"All cats old enough to catch their own prey, gather for a clan meeting!" Crookedstar's voice rang throughout the RiverClan camp. The sound of murmuring RiverClan warriors reminded Graystripe this wasn't going to be easy.
"Perhaps Dawnpaw could finally be made a warrior. It's taken long enough," he heard Heavystep meow. Heavystep had always intimidated Graystripe, mostly because of his large stature and oversized fur pelt. He shuddered as Heavystep's gaze fell on him in scorn.
"Now what is he doing here?" His thick fur bristled in annoyance. "This was supposed to be a clan meeting." No other cat said a word, but Graystripe could confusion glistening in their eyes.
"Wasn't he Silverstream's mate?" Heavystep continued. Graystripe froze. Please no! Fortunately, Crookedstar began the meeting without addressing any of Heavystep's comments.
"We are here to introduce a new member to the clan. Graystripe, a former ThunderClan warrior, has come to join RiverClan due to some unfortunate circumstances beyond our control." Heavystep scoffed.
"Is he joking?" He whispered, than he called out to his leader, "Are you joking? Somebody's got to be joking here, right?" Graystripe scowled, his whiskers twitching.
"Anyway, we would like you all to welcome him and make him feel comfortable in our clan. His mentor is Stonefur. Stonefur, would you come up here please?" Stonefur dutifully climbed up to Graystripe and they awkwardly touched noses.
"Good luck with that!" Heavystep cackled. Loudbelly joined in with the torment as he added, "Yeah, I'd like to see him catch some fish!" Graystripe shrunk back, unsure of what to do next. He shot Crookedstar a desperate look. He shrugged and turned away.
"The clan is dismissed. Leopardfur, organize the evening patrol and give them special instructions to check the Thunderclan border. They've been getting far too close to our territory lately, and I don't like it." Leopardfur roughly nudged Graystripe.
"Do I have to bring the crowfood over here?"
"You're choice." Leopardfur padded towards Heavystep without another word.
"Crookedstar, you know I'm never going to get on a patrol with Leopardfur as deputy." Crookedstar shrugged again. He was unsure of answers, just as Graystripe was, though as leader he refused to admit it.
"Maybe we can go out for some training?" Stonefur suggested. Graystripe's face lit up with excitement.
"Come on. I'll show you our territory and get you used to the river." Graystripe's eyes widened with fear, though he quickly composed himself, for Stonefur's sake, and nodded. He hated the slimy, thick waters that submerged his body and stole his breath. The fish that nipped at his paws and blew bubbles into the water were equally unpleasant. The bubbles were like laughter, taunting him for not being able to swim with the same graceful ease as they did.
RiverClan territory was much different from that of ThunderClan. It was damp and muddy. It was thriving with lush green plants and smelled of rain and fresh dew. The long, thick roots made it rough and difficult to travel.
Graystripe coughed nervously. "So, um… you RiverClan cats like swimming, right?" Stonefur shook his head and ignored him.
"We're coming up on Sunningrocks." Stonefur hesitated, then started walking again. His voice lowered to a whisper. "It was always RiverClan's… never admit to anything otherwise. " They continued walking, Stonefur stopping every so often to point out landmarks. Graystripe already knew most of them but it was pointless to say that he did. The only reason he had ever been on this territory at all was because of either bloody battles or visiting Silverstream, neither of which he wanted to be reminded of.
"When are we going to start hunting and fighting? Do we eat anything besides fish? Are we going to battle soon?" Stonefur smirked.
"You're not. And we'll start with small things. For instance, today we will be learning how to catch fish. We will stay out here past dusk if we need to, but you will learn how to fish, I promise you that." Graystripe gulped.
"But what if I can't learn?"
"You will," was his vauge reply as he approached the river. "Come! Follow me." They reached the slippery edge of the riverbank. Stonefur gave Graystripe a hard shove. He tripped over the sharp rocks as he tumbled down and splashed into the ice cold water.
"Help!" He cried right before his head sunk under. Suddenly, he remembered something. He sheepishly stood up, shaking the water off his fur. I can't believe I did that twice. Memories of that first day flooded into his head and he found himself missing Fireheart as well as Silverstream.
Stonefur stood at the edge, laughing histarically. "I knew that would happen!" Graystripe growled,
"Fine. Laugh all you want, but we're wasting time."
"True," Stonefur admitted, "But it was definitely worth it. Besides, you need to get used to river anyway. I'll demonstrate." Stonefur dove in and effortlessly glided under the glassy surface of the water. A small fish swam by, and he gripped it firmly with both paws and brought it up onto the shore. Graystripe watched, horrified, as the fish struggled for breath and was given none. After watching it fight for air, Stonefur grabbed started biting into it.
"To speed up the process," he explained.
"That's-that's horrible!"
"You kill your own prey."
"Still! Watching him die like that!"
"What?" Personally, I find those little squirrels you love to eat a whole lot cuter then goldfish anyway." Graystripe shook his head.
"So that's it? We're done?" Stonefur scoffed.
"You don't get off that easy. Try it for yourself a few times." Graystripe nervously pawed at the water.
"It-it's too cold right now, don't you think?" Stonefur started laughing and said,
"Stop being a wimp and just do it." Graystripe took a huge breath and plunged in.
If Stonefur's was a graceful dive, Graystripe's was more like a cannonball. Water sprayed everywhere, including in Stonefur's face. He stepped backwards and shook his fur dry in disgust. Graystripe's clumsy paws fumbled around for a moment until they found a tiny fish. He practically threw it up towards the ground in a desperate act to be rid of it.
He grunted as he pulled himself out. "They're… slimy!" Stonefur started laughing again as he pointed at Graystripe's pitiful catch.
"You call that a fish? That looks like something I coughed up yesterday."
Graystripe shuddered. "Sorry," he apologized, though he thought his catch was pretty impressive. "You can eat it, can't you?"
"Not anymore," Stonefur pointed at where Graystripe had dumped his prey, and there was a patch of wet dirt. "Got to do better than that. Looks like your adorable little fishy escaped. Try again." Graystripe, with a determined expression on his face, bent down and slowly lowered himself back in. Stonefur sighed, "This is going to be a long moon."