A/N: Here you go!
Chapter Three
Dawn rose and brought with it a Border Patrol to the secondary camp. Sparrowpaw found herself blearily peering up at the amused form of Blacktail when the calico Warrior nudged her awake. Her patrol partners for the morning, Deputy Foxtail and a silver tortoiseshell queen named Blossomheart (who was back on Warrior Duty now that her kits were four moons old) were murmuring quietly with Palestripe.
"Did you enjoy your first day as an apprentice, Sparrowpaw?" The kind calico queen asked; Sparrowpaw yawned and nodded.
"I can swim a little now," she informed the older she-cat. "And we found out that I can jump very high." Blacktail purred, whiskers lifting happily, before she leaned forward and licked Sparrowpaw's forehead affectionately.
"You'll be a Warrior in no time," the Warrior assured warmly, before Foxtail yowled, summoning the calico to her side. The three queens flicked their tails in fair well, before disappearing into the grass to continue their patrol.
"Come on, Sparrowpaw," Palestripe called with a yawn of his own. "We're going to catch our morning meal, and then go back to your swimming lessons for a little while." Sparrowpaw nodded and followed her mentor into the grass. Hunting was relatively easy in the mornings and the hottest parts of the day. Prey was slow and sleepy and looking for a resting place or food, which made them distracted. Thanks to this, it wasn't long before Sparrowpaw was leaping into the air and catching a bird, this time a thrush, while Palestripe chased his own meal a little ways away. Her meal caught, Sparrowpaw carried it quickly back to camp, waiting to see if her mentor had caught his prey, or if they'd be sharing for this morning.
"Nicely done, apprentice," the tom meowed when he returned, a strange, gray creature caught in his jaws. Sparrowpaw stared at it, ears arching forward in curiosity, and Palestripe dropped it in order to lick his paw for a moment. It was half his size, with large, dirty claws and tiny eyes; the nose pale pink and poking out like a beak from its dark gray form.
"Mole," Palestripe announced, looking pleased with himself. "The mouse I was hunting slipped away, but I caught the mole before it could dig back into its hole. They hunt bugs and worms, and live under ground," he informed the young tabby queen, who nodded slowly, before turning to her bird to begin eating. As interesting as the mole was, Sparrowpaw wasn't keen on eating something she'd never eaten before. She had a nice, plump thrush, so that's what she would stick with. Besides, the mole looked almost disturbingly like a rat, vole, and rabbit combined, and it was the farthest thing from "appetizing" as she could imagine so early in the morning.
They finished eating, and Sparrowpaw found herself once more ungracefully paddling through the water, sneezing every so often as water got in her nose. This time, Palestripe stayed out of the water, calling encouragements, suggestions, and orders from the bank. He had her swimming until almost sun-high, and, when she climbed onto the rocks to collapse, exhausted, he disappeared to go catch her a small bit of prey so she could eat before the two of them moved on.
A short nap and a mouse between the two of them, and Sparrowpaw found herself once more running along behind her mentor, stopping occasionally to learn about what they were passing.
"Do not, under any circumstances, eat those red berries, apprentice. They are called Death Berries for a reason, and it is an extremely painful reason."
"This bush is what marks the place where our creek becomes CreekClan's. If you swim past it, you're in their territory, and then you are, unfortunately, on your own. The Clan Comes Before Any One Cat. The Warrior Code must be followed… Of course, it is often ignored in this sense, especially between friends, kin, and others, but the Leader must always put the Clan first, so remember that before you do anything silly, Sparrowpaw, alright?"
"This side of this ravine is MeadowClan territory. The pool at the bottom, and everything else, is CreekClan. Don't go near the edge, apprentice. The fall won't kill you, but that pool is blue because it's fed from a spring, like the Star Pool. The cold will numb your body, and you'll drown. Only a CreekClan cat can survive it, and even then, not very often."
As they traveled along the border where MeadowClan met CreekClan, they passed a CreekClan patrol. The two groups paused and eyed each other from their Clan's side of small ravine that separated them at this section of the Border. Sparrowpaw watched the two cats warily, recognizing a mentor/apprentice pair. The mentor was a large white tome with orange splotches and red paws, his amber eyes sharp and suspicious as he and Palestripe eyed each other. The apprentice was a gray-and-white tom, and looked a little battered, most probably from battle-practice if his scratches and dusty fur was anything to go by. As she eyed him, his green eyes met hers, and the two looked one another over warily, scruffs rising warily, though they managed not to growl. It wasn't that Sparrowpaw didn't like the tom himself, as they had just met after all. No, it was simply the scent of muddy water that coated the young tom made her instinctively wary.
After all, CreekClan and MeadowClan had been enemies since their beginnings.
"…Redclaw," Palestripe finally mewed coolly, gold eyes hard and claws digging slightly into the ground. The larger, older tom gave a small nod.
"Palestripe," he responded, voice harsh with the edge of a growl, before he jerked his head towards his apprentice. "Apprentice Heronpaw." The gray-and-white tom nodded absently, still glaring at Sparrowpaw warily, and she narrowed her eyes as Palestripe brushed her shoulder with his tail.
"Apprentice Sparrowpaw," he said coldly; the two mentors continued to eye one another and the others apprentice, before they once again nodded to one another, hostility barely restrained, before the two groups parted way. Sparrowpaw found herself looked back, and her gray eyes met the green of the CreekClan apprentice, and the two young cats pinned their ears back at the same time and silently hissed, before turning away and running after their mentors.
"Redclaw is a senior CreekClan Warrior," Palestripe told the young tabby she-cat stiffly as they continued, leaping over a large rock as they moved along the Border. "While he and I do not have any personal history or grudges, we will never be able to get beyond what you just saw. I am both too young and inexperienced in battle for him to feel any connection, and he is far to cold and harsh for me to want to go beyond our… Situation." Sparrowpaw nodded silently in understanding, and the Warrior shook his own head, and tapped her shoulder with his tail affectionately. "Seeing the two of them, however, has reminded me that I need to start your battle training. So, tomorrow we'll start that, alright? Today is just learning the territory and dangers, alright?"
"Yes, Palestripe," the young tabby she-cat replied, and they continued onward.
They went to the edge of the Snake Pit, Palestripe making sure Sparrowpaw knew that she was not to go in there without at least two senior Warriors because of the dangers. They walked the Border between MeadowClan and the No-Clan territory on the edge, which led to Twoleg territory. They made a brief pass by the Junkyard Border, the barking and snarling of dogs making Sparrowpaw's fur stand on end and her back instinctively arch, before Palestripe led her safely away and towards the Main Camp. They made sure to catch a few birds and a plump mouse before they got back.
"Ah, they've returned!" an Elder exclaimed playfully, his orange-and-white fur tattered and thin in spots, gold eyes warm as he paused in licking the stump where his right hindpaw had been, before a badger had taken it while tom had been protecting his apprentice. Sparrowpaw's ears flicked up, whiskers lifting happily at the friendly, affectionate Elder.
"Hello, Lostfoot!" she purred, carrying the blackbird she'd caught over to the Elder. The other two Elders (a blind, all-brown queen with an age-grayed muzzle named Brownfur, and a deaf tabby tom with pale brown fur and abnormally large claws named Thornclaw) were both napping in the late afternoon sunlight. The orange-and-white Elder purred and coaxed her into laying with him, purring as he nibbled on her prey while she licked his tattered fur affectionately. The scent of the meal woke Brownfur, who crawled over shakily, limbs trembling weakly and a wheezing edge to her breathing. She was the oldest cat in the Clan, and would probably die this Leafbare, Sparrowpaw knew. Lostfoot didn't hesitate in sharing his meal with the old she-cat, and instead turned his head to start licking at Sparrowpaw's fur as the two of them cuddled affectionately.
"How are you enjoying the beginning of your apprentice training, Sparrowpaw?" Lostfoot meowed; Sparrowpaw purred, using her teeth and claws to carefully remove a twig that had tangled in the Elder's belly fur.
"Palestripe is an excellent mentor," she informed him honestly. "And I now know how to swim. Water is very unpleasant," she huffed, and Lostfoot gave several mrt sounds in amusement.
"That it is, kit," he purred, licking her cheek before rubbing the top of his head against hers warmly. "I am glad you are enjoying your training, though." Sparrowpaw bobbed her head, and got up to leave.
"Sparrowpaw," Brownfur croaked softly, and the young tabby mewed to show she was listening. "Would you be a dear and ask young Rainstorm for some poppy seeds for me? These old bones are aching terribly today," she sighed, and Sparrowpaw agreed, leaning forward and tenderly licking the Elder between her ears, before trotting off towards the medicine cat's working den, a large hole hidden by long tufts of bent grass.
"Rainstorm?" She mewed at the doorway, knowing better than to just push the curtain of grass aside and go in. A mew answered her, and the apprentice poked her head through, lifting her whiskers in happy greeting of the black tom. "Brownfur asked for some poppy seeds. She says her body in very pained today." The black medicine cat sighed and bobbed his head, gathering a few of the requested seeds into a leaf and setting it in front of Sparrowpaw, who purred her thanks and carried the leaf back to the Elders, staying and helping Brownfur eat them, before mewing her farewells and trotting off to find her brother.
"Sunpaw?" She meowed softly into the apprentice den, poking her head through the entrance. There was a black tom fast asleep near the middle of the den, who she recognized a Nightpaw, the oldest apprentice who would no doubt become a Warrior within the next moon or so. He wasn't one to play with kits, however, so she'd only met him a few times, enough to know he was a bit of a bully and pretty competitive. Seeing that, besides the tom, the den was empty, Sparrowpaw slipped away, wandering around the camp.
"Looking for your brother?" Stonefang meowed from behind her suddenly; Sparrowpaw turned quickly, startled, but then nodded to the senior Warrior. The massive gray tom lifted his whiskers in amusement, before flicking his tail at her in a "follow me" gesture, which Sparrowpaw obeyed. The large tom led her out of the camp and into a small clearing a little ways away, where th sound of tussling cats could be heard.
"Battle training," Stonefang rumbled as Sparrowpaw peered through the grass, watching as her brother's small yellow form was being easily tossed around by Rabbitfoot, and Grasspaw was struggling with the larger form of Deputy Foxtail, who was relentless in her attacks.
"Why aren't they fighting their own mentors?" Sparrowpaw asked curiously; Stonefang purred, his tail curling over to brush the young tabby's side in approval of the question.
"For several reasons," he rumbled calmly as Sunpaw was sent rolling through the grass, hopping up and lunging forward again. "For one, I am far to large for Sunpaw to even have a semblance of a chance, and, at this stage in his training, he needs to build confidence, so fighting an opponent closer to his size is best." Sparrowpaw nodded thoughtfully. "Foxtail always has a paw in assisting with Battle Training, so she is almost always involved. And Grasspaw's mentor Robinheart injured her paw while hunting today, stepping on a thorn, so she is unable to assist." Sparrowpaw nodded again, and blinked when Stonefang gave her an assessing look.
"Join the fight," he ordered; she blinked, startled. "Your comrades are being attacked by enemy cats. Assist them." Sparrowpaw hesitated briefly, before nodding. She turned assessing eyes on the "battle" in front of her, and decided assisting Grasspaw would be best. After all, Rabbitfoot was just tossing Sunpaw around. Foxtail was seriously and repeatedly pinning the gray apprentice to the ground, and leaving wounds, as small as they were. Slipping through the grass silently, ignoring Stonefang's eyes on her, following her progress though he didn't move. Once Sparrowpaw was in position, she crouched, remembering Palestripe's lessons on hunting and stalking an enemy. Shifting her weight, she silently focused on how high and far she'd have to jump, before her muscles tensed.
Like a spring-loaded weapon, she was suddenly airborne, lunging though the empty space and falling towards the Deputy. Foxtail noticed just in time, twisting her body and lunging away, making Sparrowpaw miss her target, but the tabby was already moving, lunging after the retreating Warrior, whose green-gold eyes narrowed. Again, Sparrowpaw missed as the Deputy dodged, only to get struck from the side by the older she-cat, hissing as she was sent rolling, managing to get her paws under her and jumping straight upwards in time to dodge another attack, using her tail to turn in mid-air so she was facing the older queen. So, she was taken by surprise when Rabbitfoot slammed into her, yowling as teeth dug into the fur over her shoulder, twisting against the grip to scratch at the Warriors side. Sunpaw appeared, moving to assist her, but Foxtail swatted him away before Grasspaw landed on her back.
Sparrowpaw managed to twist so that she was mostly facing Rabbitfoot, and the two of them started rolling around, hissing and spitting and yowling as clumps of fur flew and claws cut flesh, teeth taking hold and eyes narrowed in battle.
Before it could go from battle training into an actual fight, however, Stonefang caterwauled, loud and sharp, and the fighting cats quickly disengaged. Sparrowpaw was panting, pupils pinpricks and blood slowly dripping from multiple scratches. Grasspaw and Sunpaw didn't look much better, though the older apprentice had a nasty-looking scratch between her eyes that stopped at the tip of her nose. Rabbitfoot had a few bleeding scratches on her chest and shoulders from where Sparrowpaw had twisted in her teeth, but Foxtail looked almost completely wound free, with only a couple of thin, barely blood cuts on her right hip.
"Well-done, you three," Stonefang announced, nodding at the panting apprentices. "You all need improvement, some more than others, but that will be left up to your mentors, who will be given a report on your actions here." He turned his eyes on the two Warriors, and bowed his head respectively. "Thank you for the assistance in their training, Foxtail, Rabbitfoot."
"It was a pleasure, Stonefang," Rabbitfoot purred, licking at her chest absently; Foxtail sniffed, her namesake tail swishing in irritation, but nodded her head in acknowledgement. With that, she disappeared back towards camp, and Stonefang herded the apprentices and Rabbitfoot to the medicine den.
"Rainstorm," the massive Warrior meowed clearly, poking his head through the curtains without waiting for any acknowledgement. "Battle training patients," he said into the den, and an aggravated hiss sounded from within as Stonefang pulled back, the black medicine cat stepping out with narrowed gold eyes and dust darkening his white chest. He gave the three apprentices and injured Warrior a once over, and hissed again, irritated.
"You three, in the den," he ordered, his tail lashing into the direction of the den. The three obeyed without hesitation, knowing better than to question the moody cat's orders. The only cats in MeadowClan who could get Rainstorm to back down or at least be pleasant, were WhisperStar (who had grown up with the cat), Stonefang (who was his most frequent patient), and Softtail (A black-and-white queen with a long, fluffy tail and gold eyes, because she was his sister). As they settled in the soft nest inside the den, and began to lick their own and each other's wounds, Sparrowpaw absently kept an ear turned towards the opening, listening to the cats outside.
"It's been a while since you were in my care, Rabbitfoot," Rainstorm meowed thoughtfully, no doubt examining the she-cat's wounds. "I wouldn't think it was because an apprentice, especially one of ours!"
"We've a strong litter this moon," the Warrior mewed in response, hissing in pain as Rainstorm did something. "The little tabby did this. She's a wily one," the queen meowed, sounding completely approving. "Had my teeth in her scruff and she just twisted like a fish and nearly pinned me. A little more training for her, and she'll be ready for proper patrols." Sparrowpaw felt her fur puff up proudly, and purred as she went back to cleaning her wounds.
"Well, either way," Rainstorm continued, mews muffled as Rabbitfoot hissed again. "There. You're good to go, though you need to be resting until the bleeding stops naturally. Stonefang, escort her to her den, please?"
"Of course," the massive cat rumbled, and, moments later, Rainstorm was slinking through the curtain and beginning to patch the three apprentices up, cobwebs being placed on wounds and dabbed at lightly to stop the bleeding.
"No brawling with the Warriors for at least a week, you three," he ordered once he was finished. "Training and hunting is fine, but I don't want you to tussle with any of our cats, alright?"
"Yes, Rainstorm," the three of them mewed together meekly, making the black tom huff and chase them out with a few well-placed swats, muttering about kits.
"You heard the tom," Sunpaw announced, stretching carefully with a yawn. "I saw we go to bed." Sparrowpaw agreed, but Grasspaw decided to go and check on the Nursery and see if they needed anything. The siblings bid their friend farewell, and entered the apprentice den, Sunpaw crawling into his nest near the front, while Sparrowpaw quickly slipped through to the very back, where it was coolest. Crawling into her nest, she sighed happily, yawning as she curled there, her tail lying over her nose as she slowly closed her eyes, hoping that the rest of her apprenticeship continued to be as satisfying, before drifting off to sleep with a slow, soft purr.
A/N: And there's chapter three. Whoot~!