A/N: A little disappointed with the number of reviews for the last chapter (the one before the allegiances) but I am the one who is going to apologize. I've just started my freshman year of high school, and it's terribly confusing and time-consuming and really, I have been so busy trying to adjust that I haven't updated my fan fiction stuff in a very, very long time. Now, it's a four-day weekend (thank goodness!) so I'm hoping to catch up on all of my stories, but especially this one. Please forgive me for being a sucky updater for the last while. And now, Chapter...Whatever chapter # it is! (Oh, and I've decided to continue this directly from the last line of "Fur".)
"Next, Nightpaw, we're going to leave camp." Russetfur meowed happily. A few tail-lengths away, Foxheart, Oakfur, and their apprentices were chatting, so Russetfur made her way over to them. "Hi, Russetfur!" purred Foxheart, "I'm taking Stumpypaw around the territory, and Oakfur's giving Brightpaw a hunting lesson. What are you doing?" Giving her sister a small smile, she replied, "Teaching Nightpaw ShadowClan tactics. Look at the fog rolling in; it's a great day for it." She nodded to the pearly opaque clouds of fog that were forming on the marsh. "Besides, I wanted to do something fun, since tomorrow's not going to be as much." She winked at Nightpaw's expression of trepidation and laughed. "Oh, it's nothing terrible, we're just going to the Burnt Sycamore so you can learn how to get moss for the elders." she told him, then saw that Brightpaw was kneading the ground with her paws impatiently, so she nodded towards the camp entrance and the two left.
Russetfur led Nightpaw to a special clearing that she called the Pine Meadow because it was on top of a slight hill, so it was dry, and several sapling pines encircled the normally grassy area. Now, in leaf-bare, the grass was brown and dead, but it was beautiful in leaf-fall, when Russetfur had first discovered it. The fog obscured their surroundings as it rolled in, thick and fast, until the cats couldn't see a tail-length in front of their own noses. "So, what are these "ShadowClan tactics" you're teaching me, Russetfur?" asked Nightpaw curiously as he sat beside her, leaning into her soft fur.
"Well, you see, Nightpaw, each Clan has their own special attributes. RiverClan is very strong, and they can swim in the river like otters. WindClan is lean, fast and nimble, so they can dodge and hunt their rabbits. ThunderClan are skilled fighters and they can navigate through the thick undergrowth. But ShadowClan also has its special skills. We are cunning and clever, and we can camouflage ourselves. We are adept at stealthy maneuvers and, best of all, we are night hunters as well as day hunters. Cats like you and I have it easy in ShadowClan, because of our dark pelts. You will be a fantastic night hunter with your fur." She gave his ear a quick lick and he grinned.
"Now, we're not as strong as RiverClan, or as fast as WindClan, or even as skilled at fighting as ThunderClan, but we are more clever than the whole lot of them, and that's how we win our battles. But instead of talking about it, let me show you. Charge at me like you're three times my size, okay?" Russetfur meowed, then retreated to a space between the two tallest saplings. With a mischievous glint in his eye, Nightpaw sprang forward and barreled toward his mentor. Russetfur judged when he would get there, and just as he was about to slam into her, she put all her weight on her hind legs and leaped clear over him. He whipped around and started to charge at her again, but this time the warrior dodged to the side, landed a soft blow with sheathed claws, and darted to the other side of the clearing before he could retaliate.
Nightpaw froze and looked at where Russetfur had hit him with an expression of horror. He turned to her, his eyes wide, and stammered, "Y-you've k-k-killed me!" And fell to his side dramatically with a few theatrical twitches. Russetfur rolled her eyes and called, "Quit playing, you!" though her tone was not stern. Nightpaw got to his feet and "limped" over to his mentor and mewed, "Just a bit of fun." The dark ginger warrior cuffed him lightly over the ear and explained, "I know. But WindClan's going to be furious with us for a time, and they could very well attack again, soon. If they do, you have to be able to protect yourself, in case I need to help some other cat." She flinched at her words, and Nightpaw looked at her questioningly. "I left Whitepaw to help Foxpaw- I mean, Foxheart, fight off a WindClan warrior called Dawnstripe, and because I left her, she got terribly injured. It's my fault..." Russetfur hung her head. The black-furred tom shook his head vehemently. "If you hadn't gone to help Foxheart, she could have been hurt, and you would have been too, fighting off whoever wounded Whitepaw. Now come on, teach me how to fight." He changed the subject.
"Okay. I'm going to attack you, and you fight back however you can. Just keep those claws sheathed! You're as nearly as big as me, and I have enough injuries already." Russetfur instructed. Nightpaw sank low on his paws, tail swishing back and forth in anticipation. His mentor backed away into the fog until she was invisible, and Nightpaw pricked his ears for any sound of her approaching. Russetfur narrowed her eyes to slits to keep them from letting her apprentice know where she was. She stalked toward him, letting the slight breeze carry his scent toward her, but standing so that he could not smell her own scent. As she neared him, she stepped to the side and rustled a dead leaf with her tail. She leaped a few fox-lengths away, gave a slight hiss, then jumped over him to his other side and landed with a purposeful thud. She slunk away from where she landed and finally charged in, landing a medium blow on Nightpaw's shoulder before running off again.
She stalked towards him once more and attacked, but before she could get away, Nightpaw latched onto her and hit her with a flurry of blows. She parried them and wrenched herself free. Russetfur sat down a tail-length from her apprentice and cleaned her paw hastily. "That was amazing!" her apprentice meowed enthusiastically. "The first time, I had no idea where you were coming from! There was a noise behind me, then to my right, and then my left, and I was so surprised when you attacked from the front! And then you were gone! You're right, ShadowClan fighting technique is the best! What do you call that, when you make a blow, then get away before your enemy fights back?" he babbled eagerly. Russetfur's whiskers twitched with amusement and she purred, "The Wolfstrike. Legend says that a warrior named Wolfpaw developed it and that's how he got his warrior name. Wolfstrike. Sounds cool, doesn't it?" Nightpaw nodded and looked thoughtful for a minute before purring, "I'm going to make a battle move, and Raggedstar can name me Nightstrike!" He said and put on a "fierce" face.
Russetfur bowled him over and pinned him down playfully. "Well, Nightstrike, developing battle moves will have to wait. It's getting late." the sound of voices from a few fox-llengths away made Russetfur prick her ears in interest. She recognized Oakfur's voice and she smiled devilishly at Nightpaw. "Let's scare our littermates, shall we?" she breathed in his ear and he nodded, an expression of contemplation. Russetfur signaled with her tail for him to keep up behind the pair, and she would head them off from the front. "Be careful. They may not know it's us, and they could attack." she said under her breath, and Nightpaw dipped his head in acknowledgement. "You blink three times when you're in position, okay? Then we yowl as loud as we can. They'll be shocked out of their fur!" she murmured softly, then they stalked towards the sound of Oakfur and Brightpaw talking.
She sped ahead until she was a fox-length in front of her brother, the darkness and thick fog hiding her from sight. She looked back and saw a pair of amber eyes blink four times consecutively. She waited a moment, then yowled to StarClan as loud as she could, trying not to laugh. She heard Brightpaw give a shriek of fear, and Nightpaw's yowl disintegrated into a laughing fit. Hearing him laugh made Russetfur laugh too, and she didn't even care when she heard Oakfur approaching. She knew it was him, judging by the weight of the paw steps and the angry growl that accompanied those paw steps. Tears were coming from her eyes, she was laughing so hard, and she had fallen to the ground, sides heaving.
Oakfur saw that it was only his sister and his eyes narrowed. "Russetfur! What was that all about?" She sobered up enough to choke, "Scared you!" Oakfur rolled his eyes and called angrily, "Brightpaw! It's just my stupid sister." Russetfur's ear shot straight up and she snapped, "Watch who you're calling stupid Oakfur! If you'll remember, you were the one who jumped out of your skin from a bit of yowling!" She stalked over to Nightpaw, tail twitching irritably. "Let's get back to camp." she mewed, and her apprentice nodded as he got to his feet. "Okay."
The four cats arrived in the dark hollow, and Oakfur stalked immediately to the warrior's den. Brightpaw, after giving her brother a nasty look, padded over to the apprentice's den. "We'd best get some rest, Nightpaw, unless you want to eat first." Russetfur meowed quietly as she saw a dark furred cat approaching them. She squinted and saw that it was Raggedstar. The huge tabby nodded to them and said, "You will both be attending the Gathering tomorrow night, so go get a bit of rest, but I want you both up by sunhigh." Russetfur rolled her eyes and smiled, "I haven't slept that long since I was in the nursery, and I'll make sure this lump of fur is also up. Don't worry about it. Oh, and we're taking care of the elders, in case you were going to tell some other cat to do it." The ShadowClan leader winked at Nightpaw. "I was going to ask Cloudpaw, but okay. Have fun, Nightpaw." he turned to leave, and the black apprentice gave an enormous yawn. "G'night, Russetfur." he said sleepily, then padded to his new den.
Russetfur entered the warriors den with a flash of pride at being in the warriors den. Raggedstar had told them that they would hold their warriors vigil the night after the Gathering so that they wouldn't be totally worn down. She saw that Blackfoot had taken up a spot near the center of the den, even though he had been made a warrior only six moons ago. "Selfish bum." muttered Russetfur quietly and stuck her tongue out at his sleeping form. She saw that there was an empty nest between Foxheart and Hollyflower, and thought it must be hers. She also saw that another nest had been dragged to the opposite side of the den, and Oakfur was lying in it. Definitely mine, then, Russetfur winced before curling up in the nest.
A/N: Sorry this chapter was a tad boring and short, but my chapters were getting up to 3 1/2 thousand words, and that's just too long, so I'm shortening them. I'm afraid nothing big happens in the next chapter as of now, but my fingers take me where they take me, so you never know! :D R & R!
