Chapter 3

An Elder's Tale


Sunpaw was stretched out near the apprentice's den, warming her fur beneath the sunlight. She had the afternoon off since her and Thrushpelt did the dawn patrol and she was trying to enjoy the break.

All of the other apprentices were out doing things except for Leafpaw, who was curled up in her nest asleep. She and her mentor, Badgerfoot, had joined them on the patrol and for some odd reason Leafpaw wasn't asleep last night when Sunpaw had entered the apprentice's den. Sunpaw didn't want to ask her where she had been though. Perhaps she was still mourning their friend.

A distance away, Rushstar was sharing tongues with the senior warriors. Badgerfoot and Silverfeather were there, but Sunpaw wondered for a moment where Sootwhisker was.

Probably with Marigoldpaw, she thought irritably. And as if on cue, the pair of them padded into camp, jaws stuffed with prey.

"Sootwhisker!" Rushstar called. The dark gray tom dropped his prey in the pile, gave Marigoldpaw a lick on the ears, and padded over to his leader. A bashful Marigoldpaw padded over to Sunpaw with a mouse in her mouth, settling down beside her golden sister.

"Wow, is the prey running today!" Marigoldpaw exclaimed happily, tearing into her plump mouse. "They were practically running right into our paws!"

"Where's Graypaw?" Sunpaw inquired casually. Graypaw, Sootwhisker's sharp-tongued apprentice, was hardly ever with him so it seemed.

"He's out doing battle training with Stonepaw, Aspenfur, and Specklewing," Marigoldpaw said off-handedly, taking another bite.

"Shouldn't Sootwhisker be with his own apprentice?" Sunpaw asked, irritated.

"He's talking with Rushstar."

"Now he is. But before you two were off gallivanting together when he should have been overseeing Graypaw," Sunpaw countered. Why doesn't her sister see that what she's doing just isn't… right? "And shouldn't you be with your mentor?"

"We don't always have to be attached to our mentors at the hip, Sunpaw," Marigoldpaw hissed. "What's your problem?"

"Nothing's my problem," Sunpaw spat. "Maybe you should remember your duties as an apprentice."

She got up and stalked away, her fur bristling with anger. She was mad at Marigoldpaw, mad at Sootwhisker, and even mad at Graypaw- though she was always mad with Graypaw. If only there were someone she could talk to, but Blackpaw was dead and Leafpaw was asleep. Still, she had to find something to take her anger out on, so she went to the Elder's den. Maybe they would have some good stories to distract her.

"Hello, Sunpaw!" an old white tom purred happily. Another cat- a pale gray she-cat with a silver tinged muzzle- stirred in her nest.

"Got any fresh bedding?" the elder asked sleepily.

"Oh stop, Duskcloud," the white tom meowed, shaking his head. "What is it you want, Sunpaw?"

"Can you tell a story?" she asked, her voice tight. She was trying her very hardest not to show her overwhelming anger.

"What would you like to hear about?" the white tom named Snowclaw inquired.

"Anything," she meowed tersely, settling down.

"Okay… how about that time your mother got in trouble?" Snowclaw purred. It was hard for Sunpaw to imagine a time where Aspenfur got in trouble, but her mother had been a cat free of the duties of deputy once. Of course she must have run into trouble at least a couple of times.

And so Snowclaw told the young apprentice a very elaborate story about a once young Aspenpaw. The ginger tabby she-cat had been much smaller than the other apprentices and was sometimes made fun of for it. So one day, she had decided she needed to prove herself to her Clan and peers. She dragged her poor brother- then, Redpaw, a medicine cat apprentice- into the woods one night to go hunt down a fox that had been tormenting the Clan.

Only they had gotten lost. Aspenpaw had been so focused on following the fox's scent trail that she became completely disoriented. Redpaw had wanted them to go back, but by then it was too late. They had found the fox. But there wasn't just one fox. There were two little cubs and a very defensive mother! The two apprentices nearly lost their lives that day.

"How did they survive?" Sunpaw gasped, eyes round with amazement.

"Well, Redbelly is a very fast cat," Snowclaw laughed. "He ran all the way back to camp to fetch warriors while Aspenfur tried not to get eaten."

"That's so reckless. They could have put the whole Clan in danger!"

"Yes, it was reckless," Snowclaw mused. "You know, she had been my apprentice. And I knew from the day we started training that she would be something special to the Clan. And now look! She's deputy and your Uncle is a Medicine Cat! Both very important cats."

"Can I ask you a question, Snowclaw? You knew my mother pretty well… have you any clue who my father is?" Sunpaw asked hesitantly. While Queens weren't required to announce the father of the kits, Sunpaw longed to know who fathered her.

"Now that is something I don't know," Snowclaw replied. "Do you know, Duskcloud?"

"Not a clue," grumbled the old she-cat.

"Okay. Well thank you for the story, Snowclaw!" Sunpaw purred gratefully, dipping her head.

"My pleasure," meowed the tom.

As she turned to leave the den, she heard Duskcloud call, "And next time come with fresh bedding!"