Sorry for the long hiatus! I've been stuck in an enormous writer's block, but hopefully I'm back on track. Here's chapter 3.
Ravenpaw didn't understand why the other cats gave him strange looks.
Sure, he had gleaming, wide yellow eyes. But that couldn't matter, could it? After all, a few other cats in the Clan had yellow eyes. Of course they were all elders, but did that really matter? Ravenpaw just didn't get it. He wanted to be normal, to fit in. Maybe it was his personality that drew cats away from him.
If Ravenpaw knew one thing, it was that nothing was more annoying than walking through the forest with a young, talkative warrior blabbing something about saving a litter of kits as an apprentice and warding off WindClan warriors.
"Ravenpaw! Let's go!" A hyper voice shook Ravenpaw awake. He jumped to his paws, his fur bristling and his heart pounding.
"Great StarClan!" It was Squirrelfur. "You're Mr. Jumpy today!" She let out an obnoxious giggle. Ravenpaw groaned inwardly. He had to train with her? An immature, loud, carefree she-cat?
"Hurry up! Betcha can't catch me!" Squirrelfur giggled as she bounded out of the camp, heading toward ShadowClan territory. "Ha! You're so slow!"
"Wha…" Ravenpaw quickened his pace a bit, trying to get Squirrelfur to shut up.
"Look over there!" Squirrelfur cried. "That's Greenleaf Twolegplace! It's also the border between ShadowClan and RiverClan territory."
Ravenpaw slunk over to his mentor. "Squirrelfur," he murmured, "you showed me the territory yesterday."
Squirrelfur suddenly burst out laughing. "I know! I know! I was seeing if you remembered everything!" She bounced backward and began rolling on the ground, squirming and giggling. Ravenpaw crept away from her, his tail bristling. Why? Why had Dapplestar placed him with this obnoxious she-cat? He sighed.
"Why the long face, sourpuss?" Squirrelfur panted and stood up. Ravenpaw stared at her, his eyes wide. Squirrelfur gave another chuckle. "Your eyes…they're starting to creep me out a little!"
Ravenpaw tore at the ground with his claws, forcing himself not to spring at her and rip off all her whiskers. What was wrong with her? "Are we going to do anything?" Ravenpaw muttered. Squirrelfur stopped laughing (finally), turned around, and began to dash towards the training hollow. Ravenpaw swiftly followed.
Once the two cats approached the sandy clearing, Ravenpaw spotted Petalpaw and Ashfeather, who were talking about the hunting crouch. Petalpaw listened attentively.
"What are you, crushing on the deputy?" Squirrelfur giggled. She bounced around in circles as she dashed farther away from them, crying, "Wheeee!"
"Great StarClan…" Ravenpaw muttered. He felt his eyes tingle and then twitch. Squirrelfur glanced at him and bristled. "Woah! Your eyes!"
Puzzled, Ravenpaw stared at her. His eyes had always done that, especially when he was annoyed or angry. "Your eyes," Squirrelfur repeated. "They're glowing!"
"What?" Ravenpaw had always felt this sensation in his eyes, ever since he was a measly kit. "Glowing?"
Squirrelfur nodded. "That is so cool! I have the coolest apprentice in the forest!" Ravenpaw sighed in irritation. Did Squirrelfur only like him because of his eyes? His weird, glowing eyes?
Suddenly, he felt a harsh whack to his head. Ravenpaw sprawled onto the ground, gasping and panting. He weakly gazed up to see the deputy, Boneclaw. Where had Boneclaw come from? Ravenpaw glanced around wildly. He wasn't at the training hollow-he was in the forest near Twolegplace! Claws and enormous paws rained down on Ravenpaw. He gave helpless yelps of pain, but it was no use. No one could hear him. He was going to die under the claws of the huge deputy…
"Ravenpaw!"
He felt a gentle prod in the side. "Ravenpaw!"
Ravenpaw coughed and opened his eyes. Ashfeather was leaning over him, surrounded by Petalpaw and Squirrelfur. "Ravenpaw," Ashfeather repeated. "Are you okay?" She touched her nose to his paw pad. "No fever."
"I dunno what happened!" Squirrelfur mewed, still keeping her eyes glued to Ravenpaw. "I was talking to him and his eyes went dark. Then he just fell over and started yelping!"
"Ravenpaw," Petalpaw whispered. She licked him on the ear. "Are you okay? What happened?"
The black tom leapt to his paws. "I'm fine! Nothing happened! I just…I was thinking about something." Petalpaw was obviously very worried about her brother. "Thinking…about what?"
Ravenpaw shook his head. "Nothing. None of your business." Petalpaw looked taken aback, but said nothing and curled her tail over her white paws.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Ashfeather asked. "No dizziness? Did you eat something before you came training?" Ravenpaw nodded hastily. "I'm fine!"
Squirrelfur watched as Petalpaw and Ashfeather hurried back to their training spot before turning to Ravenpaw. "What happened?"
"Nothing!" Ravenpaw growled. He swung his head around, half embarrassed and half irritated.
"Okay," Squirrelfur sighed. "You're okay? Then let's get back to training."
We never were training, Ravenpaw thought bitterly, but he reluctantly watched Squirrelfur show him the hunting crouch. "Just keep your rear down, claws unsheathed, and paws weightless. You try."
Ravenpaw crouched down, keeping his tail low against the ground. His yellow eyes were wide open and his nostrils flared.
"Great!" Squirrelfur meowed. "Wanna try the stalk?"
"What?" Ravenpaw sat back up. "There's nothing I need to tweak at?"
Squirrelfur shook her head. "Nope! You were perfect on your first try! I think you were born to be a hunter." She giggled, causing Ravenpaw's eye to twitch irritably.
Surely I have something to tweak at! Ravenpaw couldn't help thinking. I'm not getting the full training if she doesn't correct anything. This she-cat is insane. I must talk to Dapplestar about a new mentor. Hopefully she'll understand…
Well…yeah. There's chapter 3. I love Ravenpaw's personality. So…have a happy holiday!
xx-Starfall-xx