This is not similar to What is There to Do?. OK? Got that? GOT IT?!
Chapter 6
"Kestrelflight is going to notice sooner or later," Ravenpaw told Rosepaw with worry. "What are we going to do about that?"
Rosepaw closed her eyes briefly, then reopened them as they flashed.
"I know!" she meowed.
"What?" asked Ravenpaw.
"Well," began Rosepaw. "I..." she trailed off as her night-blue eyes misted over. "No... that won't work at all," she muttered.
"Hopefully you'll be a warrior by then," Ravenpaw told her, running the tip of his tail along her spine.
Rosepaw huffed. "Yeah right," she retorted.
Ravenpaw sighed. "How will you carry on with your duties?" he wondered.
"StarClan knows," Rosepaw mumbled.
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"Today we'll be doing a team training session," announced Whiskernose. "Am I clear?"
The apprentices nodded respectfully.
"OK," mewed Whiskernose. "I'll be with Rosepaw, Stormpaw, Sedgewhisker, Ravenpaw and Gorsetail," he flicked his tail at the cats he'd chosen. "And Gingerpaw, Graypaw and Softpaw, you'll be with Furzepelt, Emberfoot and Leaftail."
"What's the goal?" Gingerpaw piped up.
"The goal?" echoed Whiskernose. "The goal is; each team must catch one rabbit. Then, they must guard that rabbit and make sure the other team doesn't steal it and place it beside their rabbit. If they do, then they win. The losing team gets elder duty."
"Even the warriors?" Emberfoot queried.
"Even the warriors," Whiskernose replied, a slight purr to his tone.
"Is there a leader?" Graypaw asked.
Whiskernose nodded. "Each team must vote on a leader," he meowed.
The two teams huddled up.
"I vote Whiskernose," mewed Sedgewhisker.
"Me too," Gorsetail decided.
"I guess he'd be the best choice," Stormpaw muttered.
"Right! It's settled then!" Rosepaw cheered.
"Majority rules!" Ravenpaw hollered excitedly.
The team crowded out.
"Emberfoot, who's the leader of your team?" Whiskernose called to the gray tom.
"I am!" Furzepelt meowed proudly.
"That's right!" jeered Graypaw. "Go FurzeClan!"
"That sounds so rabbit-brained!" taunted Stormpaw.
"Your face is rabbit-brained!" spat Gingerpaw.
"Well, WhiskerClan sounds way better!" Softpaw hissed.
"Hey, hey, hey!" Whiskernose hissed. "Let's just get on with it!"
Furzepelt nodded. "FurzeClan's going to be the first one to catch a rabbit!" she challenged.
"Nuh-uh!" Whiskernose meowed, racing away.
"C'mon!" Rosepaw meowed. "Let's follow him and catch a rabbit!"
Ravenpaw and the rest of 'WhiskerClan' raced after their leader. Ravenpaw parted his jaws to drink in the moorland scents. He spotted a meaty hare, unaware of WhiskerClan and him creeping up on it. Then, Stormpaw bolted after it, sending it bounding into Ravenpaw's paws. He trapped it, and the hare looked up, its blackberry eyes wide and round with fear as it shivered. Ravenpaw killed it with a swift bite to the neck, watching the light die from its beady eyes.
Stormpaw caught up to him, panting. "Nice catch," she commented.
Ravenpaw dipped his head, placing the hare at her paws.
Suddenly a screech of battle cry rippled through the air, and Graypaw came charging at them with great speed.
Ravenpaw exchanged an amused glance with Stormpaw. Quick as lightning, Stormpaw flicked her front leg out in front of Graypaw as he came bolting at the hare. Graypaw gasped as he stumbled over her outstretched paw, and crashed to the ground while Rosepaw and Ravenpaw swung sheathed blows at him with their front paws.
"The hare is gone!" yowled Gorsetail.
Ravenpaw turned his head to see Emberfoot racing away, their hare clamped in his jaws, as Stormpaw shot angrily after him.
Ravenpaw bounded after the she-cat, with speed almost fit enough for WindClan. He knocked Emberfoot down by pouncing on top of him, allowing enough of a distraction for Stormpaw to snatch the rabbit from his jaws, racing back to the rest of WhiskerClan.
Meanwhile, Ravenpaw dashed toward FurzeClan's rabbit, dodging several blows from Gingerpaw and Graypaw, who were determined to embarrass him. He snatched the rabbit up, and bolted as fast as he could back to his teammates. He felt a bony leg flash out under him, and he stumbled, rolling over with the rabbit grasped firmly in his jaws, feeling the itchy grass burn and scratch at his body. He dug his claws into the hard earth, feeling the burning sensation of them raking across thick soil and rogue stones. A sharp pain seared through one of them as he felt it bend severely.
Much to his relief, Stormpaw snatched the rabbit and flung it at their hare.
"WhiskerClan won!" cheered Gorsetail. Her gaze faltered once she saw Ravenpaw writhing on the ground, his left front paw clutching at his right front paw.
"Are you alright?" she asked her black-furred apprentice.
Ravenpaw nodded his head, standing up, only to collapse back onto the ground, showing Gorsetail his crooked claw.
"Ha!" teased Graypaw. "We should name you Crookedclaw now!"
Softpaw flashed her denmate a challenging look as Gingerpaw stood up tall beside her, glaring at his littermate.
"G-Gingerpaw?" stuttered Graypaw. "Why are you so defensive of Ravenpaw and Softpaw all of a sudden? Softpaw's as soft as a kittypet! And Crookedclaw-er, Ravenpaw- is so ugly looking!"
Sedgewhisker shot him a fierce glare as Graypaw shuffled his paws beneath him.
Distant barking from a little ways off became a series of loud growling as a tall brown dog came racing up to the gathered cats, its tongue lolling like a fat pink worm.
"Dog!" yelped Leaftail, running away in the direction of the camp.
Ravenpaw's heart fluttered like a trapped dove and he tried to get up, but fell back down as searing pain surged through his twisted claw.
"Ravenpaw!" Rosepaw came hurtling over toward the yapping dog, scoring her claws down its flank, sending flecks of crimson blood flying onto the rich green grass below. The dog let out a whimper, grabbing Rosepaw by the scruff and shaking her fiercely. Rosepaw flattened her ears to her head, twisting in the air and landing on her spine. She ignored the blood gushing out from her scruff and clamped her jaws firmly around the dog's neck. The dog howled with pain and rage, swerving his body from side to side in an effort to fling Rosepaw off. Rosepaw slid down the dog's throat, creating a long trail of scars and scratches as blood oozed out. The dog whimpered, and eventually managed to tear Rosepaw off of it, running away in terror. She trotted over to the gaping and shocked Ravenpaw.
"How-"
"Lean on me," Rosepaw snapped. Ravenpaw got up, and nearly fell down until Rosepaw flanked him, letting him lean against her shoulder as Stormpaw came racing up as well, balancing him.
"Let's get you back to camp," Stormpaw meowed with slight humor as Ravenpaw stumbled most of the way.
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Kestrelflight gave Ravenpaw a cracked brown stick, letting him bite down on it hard as he bent the claw back into place. Ravenpaw's eyes misted with pain.
"You're lucky Rosepaw was there to save your life," Kestrelflight murmured as he rubbed a poultice on Ravenpaw's bleeding paw.
"I'm lucky my claw wasn't worse and you were able to fix it," huffed Ravenpaw. "Thank you."
Kestrelflight only nodded.
"You'd best sleep in here tonight," the medicine cat told him. "So your claw can get better and your paw won't get infected more easily by the cold night breeze."
Ravenpaw nodded sleepily, feeling tiredness bring him to sleep.
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"You got her pregnant?!" spat Mapleshade as her claws scored a blow across Ravenpaw's face. "What have you done?! Have you forgotten your promise? Do you wish to suffer as I once did?! Is that what you want? Hmm?!"
Ravenpaw backed away, his eyes clouded with fear.
"StarClan cats aren't supposed to be this cruel," he muttered.
Mapleshade lashed out with her unsheathed paw.
"Then maybe you should learn some respect!" she hissed.
"Maybe I will!" Ravenpaw snapped.
Mapleshade muttered something Ravenpaw couldn't understand.
"Anyway," she hissed. "Let's learn some battle moves."
Ravenpaw nodded, breathing a sigh of relief.
"Try this," invited Mapleshade as she leaped in the air, claws unsheathed, and landed on top of Ravenpaw, her claws digging into his spine.
"Mrrow!" yowled Ravenpaw. "What was that for?!"
Mapleshade leaped off, grooming her fur.
"A useful battle move and a lesson," she replied smoothly.
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"She's been having pains," Kestrelflight mewed, his eyes flashing.
Ravenpaw nodded solemnly in reply.
"The kits will be coming soon, won't they?" Rosepaw mumbled.
"Yes, yes they will. It's a good thing you moved to the nursery," Kestrelflight told her as gently as he could.
"Ravenpaw, I'm scared," Rosepaw whispered.
"No need to be scared," Ravenpaw murmured back. "I'll protect you and our kits, even at the cost of my life." Suddenly Ravenpaw's promise rang in his ears, the one where he had a great destiny ahead of him. But that didn't matter at the moment. All that mattered right now was the safety of his mate and their unborn kits.
"Ravenpaw," Rosepaw muttered weakly.
"What?" Ravenpaw asked her, worry building up inside him.
"I think I'm sick."
Kestrelflight shook his head.
"It's just the pregnancy," he informed her soothingly. "Nothing to worry about."
Rosepaw gulped loudly, nodding her head slowly and shakily.
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Mapleshade paced through the forest, not believing that Ravenpaw had just had kits with Rosepaw. This was great yet terrible news. It was terrible because Ravenpaw might be so caught up with his kits that he'd forget all about his promise. The good news about it was that she'd kill his kits as well, making him suffer more, if she ever got the chance to kill them, that is. She'd wait for the right moment and then... SNAP! She'd snap their tiny necks! Or, make them suffer by ripping them apart, leaving them to die slowly and slowly, their life bleeding out into their nests with their unsuspecting mother... If she got the chance, that is.
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"It hurts! So! Badly! Kestrelflight, make it stop!" wailed Rosepaw.
"I'm afraid I can't stop labor," Kestrelflight told the queen-apprentice worriedly. She'd been kitting all morning, with a frightened Ravenpaw pacing outside of the nursery, hearing the screeches of pain coming from his mate.
"She'll be fine," Ashstar told Ravenpaw gently.
"Can you promise me that?" Ravenpaw demanded.
Ashstar stared at her paws.
"We can't promise anything," Crowfeather, the deputy, snapped. "And you should know better than having kits as an apprentice."
"It was an accident!" Ravenpaw protested.
"Ravenpaw?" It was Kestrelflight. His blue gaze was lit with worry. "Come in. There's cats you need to meet..."
Ravenpaw gulped, following Kestrelflight into the dusty, abandoned fox den. Soft mewling and a raspy purr lifted Ravenpaw's spirits up to StarClan with hope.
"Meet your new kits," Kestrelflight invited, the worry washed from his eyes.
Ravenpaw gazed down at his four kits, then at his mate. He nearly fainted when he saw Rosepaw breathing feebly beside her kits, her eyes just barely open.
"Name our kits..." she rasped, her eyes starting to close slowly.
"No..." whispered Ravenpaw. "No!"
"Hurry," Rosepaw croaked, the light fading from her eyes too quickly for Ravenpaw. She started coughing heavily, as three tiny bouts of coughs came from three of the four kits.
"This one Shadekit," his tail-tip touched the black tom-kit with light blue-gray flecks on its ears. "And this one..." he gazed down at the dark red she-kit, then back up at his mate. "This one Rosekit," he murmured. "For you, my love."
Rosepaw's eyes sparkled.
"This one..." he glanced at the dusky-white she-kit. "Duskkit... and you name the last one."
"I want this one to be named Frostkit," Rosepaw mewed meekly, placing her nose on the bright white she-kit with dark red ear-tips. The tiny kit mewled and squirmed beneath her mother's black nose. A final breath sent Ravenpaw wailing with grief as he buried his nose into Rosepaw's dark red fur. She was dead! His mate was dead!
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It was a quiet and sad night as Ravenpaw curled his body around his kits. He drifted into a peaceful sleep, and slept well that night without training with Mapleshade at all.
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"Ravenpaw? Time to get up," mewed Stormpaw gently.
"I can't leave my kits," Ravenpaw snapped back.
"Ravenpaw." Stormpaw's mew was urgent. "They're dead, Ravenpaw. They were incredibly sick."
"What?!" Ravenpaw gasped. "No!"
A tiny squeak interrupted his extra grief as a tiny white body stirred beneath him. Relief flooded his heart as he gazed down at his remaining kit.
"At least Frostkit's still alive," he murmured, drawing the young kit closer to him with the sweep of his plumy tail.
Frostkit's dark red ear-tips twitched as she mewled, her tiny squeak muffled by something that Ravenpaw didn't know where it was.
"She's truly adorable," Stormpaw meowed affectionately.
Suddenly the bright white she-kit blinked open her eyes in a flash, and they were a bright, bright blue as she gazed up curiously at her father and Stormpaw.
"Hello, my daughter," Ravenpaw whispered. "I'm Ravenpaw, your father."
The tiny kit mewled in response, her ears suddenly perked up as a hungry gleam flashed in her eyes, then quickly faded.
"ThunderClan!" yowled Ashstar. "ThunderClan is attacking!"
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Mapleshade's belly churned with satisfaction. Because of Ravenpaw's promise, Mapleshade was able to cast sickness upon Rosepaw and three of her kits. But something stopped her before she spread it to the fourth one, something sinister that she liked...
I hope you enjoyed! Review!
Question: How many of you guys really liked Rosepaw before she died? How many of you hated her?