Chapter 2: Twinge
Two weeks passed and every plan they came up with failed. She also noticed her brother and sister skipped three days, but that didn't bother her too much. They couldn't be expected to visit her every day, right? They had lives. Besides, Grasspaw came on the days they were not there.
Each day she practiced memorizing the herbs she had been given, solving complex situations she came up with, and battle moves. Every other day her mentor, Snowswirl, would visit and teach her new things. Because Wolfpaw only had to hunt for herself, and she was able to get a steady supply of mice down there, she had the rest of the day to perfect them.
It rained two more times, and each time she found herself devastated, but chalked it down to the fact that those visiting her had to leave early, and did not return.
One day the leader dropped by for a visit.
"Hello Wolfpaw." She called down to the apprentice who was studying the herbs she now had memorized to heart.
"Oh, hi Rockstar!" She greeted her leader cheerfully.
Rockstar purred. "It is so nice to see you so happy and cheerful, do you need anything? You know we can hunt for you."
Wolfpaw snorted. "Thanks, but no. Hunting is one of the few things to keep me occupied. There is something that you could do though, please tell the medicine cat I am ready to learn some more herbs."
"Of course dear, and um. Have you been keeping track of the days?" Rockstar suddenly became awkward, and Wolfpaw knew why.
"I have." She admitted. "I claw each day down in the little dirt that is here."
"Yes, in a few days it shall be one moon. You can still change your mind, you know."
"I know, but I won't!" Wolfpaw meowed in a shaky voice. "Please don't try to change my mind. If some cat randomly comes up with an idea, great, but I can't have the clan distracted!" She looked down.
The leader closed her eyes and meowed, "You are a brave cat. Not many would do this, but you are also right. We can not have the clan distracted on you, any other requests before I go?"
"I would like for my friends and mentor to keep visiting me so I don't get lonely." She meowed.
"Of course, now good bye!" She left quickly.
She watched her leave and hated the tide of disappointment that now flooded her. She knew they would fail, though every night she prayed to StarClan they wouldn't. Now she was down there alone. Something burned her sadness away though, and it was a fiery ball of rage, and she had no idea where it came from.
Two moons passed, and Wolfpaw began to notice tiny changes that slowly happened over time. Her family, friends, and even mentor, began to lessen their visiting days. Soon she was going three whole days without interacting with a cat. It seemed that the cats who visited her also were becoming distant, or sometimes short with her when she asked a lot of questions. They were slowly going from joyful to to bored. Almost like visiting Wolfpaw was a chore.
Once each moon Rockstar would stop by to ask her if she had changed her mind, she would say no, and the leader would leave with a few requests from her, which usually went along the lines of learning something new. The medicine cat had run out of herbs and things to teach her, and her mentor was skipping days.
One day, on her fourth day alone, much to her annoyance, she was running around the pit in order to stay in shape. She was feeling unusually restless that day too, and had not stop after her usual fifth lap for the morning.
That was when a snide voice spoke. "Wow, you are right, she stays in their like a pet that the whole clan is burdened with."
She stopped short and glared up. "I am no pet, I hunt for myself, get my own moss, and drink from a stream that is in here!" She growled. Something twitched within her, the fury that began at the end of her first moon. She had easily pushed it down, and did it once more.
The second cat spoke. "Really?" He did not sound mean, unlike the girl, but merely curious.
Suddenly, her fur bristled, she did not know these cats! "Who are you two anyway?" She snapped.
"Oh, oh!" The male jumped up and announced proudly. "I am Stormpaw, newly made apprentice of FeatherClan! You are Wolfpaw, but we know that. The elders are still droning on about the "brave" apprentice who refuses to let herself be a burden on the clan." He glared slightly at his sister. "She is no burden."
She shrugged. "I am Softpaw. A free apprentice of FeatherClan. Me and my brother are newly made apprentices, both of us six moons of age."
Softpaw had a long wavy white coat that had a creamy tint and blue eyes. Her brother had an orange tabby coat and blue eyes, both were pretty small considering their ages.
"Well, tiny apprentices, I am not a burden. I simply want cats to visit and chat with me, and not be snobs in the process." She glared at Softpaw also. "I consider myself free too," She lied, "I have the choice to live, or I can kill myself. I am free to live though!" She grinned halfheartedly.
"Whatever. Pet." Softpaw sneered and left.
Hurt, her ears went back and she bared her teeth. "At least I'm not a beast!" She called after the mean apprentice.
Stormpaw looked down sadly. "Please, pay my sister no heed, she is simply jealous of you."
"Jealous!" I screech, my anger threatening to erupt. "You should explain her, jealousy." I spat.
He looked at her scared. "She is jealous that you are getting more attention than her! That is all, I swear!" He meowed.
She huffed. "I doubt it, cats barely make the time to visit me nowadays." Wolfpaw complained. "You should just leave." She grumbled and walked back into her cave to wrangle in her anger.
The anger confused her, she thought she had it under control. Why did it insist on cropping up and ruining what little joy she could get? Annoyed her began to clean her pelt, and realized with a jolt it was a lot dirtier than she remembered. When was the last time she had clean it? Shrugging she continued to get out all the burrs and dirt. No wonder the sleek Softpaw had sneered at her, she was dirty.
After a good cleaning she walked back outside to get a drink, and spotted her mentor waiting for her.
"Oh, hi Snowswirl!" She meowed joyfully.
"Hi." Snowswirl scratched her ear. "Lets get this over with, ok?" She asked. Her voice wasn't rude, but more of a rushed sound.
She coughed slightly. "Um, ok. What will you be teaching me today?" She looked up happily.
"Well, when you got trapped you had already done three moons of training, so you are almost warriors age, and I admit, I have run out of things to teach you. I am going to try to asses you today. Show me a group of complex moves." She ordered.
"Gladly" Wolfpaw smirked and showed off a roll, slash, and jump. She continued to show off until her mentor ordered her to stop.
"Yeah, that is good. You passed, how many mice could you catch down there?" She meowed and looked off at the distance.
She thought for a bit, then answered. "Five without depleting how many come down here."
"Huh? Oh, awesome! Catch that many." She ordered.
"Did you even hear how many I told you?" She snapped without warning. A twinge of anger happened once more.
She was too late though, her mentor was off and calling over her shoulder, "I will be back later tonight, or today! Good luck Wolfpaw."
"At least she remembered my name." Wolfpaw murmured sadly, another emotional swing.
Sad, angry, happy, three basic emotions that seemed to be playing leapfrog with her. It infuriated her! Then it would sadden her, but she would pull through and put on a happy face, and thus yet become happy. A circle of emotions that ultimately confused the apprentice.
The mice were easily hunted and caught, then she hid them under a rock so when her mentor returned she would be ready to show her. Her mentor didn't come back though, in fact, no cat came near the pit. She was alone for the rest of the day, and the day after that.
Finally her mentor showed, and Wolfpaw tried to give her a furious gaze that ended in tears.
"Why didn't you come back?" She wailed, all the tears she had held back over the three moons spilled over.
Her mentor seemed taken aback. "Did-did I promise something?" She asked, truly shocked.
Wolfpaw continued to sniffle. "You said you would come back later that day and look over my prey. You gave me a task for once and I completed it effortlessly!" She cried. "You are like all those other cats, you aren't coming by as often, and it is leaf-fall, and leaf-bare is right around the corner. If it blizzards, will you all forget about me?" She cried up. "I don't even get the news anymore!" She ran to her den, her home. She didn't want it to be her home!
Once inside it she wailed to the ceiling and hit the walls with her paw pads, not risking her claws. but not caring it tore her healable skin. She didn't want this! The emotions, the forgetfulness of her clan, and the loneliness. It was all horrible, and she didn't deserve it! Not fair, not fair!
The words circled around her, taunting her, as she cried out her emotions. Not fair that Wolfpaw is alone. Not fair the Wolfpaw fell in the pit. Not fair that Softpaw was a horrible cat and was free to roam. Not fair she was a prisoner!
She let out another sob and finally passed out in the crisp lead-fall day.
Groggily she woke up with a raging headache and popped her head outside the den. She got a drink from the cold water that slightly burned her tongue, and cleaned herself slowly. Even if she was alone it didn't mean she had to look horrible.
Her sensitive ears picked up paws sending rocks tumbling into the pit. She turned her head and glared at the cat. Who was bothering her so late in the night?
It was Stormpaw.
"Is-is it true?" He whispered.
"What true?" She snapped. "I am at a disadvantage to hear rumors."
"Oh yeah." He mumbled and looked at his paws.
"Also speak up, my ears are good, but owls are better."
"Did you really turn into a beast today? Your mentor came stumbling into camp today, terrified. She claimed you grew to three times your size and had rage worse than a badger with a thorn in its paw. She also said your eyes began to glow faintly!" His eyes grew wide, as if to try and copy the tale.
She scoffed. "Oh great. I pour my heart out to her, and she turns me into a freak. Why should I tell you the truth?" She demanded.
"I promise not to turn it into something it's not. Doesn't seem right. You must be sad down there, even if you don't show it."
"That, and I have nothing to lose anyway, because I have already lost my mentor." She said bitterly. "The leader hasn't even visited yet."
"Shockstar?" He asked curiously.
She looked up bewildered. "Rockstar died? How, why! She was young and healthy!"
"She simply disappeared. Um, cats, actually kinda…" He seemed very reluctant to go on.
"Tell me!" She meowed. "I won't bite you, I can't."
He chuckled slightly. "True. Well, some superstitious cats, stupid ones like my sister, are saying you used your powers to lure her down to the pit and kill her."
"What idiocy!" She hissed.
"That's what I said!" He exclaimed. "Well, I have told you some things, so now you have to tell me the truth."
She nodded. "Ok, well in short, I threw a tantrum. I got pissed off that cats had stopped visiting me and all the emotions inside me spilled over. I told her how alone and sad I was, and now she is turning me into an angry pit-beast." She shrugged.
He hesitated, then spoke in a low voice. "I promise to never turn you into a beast, to me you will always be an innocent cat who happened to fall down,"
Something seemed to clear at her, and she purred for the first time in two moons. "Thank you, Stormpaw. If you want the real truth, come to me."
"When I can." He promised. "I have to go now, or I will be missed."
"Of course." She nodded vigorously and entered her den.
The next day she hummed her hours away as she skipped her usual workouts and herb memorization. She covered her den entrance for the coming leaf-bare with rocks and moss from old bedding. She also had an idea to skin a big rat she was lucky to catch. After skinning it and using its pelt for her bed she found that it had helped warm her during the night. The rocks and moss she was putting up in the entrance however was to block any snow that might come in.
When it was all done, she felt happy with the work that only took her a few hours. It was nice to do something besides memorize herbs and practice battle moves all day anyway. Maybe today she could just sleep and relax. A tiny cough escaped her, but she ignored it.
The sound of padding paws told her a cat was nearby.
"Hello, Wolfpaw." Shockstar asked loftily.
"Oh, hi Shockstar!" Wolfpaw gave her a grin.
"As the dying request of Rockstar I am to come here every new moon and ask you what you need and if you want us to help you find a way out." She sounded highly bored.
"I need a new herb set, my old one is crumbling away. I also need you to tell my mentor I passed the assessments she so lazily forgot about." Her voice grew bitter at the second request. "By the way, one of my friends came by and let slip a rumor. If you could please tell the clan I am not a pit-beast, I would be so thankful. Also no, I am coming to terms with my… Life." Wolfpaw informed.
"Simple requests, done and done. You will see me at the next new moon if the weather permits, if it doesn't I will be how ever many days late." She was off.
A while later as she enjoyed a mouse inside her den she heard a voice call for her. "Wolfpaw!"
Trotting out casually she looked up and spotted Snowswirl. "Yes?"
"I am sorry for spreading that horrid rumor about you. I was just so, scared. Don't know why either, so I blamed you." She looked down, ashamed.
The ice that was building up on her heart melted and she smiled softly. "Hey, that's ok. I shouldn't have taken my rough emotions out on you. I really did catch those five mice, but in the end I ate them because I got hungry."
"I believe you. You have passed both tests, congratulations. I think I will see about having you become a warrior." With a wink and a grin, she was off.
Excitement coursed through her veins, a warrior? Even in this StarClan forsaken pit? She let out a gleeful yell and raced around the pit, enjoying the feel of her strong muscles sending her to the fastest speeds possible. She might have been stuck in this pit, but she could still become a warrior.