I'm finally an apprentice, Bluepaw thought. And I'm starting to regret it. It had been almost two hours, and all she had done was collect moss for the elders.
She thought that because Larkstar had apprenticed her to Cloudsky, her sister, she would get fun tasks like hunting or fighting. But apparently everyone thought Cloudsky would go easy on her. So while her sister Palepaw went hunting and her friend Pinepaw went on border patrol, she got the "incredibly important" task of collecting dry bedding for the elders.
You see, Cloudsky was her older sister from a different litter. Dawnlight and Duskflower, Cloudsky's littermates and Bluepaw's ants, were the daughters of Aldertail, the first mate of Goldenflow, Bluepaw and Palepaw's mother.
Goldenflow was not able to produce milk for her kits, so she had kept her warrior duties. Cloudsky, Dawnlight, and Duskflower, at the request of their mother, had taken over raising their younger littermates.
And, if the young she-cat remembered correctly, her mother had had a sister too. Her name was Silvershore and she was stared at by lots of cats (mostly toms) but, to be honest, who wouldn't? From what her mother had told her, Silvershore was a very beautiful cat with glossy silver fur and bright blue eyes that sparkled like shimmering ice. Bluepaw would have loved to meet her, but sadly that would never happen. A few seasons ago, tragity struck the Clan when a raging fire nearly destroyed their camp. And in all of the chaos, Silvershore wound up trapped under some fallen rocks and was burned alive by the flames.
The loss of her sister had shaken up Goldenflow quite a bit, and both Bluepaw and Palepaw could tell that she wasn't fully or truly herself after the fire. Goldenflow still smiled, of course, but Bluepaw could tell that her smile never reached her eyes.
The blue-gray molly sighed and shook her head, trying to stay focused on her current task. A scowl crossed her muzzle at the thought of the huge bundle of moss sitting at her paws. I hate this, she hissed in her mind. Why on StarClan's green earth did Cloudsky give me this stupid job in the first place?
Hissing softly, the young she-cat unsheathed her claws and tore off more moss from the tree she was currently sitting in front of.
Cloudsky padded up to her carrying a pile of soft green moss, her blue gaze expectant. Bluepaw made a show of unenthusiastically pulling moss from a nearby oak tree, pulling it off with the scratchy bark still stuck to it. Cloudsky shook her head.
"No, Bluepaw, don't pull the bark off with it! Angle your claws like this," she said, unsheathing her sharp claws and angling them upwards. Cloudsky demonstrated by slashing a piece of moss cleanly off the old oak tree.
Bluepaw couldn't care less about which way her claws were, but she copied her sister anyway. It wasn't like she had a choice. Cloudsky nodded approvingly.
"Yes, like that! Good job Bluepaw!" Bluepaw rolled her frosty blue eyes.
Cloudsky either didn't see Bluepaw, or she ignored her. Her sister didn't seem to be getting the picture that Bluepaw was not having fun with this boring task.
"Then reach underneath the moss, and slash until it comes off!" Cloudsky exclaimed.
She slashed the moss, and it fell off the tree trunk neatly, coming off with no bark. She smiled at Bluepaw, who was grooming her paw. She heard her sister's voice, rolled her eyes again, and sat up, slouching.
"Now you try it!" Cloudsky meowed cheerfully, oblivious to her sister's refusal to cooperate.
Bluepaw lifted her paw, unsheathed her claws...then proceeded to shred the moss into a thousand tiny pieces.
"Ugh! Cloudsky! Can I please be done collecting moss?" Bluepaw meowed, not at all enjoying the task that her mentor had assigned her to do.
It was silent for a few moments before the MistClan deputy flicked her tail and the young she-cat eagerly picked up the moss in her jaws, no doubt ready to get her task over with as quickly as possible.
"Is this enough moss, Cloudsky?" Bluepaw mewed in between the wet bundle in her jaws. "Cause I don't think I could carry anymore, even if you told me to." The blue-gray apprentice muttered the last part under her breath.
Cloudsky nodded and picked up her own pile of moss in her jaws and with a flick of her tail, Cloudsky and Bluepaw made their way back to the MistClan camp.
•••
An hour later, Bluepaw came back to camp carrying a large pile of wet, cold moss under her blue-gray chin.
The feeling wasn't very pleasant.
Nearly all of it was Cloudsky's moss though, Bluepaw was sure of it.
Bluepaw did not care for collecting moss.
"Hey Bluepaw! Over here!" Bluepaw turned her head to see Lightpaw, one of her best friends aside from her sister of course. Bluepaw waved her tail in greeting and ducked under a clump of moss and lichen witch served as the entrance to the elder's den.
As the blue-gray molly entered the den, she quickly rushed over to fetch the old moss and placed fresh moss into the bedding of the elderly cats. She heard laughing from outside the den and looked towards the now fully stocked prey-pile.
She saw Palepaw, her sister and Pinepaw, her best friend, with another apprentice, Ivypaw, all sharing a rabbit and talking and laughing about the fun first day they had. Bluepaw stared enviously as Ivypaw pushed the rest of the rabbit over to Pinepaw, who glanced back at Ivypaw with wide, affectionate green eyes.
What does she see in her? Bluepaw wondered.
Ivypaw was the most obnoxious cat she knew, always bragging about the (imaginary) crows she caught when she was only a kit, or how her father was the leader of MistClan and her mother was the best warrior in the entire Clan.
All lies, she thought, even though the part about Ivypaw's parents was true. She knew that Pinepaw deserved better than her. Pinepaw was caring and sweet, but also feisty and a little bit mischievous. She was an amazing cat, and not the right cat for Ivypaw! Bluepaw didn't like like her, she just knew that Ivypaw would not be a caring mate for her.
She gazed at them for a moment more, then turned away from them and towards the dreaded green mossy bedding.
Well I'm not going to let Ivypaw ruin our friendship! she thought, grinning. Once I'm done with this StarClan-cursed moss that is!
The blue-furred apprentice was brought out of her thoughts when one of the elder's meowed something to her. "Is that new moss for our nests? Thank you very much, young Bluepaw."
She smiled and dipped her head in respect to Mosspetal before racing out of the den to receive her next task.
Bluepaw scanned the clearing for her mentor's dark-furred pelt, and her eyes lit up when she found her. As she raced over to her mentor, Bluepaw was grinning like a newborn kit on a new Greenleaf day. The young blue-furred molly panted heavily as she reached the base of the Willowtree where Cloudsky was speaking with the Clan leader, Larkstar.
The black-and-white she-cat smiled down at her apprentice as she finished her conversation with Larkstar. "Why hello, Bluepaw," Cloudsky meowed in a cheerful tone of voice. "Is there something you need?"
Bluepaw smiled and twitched an ear. "Is there anything else you want me to do?" the blue-furred molly questioned her mentor.
Cloudsky smiled warmly and shook her head. "Nope, there's nothing else. Go enjoy the rest of your day, Bluepaw. You've earned it well." Cloudsky mewed proudly. Bluepaw nodded in thanks and raced over to join Lightpaw, Soulpaw, and her sister, Palepaw.
"Hi Bluepaw!" Soulpaw chirped, swallowing a bite of the plump blackbird that she had found. Bluepaw chose a vole and patted over to join her sister and friends.
Palepaw smiled at Bluepaw, her yellow eyes bright as she asked Bluepaw about her day. Bluepaw sighed heavily and breathed in deeply through her nose.
"So, Bluepaw, tell me! How did your first day as an apprentice turn out?" she mewed in a friendly tone.
"Are you sure you want to know, Palepaw?" she asked her sister with a long drawn-out sigh and a flick of her tail.
Palepaw giggled and nodded her head with a friendly smile. "Yes please," she meowed politely.
Bluepaw replied with a low hiss. "Cloudsky had me collect some dry moss for the elders bedding!" she meowed, flicking her tail and rolling her frosty blue eyes. "I couldn't leave until I sliced the darn moss off the tree just the perfect way!" Soulpaw giggled at her friends over dramatic tone.
"Your so dramatic Bluepaw!" the black-and-white she-cat mewed, rolling her eyes and twitching her whiskers in amusement.
Bluepaw snorted and blew a raspberry at Soulpaw. "But Soulpaw!" she whined childishly. "I hate collecting stupid moss!" the blue-gray molly grumbled while taking a bite of the vole she had chosen for her meal.
"I'm sure it wasn't that bad, don't worry so much, Bluepaw." Came the soft voice of Flintpaw. Bluepaw turned her head to see Flintpaw and Moonpaw coming out of the apprentice's den.
"Well I got to catch my first peace of prey!" came the snarky voice of Ivypaw. Bluepaw huffed and blew a raspberry at the spoiled and cocky molly.
"Oh, poor little Flintpaw," Ivypaw mocked, stepping up to Flintpaw's face. "I wouldn't expect you to understand the life of a Clan cat," Flintpaw's ears flattened and she stared down at her paws. "I mean it's not your fault that you, Flowingpaw, and Ravenpaw were born as kittypets, and it's no wonder that you didn't catch any prey, your revolting stench probably scared off all the prey in the forest."
Duskflower, Soulpaw's mentor, hissed and cuffed the snobby little apprentice over the ears. "That's not how you speak to a fellow apprentice!" she bristled. "Now apologize to Flintpaw."
Ivypaw snarled and scratched Duskflower's front paws. "You're not my mom!" she growled in response. "I don't take orders from you."
"Ivypaw!" Duskflower snapped angrily. "We're going to Larkstar's den right now young lady!" the ebony-furred molly glared harshly down at Ivypaw, but she just huffed and stuck her nose in the air.
"Duskflower, no wait!" Bluepaw yowled, stopping her aunt in her tracks. "You should go have your wounds checked out by either Meadowlight or Flowingpaw once they've returned from gathering herbs."
The older she-cat nodded and twitched an ear. "Thanks for the reminder Bluepaw!" she purred, smiling and twitching her whiskers. "I'll go see her after I deal with Ivypaw."
"Just you wait and see!" Ivypaw hissed meanly, narrowing her eyes and lashing her tail angrily from left to right. "I guarantee you that my father isn't going to punish me!" she snarled with a scathing look directed at Flintpaw and Flowingpaw. The ladder of whom had just returned from helping her mentor collect herbs for their Leafbear stores.
"What's going on?" the cinnamon tabby meowed, her tone filled with concern as she rushed over to her sister's side. "Palepaw, tell me! What did Ivypaw say to my sister to make her cry?" the normally sweet and sassy medicine cat apprentice's tone was now cold and she looked as if she was ready to kill somebody.
Palepaw's eyes lowered and she avoided looking Flowingpaw in the eyes. "Oh! I uh... she was insulting her for being a kittypet and she told Flintpaw that the reason she didn't catch any prey was because she is used to the pampered and soft life of a Twoleg pet."
Flowingpaw's eyes seemed to darken even more at Palepaw's words. "I am going to kill that stuck up little brat!" she growled, flexing her claws and narrowing her eyes. "Ray!" Flowingpaw screeched loud enough for the entire Clan to hear. "I need your help!"
Ravenpaw scurried out of the apprentice's den at upon hearing her sister's enraged yowl.
"Uh, y-yes? W-what do you need, Flow?" Ravenpaw stammered, her blue eyes as wide as a vole as she saw the murderous glint in Flowingpaw's eyes.
Flowingpaw's face formed into a scary expression that would make even the most feared Dark Forest cat cower in their claws. "I'm gonna murder Ivypaw for making Flintpaw cry!" Flowingpaw snarled.
Palepaw's fur bristled in fear and she turned to face Bluepaw with a scared expression. "I just pray to StarClan that Flowingpaw won't do anything too drastic," she whispered into her sister's ear.
Bluepaw could only nod her head numbly in response. "Me too, Palepaw. Me too." The blue-furred she-cat muttered quietly with an uneasy feeling pooling in the pit of her stomach.
Oh StarClan, please don't let them do anything too reckless. She silently prayed as she watched the battle unfold right before her very own eyes.