Chapter 2, training session
A sharp paw prodded Ravenpaw in the side. She lifted her head groggily. Those stupid House folk!
"Ravenpaw, wake up!" Whitepaw yowled, "Training is about to start!"
Ravenpaw jumped out of the nest a bolted into the clearing.
She leapt at Brambleclaw, who was picking a mouse from the fresh-kill pile, and knocked him down.
"I'm ready to go! I'm ready to go!" she yowled, jumping up and down.
"I'm not," he growled, "Get yourself some food, Ravenpaw."
Ravenpaw pounced on the fresh-kill pile. She pulled out a mouse and dropped it next to Brambleclaw and sat down.
She crunched into the delicious prey, and finished it in a few seconds.
"Now can we go?" she yowled, prodding Brambleclaw in the belly.
"Yes," he meowed, standing up, "We'll go with Whitepaw and Squirrelpaw."
Ravenpaw scampered at his side. Whitepaw and Brackenfur were there too, and so were Squirrelpaw and a big dusty brown tom.
"That's Dustpelt," Whitepaw meowed.
Squirrelpaw pranced at her mentor's side, scenting the air and swishing her tail in a casual way.
"Stop showing off," Whitepaw told her.
The patrol reached a little clearing.
"This is the sandy hollow," said Brackenfur, "This is where most of our training sessions will be held."
"But Kittypet won't work here," Squirrelpaw snarled, "Once she sees a ShadowClan warrior, she'll tear for her Twoleg nest with her tail tucked between her legs. She's so soft that she would faint in terror at the sight of a mouse! She's so dumb that-,"
Squirrelpaw never finished her sentence.
Ravenpaw leaped.
Her claws met there mark. Squirrelpaw whirled around, her claws slashing at Ravenpaw's chest. Ravenpaw scramble free and twisted to give her a warning bit to the neck.
They were rolling around the hollow with Whitepaw shouting, "No!" and the mentors watching with interested eyes.
Ravenpaw decided she had to give Squirrelpaw a permanent mark of 'don't mess with me anymore.'
Her claws ripped into Squirrelpaw's ear. Squirrelpaw snarled with rage and pain and broke free of Ravenpaw's claws and sprinted away, her torn ear bleeding.
Ravenpaw licked a cut on her flank, then turned to look at Brambleclaw.
"Today we'll show you the borders. Come on."
Ravenpaw trotted after her mentor with her head a tail raised. She heard Squirrelpaw hiss behind her.
Whitepaw raced up to Ravenpaw's side. "You…you, your not supposed to attack Clan mates!"
"So?" Ravenpaw snarled, "That cat needed to be taught a lesson. Nobody else was going to do it."
Whitepaw snorted and trotted on ahead.
Ravenpaw hid a growl. Why had she joined this Clan? What was the point of all the stupid rules? Now Whitepaw was mad at her.
She looked down at her claws and hissed. I'm just a kittypet, not a Clanborn warrior!
Or was she? Ravenpaw looked up at Brambleclaw. For some reason she thought he looked a lot like her…
There was a sharp nudge in her shoulder and Ravenpaw raised her head to see Squirrelpaw trotting past with an angry look in her eye.
Ravenpaw glanced up at the senior warriors, and the other apprentices, and a sharp jolt of furious ambition shot through her. I'm going to try very hard to be a really good warrior, so Brambleclaw and Whitepaw and Squirrelpaw will know there's more in my blood then softness. She unsheathed her claws as black waves of ambition washed over her.
OoOoO
Ravenpaw trotted into camp with her patrol. She had seen ThunderClan territory.
Brambleclaw walked up to her.
"Bring some fresh-kill for the elders, they need it," he meowed.
If you want to be a warrior sooner, obey warriors as soon as possible. She told herself, picking a mouse from the fresh-kill pile and dropping it in front of an old she-cat.
"So you're the new apprentice?" she asked kindly.
With great self-control Ravenpaw dipped her head, let them think you're a smart apprentice, she told herself.
"You'll be good as Firestar," the old she-cat commented.
Ravenpaw nodded and walked out of the den with her tail held high.
"Did you feed them?" Brambleclaw asked, "Then you can go eat with the other apprentices, and chat with them."
Chat with them? Ravenpaw snorted silently. Good warriors never chat like kits!
She walked into the apprentices den with a shrew in her jaws.
She sat down at the far corner of the den, and at the other corner was the small black tom, sitting with his paws tucked under him, silently listening to the other apprentices talk, but not joining them.
He looks like a true warrior, Ravenpaw thought, and decided to be like him. She neatly and silently ate the vole, then tucked her paws under her and silently watched the other apprentices.
But watching the other apprentices was boring. She turned to watch the black apprentice. He had closed his eyes and was dozing.
Soon the other apprentices got tired of talking and fell asleep.
Ravenpaw watched the black tom some more. He was still dozing. Ravenpaw wondered what his name was. She stood up and trotted over to him.
"Hello?" she asked quietly.
The black tom's eyes flew open.
"Hi," Ravenpaw said uncertainly, "My names Ravenpaw. What's yours?"
"Spiderpaw," he mewed, he had a nice voice. "You're the newcomer, right?"
"Yes," Ravenpaw answered. She was glad Spiderpaw hadn't called her 'Kittypet.'
Ravenpaw sat down next to him. She couldn't help but admire the intelligence in his amber eyes.
"Well, that's all," Ravenpaw meowed awkwardly. She felt dumb, sitting there next to him.
She trotted back toward her corner but didn't fall asleep. Spiderpaw looked so cute, sleeping there with his paws tucked under him.
She shook her head slowly, and fell asleep.
Well, how do you like the Ravenpaw and Spiderpaw pairing? R&R R&R R&R!