"Tawnypaw!" Rosepaw and a former Shadeclan apprentice, Heatherpaw were my only friends in the clan since Ravenpaw decided to start hanging around Skypaw. I couldn't stand her.
"Hi Rosepaw." I purred.
"Fernleap is leading a dawn patrol and she said you, Mistycloud, Heatherpaw and Honeydew come with us." Rosepaw purred happily.
"Alright." I shrugged. Maybe Mistycloud will actually sick around me.
"You're so slow! What were you waiting for, next years Unwanteds?" Fernleap purred amusingly.
"Apprentices shouldn't keep their mentors waiting." Mistycloud growled, finishing her mouse. Everything I do isn't enough! Nothing I do makes her happy.
"Come on! Let's just go!" Heatherpaw urged. I rolled my eyes as the six of us left the hollow. I watched my mentor closely. I noticed how Mistycloud was trying to stay as far away from me as possible. What did I do to make her hate me?
"Rosepaw, what do you smell?" Fernleap asked.
"I smell a mouse, dog but it's stale. It's probably two days old." Rosepaw purred as she tasted the air.
"Good." Fernleap praised. I watched as the two cats bounded up ahead. I glanced over at Heatherpaw and her mentor, who were play fighting, claws sheathed.
"Come on. We should be getting on with our border patrol." Mistycloud said cooly, racing to catch up with Rosepaw and Fernleap. Why can't Mistycloud and me get along like them?
"Ashpaw! That's not how you do it!" Wolffang hissed.
"Then show me how to do it!" I growled. I hated my mentor. Wolffang thought she knew everything, just because my father was her mentor. Just because I'm her apprentice.
"I have shown you how to do it! You're just not listening!" Wolffang snapped.
"Yes I am!" I argued.
"You're not paying attention." Wolffang said more calmly, but there was still anger lingering in her voice.
"I'm trying to." I muttered.
"You're for them, aren't you?" Wolffang said suddenly.
"No." I lied.
"Ashpaw, they were Unwanted. They couldn't follow the rules of the forest. They deserved what they got. You shouldn't be mourning for them." Wolffang scoffed.
"I'm not mourning for those stupid Unwanteds!" I spat, stalking away. I could hear my mentor calling my name but I ignored her. I tried to block her out, block everyone out. I ran, not sure in which direction I was going. Not caring where I would end up, I deserved it. I had reported my littermates, every time. It was always me reporting them, and now I'm all alone.
"Now, tell me what eases pain?" I asked my apprentice. I gazed into his green eyes, they twinkled as he thought for a moment. He's just like his mother, at least that way no one would ever suspect.
"Juniper berries?" He asked hopefully.
"No." I purred, amused. He's just got to think harder, he'll get it soon enough.
"Marigold?" He asked once more. He frowned once I shook my head.
"Think." I mewed more seriously.
"Poppy seeds?" He asked, his voice full of determination.
"That's right. But you're going to make a horrible medicine cat if you keep guessing like that." I purred jokingly.
"I was joking. You just need to learn more, than maybe you'll be a better medicine cat than Cloverfoot." I mewed once he recoiled.
"Do you really think so?" He asked, his eyes sparkling in hope.
"I know." I purred. Cloverfoot had been my mentor, I missed her. She was killed by a badger.
"Thanks." He purred.
"Why don't you bring Hazelnose a vole? She'll need it. Her kits are due in less than a moon." I mewed. I watched as he dashed away. I fear for her kits. I hope they aren't marked Unwanted when the time comes. As my brother and sisters were. As my other son was.
I glared at Mistycloud as she left the camp, alone. I glanced around to make sure no one was watching before I carefully padded after her. I slowly stalked her until we reached the river.
"Tawnypaw I know you're following me. Get out of that shrub." Mistycloud hissed. I did as my mentor told me and stepped out of the small shrub that had been my hiding spot. I kept walking until I was right in front of her.
"Why did you follow me?" Mistycloud demanded.
"Is it wrong to want to be with my mentor?" I scoffed.
"Tell me the real reason you followed me. There's no way you wanted to spend some quality time with me." Mistycloud scoffed.
"Why do you hate me?" I asked.
"I don't hate you. I don't necessarily like you. But I don't hate you." Mistycloud mewed.
"But why? What I do to you?" I prompted.
"You didn't do anything. My father did. After everything's that happened, me being Unwanted, my brother dying." Mistycloud sighed.
"What did your father do? Who is your father?" I asked.
"He sent me away. Only me. My brother would have been sent away too if he hadn't died. He only kept my other brother, because he looked like our mother. And now he had more kits. He doesn't care that I'm Unwanted. He never cared about me." Mistycloud cried.
"Who is your father?" I repeated.
"Shadowstar."