CH 6- Several weeks pass
It had been several weeks since Phoenixpaw and Ivypaw first came to MoonClan. Now, they fit in. Well, almost. At least, Ivypaw didn't.
"I feel as if I still don't belong," Ivypaw sighed sadly, watching everyone else.
"Don't say that," Littlepaw comforted. "You have great skills. If anything, you're the one who truly belongs. You and your sister have helped out the Clan so much!"
Ivypaw smiled. "I guess you're right." She took a bite into her rabbit, which she was sharing with the other apprentices.
"Yeah," Phoenixpaw looked at her sister. "Don't feel bad."
She cheered up a little, when there was a sudden, painful yowl from the nursery.
"It's Vineflower!" Kestrelpaw's ears flicked.
"Her kits must be coming," Daisypetal, the Healer Cat called to the others, while running to the Nursery.
The apprentices rushed to see what was going on, but Bramblethorn and Frostslash held them back.
"We should give Vineflower and Daisypetal some space," Frostslash mewed sternly, and the apprentices nodded.
After padding back up the rocks, Littlepaw mewed, "Well, I certainly hope they're alright. I can't wait to see new kits! I'm so excited!"
Phoenixpaw smiled. "I am, too."
Minutes slowly crawled past, and the sun rose higher in the sky, when news traveled through the camp. There were three healthy kits, two toms, and one she-cat.
"Oh, wow!" Littlepaw squeaked. "Come on, let's see if we can see the kits!"
Phoenixpaw, Kestrelpaw, and the other apprentices eagerly followed.
Daisypetal allowed them all to see the kits. The she cat was beige-furred, like her mother, except that it had white paw tips and ear-tips.
The bigger tom had light brown fur with black stripes, and the smaller tom was white all over.
"Hmm… I'm not sure about the white kit," Daisypetal had entered the Nursery. She looked worried.
"What do you mean?" Phoenixpaw asked curiously.
"Well, cats with pure white fur, and blue eyes, are deaf. That kit might be deaf, unfortunately," Daisypetal murmured.
Vineflower glanced at her kit sadly. "I hope not. I hope he will still be fine."
"Only time will tell," Daisypetal replied solemnly.
After a few more minutes with the newborns, all of the apprentices exited the Nursery. The deputy, Mapleleaf, was organizing patrols.
"I'll be going on the patrol near StarClan, and I'm going to be taking Phoenixpaw, my apprentice, with me. I'd also like Bramblethorn, and Featherflight to come. On the Sunclan border, I'd like Redear to lead the patrol. Redear, take Sharpclaw, Graypaw, and Mousetail. On the hunting patrol will be Falconflame, Frostslash, and Rosepetal. Nightstar will come with that patrol."
The cats headed out, and Phoenixpaw caught up with Mapleleaf. "So, we're going to the StarClan border?" she asked.
"Yup," Mapleleaf mewed. They live in a place full of prey. But that attracts many birds of prey, foxes, badgers, and other creatures. Because there are many fox and badger incidents in Green Leaf, the cats have many strategies and are clever in defeating them."
"Wow, can you tell me about the other Clans?" Phoenixpaw mewed with interest.
Mapleleaf nodded. "Sure, how about I tell you about them after this patrol. Then, we can get to our training session afterwards."
"Sure!" Phoenixpaw nodded.
"So our Clan is unarguably the most peaceful among the others," Mapleleaf explained after the patrol in the forest at StarClan, and an intense training session. Phoenixpaw, though tired, was more interested than ever to know more about the other clans. "It's because we have the most protected camp, so we don't have many dangers. Our camp is on higher ground, so we don't have to be aware of floods and other dangers. But just because we don't have as many dangers doesn't mean that we're unaware. Our strength is equal among the other clans."
"Cool…" Phoenixpaw nodded.
Mapleleaf continued. "CloudClan is the fastest Clan of all, Phoenixpaw. They are fast and nimble. They live in a wide, grassy hill. They have plenty of space to run. Every night, they sleep under the clouds. They mostly eat mice, rabbits, and voles."
"SunClan is the boldest and bravest of all Clans. They fiercely stand up for what's right. That's their attitude. Also, they fish often, but they also hunt small birds and squirrels, and occasionally some rodents. That's all."
Phoenixpaw sat silently, still absorbing in the information.
"It's a lot, right? But soon you'll know it all," Mapleleaf mewed warmly. Phoenixpaw nodded again, and she stood up too.
"You can go and play with your friends; I have some other things to do as a deputy," Mapleleaf excused herself. "Have fun, then." She bounded off to find Nightstar.
Phoenixpaw padded over to Littlepaw, Kestrelpaw, and Graypaw.
"Where's my sister?" Phoenixpaw inquired. "I thought she'd be here."
Graypaw informed her, "She's on a hunting patrol. She'll be back after a while."
"So, what should we do?" Littlepaw wondered, looking at her other fellow apprentices.
"Hmm… We could practice our battle skills…" Graypaw waved his tail around, thinking.
Kestrelpaw shrugged. "I guess we could do that, except we have to be careful."
The others agreed.
So, with that said, Phoenixpaw and Littlepaw had a practice match.
With her decent skills, Phoenixpaw had a general idea of what she should do. But Littlepaw had more experience, being an apprentice longer than she was.
The two stalked in a circle, waiting for each other's moves. Claws sheathed, Phoenixpaw leaped and tried to get onto Littlepaw's back to push her downwards.
Littlepaw rolled out of the way and pounced on Phoenixpaw Unable to dodge, Phoenixpaw was pinned down, but only for an instant. The golden-haired apprentice jabbed hard with her hindpaw, and Littlepaw was knocked off. Phoenixpaw took the opportunity to knock the other apprentice off balance, and Phoenixpaw prepared to pin Littlepaw down.
The practice fight continued for a quick three minutes, until Littlepaw, having more endurance, pinned the weary and exhausted Phoenixpaw to the grassy ground. Phoenixpaw gave up.
"You won," Phoenixpaw panted as Littlepaw let her off. "I still have so much to learn!"
Littlepaw nodded in agreement. "Well, you have much better hunting skills than us," she mewed, oblivious to the fact that the other cat had actual powers. Phoenixpaw and Kestrelpaw shared a quick glance, both knowing about the secret, and then looked away.
"Well, how about you two have a practice match?" Littlepaw glanced at the two brothers, who nodded in reply.
The battle instantly started with Graypaw trying to pounce on Kestrelpaw, but Kestrelpaw easily darted aside, then tripping Graypaw with an outstretched foreleg. Graypaw, quick on his instincts, rolled away and kicked out with his hindpaws to keep Kestrelpaw away while he got up.
Back on four paws again, Kestrelpaw lunged swiftly and bowled Graypaw over. Graypaw rolled and jabbed with a forepaw, making Kestrelpaw flinch. Graypaw then knocked Kestrelpaw over.
With a last-second roll, Kestrelpaw managed to save himself. Both were now on four paws again, and Graypaw decided to act, leaping. Upon landing, Kestrelpaw headbutted Graypaw, so he was knocked off balance, and Graypaw crashed on the ground. Kestrelpaw leaped over and pinned Graypaw down, making the victory Kestrelpaw's.
"Phew…" Graypaw panted as he sat up again. "That was fun."
Kestrelpaw agreed, also tired, and all of them agreed to just sit and rest for the time being until the patrol came back.
There was an alarming yowl suddenly that broke Phoenixpaw's thoughts.
"Help! A badger attack!" It was Sharpclaw, racing into the camp.
"A badger attack? But badgers rarely even come into this territory!" Nightstar yowled in surprise. "I'm coming. Mapleleaf, you too, and also, Dandelion and Falconflame. Let's get rid of the badger!"
All of the said cats ran up and exited the camp with Sharpclaw.
Ivypaw and the others were currently troubled with three badgers. There was just one, which would have been easy to deal with, but then two more had come out of nowhere!
"We won't win if we don't get more cats!" Pinecone yowled in panic. Next to him were Redear, Mousetail, and Rosepetal, who were all on the patrol. "Let's hope Sharpclaw gets back in time!"
The apprentice did as much as she could, but unfortunately didn't prove to be much of a help, for she didn't have many battle skills.
"We've got more cats!" a familiar voice calls close by. It was Sharpclaw, with Mapleleaf, Nightstar, Dandelion, and Falconflame.
Redear sighed in relief. "Good!"
Ivypaw ducked from one of the badger's lumbering, heavy paws, and took the chance to swipe her claws down the side, making a shallow, but stinging scratch. It roared in fury and turned towards her.
"Uhh…" Ivypaw shuddered as the badger's foul breath overwhelmed her. She backed away, and the badger started to lumber after her.
"Ivypaw!" Pinecone yowled as the badger leaped. Ivypaw rolled in the nick of time, jumping bravely on its back to claw the massive creature's head. It tried to shake Ivypaw off, but Ivypaw's claws sunk in deep.
Pinecone looked please to see his apprentice fighting like this even with only a few skills. "Good job, just hang on, or you'll be flung off!" he called, then lunging and swiping more at the badger.
Mousetail was unaware that Ivypaw was latched onto the badger's back, and decided to push it backwards to make it call. Ramming into one of its furry legs, she managed to get the badger off balance.
Pinecone realized what might happen with horror, and screeched in fear.
"Ivypaw! Hop off!"
The badger was falling backwards. Ivypaw almost didn't hear Pinecone, but when she did, it was too late. She fell to the ground, and the heavy weight of the black and white enemy knocked her into darkness.
With the battle over, the cats all having scratched up the badgers badly, the badgers lumbered away, filled with anger, fear, and pain. Mousetail and Redear stood, weary and scratched up, but seeing Nightstar and Ivypaw, unconscious and bleeding, they instantly yowled in panic.
"We have to help them! Get Daisypetal!" Pinecone meowed worriedly.
Rosepetal volunteered to run back to the camp. In a flash she was gone. Minutes passed, and the cats in the patrol looked anxious at the two cats, not knowing what to do.
Nightstar was the first to sit up, dizzy. "I've lost my seventh life…" he murmured to Mapleleaf.
"Seventh?" Mapleleaf whispered back. It was the custom for the deputy to know how many lives the leader lost. Only the deputy could know, nobody else. Each leader was given nine lives, and once they lost all nine, they joined SpiritClan.
Nightstar nodded. "I'll be fine, I'll just need some rest. And my wound," he rasped, looking at his wide gash. It wasn't terribly deep, but big enough to be serious. "Check on Ivypaw."
Mapleleaf reluctantly obeyed, not wanting to leave Nightstar alone. She looked at the silver-furred apprentice. She had some cuts and bruises, but the most painful injury was a noticeable crooked arm. It didn't look right.
"Her foreleg… It's crushed," Mapleleaf gasped. "That might be hard to heal."
Daisypetal had arrived, the undergrowth rustling at her arrival.
"Oh, that doesn't look good," she mewed in a hurry, after dropping a variety of herbs. Rosepetal was carrying many herbs too, and she dropped them to the ground. Instantly, Daisypetal tended to the apprentice. Nightstar once again insisted that Ivypaw be treated first.
"Let's hope nothing else bad will happen," Pinecone murmured, watching with anxiety.