Oh my gosh, it's been a while! Anyways, here's chapter eighteen! Enjoy!
Mothpaw went to bed much later than Tigerpaw and Stoatpaw. Unlike them, she was deeply worried about this "war" that Beetlestar had declared on HollowClan. Would SteamClan and OakClan become involved?
Mothpaw shivered at the thought. She didn't want to end up fighting Daisypaw, especially if Wheatstar and Nettlestar decided to ban together to break up the fight. She still loved her "sister," and hated herself for not being more like her father- more accepting of her new life.
She stayed up that night, unable to sleep with worry. She instead focused her gaze on Tigerpaw. His chest moved up and down rythmically, and his tail twitched. She wondered if he was having a good dream.
Finally, Mothpaw settled into an uneasy sleep, still worried that her former denmates were going to die.
Mist rolled in front of her. It came in waves, obscuring her view of... something. Mothpaw didn't know what.
The mist was very thick, thicker than it had ever been in Hailclan territory. And she'd seen some wicked mist that would settle in the valley that the camp was in.
But this mist... it was unnatural.
Mothpaw looked0 around. She couldn't see at all, and the mist scared her. She gulped, deciding to take a step forward. The mist rolled away from her touch, as if it was afraid. Suddenly confident, she took more steps forward.
Her golden tabby pelt gleamed from some unseen light; it helped illuminate her path. She thanked it quickly, when suddenly, a singular looming figure appeared on the horizon.
Fear ate away at the bottom of her gut. Her legs began to tremble, and she was suddenly scared for her life. Unable to move, the mist kept rolling in front of her, and each time a cloud of it would roll by, she'd see the figure. It was inching closer and closer, with white, glowing eyes.
After what seemed like an eternity, the figure reached her. It was a cat, that was for sure, but it's fur was too long. Too long to be a SteamClan cat's fur.
The mist rolled by, and she saw a glimmer of yellow in the figure's eyes. Her breath hitched as she realized who she was looking at.
"D-Daisypaw?" she squeaked out, and the cat struck. She wailed as her attacker's claws dug into her pelt. Her screams echoed through the mist, but no one came to her call. "Daisypaw, stop!" she sobbed, and the cat let go. She turned on her side, holding her shoulder. Her attacker had been ruthless.
Her conciousness slipped into darkness as a thousand claws raked her sides. She remembered trying to scream, but she couldn't. She was being torn apart. Two scents filled her nostrils: one of HailClan, and the other of SteamClan.
"No! No!" she wailed, struggling to keep it together. "Stop! It hurts!" the claws kept going, not even relenting in their brutal attack. The pain and misery that filled her stomach was something so indescribable... she couldn't take it anymore.
The clawing subsided, and the gentle scent of daisies lured her into unconsciousness.
Mothpaw jolted up in bed, gasping for air. She stumbled out of the apprentice's den, shaking her fur of the sweat that had accumulated in it. Her silver eyes turned towards the moon, which sat in the sky, mocking her.
She growled, and clawed at her ears. Her mind was racing. What was that dream about? The claws tearing at her side, the way she felt like she was being torn apart... she should just stay in SteamClan, end of story! No more HailClan...
... but she couldn't let Daisypaw fight in this war. Or worse... die.
She and Daisypaw had grown up as sisters. They had loved each other and played together, along with the other kits in the nursery. She remembered one of the other kits's names: Sparrowkit, a brown tabby she-kit with long whiskers. She'd always mocked Mothpaw for her wide shoulders.
"You're too big to get through the nursery!"
"You take up all the space in the nest! Poor Daisykit!"
"You'll be the clumsiest apprentice ever! Ew!"
"Watch where you and your big shoulders are going!"
Mothpaw couldn't deal with it all. She should just go back to HailClan...
...But no. Mothpaw looked back at the moon. She remembered Sparrowkit, now probably Sparrowpaw, and scowled. She was not ugly, and she was definitely not clumsy! She would not let her ties to Hailclan keep her from serving Steamclan! She did feel tied to Daisypaw, sure, but it definitely wasn't like how she was tied to Rowanleap, or Stoatpaw, or... Tigerpaw.
For the first time since the gathering, she let her mind slip away into a place where only she could go. Her body felt warm with a strong feeling that made her feel happy. She liked Tigerpaw a lot, and was unsure if he felt the same way. She wanted him to.
She thought of his brother, Stoatpaw. The white tom was a good friend to her. He was still kind of pudgy, sure, but he had improved a lot since he'd begun training. The brothers had become her friends, and now that she was getting somewhat used to SteamClan and the life it presented, she was a little reluctant to leave them. She figured they'd be very upset if she decided to leave for a cat that she hadn't seen since she was a kit!
As she thought about SteamClan and the life she'd made in it, all thoughts of Beetlestar's war had left her mind as she hobbled back into the apprentice's den and curled up in her nest next to Tigerpaw. Her body unusually warm, she went to sleep, purring happily.
"Mothpaw! Mothpaw wake up!"
Mothpaw opened her eyes steadily, her vision swimming. The form of Stoatpaw danced in her eyes, and she shakily stood. The white tom backed up as she stretched out her lithe body. She looked beside her, expecting to see Tigerpaw. But the white tom was nowhere to be found.
"Rowanleap wants us to try hunting together. He said that you're my hunting partner, and that I should go wake you up before we left." Stoatpaw explained, turning and leaving the den. Mothpaw finished stretching and followed him and blinked at the sunlight from the cave entrance.
Guess it's going to be a warm day, she thought, her tail fur beginning to fluff out at the cold temperatures in the cave. For once, she was a little envious of Stoatpaw; his long, thick coat seemed like such a good thing to have at the moment.
Leafclaw glanced at her, before standing up and going over to his apprentice. Mothpaw then glanced at Rowanleap, whose fur was fluffed out just like hers. She somehow found humor in the fact that a warrior was struggling to keep warm against the cold.
The red tom seemingly smiled, saying, "Wow, looks like I'm not the only chilly one here!" he turned his head to the nursery to see Mistyspots's kits, Dawnkit, Stonekit, and Sweetkit, playing beneath the Hot Spring's Paw. Mothpaw blinked at the expression that crossed Rowanleap's face. Would she ever have to deal with rowdy little furballs like that?
"Okay, Rowanleap, Mothpaw. Let's head on out and get this training session started." Leafclaw meowed, standing. He started to head over to the cave wall, with Rowanleap following suit. Stoatpaw flashed Mothpaw a weak smile, then dashed after his mentor. Mothpaw flicked her ears.
"We'd better follow him," Stoatpaw muttered, bounding after Leafclaw and struggling the cave wall. Mothpaw did the same, rolling her eyes as she passed Stoatpaw, making her way to the top. She began to laugh at him playfully when he reached the top. The white tom was laying on the ground, seemingly very tired.
"I-I'll never get used to that climb," he wheezed, struggling to get to his feet. Mothpaw could tell that he really needed to stop eating so much. She looked at her mentor, who flicked his tail, giving the signal to follow.
The group of cats began to trudge through the forest, and the first thing Mothpaw noticed was the crunching. She looked down at her paws, which were covered in the dust of dead, crunched leaves. She realized that stalking through the mess of dead leaves was going to be tough, and she just noticed how the trees suddenly seemed very bare. Leaf fall was steadily creeping up on them, and the first thing to go were the leaves.
As they reached their little training field, Leafclaw began to give them a briefing of their task. "You two apprentices will go into the forest together and try to capture prey. You must work together. Neither does the most work."
Mothpaw and Stoatpaw nodded, exchanging glances. Leafclaw sent them off, and soon, Mothpaw was treading as lightly as she could through the forest with Stoatpaw on her flank. He was sniffing the air, his mouth open, while Mothpaw struggled to keep the leaf crunching to a minimum.
"Scent anything yet?" Mothpaw asked.
"No, not yet."
"Okay." Mothpaw took a deep whiff of the surrounding forest, and luckily, caught a scent trail. "Stoatpaw! I've found a scent trail!" she sniffed the air longer, examining the scent. It was... unlike anything she'd ever smelled before.
It smelled like prey, yeah, but there was an underlying stench that made her want to gag. She wrinkled her nose, exclaiming, "Ew, do you smell that? It reeks like rotten fish!"
"I know. I've never smelled anything like it!" Stoatpaw said, a little worry to his tone. He took a step in the direction the scent went in, and beckoned Mothpaw with his tail. The golden tabby steadily followed after him.
The two apprentices made their way towards wherever the smell was coming from. The scent of... dead prey became stronger, and she was beginning to wonder if it was just some scent of a rotting squirrel or something.
But... why would a squirrel be rotting alone in the forest? she asked herself. Suddenly, the scenery changed. There was dead prey scattered here and there among the dead leaves, some of it rotting; she knew that all of the dead prey must've caused the scent of prey.
But what about the underlying stench?
"Uh... Stoatpaw?" Mothpaw turned just in time to see Stoatpaw stop, horrified, in front of a large hole in the ground. "Stoatpaw?"
Mothpaw trotted up to him, fear pooling in her stomach as she gazed into the dark hole. The underlying stench was so strong that she almost gave in to the vomit that was threatening to spill out of her mouth.
Before she could do anything, a low, angry growl resonated throughout the... clearing? Mothpaw would call it a place where the woods seemingly thinned. Nevertheless, this growl made her quiver in fear.
"M-Mothpaw... run..." Stoatpaw breathed, backing away. Mothpaw watched in horror as a long, ugly snout thrust itself out of the hole. It was followed by a triangular face, beady yellow eyes, a lithe body, strong legs, long claws, and a thick, bushy tail. Its feet and ears were black, and its tail was tipped white. The rest of it was a deep, angry scarlet.
Mothpaw had only ever heard of these creatures in stories. Sugarberry had always scarred her and Daisypaw into behaving by telling tales of a fierce, red creature that would come at night and eat kits.
Stoatpaw screeched behind her. The creature whipped its angular head to face him.
Before anything could happen, Mothpaw screamed out, "Fox! There's a fox on our territory!"
Here's chapter eighteen everyone! Also, we're at eight reviews! Two more away from ten! Yay!
This chapter was beta'd by the lovely SilverMidnightMoon! Go check them out!