I got some reviews :D I really appreciate all they said, and I'd like it if any more readers would review c:
Stoatpaw woke up the next day with a yawn, his mind going back to yesterday's morning when Tigerpaw completely pushed him away; his brother wasn't awake, and when he poked his head out of the nursery, he only saw Shiningeyes approaching.
"Hi, Stoatpaw. Is Tigerpaw awake?" she asked, turning her head around to look at all the cats in the clearing. "If he isn't, could you tell him that I'd like him to clean out the elder's den, and that you're to do it too? Leafclaw wants to spend some time with his kits."
Stoatpaw bowed his head, watching her leave. He flicked an ear upon seeing her dash up to Rowanleap, putting her head underneath his before they ran off up the cave wall. He smirked, knowing full well that the two were steadily falling in love.
"Stoatpaw?" Tigerpaw's sleepy voice sounded inside the den, and the brown and white apprentice came out to stand next to his brother. "Where's Shiningeyes? And Leafclaw?"
Stoatpaw took a moment to recognize Tigerpaw's size: he was getting taller, his muscles just beginning to fill out. Of the two of them, Tigerpaw was going to take after Mossfang the most.
"Uh, she told me to tell you that they want us to clean out the elder's den." Stoatpaw mewed, watching as a look of disappointment flashed on Tigerpaw's face.
"Aww darn, I was hoping the two of us could train today. Stoatpaw, d'you think we could possibly train today after we clean out the elder's den?" Tigerpaw asked, his look hopeful.
Stoatpaw nodded, looking toward's the elder's den. The three elders were in their pool, looking comfortable. "Cleaning out their den will be easy," Stoatpaw purred, and the two apprentices began to make their way over.
"... and so I takes that sparrow and gives it right to Bushlight, I tell you." it was Kalethroat, an elder, talking to Blackclaw and his mate, Mousefang, a story. "She was in love wit' me in less than a second! Ah, she was a real beauty, Bushlight." a look of bliss glazed over the old tomcat's features.
As the brothers came up to the pool, Mousefang, an elder she-cat, turned to the apprentices. "Oh!" she exclaimed, wading over to them. "I suspect you two young'uns are here to clean the nest! Well, I won't stop ya, but would you two dearies be interested in listenin' to some stories afterwards?"
Stoatpaw nodded. "Okay, Mousefang. We'll do that."
Blackclaw, the other male elder, waded up next to his mate. "There's some moss an' feathers collected by the warriors over in tha' far corner over there," he explained, pointing to a corner right by the fresh kill pile that was filled with moss and feathers and leaves, all good for nests. "Thank the warriors! They brought it down here ta make it easier on you young folks." with that, the tom and his mate waded back over to Kalethroat, who was right in the middle of another story.
"Stoatpaw, can you remove all of the moss and feathers from their den? I'll go and bring them the moss." Tigerpaw said, and Stoatpaw nodded. The two toms separated, and Stoatpaw was there to remove of all the dirty moss by himself.
He took out a little bit, and became unsure of where to put it. He set it in a pile near the elder's pool, and went back inside to grab some more moss. He continued this until the den was spotless; he could make out the smooth stone that made up the floor of the den clearly.
He waited for Tigerpaw, but he hadn't come back yet. Stabding up, Stoatpaw went over to help his brother, but as soon as he tried, Tigerpaw shooed him away.
"Stoatpaw, go back there. I've got this." Tigerpaw stated through a mouthful of moss and feathers as he proceeded to pick it all up in one sitting. Stoatpaw sighed, heading over to listen to the elder's stories.
By the time Tigerpaw had finished, the elders were all tired and ready to retire to their beds. Tigerpaw seemed elated and begged Stoatpaw to train; to Stoatpaw, it seemed as if his brother hadstalled with the moss on purpose. The white tom felt a pang in his chest and rolled his eyes, following Tigerpaw to the cave wall.
"Thanks, Stoatpaw! I really appreciate the help back there. Now, the two of us can train!" Tigerpaw seemed elated but Stoatpaw felt betrayed. How come Tigerpaw hadn't wanted to spend time with his brother like they used to, and tell stories.
Just as they were about to start climbing the cave wall, a startled Leafclaw ran right up to them. "You two! Where do you think you're going?" he sounded frantic and out of breath.
Stoatpaw blinked and responded, "Uh, we were just heading out of the cave to go train." Leafclaw's chest heaved, and he leaned down to his apprentice.
"Stoatpaw, you're an apprentice. If you plan on leaving camp, please tell a warrior about it so we know where you are." Stoatpaw nodded to this, but was shocked when Tigerpaw didn't.
Leafclaw bid them farewell as they traveled up the cave wall. Stoatpaw followed Tigerpaw as he led the way to their little clearing, and as soon as they did, Tigerpaw pounced. Stoatpaw was unready for the attack and fell to the ground in a heap of white fur.
"Tigerpaw!" he squeaked, scrambling to his paws, getting into a battle stance. "I wasn't ready!" not even hearing his words, Tigerpaw pounced, getting ready to tap his head again and knock him to the ground. But Stoatpaw was fast and darted to the side, ramming a paw into Tigerpaw's belly and sending him hissing to the other side of the field.
Stoatpaw froze in fright as he saw Tigerpaw's murderous glint in his eye. "T-Tigerpaw? Tigerpaw, I'm sorry!" he cried, backing up. Tigerpaw didn't respond. "Tigerpaw, y-you're scaring me!"
Tigerpaw pounced, paws outstretched as he pinned little Stoatpaw to the ground. His tail was lashing out behind him. Stoatpaw howled, pulling up his hind legs and thrusting them directly into Tigerpaw's belly. The brown and white tom didn't even flinch.
Just as Tigerpaw was about to land the final blow, his tail whipped around. Thinking rashly, Stoatpaw leapt forward with such force that Tigerpaw fell backwards in surprise. Stoatpaw bit down hard on his brother's tail, and a pained yowl split throughout the field.
Stoatpaw immediately let go and backed away, his chest heaving. His pudgy little body couldn't handle this; he needed to lie down. Tigerpaw was hissing and spitting and writhing on the ground.
"Stoatpaw!" he howled, finally stopping and lifting his head to glare at his brother. "That really hurt!"
"Tigerpaw, you were scaring me!" Stoatpaw defended, his white fur fluffing out and his tail curling around his trembling body. "I'm not as strong as you, I don't handle battles well like you!" a thought bubbled up in his mind, and Stoatpaw's gaze grew angry until he looked like an agrivated adder. "Or did you know that, and dragged me out here to train on purpose?"
Tigerpaw's look of anger fell. "Stoatpaw, I'm... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." silence fell, until Tigerpaw continued, "Stoatpaw, can I... can I tell you something?"
Stoatpaw, still ruffled, sat down with a huff and glared at his brother, his blue eyes filled with anger and disappointment. "What is it, Tigerpaw?"
"I uh... I've decided that I want to become leader some day." Tigerpaw confessed, looking away. Stoatpaw's eyes widened. "I had a dream that really made me want to be leader. I-I thought that, if I trained in my spare time, someone would recognize my dedication."
"And make you leader on the spot?"
"That's not what I meant, Stoatpaw, and you know it!" Tigerpaw growled, shaking his head and standing up. "Whatever. It's not like you'd ever understand."
Stoatpaw stood up in a flash. "What wouldn't I understand?"
"I said whatever!" Tigerpaw growled, fleeing the scene.
The amount of anger that grew inside of Stoatpaw was almost deadly. He felt like he was going to explode. Tigerpaw said he didn't understand! Oh yeah, it's not like little Stoatpaw, who wanted to be respected by Tigerpaw, his brother, would ever understand what it felt like to want respect!
The feeling of anger was replaced by something much, much darker, that turned his stomach into knots and messed with his mind. The thought that he'd never be as good as Tigerpaw. He'd forever be a tiny little apprentice who was too pudgy to dodge an attack.
The thought that he desperately wanted to be like Tigerpaw: strong, cunning, well-liked, and nameless other things. Stoatpaw hated being Stoatpaw. He wanted to be like Tigerpaw.
He sighed, pushing the feeling away and heading back to the camp. Upon arriving, he saw Sageberry and Sandfoot sitting outsdie and sharing a thrush. He ignored them and went right into the cave. As soon as he reached the cave floor, he was bombarded with three fluffy masses.
"Kits!" Stoatpaw, who had been knocked to the ground by the kits, thrush his head upwards as the fluffy masses turned towards their mother. Her eyes were shining and she had a loving smile on her face. "Don't just clobber all over Stoatpaw!"
The three masses turned back to Stoatpaw, looking at him with wide, glittering eyes. "We're sorry, Stoatpaw." they mewd in unison, before they all began to squeak questions.
"What's it like outside the cave?"
"Have you caught anything?"
"Is it super scary?"
"How hard is it to get up the wall?"
"What's your warrior name gonna be?" Stoatpaw's ears flicked forward as he looked down at the kit who'd asked the question: Larkkit. Her big green eyes were looking up at him hopefully, and he felt trapped in her gaze, unsure of how to respond. "Well? What's it gonna be, Stoatpaw?"
"Larkkit!" Brambleoak meowed, coming up to her daughter and grabbing her by the scruff. Larkkit squirmed, a mew of discomfort leaving her mouth. "Sorry about that, Stoatpaw." Brambleoak apologized, but Stoatpaw just awkwardly nodded his head, watching as Brambleoak turned to herd her three kits back towards the nursery.
Stoatpaw took a look at the fresh kill pile just as Fuzzytail dropped a fat squirrel on top of it. Despite his stomach's protests, he felt surprisingly not hungry and retired to the apprentice's den, casting a glance towards the elders and their pool. He looked to the side of the den, seeing the steamy pool that belonged to the apprentices. Its still surface told him that not one apprentice had set foot in it in ages.
Settling into his nest, his mind began to wonder over the thoughts of the day. He remembered cleaning out the elder's den, and how weird Tigerpaw had been acting. He remembered the disappointment in sitting by the elder's and listening to their stories alone, and how eager Tigerpaw was to train. And... Tigerpaw's confession.
Stoatpaw furrowed his brows. There's no way a cat like Tigerpaw would ever become leader. He's too self centered and selfish sometimes. He'd never make a good leader. But, the more he thought about it, Tigerpaw could be a good leader if he was trained well enough. He pushed the thought from his mind and settled down in his nest, welcoming sleep with open paws.