftpaw. "Keep an eye out for anything that even remotely looks like a kit."
He began scouring through the grass. Oakpaw wished he had more to go on than just 'something that looks like a kit', but Crowflight had obviously kept it a secret on purpose. Whomever of them managed to get ahold of it first would be in a strong position.
"There!" a sudden cry went out.
Several pairs of heads shot up from looking in the grass to see Mistpaw excitedly indicating to something.
"Pinepaw, I found it! It's a mossball covered in cat hair!"
"Mousebrain, why are you blurting that out loud!" Pinpaw exclaimed. "Don't talk. Grab it and run!"
"Adderpaw! Duskpaw! Move on her!" Brackenpaw commanded.
In the split of an instant chaos had ensued. He watched as paws and fur flailed left and right while frozen in place unable to react himself. Should he get involved or wait for a chance. Swiftpaw was at his side looking to him for some sort of response, but Oakpaw had none to offer.
There was a sudden break in the action as Duskpaw toppled over Mistpaw. A yowl escaped her mouth, which in the same breath made it so the mossball fell out. Movement like a snake with the eyes of a hawk Adderpaw snatched it up and began dashing away.
"Keep going!" Brackenpaw urged. "Duskpaw and I will run interference for you."
With a nod of his head he signaled for Duskpaw to follow, and the two of them began running after Adderpaw's swiftly retreating form.
"It's not over!" Pinepaw said to Rabbitpaw and Mistpaw. "The warriors will slow them down while we catch up."
Rallied on by their leader's cry the trio dashed after Brackenpaw's group.
"We're following them, right?" Swiftpaw asked, looking to him expectantly.
"Oh, uh, yeah!" Oakpaw clumsily replied. He nodded to both of them. "Let's go!"
Getting the mossball wouldn't be the difficult part, Oakpaw realized as they ran. They could wait for another scuffle to ensue and probably get control over it. No, for them the issue was on how they'd be able to keep it. The very instance that everyone knew Mistpaw had it her and her team were completely overwhelmed by Brackenpaw's group. They were clearly the biggest threat among them.
In terms of combat and strategy, like making it so the fastest cat on the team held possession of the mossball, it'd be extremely difficult to match them by sheer force. Especially not with his current group. Swiftpaw was quick, but undersized unlike Adderpaw. They could easily muscle him around, if need be. In regards to himself, he wasn't half the combatant either Brackenpaw or Duskpaw were. They'd both run circles around him. And as for Cedarpar, well...
Oakpaw glanced to his left side where Cedarpaw ran alongside. She was matching his stride with ease while also somehow managing to keep the stone she'd had this entire time firmly on her head. His eyes lingered on the white stone and in that same moment the image of the mossball formed in his head. The faintest beginnings of an idea begin to form.
"Cedarpaw?" he called to her. "Do you trust me?"
Cedarpaw's eyes flicked to his face and she smiled brightly. "I trust you."
Oakpaw nodded and then turned to Swiftpaw. "Who's quicker, you or Adderpaw?"
"Me, of course," Swiftpaw answered back without an ounce of hesitation or embarrassment.
Oakpaw grinned at him. "Good, because I'll need you to prove it. Listen both of you, I've got an idea."
It was somewhere around the midpoint to the SwampCLan border that they spotted Brackenpaw's group. Pinepaw's group was directly behind them, doing their best to get close to Adderpaw who was way up front. However, with every attempt they made there would be either Brackenpaw or Duskpaw to shove them back, thereby creating the ultimate two cat defense around him.
"Just like we went over," Oakpaw mewed to Swiftpaw and Cedarpaw. "The moment I go, I want both of you charging head-down right into him."
They both gave silent nods of confirmation, and now Oakpaw could only hope he wouldn't embarrass himself. There was still the shadow of the wager to worry about in the back of his mind, but for the most part his attention only focused on doing what was necessary.
Just before them Adderpaw seemed to skirt off course of the main path. He and the others realized a instant later as the heavy paw of warrior just flew a few whiskers above his head. Adderpaw had enough agility in that moment to duck the strike, but in the effort to do so had slowed himself down considerably. His eyes locked firmly onto his back. There was no better time this.
Dropping his head down, Oakpaw began running faster and let out a battle cry. The sudden shout was enough to startle all the cats ahead of him who reflexively all turned around only to moments later be toppled over by his wild charge. He cleared straight through the entire of Pinepaw's group, and continuing on with his momentum followed up by completely felling Brackenpaw and Duskpaw.
He felt the air rush from both of their bodies as the entire cluster of the three of them clattered to the ground. Swiftpaw and Cedarpaw darted past a heartbeat, both of their heads down in similar positions, charging straight for Adderpaw. Brackenpaw opened his mouth to issue a warning just a bit too late. They both slammed into him, and together fell to the ground.
Swiftpaw suddenly stood triumphantly with something dark clasped firmly in his jaws.
"Go!" Oakpaw shouted. "Run straight to the border with it!"
He didn't need to be told twice. Swiftpaw dashed off, kicking up gravel as he went. Adderpaw struggled to his paws and visibly bared his fangs in frustration at having been relieved of the mossball.
"Chase him down!" Brackenpaw growled out before forcibly pushing Oakpaw off of him. "Duskpaw and I will circle around the outside to cut him off."
Adderpaw shot off like a bolt of lightning, quickly gaining on Swiftpaw's lead on him.
Oakpaw looked towards Cedarpaw. "Follow Adderpaw! I'll make my way there as fast as I can."
Cedarpaw met his eyes for a brief heartbeat before quickly following after the two speeding toms. Duskpaw was to his paws along with Brackenpaw, and together they immediately ran off to the side from where the others had went in an effort to made good on Brackenpaw's plan.
Oakpaw had to wait to recollect his bearings the instant he stood up. Using his head to ramp several cats at once hadn't been one of his brighter ideas, but in utilizing the full brunt of his size it'd accomplished its desired effect. Moving a bit woozily, he began headed down the main path, the one in which Swiftpaw, Adderpaw, and Cedarpaw had taken.
He couldn't leave Swiftpaw to get swarmed by them before he made it to the border. That'd ruin everything. Oakpaw pushed his body to move as quickly as it could muster after being slammed through five cats. It wasn't much farther to the SwampClan border. Hopefully Swiftpaw was as fast as he said and could actually hold out.
Pinepaw, Rabbitpaw, and Mistpaw suddenly rushed passed him. They'd finally recovered from his surprise attack and were back on trail. Even after all of that they weren't willing to give up.
Oakpaw knew he was lagging behind. His body felt tapped for energy, as if a ravenous leech had taken ahold of him. Frustrating as it was, he had to admit to himself this was probably the extent of what he could give. Even still, however, he continued to push on. He had to see it to the end.
His paws began to cross over familiar grassland that he knew was specifically located by the SwampClan border. Straining his eyes up ahead, Oakpaw thought he could just make out the silver grey hue of Swiftpaw's pelt. He was nearly there. Just directly behind him though, he could tell was Adderpaw.
With a final desperate lunge, he caught sight of Adderpaw leap for Swiftpaw, catching just the bare ends of his haunches and tripping the tom to the ground.
"He's dropped it!" shouted Adderpaw's exhausted voice.
Suddenly, Brackenpaw was there with Duskpaw beside him, seemingly having materialzed from thin air.
"Keep the rest at bay and I'll win it!" he could hear Brackenpaw shout clearly.
Oakpaw saw Brackenpaw swoop down and grab the mossball from wherever Swiftpaw had dropped it and began running for the border less than four or five foxlengths away. Following Brackenpaw's words to the exact point, Duskpaw stood as barrier between him and the rest of them. It wouldn't matter if he hadn't though. None of them would ever catch them.
Brackenpaw came to a full halt in front of the border where, surprisingly, stood Crowflight. Oakpaw hadn't even noticed the warrior there. Brackenpaw placed the ball at the gray warriors and tiredly looked up to meet his gaze.
"Finished!" he exclaimed with a depleted huff.
"Hear that, Oakpaw?" Adderpaw mewed, grinning at him as he came padding over to check on Swiftpaw. "We won. That's an entire moon of extra tick for–."
"What in the stars is this?" came the confused voice of Crowflight.
The grin left Adderpaw's face as he and everyone else present turned to view Crowflight and Brackenpaw. The gray warrior was crouched over, inspecting the mossball with a inquisitive eye. Reaching out a paw, he scrapped some of the moss and dirt off of it to unveil something white underneath. He tapped it twice with the tip of his claw.
"Is this a stone?" he mewed aloud, puzzlement clear in his tone.
Brackenpaw's expression was one of absolute disbelief. "I don't understand. How–."
He stopped speaking suddenly and the sight of Cedarpaw walking right up to him and Crowflight. Without a word to either of them she hunched over, and with a single cough retched a mossball out onto the ground.
Oakpaw that oppritunity then to direct a smug grin of his own at Adderpaw. "You were saying?"
Oakpaw, Cedarpaw, and Swiftpaw lie standing in front of Crowflight. The exercise had been called to an end with their group as the victor, and Crowflight had sent the rest of the apprentices on ahead back to camp while he addressed them.
"That was an admirable ploy there, you three," he began slowly, catching each of their eye as he spoke, "but what you did today only worked because of the circumstances in play. You'd never getaway with it otherwise."
"I know," Oakpaw answered, honestly. "In a situation that involved real kits, Brackenpaw's plan would've been the one that worked. A thought occurred to me, so I just ran with it and just took advantage of the rules you set out for us."
Crowflight's face bloomed into a smile and he gave an approving nod. "Good, that's the kind of stuff I expect to hear from you more, Oakpaw. You have a great inventive mind. Don't let your best asset become your biggest hindrance."
"Yes, Crowflight," he mewed with a respectful dip of his head. "I can't take even most of the credit, though. If not for Swiftpaw's quickness on top of being able to fool everyone else, and Cedarpaw's stone used as a decoy with her being able to swallow the mossball before anyone noticed, we'd never have been able to pull this off. I owe them for putting up with me today."
Cedarpaw's eyes brightened like the night sky. "Do you actually mean that?"
Oakpaw recognized that look in her eyes anywhere. However, it was a little too late to take back his original statement now.
"Okay, what do you want?" he asked.
"For you to properly apologize to Fernpaw for shouting at her earlier." Oakpaw started to nod his head, but Cedarpaw wasn't finished yet. "And," she continued. "After that, tomorrow you have to come exploring with us at the lake. No complaints and no trying to leave early either. You're there for the entire time."
It'd been awhile since she'd been able to lure him away somewhere to play. Seizing her moment when he least expected, Cedarpaw had pounced on top of a golden opportunity and wasn't letting go.
He released a exasperated sigh before turning to look at Swiftpaw. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to come too?"
If Cedarpaw was going to insist on making him come, he might as well try to make it more of a group affair. Swiftpaw seemed to consider it.
"Sure, why not," he mewed with a slight smile.
Oakpaw turned back to Cedarpaw. "I guess that's a yes from me then."
Her expression brightened twofold then and she flashed the most infectious smile he'd seen from her in over a moon. Unable to help himself Oakpaw flashed one back as well.