Warriors: Burnttail's Regret (Complete)

Chapter 10

 Burntpaw opened his eyes and yawned. He got up and stretched as sunlight entered the apprentices' den and dappled the ground. Burntpaw looked around, surprised that Snakepaw wasn't in her nest, but then he growled and walked out. Why should I care?

 Burntpaw looked around and spotted Needlerose by the nursery. He rushed toward his mentor and looked up at her. ''Needlerose! What are we doing today?''

 Needlerose looked at him. ''Oh, Burntpaw! Well, today I want to test your fighting skills. You did get a lot of scars when you kept going in ThunderClan's territory, so I want to see if there's any way to improve your fighting skills.''

 Burntpaw growled, unsure if that was a harsh remark or a joke. But he just nodded and followed Needlerose out of camp, twitching his gray tail from irritation. The birds started chirping and the sun was just peeking over the horizon, its rays hurting Burntpaw's eyes. The tom blinked, trying to get used to the light. He followed Needlerose to a clearing not far from camp. The ground was covered with moss and he could see a few pinecones here and there, and he hissed at the thought of accidentally stepping on them. He raised his head to look at his mentor.

 Needlerose backed off and nodded. ''All right. Attack me, but keep your claws sheated.''

 Burntpaw nodded and sprinted toward Needlerose. He jumped on her back and quickly pinned her to the ground, but he was too slow. Needlerose instantly started rolling around, but Burntpaw jumped off the she-cat before she could squash him. The silver she-cat with gray stripes got up, and Burntpaw instantly rushed toward her, crashing into her. Needlerose let out a surprised shriek as she collapsed on her side.

 Burntpaw quickly spun around and put his paws on Needlerose's shoulders, not letting her get up. After a bit of struggling, the she-cat nodded and looked satisfied. ''Very well. Now let me get up, for StarClan's sake!''

 The tom nodded and backed off. Needlerose got up, and without saying anything, she ran toward Burntpaw and tried to jump on top of him to pin him down, but the tom was too quick. Burntpaw ran to the sides and Needlerose fell on the ground with a thump. Burntpaw quickly spun around and, before the she-cat could get up, he pinned her down and pawed her belly as if he was scratching her. Needlerose nodded. ''Not bad!''

 Burntpaw backed off once again, letting Needlerose get up. ''You were very fast, Burntpaw. I tried using the element of surprise on you, but you were paying attention and reacted well. Let's continue.''

 Burntpaw padded back to camp, exhausted. He and Needlerose had been training for a while, and now the sun was at its highest spot in the sky. He huffed and padded over to the fresh-kill pile. He picked a frog from there and sat down to eat.

 Then, he heard paw steps. He raised his head and hissed when he saw Snakepaw emerge from the thorn tunnel. The she-cat looked up and hissed back at him, then walked another way so she wouldn't walk by him. Frostedwillow, Snakepaw's mentor, let out an exasperated hiss and padded toward Smokedream.

 ''Burntpaw. Hi.''

 Burntpaw blinked and turned his head, seeing Breezekit approach him. The black she-kit with pale gray spots lowered her head when she approached him, twitching her tiny ginger ears. The tom blinked. ''Oh! Uh. Hi, Breezekit.''

 Breezekit hesitated, then looked up. ''Will you and Snakepaw please be friends again? You two were very close before, just like siblings, and I don't like to see you two avoiding each other.''

 Burntpaw blinked in surprise when he heard Breezekit's words. He twitched his tail, feeling uncomfortable. ''Well...'' He hesitated.

 ''Please?'' Breezekit looked at him sadly. ''You're like an older brother to me and my siblings, and even though you're not related to us by blood, we were raised by the same parents.''

 Burntpaw's heart melted as he heard Breezekit's words. He did miss Snakepaw, in one way or another, but he wasn't sure if he could mend his friendship with her. Or if he wanted to. Snakepaw's words really hurt me, and she still does her best to avoid me... I'm not sure we can still be friends after that.

 ''All right, I'll... I'll do what I can.'' Burntpaw tried to sound reassuring, but then he tried changing the subject. ''Er... how's Bluekit?''

 Breezekit's ears twitched, then she looked back at her ginger paws. ''He's fine, but he's kind of scared of you. I think you should apologize to him.'' She fell silent.

 Burntpaw blinked, then purred. ''Yeah, well... thanks, Breezekit! Come on, go play with Cloudkit, all right? I'll apologize to Bluekit.''

 Breezekit nodded and turned, padding away. Burntpaw quickly finished his crow and got up, hesitantly approaching Bluekit. He looked at the white kit with blue-gray dapples. ''Bluekit?''

 Bluekit looked up, his yellow eyes widening with surprise. ''Oh, Burntpaw! H-Hi.'' He stammered.

 Burntpaw hesitated, then sat down and sighed. ''Listen, I'm sorry for what I said to you yesterday. It wasn't right. I was upset, but it's not an excuse. You're... you're not an useless flea-pelt, I promise. I don't mean that. I'm so, so sorry.'' He murmured, hoping the kit would accept his apology

 ''Oh.'' Bluekit murmured, looking surprised. ''It's... it's fine, I think.'' He nodded. He brightened up slightly, which relieved Burntpaw.

 ''Hey! Stay away from my sibling!'' Snakepaw suddenly hissed and rushed toward them, stepping between them. 

 Burntpaw blinked and stared at her, then growled and got up. ''Fine, I was just apologizing to him. You don't have to be so protective!''

 ''I'm protecting him from the cat who insulted him, thank you very much.'' Snakepaw spat, growling. 

 Burntpaw hissed, but he didn't say anything else. Frustrated, he turned and stomped toward the apprentices' den. He sat down and rolled his eyes, irritated.

 ''Things aren't looking well between you and Snakepaw, and that's not good.'' Stormfleck hesitantly approached him and sat down next to him. ''You shouldn't let that argument make you two enemies. You were so close before!''

 ''That's basically what Sootblossom told me.'' Burntpaw rolled his eyes. ''But what exactly do you want me to do? Snakepaw gets all defensive when I approach her or her family. She's acting as if I'm going to bite their heads off!''

 ''You're right.'' Stormfleck murmured thoughtfully and looked at Snakepaw, who was talking with Bluekit quietly. He sighed. ''Well, whatever you do, just remember that she's still upset from the argument. You are too, it seems, but once you've both calmed down, you two will become friends again. Trust me, I know how arguments are and how they end up.''

 ''I guess.'' Burntpaw shrugged. ''But it doesn't seem like we'll ever be friends again. She's very upset.''

 ''Well, you know how close me and Prickleshadow are, and yet we argued a lot. And trust me, a lot. And we still do.'' Stormfleck meowed, looking at the apprentice calmly. ''But we always apologized to each other. He's pretty grumpy, but he's still my friend, and I would never want a simple argument to turn us into enemies.''

 Burntpaw sighed. ''I guess. I have no idea what to say to Snakepaw, though, but I guess I'll wait a bit before I do anything else. I'll just give her some time to calm down.''

 ''That's the best thing you can do, honestly.'' Stormfleck nodded, then got up. ''Anyway, I have to go now, sorry Burntpaw. Smokedream wanted me for a patrol. See you later!''

 ''Bye!'' Burntpaw said and watched the blue-gray tabby tom rush toward a few cats waiting by the thorn tunnel. He then turned his head and looked at his light ginger paws, sighing.

 I feel horrible about what I've said in that argument and how it ended up, but... Snakepaw didn't have to be so harsh, did she? Although... I think she's right. Maybe this entire ThunderClan thing will get me killed one day. And... maybe I am a bit jealous of her that she has a family. I wish I wasn't.