Chapter Seven

Excitement coursed through Breezepaw as he trailed after his mentor. Willowstorm wasn't exactly his first choice, but she was better than nothing. In fact she was one of the best rabbit catchers in the Clan. Many times she would return back to camp with more than two rabbits at a time.

"Now, the first technique to hunting is to make sure the prey doesn't see or sense your presence," Willowstorm advised as they reached the top of a hill. Breezepaw's ears pricked forward with curiosity. Already he could feel the wind buffeting against his fur, while Willowstorm remained perfectly calm. "Do you remember what your mother taught you?"

Breezepaw nodded eagerly, "rabbits are easily scared, so approach them with caution." Willowstorm's tail flicked when she realized that he was right.

"Good," she meowed. "Now tell me what you can smell before we go hunting."

He did just that and tasted the air carefully. Sure enough there were many scents he could pick up. From RiverClan's stench to the Twoleg nest near the edge of WindClan territory. Breezepaw could even pick up the scent of heather, which made his mouth water a little. Willowstorm looked pleased when he described everything he'd detected.

"There's something else too," he suddenly murmured thoughtfully. "Something I don't recognize." He tasted the air once more just to make sure his nose wasn't playing tricks on him. Sure enough he could pick up that strange musky scent.

"That's likely Twolegs," Willowstorm told him. "You remember that nest, don't you?" She eyed him curiously as Breezepaw nodded. He hadn't gone very far to it, but he remembered seeing those large animals that made thundering noises as they ran.

"Can we hunt the rabbits?" he asked in a hopeful tone. He wanted to do something worthwhile today. Fortunately for him, Willowstorm nodded and led him towards an open patch of moor. Breezepaw followed her gaze and spotted fluffy looking creatures hopping about.

"Of course," Willowstorm replied. She backed down and watched with interest as Breezepaw dropped to a crouch. He remembered watching the apprentices practice their rabbit-hunting crouches. This was no different, and he had pretty much perfected his.

Breezepaw approached the rabbit carefully, his paws treading the ground as lightly as they could. The rabbit had suddenly looked around in alarm, and Breezepaw stopped in his tracks. Then it started sprinting. Breezepaw let out a hiss of frustration and chased after it.

He was fast, faster than he ever expected. It didn't take long for him to catch up with the rabbit. But by the time he did he realized too late that it was headed for the forest. Breezepaw barely had time to stop himself when he almost collided into a tree.

Willowstorm's yowl of alarm sounded in the distance. Breezepaw held back a groan as he saw the rabbit disappear into the undergrowth. By the time it was gone, Breezepaw was already trudging back to the moor, his tail drooping in defeat.

"Breezepaw, don't you ever cross the border like that!" she chided him when Breezepaw finally caught up with her. He wasn't even out of breath when he looked down at his paws shamefully. Willowstorm's ears twitched in confusion as she checked to make sure he was okay.

"I would've gotten that stupid rabbit," he grumbled as he glared across the border. "It just had to go into ThunderClan's territory!" It was a wonder he hadn't been spotted by a passing patrol. Maybe that was a good thing. The last thing he wanted was to start a fight with ThunderClan.

"Come on, you," Willowstorm sighed when she realized how shaken he was. "Let's get you back to camp."

Breezepaw kept grumbling under his breath the entire time back. How did things go from good to bad so quickly? He was doing so well on his first day of hunting. Then that stupid rabbit had to change it's mind and run away!

"Did everything work out well?" Cherryfoot's mew made him flinch when they got back to camp.

"We had a bit of a problem during our hunt," Willowstorm explained. Now Breezepaw only wanted a hole to open up and swallow him. He hated that Willowstorm was making him stand out as a failure. "It could be worse though. You were incredibly fast."

"Really?" Breezepaw tilted his head to one side curiously. He hardly noticed. Willowstorm purred in amusement at his reaction.

"Of course! You were hardly out of breath when I caught up with you," she told him. "You'll make a fine hunter if you can control your speed a bit more."

Pride suddenly surged within Breezepaw, and he ducked his head in embarrassment when Cherryfoot cuffed him over the ears playfully. "Wonderful! We could always use more hunters," she purred.

"Do you know if Hazelpaw's back yet?" Breezepaw suddenly asked. He wanted to make sure that his denmate was okay. Even if they weren't siblings by blood, she was still like a sister to him.

"I'm afraid not," Cherryfoot replied with a shake of her head. "Fallowleaf said she wanted to show her some fighting moves."

Breezepaw immediately felt a small sense of fear spark within him. If Fallowleaf did anything to hurt Hazelpaw, he would shred her. Hazelpaw was already picked on enough because of what had happened to her mother.

He padded back into camp to see that the other apprentices were back. Sprucepaw and Petalpaw were busy chatting like crows, while Pouncepaw was practicing a new fighting move. Instinctively, Breezepaw started copying Pouncepaw's crouch. But when the older apprentice suddenly leaped and twisted in the air with sheathed paws, Breezepaw stopped himself from doing the same.

"So I heard that Pollenfur is moving into the nursery," Sprucepaw meowed as she bit down into a rabbit she was sharing with Petalpaw.

"Really? That's great news!" Petalpaw purred. "The Clan could use more kits, especially cute little ones that we can watch over."

Sprucepaw only rolled her eyes in response, and Breezepaw couldn't help doing the same. He didn't know how she-cats could talk about kits all the time. Hazelpaw was nothing like them. She usually always wanted to playfight or just spend the day relaxing. And maybe that was the differences between Hazelpaw and the other apprentices. Breezepaw liked her for that.

As a sister, not as something more, he reassured himself. He felt his heart race at the thought. He'd grown up with her, and that would only make things awkward between them. Maybe it was better to push the thoughts aside, for now.

...

Hazelpaw was beginning to find her powers more and more useful. She had already used them more than once when Harefoot or anyone else started teasing her. When she reappeared not far away, she would hear them cursing under their breaths. She smirked when she realized they weren't smart enough to know where she had gone.

"Hazelpaw, can you please concentrate?" Fallowleaf's meow brought her back to reality. Hazelpaw looked up in time to see her new mentor staring down at her in annoyance. She resisted the urge to glare back, having already known that Fallowleaf didn't like her.

About half of the Clan had been in an uproar when Oatstar named her and Breezepaw as apprentices. She still wasn't sure why they were so upset. But she knew it had something to do with her powers. She had a feeling that cats were afraid of what she could do.

"What were you doing again?" Hazelpaw mewed in an innocent voice. She had gotten used to Fallowleaf's attitude. It was better to play along than make them even angrier. Fallowleaf only sighed in frustration and glanced over her shoulder.

"Try using this as a defensive move," she instructed before stepping forward so that she was in front of Hazelpaw. The apprentice flinched under her hard stare. Fallowleaf wasn't even fazed by her reaction as she lashed out with a sheathed paw, almost knocking Hazelpaw off of her paws in the process. "You're supposed to block my attack with your front claws, or teeth if you have the chance."

That sounds painful, Hazelpaw thought. But she waited this time for Fallowleaf to attack again. When her paw lashed out, Hazelpaw suddenly blocked the attack with her own paws. Fallowleaf pulled back and suddenly whipped her left paw over Hazelpaw's shoulder, only this time she had used unsheathed claws.

"What happened to not using your claws?" Hazelpaw whimpered. Fallowleaf only smirked as Hazelpaw winced from the piercing pain that followed.

"I didn't use my claws," Fallowleaf replied in a mocking tone.

Hazelpaw's eyes narrowed with outrage when Fallowleaf suddenly lunged again. With one blink of her eyes she was far enough away that Fallowleaf crashed into the ground nearby. The older she-cat hissed in frustration and whipped around, only to see Hazelpaw standing there with a smug look.

"You may have the advantage of size, but I have something greater," Hazelpaw growled as Fallowleaf advanced on her. The she-cat's fur was standing on end with fury as Hazelpaw disappeared just in time again, only to reappear again a couple of tail-lengths away.

"Idiot mousebrain!" Fallowleaf howled as she barreled into the ground again. "You should have been killed when you were a kit!" Those were Harefoot's words.

She couldn't help but flinch at the ferocity in her voice. Fallowleaf hated her because of what Harefoot had said. And she knew that she deserved to die. Because of what had happened to her mother. Fallowleaf continued spitting curses at her while she disappeared once again, an idea forming in the back of her mind.

There was one way to end this once and for all. Breezepaw would hate for what she was doing. But he wouldn't be the first cat to hate her, and he certainly wasn't going to be the last.

The young cat didn't stop disappearing and reappearing until she was next to a certain bush. They didn't grow commonly around WindClan territory, so finding one was a relief to her. Hazelpaw carefully reached out to the bush and plucked a single red berry.

She'd heard stories of cats dying because they had accidentally swallowed them. They were known as death berries. Bumblewind used to keep them in his den until a certain kit had accidentally swallowed one. She had regretted that at the time, until Harefoot and the others started teasing her.

With a sigh she took one bite of the berry and instinctively spat it out, but not without swallowing a piece. Almost at once she started coughing as her breathing became shallow and ragged. She hardly heard the yowl of alarm that sounded at a distance.

"Hazelpaw, what in StarClan's name are you doing?" Bumblewind. His distinctive mew was full of horror as he approached her, eyes wide when he realized what she had done. "Fallowleaf, give me a paw!" Hazelpaw thought she could hear a grumble of protest before Bumblewind snapped. "Do you want her to die?" he demanded, his voice getting louder with annoyance.

At last Hazelpaw felt someone gently grasp her by the scruff as Bumblewind helped them. Despite his small size, he was still able to provide help as they returned Hazelpaw to camp. She felt her body getting weaker by the heartbeat.

I only swallowed a little, why does it hurt so much? she wondered as her stomach began twisting in pain. Why can't they just leave me there to die? It's what Fallowleaf wants….

Hazelpaw wasn't sure what was worse. Being taken back to camp, or hearing Breezepaw and Cherryfoot's yowls of horror when she was taken back. Questions started stirring up almost at once. Hazelpaw could already hear Fallowleaf listing excuses as to why they had found her like this.

"She just wandered off without warning," Fallowleaf lied. "I told her not to go any further than the training area, and what does she do?" Hazelpaw could almost picture Fallowleaf rolling her eyes in resentment.

"Hazelpaw wouldn't just wander off," Breezepaw spat. "I know her better than any of you!"

Guilt suddenly stabbed at Hazelpaw's heart. What would have happened to Breezepaw had she left him? He truly was her best friend, and brother at heart. All at once she almost regretted doing what she did. But it was too late as Bumblewind carried her to his den.

"This may sting a little," Bumblewind warned, his voice already growing more distance as Hazelpaw found herself growing weaker. Without warning he suddenly pried her mouth open and stuck bitter tasting leaves down her throat. "Chew them, they'll help," he instructed.

She was doubtful that any herb could help her, but she did as she was told nonetheless. Soon Hazelpaw found herself vomiting the death berry she had swallowed earlier. Hazelpaw gagged at the bitter taste as the swelling in her throat had finally gone down. Bumblewind sighed in relief when he realized that they were helping.

"W-What was that?" she managed to choke out in disgust. Bumblewind only purred in amusement at her response to the herb.

"Yew," he explained. "The leaves make it so that you vomit whatever you ate, and in this case, it was the death berry." He let out another sigh and cleaned up the mess she'd made all over his den. "Eat these, they'll help you sleep for now," he added while passing another leaf with seeds on it.

Hazelpaw recognized them in a heartbeat as she opened her eyes again. She suddenly thought of refusing when she realized Bumblewind would just force her again. With her own sigh of frustration, she gave in and lapped up the seeds, already feeling drowsy.

"Will she be okay?" The sound of pawsteps shuffling told her that Breezepaw had forced his way into the den. Bumblewind muttered something under his breath before turning to face the young cat.

"She'll be fine," he reassured the apprentice. "She just needs rest now."

Just needs rest…. Hazelpaw suddenly began to wonder if her life would ever be seen as normal. Or if StarClan would ever let her die peacefully. All she wanted was a life without pain or hatred. And she wasn't ever going to get that here.

AN: Well, this chapter was certainly a dark one... I love writing in Hazelpaw's POV! Anywho, on to more exciting things... I finally got my driver's license! Which means I can go where ever I please now :D Which also means I may not be online as much as I used to be... Also, I think I may have a name for them. I liked boscyboo's idea and am calling them Anomalies :) So thanks boscyboo!

QOTD: Just out of curiosity, how do you feel about Hazelpaw's personality? I can't resist asking ^^

tawnyclaw - No problem! Although I'm not making any promises for the future ;)

Nightfrost-of-ShadowClan - XD I'm keeping the list of their powers to myself :P

Blue1272000 - Thank you! And it is tough coming up with a name for them. But I do like Anomaly, mostly because that's the name of Lacrae's newest album XD

boscyboo - I know the feeling! I tend to confuse people a lot when I talk XD And it's up to you. Sometimes having another story can provide inspiration to the first one :)