Brokenstar's Bitterness

Chapter Nine

Brokenpaw yawned as he padded out of the apprentices' den. He looked up, seeing a gray, fairly cloudy sky. From the corner of his eye, he saw his foster littermates, who were in deep asleep. He still felt contempt towards them, even for Tanglepaw, who's been nicer to him during their apprenticeship. The cold leaf-fall wind howled, sending slight shivers down Brokenpaw's spine. The warmth of greenleaf had long passed, leaving only memories behind. The young apprentice thought of the warm, sunny days, which he always enjoyed. 
Greenleaf. How I miss it... he watched as the dead leaves were ripped away from each branch. Although dead, the leaves looked more beautiful than ever.
"Guess leaf-fall isn't so ugly after all." Brokenpaw mumbled quietly to himself. He felt as if the forest was listening to him, and it sent a beautiful orange leaf to him as a way of telling him he's not all alone. 
Five moons had passed since he became an apprentice. Even so, being an apprentice with a sick mentor wasn't something he quite liked. Since Nightpelt started teaching him battle moves, Brokenpaw became less defiant, yet he still held no respect for the sickly tom. Yesterday, Nightpelt promised him that he would finally have a battle session with the other apprentices. Brokenpaw thought of who he would spar with. Regardless, it didn't really matter to him, since he was the strongest of them all. The young tabby arched his back in a long stretch, and walked towards the main clearing, waiting for his mentor to show up. He had grown painfully impatient, pacing back and forth. Maybe it's too early. The sun has just risen up. 
As he was about to go back to his den, Nightpelt finally showed up. The black tom's eyes were slightly open, implying he'd just woken up.
"Good morning, Brokenpaw." he meowed, greeting the tabby, "I hope you're ready for your first group training session. Do you remember what I've taught you?"
Brokenpaw rolled his eyes. I already knew them before, you coughing old fool. he thought, yet he didn't dare to say it to his face, perhaps Cedarstar would put him cleaning nests for the whole moon again.
"When will the session begin?" he asked, ignoring the tom's question.
"Today, at Sunhigh. You've got plenty of time to practice. If you need anything, feel free to ask me." Nightpelt replied back, his voice calm. He had barely coughed lately, but Brokenpaw knew he'd cough only if he was under pressure so he tried not to argue with him about anything. Not because he tried to be nice, but because the night-black tom's coughing rose his fur up.
Brokenpaw gave his mentor a curt nod and went off to the fresh-kill pile to take something for himself. Then a single thought restrained him from picking up a plump frog. Right, I should feed the others first. I've never seen Deerpaw and Tanglepaw do that. This rose up a bunch of questions in the young tom's head, but he didn't bother enough to answer them. Whether Nightpelt hated him or not, it didn't matter to him. As he was about to take some prey for the elders, he realized the only prey left was a skinny vole, a sparrow and the frog he wanted. He saw Nightpelt approach him. "Not much left. Perhaps a hunting patrol would be of use." 
Brokenpaw gazed at his mentor carefully. "Shouldn't I be practicing my battle moves?"
"You should," the black warrior confirmed.
"But how can I if my belly's empty?" Brokenpaw protested, "If I take this prey to the elders, there'll be nothing left."
"Do you only care for yourself?" Nightpelt meowed, sounding displeased. 
Brokenpaw didn't answer. Instead, he grabbed the remaining prey and marched off to the elders' den, behind the boulder. The elders were cuddled in their nests, sharing tongues with each other. Brokenpaw violently dropped the prey in front of them. Hollyflower, a dark-gray-and-white she-cat, gazed up at the young tom with her gentle blue eyes. "What's wrong? You've been moody lately."
"I think he's just stressed from all the work," Lizardfang put himself in, "A good story can help with that."
Brokenpaw snorted at the old tom's preposition. "I don't have time for your stupid stories."
He turned his back on them and as he was about to leave, he heard Littlebird's voice.
"Brokenpaw, time isn't a rabbit, it won't run away." she told him. "Come, we can tell you some great stories."
He took a few steps back, clearly annoyed. "I said I'm not interested. Have your share." he glared at them one last time and then walked out of the den.
Once he returned to the clearing, he was met with bustling activity from his Clanmates; his father, Raggedpelt sorted out patrols for the day, and the others were sharing tongues with each other. Brokenpaw had no sight of Nightpelt. Perhaps he was sent on the patrol. 
He felt his belly rumble with hunger, making him nervous. He curled up his tail around him to try to hide the embarrassment. Who knows when they'll come back. I'll go fetch something myself. As he was about to head out of camp, he heard a gentle voice calling after him. He looked back to see a familiar gray-and-brown shape. Tanglepaw. 
"I want to practice with you. Is that alright?" 
Brokenpaw took a moment to consider it. Surely, him actually sparring with a cat would make the upcoming battle session easier. He gazed at Tanglepaw once again. "You can. But I won't go easy on you." he warned her.
The she-cat nodded. "Where are you going?"
"To hunt something. Want to come?"
Brokenpaw wasn't sure why he asked her that, but since she could ask him for a favor, he felt as if he could, too. Surprisingly, Tanglepaw shook her head. "The hunting patrol will come back soon."
The brown tabby wondered on how she's so certain, but a rustling from the brambles proved the point. He saw Scorchwind, Nightpelt, Rowanberry and Clawface, each carrying plenty of prey in their jaws. Scorchwind had caught two shrews, Nightpelt two lizards, Rowanberry caught a plump frog and Clawface caught a few birds. They put them down on the fresh-kill pile and each cat grabbed their share. Brokenpaw took a frog, since he never tasted it before.
He peeled off the skin first, since he knew it was quite difficult to chew. Once he was finished with his meal, he came over to Tanglepaw, who was lying outside the apprentices' den.
"Let's go." he ordered.
"Already? The training session is at Sunhigh. We've got plenty of time," Tanglepaw protested.
"Do you want to train with me or not?" Brokenpaw challenged her.
"I-I do," she stammered. 
Brokenpaw didn't answer, giving her a quick nod and together they left the camp. He led her to the sandy hollow, which was few fox-lengths away from camp. He put himself in a battle stance, unsheathing his claws. Tanglepaw did the same, but her claws were tucked in.
"Claws out," the tabby ordered her.
Reluctantly, the gray-and-brown she-cat unsheathed her claws. She certainly didn't want to harm her Clanmate, but she had no choice. Brokenpaw quickly pounced at her, but she managed to dodge his claws. She leaped on his back, biting his neck slightly. Brokenpaw rolled over his back to get her off of him. He lunged at her, clawing her hips. Tanglepaw let out a gasp of pain. She managed to keep her grip, but the pain ravaged her body, making her unfocused on the fight. Brokenpaw took his opportunity to pounce on her again and pin her down to the ground. He pressed his paw into her neck, choking her. Tanglepaw tried to break free, but her efforts were of little use. The young tom's eyes glowed as he looked at her, his voice icy cold. "Use your hind legs."
Tanglepaw tried to kick him away, but her legs were weakened due to the agony she was experiencing. She gasped for breath, slowly losing her consciousness. Realizing he was killing her, Brokenpaw let go. The she-cat gasped and slowly got to her paws. 
"I'm disappointed," Brokenpaw meowed, "I expected more of you." With a last glare, he added. "Better get those wounds checked." 
Later that day, it was the time for the training session to begin. Brokenpaw was sparring with Deerpaw, who looked happy. 
"What's so funny?" Brokenpaw asked him.
The black-and-brown tom grinned. "Nothing, I'm just happy because this'll be day I defeat you."
Tough words. For a coward.
Brokenpaw pounced at Deerpaw, pinning him down to the ground. But his victory didn't last long. Deerpaw set himself free by kicking Brokenpaw in the belly. The tabby growled in pain but kept his grip. The black-and-brown tom's amber eyes shone brightly, as he lunged at Brokenpaw, swiping his paw at his face. The hit was strong, and Brokenpaw fell to the ground. As he was about to get up, he felt a huge thrust into his side. Deerpaw wasn't playing fair, he had just pushed him, like a piece of crowfood. The sharp pain stopped Brokenpaw from moving as fast as before, but he still managed to hold his own. If Deerpaw wasn't playing fair, why should he?
He unsheathed his thorn-sharp claws, and leaped at Deerpaw. Deerpaw dodged, swiping his paw at Brokenpaw's shoulder. The tabby tom clawed the black-and-brown tom's shoulder, leaving a nasty wound. Deerpaw yowled in pain. As he was about to finish him off, he was thrown away a few tail-lengths away. He looked up, seeing a pale gray she-cat. "What are you doing? This is a training session! You can't hurt your Clanmates!"
She lifted her paw to strike at the young cat, but a white shape emerged in front of her instead. 
"Ashheart, you can't hurt an apprentice!"
"Blackfoot, look at what he did to Deerpaw." she yowled as she pointed towards Deerpaw's wound. 
Brokenpaw got to his paws and looked at Blackfoot, "How are we going to fight other Clans if we're afraid to get blood on our paws?" he explained.
Blackfoot eyed Brokenpaw uncertainly. "We don't get our Clanmates' blood on our paws, Brokenpaw. You know the rules."
"The rules are stupid," Brokenpaw growled. "We have to make ourselves strong. Only cowards aren't willing to get hurt." His orange eyes flashed meaningfully at Ashheart. Then he turned and sauntered toward the apprentices' den, switching his bent tail.
A few moments later, he heard Blackfoot's voice. "Are you okay?" he began, "Ashheart was pretty hard on you."
Brokenpaw's ear twitched as his cool orange gaze ranged over the other cats. "I don't care what she thinks."
"Do you want to talk about what happened with Deerpaw?" Blackfoot asked.
"Nothing happened," Brokenpaw meowed. "He needs to train harder."
"He's bleeding a lot, though. A scratch that deep hadn't been a simple accident. Were you angry with him? Isn't he one of your friends?"
Brokenpaw snorted, his lip curling, "I don't have friends. I have Clanmates."
"Clanmates are better than friends," Blackfoot answered.
Brokenpaw shrugged, "A friend is a cat you hang around with because they make you happy." His voice was scornful. "A Clanmate fights beside you to protect your territory, and hunts so that you all have food. If a Clanmate can't fight or hunt, then they're useless."
Brokenpaw heard a slight gasp from Blackfoot, but he didn't care. He felt the white tom brush his tail across Brokenpaw's back. He stiffened but said nothing, and Blackfoot pulled his tail back. 
"Once you're a full warrior, you'll understand that, in a Clan, we all take care of one another." he meowed. Brokenpaw watched him leave, then rested his gaze on the gathered cats.