CHAPTER ONE
The giant pile of snow we had all gathered in a pile exploded everywhere as Strikepaw jumped out of it and lashed out at me. We were just playing, of course, but it was fun to practice and play pretend. The older apprentices took it way more seriously than my brothers and sisters, Yarrowpaw, Puddlepaw, and Needlepaw. Puddlepaw, however, didn't hang around us ever since we got apprentice yesterday. He's a medicine cat so he wasn't allowed to play or do anything fun ever.
Strikepaw clawed at me but I jumped out of the way and wiggled my hindquarters, hissing. Yarrowpaw was at my side, my ginger colored brother was ready to attack. He was impressive according to Spikefur, who could never stop bragging. Dawnpelt liked to train alone, as she informed me yesterday. We went and explored the territory together yesterday, just her and I. It was boring and she likes to take her sweet time.
My sliver-furred sister, Needlepaw, bragged about how she caught a mouse yesterday. She was kind of a bragger though. Yarrowpaw, Puddlepaw, and I were use to it. When we were kits Needlepaw went with Crowfrost outside of camp because she begged him.
"Beepaw!" Dawnpelt yowled and I looked around to see she was standing outside of Rowanstar's den, Crowfrost sitting beside her. She padded over to me happily. "We have some training to do!" She nodded hello to the other apprentices and then led me out of camp. The snow crunched beneath my paws and I shivered. I couldn't wait until greenleaf when the sun was out and it was warm and the prey was running.
What're we doing today? I wanted to ask but kept my mouth shut. Last time I questioned her she snapped at me and told me to trust my mentor. Now I wasn't sure I trusted her. However, she was a fierce warrior and she did have kits, Juniperpaw, Sleekpaw, and Strikepaw so she couldn't just murder me or something.
"Today you're going to be scenting out things. Prey, badgers, other cats. We need to work on your nose," she explained, leading me to what I remember as the twoleg path. The nasty stench of twoleg's, ThunderClan, a faint scent of fox, and a nearby squirrel caught my attention.
Proudly, I turned to Dawnpelt. "I smell twoleg, of course, ThunderClan because this is our border with them, a faint scent of fox, probably here about two days ago, and a nearby squirrel." I looked up at her for approval and she was looking down at me in approval but I could tell she wanted me to get something wrong.
My mentor cleared her throat and nodded. "Very good. If the ground wasn't covered in snow you'd be able to smell the flowers and the grass and the dew but since there's snow everywhere all of that has died until greenleaf," she explained even though I already knew.
I didn't say anything about already knowing since she'd probably snap at me again. "Yeah, and the dirt, too!" I added and she just nodded her head. I felt like she wanted me to fail. Something was wrong with this she-cat! "What now?"
She looked at me with a smile and then alarm flashed across her face. "ThunderClan patrol nearby!" Dawnpelt looked over the border to see a ginger she-cat, a dark ginger tom, a gray tabby tom, and a golden brown tabby tom.
They met us without hesitation, looking over from the other side of the twoleg path. No twolegs were around. "How can we help you, Dawnpelt?" He looked intrigued and his eyes landed on me. I was just an unfamiliar she-cat.
"We're just getting familiar with the scents, Brackenfur," she responded calmly, smiling. I could tell she was uncomfortable talking to the ThunderClan cats. "This is one of our newest apprentices, Beepaw."
The gray tabby tom bared his teeth. "You should leave this area! We see any of you pieces of crowfood trying to cross the border we'll rip your throat out!" he threatened. He didn't seem as mean as the other cats did. Something about him was soft.
"Who is this?" Dawnpelt spat, glaring at the tom. "He needs to watch his mouth!"
Brackenfur sent a glare to the tom. "He's, uh, from the twoleg place just outside of our territory. His name is Stormcloud and he will watch his mouth, I apologize," he mewed and dipped his head to us. He was obviously embarrassed.
My mentor nodded once. "You should be sorry." She shot a look to Stormcloud. "Keep up your mouth and I'll claw if off," she threatened, eyes flashing. I was, once again, scared of my mentor.
The ThunderClan cat shifted uncomfortably. Then the ginger she-cat spoke, "We will get out of your fur. ThunderClan's apologies." She hissed something to Stormcloud and then led the patrol away.
"Cherryheart, she's very understanding." Dawnpelt had a spark in her eye and then she turned away for the border. "ThunderClan is ShadowClan's natural enemy." Her head shook slowly, as if she wished something different. I knew that Bramblestar is related to her but she never really said anything about it to me.
Silence clawed the air between us. "Should we go report to Rowanstar?" I questioned, wanting to get out of this area. We're lucky that Stormcloud didn't make Dawnpelt furious and cause a border skirmish. I wasn't ready and it would've been pointless.
Without saying anything the she-cat led the way towards camp. She seemed distant now. Maybe the thought of being away from her brother was really hurting her. I was very sure that if she tried to go back they'd accept her with open paws.
I wasn't sure what to say and I didn't want to irritate her so I said nothing, even when we entered the camp and she padded off to find Rowanstar. Yarrowpaw walked up with me, smiling.
"Guess who went hunting and caught a mouse!" He flicked her tail at the almost empty fresh kill pile. "What did you do today, Beepaw?"
Anger pricked at my pelt and I grinned, ear-to-ear. "I almost got into a border skirmish with ThunderClan!" I raised my head high when he gasped. "That's right. Luckily, Dawnpelt and I shut those ThunderClan fluff balls right up!" I hesitated when it came to telling him about the kittypet who had joined their Clan. I needed to seem strong and brave.
"Wow! That's way more interesting than what I did!" he gasped and he seemed to be way more respectful now that he knew this. "Where's Sleekpaw? You have to brag, he'll be so mad!" he mewed and looked around the for tom.
"Beepaw!" Dawnpelt mewed, her eyes narrowed. "Stop hanging around, we have work to do!" she snapped and flicked her tail to the entrance where Tawnypelt and Needlepaw sat silently.
Finally! Some real training! I thought happily and padded over to them. "Sorry, I was talking with our brother, Needlepaw." I looked at Dawnpelt who nodded grimly. "Let's go!" I mewed and bounced out of camp with our mentors in front of us and Needlepaw at my side.
The two warriors walked in silence as the led us to the side of camp but Needlepaw kept talking to me. She never really stopped talking but I was use to ignoring her and focused on Tawnypelt and Dawnpelt who mumbled something to each other.
A battle cry startled me and something from above crushed me and I heard Needlepaw cry out too. Tawnypelt and Dawnpelt dived into the bushes and left us, however.
I felt panic and pushed whoever it was off me and lashed out at their nose, feeling blood and hearing a loud cry out. I turned to face my attacker and instantly recognized Sleekpaw and her mentor who was attacking Needlepaw, Tigerheart.
"W-what are you doing?" I breathed and Needlepaw finally got Tigerheart off herself. "Needlepaw, duck!" I shrieked as Tigerheart too the opportunity to try to lash out at her. She ducked just in time and whipped around, going after his paws.
Needlepaw hissed and dived at me but I slipped to the side, still very confused and angry and shocked. I lunged forward and nipped her ear and she let out a cry of shock. I could see I'd gotten some good shots at her but she wasn't going down.
Her claws lashed out at me and I ducked just barely. Her eyes flashed in annoyance and she jumped onto of me, her eyes full of rage but something didn't feel right. Her vicious growl, however, frightened me. She grabbed ahold of the back of my neck and I could feel blood oozing out. I let out a cry of pain.
"Stop," Tigerheart interrupted us and smiled. "Tawnypelt and Dawnpelt told us to help you with your training with an ambush and you just failed, noted that we are bigger than you two. Congratulations you survived your first attack."
Sleekpaw got off me and sat beside her mentor. I looked at Needlepaw who had blood running down his side and heard the bushes rustle. Dawnpelt and Tawnypelt entered, looks of satisfaction on their faces.
"This was a-a test?" I asked, my thoughts were clouded. It seemed so real. Tigerheart and Sleekpaw took it so seriously, I thought they were ThunderClan warriors trying to destroy us.
Dawnpelt nodded at us. "Of course it was. And you both did very well!" she congratulated. For once she actually seemed proud of me. I was proud of me too. I had gotten some good attacks on Sleekpaw and she'd been apprenticed longer than I. Then again, she was probably going easy so she didn't hurt me.
Tigerheart purred softly, "You both did wonderful. We should get out wounds checked out also…" He was bleeding from his ear and tail but he barely seemed to notice. He was a tough warrior.
The three mentors shared looks. It felt like a family reunion. I knew Tawnypelt missed her kits, especially Flametail who drown a long time ago in the lake. Dawnpelt was filled with grief for the longest time and took it out on Jayfeather, who could've saved him but since of his blindness, failed. I knew my mentor still held a grudge against the medicine cat but something tells me that Flametail is better where he is now.
I felt my paws growing cold now. I couldn't even feel the cold while we were fighting. I could feel the pain in my neck but it was slowly going numb. If we stayed out longer someone would get sick.
Dawnpelt thought the same way I did and she glanced at the sun that was in the middle of the sky. We had some time left. "Tigerheart, Sleekpaw, get back to camp before you catch a cold. Needlepaw, Beepaw, lets practice our hunting crouches before we get going," she ordered and as Tigerheart passed by Tawnypelt they brushed muzzles and Dawnpelt purred something to him then turned back to us.
"This is a hunter's crouch," Dawnpelt explained as she dropped down low, her ears pricked and belly fur brushing the ground, her tail hovering the ground. "You try," she ordered, continuing her pose.
Hesitantly, still studying Dawnpelt, I dropped down low into her same pose, trying to keep my balance. I think this would be harder if I was actually hunting for prey. I glanced over at Needlepaw who was struggling to keep the pose as well. Both our balances were off by far.
Tawnypelt studied us thoughtfully. "Needlepaw if you bring your front right paw forward you'll have better balance and Beepaw if you lower your tail just a hair more you too, will have better balance," she pointed out and I did as she said, lowering my tail just a hair more and feeling myself gain balance. That was much better. "Other than that you both are perfect," Tawnypelt purred. She was obviously a lot easier with being proud of her apprentice, unlike Dawnpelt.
We waited patiently for them to tell us we could go back to camp, but they didn't. They just sat down and watched us. And after a while they moved the snow out of the way and continued watching us. My paws were completely numb and my nose was running but I didn't dare move out of the hunter's crouch. Dawnpelt terrified me but I didn't know Tawnypelt well enough to know her reaction.
"H-how long are w-we going to stand he-here?" Needlepaw asked, shivering with her teeth chattering. She looked exhausted and I could see her nose running. Her whole body was shivering and her legs were wobbling with the effort to stay in the crouch.
Neither of our mentors answered and annoyance pricked at my pelt. Did they want us to get sick?! Finally, I was sick of it and I stood up, puffing out my fur to look bigger. "We're going to camp!" I growled at them. "We have wounds and neither of us can feel any part of our pelt. If we stay out here any longer we'll get sick!" I pushed my silver-furred sister towards the camp entrance and she stumbled. Her legs were practically frozen! I guided her to the entrance, sending a death glare to Dawnpelt and Tawnypelt who said nothing and remained where they were.
I was absolutely furious! Sure, standing in that pose gives us patience and teaches how to do it but it was far too cold to be doing it! I led my sister to Littlecloud's den where I was greeted by our brother, Puddlepaw, who was sorting herbs.
He met our gaze and gasped. "Are you alright? What happened?" He rushed over and sniffed Needlepaw.
"Our crazy mentors had Tigerheart and Sleekpaw attack us for practice and made us stand in the cold without getting treated!" I explained in anger. "We could get sick!" I knew Puddlepaw would be gentle and quick to fix us both up since we were related but since we didn't talk too much anymore I didn't know how well his skills were.
Suddenly, Littlecloud slipped in through the back part of their den. "What's this I hear about sickness?" He examined us and then Needlepaw sneezed. "Oh StarClan save us…" he mumbled and grabbed a minty, tasty looking leaf from Puddlepaw and fed it to my sister. "Have Puddlepaw look at your wound, Beepaw."
Puddlepaw explained my dried up wound and mumbled to himself, grabbing some herbs and applying it to the wound. It stung a little but I pretended it didn't.
"I want Needlepaw to stay in my den so I can keep a watchful eye on her," Littlecloud told me. "As for you I want you to show me where Dawnpelt and Tawnypelt are." He sounded furious and I knew that them making us sit in the cold could give us a cough which would be wasting his precious herbs.
Turning on my paws, I led the medicine cat outside his den and into the busy camp. I didn't spot either she-cat so I slipped back outside, hearing Littlecloud's steps crunching in the snow. They were exactly where I left them except this time they were talking and laughing about something.
Littlecloud walked right up to them and stuck his face in Tawnypelt's as he growled, "You are a senior warrior. You know what the coughs do to us. How dare you keep two young apprentices out in the cold! Needlepaw already has a cold!" His blue eyes were full of fury. He was very passionate about his work.
Both she-cats were surprised, like they had no idea what he was talking about. "We were having training practice. There are sacrifices," Tawnypelt told him blatantly. She seemed amused by his confrontation.
The little medicine cat wouldn't stand for this though. "Just because your mate is our leader does not mean either of you will get away with this!" he snapped and whipped around, stomping back into camp.
I looked at the two she-cats in disgust and turned away from them as a loud yowl roared from the clearing and I rushed inside, seeing Rowanstar standing on the hazel branch, Crowfrost sitting to his left and Littlecloud to his right. All of them seemed disappointed. And I knew exactly why.
"Tawnypelt, Dawnpelt, you have been unjust to two apprentices and therefore I declare you to not be mentors for a whole moon and as a greater punishment, you will clean the elder's ticks!" Rowanstar ordered. It was probably odd punishing his own mate.
Littlecloud cleared his throat. "And what of their apprentices, Beepaw and Needlepaw?"
Our leader seemed shocked, as if he hadn't even thought about us. "Well, if Crowfrost is okay with it, Needlepaw will temporarily be his apprentice and I will take on Beepaw." He looked at his deputy in question.
"Of course I'm willing to take on Needlepaw as an apprentice," he accepted, looking at my sister with a smile.
Rowanstar smiled and mewed, "It's settled, get back to work!" he yowled and jumped off, meeting me instantly with a smile. "You've had a long day, get something to eat and head to your nest. I'll come get you tomorrow when I'm ready to train." He turned away and padded up to his mate and daughter.
I happily bounced to the fresh kill pile and snatched up a frog, chewing it down and then glancing around the clearing. Littlecloud and Puddlepaw were exiting the clearing, probably to get herbs, Tigerheart, Sleekpaw, Stonetooth, and Juniperpaw were leaving camp as well, Grassheart was with Pinenose and her three kits: Birchkit, Lionkit, and Slatekit who were playing with a mossball, Dawnpelt and Tawnypelt were already working on the elder's ticks outside their den, Strikepaw and Yarrowpaw slipped into the apprentices den while their mentors entered the warrior's den.
The camp fell into silence and the moon rose. I slipped into the apprentice's den, seeing Strikepaw and Yarrowpaw being the only two in the den I laid down next to my ginger-furred brother. I closed my eyes lightly and let sleep overcome me.
Sunlight trickled into my eyes and I sat up. Sleekpaw, Yarrowpaw, Juniperpaw, and Needlepaw were still all fast asleep in their nests. But something was bugging me. What was it?
I stood up and stepped over Yarrowpaw's tail and went around Sleekpaw, silently slipping out of the den and into the snowy camp. It must have really snowed last night because everything was covered in snow, even the fresh kill pile. All the prey on that pile would be soggy and worthless. The only spot in camp that wasn't covered in snow was the tree that loomed over a bramble-infested area inbetween the medicine cats den and elders den. We usually moved the pile there during leafbare by placing the prey under the brambles. We never actually moved the brambles though. I wasn't sure why.
"Beepaw," Rowanstar's deep, yet somehow calming voice interrupted my thoughts and I looked up at my new mentor. "I was just coming to wake you."
Respectfully, I dipped my head to my leader and mentor. "Something woke me," I told him, feeling much better about speaking my thoughts. Dawnpelt would laugh at me and call me a rat-brain. "I'm not sure what…" I gazed around the clearing but everything was silent beside slight movement at the entrance of camp. I recognized two pelts: a yellow tabby and a cream-furred pelt. It was my mother and her apprentice, Strikepaw. "Are we on dawn patrol?" I asked, flicking my tail at them.
He chuckled softly and nodded. "Correct. We should get going, your mother gets a little grumpy when others take too long." Rowanstar led me over to the two of them and met my mother with a nose greet. They were rather close. "We're going to test your hunting skills. We must be quick though, don't want either of you to have a cold." And then he set off, using his back legs to have longer strides. I copied him as I slipped through the entrance and raced away from the ThunderClan border and towards the old twoleg nest in our territory.
I began to heat up quickly as we ran, the snow beneath my paws crunching loudly and the pine trees around us blocking anyway to see the sun. I felt something in my stomach jump in fear. Something was definitely wrong.
We were on the outskirts of the twoleg nest when I figured out what. A squeal of pain rang out and Rowanstar held his tail up for us to freeze.
Terror struck me as he peered through the bushes and I looked through too. A black dog and brown dog had surrounded a small white-and-brown kit who was tangled in some brambles. The kit was mewling for help.
"Wasptail and Strikepaw, you go around and attack from behind. Beepaw and I will attack from the front. Hurry!" Rowanstar ordered and looked at me with a serious face. He was scared. "Beepaw, I know you haven't much training but avoid their jaws and you'll be alright." My mentor turned back to the clearing, seeing the other two were in place he let out a battle cry and jumped into the clearing.
Slowly, I jumped into the clearing and looked around. Strikepaw, Wasptail, and Rowanstar were dealing with the dogs whilst the kit remained in the brambles, still mewling in fear. "Hold on!" I called to the kit and dived into the brambles without a second thought. I felt the brambles ripping at my fur and I could feel the wound on my neck from Needlepaw reopen and blood dripped from it. I ignored the pain and the slight numbness in my paws and wiggled my way through the brambles, reaching the small kit.
It was a she-kit. She wailed in fear at me, her light blue eyes full of terror. She didn't trust me and I understood why. These dogs were probably terrorizing her since the day she was born.
"No, no, it's okay. I am your friend," I purred softly to her, smiling and gently licking her face. "Come with me, I'll bring you to safety…" She stopped moving away from me and instead she let me pick her up in my jaws and I slowly began to wiggle out of the brambles, making sure not to hit her on anything. I slipped out and let out a muffled yowl to Rowanstar, "Climb a tree, quickly!" I had never climbed a tree nor had I ever seen a dog but right now that was the time to learn.
I used my back paws to spring up and put the kit on the branches closest to the ground but felt something yank my tail and I fell down to the ground. A dog had ahold of me.
My screech of dread echoed through the pines and I whipped around, lashing out at the black dog and feeling my claws go through it's fur. It let out a yelp of pain and I ducked out of the way of it's jaws. Panic was filling my body but I stood my ground, looking up at the tree I put the kit in to see Wasptail, Rowanstar, and Strikepaw were safely with her.
"Go away you mangy mutt!" I hissed and jumped onto the dogs back, taking a chunk right out of it's neck while I glanced around for the brown dog. It was struggling to it's paws, it's teeth bared in anger. I had to get out of here!
The dog went onto his hind legs and I fell to the ground, gasping for air and I felt it's jaws sink into my leg. I screeched loudly.
"Over here!" Rowanstar yowled at the dogs. "Come get me you stupid flea-pelts!" He was jumping around and yelling at the dogs. The one biting me turned and faced him, growling and the brown one had finally stood, his eyes trained on Rowanstar. They both let out a yowl and raced towards him. Rowanstar whipped around and raced away at full speed, taking the dogs with him.
A quiet mew from the she-kit and I struggling to my paws, gasping but managing to stand, seeing that Strikepaw and Wasptail had brought the kit down from the tree but she was terrified of them and backing away.
"Beepaw, what do we do?" Strikepaw asks, looking at me with confusion.
I felt the pain in my neck, tail, and leg and knew I was bleeding heavily but I stumbled over to her, smiling warmly. "It's okay, little one…" I whispered to her and she padded up to me, sniffing me curiously and smiling. "I'm going to bring you to a safe place, okay?" I asked and she nodded. "Do you have a name? How many moons are you?"
The she-kit got closer to me and whispered, "Jinx." She had a soft, honey-like voice. It was so precious. "I am half a moon old…" She pulled back and looked at me with her sad, light blue eyes.
"Where is your mother?" I asked, completely puzzled and hearing a yelp in the distance. I hope Rowanstar's okay…
She leaned in close again, "She died when I was born and my daddy ran away and left me here…" Jinx gazed around in fear, but seeing the dogs weren't around she relaxed a little.
Sadness swept through me. "I'm going to take you to our home, Jinx," I promised and gently picked her up, feeling the pain in my neck and I began to limp back to camp, holding in my whimpers of pain as my mother and Strikepaw slowly trailed after me on either side, making sure I didn't fall.
Once we were in camp everyone was surrounding me while my mother and Strikepaw pushed them back. I walked straight to the medicine cat's den, ignoring everyone and entering in. Littlecloud and Puddlepaw looked up at me and instantly jumped to their paws.
I, however, couldn't feel any part of my body. I was light-headed, dizzy, and nauseous. I set down the kit and fell to my stomach. I couldn't stand anymore.
Jinx crawled to me and snuggled up, purring softly while Littlecloud set to word on my wounds and Puddlepaw got to work mixing remedies and I felt them move Jinx and she let out a sharp mew.
"It's okay," I mumbled, "they're here to help little one…" I closed my eyes as I felt the stinging pain of the juices in my wounds but I said nothing and just let them do their job. "R-Rowanstar? Where's Rowanstar?" I asked Littlecloud, lifting my head slightly to look at him.
Wasptail entered the den and licked my forehead. "I sent out Crowfrost, Needlepaw, Yarrowpaw, and Spikefur to find him. Don't worry." She looked down at the kit in wonder. "You risked your life to save one kit. You really are a miracle, Beepaw." She started saying something to Littlecloud but my eyes closed and I just drifted off.