Here's chapter nineteen! Enjoy!
Stoatpaw couldn't move. His fear outweighed all else; seeing the big, ugly beast in front of him made him want o break down and crumple into a tiny ball of white fur.
At least, he'd be with Coppersnake when he died...
"Stoatpaw!" Mothpaw screamed, leaping away as the fox slammed its snout into the ground to try and snap her up in its jaws. She squealed, her tail fluffing out in fright as she sped through the dead leaves. Stoatpaw watched in horror as the fox lifted its head, snarling. Its beady yellow eyes zeroed in on Mothpaw as she screamed, "Stoatpaw, run!"
"No!" Stoatpaw whipped around. Who was it that had spoken? His tail fluffed out in fright; there was a fox right in front of him, and an unknown someone speaking in his ear. "Stoatpaw, you will stay behind and fight this mangy mutt with Mothpaw at your side!"
"O-Okay!" Stoatpaw sobbed. Mothpaw gave him a scared, but quizzical, look. Stoatpaw turned to face her, scared determination crossing his face. "Mothpaw! We have to fight the fox. When you think about it, i-it's not too hard!" he glanced at the fox, whose yellow eyes were watching them. He gulped. "I-It's not much bigger than us, really-"
"What? Stoatpaw, are you crazy?" Mothpaw yowled, her fur fluffing out as the fox whipped its head up and snarled. It bared its teeth at them before leaping, its claws outstretched towards them. The two apprentices yowled, leaping apart and dashing between the trees. "See? We'll be as good as dead if we stay here!"
"We can't just let a fox roam around our territory!" Stoatpaw shouted defensively, swirling around the base of a tree. He sped up it faster than he'd ever made it up the cave wall, making it to a high branch. He shouted, "Mothpaw! Get up here!"
Mothpaw dashed up the tree, yowling as the fox snapped its jaws around her tail and tore into her flesh. She sat shakily next to Stoatpaw, staring at the deep wound. Blood was oozing onto the branch and dropping onto the ground. Below, the fox was snapping its jaws angrily, barking fiercely up at them.
"I-I'm okay," Mothpaw wheezed, then growled at Stoatpaw, "But see what happens when you try to take on an enemy that's too tough for you? You end up getting beaten!"
"I already know what it's like!" Stoatpaw howled, his white fur sticking on end. Her turned to face her, anger spreading across his face. "I've had to fight you two mousebrains for the past three moons, losing every battle and being taunted about it afterwards! Well, maybe not you, but Tigerpaw certainly does take his 'teasing' too far!"
An awkward moment of silence stretched between the two apprentices. Mothpaw's silver eyes widened and filled with hurt; Stoatpaw just looked away, avoiding her gaze and trying to steady his angry breathing.
Stoatpaw stood, glaring down at the fox beneath them. It... it wasn't much bigger than Mossfang, to be honest. "I'm going to jump on that things back and fight 'till I die. For my clan." his stomach twisted as he said those words; he was already beginning to doubt his own words.
"No, Stoatpaw, don't!" Mothpaw howled once more, gripping the long fur around his paws with her claws. "I am not letting my friend die because he wanted to end his life a martyr!" she stood up, her silver eyes full of pain and determination. "I am not letting you do it alone. Sure, it's a stupid, crazy idea, and I'm pretty sure we'll both die, but together, we can at least try to stop it."
Stoatpaw's body filled with a feeling that was reserved only for cats like his mother. In that moment, he felt complete respect and love for Mothpaw. He nodded, and said, "Okay. That fox is directly beneath this branch, snapping up at us. If we can managed to land on its back or tail we may be able to... stun it? I don't know, but it's worth a shot."
"Back or tail. Got it." Mothpaw swished her bleeding tail in the air, spitting and hissing down at the fox. The creature let out a shrill bark, but moved across the ground to follow her.
Stoatpaw breathed in deeply, mentally preparing himself for the jump. Okay, Stoatpaw. It's just a jump. Onto a fox's back. What-What could go wrong?
A lot of things, his conscience reasoned. Like death, you missing your point, breaking your leg, similar consequences-
Getting tired of his annoying conscience, he shut it out, and only focused on the back of the yapping fox. Mothpaw was trying her best as her tail bled; he hoped she'd be okay.
He launched himself off of the branch, praying her made his target. He felt the stiff fur of the fox beneath his pads as he landed, almost slipping off just as he dug his claws into its flesh. The fox howled in pain, thrashing around and trying to buck Stoatpaw off.
Mothpaw followed suit, landing on its tail. "S-Stoatpaw, what-what next?" she shouted over the fox's yowling. Stoatpaw looked at the raging creature he was holding onto. It had stopped and was beginning to lean down.
"Mothpaw, hold on!" Stoatpaw howled just as the fox put its entire weight onto Stoatpaw. The white apprentice was struggling to hold on; Mothpaw, however, had completely let go and was now trying to get at the fox's exposed belly.
The fox leapt up, batting at Mothpaw with a long paw and sending her flying. It turned to face Stoatpaw, its jaws snapping. Just as Stoatpaw was sure death was coming, a howl sounded through the forest and he watched as a mass of warriors poured in to surround the fox.
He recognized them as his own. There was Deerheart, Mossfang, Leafclaw, Rowanleap, Shiningeyes, and... Tigerpaw. Was Tigerpaw allowed to fight alongside the warriors now?
"Tigerpaw, go over to its left flank!" Mossfang howled. Stoatpaw watched as his brother went around and hissed at the fox, scratching at its side. The fox whimpered and bared its teeth; the cats all flinched but did not retreat.
Stoatpaw and Mothpaw huddled together, watching as the warriors and one apprentice fought off the fox. It eventually dashed away with its torn up tail between its legs. The warriors were all breathing heavily, but Stoatpaw was breathing the most.
Why did Tigerpaw get to fight with the warriors? Was he just that much better than him and Mothpaw? He felt rage and jealousy bubbling beneath his pelt. The feelings were replaced but shame as Mossfang, Rowanleap, Leafclaw, Shiningeyes, and Tigerpaw. Stoatpaw noticed the way Tigerpaw glared at him: like he was weak prey.
"You both should be ashamed of yourselves!" Mossfang howled at them. "You were sent on a hunting mission, and you both end up almost killing yourselves! Never, ever go near a creature like that again!"
"Yes, Mossfang." both apprentices said in unison, then watched as Mossfang turned to Tigerpaw and Shiningeyes. "Tigerpaw, you did well. Thank you for helping us."
For once, Stoatpaw wasn't the only one enraged by someone making goo-goo eyes at Tigerpaw.
"We just fought a fox!" Mothpaw roared, standing up and slashing her bleeding tail. "We caught it's scent and followed it here! It was eating all of our prey, and if we hadn't caught its scent that was masked through all of this dead prey, you never would've found it!"
Mossfang whipped around to face her, murder gleaming in his eyes. "Mothpaw, you will not speak about this. You fought a fox without knowing what it would bring on, and you both were at the verge of death when we got here. We saved your lives."
"No, we saved yours!" Mothpaw shot back. Stoatpaw really wished she would stop talking, but at the same time, he didn't. "This fox was out here for Starclan knows how long, and none of you warriors even noticed it! Thanks to two apprentices sniffing out its scent, we found its den and-"
"Mothpaw, stop talking or you won't be made a warrior with Tigerpaw and Stoatpaw." it was Rowanleap who spoke, much to Stoatpaw and Mothpaw's shock. "You're both missing the point. Two apprentices would have never lived, even while fighting a fox. But, our deputy should give them a little more credit."
Mossfang grumbled, standing up and flicking his tail to the rest of the cats. Mothpaw and Stoatpaw stood up, shaking, only to be shooed away by Tigerpaw.
"You two apprentices shouldn't have even tried," Tigerpaw growled. "Well, Mothpaw might've survived, but Stoatpaw, your little, pudgy body would've rendered you defenseless."
"Stop it, Tigerpaw," Mothpaw warned. "Don't make fun of your brother."
"A future leader has to get it in his warrior's minds that not every cat is as strong or well liked as he is." with a flick of his tail, he beckoned the two apprentices to follow him, and Mothpaw and Stoatpaw followed in a fuming heap.
Neither apprentice noticed the sleek brown tabby watching them from the trees with her bright amber eyes.
The rest of the day, Stoatpaw and Mothpaw stayed in Darkseed's den, getting their wounds fixed.
"You are very lucky, Mothpaw," the black tom grumbled, placing various herbs onto her wounded tail. "Any longer out there and you would've ended up in an infection."
When they left, neither wanted to be around any warriors. They were pretty upset at the sour attitude that they gave them, even when they found the fox! The sun was beginning to set, so Stoatpaw and Mothpaw had an early dinner before retiring to the apprentice's den.
Stoatpaw fell asleep to the sound of Mothpaw's ranting voice.
"Stoatpaw."
Stoatpaw lifted his head to gaze into Coppersnake's fiery amber eyes. "C-Coppersnake? What is it?"
"I told you not to fight that fox." she hissed at him, her tail lashing. "You even heard me! But you still fought it instead. That kind of stubbornness is not something I want to see in my apprentices."
Stoatpaw stood up with a flash. "Th-That was you? I thought I was going crazy!" he looked away and grumbled, "Well, maybe I am. I thought I could take on a fox and that I was well liked by my clanmates. But no, Tigerpaw's the one who gets to be coddled by everyone else!" he lashed his tail, suddenly angry with her. "Why did you just stand by? You tried to get me to stop, but gave up after one attempt!"
"Stoatpaw, don't you realize that you threw yourself into that fight unprepared? No wonder the warriors had to come out and save you and your little denmates' sorry tails!"
Stoatpaw growned, looking away. "And don't forget Tigerpaw. That annoying cat, always thinking he's better than everyone else... and thinking he'd be a good leader." Stoatpaw's passion died down, and he refused to meet the copper she-cat's amber eyes.
Coppersnake sighed and hissed, "Your brother sounds like an arrogant foxheart." Stoatpaw's ears flicked up, and he stared at her in shock. Just as he was about to defend his brother, Coppersnake continued, "But remember, everyone has their weakness. Yours is your body. Whenever someone talks about you in even a slightly condescending way, you crumble up and don't do anything. You don't even try to slim down, or try to work harder to become stronger! Just like you, Tigerpaw has his own weakness, but his weakness is his decision-making."
"What? That's not possible!" Stoatpaw howled. Coppersnake silenced him with her tail.
"Tigerpaw's made the decision to fall in love with an OakClan warrior while also making the decision that he'll be the greatest leader." she slipped around him, her silky tail going around his shoulders. His eyes widened at her words, and he grew angry while he thought of Silverdust. This little fling was steadily growing worse and worse. "Now, who do you think would make a better leader? The coddled, arrogant mousebrain who thinks he'll get the position just because he's liked, or the honest, hard-working cat who tries his best to prove himself to his clanmates?"
Stoatpaw gulped, before meowing angrily, "The latter."
"Yes!" Coppersnake meowed gleefully, her tail swishing around. "I want you to shoot for becoming leader instead of your brother. Make yourself well-liked, and practice your battle skills not only with Leafclaw, but in your free time and with me as well."
"But what about his love interest, Silverdust?" Stoatpaw meowed, shuffling his paws. "That can't be right. It's breaking the code!"
"Exactly. In a few moons, once you've become a warrior and have really proven yourself useful to the clan, I'll help you try and... deal with their awkward little situation." Coppersnake's words eased Stoatpaw; how could two cats be so understanding of each other? "In the mean time, use it as... blackmail. Whenever Tigerpaw threatens to do something to you if you don't do something or don't act some way, threaten him and tell him you'll tell Wheatstar about his little romps in the forest."
Stoatpaw blinked. Tigerpaw... was out in the forest... seeing Silverdust? He thought they just met at gatherings, and that Tigerpaw dreamed about her a lot, and they maybe saw each other once in a blue moon on a border patrol. For the first time since he met her, Stoatpaw had to question Coppersnake. "Coppersnake... do you... do you watch my brother?"
The she-cat snorted. "Yes. I like to watch over the clans to make sure no one... no one breaks the rules. And I've seen your brother break it multiple times." she twirled her paw over the sparkling ground, and a hole appeared. Stoatpaw looked into it, and was horrified to see his brother sharing tongues in a way that was more than platonic with Silverdust. It was... wrong. Creepy. His gut twisted.
"Coppersnake. Help me become leader." he said impatiently, getting into a battle stance. Coppersnake purred and tackled him, but he held his own and thrust her off. "You gotta try harder than that!" he howled.
"Yes! Yes, Stoatpaw!" Coppersnake yowled, tackling him and being thrown away again. "Use your anger- use it to fuel your fighting spirit! I want to see you become not just the best warrior, but the greatest leader in Steamclan history!"
Next chapter marks a super big milestone: it's the twentieth chapter! Thinking about the outline of the story, I think it'll be somewhere around forty chapters. I don't want there to be so many timeskips in the story, and I want to make it as amazing as it can be!
This chapter was beta'd by the wonderfully amazing SilverMidnightMoon! Please go check them out!