Chapter 6

Waterpaw stretched in his nest as the first light of dawn cast milky streaks in the sky. He'd gotten no sleep at all last night, despite spending the whole night trying with few disruptions. It seemed that the less he slept, the harder it was to get to sleep in the future.

The apprentice quickly ran his tongue over his fur, grooming it in rhythmic strokes. When it was neat enough for the day, he stood up in his nest. His denmates were among the worst as far as staring; Waterpaw stepped carefully around the sleeping bodies of Robinpaw and Fishpaw as he left the cave, being careful not to wake them. After a quick stop at the dirtplace, he then headed back up the trail toward the warriors' cave.

Unsure how this multiple mentors thing was going to work, he decided that the safest thing to do would be to wake Snowspots. But as he picked his was across the sandy den to rouse the sleeping she-cat, Windfur raised his head.

"Waterpaw? Is that you?" he whispered, although he already knew that it was.

"Yes," the apprentice hissed back. A couple of the warriors began to stir.

"I'll be there in a moment. Badgerstar asked me to take the first shift."

"Okay." Waterpaw dipped his head in the semi-darkness and left the den. But the way that Windfur had referred to his part of Waterpaw's training as a "shift" unnerved him. He made it sound as if he would be training constantly, the way a watch was set over the camp at all times. For all he knew, that was what Badgerstar had in mind.

In theory Waterpaw should be able to handle it. He had never before felt the sensation of being tired, and that didn't seem about to change. But could he really handle training around the clock?

"You ready?" Windfur had just appeared behind him.

Waterpaw jumped. Absorbed in his own thoughts, he hadn't been aware of the sandy-colored tom's approach. "Yeah," he meowed.

"Let's go then."

Instead of taking the zigzag path out of camp, Windfur headed in the opposite direction, bounding over the Rockpile to where the gorge extended on the other side. Waterpaw followed behind him curiously. He hadn't been this way before; he and Snowspots had mostly focused on the forested part of the territory so far, and this place wasn't near any of the borders except at the top of the cliff.

Here the ground was littered with branches and twigs, things that had been removed from the camp. The cliff was steep on the right, but on the other side it rejoined the higher ground more gradually, opening out in a curved bowl shape that was scattered with large boulders. Occasional trails suggested that prey came here regularly, though not a lot of it.

"All right," Windfur meowed after the camp was out of sight. "Any place is good." He sat down and tucked his tail over his paws, motioning for Waterpaw to do the same. "Now, Badgerstar asked me to focus on defensive battle moves, since looking after yourself is the top priority if you're going to go on a dangerous journey. What have you and Snowspots covered as far as battle training?"

"Not a lot," Waterpaw mewed. "A bit of basic offense, and three moves."

"All right, show me what you can do."

Waterpaw rolled onto his back, raking his claws though an invisible enemy's fur and landing on his feet again. Next, he combined his other two moves, both of them considerably more complicated. He leaped into the air, twisting as he leaped over his imaginary opponent and snatching at its fur midair; he then rolled as he landed, ending up on his feet with his claws extended.

"I like your form," meowed Windfur. "Was that the three?"

Waterpaw nodded, glad the sand-colored tom was impressed. "Snowspots says she'll teach me how to land on the enemy's back after I do the roll," he boasted.

"That's exactly what I was thinking. Why don't we do that?"

"Okay!" Waterpaw chirped. Even though he'd been looking forward to Snowspots teaching him, he supposed it didn't really matter what mentor taught him the move, as long as he learned it.

"All right, now the trick is in the timing and the angle. As you roll—" he demonstrated as well as he could without gaining any speed— "you're going to spring back and hopefully land on the enemy's back." He jumped sideways as he spoke, landing clumsily at the awkward angle. "It'll be easier if there's actually an enemy to land on," he apologized.

"Okay," Waterpaw mewed. "Can I try it?"

"Sure. I'll hopefully be in the right position for you when you land, so don't mind me."

Waterpaw dashed forward a few paces, gaining momentum for the roll. He jumped sideways, letting out an involuntary grunt as his side made contact with the ground. Then he jumped sideways again, reversing his direction and launching him at an angle into the air. Windfur's lean shape darted underneath him, and Waterpaw involuntarily flipped right side up to land on the pale brown tom's back with all four paws.

"Good!" Windfur panted. "That was really good for your first try. Let's try that a couple more times, and then we'll see if you can do it with me standing still. If there's time, we'll try it with me running toward you. How's that sound?"

"Hard," Waterpaw mewed. "But fun!"

"Well, good," Windfur meowed gladly. "You ready?"

Snowspots was impressed by Waterpaw's newly-learned fighting technique that afternoon. She speculated that Windfur must be a very good mentor, to which Waterpaw promptly responded that he was. Waterpaw was glad to have two such good mentors training him—four, hopefully.

After the sharing of tongues that evening, Badgerstar called a Clan meeting. He announced that Shadowpaw, Stonepaw, and Redpaw were ready to become apprentices, and he gave them their mentors: Whitewillow, Dewdrop, and Redmist, respectively.

Waterpaw was a little disappointed that he wouldn't get to train with his adoptive littermates. He'd been looking forward to training alongside them once they became apprentices, but now that Badgerstar had moved Waterpaw into the fast lane, it was clear that that would rarely be an option, if ever. Why does the prophecy have to make it impossible to live at least part of a normal life?

"Hey, Waterpaw." Briartail had come up behind him without his noticing. "Are you ready for another training session?"

"But—it's almost dark," Waterpaw mewed, confused.

"I know. Badgerstar said you should be training for as much of the day as possible, including at least part of the night," the tabby-and-white tom explained. "Bet you haven't had much of a break today, huh?" he mewed apologetically.

"Not really," Waterpaw admitted.

"You holding up okay? Tired at all?"

"Not tired, but just...tired of training, is all. Like I just want a break so I can catch up, if that makes sense to you."

"I know how you feel. Why don't you take a rest and meet me out here after sunset?"

"Okay," Waterpaw mewed gratefully. He turned and bounded up the rocks to the apprentices' den. Fishpaw, Robinpaw, Redpaw, Shadowpaw, and Stonepaw were all in their nests already, apparently asleep, but as he entered the cave, Stonepaw raised his head and gave a reassuring nod before tucking his tail over his muzzle again.

At least he wasn't being stared at, which was a major improvement over the last day and a half. Waterpaw stepped around his denmates and curled up in his own moss-lined nest.

Even though Waterpaw didn't need actual sleep, he could benefit greatly from closing his eyes and letting his mind wander. And tonight it wandered to his mother.

He still wanted—and somehow felt he needed—to know how exactly she had come to be in StarClan. He still fully intended to ask her the next time he saw her, but so far he hadn't seen her at all. Of course it had only been one day, but he hoped he had a chance to ask her soon.

After what seemed like only a few minutes, Waterpaw sensed his tertiary mentor approaching. He looked up. The long-furred tom stood outlined in the cave entrance, the white patches on his fur illuminated in the gathering darkness. The pale gray apprentice met his gaze; Briartail mouthed, let's go, signaling with his tail for Waterpaw to follow him.

Sighing, Waterpaw rose from his nest, flicking a scrap of moss off of his shoulder, and followed the brown-and-white tom up the zigzag path and out of the camp.

Waterpaw didn't need sleep; it was true. But constant training was taking its toll on him, even before the first day was officially over. But I'll adjust. I always will.