CHAPTER 6
Stonepaw laid in the chilly clearing camp, the blossom's on the high tree had died a while ago now that leaf-fall had set in. Stonepaw curled his good front leg in as he sat shivering slightly at the chilly breeze that blew through camp. Stonepaw had been recovering from his injury for the past two moons since the accident on the thunderpath, Stonepaw looked at Leafpaw sitting beside Creampaw no Creamstripe; the cream tabby tom had received his warrior name a week ago. "I am sure Amberpaw, Bluepaw and Tidepaw must be close to becoming warriors by now." thought Stonepaw had a hint of bitterness in his thoughts, Stonepaw was getting used to walking with only three legs, since he couldn't put his crippled hind leg down. Stonepaw would limp around on his three legs holding his crippled hind leg up as he walked. Stonepaw stood up tucking his crippled leg up to his chest, he limped towards his father Clearheart who would be taking Stonepaw out of camp for the first time since the accident. Stonepaw felt his fur prickle with nervousness at the thought of leaving the camp, Stonepaw puffed his chest up trying to shake the unease from his mind; "I need to catch up with my litter-mates or I'll never be a warrior!" thought Stonepaw forced himself to walk a bit straighter. Stonepaw got to where Clearheart was sitting grooming himself, Stonepaw stopped in front of his mentor twitching his tail; Clearheart stopped his grooming, turning his head towards his son with a smile. Clearheart stood up with a grin "are you ready to go?" meowed Clearheart his dark blue eyes sparkling with compassion; a look the whole clan had been giving Stonepaw since his injury. Stonepaw nodded to his father's question eager to leave the camp after so long, Clearheart chuckled at Stonepaw's enthusiasm "alright let's get going then." meowed Clearheart walking towards the exit of camp. Stonepaw hurried after his mentor as best he could but with his limp it was a bit hard, Clearheart glanced behind his shoulder a slight frown appearing on his face as he slowed his pace. Allowing Stonepaw to catch up to his mentor; Stonepaw gritted his teeth in frustration; he hated the fact he couldn't keep up. "I need to get stronger if I want to keep up!" thought Stonepaw walking beside his father who was keeping with Stonepaw's pace, "where are we going?" asked Stonepaw, deciding to focus on being out of camp rather than his new disability. Clearheart's smile returned to his face, "we are going to go practice some basic hunting moves." meowed Clearheart answering Stonepaw's question. Stonepaw frowned slightly, "but I already know hunting moves." thought Stonepaw was trying not to growl in frustration at his mentor's hestance not to let him hunt or battle practice. Stonepaw just wanted to be treated like a normal apprentice and not like he was incapable of doing what normal apprentices could. Stonepaw smiled "could we hunt instead?" meowed Stonepaw deciding he would prove to his whole clan he was capable of being a warrior. Clearheart frowned and sighed softly with compassion shining in his eyes to Stonepaw's frustration; "fine we can try hunting." meowed Clearheart with a slight nod, Stonepaw's eyes sparkled with excitement for the chance to prove himself. Stonepaw followed the scent of a mouse scurrying through the leaves that had fallen to the meadow floor, Stonepaw blinking realizing a shimmering of light beside him. Stonepaw narrowed his eyes as a star speckled, gray tom with a twisted back leg appeared beside Stonepaw, the tom's dark gray green eyes showed eagerness rather than compassion. "Greeting Stonepaw my name is Greystorm." meowed the Starclan tom dipping his head in greetings, Stonepaw wanted to ask the Starclan cat thousands of questions but knew if he did his father would notice. So he simply nodded; Greystorm grinned widely, "I'll show you how to hunt with that leg of your's." meowed Greystorm gesturing with a forepaw at Stonepaw's crippled leg. Stonepaw's ears perked up at the tom's words, Greystorm chuckled at Stonepaw's expression as he began to show Stonepaw a hunting crouch; also explaining how to stalk even without the use of his front leg, Stonepaw soon was able to stalk just like Greystorm did. As soon as Stonepaw had perfected the hunting stalk and crouch Greystorm smiled winking at Stonepaw; "that's the way." meowed Greystorm "go show them your stuff kid." meowed Greystorm before his starry form faded away. Stonepaw stalked forward ears pinned back as he sprang forward killing the mouse he gripped its body standing up; Stonepaw puffed his chest up with pride he noticed his mentor's face; Clearheart's eyes were wide with surprise but his eyes shone with pride. Stonepaw smiled limping over to his father even his limp didn't seem as noticeable, Stonepaw put his mouse down in front of his father's paws. Stonepaw purred, "I did it!" meowed Stonepaw licking his shoulder fur; Clearheart purred licking his son's head, "you did, good job!" meowed Clearheart carrying the mouse for Stonepaw. Stonepaw spent the rest of the day hunting; he managed to catch another mouse along with a robin, Stonepaw limped beside his father back to camp. Stonepaw's crippled leg ached as well as the rest of his body from all the hunting but Stonepaw knew the only way he would be able to catch up with his litter-mates was to push himself. Stonepaw got into camp with Clearheart purring to himself proud of his hunting; Amberpaw rushed over to Clearheart and Stonepaw, the russet tabby was as tall as Clearheart and was still growing. Amberpaw was even starting to gain muscle it was clear Stonepaw's brother was close to becoming a warrior, "did you catch all this?" asked Amberpaw to his brother's eyes sparkling with pride. Stonepaw nodded beaming as he set the prey on the pile, "I did!" meowed Stonepaw pride in his voice, Amberpaw nudged his brother's shoulder making Stonepaw stumble slightly. Stonepaw chuckled slightly, "I knew you could do it!" meowed Amberpaw confidence clear in Amberpaw's green yellow gaze; Stonepaw smiled bigger;his brother Amberpaw and Leafpaw had been his biggest supporters during his recovery. Bluepaw and Tidepaw came padding towards their brothers, their tails waving straight behind them. Bluepaw and Tidepaw stood in front of their brother's, Tidepaw was yawning while Bluepaw's bright clear blue eyes shined with excitement. "Leafpaw says it's alright for you to sleep in the apprentice's den again!" announced Bluepaw with a purr, Stonepaw's eyes widened with surprise for the last two moons since he was hit by the monster Stonepaw had been sleeping in the medicine den. "Really?!" meowed Stonepaw tail going straight up with hope, Bluepaw nodded enthusiastically while Tidepaw sighed tiredly. "Yeah he said you're healed enough to be able to sleep with the other apprentices." meowed Bluepaw happiness clear in her voice. Amberpaw grinned bouncing up and down, "this is great! We can finally stay in the same den again!" meowed Amberpaw grinning. Stonepaw nodded, pushing his head to his brother's cheek, "great, now that we are all on the same page let's go to bed." hissed Tidepaw with another yawn. Stonepaw chuckled knowing his sister was always cranky when she was tired or just woken up, "alright let's go." meowed Stonepaw with a grin he limped after his litter-mates towards the crowded apprentice's den. After all Hawkshade's kits had become apprentices, Stonepaw gently pushed his way inside the apprentice's den seeing the three new apprentices Squrrielpaw, Icepaw and Shellpaw sleeping in the corner of the den side by side. Stonepaw turned his head over to his nest that was between Amberpaw's and Bluepaw's, Stonepaw laid in his nest beginning to groom his crippled foreleg. Stonepaw's mind wandered to the Starclan tom who had taught him how to hunt with his crippled leg; "he said his name was Graystorm but why would a Starclan cat talk to me? And why does Starclan seem so interested in me? I need to look more into this…" thought Stonepaw laying his head on his good foreleg. Stonepaw felt a soft breeze rustle around his ear fur, making his pelt fluff up to keep warm; Stonepaw closed his eyes thinking about Starclan as he drifted off to sleep.