Thanks for the reviews, follows, and favs! Sorry for the slow updates, I was working on my other stories. Here's the next chapter, enjoy(: !
"A quarter moon punishment. Three done, four sunrises left."
Goldenpaw blinked at the cat who had spoken, and stiffened for a heartbeat. The fur on her spine rose, but she forced it down, and forced the rest of her to remain flat. She lifted her chin and stared boldly into her mentor's eyes. "Yeah. Still a long time to go." She answered, completely straight-forward.
The golden tom snorted, rolling his eyes. "Serves you right." Lionclaw muttered, shouldering past her. "Now go do your punishment. Shoo." Goldenpaw scowled fiercely at him, her ears twitching with anger.
"Just cleaning ticks and changing moss?" Goldenpaw asked solemnly, her golden eyes wide. He turned his head around and gave her a firm nod before sighing and spinning back around, stalking back into the clearing. He grabbed a shrew and flopped down onto the ground, eating at it in quick, ravenous gulps.
She dragged her gaze from him and focused it on the medicine cat's den, where Briarleaf was fussing around with a few herbs. The dark brown tabby's eyes were dark with disapproval, and she looked frustrated. She padded lightly to the medicine cat's den, popping her head in warily.
"Briarleaf?" Her voice was wary, but also exasperated. She had been doing this for a while now, yesterday she had done the nursery, the previous day she had done the apprentice's den, and the first day Thornstar actually was angry enough to force her to clean out the entire warrior's den. Does he even realize how many warriors were in ThunderClan? He obviously expected her to take at least three days to do so, but she had only taken two. She had finish the apprentice's den and nursery on the same day. She worked harder than any other cat had possibly done; and she knew she had impressed her leader. Her paws and back still ached.
"Mouse-bile, I got it." The dark she-cat mewed from inside the den, before rushing Goldenpaw in. "Silverpaw, you know what to do right? With mouse-bile, I mean?"
Goldenpaw nodded quickly.
She was slightly hurt that the cats didn't really realize it was her; Goldenpaw, and not Silverpaw. However, her sister was punishing her by forcing her to be Silverpaw. Her sister thought that she should suffer the humiliation that she irrelevantly and stupidly decided that she inflicted upon her. Goldenpaw did not inflict anything upon her sister; it was all her own fault. She would be Silverpaw the best she could.
Somewhere inside of her, she knew her sister was just passing this off so Goldenpaw would repair her reputation for her. But the pale she-cat found that she didn't mind. Perhaps if she repaired her sister's reputation, was nice to the other cats… Then Silverpaw would forgive her for whatever wrong she thought her sister did? Then they could go back to being best friends, to being the inseparable twins.
More importantly, they could go back to being close as close could be.
"Are you going to daydream all day?" Briarleaf meowed sharply, cutting into her thoughts. Goldenpaw blinked, then dipped her head in apology before picking up the mouse-bile. "Good luck, Silverpaw!"
She flicked her tail showing that she received it. She crinkled her nose in disgust at the smell of the mouse-bile, as it completely reeked. The smell even began to make her eyes water, so she quickly raced across the clearing towards the elder's den.
As she raced back, she saw Silverpaw, lying next to Amberpaw and Thistlepaw, golden eyes glowing.
She tried to push down the surge of jealousy rising in her chest. Sure they thought it was her, but it really wasn't. And if they liked the way Silverpaw was, when they switched back… Then they wouldn't like Goldenpaw. They'd just go running straight to Silverpaw.
Goldenpaw padded lightly to the elder's den, flicking her den repeatedly. Tallheart was sleeping soundly at one edge of the den, his flank rising and falling as he snored softly. Mousepelt and Sorrelwing were chatting peacefully, their ears twitching and eyes bright. Sorrelwing suddenly let out a peal of laughter, nodding wildly as if agreeing.
"Hi…" Goldenpaw meowed hesitantly, padding silently into the den. Tall-green mouse amber
Sorrelwing blinked at her with round blue eyes, and Mousepelt sniffed in disapproval. Goldenpaw's pelt burned, feeling her sister's embarrassment as her own. "Hi, Silverpaw." Sorrelwing greeted her. "I hear you've been doing a fine job on the nests." The fake Silverpaw nodded quietly, ears flattened submissively against her head, which was lowered. She dropped the moss in one corner of the den before taking the mouse-bile out and slowly inching towards Mousepelt. He stiffened at her touch, but allowed her to pick off his ticks. She worked quietly, her claw parting his fur as she let the mouse-bile do it's job. She bit at a tick, letting it free.
"Done." Mousepelt says gruffly, sounding grateful but like he didn't want to admit it.
"Do you have any ticks, Sorrelwing?" Goldenpaw asks politely, padding towards the aging she-cat. Her fur was ruffled, and slightly patchy, but it looked clean and neat. She shook her head no, and Goldenpaw tentatively padded towards the last tom. "Tallheart?" She said softly, gently nudging at him. The tom blinked open his eyes; a sleepy pale green.
"Goldenpaw?" He mumbles, and she blinks in surprise that he recognizes her. As his glassy eyes focus, his gaze immediately flicks towards his ear, then his shoulders sag slightly in disappointment as he doesn't see the tuft. "Oh, hi, Silverpaw." He mumbles, his rumpled pelt rippling as he rose to a seated position. "I assume you're here for the ticks?"
"Yeah, I am." She answers, smiling kindly at him.
He flicks his tail at his flank. "I've a big one there. It's been bugging me for sunrises now." Goldenpaw immediately set to work, carrying the stinky mouse-bile over to his pelt and within heartbeats found the tick. She tugged at it with her teeth and it popped out, and she looked over at his fur. He only had one more near his shoulder and that was it.
"So, hows being an apprentice?" Sorrelwing asks her, not unkindly.
Goldenpaw shrugs. "I don't know." She replies honestly. "I've only been cleaning ticks and nests these few days."
Mousepelt snorts. "Rude kits these days… thinking they can oppose their own clan leader."
Goldenpaw lowers her head in shame, her golden gaze focused on her own paws. "I'm really sorry about that. I guess I was just jealous of…" She forces the name out of her mouth. "Goldenpaw, because she got the deputy and I got a mentor who I didn't really know that well."
Sorrelwing nods, understanding in her clear blue eyes. "I know what you mean. My sister got the deputy too, and he became leader during her apprenticeship. It was awful for me, because she was popular and had the clan leader, while I was just in her shadow." She ruffled Goldenpaw's pelt affectionately. "It'll blow over." She promised. "Lionclaw's a young cat full of potential. He'll train you well, just you see."
"Thanks." Goldenpaw mumbles, before standing awkwardly before Sorrelwing and the other elders. She shuffles her paws nervously. "Do you want me to work around you, or…"
"Working around us is fine." Mousepelt grunts, sinking deeper into his pelt.
Tallheart rolls his eyes. "Ignore him. He's such a grump." He blinks kindly at her. "We'll leave. It's probably good for us old cats to get a bit of sun isn't it?" He grins.
"You're not that old." Goldenpaw protests. "You've got the spirit of young warriors."
Sorrelwing's eyes twinkle with amusement. "Thanks, Silverpaw." She laughs, before slapping Mousepelt with her tail. The tom groaned but reluctantly heaved himself to his paws and followed the other two elders out, where they perched neatly outside, sprawling across the cool rock and letting the sun shine down on their pelts.
A twinge of jealousy entered Goldenpaw; oh how she wished she could be out in the forest. Feeling the grass and leaves crunch beneath her paws, the wind blowing against her fur, the adrenaline pumping through her… She sighed for a moment, completely in another universe. She then jerked herself back to reality. The faster I get this done, the faster I can go out in the forest.
She clawed at the moss in their old nests, ripping it up and rolling it into a tight bundle. She did the same with the other two, until she had a round, thick bundle of moss beneath her claws. She tried to carry it between her jaws, but it was too big, so she nudged at it with her nose. She rolled it outside the elder's den, letting out a squeak of surprise as it flew away from her. She charged after it, and stopped her. Nostalgia shot through her.
"Goldenkit, catch the moss!" Silverkit giggled, batting the ball of moss towards her sister. Goldenkit leapt upwards, and slammed it back to her sister, grinning triumphantly. "You might beat me someday sister, but today's not that day!" With a triumphant leap upwards, Silverkit twists and kicks at the moss-ball with her hind-paws, shooting it towards her sister. Goldenkit reached for it, but found it was just a bit out of bounds. She fell to the ground, groaning.
"You win, again." Goldenkit groans, pelt bristling with annoyance.
"Don't look so down." Silverkit purred, standing next to her sister. They pressed tightly against each other, their silver pelts touching and mottling. Their golden eyes were mirroring each other, a mischievous glint in them and a impish smile spreading across their face. "Let's go find Sunkit. I bet we can trick him into thinking rabbit droppings are a new kind of berry!" She waved her tail, and Goldenkit charged after her, giggling profusely.
She dropped the dirty moss off, and went back to the elder's den. She scraped at the new moss and ferns, slowly building a nest for Sorrelwing. She weaved it together with the soft ferns, patting moss all over it to make it soft. She did the same for Tallheart and Mousepelt, swiftly, before poking her head back out the elder's den. It would be dusk soon, she could tell.
"I'm done." She reports to the elders.
"Thanks, Silverpaw." Tallheart smiles at her, and so does Sorrelwing. Even Mousepelt mutters a quiet thank you.
"I'll get you something to eat." She promises, before running towards the fresh-kill pile. Her stomach is rumbling with hunger, and she picks a plump squirrel and a mouse off the pile, before dashing back to the elder's den. "Will this be enough?" She asks, worried, as she drops the prey before them.
"It's enough." Sorrelwing nods at her. "Thanks for the hard work."
"No problem." Goldenpaw meows modestly, before padding back out towards the clearing. Stomach groaning with hunger, she realizes she hadn't eaten since dawn. She pawed out a small vole for herself, the smallest one she could find, as she wasn't hunting and she didn't deserve much. She ate it silently and alone, suddenly longing for the comfort of her sister at her side.
"Hi!" A small voice squeaks from behind her. She blinks in amusement, waving her tail at Sunkit.
"Hey, Sunkit." She purrs to the golden tabby tom, who grins happily.
"How's being an apprentice?" Sunkit asks curiously, ears twitching.
Goldenpaw sighed, she repeats what she told the elders. "I don't know." She confesses. "I've only been cleaning out moss and mouse bile."
"Oh." Sunkit frowns, looking down at the ground. "Oh, well." He then prances off, back towards the nursery. Goldenpaw feels the pang of loneliness return, before curling up into a tight ball, heart aching. A cat plops by her side, and she flinches with shock as she sees its Silverpaw.
"S-Silverpaw?" Goldenpaw blanches at her.
Silverpaw rolls her eyes. "You don't have to stutter. I'm not some sort of evil spirit. I'm not going to kill you."
"No, but you did steal my identity." Goldenpaw pointed out, tail waving.
Silverpaw blinked innocently, a light smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "What do you mean?" She protests, with fake sadness in her tone. "I've never stolen anything!"
"Knock it off." Goldenpaw mutters. "Are you here to gloat about how much fun you had training?"
"Nope." Silverpaw meowed to her surprise. "I'm here because I want to thank you."
Goldenpaw's heart does something of a little dance in her chest, nervous and confused and agitated at the same time. "Thank you?" She meows, shocked. "Thanking me for what?"
"For repairing my reputation. Well, almost. I just need you to go to a training session with Lionclaw, and then we can swap back." She says, obviously pleased with herself and her sister. Goldenpaw was glad her sister was happy, and talking to her again.
But it just wasn't the same.
"Why would I go to the training session with someone who's not my mentor?" Goldenpaw snaps at her sister, scowling.
Silverpaw shrugs. "Because you're Silverpaw?" She flicks her tail impatiently. "And Lionclaw is your mentor. For StarClan's sake sister, did you hit your head on something?" With a cruel purr hidden behind a happy smile, she flicks her sister's ear with her tail and pulls away, bounding towards Amberpaw and Thistlepaw, a flirty smile on her face.
"Why do you let her do this to you?" A soft voice says from behind her, and then she sees a golden tom looking up at her with round amber eyes. His darker stripes ripple as he twists his body to face her, red ears twitching.
"Who?" Goldenpaw frowns at Sunkit.
"Silverpaw." He says quietly.
Goldenpaw gapes at him; he had noticed? "What do you mean, I'm Silverpaw." She states, unsure of why she was suddenly defending her sister. It was probably instinct, she assumed.
"Don't lie to me," He says, staring at her with unblinking eyes. "Goldenpaw."
She squirms uneasily. "I have to go to sleep." She says evasively.
"I won't tell anyone!" He calls after her. "It'll be our secret!"
She brushes past him and darts into the apprentice's den, her heart pounding.
Confused questions ran through her head.
Why did I protect my sister, instead of telling Sunkit the truth and exposing her? What made me want to protect her?