This chapter is dedicated to Slytherin Buttercat: Happy Birthday!
Chapter Seventeen
~Fight-of-the-Fierce~
Sunrises later, Fiercepaw had just come back from a hunt (by herself, thank StarClan she finally got permission for that) when she got bowled over by a strong bundle of cream and gray fur, high squealing making her bristle.
"What in StarClan's name! Aspenkit!" Fiercepaw meowed, dropping her two mice and staggering to keep on her feet. She lost the fight a moment later and went down in a bundle of silver, black, cream and gray fur.
"-ohmyStarClanI'mgoingtobeanapprenticeandI'msoexcited!" Fiercepaw deciphered the quick stream of words. Aspenkit is going to be an apprentice and she is excited.
...wait.
"Aspenkit! That is so amazing!" Fiercepaw leapt to her paws, silver eyes glowing with happiness for her friend. "We have to get you groomed! Does your mother know? Hurry!" Fiercepaw meowed, racing her friend back to the nursing den where Frostheart was waiting. Scooping up her kit, the white queen didn't waste a moment with grooming. Fiercepaw was pacing back and forth, a steady stream of meows keeping Aspenkit distracted while her mother groomed her.
"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the Leader's Perch for a clan meeting!" Lionstar yowled and Fiercepaw froze, one paw in the air.
"It's time!" Aspenkit squealed, scrambling away from her mother and racing for the den entrance.
"Aspenkit, wait!" Frostheart called, hurrying after her kit with Fiercepaw close behind her. The entire clan was already gathered and Lionstar stood atop the Leader's Perch, standing tall and proud.
"I have gathered you all today for one special reason. Today, we will have one more apprentice. As you all know, Aspenkit is not yet six moons though she is almost there but because she has decided to take the path of a Medicine Cat, I have decided to amend the rules just this once. Mintleaf, if you would." Lionstar bowed his head respectfully at his Medicine Cat and stood to the side while Mintleaf stepped up.
"Cats of StormClan, as you know, I will not be around forever. However, because this young cat has proven to be so passionate and diligent about learning the ways of a Medicine cat, your next Medicine cat will be Aspenpaw." Aspenpaw vibrated with excitement, blue-gray eyes wide and locked on the fluffy ginger she-cat. Lionstar stepped forward again.
"Aspenpaw, do you accept the post of apprentice to Mintleaf?" Lionstar meowed with some amusement. There was no doubt the small she-cat would accept.
"Yes, Lionstar." Aspenpaw meowed, her voice strong and true. Mintleaf stepped forwards again.
"Aspenpaw, is it your wish to enter the mysteries of StarClan as a medicine cat?" Mintleaf meowed.
"It is."
"Then come forward." Aspenpaw padded forward while Mintleaf leapt down from the Leader's Perch. "Warriors, Leaders and Medicine cats of StarClan, I present you with this apprentice. She has chosen the path of a medicine cat so I ask that you grant her your wisdom and insight so that she may understand your ways and heal her clan in accordance with your will." Mintleaf looked down at Aspenpaw and smiled gently. "At the half-moon, you will accompany me to the Medicine cat Gathering so that you may share tongues with StarClan at the Moon Tree." The Moon Tree is a tree lit up with the silver glow every half and full moon, the small moon stones embedded in it and granting it the ability to be the path to StarClan for the Medicine cats.
"The good wishes of StormClan will go with you." Lionstar meowed, bowing his head. Nodding in acceptance, Mintleaf and Aspenpaw stepped forwards and gently touched noses. Aspenpaw beamed, glowing with pride and happiness. "Is there anyone that wishes to share news with the Clan?" Lionstar asked, prepared to end the meeting. There was a pause and Lionstar nodded. "Then this meeting is-"
"Wait!" Swanfang stood, her white pelt groomed to perfection and her eyes glittering prettily in the sunlight. "Blueflame and I have an announcement." Swanfang said proudly. Blueflame stood up, wrapping his tail around Swanfang's and nuzzling her ear before looking up at Lionstar.
"Swanfang has accepted my wish for her to become my mate." Blueflame meowed proudly and Lionstar nodded.
"Let us welcome these mates as one." Lionstar meowed. "Swanfang, Blueflame, Swanfang, Blueflame, Swanfang, Blueflame!" The clan chanted and crowded around the happy mates while Lionstar ended the meeting before leaping down and trotting over to the couple, giving them his congratulations.
Fiercepaw was frozen, staring at the mates, her heart twisting violently in her chest. After her realization that she liked Blueflame the night of the Gather Tournament, Fiercepaw had begun to dream of someday becoming Blueflame's mate. She had dreamed of standing by his side, a proud warrior and mother while their tiny kits tumbled around their paws. Now...that would never become a reality. She wanted to leave, to just run until she couldn't run anymore but Fiercepaw knew she couldn't do that. Not until she got her revenge on MoonClan.
Holding in her hurt and dark anger, Fiercepaw stalked forward and touched noses with Aspenpaw. The small she-cat looked at Fiercepaw with concern, able to see the terrible rage swirling behind deceptively sweet silver orbs but in the end, Aspenpaw didn't say anything. Fiercepaw backed away and looked over at Blueflame and Swanfang but the two were wrapped up in their own little world.
Turning, Fiercepaw walked calmly over to the camp entrance and left, not looking back.
~Fight of the Fierce~
Three moons later, Swanfang was so swollen with kits that she was having trouble walking. Swanfang had moved into the nursing den about a moon ago and it is crowded in there now, especially with all of the kits.
Foxclaw had her kits first around three months ago and Stonecloud was so proud to be the father. Foxclaw had two small kits. The first kit is a dark ginger like his mother, only he has amber eyes and dark gray paws and tail-tip; his name is Graykit. The second kit is also a male but he has his father's pelt; dark brown with a light sheen of red. His name is Acornkit and he has blue eyes.
Poppyfeather and Eagleblaze had their kits next, almost two sunrises after the first pair of mates. Poppyfeather had three kits. The first kit was a she-cat and she was the spitting image of her mother with her cream pelt with darker gray stripes and green eyes. She was named Stripekit. Her brothers were dappled toms. The first tom had a dappled cream and brown kit with yellow eyes. His name is Falconkit. His brother is dappled black and and dark blue with blue eyes. His name is Blazekit.
Hawkstorm and Featherleap had their kits last moon. They had two kits and both kits were she-cats. The first she-cat was a tortoiseshell and she was black with white and red patches and amber eyes. Her name is Oakkit. The second she-cat was mottled dark brown and orange with brilliant copper eyes. Her name is Elmkit.
Fiercepaw felt her heart grow a little lighter with the gleeful squeals ringing out from the nursing den and smiled, turning away.
It has been hard on her to have Swanfang swollen with Blueflame's kits but she does her best to hide it. The only who knows of her true feelings towards Blueflame is Aspenpaw and her friend would never betray her trust. Fiercepaw trotted over to the medicine cat den, ducking her head in to see if she can spot her friend.
"Aspenpaw?" Fiercepaw meowed, her nose twitching at the overwhelming odors coming from the den. "Are you in here?" Fiercepaw meowed, craning her head around but unwilling to actually step in the den. After having been in it for many injuries (thorn in paw, sprained paw from tripping on roots, raked nose with bramble bush, minor scrapes from one or two border skirmishes, and so on) Fiercepaw has begun to develop an aversion to the den.
"Coming, Fiercepaw!" Aspenpaw's meow was muffled and but came from inside the den. Fiercepaw ducked out of the den and sat in the sun, fluffing up her spiked pelt to keep herself warm. Leaf-bare was approaching and the days had grown colder. Fiercepaw's eyes traveled over to the nursing den again, as they so often did for the past few moons. She was just in time to see a worried Blueflame gently escort Swanfang into the sun before curling up with her, his body vibrating with purrs while he gently groomed her. Swanfang purred back, soaking up the attention like moss did water.
Bitterness clawed at her insides and Fiercepaw forced herself to shake it off, rising to her paws when Aspenpaw skidded out of the den, shaking her pelt off. A few old herbs flew off of her pelt and Fiercepaw was forced to duck as one went sailing her way.
"Sorry! Mintleaf just had me cleaning out the old herbs and sorting what little we have left." Aspenpaw meowed apologetically, her blue-gray eyes bright and cheerful. "Ready to go?" She meowed and Fiercepaw nodded, leading the way out of camp. While it has been harder to arrange time to spend with each other considering their different apprentice duties are, the two 'paws make the extra effort because neither are willing to give up on their friendship.
When Fiercepaw found out Aspenpaw was supposed to gather what fresh herbs she could find to stock the medicine den, Fiercepaw had volunteered to help her friend. Since Blueflame was so wrapped up in Swanfang and their kits, he didn't argue.
Blueflame having a mate has been hard in more ways than one. He hasn't spent as much time as he should have teaching Fiercepaw in the way a mentor should and as a result, Fiercepaw has been forced to tag along with other apprentices and their mentors when they have training sessions. Fiercepaw now knows Goldenpaw's fighting inside and out along with Lightningpaw's, Boulderpaw's and Honeypaw's. The only apprentice she can't seem to figure out is Smolderpaw. The tom seems to have an ever-changing fighting style and she can never manage to pin him down. That has only fueled her eagerness to learn more, more, more but her attempts have been hindered by Blueflame's lack of mentoring.
Fiercepaw has managed to cajole a few of the warriors without kits or apprentices to teach her a few things but she can't help to feel that her training is woefully inadequate compared to where she feels she should be at three moons of training.
"You okay?" Aspenpaw meowed, gently nudging Fiercepaw's shoulder with her own.
"Hmm? Oh, yes, I'm fine." Fiercepaw meowed, smiling at her friend. It wasn't entirely a lie, Fiercepaw just isn't feeling on top of things and that unsettles her. Three moons of training and she is no closer to getting her revenge on MoonClan than when she was a tiny, untrained kit. On top of that, Fiercepaw has been feeling out of it ever since her parents began acting like actual mates again. She didn't know what she would do if they ever tried to have kits again.
Her greatest fear is they will have another kit...and it will look exactly like Silverpaw. It would kill her if that ever happened.
"You are lying to me." Aspenpaw meowed, her voice soft and non-judging.
"I know." Fiercepaw meowed quietly, lowering her head. They traveled in silence, only stopping to gather herbs. After a few moments of silence, Fiercepaw glanced over at Aspenpaw from the corner of her eye.
"What is it?" Aspenpaw asked, amusement coloring her mew.
"Nothing." Fiercepaw stared straight ahead, circling around a log instead of trying to leap over it. That would certainly end with a broken paw and she couldn't stand to lose any more training time. She glanced over at Aspenpaw again and the apprentice turned her head to the side in an effort to hide her smile. Fiercepaw heaved a big sigh and Aspenpaw started laughing, shaking her head at her friend, fringe flopping adorably over her blue-gray eyes.
"Just say it!" Aspenpaw scolded and Fiercepaw flushed, slowing to a stop.
"Do you...do you think I am behind in my training?" Fiercepaw meowed, looking anxiously at her friend.
"I know nothing about warrior training so I couldn't tell you even if I wanted to." Aspenpaw meowed, feeling sorry for her friend. "I know you want to get your revenge on MoonClan but you need to focus on becoming the best warrior for your Clan first. That is what the warrior code says, correct?" Aspenpaw meowed, trying to both encourage her friend and keep her from treading down a path darker than either of them could possibly handle.
"I guess so." Fiercepaw sighed, avoiding Aspenpaw's gaze. About two moons ago, Fiercepaw had woken up from a bad dream that she didn't remember but her thoughts had been filled with revenge against MoonClan so she had a good guess of what it was about. Feeling like she was being driven to the edge, Fiercepaw had seen no choice but to go talk to somecat. Her first thought had been her father but she didn't want to burden him with new thoughts of the kit he had lost. Her second thought had been Blueflame but with a scowl aimed at the nursing den where he was sleeping every night now, she had tossed that thought away. Her third thought had been torn between Goldenpaw and Aspenpaw but common sense won out.
While Goldenpaw knew about her dislike for MoonClan, she didn't know just how deep the hatred went and Fiercepaw just wanted someone to listen, not someone to argue. One day she might confide in her friend and hope she understood since her own littermate, Brightpaw, had been murdered by BreezeClan but until that day, Fiercepaw isn't going to chance anything.
"Come on, I'm feeling hungry for some minnows and you are the only cat in camp that is willing to go fishing for me." Aspenpaw meowed, trotting forward and looking back with wide, hopeful eyes. Fiercepaw stifled a purr, knowing Aspenpaw had learned those tricky expressions from her so she has no one to blame but herself when she falls for them.
"I'm coming!" Fiercepaw meowed and leapt forward into a run, perking her silver-tipped ears up gleefully as she began to go faster. Laughing, Aspenpaw raced to catch up, happy to have her friend in a good mood again.
They spent the rest of the day torn between having fun and gathering herbs, having to go back to camp several times to deposit their loads outside of the medicine den so the herbs could dry off before heading back out again. Aspenpaw and Fiercepaw would challenge each other to races before it somehow turned into a wrestling fight and then a race again. At some point during the day, Goldenpaw and Lightningpaw had joined them and the four of them had fun gathering herbs together.
Once they had been freed from herb gathering duty, Fiercepaw had pleaded with Mintleaf until the mentor had released Aspenpaw to go hunting with them.
The four of them had gleefully headed out of camp to repeat the experience all over again, only with hunting prey instead of herbs. Fiercepaw had a good haul of two mice, three finches, a mole and a squirrel and everyone else had a good haul as well. When they came staggering into camp with all of the prey, the senior warriors had been pleased. They had been planning to (reluctantly) go out to hunt for the prey storage they are making for leaf-bare but the apprentices had cut their work down by half. The first load filled the first storage, the second load filled the second storage up half way and the last load had finished it completely.
"Well done, apprentices! Take the rest of the day off, you did excellent." Skyfang meowed, pleased with their bounty. Beaming, the four apprentices headed back over to the fresh-kill pile, picked a piece of their prey and then trotted over to the Sun Rocks to eat.
"I always wonder if I should be pleased or insulted by their shocked expressions so I always get torn between feeling both." Fiercepaw muttered, settling down and biting into her bluebird. Laughing, Goldenpaw settled down beside her and bit into her mouse.
"Not me! I always feel pleased!" Lightningpaw boasted, the one out of their group with the reputation of being the optimist. Fiercepaw is the pessimist/leader, Goldenpaw is their best hunter and Aspenpaw's position as medicine cat apprentice speaks for itself.
"Of course you do!" Aspenpaw meowed, mrowing with laughter at the offended look that descended over his face. Snickering, Fiercepaw took another bite, feeling content and warm with her friends under the sun.
"Fiercepaw!" Blueflame walked over, the usual bounce to his steps. Fiercepaw paused in taking a bite and raised her head, watching him slightly coldly. She denied the eagerness in her own heart, shutting it out firmly.
"Yes, Blueflame?" Fiercepaw meowed, cocking her head to the side, allowing her silver trimmed fringe to shade her eyes so it made it hard for him to read her.
"Are you ready to go out to the training tunnel? I have some time before Swanfang needs me to go hunt for her." Blueflame meowed and resentment stabbed Fiercepaw in the side.
"Actually, we already went hunting and Skyfang said we could take the rest of today off." Goldenpaw spoke up protectively, not knowing exactly what is wrong between the two cats but taking Fiercepaw's side regardless.
"Really? That's hunting though. I need to train Fiercepaw." Blueflame meowed, a hint of hardness creeping into his voice.
"Oh, so now you care?" Lightningpaw muttered lowly, a dark glower in his normally friendly amber eyes. Blueflame heard the sarcastic quip and turned to the tom with narrowed eyes so Fiercepaw finished off her prey and rose to her paws, flicking her tail in a silent order at her friends. They have learned to read her body language so any flick of her tail, ear or paw instantly alerts them to something she is silently saying or ordering.
Listening to the silent order to back off, Goldenpaw picked up her mouse and turned her back to Blueflame, settling down beside Lightningpaw, who did the same. Blueflame began to glower and Fiercepaw inwardly sighed. While she appreciated her friends efforts to protect her, she knew she could protect herself.
"I'm ready." Fiercepaw meowed and he nodded curtly, whipping around and stalking to the camp entrance. Fiercepaw turned to Aspenpaw and nodded at their friends, silently asking if she would talk to them. Aspenpaw nodded and flicked her ear at her, telling her to hurry up. Fiercepaw purred before sprinting off after Blueflame.
They travelled silently to the training tunnel and for the first time she could remember, Fiercepaw didn't reach out for the tip of his tail and he didn't offer it. Fiercepaw inwardly flinched at that, her fear scent slowly rising the further into the tunnel they went and when they finally broke out, she pushed past Blueflame to greedily suck in the fresh air. Blueflame looked worriedly at her and for a moment, Fiercepaw could see her Blueflame in his eyes.
Then he blinked and the distant stranger was back.
"Today we are going to do an attack and defend drill." Blueflame meowed, walking to the center of the clearing and facing her. "Picture an enemy cat is racing at you. I want you to duck a Paw Strike, twist your body into a full Paw slash aimed at the flank and flawlessly drop the the ground with your head and front paws under the other cat where you will then flip the cat up into the air. The cat will fall to the ground and you will lunge, prepared to deliver a strong warning bite or several deep clawings to the soft belly. Are you ready?" Blueflame meowed. Fiercepaw hesitated before nodding and he stood, rushing her with a fearsome yowl, startling her into tripping back, falling head over tail.
"Hey!" Fiercepaw yelped, standing up and shaking herself off. Blueflame looked at her with disappointment and it felt like a dagger to her heart.
"That was terrible. Your reflexes seem to be non-existent, I expected better from you." Blueflame meowed, his tone hard. Fiercepaw flinched, shrinking into herself and away from her eyes, Blueflame flinched too.
"I'm sorry, Blueflame. I promise I'll do better." Fiercepaw meowed softly, shame sweeping through her at her confirmed suspicions.
"I don't want apologies and assurances. I want results. Now, again." Blueflame ordered, just seconds before lunging at her again.
~Fight of the Fierce~
"Blueflame!" Aspenpaw skidded into the clearing, pausing after her frantic cry to scan the clearing. Her eyes darkened at what she saw.
Fiercepaw was huddled in front of Blueflame, her flanks heaving with exertion, her pelt plastered to her body with sweat. Her silver eyes were shadowed and dim, hurt shining in the depths. Her ears were flat to her head and her tail was tucked between her legs.
Blueflame was looming over Fiercepaw, making her look as tiny as a kit. The expression on his face was harsh and distant at the same time and his fangs kept flashing threateningly every time he spoke.
"Blueflame!" Aspenpaw spat, stalking over to them and forcing her way between her friend and her mentor. The blue tom drew back, a look almost like relief flashing through his orange eyes.
"What?" He questioned coldly, looking away from Fiercepaw like he couldn't bare to look at her.
"Swanfang is going to have your kits any moment now. Though I'm not too sure you should even be allowed to have kits with how you are treating your apprentice!" Aspenpaw hissed, bristling angrily.
"Aspenpaw, I'm fine." Fiercepaw meowed quietly, exhaustion in her mew. Fiercepaw struggled to rise to her paws, a small yelp escaping her when she put too much pressure on her sore pads. Aspenpaw whirled around, hooking her shoulder underneath Fiercepaw's and helping lift her to her paws.
"You are not fine. Any more work and your paws would have cracked and started to bleed. You look as though you have been driven to the end of your tether and he looked like he was going to drive you further. Don't even get me started on what your emotional and mental state could be at." Aspenpaw scolded and Blueflame winced, shame flitting briefly through his orange eyes before he hid it.
"I have to go, my kits will be here soon." Blueflame muttered and brushed past them, hurrying for the tunnel and disappearing through it without a second glance back. Aspenpaw gasped with rage and began muttering under her breath, to the feeble amusement of Fiercepaw.
Out of sight of the two of them, Blueflame slowed down and lowered his head, leaning against the tunnel wall, shame spreading through his pelt until he forced it away and continued on his way. He didn't notice shining eyes slowly blinking at him from the short tunnel that went the opposite way to the training clearing. Once Blueflame was gone, Smolderpaw stepped out of the shadows, his expression blank. He stared down the tunnel towards where Fiercepaw and Aspenpaw and coming before leaping out of the tunnel and trotting away.
Fiercepaw and Aspenpaw walked slowly down the tunnel, Aspenpaw's anger growing with each passing second that Fiercepaw tried to hide the limping. There was burning pain in her paws with each step she was taking and she could feel one of back paw pads crack, warm blood seeping out and stinging sand getting in. Sucking in her breath, Fiercepaw was determined to hide it but when they came to the hole they needed to jump out, Fiercepaw's determination faltered.
"I'll go first." Aspenpaw meowed and gently stepped away from Fiercepaw, who sucked in a deep breath when she was forced to put all of her weight on her paws. One of her front paws began to bleed and Fiercepaw felt a shriek get trapped in her throat. It hurt.
Aspenpaw looked down into the tunnel, worry in her soft blue-gray eyes.
"Are you ready?" Aspenpaw meowed and Fiercepaw gathered up her courage, nodding. Gathering up her muscles, Fiercepaw pushed strongly off the ground, feeling her two other paws split open with a burning flash of pain. The shriek escaped her throat and Fiercepaw hit the edge of the hole, scrabbling at the ground, panic mounting in her chest.
-Slowly, excitement kindles in the young kit as he pushes his fears aside. Nodding at her, he trots over to it and backs a few steps before flinging himself over the gap. He lands clumsily on the other side, wincing as he lands on his tail. Whisking it out, he shakes his sliver head and turns to his littermate.
She backs up like him and then flings herself over.
But not far enough. Her paws catch the edge and her small legs churn furiously as she struggles to pull herself up. Fear swirls in Fiercekit's heart and she lets out a fearful yowl. Silverkit jumps forward, his tiny teeth grasping her scruff and tugging her over. Flopping down beside him, their tiny flanks rising and falling rapidly as they catch their breath.
Slowly, Fiercekit huffs out a small laugh and he brushes his nose against her cheek.-
...only this time, she doesn't have Silverpaw with her.
...but she does have someone else...
Two pairs of sharp teeth fasten in her scruff and a strong tug hauls her up and onto a furry chest. Fiercepaw gasps for breath, the fear slowly ebbing away leaving her trembling. Small, rough laughter escapes her and Fiercepaw opens her eyes.
"Why are you laughing?" Smolderpaw meowed, sounding confused, which only made her laugh harder. She couldn't talk, hysteria was setting in. Aspenpaw looked at her with worry, stepping forwards.
"She's so exhausted that she is delirious, we need to get her back. Can you carry her?" Aspenpaw meowed. Fiercepaw gave a feeble protest, lifting her head and shaking it. The effort made her head spin and she whimpered, clenching her eyes shut.
"Just stop fighting for once." Smolderpaw scolded, gently rolling her off of him and climbing to his paws, shaking himself off. Nosing under her body, Smolderpaw shoved with his head until she rolled onto his back. Aspenpaw darted forwards to steady her friend, worry and anger roiling through her in equal measures. "Let's go." Smolderpaw ordered. He would never admit it but it was worrying how light Fiercepaw was on his back.
Their travel was slow but steady except for when they had to stop a few times to adjust Fiercepaw so she wouldn't slip right off. They were almost at their camp when Fiercepaw started to struggle to get down.
"What are you doing?" Aspenpaw scolded, hurrying forward.
"I am not going to be carried into camp." Fiercepaw muttered scathingly, ignoring the pain in her body in favor of straightening out and striding forward. If you watched closely, you could see the slight limp and hidden wince after she lifted and dropped a paw but other than that, Fiercepaw held her head high and walked steadily. Smolderpaw watched with hidden admiration for her strength of spirit. StarClan, he had never met a more stubborn and spirited she-cat and he highly doubted he ever would.
Walking on one side, he made sure he was close enough that their pelts brushed together. Fiercepaw was so focused on not collapsing with pain that she didn't even wrinkle her nose at his smell. His pelt was so grimy with dirt that she couldn't even see what colors he was supposed to be anymore. Oddly enough, he didn't have any fleas on him anymore though.
They walked in through the camp entrance and Fiercepaw walked slowly while Aspenpaw trailed behind them with a mouthful of yarrow, 'accidentally' dragging it through the dirt to cover up the sight of the bloody paw prints and the scent of copper in the air. Once they made it over to the medicine den, Aspenpaw hurried in while Smolderpaw settled Fiercepaw in the nest in the corner. Aspenpaw trotted back with a pawful of cobwebs and a single poppy seed.
It was a testament to how much pain Fiercepaw was in that she didn't even flinch at the sting of the salve Aspenpaw smoothed into her cracked paws. She slowly fell asleep due to the influence of the poppy seeds, huddling deep within her mind to hide from the pain of what happened with her mentor today.
How could he? Where was her Blueflame? She missed him...
Slytherin Buttercat - Thanks for your review!
Warriorcatslover - Thank you so much!