Ummm…I totally forget the crazy awesome comment I was going to make, so you poor people don't get to hear it. How sad. Anyway, here's – OH WAIT I just remembered it. So, you may wonder why Icepaw is so obsessed with getting rid of her kittypet-ness, but the basic reason is she's a total psychopath and she decided to fixate on something, which turned out to be her past. Get it? Got it. Good. :D Just kidding, that's kind of a sad excuse for her behavior, and there is more to it than a twisted mind.
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A cloud of dust erupted from the ground as Robinpaw tumbled head over heels into the sand, her paws flailing.
"That's three for me," Icepaw meowed, prancing in a circle as the ginger tabby staggered to her feet, spitting grit.
"But that one doesn't count!" Robinpaw hissed. "I was distracted!" Her eyes blazed as she glared indignantly at Icepaw from the other end of the hollow.
"Not true," Icepaw retorted, glancing at her friend out of the corner of her eye. Her sly smile widened. "That's no excuse. Best three out of five – I win. You owe me…what was it…a day of elder duty?"
"Not fair!" Robinpaw protested weakly, but she could see that Icepaw was winning the argument, and with one last resigned sigh she flicked her ears in acknowledgement of the bet. "One day only."
"Well done, both of you," congratulated Stonepelt warmly. He rose from his seat at the lip of the hollow and padded into the sand, Oakshadow following.
"Robinpaw – you need to work on your turns," Oakshadow criticized. He nodded to Icepaw and meowed, "if Icepaw had come at you from behind, caught you unaware, she'd have time to shred you to pieces before you'd even lifted a paw. Come on, I'll show you again." The pale warrior trotted away to go through the paces with his apprentice again.
"There's not much for me to say," Stonepelt mewed to Icepaw, shrugging. "Just remember to stay light on your toes and don't get caught up in the moment – remember, warriors fight to wound, not to kill."
Icepaw nodded sagely. "Of course."
"You know, I might want to have a word with Cinderstar about your assessment – there's nothing more you can learn from me." The gray tabby smiled and blinked slowly at her.
"There's always more to learn," Icepaw replied ambiguously, barely withholding a cheer. Finally, a warrior!
Icepaw's moment of elation was shattered as she felt someone's pelt brush hers, and looked up to realize that it was Stonepelt. He gazed down at her with an unfathomable expression in his dusk-blue eyes, sending a jolt of panic through Icepaw's chest. She didn't let it show, remaining perfectly still as the tabby settled down close beside her, a purr rumbling deep in his chest.
"I'm proud of you, Icepaw," he mewed. His voice was low, husky, wavering just the tiniest bit. It was a voice Icepaw had ever heard before, and it frightened her even more.
"You've…been a good mentor," she managed to choke out, fighting to keep her voice steady and calm. Her usual rigid composure was melting, and she struggled wildly to keep it intact as Stonepelt's purr vibrated through her paws.
"I've watched you since the day you first came to ThunderClan, a naïve young kit, and now here you sit, almost a warrior. It's-"
Whatever he was about to stay was cut off as the bushes rustled above the hollow and two cats stepped out of the undergrowth: Ashfoot and Tansyleaf.
The pale brown she-cat strode forward, her eyes searching. When they landed on Icepaw, the amber orbs bulged nearly out of their sockets, taking in Icepaw's intimate proximity to Stonepelt and the suddenly vicious snarl that twisted her face.
Stonepelt leapt to his feet, giving his pelt a shake and stepping quickly away from Icepaw's side. The white she-cat watched thankfully, welcoming the easy, icy clarity that quickly spread through her mind. Without, she was a worthless…kittypet. Icepaw fairly spat the words in her head.
"Icepaw." Tansyleaf snapped, her gaze flickering wildly between the gray tabby and the white she-cat.
"Tansyleaf," mewed Icepaw in return, keeping her face expressionless.
Oakshadow and Robinpaw had returned from their corner of the hollow, and the pale warrior stepped forward, meowing, "Good afternoon Ashfoot, Tansyleaf – what can we do for you? Do you have a message?"
Ashfoot opened his mouth to reply, but Tansyleaf cut him off. "Actually," she hissed, padding further into the hollow, "I was wondering if I could challenge Icepaw to a rematch of our practice battle when I was an apprentice." Her whiskers twitched as she took another step towards Icepaw.
Stonepelt's tail lashed, his eyes following the warrior as she approached. "Well…strictly speaking, Tansyleaf, since Icepaw is not your apprentice, you have no right to challenge her. I'm not sure-"
"In the interest of training, of course," Tansyleaf protested. "You know, to see how we've both improved since our last fight?"
Which I won, Icepaw thought to herself, her eyes narrowing. And I'll do it again.
Stonepelt looked as though he was going to refuse, but Oakshadow intervened. "I don't see why not, Stonepelt. It will be a good training exercise. In fact, Ashfoot, would you mind practicing with Robinpaw here? She could use the experience of fighting another warrior besides me."
Stonepelt and Ashfoot glanced at each other, but they were both powerless against Oakshadow's seniority: neither could refuse without seeming rude. With a defeated shrug, Ashfoot follow Robinpaw to the other end of the hollow.
"Icepaw?" Tansyleaf mewed, waving her tail in front of Icepaw's face. "Do you mind? Or are you too tired?" She sneered.
With a growl, Icepaw turned back to the pale brown she-cat. "I'm fine," she snapped.
Stonepelt placed them opposite one another and echoed the code for battle training: claws sheathed, stop if you're opponent is winded, blah blah blah. Icepaw wasn't listening to any of it. She focused intently on Tansyleaf's paws, watching their minutest twitches as the she-cat prepared to right.
"Go!" Stonepelt's rang out clearly through the hollow.
Howling, Tansyleaf launched herself straight for Icepaw's chest, her paws outstretched. As promised, no thorn-sharp claws were visible amidst the tufts of fur.
Oh, this will be too easy, Icepaw snarled to herself, her smile exposing glittering white fangs. Tansyleaf's approach slowed to a crawl as Icepaw's hyper-concentration took effect: she analyzed each tiny movement at hyper speed as the warrior soared closer.
"Mr-ooow!" Icepaw growled, sidestepping at the last second. It was the easiest trick that every Clan kit knew, and yet Tansyleaf seemed to have forgotten this in the heat of battle. Hissing, the she-cat came up short a few tail-lengths away, sand spraying from her paws.
Swift as a lightning flash, Icepaw darted up behind her and latched onto Tansyleaf's shoulders, hooking her claws into the she-cat's fur (this kind of claw-usage was allowed).
"Yeow-row-row!" Tansyleaf screeched, stumbling under Icepaw's weight. She shook her shoulders feebly, trying to shake the apprentice off, but to no avail. With another growl, Icepaw leaned forward and bit down hard on Tansyleaf's neck. Another screech sent Icepaw's ears throbbing, but still she kept her hold.
Finally, Tansyleaf dove to the ground, smashing Icepaw into the sand in an attempt to release her hold. Icepaw struggled to keep her claws fastened in Tansyleaf's pelt, but as her breaths became shallower and shallower, she was forced to let go to avoid passing out cold.
"Let her up, let her up!" Stonepelt commanded, shoving Tansyleaf away to give Icepaw time to catch her breath. She got to her feet, sucking down huge gulps of air while watching Tansyleaf shake the tension out of her shoulders.
She thinks she's going to beat me, Icepaw mused as she watched the brown-furred she-cat stretch. As if.
Silent now, keeping her jaws locked tight, Icepaw suddenly streaked forward and slammed her paws into Tansyleaf's side. The she-cat was caught completely off guard, and she tumbled into the sand with a surprised gasp. Hissing desperately, Tansyleaf tried to flip back onto her feet before Icepaw reached her, but to no avail. The white she-cat jumped forward and pressed her paw to Tansyleaf's neck, throwing her legs over the she-cats torso to prevent her from getting up.
"That's it! Icepaw's won – battle over. Once she puts paw to neck it's over," Stonepelt meowed, and out of the corner of her eye Icepaw watched as the gray tabby strode forward to pull them apart.
But it's not over, she thought, grinning slyly. With a discreet flick of her paw, Icepaw drew a long gash through the thick fur at the joint between Tansyleaf's leg and belly. Her claw sliced through flesh with unparalleled precision. As soon as Stonepelt came within sight, Icepaw stepped back, her claws sheathed.
Tansyleaf gave another small gasp of surprise, wincing as the wound began to ooze blood. But the fur that closed over it hid the red stain from view.
"Thank you, Tansyleaf. Icepaw – excellent!" Stonepelt was too absorbed with gazing at the white she-cat that he didn't notice Tansyleaf stagger to her paws, keeping the weight off of her left foreleg.
"I'm sorry, Tansyleaf – are you tired?" Icepaw sneered, peering around Stonepelt to glare at the warrior.
"N-no!" choked out the pale brown she-cat, glaring back. She placed her paw gently on the ground and clenched her jaw, breathing heavily.
"Tansyleaf, you should probably head back to camp. Dusk patrol will be leaving soon," Stonepelt meowed over his shoulder, his attention still rapt on Icepaw's face.
"Bye, Tansyleaf!" called the white she-cat cheerfully, waving her tail as the pale brown warrior limped into the trees, her expression one of intense hatred. I'll never hear the end of it, Icepaw mused, but it was worth it.
"That was incredible, Icepaw!" Stonepelt murmured, his eyes wide.
"Thanks," she replied uneasily, trying to escape his piercing gaze. Her moment of triumph was being ruined by his weird mood. "Look," she mewed. "I should…get back as well. I promised to help Sparrowpaw collect herbs."
"Very well," Stonepelt mewed, but his gaze didn't move from her face as she padded away.
Back at camp, Robinpaw was devouring a squirrel by the tree stump, Eaglepaw and Yellowpaw seated on either side of her.
"Hey, Icepaw! Where were you?" called the ginger tabby, flicking her ears in greeting.
"I fought Tansyleaf," Icepaw replied, dragging a vole from the freshkill pile to the stump.
Yellowpaw glanced up, her eyes wide. "You fought? Why?"
Shaking her head, Icepaw clarified, "No, I mean, it was for battle training. And I won. You should have seen the look on her face."
The two younger apprentices peppered her with questions about battle techniques until night had descended on the clearing. Yawning, all four of them traipsed into the apprentices' den, and Icepaw was grateful for the chatter – it kept her thoughts from wandering to less pleasant matters, such as Stonepelt's change of behavior. Instead, as soon as it had quieted down and the others were drifting off to sleep, the white she-cat nestled deeper into her bed of moss and stretched out her foreleg. Filling her mind with images of Tansyleaf's furious expression, she slowly licked the blood from her claws.