Chapter 5
"I asked if you were enjoying the view," he growled. Duskpaw swallowed. His eyes became even narrower slits. He unsheathed his claws and stepped forward. Duskpaw stepped back. "Who are you?" he asked when she didn't answer his other question.
"Duskpaw," she answered, her voice a squeak. The tom brightened almost immediately.
"Your one of the kits that came to our camp," he mewed. She nodded. "You're finally an apprentice huh?" he mewed. Duskpaw wasn't sure if that was a question so she didn't answer. "How do you like training?" he continued.
"Uhg it's awful. My mentor is a mean old fur ball and he's very rude," she sighed. Realizing what she had said she slapped her mouth closed. He didn't seem to notice.
"So you got Blackice," he commented.
"No. My mentor is Twigshade," she corrected him. His eyes widened.
"You're going to be the medicine cat," he gasped. She nodded proudly. By now she had forgotten that he was supposed to be her enemy. "Wow," he breathed. "My mentor is Whaletooth. He's great."
"Who are you?" Duskpaw asked realizing she didn't know his name.
"I'm Roarpaw," he answered casually, as if he was talking to his bestfriend. "Didn't you have a sister?" he asked.
"Yep, Silverpaw. She's great. Her mentor is Paletree and they might take me on a tour tomorrow," she purred happily.
"What does she look like?" he asked. His voice had taken on a new tone and Duskpaw wasn't sure she liked it. He seemed far too interested in her sister. She looked at the sun. It was already sinking behind the trees.
"Oh I'm sorry but I should probably get back," she mewed backing away as she talked. Roarpaw nodded.
"Oh well see you at the gathering then," he called as she backed into the trees. When Duskpaw was in the cover of the trees she took off towards camp. Bursting out from in between the mossy rocks she slowed to a walk. Most of the clan had retired to their dens already but a few were still outside. They waved greetings to her as she walked to her den.
Walking to her nest she curled up in the soft moss. Twigshade was already asleep across from her, his chest slowly rising and falling as he breathed. Duskpaw sighed and closed her eyes. Silently she drifted to sleep.
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Silverpaw stretched sleepily. She had slept well last night and she wasn't eager to start training. Looking around the den she could see Snowypaw's empty nest. He must have been on the dawn patrol. Yawning tiredly she rose to her paws and left the den.
Shardclaw was sitting on the roots of the White Tree ordering patrols. As Silverpaw left the den Tundrafoot charged by leading a hunting patrol. Silverpaw dipped her head to them as they passed. Turing back to the White Tree she scanned the crowd for Paletree. There. She was sitting next to her mate, Blackice.
"Paletree," she mewed as she approached her. Paletree looked up at her. "What are we doing today?" she asked.
"Now that you're up I'm going to teach you the hunters crouch," she mewed. Telling Blackice good bye she headed to the entrance. Silverpaw followed her. The woods were quiet, the only sound was snow slipping off the branches of the trees. The sun had just risen and gave the snow a rosy glow.
"This is the training area," Paletree said stopping at a large patch of lichen. Silverpaw stepped closer and saw it was a whole field of lichen. Stepping forward she felt the soft squishy plant under her paws.
"Cool," she breathed. Paletree smiled at her.
"Now this," she crouched down, "is the hunter's crouch." Her tail was straight out and her legs were nicely bent. Her stomach fur just barely brushed the ground. Silent as the falling snow she crept forward. Silverpaw studied her every movement, wanting to master the move. "Now you try," Paletree ordered, rising to her paws.
Silverpaw crouched down and stuck out her tail. She tried to lightly brush her belly fur against the snow but she ended up driving her whole stomach into the ground. She gasped at the cold and leapt to her paws.
"It's cold," she gasped. Paletree purred in amusement.
"Try again," she ordered. Silverpaw crouched again but this time didn't bother to let her belly fur brush the ground. She glanced at Paletree. She looked pleased. "Good job. Try and stalk now," she ordered. Silverpaw lifted her paws and stalked forward. Paletree nodded. "Well done," she praised.
"Can I try it for real now?" she asked.
"Not yet," Paletree answered. Silverpaw looked down in disappointment. "I just want to see how you leap first," she mewed quickly. Silverpaw nodded. Determinedly she crouched down again and stalked forward. Focusing on a fallen leaf she leapt forward. Her forepaws landed directly on top of it.
"Well done Silverpaw. That was amazing. You may hunt now," Paletree praised her apprentice. Silverpaw grinned as she headed into the woods. She was going to be the best warrior Frostclan had ever seen!
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Duskpaw pawed at the dead herbs in the back of the storage. Twigshade had gone out to collect more comfrey and had told her to clear out the dead herbs while he was gone. Completely bored she scratched the herbs out of their holes. She sighed as she swept them out the entrance with her tail.
Silverpaw was out hunting and she was cleaning the den. That wasn't fair. I should have been a warrior, she thought. Tugging out the last of the dead marigold she stuffed the live herbs back into their storage areas.
Duskpaw trudged to the back of the den and broke the thin layer of ice over the pool at the back and dipped her paws in. The cold water sent chills up her legs but she cleaned her paws in it anyways. Licking her paws dry she walked out of the den.
The camp was deserted. Most of the clan was out on patrols, in fact the only other cats that Duskpaw could see was Lichenheart and her kits playing outside the nursery. Still feeling bored Duskpaw walked into the woods. She walked till she found a dry spot in a pool of sunlight.
Curling up in the warmth she thought about her apprenticeship. It was so boring was it really what she wanted to do? Her thoughts went back to her conversation with Roarpaw. He had been so impressed when she told him her mentor was Twigshade. Did it really seem that cool? Shrugging she closed her eyes and tried to go to sleep.
"Help," the voice woke Duskpaw from her sleep. "Help," it cried. She recognized it in an instant. Silverpaw! Leaping to her paws she charged towards the cry.
"Silverpaw," she yelled. Her scent was already becoming stronger. "Silverpaw she cried when she burst through the trees to where her sister was.
Silverpaw was crouched in front of a tree. Her eyes wide with terror and her fur brushed up. Duskpaw looked around for what was threatening her but saw nothing. Worriedly she approached her sister.
"What's wrong?" she asked. Her voice was gentle and soothing but Silverpaw flinched at the sound. Looking up at her with horror filled eyes she lifted a paw and pointed across the clearing. Duskpaw followed where she pointing and saw Snowypaw's mangled body laying under a bush.
"Oh Starclan," she whispered. "Why did you take him?" she asked quietly. Just them she heard a low moan coming from him. He was alive!
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Twigshade was crouched over Snowypaw. His eyes looked dark and sad. Leaning forward he looked at his twisted body. Silverpaw watched him quietly. After Duskpaw had roused her from her state of terror they had carried his body back to camp. Luckily Twigshade had returned and was able to look at him.
Paletree was crouched next to her, staring at her son with tears in her eyes. Silverpaw brushed against her comfortingly. She was worried about Snowypaw too. Duskpaw glanced aver at them. She disappeared into the shadows. When she returned she was carrying some tiny black seeds on her paw.
"Here," she whispered. "Eat these." She dropped the seeds in front of them then returned to Twigshade's side. Paletree licked up the seeds then returned to watching Snowypaw. Silverpaw didn't touch them. She wasn't interested in medicine, she just wanted Snowypaw to be okay.
After a while Twigshade whispered something to Duskpaw and she went back to the shadows. She came back with a bundle of herbs in her mouth. Twigshade began to chew them up while Duskpaw opened Snowypaw's mouth. Carefully Twigshade pushed the herbs down Snowypaw's throat.
Next he motioned something to Duskpaw and grabbed Snowypaw's leg. Duskpaw layed down on him and Twigshade yanked on Snowypaw's leg. It straightened. He moved to the nxt leg and the next until they were all straight. Then he placed a stick next to each leg and Duskpaw wrapped spider webs around it so that it would stay on.
Finally Twigshade turned to them. "I've done all I can. It's up to Starclan now," he mewed quietly. Paletree nodded without a word. Silently she got to her paws and left. Silverpaw lingered. Glancing at Duskpaw she motioned to Snowypaw. She nodded.
Silverpaw rose to her paws and walked to Snowypaw. Silver tears fell from her eyes as she buried her nose in his fur. Starclan let him live, she prayed. Then her nose touched something. It was warm and wet. Blood. Silverpaw sprung back.
"He's bleeding," she gasped. Duskpaw parted his fur and gasped in surprise.
"He is bleeding. These are claw wounds. Snowypaw was attacked," she mewed. Twigshade stepped closer to inspect him.
"These are from cat claws," he whispered. Twigshade raised his head and looked at them. "A cat attacked Snowypaw," he mewed darkly. Silverpaw felt cold fear clawed her heart. Someone had tried to kill Snowypaw!
A/N:
Well what did you think? That's no filling chapter. It's getting interesting now. Well anyways no one told me who they like better so please do that. And I'd like to point out that my document has page breaks but it doesn't download so I had to do something else. Sorry. Now please review, it really keeps me going. Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.