Hey there! Sorry for the sort-of short chapter; there's so much I want to pour into this story, but at the rate I'm going it looks like this story's gonna be a long one c:
I'd really appreciate it if you reviewed!
When Stoatpaw had learned he was going on the dawn patrol, he was excited.
When he learned he was on Hot Spring Duty, he became even more excited.
He'd never been to the Hot Springs, only to the water spitters. He'd never even come close to the Hailclan border. Their territory and Hailclan's territory met in a series of large, rolling hills that led up to Hawk's Talon Peak. He'd heard stories about cats losing their grip on the smooth rock up there and falling to their deaths; and of course, there were the infamous water spitters. He shivered, remembering how he almost died by getting to close to one.
Not to mention, most of the cats who used the Hot Springs were warriors of other clans, thanks to Falconstar. He remembered once when Rowanleap was on duty that the old Hailclan leader, Thornstar, had come to soak in the Hot Springs before his demise. Kind of creepy, but still cool that the leader of another clan just randomly appeared and chatted with Rowanleap.
The rest of the day had been filled with excitement. Thanks to his adrenaline rush in the morning, Stoatpaw was able to successfully win a match against Tigerpaw (even though it could barely be called winning); he caught three mice in one sitting; he was even complimented by Fuzzytail on how good he was looking and that he was beginning to fill out like Tigerpaw!
He couldn't see it himself, but thanked her anyway.
He went to sleep that night with a warm buzz in his heart, finally content on where he stood in the views of others.
Stoatpaw almost forgot to wake up early for the dawn patrol. Leafclaw had to come into the den and bat him awake with a paw, which, in turn, gave Stoatpaw his greeting: an annoyed flick of the ear that cleary said, Hurry up!
Stoatpaw immediately jumped out of bed and saw the warriors who would be accompanying him and Leafclaw: Deerheart, Fuzzytail, Sandfoot, and... Mossfang.
Stoatpaw was almost never in contact with his father. He was deputy, after all, and too concerned with clan matters to pay attention to his first litter. But, in the few times he did, he was always proud of his two kits. Stoatpaw always thought he sounded more proud of Tigerpaw, but that was completely his opinion.
Leafclaw approached, going over to Deerheart to begin a conversation, leaving him alone. Mossfang approached, his green eyes gleaming. Stoatpaw gulped under that unknown green gaze.
"How's your training going, Stoatpaw?" Mossfang asked, his green eyes wide and open with sincerety. "Leafclaw tells me you catch on pretty well, and have a knack for hunting."
Stoatpaw nodded, flicking an ear and looking away. "Y-Yeah," he croaked, returning his gaze to his father, "I do like hunting."
"Your first catch... wasn't it that juicy thrush that I saw you eating that one time?" Mossfang inquired once more, and Stoatpaw nodded, feeling himself open up to his father. After a quick conversation between them, Wheatstar jumped down to join them. Stoatpaw's elation increased with each second.
"Okay, dawn patrol. Is everyone present?" Wheatstar whipped her grand head around to face her clanmates, her eyes stopping on Stoatpaw. She leaned down to him. "This your first border patrol, apprentice?"
Stoatpaw nodded, and Wheatstar gave the signal with her tail for the patrol to move out. Stoatpaw might've been filling out a bit, but the patrol still had to wait for him to get out of the cave. Stoatpaw was astounded to see the moon low in the sky as the sun's first light began to peek over Hawk's Talon Peak.
As they made their way towards the Oakclan border, Fuzzytail fell next to Stoatpaw, keeping pace with him. "So, how's apprentice life?" she asked, and Stoatpaw shrugged his shoulders, practically wheezing. "Stoatpaw, you might want to stop eating all of those mice you catch."
Oh, great. And just yesterday she'd complimented him on how good he was looking!
They finally made it to the Oakclan border, and the sun was low in the sky. The roar of the river reached Stoatpaw's ears, and his gaze settled once more on the fast moving water that marked the border with Oakclan.
As the patrol renewed the border markers, a rustle appeared on the other side of the river. A black she-cat stepped out, alongside none other than Silverpaw and another tom, who looked like Silverpaw but with darker fur. The silver she-cat's eyes lit up upon seeing Stoatpaw, but dimmed slightly when she didn't see Tigerpaw. She waved her tail in greeting to the Steamclan patrol.
"Greetings, Spiderfur! What brings you to the river so early?" It was Wheatstar who spoke; Stoatpaw recognized the black she-cat as the deputy of Oakclan, who sat beneath Nettlestar at the gathering.
"Oh, Silverpaw, Duskpaw, and I are heading over to the Hot Springs later! We're catching some fish as tribute!" the black she-cat purred, looking affectionately down at the apprentices. "They are my kits, after all, and successfully drove a fox away from our territory two nights ago!"
Wheatstar blinked, her green eyes widening. "Well, isn't that something! Our two apprentices might see you there!" she called, and Spiderfur bowed her black head. The Steamclan patrol turned around to head back to the camp.
For the rest of the day, Stoatpaw trained with Leafclaw, despite being super tired. Leafclaw let him rest a bit while Tigerpaw was out on the sunhigh patrol; once he got back, they would head over to the hot springs.
Stoatpaw trudged through the forest, his fur clumping with sweat. It was mid-greenleaf, and the sun had been relentless that day. Tigerpaw was no better; he looked absolutely haggard as he bounded after Shiningeyes.
The forest suddenly thinned, and a grand sight met Stoatpaw and Tigerpaw's eyes: four huge springs were clustered next to each other, heat coming off of them in waves. One of the pools already had cats in it; from the stench that came from the pool, Stoatpaw guessed it was Hailclan.
"Okay, you two," Leafclaw began, standing proud and dipping his head to the Hailclan cats, "all you need to do is watch for newcomers and make sure no cat takes any prey that belongs on our territory. Got it?"
Simple enough, Stoatpaw thought, shrugging and padding up to one of the large pools. It reeked of Oakclan, and he scrunched his nose. Just as the Steamclan patrol was spreading out, a group of cats entered through the ferns that bordered the far side of the clearing. Stoatpaw recognized the cats as Spiderfur, Silverpaw, and the tom apprentice, Duskpaw. Stoatpaw turned to Tigerpaw, whose eyes had widened and his fur had stuck out.
"Tigerpaw? Are you okay?" Stoatpaw asked, watching his brother blink his eyes before turning to his brother. He licked his shoulder, avoiding his brother's gaze. Stoatpaw thought that was suspicious.
He watched as the three cats came up to the Hot Spring he was standing behind, wading in easily. Spiderfur had obviously been there before, as she reclined in the water once it reached her shoulders. Silverpaw and her brother hung out near the edges of the spring, but it was obvious that Silverpaw had noticed Tigerpaw, because she was making faces at him and smiling whenever Spiderfur wasn't looking. Stoatpaw glanced at it brother, who was grimacing at Duskpaw.
He doesn't know that Duskpaw is her brother! He snickered, then another, more dangerous thought entered his head. What if... what if Tigerpaw sees Duskpaw... or any other Oakclan tom... as competition? That he thinks that Silverpaw is his? He shook his head, disgusted at such a thought. No. No, Tigerpaw wouldn't do that. Sure, Silverpaw is really pretty and all, but we have pretty she-cats in our clan as well! His head turned to Fuzzytail. Okay, maybe not. But he can't just break one of the most important clan rules just out of love! He has to realize that not everything can go his way.
Another thought rose out of the darkness of his mind. Stoatpaw, maybe you're just overreacting. You see your brother making goo-goo eyes at a pretty she-cat and you interpret it as heresy. Still unable to shake off the feeling that Tigerpaw was doing something wrong, he made a deal with the other thought in his mind.
If something happens between them that is so bad that it gets in the way of their loyalty to their clan, then I'll tell Wheatstar. He nodded his head, content at his new revelation. Yeah. But only if it's damaging his relationship with his clan... or me.
As the sun began to set and the patrol of Steamclan warriors started to head back to their camp, Stoatpaw's mind was still racing with the thought that his brother was breaking the code. Maybe it's just a kit crush! He'll grow out of it eventually! He thought, shaking his head. Leaping over one final log, the entrance to the cave that was their camp came into view. He sighed. The comfort of his nest was extremely tempting at that moment, and it was all he could think of as his sore paws led him down a steep incline of rocks and to the bottom of the cave.
He made a beeline for the fresh kill pile, glad that the hunting patrols had brought back good food. He picked up a thrush (it was steadily becoming his favorite) and made his way for the apprentice's den when a squeal caught his attention. Turning his white head towards the nursery, he watched as Larkkit and Hollykit scuffled on the ground, with Cloudkit watching nearby and cheering them on. Stoatpaw was beginning to wonder if Cloudkit wanted to be a warrior; he didn't seem to want to play with his other kits and spent more time looking after his sisters than anyone else.
If Darkseed decides to take him as an apprentice, Stoatpaw thought, turning to the apprentice's den. That old cat has been so stubborn in choosing an apprentice! I remember Sageberry tried to become the medicine cat apprentice, but she told me of times when he would be the rudest cat in the clan! His thoughts went back to the time he got a thorn stuck in his pad as a kit and how rude Darkseed had been even then. Shivering, he entered the apprentice's den and flopped on his nest. Tigerpaw was nowhere in sight.
"He'll show up eventually," Stoatpaw told himself, enjoying his meal. After eating the thrush and licking his lips, he fell on his side and curled his tail around himself, going to sleep.