Silverpaw grinned at her fake mentor, and copied her movement. Dawnflight had dropped into a hunting crouch, and Silverpaw did the same. Dawnflight was focusing on the mouse before her, and Silverpaw was copying her movements. But she didn't understand why her sister's mentor was taking so long. She kept her tail still, her paws light on the ground, ears twitching, restlessly and slightly impatient she began to swish her tail, rustling the leaves. The mouse pricked its ears before darting away, squeaking.
"Honestly, Goldenpaw!" Dawnflight snapped, looking annoyed at her apprentice, pale brown stripes rippling as she turned around. "I've told you so many times to stop rustling your tail and just stay still!"
Silverpaw snapped back, nostrils flaring with anger. "How about next time, you just catch the mouse before I get restless and start to twitch around? You can't honestly expect me to stay still forever, can you?" She meowed incredulously, voice dark with annoyance.
"I'm your mentor!" Dawnflight growled coldly. "Listen to me."
You're not my mentor. Silverpaw bit back the words, before scowling fiercely down at the ground. "Whatever." Is all the pale silver she-cat muttered to her mentor, ears twitching before she shifted away from her mentor's side and sat down a fox-length away.
"Go hunt by yourself." The pale furred deputy snapped at her. "I don't want to bother to teach you until you fix that attitude of yours. I used to think you were the better twin; but I'm having my doubts."
Silverpaw faked a frown, but as she turned away a faint smirk tugged at the edges of her lips. She padded swiftly away from her mentor, tail swishing back and forth, rustling as much grass as she could. She could hear a frustrated growl of Dawnflight behind her, but just padded away, smirking. "Oh, Goldenpaw." She purred to herself. "Destroying your reputation is so fun."
Even worse; the golden-eyed twin felt no remorse to her sister.
She stalked through the forest, sniffing at the air and tasting to see if she could detect where ShadowClan's border was. It had been a half-moon since she and her sister had swapped, and she was planning on switching back with her sister tonight.
"All a game." She laughed, her pretty smile back on her face. "Someday she'll put the pieces together."
She tasted the scent of ShadowClan before darting forward, eyes glowing. She sniffed at the border, realizing that's where it was. Pinching her lips into a thin line, she tentatively stepped forward and across the border. She padded forward lightly, startled by how easy it was to just pad into an enemy clan's territory. She tasted around for the scent of prey, ready to wrap this level of the game up.
The scent of toad flooded her nostrils. She resisted the urge to cringe, but she knew it was perfect. There were no toads in ThunderClan, so once somebody spotted it, they were bound to be suspicious. She grinned. She narrowed her eyes, sweeping her eyes over the territory. She didn't bother to conceal herself. Getting caught would be fine too. She spotted the toad and dropped into a low crouch, her paws light and body completely still.
She slid forward slowly, when she was close enough she waggled her haunches and sprang forward. She landed neatly on the frog and nipped at it, wincing at the taste. A blur of dark fur shot by her vision and then her face was stinging as she slammed back down to the ground. She lifted a paw and pressed it against her face, letting out a low growl of pain.
"What in the name of StarClan?" An astonished voice cut through her thoughts. "ThunderClan?" Then Silverpaw felt herself get shoved down heavily against the ground, and something was pressing down at her neck.
"Get off me." She snapped, her voice a sharp hiss of annoyance. She however, made no attempt to thrash or flail.
"What?" It hissed incredulously. Silverpaw's eyes focused and she noticed who was standing above her. It was a dark silver and black furred tabby she-cat with narrowed amber eyes.
Silverpaw blinked slowly, scowling for a moment. She had hoped it would be a tom. Forbidden romance? That was exciting. "You're a she-cat." She commented.
"So?" The other cat snarled, shoving her down harder. She choked for a moment, writhing around as she tried to gasp for air.
"Defensive, are we?" Silverpaw managed out, before gasping for air again. "Seriously, how are you so heavy?"
The ShadowClan cat glowered down at her, before beginning to unsheathe her claws slowly. "What's your name, and why are you on my territory?"
"The name's…" Silverpaw blinked once, frowning. This cat could be a valuable asset, if twisted around, but if she didn't… than she could be an enemy Silverpaw didn't want to have. "Goldenpaw." She said calmly. "I'm on your territory because I got lost and decided your territory looked like my camp." Her voice dripped with sarcasm.
"You better thank StarClan that I'm nice enough to let you go, Goldenpaw." The other cat growled, before releasing her paw from Silverpaw's throat and stepping back. The silver furred she-cat shook out her pelt and sniffed haughtily before padding over to the ThunderClan side of the border. The ShadowClan followed her, but stayed on her own side.
"I'm not thanking anyone." She sniffed. "And besides, StarClan has nothing to do with you letting me go." The ShadowClan cat let out a hiss. Silverpaw rolled her eyes and tapped her paw, as if waiting for something. "Your name…?"
"Why would I tell you my name?" The other she-cat growled.
"Because I told you mine?" Silverpaw blinked, as if it was obvious.
"That's because you were trespassing!" The other cat snarled.
"How do you know I told you my real name?" Silverpaw shrugged.
The other cat blinked, as if unsure for a moment. "I, uh…" She meowed slowly, gazing at Silverpaw. "Your eyes are golden. Golden eyes are rare, so you would be named after it." Silverpaw noted that this she-cat had logic and decent observation skills.
"There are two cats in ThunderClan with golden eyes." Silverpaw meowed coolly. It wasn't a lie.
"I tell you my name, and you'l tell me your real name?" The dark tabby offered.
"Aw." Silverpaw purred, brushing pelts slightly with the other cat. The ShadowClan cat stiffened but didn't move. "Look who's suddenly wanting to make friends." The other cat hissed, but there was a gleam in her eyes. It was hard not to end up interested by one of the mysterious twins.
"Flamestrike." The amber-eyed she-cat stated, ears twitching.
Silverpaw resisted a snicker. Flamestrike? That she-cat had a silver pelt. She decided the parents of the amber-eyed she-cat must have had eye issues and been color blind. "Cool. I'm Silverpaw." She meowed airily. "Goldenpaw's my sister." In a half, almost mocking tone, she added. "The family resemblance is shocking."
"Oh." Flamestrike meowed.
Silverpaw suddenly remembered something. "Almost forgot." She meowed, before darting back over to the ShadowClan side of the border and sniffing around for her toad. She picked it up, it dangling limply from her jaws before darted over to ThunderClan. "Thanks."
"Hey!" Flamestrike yowled after her. "That's a ShadowClan toad!"
"You can hunt over here." Silverpaw meowed breezily, waving her tail around. She smirked at the other she-cat. "That is, if you're brave enough." She then padded away, before twisting her head around and shooting the other she-cat an impish smile. "Nice meeting you, Flamestrike."
Her ribcage was aching and her muscles were exhausted so she decided to head back to camp. She had been gone a surprisingly long time. As soon as she walked in, she noticed her sister's mentor sitting there, eyes blazing.
"What took you so long?" Dawnflight growled, stalking forward.
"It took me a while to find my prey." Silverpaw lied, smiling faintly. "If you were a better mentor, I probably wouldn't have taken so long."
Dawnflight glowered as she glared down at the apprentice. "What are you holding?" She stared in horror and disgust at the toad hanging limply from Silverpaw's jaws.
"A toad." She stated, faking the pride in her voice.
"W-where did you get it from?" Dawnflight meowed, her voice suddenly filled with anger.
"It was near the border, but a bit more on the ShadowClan side, but it was so easy to catch I just leapt and caught it. It's hardly a ShadowClan toad." Silverpaw meowed carelessly, before taking a step away from her mentor. Dawnflight snarled at her and hooked her back.
"Hardly a ShadowClan toad?" She yowled. "That's still ShadowClan's prey!"
"I know." Silverpaw meowed, shrugging. "Nobody caught me though, so it was fine." The lie slipped off her tongue, sounding so easy and honest that she almost fooled herself. But she didn't.
"Three sunrises confined in camp." Dawnflight snarled. "Now I have to go talk to Thornstar." With an angry huff, the she-cat snatched up the toad and bounded towards Highledge.
Silverpaw purred in satisfaction before plopping down in the apprentice's den. Her sister stirred slightly in her nest, blinking sleepily up at her.
"Hi." She meowed, almost hesitantly.
"Hey, sis." Silverpaw purred sweetly. "We still on for our trade tonight?"
Goldenpaw flinched as if afraid. "I guess…"
A cold smile spread across Silverpaw's face, golden eyes glittering like chips of ice. She purred her last word in a way that it was so sweet it was venomous.
"Wonderful."