Brambleberry's Path

Chapter 11:

Bramblepaw watched from across the training grounds as Hawkpaw tossed the dead bird to Brightpaw. The silver tabby she-cat leapt in the air and swatted it, sending it flying back at the brown apprentice. Hawkpaw leapt in the air and twisted her body to swipe it at the last minute before she tumbled to the ground. For a split second Bramblepaw thought she was injured and was about to jut in, but she was on her paws a second later and shaking the dust from her pelt.

"HAWKPAW! BRIGHTPAW! You know that prey isn't meant to be a plaything for you! It's meant to be eaten!" Ripplewave mewed sternly, staring down at the two apprentices. Brightpaw flattened her ears against her head and glanced at her paws.

"We're sorry Ripplewave." Brightpaw mewed softly. The tom's gaze softened and he sighed, curling his tail around his daughter.

"It's alright. Just... don't do it again, alright?" He mewed softly before padding away. Hawkpaw stared at her paws sadly.

"I'm sorry I got you into trouble with your father, Brightpaw." She mewed softly. Brightpaw purred and nudged her friend's shoulder gently.

"Don't worry about it! Come on, let's find a moss ball or something to fling around instead." She mewed. Hawkpaw brightened and bounded after Brightpaw to find something else they could train with.

Bramblepaw padded out of his corner and watched the two she-cats leave before turning towards the bird that lay on the ground. It's feathers were caked with dust and it was flattened from the two she-cats' paws battering at it to toss it through the air. He purred and shook his head before he padded slowly after the two she-cats.

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Hawkpaw kicked at Bramblepaw with her hind legs, her eyes gleaming with determination. Bramblepaw darted out of the way and tried to swipe her paws from under her. But Hawkpaw had leapt out of the way and was racing to the other side of the clearing with the dark tabby on her heels. Brightpaw, Rockpaw, Pebblepaw, and Blazepaw watched with wide eyes as the brown she-cat came to a dead end.

As soon as Bramblepaw got to the tree, Hawkpaw clambered up a small way and pushed off, twisting and landing behind him before kicking him in the rear and sending his face smashing into the tree. Bramblepaw let out a groan before he was up and shaking his head to clear the stars from his vision.

Brightpaw cheered for her friend and Rockpaw bounded up to his sister.

"That was awesome! How did you do that?" He asked. Pebblepaw purred at his excited friend and prodded him in the shoulder with his paw.

"Hey, give her some room! You're almost crushing her." He mewed, staring with amusement as Hawkpaw bent awkwardly away from her brother. Rockpaw stepped away and flicked his tail at his friend.

"You did well, Hawkpaw. If you apprentices keep it up like this, you'll be warriors sooner than you'd think." Reedfeather purred before padding away. Hawkpaw beamed at Brightpaw and crouched down in a playful way.

"Wanna train with me?" She asked. Brightpaw nodded and the two she-cats bounded ahead of the others before rounding on each other. Bramblepaw sat beside Rockpaw and stared at Hawkpaw with awe. She moved faster and tried to dodge a lot more than she did when she trained with him.

It ended with Brightpaw pinning Hawkpaw to the ground and the two she-cats purring at each other.

"Alright you big puff of fur, get off." Hawkpaw mewed with amusement. Brightpaw narrowed her eyes at her friend and swatted her ear gently. Hawkpaw squealed and rolled over as Brightpaw clambered off. She lay on her stomach on the ground and lashed her tail, staring up at the silver tabby she-cat with amusement.

"Alright fish-brain, let's go back to camp." Brightpaw mewed and headed off with Hawkpaw beside her towards camp. The group of toms followed them back and Blazepaw, Rockpaw, and Pebblepaw made small conversation as they padded after the two she-cats.

Bramblepaw ended up in the middle of the group and stared at the two she-cats as the talked to each other about the next gathering.

Part of him didn't want to go to the gathering, and the other part was excited.

Sighing and staring down at his paws as the group entered the camp, Bramblepaw padded into the apprentices' den to go to sleep before they had to leave for the gathering.