Gah! I haven't uploaded in so long! But I have a nice, long chappy for you today!
Silverpaw yawned, unsheathing his claws and moving into a luxurious stretch. His legs ached from the cold, and having not moved all night. Drafts blew in from gaps missing in the apprentice's den. The red sky shone through the spaces in the roof. He decided to gather some ferns after training to fix it.
The pale tabby apprentice stepped out of his nest, performing several odd maneuvers to avoid stepping on the tails of his denmates.
A refreshing breeze rustled through Silverpaw's fur. The crimson of dawn was beginning to recede, the sky turning various shades of grey. By the warrior's den, Moontail was already awake, crouching down to eat a meaty morsel of shrew.
Silverpaw curled his lip in disdain. The blue-grey she-cat was never up this early, not even to train her own apprentice. He had often seen Flamepaw pacing back and forth in front of the warrior's den, agitated.
Willowfur slunk out of the den, ears pricking in surprise as she saw her friend. "Up so early, Moontail?" The she-cat greeted Flamepaw's mentor warmly with a lick to the cheek. Foxfeather crossed the clearing to meet up with the twosome.
"I'm afraid so. Have to talk to Sleetstar about Flamepaw's apprenticeship," Moontail sat back on her haunches, prey completely stripped of flesh.
"With a mentor like you, he needn't worry about Flamepaw's apprenticeship." Foxfeather's auburn pelt ruffled. Silverpaw wanted to scoff.
With a mentor like you, Flamepaw's not likely to ever become a warrior.
"It's not that," Moontail licked her chest quickly. "I'll have to move to the nursery. I'm expecting kits."
Foxfeather joyfully nudged the queen, while Willowfur squeaked in excitement.
That meant Flamepaw would have to change mentors.
Sheepishly, Silverpaw felt a twinge of relief. Flamepaw would finally have a chance to prove her true skill and worth.
Quietly, he thought about Moontail's previous kits, and the lives they would never have. And about how it was his fault.
He hoped that ThunderClan's newest members would be healthy.
Silverpaw turned away, stalking toward the fresh-kill pile. All of the prey was from the previous night, so he grabbed the freshest looking mouse and padded over to the gorse tunnel.
He looked around the brambles, seeing no sign of Aspenshadow. Confused, he set the prey down.
"I don't know where you went, but I brought you some prey!"
A white splashed head peaked out of the thorns. "Hey." The new warrior whispered, breath whistling Silverpaw's ear fur.
Silverpaw glanced at her in surprise. "I thought you weren't supposed be talking!" He hissed, quickly looking around to see if anyone was looking. Aspenshadow laughed, a clear, bright sound that resounded throughout the tunnel.
"Have you looked at the sky, mouse-brain? It's past dawn!" Aspenshadow bent down and took a brisk bite of the mouse.
Silverpaw purred and brushed past her, heading to the training hollow.
...
Hailbreeze picked quietly at his sparrow.
Darkblaze padded out of the nursery, eyes glowing with fatherly pride. Hailbreeze glanced at his old friend.
"How are the furballs, Darkblaze?" The ginger and black tom smiled.
"Growing bigger every day. Ravenstrike complains about how rambunctious they are, but I know she'll miss them once they're 'paws and can't be coddled anymore!" Hailbreeze stared at a point past him.
Darkblaze turned to see what he was looking at. Hailbreeze furrowed his brow and went back to eating his prey.
"Hello? Hailbreeze? Are you awake?"
"Huh- oh yes, I am awake. What did you say?" Hailbreeze shook his head quickly. Darkblaze narrowed his eyes.
"I asked if you slept well." The black and ginger tom furrowed his brow in thought.
"I know that expression!" Darkblaze hissed suddenly. "You like someone!"
Hailbreeze stiffened, slowly turning to face the black and ginger tom. "Where did that come from?"
Darkblaze smiled, the corner of his mouth tugging up slyly. "It's Sparrowcloud."
Hailbreeze lifted an eyebrow. "How did you know?" He admitted, twitching his tail. Darkblaze laughed.
"I've seen you train. You're harder on her than anyone else." He nudged Hailbreeze heartily. "Why don't you tell her?"
It wasn't the fact that he was older that bothered Hailbreeze. The ginger and white she-cat was five moons old when he was made a warrior.
As if he had interrupted Hailbreeze's thoughts, Darkblaze suddenly yipped. "Her father?"
"She's Sleetstar's daughter. You know how protective he is of his only kit!"
"But-"
"I have to go train the weaklings. Talk later!"
...
Seedpelt landed with a thud on the bank of the stream. She scrambled up, hissing. "You cheated!"
"No, I didn't." Silverpaw retorted coolly, curling his tail over his paws. Inside, he craved an actual fight. Appearing calm in front of the annoying she-cat was getting increasingly difficult.
"Hailbreeze didn't say anything about being allowed to strike when the cat isn't looking," The grey flecked she-cat spat, looking to Hailbreeze. The sooty grey tom stood impassively.
"In battle, the enemy will throw tricks on you when you least expect it." Silverpaw meowed, directly quoting what his mentor had previously said. He hated to be so smug, but he couldn't stand the arrogant gleam in Seedpelt's eyes.
"Why you-"
"Enough!" Sparrowcloud stepped in between Silverpaw and the grey flecked she-cat. "We should be training, not quarrelling amongst ourselves."
Hailbreeze stood up. "Silverpaw, adding fuel to the flame will not resolve problems." Silverpaw deflated a little, but shot a smirk at Seedpelt while Hailbreeze wasn't looking. "Next, we will-"
A rustling in the bushes interrupted him mid-sentence. Immediately, the four cats formed a semi-circle, facing the brush and preparing to pounce.
To Silverpaw's surprise, Stormpaw stumbled out of the undergrowth, paw clutched close to his body. A trickle of blood ran down from his forehead, staining the dark fur with a sickly crimson.
"Shadow-Cl-an. Attack. Need-reinforcements. Hurry."
Dread knocked all the air from Silverpaw's lungs. Hailbreeze nodded quickly, kinking his tail over his back before streaking into the bushes.
As Silverpaw ran after his mentor, all he could hear was the sound of blood rushing in his ears. It was bad; it must be, if the clan had sent Stormpaw, an injured cat, to get help.
He hoped they wouldn't be too late.
They burst through the entrance, and Silverpaw's blood ran cold.
Cats spitting, yowling. Dark stains like water on the ground. Motionless shapes knocked aside by a careless paw.
Screeching, Hailbreeze landed on the nearest cat, knocking his head with a flurry of deft blows. The tom crumpled on his side, unconscious.
Silverpaw watched as Sparrowcloud sprang onto a muscular ShadowClanner who was holding Sleetstar down with a paw.
Then, he himself too leapt, grasping a creamy brown apprentice by the scruff of the neck. The she-cat snarled and whipped around to face him
Silverpaw gasped in shock.
"Dawnpaw?"
The ShadowClan apprentice, too, looked surprised. But her eyes hardened at once.
Silverpaw knew. The three of them had once made a pact. If they were to meet in battle, their clans would come first, instead of friendship. They had also talked about giving each other scars when they had the chance.
Silverpaw dropped into a stance, body as rigid as the boulder behind them. "Why the sudden attack?" Dawnpaw's green eyes flashed with pain.
"We're in a war." Silverpaw started circling the she-cat, eyes fixed on her's.
"I know, but why now?" Dawnpaw's shoulder's slumped with a heavy weight.
"Rowanpaw's gone. Dead." Any other time, Silverpaw probably would've asked her what happened, but not now.
"What does that have anything to do with ThunderClan?" Silverpaw added with a snarl, hoping it look convincing. Dawnpaw's hackles rose even more, her thick fur ruffling up to appear even more menacing than she did already.
"You don't understand. We-we found blood. On your side of the thunderpath! Her blood!" Dawnpaw hissed, unsheathing her gleaming white claws. Silverpaw gawked.
"How do you know that she didn't get hit by a monster or something? Why would you think that she's dead?" Dawnpaw growled, eyes shining with bitter rage.
"There wasn't a body! And so much- our medicine cat said that no cat could've survived losing that much blood! Her scent was strewn around all around it, and so was ThunderClan's." Dawnpaw tensed, and Silverpaw knew she was about to spring.
"Clawstar's attacking because of an apprentice squashed by a monster?"
"I told you, a cat must've killed her." Dawnpaw snarled, circling around Silverpaw to try and get his back facing her. Silverpaw swerved to meet her.
"And Silverpaw?"
"Yes?"
"Clawstar's my brother." Silverpaw nodded, still processing her words as she leapt.
Silverpaw dodged out of the way, lunging for her paw in a classic battle move. Dawnpaw jerked it out of the way and Silverpaw caught nothing but leaves. Dawnpaw slipped around and clawed at his flank, tearing the skin into ribbons. He bit down on his lip to keep from screeching, tasting metallic blood flooding his mouth.
Snarling, he turned around, grabbing one of Dawnpaw's ears and biting down, but refraining from ripping. He would hate to see her pretty face marred by shredded ears.
Silverpaw was disgusted by his own thoughts.
Dawnpaw wrenched her head away, digging her claws into Silverpaw's shoulder.
An idea sprung into Silverpaw's mind. He flipped onto his back.
Dawnpaw hissed in surprise and toppled on top of him. Quickly, she shifted her position so that she was pinning Silverpaw down. Silverpaw smiled. This was exactly what he wanted.
He unsheathed his claws and ripped them along Dawnpaw's belly fur, chunks of cream flying out like ruffled feathers. Dawnpaw screeched in pain and unhooked her paw, preparing to slash Silverpaw's face. He jerked his head and caught the paw between his teeth.
Very deliberately, Silverpaw sliced Dawnpaw's pad in three sharp lines. Dawnpaw tumbled off, limping as she sped out of the camp.
I'm sorry.
Silverpaw whipped around. Flamepaw was struggling against two larger shapes. Blackfrost leapt and bowled them over, sending one racing out of camp, and the other motionless on the ground. The grey tom called to Flamepaw, and the ginger apprentice nodded.
They certainly didn't need help.
Sparrowcloud and Seedpelt were fighting shoulder to shoulder, lashing at a huge ShadowClan tom as they backed him toward the brambles. Meadowstream was holding her own against a few ShadowClan apprentices.
It looked as if Hailbreeze's hard training had paid off.
Silverpaw heard a yelp, and turned around to see Rainpaw being cornered by another cat. The tom was an apprentice, broad shouldered with tabby stripes criss-crossing behind his huge head. He smiled, showing more teeth than was necessary.
"Such a pretty little she-cat. Shame that you're ThunderClan scum." He advanced menacingly, and Silverpaw caught sight of a scar on his flank.
Adderpaw.
A burning fury rose in Silverpaw's chest. He stalked up to the tom, expression cold and indifferent.
"Well, if it isn't Wormpaw. Wait, that was your name, right? Wormpaw?" The tom whipped around and bared his teeth.
"It's Adderstrike." The tom snarled, tensing his bulging muscles. Silverpaw's mouth jerked up into a half grin.
"Well, same difference. Both slither so low to the ground that their bellies are practically dragging. Seems like you didn't get enough last time, Wormpaw." Silverpaw's eyes darted quickly to Rainpaw's, giving a sharp nod.
"Oh, I was just going easy on you.- whatever your name was anyway." Adderpaw snorted haughtily. His chest was puffed out like an arrogant plover.
"Really? Wow, I'm shocked! You didn't seem very happy when I left you unconscious on the ground." Adderstrike was absolutely seething now. With a mad roar, he lunged forward.
Clumsy, Silverpaw thought, as he stepped aside simply. He dodged the ShadowClan warrior's rushed flurry of blows, stepping back and fro. Soon, Adderstrike was hunched over, panting.
"My turn." Silverpaw snarled.
He grabbed the tom by his shoulders, which was a feat in itself. Adderstrike growled, wrenching himself away.
Silverpaw backed away, considering the situation. I obviously can't just rely on my strength; he's too powerful. But such a large cat can't be so agile, right?
Swiftly, Silverpaw snaked under Adderstrike's belly, twisting as he saw the tender belly of his opponent. He lashed at the skin, using his momentum to dig his claws even harder in. The ShadowClan warrior folded on himself like a caterpillar.
Silverpaw ripped and shredded at the flesh, snarling as bitter rage warmed him to the tips of his claws. Pull, slash. Pull, slash. Pull, slash.
"Stop!" Silverpaw looked up in surprise. It was Rainpaw, eyes round as an owl's. "You're going to kill him!"
Silverpaw glanced down at the cat with new eyes. The dark tabby tom was gasping like a fish out of water, flanks heaving as blood streamed out of numerous gashes on his belly.
Horrified, Silverpaw let go abruptly, watching as Adderstrike ambled out of the clearing, leaving a trail of dark red behind him.
If Rainpaw didn't interfere, I would've been a murderer.
A familiar voicel sounded behind him. Two fox-lengths away, Stormpaw was crouched in a challenging stance, yowling defiantly.
Silverpaw leapt to the grey tom and knocked him over, taking care not to hurt Stormpaw's injured leg.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Silverpaw hissed. Stormpaw jerked his head up with so much determination in his amber eyes that Silverpaw took a step back.
"I want to fight!" Stormpaw protested, scrambling up. He winced as his leg bumped against the blood-soaked ground. Silverpaw pushed him back down.
"You'll be no use to ThunderClan if you're a cripple." Silverpaw's eyes bore into Stormpaw's.
"Go back to the medicine den." Stormpaw shot one last hate filled look at Silverpaw, then limped into the crevice between the two boulders.
It struck him out gaunt the usually muscular apprentice was, as if all the muscle he had built up had wasted away.
Silverpaw stared after Stormpaw for a moment more, and then turned back to the battle.
Redtalon and Clawstar were grappling under highrock, twisting around fur to snarl at each other. Silverpaw just barely caught snippets of what they were saying.
"-Nothing to do with her! Just-an apprentice- how cold blooded are you?" Clawstar snarled, ripping deep into Redtalon's flesh.
Silverpaw pricked his ears to hear more, but instead, was grabbed from behind. He lashed out with his back paws, colliding with warm flesh. The cat hissed.
It was Snakepaw, a new apprentice. Silverpaw almost laughed. Does ShadowClan name all their kits after prey?
"ShadowClan is at least better than squirrel-eating mange-pelts!" Snakepaw retorted.
Oops. Silverpaw hadn't realized that he had said it aloud.
Snakepaw waggled his hindquarters, preparing to pounce. The brown tabby tom sprang, and Silverpaw pressed himself flat against the ground. Snakepaw landed square on top of Aspenshadow, who sent him running with a few well-placed blows.
He glanced to see if anyone needed help. By the looks of it, most of the ShadowClan cats had run off, leaving only a few stragglers behind. A breath of relief escaped his lungs as he saw Cloudflight and Amberclaw, covering Kestrelpaw as he checked over the injured cats on the ground. He turned around.
There was a sodden grey shape, probably a boulder, lying in the shadowed corner by the medicine den. Silverpaw frowned; in all of his almost four seasons living in the ThunderClan camp, he couldn't recall that there ever was a rock that size by the two larger boulders.
Silverpaw's blood ran cold.
He crossed the clearing, dodging the still fighting cats. A sinking feeling in his chest, he peered down.
"Birchheart?"
The warrior's breath was coming in ragged gasps, blood trickling out of the corner of her mouth. She struggled to lift her head, but smiled weakly.
"Alder-paw?" She rasped, shifting her head, the blood thickening. Silverpaw winced.
Alderpaw must've been her son, Silverpaw thought. He decided to play along with it. He quickly looked back at Birchheart, and tried not to back away when he noticed the huge gash on her flank, partly hidden by thick fur.
"Yes?" Birchheart coughed, head slapping back into the ground.
"I'm glad that you came." The grey warrior smiled, teeth beaded with blood. "Hailbree-ze has trained-trained you-into a fine young tom." Silverpaw's jaw almost dropped. If she's talking about this, 'Alderpaw', then why the talk about Hailbreeze? He shook the thought from his head as he saw the blood beginning to pool around her body.
"I-I'll go get a medicine cat-" Silverpaw stammered, turning to go get Pinespring. But the brown tom was nowhere to be seen. "There must be something I can do!"
Birchheart lunged forward and grabbed his paw. "It's too late, my son. I-I'm g-going to join your father soon." Silverpaw pulled back up to the she-cat.
"No." Silverpaw breathed. He hadn't talked to the Birchheart much, but she had always seemed nice. And that was a rare occurrence in itself.
The she-cat smiled once more. "I must. I-I can see him." Birchheart stared at a point past him, eyes glazed. "Lionfrost? Have... have you come for me?" She sighed, eyes fluttering shut. Her paws jerked once and she fell still.
Silverpaw stared at the body for a moment more, then stepped forward, lapping at her eyelids until they closed. He arranged her paws into a comfortable position, and backed away.
"Rest easily." Silverpaw turned to see the last ShadowClan cat fleeing into the forest. Flamepaw noticed him and strode over.
"You should get that wound checked out," Flamepaw jutted her chin at Silverpaw's shoulder. He looked down, surprised when he saw a scratch running along the skin. Silverpaw leaned and peered into the medicine den. Pinespring and Kestrelpaw were trying to Redtalon's bleeding. The wound didn't look to be fatal.
"They're busy enough without my trouble." Flamepaw suddenly froze, eyes wide with horror.
"Is that... Birchheart?" Silverpaw quickly stepped and blocked her view.
"That bite looks pretty bad," He meowed, trying to change the subject. But Flamepaw was staring through him.
"It'll reek of ShadowClan for days." Flamepaw looked straight into Silverpaw's eyes. "She's dead." It was more of statement than a question.
"Yes." Silverpaw looked away. Something... something was wrong. The camp was eerily silent.
Out of the corner of his eye, Darkblaze padded into the nursery. Silverpaw didn't take his eyes from the bramble den as he nodded absentmindedly at Flamepaw.
"No."
Darkblaze's single word dropped like a stone into the quiet murmuring of the clearing. Silverpaw found himself at the entrance of the nursery before he realized his paws were moving.
The black and ginger tom was standing at the edge of Ravenstrike's nest, staring down at his mate's unmoving body. The air was thick with the ominous scent of blood, and Silverpaw could feel it sticking to the bottom of his paws.
A tiny black head with white patches popped up from behind her mother, bluish eyes wide and worried. "We can't wake her!" Swankit squeaked. "We've shaken her and shaken her but she won't wake up!"
Shadekit appeared beside her, black fur fluffed in all directions, making him like a disturbed badger. "She must be very tired." He warned, dark eyes serious as could be.
"Tired..." Darkblaze echoed, voice hollow. Ravenstrike's eyes were softly closed, and Silverpaw was glad that she at the very least had time to do that. Grasskit looked like he vaguely understood, head bowing, while Lightkit's held the utter confusion of his siblings'.
"Kits, come with me," Silverpaw's urge came out as a strangled rasp.
For once, no one disagreed.
The kits clamered over Ravenstrike's body. Lightkit's paw slipped into Ravenstrike's ear. "Sorry, mama."
Silverpaw tried not to flinch when he saw that the kit's paw was soaked with blood. Darkblaze didn't seem like he had noticed.
His legs had crumpled beneath him and he was curled around Ravenstrike, pressing his muzzle against hers.
"Wake up, dearest," he murmured. "Our kits need you. We can't possibly lose you."
Silverpaw nudged the kits toward the entrance. "I think Papa is sad," Swankit chirped. "Shall I stay and make him feel better?" Silverpaw shook his head a bit too quickly.
"I think we should just leave him be for now." Silverpaw meowed, herding the four out into the camp. Grasskit's brow was furrowed, and Silverpaw could only guess what things were going on inside the troubled kit's mind.
Flamepaw gasped as she saw the blood on the kits' belly fur. "What happened?" Silverpaw shook his head, leaning close to his sister's ear.
"Ravenstrike's-"
There was a wail from inside the nursery. "Ravenstrike! Don't leave me!"
Flamepaw's eyes revealed that she understood. Sighing, she pulled away, sitting back on her haunches.
"Did we really win the battle?" Silverpaw's sister whispered.
"Because this doesn't feel like a victory."
Killed off two characters that barely had a line of dialogue so far.
Oops.
QOTD: What do you think happened to Rowanpaw?
0wO