Alright, chapter six. Enjoy everyone, and happy holidays!
"Sorry Sparkpaw, didn't see you there!" Littlepaw said after 'accidently' pinning him down.
It had been a few days since Sparkpaw began his training with Dave, and Sparkpaw seemed to have a better grip on hunting. But today was not a hunting day. Flarestripe sent most of the apprentices out near the burnt sycamore to practise battle training. Nearby, Adderpaw chuckled.
"You should really watch your balance." She called out, backing her friend.
Sparkpaw got up, shaking his dirt off his fur. Looking around, their mentors were watching from a short distance. It was just him, Littlepaw, Adderpaw, and Marshpaw, who was currently crouched down, looking at a butterfly. He quietly padded over to him.
"Hi."
"Hi." Marshpaw quietly mewed.
"So…." Sparkpaw sat down, "What're you doing?"
Marshpaw flicked his tail. "Shh!" He didn't move his gaze at the small, winged creature, perched on a blade of grass. Sparkpaw copied Marshpaw's movement, staying still as the butterfly flew past. Why were they doing this? But, looking at the insect was rather calming. It had no worries, no assessments or battles to fight. Just flying on..becoming food for birds…which then cats ate..uhh maybe he would just forget about that part. This one is just living life. Hearing around, Sparkpaw heard the rustling of grass by the faint wind, the pawsteps of their mentors and the she-cat apprentices. The heavy smells of the marshlands and prey entered his nose. It smelled pretty good. Hopefully once this session was over he could show off his newfound skills to Littlepaw and Frostfang. He could pass his assessment, he could be a warrior, and a good one at that! Maybe, he could do it!
Unfortunately, these few minutes of weird peace were rudely interrupted by a thud and a yelp of surprise. Sparkpaw sat back up in confusion and shock, wondering what just happened. The butterfly had flown away, and a distressed Marshpaw was pinned under Littlepaw. "Got you." She said smugly to Marshpaw, who was lightly pawing at her to get off. Littlepaw obliged, letting the young cat stand back up on his feet.
"Honestly, Adderpaw, the toms in this clan can act like total lizard-brains sometimes!" Littlepaw said aloud to her friend.
"Agreed." She nodded.
"Hey!" Marshpaw protested. "Y-you can't do that!"
"Do what?" Littlepaw cocked her head, acting innocent.
"Sneak up on us like that!"
"Why not?" She asked again, smirking. "This is ShadowClan, dumbass. We're supposed to be sneaky. You two are the ones who were laying in the grass, watching the world go by. If this was a real battle, you'd be crowfood by now."
"Yes. Good work Littlepaw." Kindleroot slowly walked up towards the group. He lowered his gaze at the two toms, and clicked his tongue. "You two need work. You can't be good ShadowClan apprentices if you act like kittypets!" Sparkpaw flattened his ears. He was a good ShadowClan apprentice! He just needed to show it better. "Houndheart! Frostfang! Keep your apprentices under control!" Kindleroot called to their mentors. The cats soon appeared at Kindleroot's side. "Your mentoring needs work if you're letting them lay around all day." Kindleroot reprimanded the two mentors, and beckoned Littlepaw and Adderpaw to follow him nearer to Rabbittail.
Frostfang looked at their apprentice. "So, uh, try not to do that again." they simply said.
Sparkpaw nodded. "Now what should I do?" he asked, feeling the awkwardness between the two.
"Uh….I dunno..maybe try hunting, or fighting. We're supposed to be fighting, I think." Frostfang told him. "Hey, Houndheart, are we also supposed to be fighting each other?" They turned to ask the other mentor, who was currently berating his apprentice for looking at a bug instead of fighting. Houndheart then turned to face Frostfang. "Yeah..I think so. Isn't that what Flarestripe told us to do? We should go ask Kindleroot and Rabbittail," Houndheart responded. "C'mon you two." Frostfang nodded to Sparkpaw and Marshpaw.
"The key is to be quiet." Kindleroot explained to the group. "We are ShadowClan! We move in darkness, but you don't even need a kit to tell you that." Littlepaw leaned closer, listening fervently to Kindleroot's words. "Today's battle technique is ambushing. I'm sure you all know what ambushing is." His tail wrapped around his paws.
Sparkpaw tried to answer. "Yeah! It's-"
"It's the act of sneaking up on your opponent, taking them off guard, and causing an early pin opportunity," Kindleroot explained first, specifically eyeing Marshpaw. "Now,"
Then, with little warning, Rabbittail lept from behind Kindleroot, pouncing at his pelt. Kindleroot was ready, however, and sidestepped as she tried to deal the blow. Rabbittail drifted a little on the grass, but managed to keep upright, and then walked up next to Kindleroot, who was casually going back to his original position. "That is what you're going to do with your mentors, and then practice with each other." He finally explained. "Stalk your opponent as quietly as you can, for even the slightest movement can have dire consequences," he meowed, before getting tackled to the ground by Rabbittail in a surprise attack. "And make sure to listen in for your attacker, or you'll end up like poor Kindleroot here." She ended the sentence, giggling. Kindleroot hissed, then suppressing it before getting back up.
"Now go! Pair up with your mentors and successfully ambush them. Then you can try it out on your fellow apprentices." Kindleroot ordered, and the group split up for training.
Sparkpaw padded over to Frostfang. Frostfang looked around before eyeing their apprentice.
"So, I'm gonna take a few steps over there," they motioned with their ears, "and you're gonna have to sneak up on me. Got that?" Sparkpaw nodded. Frostfang nodded back, and then went to sit down a few fox-lengths away. Sparkpaw crouched down like how he was shown, his fur prickling. Watching where he put his paws, he crept closer towards his mentor. Was he doing this right? Was he being quiet enough? These thoughts went through his head as he looked up to see what his fellow apprentices were doing. They all seemed to be doing what he was doing, though they were spaced out enough to where he couldn't really tell. He was supposed to be crouching, anyway. Paw after paw he inched his way. He felt a leaf and heard it crinkle, so he moved his paw again. How long had he been doing this? A moon? No, the sun was still in the sky…but what if it's a moon since they started, and then that would explain the sun still being out…he was interrupted by smacking his nose into something furry. Frostfang turned their head to look at Sparkpaw. "Uh…hey." they meowed. Sparkpaw looked up, feeling hot beneath his fur. "Did…did I do okay?" Sparkpaw hesitantly asked. Frostfang looked around the area. "Yeah, sure. You did good." they looked around again. "I mean, I wouldn't recommend just putting your nose on your opponent, but we were teaching stalking today so…good work." They shrugged. Sparkpaw sat into an upright position. He did a good job. That was good…so then why did he feel awkward inside? "What should I do now?" he asked. Frostfang looked closer at the burnt tree. "You could hunt or something. Adderpaw seems to be done, so you can spar with her, practice battle moves like you guys were doing before." they answered. Sparkpaw nodded, and headed towards the tree. This could be his chance to make a new friend!...well, a better friend of Adderpaw. Turn a bully into a friend? Why was he overthinking this? 'Ugh!' he mentally grunted in frustration before focusing on his goal.
Adderpaw was pouncing along the ground, trying to catch nothing in particular. Sparkpaw padded up to her. "Hi." he mewed. Adderpaw stopped to turn and look at him. "Hi." she replied back. The two apprentices looked at each other. "So…I see that you're done with training." Sparkpaw began. "Yeah. It was pretty easy." Adderpaw nodded. "Rabbittail said I was as stealthy as an adder."
"Haha, stealthy as an adder, like your name." Sparkpaw chuckled.
"Wow. Original." Adderpaw meowed with a hint of sarcasm. This only added to the warmth Sparkpaw was feeling under his pelt. He had to keep this going.
"So….do you wanna practise fighting together?" he asked
Adderpaw shrugged. "I don't see why not. Littlepaw isn't done yet." she motioned to Littlepaw, who was trying to stalk her mentor. Kindleroot must really want her to get it perfect, or she was just bad. It made him chuckle mentally. He could be the better stalker, maybe even the better fighter or hunter..wait!
"I mean, we could do hunting too.." Sparkpaw remembered his practice. This could be a chance to show it off! Kill two birds with one claw swipe.
"Nah. Fighting's good." Adderpaw decided.
They squared up, keeping a few mouse lengths between them. Sparkpaw tensed as he walked around the area. "Wait, claws sheathed or unsheathed?" He asked, remembering it.
"What do you wanna do?" Adderpaw called to ask
"Um..sheathed, please." Sparkpaw decided.
"Okay, fine with me." Adderpaw agreed. At least now they wouldn't get hurt..at least severely. Sparkpaw's tail bristled, and he turned to get into a fighting pose. He crouched, ready to pounce when Adderpaw leapt at him, tackling to the ground. Sparkpaw flinched, twisting his body to avoid one of Adderpaw's forepaws from slamming on his neck. Using this, he used his own forepaws to jab at her side, pulling himself from the ground. Sparkpaw used Adderpaw's side as he got up from the ground, climbing onto her back, pulling her to the ground. Adderpaw countered, using her hind legs to jab into his belly, pushing him onto the ground again. The two cats tumbled on the ground in a flurry of fur and unsheathed paws, unable to tell who was pinning who, until Rabbittail went up and spoke to them.
"Hey, what's going on you two?" she called.
"We were just play fighting." Adderpaw told her mentor
"Yeah! We were training for battle!" Sparkpaw added enthusiastically.
Rabbittail mrrowed in amusement. "That's good you two, but don't overdo it." She went over and licked Adderpaw's head. "You two are going to make such good ShadowClan warriors with that enthusiasm."
Sparkpaw's pelt felt warm after she said that. Adderpaw just looked at her. "Why don't you guys do some extra hunting while you wait? You can keep what you catch." Rabbittail told them. They both nodded in agreement, and Rabbittail went to go check on the other apprentices.
"Too much enthusiasm if you ask me." Adderpaw muttered as soon as her mentor was out of earshot.
"What do you mean?" Sparkpaw cocked his head to the side.
"Nothing. It's nothing." she said. "Come on, let's go hunting." She flicked her long tail to beckon Sparkpaw to follow her.
"So, what do you wanna hunt?" Sparkpaw asked Adderpaw as they padded alongside each other.
"Eh." Adderpaw shrugged. "Just something good."
"Alright then. Something good…" Sparkpaw scanned the area of the territory. There were some mice and voles skittering around, eating grass and other things. A sound of a frog bellowing could be heard from one of the small marsh pools. A frog! That could do! They're fast, slippery, and he hadn't caught one before! With his new hunting abilities, he'd certainly be able to catch one now!
"I'm gonna go catch a frog, Adderpaw." he offered
"Okay." Adderpaw replied. "I'm going to hunt over there then." she flicked her tail to the opposing side. "Good luck." she murmured before walking off. "You too!" Sparkpaw called as she started on her hunt.
Sparkpaw went into a crouch, checking his paws from time to time to see where he was putting them. The frog was still there, catching insects with its tongue, he heard from his ears. He looked up, the frog was close. It didn't even seem to notice him. Focusing on his haunches, he sprang for the frog, tumbling into the muddy water, frog landing on the other side. Sparkpaw got up, pelt soaked in water, and leapt after the frog again, pinning it by the back with one unsheathed paw and slamming his other on its throat. It was dead. It was dead! He did it! He licked the blood off his paws, getting some of the frog's slime on his tongue. 'Tastes slimy' he thought as he finished, and picked the fresh-kill up with his jaws.
"It took you that long to catch one frog?" Adderpaw noticed when he came back to the sycamore. She had placed down two squirrels onto the ground. "I was going to catch a third, but then there was this big splash and it ran off. Probably the rest of the prey did too." Adderpaw added, making Sparkpaw feel embarrassed. "Oh, I'm sorry." he apologised.
"Eh, you're fine." Adderpaw shrugged. They sat down together and ate their hunts. The frog tasted chewy, but it was far from tasting like crow-food. Though as he ate, he couldn't help but look at Adderpaw's kills. How she managed to get almost three squirrels when he barely caught a single frog. Ah, where was that peacefulness from earlier? That calmness? That vigour? He sighed. 'I just need to get better' He told himself. At least he caught something by himself this time.
They both turned to see Littlepaw and Marshpaw padding towards them.
"Mind if I have one?" Littlepaw asked her friend.
"Eh, sure." Adderpaw gave her the other squirrel, and the two started chattering amongst themselves. Marshpaw laid down next to Sparkpaw.
"How was it?" Sparkpaw asked, pushing the half-eaten frog towards the younger apprentice.
"Difficult." Marshpaw responded in a tired tone. "I kept on being too loud, he said, and I was only able to jump him when he heard this splash somewhere in the territory." Sparkpaw's ear twitched at that last part. But maybe something good did come out of his mistake. The thought made him feel a little better.
"So how was stalking Littlepaw?" Adderpaw asked her friend.
"It went okay." Littlepaw replied. "Though, I'm surprised that you, Sparkpaw, of all cats, finished quicker than me."
"What do you mean?" Sparkpaw asked
"Being a ShadowClan warrior requires us to be able to stalk perfectly" Littlepaw explained, "It took me ages to get it right, and yet you're done earlier than me? Your mentor's too soft on you, Sparkpaw. Too lenient. You'll never be as good a ShadowClan warrior as I will."
"Come on. Kindleroot's a perfectionist. It's no wonder he expects the same from you." Adderpaw chimed in. "Rabbittail said I was as stealthy as an adder."
"Of course you are." Littlepaw mewed. "You're the stealthiest apprentice ShadowClan has known!" Adderpaw folded her ears back in either embarrassment or admiration at the compliment.
"Houndheart said I need to work on my attack." Marshpaw chimed in. "He says it's too soft for a real apprentice."
"The attack's the most important part."
"Isn't that the stalking?"
"Well, yes, but you need to actually be able to hit your opponent hard enough to scare them off. Otherwise you leave yourself vulnerable."
Sparkpaw nodded in agreement to what Littlepaw and Adderpaw were saying. They were only a moon older than him, yet they possessed so much knowledge of how to be a good warrior. Could he eventually get to that level? They hadn't much time to chat after finishing their fresh-kill, for their mentors padded up to the group.
"Nice work." Frostfang addressed them.
"Nice work?" Houndheart countered "That's only two squirrels and a frog. They could've done better!"
"It was going to be three squirrels." Adderpaw muttered to the group.
"I think they did a good job." Rabbittail protested
"They did." Kindleroot agreed. "Did you spare any prey for your elder?" he asked. They all looked at each other. Eventually, all eyes rested on Sparkpaw. He gulped in nervousness.
"Well, uh, no, but.." he began.
"I told them they could hunt for themselves." Rabbittail told Kindleroot. Kindleroot's fur bristled on his back, then it sank back into his pelt.
"Alright." Kindleroot sighed, "Come along then. Rabbittail, Houndheart! Stay behind to do a hunting patrol. I wanna see those three squirrels in the fresh-kill pile by the end of the day."
"What?" Houndheart gasped. "You can't do that to us! You're not the deputy!"
Kindleroot looked at Houndheart and snorted. "Just do it." He then flicked his tail, beckoning the apprentices and Frostfang to follow him.
Back at camp, the clan was sharing tongues. Kindleroot went along first, going to speak with his sister and deputy Flarestripe, likely about the training session they just had. Clawleap was sitting next to Jaguarpelt, while Birchfur stared at them. As Littlepaw and Adderpaw split from the group to go their own way, Sparkpaw stretched and found a nice place to lie down and get some sun. It was quite relaxing. After this, hopefully he would have the rest of the day off. Maybe he could see Dave. He couldn't get too comfortable though, as EagleStar padded away from Peachstump and their kits and jumped on the Shade Rock. Flarestripe followed, with an expression that hinted maybe she knew what this was all about.
"Cats of ShadowClan, those who are old enough to stalk the shadows, come near the Shade Rock and listen to my words!" the yowl rang across the bramble covered camp. Sparkpaw walked closer and cocked his head.
"You all know of the border fight that happened a few sunrises ago," he began. "We moved the border towards our side of the Thunderpath. I know many of you were disappointed with that decision." a few heads nodded. "But no more! We are going to reclaim the Thunderpath back for ShadowClan! We won't allow those high-and-mighty ThunderClan cats to think we're beaten, are we? No! We are ShadowClan, the best clan in the forest! We will not show weakness! Defeat?! We are above that! Claw those cats right in the eyes!" EagleStar stopped to take a breath, his words causing many heads to loop up in admiration and excitement. "Rest, battle, and train, for tonight we take the Thunderpath back as ShadowClan hunting grounds! Show no mercy!"
"But what about the warrior code?" Flarestripe asked, a little surprised
"What about it?" EagleStar asked, then turned to the crowd of listening cats, "Of course we'll be following it! What kind of clan would we be if we didn't! We're above the rogues that stalk the outskirts, and the kittypets that live in comfort and arrogance!"
"Ready yourselves, clanmates. By moonrise we will take back our land. Be sure to be in camp before sunset so I can give out the orders to each of you, though everycat should be ready to fight, tooth and claw. Clan dismissed!" EagleStar ended the meeting, jumped off the rock, and went into his den.
Everycat was still for a few heartbeats, the new leaf wind tickling Sparkpaw's ears. Then Kindleroot spoke out. "You heard our leader! We are going to take back what's ours! What are you waiting for? Do your duties as ShadowClan warriors!"
Slowly the crowd dissipated, queens going back to the nursery with their kits, and Flarestripe awkwardly trying to assign patrols. Sparkpaw knew what he had to do: he had to seek out Dave. Only that cat would be able to teach him the battle moves in time in order to help win this fight. Sparkpaw walked towards the entrance of the camp.
"Where are ya off to, Sparkpaw?" Splashpaw, recently healed, came up and asked him. "I've hardly seen ya since the battle. How are ya?"
"Good, good." Sparkpaw answered, paws shuffling nervously. Hopefully it wasn't noticeable. "I'm-I'm off to go get some water." he lied, his tail fur spiking up a bit. He calmed it down. "I'll see you later, okay? Maybe at the battle?"
Splashpaw nodded. "Okay, Sparkpaw. I'll see ya later then." and Splashpaw went towards the fresh-kill pile. Taking this chance, Sparkpaw raced towards Carrionplace.