Chapter Five

A few days had passed since Skypaw became an apprentice. Since than Ferntail had taught her many different types of moves. Such as how to defend herself or how to properly attack someone. Fortunately Ferntail did not teach the apprentices the move Skypaw had taught herself. They were bad enough already.

Just the other day Brackenpaw decided to take out his frustration on her while she was asleep. She never saw the attack coming and couldn't defend herself. The worst part was Redflower encouraged his random attacks. Even when the former queen was watching them she seemed to approve everything Brackenpaw did. But when Skypaw would fight back she would snap at the other apprentice.

She was beginning to think that Redflower's attitude towards her was the reason behind Brackenpaw's change. He'd never acted this way before when they were kits. In fact the two of them had been best friends. Sure they fought as kits every now and than, but that was natural.

"Alright," meowed Ferntail as they reached the training area. Skypaw's face fell when she saw Brackenpaw standing there with Dustnose. "I think it's time you started practicing with the other apprentices, just to see how much you have learned."

Skypaw gave her mentor a despairing look. The last thing she wanted to do was fight her denmate. After what Brackenpaw had done to her she was in no hurry to face him in battle. Darktail and Dapplepaw were always so shocked to find her in their den. Especially with the wounds that she had.

Ferntail only shook her head and flicked her tail at Brackenpaw, who was glaring at Skypaw with a hungry look. Skypaw found herself shuddering under his piercing gaze. She knew he could easily overpower her if she wasn't careful. So she thought quickly over the list of moves Ferntail had taught her.

Brackenpaw suddenly lunged forward, ignoring his mentor's yowl as he leaped towards Skypaw. She already saw what he was planning and moved quickly to the side, narrowly avoiding his claws. Brackenpaw landed on the ground heartbeats later with a grunt. Skypaw used the moment of distraction to pummel him with her paws.

"What do you think you're doing? Fight back!" Dustnose yowled, glaring at Skypaw as well. Skypaw only glared back before ducking to avoid Brackenpaw's swinging front paw. He hissed in frustration once more as Skypaw managed to block his moves with her paws, covering her face in the process. "What sort of cowardly move was that?"

Dustnose's taunts weren't helping. Skypaw knew he was only jeering Brackenpaw on. She noticed how much hatred filled his eyes. Without so much as a second thought, she suddenly whipped ahead of him and knocked him to the ground with her back legs.

The light brown tom stared at Skypaw in surprise when she was far enough away from him. She purred in amusement at the sight. Never would Brackenpaw have expected her to fight back like that. And now she had proven him wrong.

"Let's see if you can try this move on for size," she crowed, rounding on a branch at the edge of the clearing. Brackenpaw was just getting back to his paws when she kicked her back legs against the branch. He watched in amazement as she gained speed from the branch, using it to give her extra strength until she had him pinned to the ground. "And that's a move I like to call, the 'Sky Attack'," she boasted.

He pushed her off the moment the training session was over. Skypaw looked back at Ferntail to see her nodding in approval. While Brackenpaw had been using his claws the entire time, she didn't. She refused to stoop down to his level.

"You are both getting stronger," Ferntail purred. "I can see the makings of great warriors, in both of you."

"I don't see how such a useless rogue could be of any help to the Clan," Brackenpaw sneered, stalking past Skypaw.

His tail whipped past her muzzle in the process. She resisted the urge to bite down on his tail at that moment. He did deserve it though.

"A useless rogue just managed to defeat you in battle," Dustnose retorted. "Perhaps if you were paying attention more during training, none of this would have happened." Brackenpaw only shot Skypaw another glare.

"Perhaps now would be a good time to go back," Ferntail suggested.

"Can I help clean out the elder's den?" Skypaw suddenly asked.

Even if it was a tedious task, she loved helping them out. The elders were always so friendly towards her, even if she was a rogue. Ferntail nodded in agreement and led the way back to camp. Skypaw fell in behind her until Brackenpaw caught up with them.

"Don't get too cocky," he hissed so that only she could hear. "That was just a fluke. Next time I'll make sure that I beat you, and you won't forget it."

Skypaw only tried to ignore him as they reached the main cave. Mallowpelt was standing guard this time, and she gave them a curt nod as they padded past her. Skypaw bounded ahead towards the elder's den, and sure enough their nests hadn't been cleaned out yet.

"Are you back already for another story?" Quailnose asked, looking at Skypaw in surprise. Skypaw only shook her head.

"Nope, I'm helping you clean out your den," she replied cheerfully. Quailnose watched in amusement as Skypaw dragged out the old dusty nests. Fresh moss was collected near the stream. Skypaw had found it was easier to bring back wads of moss rather than constantly going back and forth.

"I wish the other apprentices were more like you," Rustpelt admitted. "Most of them hate cleaning out our den, and checking us for ticks."

"But that's part of apprentice training," Skypaw exclaimed in shock.

Though she didn't want to admit that even she hated the stench of mousebile. But if it meant taking care of the elders than she was more than willing to take part in that task as well.

"Yes, you should have heard Leafpaw complaining about it the other day," Quailnose meowed. "And just because her paws had a little mousebile on them. You would think we were forcing her to take care of the entire Clan."

Oh she could more than imagine Leafpaw acting that way. Leafpaw had always been a bit of a drama queen when it came to getting her pelt dirty.

"Well I won't complain," Skypaw reassured them.

The elders purred in amusement as she padded out of the den. It was time to fetch some fresh moss, and maybe even feathers if she was lucky. She knew how comfortable they could be together. Frostpelt had always lined her nest with feathers when she could.

She padded through the forest until she reached the stream. No cat had bothered asking where she was going. It seemed as though no one even cared what happened to her.

I bet they would care if something happened to Brackenpaw, she thought bitterly.

"Well lookie what we have here." Speaking of the foxhearted tom. Skypaw looked up in surprise to see him sitting on top of a boulder. "Let's play a game, shall we? How about catch the rogue… that always was our favorite game."

The dangerous tone in his voice told her otherwise. Skypaw was ready to turn and run when she realized the other apprentices were there as well. Her eyes widened in horror when she realized what they were about to do.

"Brackenpaw, don't you remember how we used to defend one another?" she asked, desperate to stall out the fight that was bound to happen.

"Of course I do, but we were kits than," he scoffed. "Mother has shown me what we are capable of as warriors. What I'm capable of." She could hear his claws scraping against the rock as he stood up. "Everyone, catch the rogue!"

Skypaw narrowed her eyes and ran when she had the chance. She could hear them chasing after her as she tried heading for the main cave. But Windpaw had already gotten ahead of her, and now was blocking the path.

Her heart was racing as she bounded through the undergrowth, turning so that she was headed for the field that lay beyond the territory. If she could just get past the field than maybe Brackenpaw would stop chasing her. Though she had a feeling that wasn't going to happen.

"Stop running you coward!" Whistlepaw yowled.

At last she had reached the field when she thought her paws were ready to fall off. She turned to see that the other apprentices were far away by now. She let out a sigh of relief and tried to figure out what to do next.

Her moment of relief was cut short though when she felt something slam into her. She let out a wail of surprise when she realized it was Brackenpaw who had knocked her off her paws, literally. His claws were digging deep into her chest as he glared down at her.

"You may have beaten me in battle training, but I'm still stronger than you," he sneered.

It all happened so quickly that Skypaw wasn't even sure what hit her. Brackenpaw bit her scruff so hard that she could see black spots at the edge of her vision. Windpaw and Whistlepaw were holding her down while Leafpaw acted as the lookout.

Skypaw struggled as best she could against Brackenpaw's weight. But he was stronger, she admitted. He easily held her down while clawing her fur off.

"Maybe next time you'll learn that rogues don't belong in CaveClan," Windpaw jibed. "Don't even think of coming back if you're smart."

She couldn't even move as the four apprentices left her there bleeding. The wounds Brackenpaw had inflicted were too much. All she could do was hope and pray that StarClan would make her death quick. The pain was too overwhelming to think they wouldn't let her suffer.

"I thought I smelled blood!" Skypaw stiffened when she heard an unfamiliar voice. "Oh, the poor thing."

She didn't know what was going on. Cats surrounded her, and their scent was unfamiliar.

"It's okay little one, we aren't going to hurt you," whispered another voice as Skypaw struggled to get away. "We need to take her back to camp. I have no doubt those Cave rats did this to her."

Murmurs of agreement rippled through the crowd. For a moment Skypaw was afraid they would end her life right than and there. But instead she felt gentle paws scoop her up, and all at once the world around her went black.

AN: Holy cow, I was not expecting this story to get so popular! Maybe I should demand more reviews? :P Nah, I'm kidding. I'm just glad everyone's enjoying it so far! This story is definitely going to be taking a turn for the more interesting if you get what I mean ;)

Lightclaw's Shadow - I like it, it's certainly different! And yeah, poor Skypaw doesn't seem to be getting a break anytime soon...

black - Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying it so far :)

Foreststar of WindClan - Exactly :P Yeah, Whistlepaw and Windpaw are probably going to fall to the bottom list towards the end of the story :P

Mermaid1108 - That tends to happen to most outsiders, unfortunately. And you'll have to wait and read to find out ;)

Wyldclaw - Yeah, poor Skypaw does have a good move, and of course everyone seems to ignore her...