New Horizons

Chapter 5

"Alright," said Wildwillow, watching the group of cats in front of him. Whiteclaw wanted to challenge Wildwillow by giving him the duty of training five apprentices or overseeing their training at the very least. "Today we're going to do some battle training. After sunhigh, or maybe today, we'll do some hunting techniques."

"Awesome!" Reedpaw, a light brown tom, cheered. Wildwillow nodded and indicated for the apprentices to follow him which they did. They soon got to a clearing deep in RiverClan territory, Wildwillow standing in front of the apprentices who stood before him.

"So, since ShadowClan is now allowed on our territory for prey, you five need to pick these techniques up pretty quickly," noted the dark brown tom as his eyes surveyed the five in front of him. "We'll start with the back kick. Silverpaw, Reedpaw, you two are the eldest apprentices. Do you two know the back kick and want to demonstrate it?"

"Sure," Silverpaw said, her and Reedpaw moving to the front of the other three apprentices and demonstrating the move. Reedpaw stood a few tail lengths away from Silverpaw as she lashed out with her hind legs, taking all of her weight onto her front paws, and knocking Reedpaw backwards.

"Very good," the tom praised. "Mistpaw, do you want to try with Reedpaw? And Nightpaw, do you want to try with Silverpaw? And Featherpaw, you try it with me." All of the apprentices agreed, going to their pairs.

"Let's see if you can pull it off," Reedpaw chuckled, Mistpaw looking nervous as she nodded. Reedpaw stood a few tail lengths away from the dusky brown she-cat as she lashed out with her hind legs, taking all of her weight onto her front paws, and knocking Reedpaw backwards. "That was good!" he praised.

"Thanks, Reedpaw," Mistpaw thanked, bowing her head in thanks. Reedpaw felt his ears heat up, looking away quickly. Whiteclaw, who was watching Wildwillow train the five apprentices, noticed, and couldn't help the growl that emitted from the base of his throat. Suddenly, a flash of white dashed out of the undergrowth beside the clearing and barrelled into Reedpaw, sending him flying. "Reedpaw!"

"Stay away from my apprentice," Whiteclaw growled, paw on the light brown tom's chest with claws unsheathed and teeth bared. Wildwillow rushed over but quickly slid to a halt when seeing the protective look in Whiteclaw's amber eyes. "If I catch you anywhere near Mistpaw, I'll make sure you'll retire to the elders den early. Or you might not ever see your warrior ceremony. Got it?"

"Y-Yes, Whiteclaw," Reedpaw stammered. Whiteclaw growled at the apprentice one last time before letting up and shoving Mistpaw in the direction of camp.

"Your training is over for the day," he said as they went back into the undergrowth. "I know you want to be friends with Reedpaw, but you can't. he's dangerous, Mistpaw, you need to understand this."

"But how is he dangerous? He's an apprentice, just like me!" Mistpaw argued, leaping over a fallen log. Whiteclaw sighed, sitting down and curly his tail around his paws.

"Look, he's not a good cat. His... His father wasn't that good of a cat, he... he attempted to kill many cats of RiverClan, as well as WindClan." Whiteclaw explained. "Many of the cats he did manage to kill, were unfortunately kits. You and your two littermates would have had a fourth littermate if it wasn't for Amberstripe, Reedpaw's father. He met with your mother the night she gave birth to you and your siblings, taking the runt of the litter, Duskkit, and leaving him with Amberstripe. Later, he returned with Duskkit's dad body hanging from his jaw, blood coating his muzzle. And I'm afraid that Reedpaw is just like his father."

"What happened to Amberstripe?" Mistpaw asked, voice trembling.

"He was exiled, never to be seen by any Clan cat again," he explained before standing and flicking his tail in the direction of camp. "Come, we must return home. It's been a long day. I want you to stay far away from Reedpaw, understand, Mistpaw?"

"Yes, Whiteclaw," Mistpaw nodded, following her mentor as they headed back to their camp where Whiteclaw knew Mistpaw would be safe.

"Good." Silence followed Whiteclaw's tone of finality, the duo continuing their journey in silence. After entering the camp, Whiteclaw sent Mistpaw off to rest immediately, explaining how they'd be going on the dawn patrol in the morning so it would be best for her to get as much sleep as she could.

~

Ripplebreeze paced as she waited to be able to talk with Crookedstar. Weaselkit and Duskkit were safely tucked in the moss nest, fast asleep, so she felt comfortable speaking to Crookedstar this late in the night. "Ripplebreeze?" Crookedstar asked, approaching the pacing she-cat. "How can I help you?"

"I need to speak to you, Crookedstar," Ripplebreeze said, a sense of urgency in her tone as the leader nodded, indicating for the queen to follow him to his den where they could talk. "Look, it's about Mistpaw, Nightpaw, and Featherpaw."

"What about them?"

"I want you to reveal this to the Clan." Crookedstar nodded. "Nightpaw, Featherpaw, and Mistpaw are not of RiverClan blood."

"What?"