Chapter Five
So... oof.
My computer tried to rebel against living, but I fixed it. SO NOW I can finally update haha cri. You'll be getting two chapters today!
And quick explanation thingy:
This takes place long before The Prophecies Begin and after Skyclan left. And before the Dark Forest in a way. You'll see. I hope.
And Spiderclaw has been introduced yeee! (If anyone wants to submit a cat for the clans, I'd use them as long as they aren't Starstar or something!)
- -Brownfur/Nostalgia Claws
Echopaw was not good at fighting.
She stood shakily, pine needles stuck to her pelt. "Did I do better that time?"
Ashenspots grimaced, worried for his small apprentice. "Well, you didn't knock yourself into the tree," He meowed. "One last time."
Echopaw sighed. Her and Ashenspots had been practicing the moves he taught her since sunrise, and it was almost sunhigh now. She padded forwards, a tail-length away from her mentor, and crouched, ready for impact. Ashenspots launched himself at Echopaw, paws out stretched but claws sheathed.
"Roll!" He hissed, as he began to ram into Echopaw. The brown she-cat twisted as Ashenspots' paws pushed her. She rolled, missing Ashenspots' attack completely.
"Hey," she stood shakily, "I did it!" Echopaw waved her tail.
"You did!" Ashenspots mewed. "But there's much, much harder things we need to learn," he blinked sympathetically. "But what do you say we get something to eat?"
"From the prey pile?"
"From the forest." Ashenspots smiled. "You did well enough yesterday."
Echopaw bounded into the woods. "Let's go!"
Echopaw's fur brushed against the thorn tunnel as she came into Shadowclan's camp, a mouse in her jaws. Ashenspots was close behind her and was carrying his large crow and a lizard.
They lay their catch on the prey-pile, which was now rather full.
"There's been an unusually large amount of prey for the start of leafbare, hasn't there?"
Echopaw whirled around to see a long-furred grey she-cat behind her.
"Did I startle you? Sorry. I'm Spiderclaw," She meowed. "I saw you yesterday and the day before, but I haven't talked to you yet."
"It's fine." Echopaw smoothed her pelt down.
Spiderclaw nonchalantly brushed past Ashenspots and Echopaw and grabbed a mouse.
Ashenspots nodded to Echopaw. "You can eat now." He sat with his crow and turned to Spiderclaw. "I hope this good leaffall means a good leafbare as well."
"Yeah, I'm worried about my herb stores, though. Like every year." Spiderclaw mewed.
"Are you a medicine cat?" Echopaw asked the grey she-cat.
"Yes. I only just got my medicine cat name last moon, though." Spiderclaw finished her mouse and stood. "Well, it's been nice chatting, but I should check on Ebonypool's kits now." She flicked her tail in farewell and walked into the nursery.
Echopaw picked up a mouse from the prey-pile and padded over to where Thawpaw and Rapidpaw were eating.
"Come sit down!" Rapidpaw mewed, her lizard barely touched. "I was just telling Thawpaw about how hunting was today!"
Thawpaw gave Echopaw an overdramatic exasperated look and shrugged.
"Okay," Echopaw grinned.
"So I saw this huge mouse, like, huge huge! Like the length of my tail! And it was laying under the bracken, completely unknowing I was behind it. But when I stepped forwards-"
"Oh hush, Rapidpaw," Greenleap mewed lightheartedly, passing by the apprentices. "You're supposed to be going on this battle training lesson."
Rapidpaw abandoned her lizard and raced past Greenleap towards her mentor. "Well, at least she's done talking." The brown-black warrior followed the apprentice.
"Finally we can have a few words to ourselves," Thawpaw meowed.
"Her and Birchpaw are rather loud, aren't they?" Echopaw asked.
"They've gotten better the older they've gotten. I bet in a moon they'll be almost normal."
Echopaw twitched her tail in amusement.
Rapidpaw shook a feather from his finch and blinked strangely at Echopaw. "Are you going on the border patrol at dawn? Thistlerash said you might be coming."
"Yes. But I don't think I have anything else to do tonight."
Rapidpaw finished his finch and looked up. "Want to play?"
"Sure!"
Echopaw stared up at the barely rising moon in the center of camp. Thawpaw had already gone to sleep, and she knew she should be too. Rapidpaw and Birchpaw were play-fighting with Speckledkit by the nursery.
"You should be getting to bed if you're going on a dawn patrol," Fawnflight's warm meow came from behind Echopaw.
"I will."
The cinnamon-toned she-cat rasped a tongue over Echopaw's ear. "Let's go."
The brown and white apprentice followed Fawnflight into the apprentice den and lay down in her nest.
"Goodnight, darling," Fawnflight whispered and left the den.
Echopaw found herself in the same forest clearing as she was the night before, ferns curling around her paws and the sky cleared than the brook.
"Ah. Darling, you're here."
Brackenflower stood at the edge of the clearing, near where the forest grew thick. She flicked her long-furred tail.
"Mama? Where is this place?" Echopaw ran to the spirit of her mother and peered past her into the woods.
"We're at forest edge now. Camp is this way." Brackenflower turned tail and padded into the dark forest. Echopaw raced after her, and slowly the sky was blocked out by the trees and everything was black except her mother's dark glow.
Then Brackenflower veered down a fern-ridden path, and light filled the woods again.
Echopaw gaped around. "Why are there glowing plants?" She meowed, gazing at a clump of blue gleaming mushrooms. All around were bioluminescent mushrooms, casting pale light into the forest.
"No one remembers when they first started growing. The Blueglows seem to always have been here." Brackenflower said bluntly.
"But-" Echopaw began.
"Hush. Just follow." The calico cat weaves her way through the tunnel-like path of the forest until she came upon a hollow. The leaves completely covered the sky, but the glowing blue mushrooms coated the clearing in a blue light. Dark glowing cats chatted and shared tongues around a huge pool in the center of the clearing. There were dens made of woven vines and moss, which cats came in and out of.
Brambleflower padded towards the other cats near the pool.
A darkly glittering she-cat was the first to come near. "Brambleflower, who is this?" She had a tortoiseshell pelt with warm amber eyes.
"I'm Echopaw."
The she-cat dipped head and smiled. "I'm Specklednose. Welcome to Forestclan." Suddenly, a lilac brown young cat bounded over, more cats slowly coming behind.
"Another apprentice in Forestclan so soon?" She mewed happily. "I'm Primroseclaw!" Her blue eyes were dark and starry, and her form translucent.
Echopaw was confused, but waited to ask questions. "I'm Echopaw."
"Oh, Brambleflower's kit?" Primroseclaw glanced at where the calico she-cat sat behind them.
"Yes." Brambleflower meowed.
Echopaw padded over to her mother. "Mama, I thought this was Starclan," she whispered.
"Starclan?" A young grey and white tom cat laughed, trotting over to Echopaw. "We do more than Starclan ever does. I'm Zephyrfoot. And I know you must be Echokit."
"Echopaw." She corrected. "What does Forestclan do?"
Zephyrfoot barely was a head taller than Echopaw, she noticed as he stepped closer. "I think you mean Echoclaw. We're dead cats who don't live in Starclan. Some of us did bad things for good reasons. Some of us did more bad than good. We like to help cats who Starclan won't."
Brambleflower nodded. "Apprentices here are given claw instead of paw."
"We usually help cats develop their skills, like hunting or fighting, or even medicine cat training. Most of the cats we train become leaders or deputies." Specklednose meowed.
Echopaw- Echoclaw, she corrected herself, twitched her tail. "Will you help me?"
Brambleflower scoffed. "Why would I bring you here if it weren't to train? We just need to wait until Blizzardstar comes."
Zephyrfoot, Specklednose, and Primroseclaw all dispersed into the camp, and as Brambleflower sat back away from Echopaw, the apprentice saw a group of cats walking in from one edge of the camp.
One cat there was much brighter and solid than the dark spirits around it. Solid... And real?
"Why is that cat bright?" Echopaw pointed her paw towards the cat in the distance.
Brackenflower flicked her gaze to the figure. "That's Swallowskies."
"But why are they bright?"
"She's as alive as you."
Alive? The cat separated from her group, along with a huge grey spirit cat.
Brambleflower swatted Echopaw on the shoulder and ran to greet them.
Echopaw winced and followed.
"Well, you brought Echoclaw." Blizzardstar meowed coolly. "She looks just right."
"She looks like a frail leaf, ready to crumble!" Brambleflower spat. "Now do you realize my confusion?"
Swallowskies was a tall red and silver calico with shredded ears and dark eyes. Her thick fur was pierced with scars all down her back. "Not out here." She hissed.
Blizzardstar lifted Echopaw by her scruff as if she was a feather. Swallowskies watched as the rest of the cats left the camp by a small, vine-covered tunnel and came out into a riverbank. The adult cats waded through the shallow water across the middle of the river onto a large flat stone.
Zephyrfoot was already waiting there for them. Blizzardstar dropped Echopaw gently onto the cool stone.
"Echoclaw is the cat I wanted, Brambleflower," the tall grey tom said slowly.
Echopaw's mother hissed. "Whisperkit was better for this. He was stronger, smarter, and already wanted to learn to fight!"
Echopaw pressed her ears to the side of her head, fear and shame squeezing her chest. Memories of her mother screaming at nothing the same words, the same argument came back to her.
"Instead you wanted this fragile thing!" Brambleflower snarled.
"Whisperkit was a natural at everything we can teach Echoclaw. But he wouldn't be able to do what he needs to do." Blizzardstar meowed. "Calm, Brambleflower. You will have your revenge. Zephyrfoot and I will take over training Echoclaw. You won't even have to see her."
Echopaw had pressed herself into the shadows, keeping herself as small as possible. Brambleflower was seething.
"Fine! I just wanted what we all want! This is the last time I bring her here! You'll have to do it yourself!" Brambleflower raced back into the camp tunnel.
Zephyrfoot turned to Echopaw. "Well. That went much better than expected. I thought she would kill you."
Mama wouldn't.
Mama would.
Blizzardstar smiled at Echopaw's convulsed face. "Brambleflower will come around. Now, you need to wake up. It's time for your patrol."
Echopaw woke up with a gasp.
- -Brownfur/Nostalgia Claws