Aaaa chapter five (man when it goes to monday no chapters will be cranked out like the last few days ;U;)
This one's kinda short too, but it's got some things essential to plot in it c:
Please review! It really helps me as an author.
Stoatpaw hated dreaming. He never seemed to have any good ones.
Like for instance, the one he had right after the gathering. Hundreds upon hundreds of cats, towering over him. They wre all mocking and jeering at him, and no matter how much he ran away from them, they always got closer
"Chubby little apprentice!"
"Too slow to even run away!"
"He'll never be a true warrior like Tigerpaw!"
He felt himself floating in midair, then falling as the laughter closed around him. It was everywhere, and so was the darkness.
And he kept falling.
When Stoatpaw awoke, he noticed two things.
The first was that his bed was wet. He found out it was because he was crying.
The second was that Tigerpaw was gone.
Scrambling to his paws, he leapt out of the apprentics's den, looking around wildly. He saw Vixenleg and Rowanleap chatting over a vole; Mossfang was organizing patrols; Wheatstar was half hidden in the Leader's Pool, her green eyes cast over the camp. But no Tigerpaw.
He spotted Leafclaw coming out of the warrior's den. "Leafclaw!" he shouted, running up to his mentor. Leafclaw spun around, his eyes brightening when he saw his apprentice.
"Stoatpaw! You're up!" he exclaimed, looking down at his frantic apprentice. "I was just about to go and get you so we could meet Tigerpaw and Shiningeyes for training practice."
Phew. Stoatpaw was relieved. He received quite a shock when he didn't see Tigerpaw asleep next to him. He nodded to Leafclaw, and the two made it out of the cave, albeit slowly thanks to Stoatpaw.
They made it to their little clearing, and as soon as they met up, Leafclaw and Shiningeyes paired them for a battle. Stoatpaw flinched at the words; he wasn't ready to fight!
He wasn't sure what scared him the most: the fact that the two mentors were instructing their apprentices how to fight, or the fact that Tigerpaw was completely calm throughout the whole battle. Needless to say, Stoatpaw was left in a crushing defeat.
"Stoatpaw, don't get mad! Get back up on your feet!" Leafclaw shouted, and the chubby apprentice got to his feet clumsily. Shiningeyes shouted almost immediately, "Tigerpaw, strike now!"
Stoatpaw hadn't even known what'd happened, but all of a sudden there was a shriek of pain and Tigerpaw darted back. Stoatpaw was crouched down and his claws were unsheathed. He was breathing heavily, watching as blood trickled down his claws and onto his paw. He looked at Tigerpaw, who was whimpering and holding his head.
A sick feeling grew in Stoatpaw's stomach as well as a feeling of isgust and horror. "Oh Starclan, Tigerpaw, I'm so sorry- I-I didn't know what to do, I-I-"
"Stoatpaw, this is why we keep our claws sheathed!" Leafclaw shouted, rushing to the two apprentices. He ran up to Tigerpaw. "Tigerpaw, are you okay? How bad is the injury?"
To Stoatpaw's horror and/or surprise, Tigerpaw lifted his head with twinkling eyes, a nasty gash in his right ear. "I'm fine, Leafclaw! I've got my first battle scar! C'mon Stoatpaw, let's try that again!"
Despite Leafclaw and Shiningeyes's blatant looks of apprehension, the two brothers practiced their warrior moves, this time with claws sheathed. Tigerpaw won a majority of the fights, and Stoatpaw almost one a few.
Going back to the cave at sunset, Stoatpaw felt horrible. He'd nicked his brother in the ear, been scolded by Leafclaw, and his weight was really concerning him. He seemed to be getting bigger each day!
To combat his sadness, he proceeded to eat three mice for dinner. He knew he shouldn't have and the food could've gone to the elders, but he was feeling so miserable that he needed to eat them.
"Good training, today!" Tigerpaw's friendly meow sounded outside the apprentice's den, and Stoatpaw felt the air shift as his brother settled in next to him. "You really took a lot outta my ear. Darkseed said it'd take weeks to heal!"
A dim, achy feeling grew in Stoatpaw's stomach, and he wanted to cry. He didn't like how Tigerpaw was being so nice abiut the whole situation when it was obvious that Stoatpaw didn't feel nice about it.
"Stoatpaw? You okay?"
"'M fine." Stoatpaw grumbled, tucking his head beneath his paws as he closed his eyes tightly.
"... Oh, okay. Well, I hope you-"
A shriek sounded outside, and the two brothers lifted their heads, eyes wide and ears straight up. Tigerpaw stood up. "What was that?" he asked himself. Stoatpaw was at a loss of words when there was another shriek.
"Brambleoak is kitting!"
Tigerpaw and Stoatpaw exchanged glances. They then rushed out of the apprentice's den, only to be met with a cacophany of noise as cats all around were asking questions and regaling about past kittings. Darkseed was amidst the turmoil, running back and forth between the nursery and his den frantically. Leafclaw was waiting outside the nursery, his body shaking in anticipation. Stoatpaw's face showed bewilderment; he'd never imagined his mentor like this.
Stoatpaw and Tigerpaw watched all of the ruckus until quiet settled among the clan as Darkseed emerged from the den. He looked across the clan and smiled a crooked smile.
"Brambleoak has become a wonderful mother to three beautiful kits. Leafclaw, would you like to step inside?" he asked, smiling crookedly at the tom. Stoatpaw reasoned it was because Darkseed never smiled a lot, so his facial muscles were unsused to the feeling.
Leafclaw disappeared into the nursery, and the clan cheered before dispersing. New kits! Stoatpaw and Tigerpaw exchanged glances, before turning back towards the apprentce's den.
"Man, having kits seems like so much work!" Tigerpaw exclaimed, looking down at Stoatpaw as he settled into his nest. "What do you think, Stoatpaw?"
"... Kits would be a bit of a hassle." Tigerpaw snorted, curling into his nest and closing his eyes.
Stoatpaw lifted his head to glance at Tigerpaw. He was starting to get lean, and tiny, tiny muscles poked from underneath his pelt, even though it'd only been about three days.
Looking at Tigerpaw made Stoatpaw mad. Why couldn't he be like Tigerpaw? They were brothers! There shouldn't have been any superiority between them!
But... there wasn't. At least, not to Tigerpaw. Then again, Tigerpaw was the stronger of the two. And he wasn't fat. And he didn't really have to try.
Stoatpaw blinked, looking down at his nest. He'd unsheathed his claws and had begun to tear away at the soft moss. He sighed, setting his head against the shredded moss, falling into an uneasy sleep.