"Well done Jackalpaw!" Ghostheart praised as the apprentice bowled over his smaller brown brother.
Jackalpaw beamed his russet fur standing up in patches, he got off a disgruntled Wolfpaw who looked just as disheveled. Then with a growl Wolfpaw struck upwards and set Jackalpaw on his tail.
"Hey!" Jackalpaw mewed. "No fair! That was cheap!"
"So what? I won didn't I? What does it matter how I won?" Wolfpaw protested. The two kittens glared at each other ruefully for a few seconds before glancing away. Sageclaw grinned at Shalefur who shook his head amused.
"That's good for now, go out and hunt then you can eat and rest." Ghostheart meowed before bounding back into camp with the other two warriors. The three kittens scurried off in unison their previous argument instantly forgotten.
They scrambled about the undergrowth with their noses on the floor. Coyotepaw, the best hunter was the first to catch scent of sparrow and with a few bounds secured his prey. Shaking feathers off his nose Coyotepaw displayed his catch to his two brothers.
Before anyone could say anything they heard the sounds of frantic running. Whirling around the black fur of Blackstripe made the warrior look like a black blur. Jamming to a stop before the three kittens he breathlessly meowed, "Back to camp now, all of you."
Before Wolfpaw could even mew out a "why?" they were hearded back like ducklings and a mother duck in reverse. As Blackstripe tumbled the trio back to camp the apprentices could see warriors peppering the camp, some with torn fur and scratches and queens shoving kits back into the nursery.
"What happened now?" Jackalpaw wailed, there were no other apprentices to answer the question. "RiverClan." one of the warriors provided. Before anyone could complain Duststar was calling for a meeting by the Shadow Tree.
The first part of the speech Wolfpaw didn't understand, something about battle tactics and training moves. The second part dismayed the sole three apprentices: "No cat is to leave camp without at least two warriors."
Once dusk fefll the three apprentices curled up in their den complaining to each other. "That's no fair, now we'll never get to do anything fun." Coyotepaw mewed sadly.
"Makes sense but doesn't make it any easier." Jackalpaw grumbled.
"Just go to sleep mouse brains!" came from Wolfpaw.
Despite his annoyance Wolfpaw could not follow his own advice. He lay awake for hours tossing and turning. When he finally achieved a light doze he still kept waking up at regular intervals.
When dawn finally came more torture was coming Wolfpaw's way. "Wolfpaw, Coyotepaw, Jackalpaw, dawn patrol!" Shalefur barked. Wolfpaw tucked his head back into his paws praying to StarClan that this was a dream. Dawn patrol, any patrol was boring but dawn patrol was worse then any seeing as how you have to wake up early.
Internally grumbling Wolfpaw dragged his dark brown form up and slinked after Shalefur. The cold morning marsh cooled his paws and plastered the fur on his legs. Jackalpaw was still yawning and Coyotepaw looked half asleep. Wolfpaw somehow managed to keep his head up. He looked around eagerly trying to spot the ruddy cat Mask.
He saw nothing of the kind.
He felt numb and heard nothing until Shalefur suddenly shoved him face first into the mud. He struggled instinctively letting out muffled mews. "Quiet!" Shalefur whispered putting a stop to the kitten like noises.
Jackal and Coyotepaw were also flattened against the mud. Jackalpaw risked a quick glance over the rocks and saw three cats with distinctively glossy fur.
They must be RiverClan!
Secretly Jackalpaw felt a want to jump out and fight them, to prove his strength. Needless to say the apprentice felt ashamed for such reckless thoughts.
The rest of the day proved to be fruitless as they were confined to camp like a bunch of insolent kits. Wolfpaw was padding out of the nursery after bringing prey to the queens. He felt a bit upset, there were no other apprentices beside him and his brothers.
By the time there's any other apprentices to play with we'll be warriors. he thought sadly. Wolfpaw took the path behind the nursery to get to the Apprentice Den when he spotted a flash of movement.
Red fur.
His jaw nearly fell on the floor, what was with Mask? Was he a StarClan warrior? Some kind of super cat? "Uh..." was all that came out of the apprentice's mouth.
"Come with me." Mask invited. Not waiting to see if his invitation was accepted the red furred cat padded back into the marsh. His instinct for following orders still strong Wolfpaw scrambled after him. Still more of a kitten he was naturally curious.
Mask led him into a small break in the middle of the swamp. In a loose semi-circle stood three cats. A she-cat with brown fur almost as dark as Wolfpaw's own, a tabby black and white cat, and a gray cat. Wolfpaw found himself focusing on the gray cat as the larger feline stared back at him.
Suddenly aware of the situation the small brown kitten leaped back tensing to run for his life. "Stay." Mask ordered standing to Wolfpaw's side.
"W-what are you going to do?" Wolfpaw stuttered, "A-a-are you going to eat me?"
"We're not going to eat you, we just want to talk to you." the gray cat answered while the tabby cat grinned. "I'll introduce, you already know Mask," the gray cat flicked his tail over to the dark brown cat, "this is Peony." He then nodded to the tabby cat, "and Pine. I understand you're Wolfpaw."
Wolfpaw blinked, "Wait, you skipped yourself."
"Rain. I think I know you." the gray cat answered.
Wolfpaw was stunned at the quick skipping over one's own name but he was stunned even more at the second part. "Huh? W-what's that mean?"
"I know where you came from, who you are." Rain replied simply. "You're mother was a loner as I'm sure you know. She didn't leave you, she died, a fox killed her."
Wolfpaw tilted his head trying to piece together why it mattered. Rain quickly continued to explain. "You don't owe anything to the clans."
"But we would've died!" Wolfpaw shrieked shrilly.
"You just didn't wait long enough. Whatever you've heard about loners, no one's cold hearted enough to leave kittens out in the cold." Peony meowed.
Wolfpaw flattened his ears, "If you want me to leave home then you should know that I'm not going anywhere!"
"Home? That is not your home, it is just a place you live." Mask corrected.
"Isn't that what home means?" Wolfpaw wailed. The brown kitten looked over a Pine who had not said a single word, Pine smiled back but was as silent as ever. "I'm sorry Wolfpaw but Pine is mute." Rain informed. "You do not understand how deep your heritage lies, you would not believe how many loners live around this lake and its outskirts. Few loners can stay in a clan forever."
Wolfpaw felt his legs go weak trying to stuff all the information in his head. Another kitten might have blanked out by now. "Enough." Mask interrupted, "Let him go, we can talk another time." the ruddy cat then lowered himself to Wolfpaw's level, "You won't tell anyone of this meeting will you?"
The brown kitten's amber eyes opened wide, "You can't expect me to do that!" he meowed loudly. "Talking about it won't do you any good, we're simply asking you to come back where you belong. Is that such a crime? Think about what we've said, the choice is yours, not your clan leader's." Mask advised. Wolfpaw said nothing.
"Just keep heading in this direction, you'll get back to your camp soon."