Hey guys! New Petalwish here, with the first update of Murder in the Snow by the newest owner (I feel so weird saying that...) Anyways, onto the basics of my note! :D
Please enjoy this chapter, leave a review letting me know how I did (good or bad, but good would be more tolerated xP Just kidding!) and thanks for reading!
~ Morning
Chapter Twenty Five:
"Again, Snowpaw!"
The white toms eyes narrowed as he launched himself at Redpaw, his claws digging into the other apprentice's short fur. Redpaw let out a hiss, clawing at the white tom in the same manner; they happened to be battle training, so their mentors couldn't say anything about it.
Or so Snowpaw thought.
He felt a large force throw him off of Redpaw, and looked up from the dirt he had been staring at to find Tailwind, his mentor looking at him through furious green eyes. "I thought I told you not to use your claws, Snowpaw!" The dusty orange tom hissed, flattening his ears to his head.
"Well, in order for our moves to be smoother, we should be allowed to use claws!" Snowpaw retorted with a sharp hiss of irritation. "Otherwise the training is completely useless!"
Tailwind lashed his tail, his green eyes narrowing upon his apprentice. "You don't learn by tooth and claw, Snowpaw. You learn from wits and honor within yourself and your Clanmates. You could learn a thing or two from myself or any other warrior if you would just listen for once instead of going out on a paw on everything you do!"
"I do listen," Snowpaw stated calmly, though the look in his eyes betrayed his calm voice towards the dusty orange tom. "Just not to you."
Tailwind let out a sharp hiss, and just as he looked about ready to launch himself at the white cat Redpaw's mentor, Falconflight pushed in between the two battle-hungry looking cats. "Alright, alright..." the black and white tom soothed, placing his tail upon Tailwind's shoulders in a calm gesture. "Settle down, both of you. This is battle training, not battle fighting."
Snowpaw, despite his anger at Tailwind, let out a small sigh. He couldn't be mad at the dusty orange tom; he did have a point, after all. Daylily had always told him and Redpaw -even when they were only days old up until now- that being a warrior meant you had listened and earned your place among your Clan, along with their respect.
And from the looks of it, Snowpaw was very far behind in that category.
Snowpaw raised his chin and stared at his mentor defiantly, as if in a silent challenge. "I'm sorry, Tailwind," he apologized, the words not matching the feeling in his heart and mind at all.
"Just make sure it won't happen again." Tailwind growled, then flicked his tail as if to dismiss the conversation. "Now, let's go at it again, but this time without claws..."
"I can't believe I'm doing this..." Snowpaw grumbled under his breath as he was met with the putrid odor of the elder's den.
Once they had gotten back to camp earlier that day, Tailwind had called Snowpaw aside to speak with him privately. Of course, Snowpaw's definition of 'private' was very different from his mentor's. For his behavior, Tailwind had assigned Snowpaw a punishment for the next moon, one that every apprentice had to do sometime -if not every time they had gotten in trouble- during their apprenticeship.
That punishment -or torture as Snowpaw claimed it to be- was cleaning out the elder's bedding.
Of course, Snowpaw had already been through this once before with his brother after the ginger tom had dragged him along by his tail. But doing it by himself, with specific instructions not to receive any help from any cat... That was much different. But given that the elder's were nice and all, Snowpaw figured it wouldn't be that bad.
The joyous atmosphere inside the den was inviting and warm. What wasn't as pleasant was their bedding...
"Snowpaw," Cloudfoot greeted him with a friendly smile curved onto his muzzle. "What brings you here?"
"Shouldn't you be out training?" Twistedtail asked with a curious blink of her blue eyes.
"I got in trouble with Tailwind," Snowpaw explained as he began to clean out Cloudfoot's bedding, replacing the stale and rotting moss and bracken with a newer and cleaner version. "and this is my form of punishment because of it."
Twistedtail and Cloudfoot simply snorted at the mention of Tailwind's name. "Well, that tom always was a hard-headed old thing," Twistedtail remarked with a purr of amusement.
"He's not old, Twistedtail." Cloudfoot answered with a twitch of his left ear. "If I recall correctly the young cat was just named a warrior not too long ago."
Snowpaw nodded and blinked fondly at the white elder. "You're right, Cloudfoot. I was named his apprentice not long after he became a warrior."
"See, Twistedtail?" Cloudfoot meowed, turning to the crooked-tailed she-cat. "My memory isn't as bad as you thought."
"I never said your memory was bad," Twistedtail retorted, her voice warm with laughter. "I just said that your hearing was terrible."
Cloudfoot rolled his eyes, scoffing at the she-cat's remark. Snowpaw let out a small chuckle, finished with Twistedtail's nest and then Bramblesong's bedding within a short amount of time, being as the tabby elder wasn't around to make any sort of smart comment to him about the way he was organizing her moss and bracken. Snowpaw, with a heavy heart then bid each of them goodbye, waving his tail in farewell.
One day down, He thought as he padded into the apprentice's den and curled up into his nest, wanting sleep to claim him as quickly as possible. A lot more to go...