Graystripe watched tensely as Brackenpaw jerked to the side to avoid his leader's claws. Next to him sat Dustpelt and Runningwind for some reason.
Thistlestar was testing the new apprentices with a one on one fight. With claws! The goal was to pin Thistlestar but if you got scratched or pinned you were out.
"I'm glad we never did this as apprentices," Dustpelt muttered beside him and he nodded slowly and hesitantly in case Thistlestar caught them being "disloyal."
"OW!" Brackenpaw yelped and stumbled back. Blood welled from his nose and Graystripe winced on behalf of his apprentice.
The golden tabby padded back to his siblings, head down and Thistlestar beckoned Brightpaw forward next. The she-cat was out almost immediately, whimpering from a cut above her eye.
"Thornpaw."
The bigger golden-brown tabby immediately launched himself at Thistlestar, eyes gleaming and managed to cling to his back. Thistlestar started trying to throw him off.
Thornpaw went flying into a tree.
"You should bend your legs in the future. That'll keep your balance!" Thistlestar called as the apprentice slunk away, head down and tail dragging. "Cinder–"
The gray she-cat immediately tackled him and started clawing at his pelt, only pulling out clumps of long spiky fur before she went limp and dropped her weight on him.
Thistlestar pushed her off. "Well done. See here. Your sister used the taken-by-surprise technique. Never wait for an enemy to finish a sentence."
Cinderpaw bounced with joy while her littermates grumbled, looking ruffled and tired.
"I don't…like this," Runningwind whispered.
When Thunder woke, he could scent the tension in the air.
But it wasn't exactly directed at him.
When he had entered the apprentices den that night, Thornpaw had ignored him, Brackenpaw and Brightpaw kept shooting him pitying looks, Swiftpaw sneered at him, (probably angry at his failed assessment), and Cinderpaw had actually talked to him, being the one to inform him about Swiftpaw's grumpy attitude.
She would make a good friend during his stay.
Oh, who am I kidding? I'll probably never leave ThunderClan for the rest of my life. If I do, my clan is as good as dead.
So even if he came out as a traitor he would have to stay.
Maybe one day they would understand.
Thunder pulled himself out of his nest and stretched. Sunlight shone through the entrance. Branches swayed in the breeze, creating a peaceful sound as he stepped out of the den. The others were already up, but none of them really paid attention to him.
Thunder tried not to pay attention to how unfriendly some were, like Longtail, who glared at him or Dustpelt, who snarled at him before turning his back on him.
Thunder ducked his head and sat down to groom himself. He was brushing his tongue across his orange pelt when Tigerclaw approached.
"You're coming with my hunting patrol," he growled.
Thunder swallowed his dismay. Stonefur, Mossflower, Runningwind and Darkstripe were waiting at the entrance.
As they left camp, Thunder stayed at the back, keeping as far from the others as he could.
Tigerclaw glanced back and gave him an approving nod. Thunder wondered what he had done right to earn the scary tom's approval. Darkstripe threw him a glare.
What am I doing wrong? I don't want any attention!
Tigerclaw led them all to Sunningrocks.
"Why do you fight over these rocks?" Thunder asked without thinking. "They're just…rocks."
Darkstripe glared at him and even Stonefur and Runningwind, too. "Are you calling us stupid?"
"No!"
Tigerclaw waved them off dismissively. "There's nothing wrong with asking questions." He looked at Thunder. "It's really about pride when we fight over it."
"And there's more prey," Mossflower added, also glaring slightly at Thunder's accidental insult.
"Satisfied?" Darkstripe demanded.
Thunder nodded. "Yeah, sorry. I didn't mean to-"
"It's alright." Tigerclaw rolled his eyes and padded onwards.
Thunder decided to keep his mouth shut from now on.
He took up his position behind the rest as they padded along Sunningrocks.
"Look!" Runningwind hissed, pointing with his tail to a squirrel.
"Let Thunder catch it." Tigerclaw looked at him and nodded him forward.
Runningwind rolled his eyes. Thunder wondered whether Tigerclaw was making it his goal to make all of ThunderClan hate him.
"Go on," Tigerclaw snapped, sounding impatient.
Thunder suddenly felt nervous, trying to ignore Darkstripe glaring at him in dislike. The squirrel had reached the bottom of the tree, scratching at the roots. Thunder launched himself forward, crashing through the bramble thicket, forcing himself to go faster. He had never tried catching squirrels before. Only birds and such. So he did the only thing he thought right and charged at it.
Plus, he'd never hunted in the snow either and it was slowing him down.
But he wasn't fast enough. The squirrel fled back up the trunk.
Thunder skidded to a halt, nearly slamming into the tree. The squirrel was long gone, leaving nothing but the rustling leaves.
Thunder trudged back to the patrol, furious and embarrassed. He had always been able to catch something.
Darkstripe sneered at him, Runningwind looked annoyed that he had lost a catch and Stonefur rolled his eyes as his sister gave him a pitying look.
"I, uh…"
"You've still got a lot to learn about ThunderClan." Tigerclaw growled, looking annoyed as well. He turned to his clanmates. "I have to talk with Thistlestar. Finish the patrol and don't come back until you've all caught something."
He stalked off into the undergrowth.
Darkstripe immediately took over. "Follow me," he snapped. The other three warriors gave him annoyed looks and Thunder assumed he was the youngest.
Yeah, I wouldn't be so confident to take over a bunch of senior warriors, he thought as he trailed by Runningwind. Better than walking near Darkstripe.
All I'm trying to do is fit in, but it's hard with this complicated clan.
Graystripe sat nearby the medicine den as Frostfur fussed over her three kits. Cinderpaw had been the only one to escape battle training with Thistlestar unscathed.
Brackenpaw had a nick in his ear to go along with his scratched muzzle, but he was as calm as ever. He gave Graystripe a reassuring smile and the gray warrior returned it. He would have liked to give his apprentice the rest of the day off, but he knew Thistlestar wouldn't allow it, so he had decided to go with Mousefur and Cinderpaw to teach the littermates the different crouchs and stalks for different prey.
He felt a muzzle nudge him and looked down to see his apprentice and Cinderpaw in front of him. Mousefur joined them and they left for the Sandy Hollow.
"I hate this place," Brackenpaw whispered to him as they neared. "This is where Featherkit died."
Graystripe tensed but merely nodded.
All throughout the session he sat back and let Mousefur do the teaching. After all, the senior warriors probably were better at teaching young cats. And Graystripe was distracted as he looked around the hollow.
The scent of fox was long gone, but somehow he knew it hadn't been a fox. Bluefur had been convinced and Graystripe had always looked up to her.
He looked back at Mousefur, who was too busy correcting the apprentices' crouchs. Satisfied the attention wasn't on him, he edged around the rim of the hollow, sniffing around for any clear clues that might give away what really happened to Featherkit.
It could have really been a fox, but all there was was fox scent. And like I said, 'Foxes eat bodies.'
Or maybe the patrol had assumed it had been a fox because it was the only creature scented, but it could have been another creature. Maybe a badger.
Or some other cat? Like a Rogue? Unless another clan cat was so cruel to murder an innocent kit.
As he was brainstorming, he nearly plowed into a thorny thicket. He skidded to a halt and narrowed his eyes when a piece of fur caught his attention. He moved closer to study it when he heard Mousefur call out to him.
"Um, Graystripe, are you okay?"
He jumped and turned to see her and the two apprentices staring at him with concern. He flushed under his pelt.
"Uh, yeah, I…I need to go…back to camp?" He clarified when Mousefur gave him an incredulous look. "I've got a bellyache."
"Oh. Makes sense why you were distracted," the dusky she-cat meowed. "Don't worry, I'll finish the session."
"Thanks Mousefur." He purred before racing to camp. Shoot, I should have gone slowly. Now who runs when their stomach hurts? Fortunately, Mousefur didn't call out or anything, so he would be good.
He burst into Spottedleaf's den, panting and the tortoiseshell jumped. "Graystripe? Are you okay?"
"I'm good. Just a…" he paused to catch his breath. "Stomach ache."
"How bad?"
"Eh…it's manageable," he lied. Not that he had any aches anyway.
"Okay, come come if it gets worse," she mewed distractedly, amber eyes dark.
"What's wrong?" He asked, not expecting an answer when she gave him a troubled look.
"There's greencough in camp. In the nursery. Two of Brindleface's kits and Mistlekit, Speckletail's kit."
"Oh, no!" Graystripe gasped. "Is there any way I can help?"
"I'm afraid not," she whispered, head bowed. "Unless you know where a new batch of catmint grows. I've run out and the rest of the herb in our territory has been destroyed by the frost."
Graystripe slowly padded out the den, feeling even more down.
"You okay?" Dustpelt asked as he padded up to him.
"Yeah fine. Let's go to the den." Graystripe stalked to the warrior's den. "It's too cold to be hanging around out here."
It was sunhigh by the time Thunder and his patrol returned to the camp. Runningwind carried a rabbit while Thunder had a small sparrow. Darkstripe had a squirrel and Stonefur and Mossflower each held a couple of mice.
They dropped their catches on the fresh-kill pile as the others moved around them doing their duties.
Cinderpaw bounded up to Thunder. "How was your first patrol, Thunder?" She asked, eyes bright. Brackenpaw was behind her and gave Thunder a polite smile, which the ginger tom returned hesitantly.
"It was…good," he muttered. Darkstripe had ridiculed him for everything. He was lucky to have caught the sparrow at all, but of course, Darkstripe had criticized it as well until Stonefur had gotten tired of him and told him to shut his rabbit hole.
Thistlestar appeared from his den at the time and padded up to the patrol.
"Well done!" Thistlestar rumbled. "Thunder, you are a skilled hunter!"
Thunder stared at him uneasily. "I just caught the sparrow," he mumbled.
Thistlestar ignored him. "You show promise. I'll see to assessing you soon." Cinderpaw gave him a wide-eyed, impressed look.
"But…" Thunder shut his mouth. What was the point? He had gotten himself into this, so he would have to put up with it.
As the others melted away, taking fresh-kill, Darkstripe shot him a loathing look before slinking over to Tigerclaw, who was talking with Whitestorm.
Thunder sighed, retreating to the apprentices' den. He wasn't feeling hungry all of a sudden, only misery.
He thought of Lightning Tail and Acorn Fur, his adopted siblings and best friends, and his sisters, Ash Blaze and Ivy Breeze, and his mentor, Leaf, who encouraged him on everything. And Skystar and Gray Wing's prideful smiles whenever he caught something or perfected a battle move.
He looked to the sky, wondering what they were doing there, and wishing he was still in the carefree forest of SkyClan where everyone was friends.
Where everything was simple.