A/N: Thanks for the support on my first story! I was almost surprised I didn't have any flames yet, so I think this is a good start. Okay, so thank you reviewers! You guys rock!
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Sharpclaw led me through the gorge, which turned out to be the entire camp. All the cats lived together, he explained, and hunted for each other. The queens and elders were fed first, and there was a strict Clan hierarchy.
"That," he meowed, pointing with his muzzle to a large rock separated from the cliff, "that is where we have Gatherings. A Gathering is when the Clan comes together to talk about what has been going on in the Clan. It comes at every full moon. In the old forest all the Clans joined together peacefully under the full moon to share news."
"There are other Clans?" I asked.
"Yes, in the old forest. The ancient SkyClan cats had been driven out of the old forest because of a lack of territory. There are four others there: ThunderClan, ShadowClan, RiverClan, and WindClan. StarClan watches over all the Clan cats from Silverpelt."
"Silverpelt?"
"The band of stars in the night sky," Sharpclaw told me. "Each star is a fallen warrior."
So Cloudstar must be from the ancient SkyClan¸ I thought.
My mentor continued, "StarClan will visit chosen cats in their dreams, or so I am told. I only know that medicine cats have these dreams, along with leaders sometimes, but I don't know any other cat that's had them."
Think again, I said to him in my mind. I listened intently as we toured the camp and he explained Clan culture. It seemed like a nice place to live, and the warrior code wasn't all that bad.
"And we're going to practice some hunting," he was mewing when I tuned back in.
"What?" I asked.
"Obviously you weren't listening. Next time I'll be stricter, but you have a lot on your mind," he scolded. "I prefer it when my warriors and apprentices pay attention. What if I was giving you an order that would have led to the victory or defeat of a major battle that could wipe out the Clan?"
"Well, you weren't," I retorted. The former softness he had shown had vanished.
"I had said we were going to the fallen tree. I'm going to begin teaching you by showing you the territory."
The dark ginger tom bounded off, and I immediately quickened my pace to stay up with him. He leaped on top of a fallen tree while my paws were left to splash in the river. The water was icy cold and sent shivers through me.
"This is the fallen tree, Pantherpaw. You should learn to recognize it now for later reference," Sharpclaw advised.
"Get out of the way," I snapped, easily pushing myself out of the water and onto the log. Sharpclaw tipped back and would have slipped if I hadn't caught him.
"First off," he growled, regaining his dignity after the accident, "you do not order your higher ranker Clanmates. And second, you could have injured me. That is against the warrior code; you're not allowed to harm another Clan member."
"Sorry," I spat.
"You should be, Pantherpaw," he meowed calmly. I thought he muttered, "Why did I let her join?" but I wasn't sure.
"So…, where next?" I inquired, trying to push the event away.
"A rogue's border. Tangle. You don't want to mess with him so I'll show you the boundary. If you go any further he might flip out and shred you."
"A mere rogue?" I scoffed. "Yeah, right. As if that's gonna happen any time soon."
"Tangle is dangerous. And there are others that you should worry about," the dark ginger deputy warned. "Don't think that you can get reckless because you are part of a large group of cats."
"I was like this before," I retorted. "I haven't changed at all."
"You'd better change soon, or else you might not be in a Clan any more."
"Whatever."
"Follow me."
Sharpclaw slid off the log and trotted into the trees. He made a sharp left and almost disappeared. I tracked him down by scent and found him with his back arched, his ears flat against his head, and his fangs bared.
"We told you that you should be content with what you have already, Tangle," Sharpclaw snarled.
"Get away!" Tangle snapped, ignoring Sharpclaw's words. I stared at Tangle, drawing everything in. He had ragged, dirty tabby fur and amber eyes. He was pretty big, too, but I thought I could take him on. "This is my place!"
"No, you've moved into our territory!" my mentor snapped, swiftly losing his patience.
"I don't care; this is my place now. Go away."
"Shut. Up," I meowed. Sharpclaw glanced over at me. My whiskers twitched happily when he looked confused.
"Who said that?" Tangle demanded. "Show yourself!"
"I'm not hiding," I pointed out smugly.
"You're a pipsqueak," he jeered. "You have no right to hush me."
"And you have no right to invade SkyClan's territory," I retorted.
His hackles rose and his eyes flashed. He stalked towards me, shouldered Sharpclaw out of the way, and shoved himself in my face. His muzzle was only half a mouselength away from mine, so we were close enough for me to smell his rank breath. I wrinkled my nose and sneezed.
"You arrogant whelp," he yowled as the flying green specks landed in his eyes.
Tangle lashed out with his claws. They caught my shoulder and I flew to the side, hitting the ground hard. I rolled to avoid his slashing paws and hopped to my paws. He snarled, but was held back.
"Pantherpaw, get away. You don't stand a chance without training," Sharpclaw commanded.
"No, I can fight fine."
"She wants to die, so why stop her?" Tangle sneered.
My mentor hissed and clawed the rogue's flanks. The tabby growled and whirled around to rake his claws over Sharpclaw's face, but I tackled him. Tangle grunted and kicked me away. He bit Sharpclaw's leg and turned to face me. The dark ginger tom fell to the ground, unable to get up.
"It looks as if you're all alone, and you're about to be crowfood."
"It takes one to know one," I teased, my fear rising. I wouldn't show it and I hid my fear-scent.
Tangle hissed and crept towards me, his belly low to the ground. He lashed his tail as he watched me. I didn't move, instead trying to predict where he would lunge. But, to my surprise, he straightened his spine and his features calmed.
"You aren't worth it. Come back when you can fight."
"Are you afraid?" I hissed.
"Afraid? Of you? Don't make me laugh. Take your precious Sharpclaw and go away. I've already told you this is my place now."
I was still bristling. I didn't trust this cat as I inched towards my mentor. Tangle sat down and ignored me. I kept an eye on the rogue as I whispered to my mentor.
"Are you okay, Sharpclaw?"
"I'm fine," he groaned.
"Can you walk?" I asked.
"Yes. I'm stronger than you, remember." I rolled my eyes. He was too proud.
Sharpclaw struggled to his paws and limped in the direction of the fallen tree. He stopped and swiveled his ears backwards to check if I was following. I dashed passed the tabby rogue and took a place next to the dark ginger cat.
The deputy limped, occasionally breathing in sharply because of the pain. We traveled the small distance slowly until he collapsed in the shallowest part of the river. His trickling blood seeped into the water, making small creeks of the red in the clear river.
"Echosong!" I yowled. "Sparrowpelt! Leafstar! Somebody, come here!"
A few cats emerged from their dens, and the silver tabby medicine cat hurried over to Sharpclaw. She sniffed the wound.
"It was a vein, but it isn't bleeding too badly. He'll have some trouble training for a while, but this isn't a bad wound."
"I told you, Pantherpaw."
"He was limping, though," I meowed.
"That was probably because it hurt," Echosong explained.
"It didn't hurt me one bit," Sharpclaw protested.
"Oh, stop it, Sharpclaw," the medicine cat shushed. "Come to my den."
"Pantherpaw, go and tell Leafstar what happened."
"Whatever."
"Say 'Yes, Sharpclaw.'"
"Yes, Sharpclaw," I imitated, echoing his words.
Echosong led my mentor away to give him herbs. I lapped up some of the water, then padded towards Leafstar's den. As I passed the nursery I smiled, hearing the kits arguing inside. As I drew closer to Leafstar's den, I glanced up at the sky. The trees cast cooling shadows over the edge, and I paused for a moment, enjoying the darkness I was used to.
"Pantherpaw?" I whipped around to see the cream and brown tabby leader. "Were you looking for me?"
"Yes, Leafstar," I replied. "Sharpclaw was injured by Tangle, a rogue who has decided to move his territory into ours."
"Where was this?" she asked.
"In the open patch of land between the fallen tree and the rest of the forest."
"Thank you for reporting, Pantherpaw. You can have the day off."
"Uh… thank you, I think. But what will I do?"
My leader chuckled. "Anything you want."
"Anything?"
"Anything," she repeated.
I had an idea of what to do.
"Thank you!" I turned to leave, whirled around, dipped my head to her, and returned on my way out.
I skidded down the path to the medicine cat's den. I walked in and saw Sharpclaw sitting impatiently in a nest. Echosong had some herbs out and was putting them on my mentor's paw. The ginger tom noticed me and flicked his tail for me to join him.
"What are you doing here, Pantherpaw?"
"I thought I would say hi," I responded. "Leafstar said I had the day off."
"Don't go attack Tangle," Sharpclaw growled, seeming to read m mind.
"Leafstar said anything I wanted to do."
"And I say no!"
"She's the leader!"
"I'm your mentor!"
"You're only the deputy," I pointed out. He narrowed his eyes.
"Echosong, could you watch my apprentice for me? Could you teach some things while I'm in here?" Sharpclaw suggested.
"Of course, Sharpclaw," Echosong purred. "I can teach her some herbs so she knows them."
"Thank you," my mentor meowed, dipping his head respectfully. Whoa, I didn't think I'd ever see him do that.
"But since she has the day off, I think she can go and explore."
"Thank you!" I mewed as Sharpclaw hissed, "Echosong! Don't encourage her."
"Go on, and be careful, Pantherpaw," the silver tabby meowed merrily.
I nodded and raced out of the den. I followed my paw steps back into the forest. I heard voices and crouched down. I stalked towards the sounds, and peeked out of a bramble bush. I held back a gasp because I saw Tangle sitting in the middle of a circle of rogues.
He stopped speaking and peered right at the bush I was hiding in. I was guessing he had seen me. This would not be fun.
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Yeah, really bad cliffy again. Thank you for all the cats, I don't need any more. Yay! Okay, so... yeah. I hope you liked the chapter!