Chapter 7 – Timberpaw
"I knew you could do it" Eaglestar praised him.
It had been a few days since Timberpaw accepted punishment and been forgiven by Whitepaw. They were now both as close as they were before. The gathering had passed and Whitepaw's punishment had ended, however in spare time she helped Timberpaw in taking care of the elders. Three more days and he would be free of his duties.
Timberpaw glanced up at Eaglestar "How do I help Whitepaw?" he asked.
"Ah yes I told you that, a bit earlier than I originally intended but it doesn't matter too much" Eaglestar replied, flicking his tail then standing up.
"Can we stop Nightstar...?" Timberpaw asked, following Eaglestar as he padded off.
"No" the former leader said.
"But this is Starclan and –" Timberpaw protested but Eaglestar cut him off.
"We don't have much power over the dark forest. Now the dark forest is getting stronger, us weaker there is no way I or any other Starclan members can enter Starclan and defeat Nightatar entirely"
"Starclan members... you said Starclan members can't ..." Timberpaw murmured.
"Yes" Eaglestar mewed.
"But what about the living... is there a way?" Timberpaw asked slowly.
Eaglestar's eyes widened "Perhaps" he whispered "That would be possible... destroy Nightstar, save Whitepaw too. Easier than what I had in mind yet..."
Timberpaw flicked an ear "So say I went... and also persuaded Whitepaw. He can get her into his dreams, right? So we can both defeat him. Of course I will probably have to become a warrior before then... hopefully Whitepaw won't be fully manipulated right then. And you know how there is a place we can communicate with Starclan, a place that ties the living and Starclan together? There has to be another place for the dark forest, to give the connection"
"Perhaps..." Eaglestar mewed "Then if you are willing to take that risk, I will train you. Trust me, you will need it"
Timberpaw nodded "Of course'
Eaglestar smiled "Now that place...perhaps it is..." he mumured.
"Where?" Timberpaw mewed.
"It is linked to the Star Cavern, I believe" Eaglestar mewed, glancing at the sky "A tunnel leading from it... when you are more ready I will show you it"
Timberpaw flicked his tail and Eaglestar looked back at him "Today's time is up, tomorrow I will visit you to train. Our meetings will be more frequent"
Timberpaw nodded as the dream began to fade away.
Slowly, Timberpaw opened his eyes. Light shone brightly into his eyes, creating black spots in his eyes.
Timberpaw blinked rapidly until they faded away and his eyes became adjusted to the light. The young tom glanced around at the empty nests around him and quickly scrambled to his paws.
Rabbittail is going to pluck my whiskers out if I don't get him and Emberfur their mkrning piece of fresh-kill right now! Timberpaw thought, alarmed.
He raced over to the fresh kill pile. There wasn't much, since it was early. Two mice and a rabbit. Timberpaw picked up the rabbit and rushed over to the elders den, almost tripping up in the process.
"You took your time" Rabbittail grunted as Timberpaw dropped the rabbit in front of them.
"Thank you, Timberpaw" Emberfur purred "that looks like a tasty rabbit"
Rabbittail and Emberfur began eating and Timberpaw decided to leave them in peace.
He padded out of the den enjoying the sun's warmth. Soon it would be leaf-fall and the weather would be getting colder, unfortunately. So it was good to enjoy the sun and heat before everyrhing got colder.
Timberpaw rushed over to Nettlefur, the grey and white tom was grooming his fur yet even with all his effort it still looked prickly.
"Nettlefur!" Timberpaw exclaimed "Can we go hunting?"
Nettlefur blinked up at him "What about the elders?"
"I can do them later after I catch a mouse or two" Timberpaw replied, flicking his tail "Please?"
"Alright" Nettlefur mewed, looking slightly amused "Let's go"
They set off into the forest. Timberpaw was hoping he could catch two mice or a bird. It had been a moon, after all, since he had became an apprentice.
Once they were further into the forest Nettlefur stopped.
"Do you scent anything?" he asked.
Timberpaw tasted the air and concentrated on the scents around him. "I can scent.. mouse... and a bird!" he announced.
"Good" Nettlefur mewed, smiling "The bird is a blackbird, how about you try and catch it?"
Timberpaw felt slightly nervous but he nodded and followed the scent. Sure enough there was a blackbird on the forest floor, unaware of his presence. For now.
Timberpaw remembered the crouch for stalking a bird. Nettlefur had taught him some time ago the different ways to stalk a mouse or bird. Some birds were harder to catch than others, due to size and speed. Birds also had good eyesight, so keeping out of sight and hidden was important. For mice you had to step quietly and the wind should be blowing against you, not from behind.
Timberpaw crept forward but the bird noticed him and began to take flight. He lunged forward and leaped, grabbing a tail feather before falling down. Suddenly a pale grey blur shot across his vision and leaped.
The leap was spectacular. The bird let out a squawk as two white front paws grabbed it and dragged it to the floor. Then the she-cat quickly killed it before turning to Timberpaw.
"I believe you missed this" Snowpaw mewed, glancing at the blackbird.
Timberpaw's fur began to bristle.
"Keep your fur on" Snowpaw mewed calmly "I don't know what Mousepaw might have said but I'm not some sort of fox"
"Well... you don't get along with her" Timberpaw flicked his tail "And Mousepaw's nice, she doesn't dislike anyone for no reason. Also all you ever do is act like you're better than me"
"True, I might act a bit... " Snowpaw trailed off "Me and Mousepaw never got along"
"Why?"
"She was a kittypet, and well I looked down on her" Snowpaw mewed "I was a bit harsh so I guess that's probably why she's tense around me"
Mousepaw was a kittypet Timberpaw thought, surprised then he said bitterly "I don't blame her"
"Ok, look, Timberpaw" Snowpaw mewed "I'm worried about this clan, war and everything... I thought having a kittypet would make us weaker. I saw her as a burden. I was wrong. That's why I can be a bit... bossy about your duty to train"
Timberpaw said nothing and picked up the bird "Thanks anyway" he mewed, his voice muffled by the feathers. He walked away leaving her there.
When he returned Nettlefur gave him an odd look "What took you so long?"
"Oh, I tried to track down ahh.. uhh mouse after catching the bird. I missed it" Timberpaw lied, feeling rather surprised at himself.
"Shame you missed" Nettlefur mewed "Never mind though, let's see if you can catch something else before we head back"
They found a rabbit scent trail and followed it. Nettlefur whispered "This is a good chance to practice teamwork in hunting"
Timberpaw drove the rabbit to where Nettlefur hid, in a bush. When the rabbit approached the bush the grey and white warrior burst from the leaves, and the rabbit began to turn around. It hesitated seeing Timberpaw and before it could escape Nettlefur had pounced. The warrior quickly gave it the killing bite.
"Good work" Nettlefur praised and Timberpaw replied "You too"
Together they headed back with the rabbit and blackbird, dropping them on the fresh-kill pile when they got there.
"You better go and take care of the elders ticks" Nettlefur told him and Timberpaw nodded, heading towards their den.
Rabbittail looked up at him "I was wondering when you'd come" he grumbled "I have a nasty tick on the back of my neck that I can't reach"
Timberpaw searched through his brown fur and sure enough there was a fat tick clinging to his flesh.
"I'll get some mousebile" Timberpaw mewed and padded off to the medicine-cat's den.
Inside Breezepaw, the medicine cat apprentice and Snowpaw's sister, was sorting herbs. Firespirit wasn't there, the old tom was probably collecting herbs.
"Mousebile, I presume" the pale silver tabby mewed, glancing up at him.
Timberpaw nodded and Breezepaw padded towards a corner of the den, returning with some mousebile on a stick.
Timberpaw wrinkled his nose at the stench of the bile as Breezepaw passed it to him.
The silver tabby let out an amused purr "Make sure you wash your paws afterwards"
Timberpaw nodded and padded back to Rabbittail and Emberfur.
"You took your time" The brown elder complained as Timberpaw dabbed mousebile on the tick.
Emberfur flicked her tail over his ear "Oh come on be a bit fairer, he didn't take that long"
Rabbittail grunted as Timberpaw finished removing all the ticks from his pelt. Next Timberpaw went to Emberfur and dabbed mousebile on both of the two ticks that were hidden in her ginger fur.
"Thank you" Emberfur said with a small rusty purr "Those ticks were really bothering me"
Timberpaw left and got rid of the mousebile. He then walked out into the forest, washing his paws in the nearest stream., letting out a sigh of relief to be free from the stench of mousebile.
"Hey! Timberpaw!" A voice called, it was Whitepaw. She bounded towards him, with Greyfeather following more slowly behind.
His best friend purred "Greyfeather's been showing me some battle moves"
"Cool" Timberpaw replied "This morning I went hunting, and as you can probably tell I've just been using mousebile to remove Emberfur and Rabbittail's ticks"
Whitepaw wrinkled her nose in disgust when he mentioned mousebile.
They then followed Greyfeather back to camp, talking all the way. When they arrived Whitepaw announced "I'm starving!"
She was about to grab something when Greyfeather stopped her "Remember the elders need to be fed first, and if we had any queens they would be fed first two. Timberpaw, have you gave them their evening meal?"
Timberpaw shook his head and Greyfeather flicked her tail "Get them something then you can both eat"
She walked away but glanced over her shoulder as she left to make sure they were doing what she'd told them to. Timberpaw picked up two plump mice and headed to the elders den. He dropped one of them in front of Emberfur, the other in front of Rabbittail (who actually thanked him this time for not being late).
Timberpaw headed back over to where Whitepaw sat and they shared the blackbird he had caught. Well Snowpaw did, really. But he was embarrassed at how he missed it and how easily she seemed to catch it.
Once they were finished Whitepaw yawned "I'm tired, Greyfeather's battle training must have worn me out more than I thought"
Timberpaw wished her a good night, but stayed outside himself.
He gazed up at the sky, which was rather calming to look at. Timberpaw had to admit the sunset colours spread across the sky were beautiful.
I wonder what will happen if the dark forest succeeds in whatever plan they might have that starts with Whitepaw... will all the clans fall?
AN:
Sorry this took quite long, I will probably only update this once or twice a week now. But fear not as I really do not want to ever abandon this project!
I am still working on the cover, but that'll get done soon I hope.
Thank you for the review Snowcrystal! I'm glad you like this story so far!
For those who haven't noticed there is a poll about this story on my profile (the top of it) and I'd love it if you'd vote in it!
Oh yeah and I've noticed typos do appear in my writing so I will be double checking from now on and I will correct typos in previous chapters some time.
