I Fell In Love With My Apprentice 2: Mocking Jay
Chapter 6: The Assessment
"I'm so nervous," Petalpaw confessed. "I'm worried I'm gonna totally blank and forget everything."
"You'll be fine," Lionpaw said, trying to reassure her. "We've been practicing for moons. We'll nail the assessment, trust me."
"What do you think Leafstar will name me?" Petalpaw asked excitedly. "Hopefully it's something really pretty… like Petalflower or Petalshine!"
"Petalscar," Lionpaw giggled. "Ugliest name possible."
Petalpaw shoved him, laughing. "Yeah right! Ugh, could you imagine though? That'd be awful."
"I'll probably get named Lionblaze," Lionpaw said. "Cause I blaze through the forest like a lion."
"That sounds goofy," Petalpaw giggled. She smiled, happy that Lionpaw was distracting her from her nerves. I wonder when they're going to start the assessment, she thought to herself. Gingertail said we'd start when Moonfeather gets back… but it seems as though he's taken the entire day off from everything.
Where the heck is he?
"Maybe Moonfeather ditched out because he doesn't want me to become a warrior," Mintpaw spoke for the first time, staring at the ground.
"That's not true," Lionpaw scoffed.
"Yeah," Petalpaw agreed. She felt bad for her sister. It's not her fault Moonfeathers taking out his stupid grudge on Jaystorm on her.
"I've tried and tried to be nice to him," Mintpaw said miserably. "But he hates me."
"He doesn't hate you," Lionpaw said mildly. "He does hate our dad though."
"A good warrior should not treat his apprentice with a bias," Petalpaw snapped angrily, feeling fed up with Moonfeather and his hidden anger. "It's not fair to Mintpaw at all."
"Where is dad, anyway?" Mintpaw said, changing the subject. "I haven't seen him since he came back to the camp earlier; charging around like a swarm of bees was chasing him."
"He left with Talonstrike and Lilypool," Lionpaw replied.
"That's strange," Petalpaw said, surprised. Since when did they start hanging out again?
A sudden noise distracted the apprentices; someone was walking up to them. Petalpaw turned to see her mother, Hollyfern.
"Are you ready for your big day?" Hollyfern asked in a kind voice.
"We are," Lionpaw mumbled. "No one else seems to be though."
"Oh, I'm sure Moonfeather will show up soon," Hollyfern said encouragingly.
"Do you know where dad is?" Petalpaw blurted out. Hollyfern sighed, rolling her eyes as she thought of the cat who fathered her kits. "Probably out with Talonstrike."
"He went out with him and Lilypool," Petalpaw explained. "He looked like a ghost had spooked him."
"Your dad is a strange cat," Hollyfern said, dismissing the matter. "He's hard to keep track of."
"I don't feel very good about this," Lilypool mumbled.
"Well, that's why we didn't want you to come," Jaystorm sighed in exasperation. "You didn't listen last time, and you should of. This time it's no different."
"Last time was way different!" Lilypaw cried. "Rowenheart was already dead when we took him to the tunnels."
"He's unconscious," Talonstrike put in, poking Moonfeather with a paw. "It's kind of the same thing."
Lilypaw grumbled and continued walking, feeling anxiety crawl through her pelt. What am I ever going to tell Foxkit and Wolfkit? She thought miserably. How does anyone explain to their kits that their dad is gone? Anger suddenly shook through her.
It's not like he spent any time with them anyways.
"He's out cold," Talonstrike said suddenly, breaking Lilypools thoughts. "He must have banged his head pretty hard."
"Well he stumbled around blindly for a while," Jaystorm mumbled. "I'm not entirely surprised."
No one spoke after Jaystorm did. A weird tension was building in the air, and Lilypool wished it would go away. He killed Darkclaw… and he threatened to kill me and my kits. We're doing the right thing… Lilypool tried to reassure herself. Aren't we?
"We're at the border," Talonstrike whispered suddenly. Lilypool looked up, noticing the distinct scent of Greenclan. A thought then came to her, and anxiety rippled through her once again.
"It's the middle of the day," she hissed. "What happens if we run into a patrol?"
"It smells as though they came through here already," Jaystorm pointed out, sniffing the border. "And I doubt we'll run into a hunting patrol. No one hunts this close to their borders."
"Well, we have to walk into the middle of the territory to find the tunnels," Lilypool sighed. "I don't know… I feel like this is a bad idea."
"We already dragged him this far," Talonstrike growled. "We can't just leave him here! Then we'd all get caught."
"Talonstrikes right," Jaystorm nodded his head somberly. "We have no choice. We have to risk it."
The three looked at each other, faces grim and eyes scared.
"Well," Jaystorm said, turning to Lilypool with a pained expression. "Let's get this over with."
"Alright, since Moonfeather seems to have forgotten his duties, I'll assess Mintpaw as well as Petalpaw," Amberpelt declared, voice annoyed. Petalpaw knew she wasn't annoyed at them. We're all annoyed at Moonfeather, she thought. What a time to spend the whole day out of the camp!
"How will you watch both of us at the same time?" Mintpaw asked. "We'll be in different areas."
"I'll manage," Amberpelt shrugged. "Don't worry," she said as she looked at the crestfallen look on Mintpaws face. "I'll be watching you both like hawks."
"And just because you don't see us, doesn't mean we're not watching," Gingertail said, giving a stern look at Lionpaw. "Always watching. Never let down your guard."
"So where are we going to hunt?" Lionpaw asked, bouncing slightly on his paws in excitement.
"I want you to hunt near snakerocks," Gingertail told her apprentice. "There's not many snakes there anymore, but there are still a few slithering around."
"Okay," Lionpaw said. But his voice sounded cautious. Petalpaw could tell he was worried about getting bit.
"Petalpaw, I want you to follow the trail up by the Thunderpath," Amberpelt instructed. "You get the side of the forest by Greenclans border. Mintpaw, you will take the opposite route up behind the Great Oak."
"And remember," Gingertail warned. "Under no circumstance will you speak to one another."
"Are you ready?" Amberpelt asked. Lionpaw, Mintpaw and Petalpaw shook their heads excitedly.
"Alright then," Gingertail said. Her eyes were kind, but also very serious. "Let's get going!"
"Can you move any faster?" Lilypool hissed. Jaystorm and Talonstrike didn't reply, their mouths too full as they carried Moonfeather. Lilypool wished they'd pick up the pace. She was jumping at every snap, and looking behind her shoulder every couple seconds.
This is a bad idea.
Bad, bad, bad idea.
Lilypool couldn't shake the fear of being caught, and she nearly wished that she had taken the toms advice and went back to camp. It's too late now, she thought. We're in too deep to turn back.
It felt like moons before Lilypool recognized the deep slant in the territory, where the rabbit hole leading to the tunnels resided. Lilypool thought back to the last time they were here, when they had nearly drowned in them. She shuddered at the memory. She could sense a sudden tension from Talonstrike and Jaystorm, and she knew that they were thinking about it too.
"Okay," Jaystorm said, dropping Moonfeather. "Hard parts over. Let's get him down there so we can get out of here."
Lilypool stared at Moonfeathers unconscious face, feeling sad at what had to happen. You were my mate once, she thought. But you turned into a monster.
She looked away as Talonstrike and Jaystorm lowered him into the hole, unable to watch. She felt like she was going to cry. We're doing the right thing. We're doing the right thing…
"Hey," Talonstrike said softly, touching Lilypools shoulder with a paw. "We're done. Let's go."
Lilypool couldn't speak, and her legs trembled uncontrollably. She couldn't shake the feeling that Moonfeathers fate had ended up this way because of her.
Petalpaw ran through the trees, concentrating as hard as she could. She stopped to sniff the air, hoping to find the scent of prey. She could scent a squirrel right away, and Petalpaw couldn't believe her luck. Amberpelt, are you watching? She lowered herself down to the hunters crouch, spotting the prey sitting underneath a low bush. She waiting a few moments and then leaped, landing right on top of it. She killed it and sent a prayer of thanks to Starclan before kicking leaves over it to pick it up later. Petalpaw hoped that Amberpelt had seen it.
I can't believe what good luck that was! I wonder if Lionpaw and Petalpaw caught anything yet!
Feeling a new sense of confidence, Petalpaw ran faster through the trees. I'm gonna catch more than all of them! She looked around, realizing she was getting closer to the Greenclan border. She could see their tall looming trees, and she made a mental note not to stray over the border.
A sudden snap caught Petalpaws attention, and she crouched low to the ground. She peered through the giant stems of grass, looking for the source of the noise.
I can't believe it! The forest is alive with prey today. I feel bad for Lionpaw, hunting for snakes!
She continued to look around, senses on full alert. Where are you, mouse?
And then she heard it again.
Ears pricked, Petalpaw turned her head to the Greenclan border, where she heard the noise. To her alarm, there wasn't any prey at all.
It was a patrol.
Wait a minute, Petalpaw squinted her eyes at the cats. Her heart suddenly hammered in her ribcage. That's not a Greenclan patrol… that's… Jaystorm! And Talonstrike and Lilypool!
What the heck are they doing crossing Greenclans border? Why were they in enemy territory?
Petalpaw felt very confused, and she had a dim feeling that something was wrong here. A noise from behind her made her jump, and she whipped around.
"Shit," Amberpelt was growling. She ran up to Petalpaw, and Petalpaw realized with alarm that her mentor had seen the cats too.
"Go back to camp," Amberpelt said, alarm in her voice.
"But what about the assessment-"
"You're going to be a warrior, you did really well," Amberpelt said in a rush.
"Why were Jaystorm and-"
"Get back to camp," Amberpelt snapped, voice getting very high pitched. "Assessments over."