Chapter 13- Dustypaw
Lunge, scratch, jump, claw, swipe, bite. These words kept going on loop through Dustypaw's head as he attacked his sparring partner, Cinderleaf, a pretty light gray tabby with golden eyes from WindClan, and gracefully avoided the attacks coming at him. He finally had his partner pinned. Mapleshade looked at him with amber eyes. "Good job, Dustypaw." Mapleshade padded over to the partner he had pinned down. "You should be insulted, Cinderleaf. Get away from me and my apprentice." She ran off, leaving Dustypaw and Mapleshade alone. "Dustypaw, you are progressing faster than any cat I have taught in a long time. You should be proud."
Dustypaw felt a purr escape his lips. "Thank you Mapleshade. I've been training with my powers too." His brown pelt lightened until it was ginger. White patches appeared in the same places Mapleshade had white. The only thing that remained the same was his yellow eyes.
Mapleshade nodded in approval. "Very good, Dustypaw. You could enter an enemy camp like that. You could do anything you wished like that, though you eyes are the same. Why is that?"
"If I looked exactly like you then I could take over the Dark Forest. I don't think that exactly a good idea." Dustypaw was chuckling as he spoke. Mapleshade was nodding.
"You know, Dustypaw. I think maybe you should teach these new cats we got. They are very keen to learn, but not so keen to sleep so we just took them. They'll be returned to their families once they prove their loyalties, like you have." Dustypaw's eyes were shining and he pawed at the ground, excited for the task ahead until he saw the kits.
"Dustypaw?" One called. It was a tiny, white she-cat with silver markings on her legs and bright, alert violet eyes. It was Willowkit. "What are you doing here?" She was trembling and her pelt had crimson on it.
Mapleshade had voice like ice. "Be sure to teach them a lesson, Dustypaw." He nodded nervously and watched her back away.
He looked at all the kits, Farryn had a few scratches but nothing too major. She was shaking but he understood that. Farley was collapsed on the ground with labored breathing. The patches of white on her calico fur were stained crimson. Of all the kits, Beetlekit looked to be the steadiest on his paws. "Beetlekit, clean Farely up." He then turned his attention to Farryn. "Farryn, what did they do to you and Farley?"
She shook her head as if she was trying to block out all the sounds surrounding her. Screams of pain, cries of vengeance, the silence before a battle, the squishing of blood beneath paws, it was all in the Dark Forest. There was no escape from the sounds of horror. "Dustypaw, they said they would let… let Farley and I- They said we could be warriors, like you. They said we could so we went with a nice ginger and white cat and she told us to stay here. We did and brambles grew around us, cutting our paws, our faces, all over. We screamed but they just looked at us and walked away. I got free before they did too much damage to me but they hurt Farely a lot. I got her out though. One big cat, a dark gray one, congratulated us for getting out before it killed us. He said his name was Billowfur." She gulped and shook for a bit until she regained her breath. "He then told us to go to the river. We did and we found them, trying to swim out of it. We helped them get onshore." She was about to lose it.
"Thank you, Farryn." Dustypaw was doing his best not to be afraid, for the kits sake. They never treated me like that. Why? They're kits! They shouldn't be treated this way. He looked at the way the kits were trembling beside him. Maybe this place is bad. It's changing me too. I can feel it. I know I've been snappy, irritable, unkind… I yelled at my mother. He glanced at the kits. It's time to prove to her I'm just as good as the rest of the Clan. It's time to show them the color of your pelt doesn't matter. Beetlekit was washing the blood off of Willowkit's pelt and Minnowkit was resting next to Farely and Farryn. "Rushkit, what did Mapleshade tell you?"
Rushkit's silvery eyes were masked by the black markings on his face as he remembered the memories that haunted him. "She didn't. She took us. We were playing in camp and she came behind with a dark gray tom, Billowfur, who grabbed Beetlekit in his jaws. We were just about to chase him when an apprentice with dark brown fur, I think her name was Treadpaw, grabbed Willowkit. Willowkit fought back so Treadpaw beat her until she was knocked out. A light gray tabby, Cinderleaf I think, looked at Minnowkit sadly and seized him in her jaws. She was trying to be gentle with him, I think. Mapleshade grabbed me. We tried to run away when they put us down, Minnowkit and I ran and grabbed Willowkit's scruff which slowed us down. They grabbed us again and threw us in the river. Willowkit had just woken up but she was still weak. We were trying to help her get out when we met Farryn and Farely.
"When we met them, some other cats, whose name they didn't say, took us into a cavern behind a large rock. They wouldn't let us out until you came. Dustypaw, what did Mapleshade mean when she said she wanted to teach us a lesson?"
Dustypaw sighed and looked at the kits. I think she wanted me to kill them, or at least hurt them. "She meant nothing. I'll tell you what though, I'll get you out. I'll get you, Farryn, Farely and your siblings out. You will all be safe."
Okay, I loved the amount of reviews I got last chapter; let's try to keep it up! If I can get five more reviews this chapter you'll be in for a treat next chapter! Be sure to check out my one-shots for the Warriors Challenge Forum.I would really like to thank all of you who gave me a cat to use! Your names are all on my profile by the character you submitted! In this chapter we have Cinderleaf who was submitted by spicegirl324! Thanks Spice! Songstar of MaskedClan out!