Willowbounce's Tale

Chapter 29

Chapter 29

    Willowbounce waited in absolute silence in the undergrowth surrounding the training clearing. She had come up with an idea that Bloodstar had done to her on her first day of battle training. Except, she would do it better, because she wasn't him. A while later, Shadedpaw arrived on time. He paused at the rim of the clearing, noticing no one was there. Willowbounces ears were pricked as she watched her apprentice gaze around the clearing looking for her. She smirked as she rushed out from the bushes and tried to pounce on her apprentice. She was surprised when he jumped to the side, dodging her attack. Willowbounce landed with a thud on her chest.
"Ow..." She said. She got to her paws quickly and padded a few tail lengths in front of her apprentice, into the clearing.
"How did you know..." Willowbounce started, her voice slightly hushed as she tried to catch her breath from her tough fall. Her apprentice sat down in front of her.
"I felt my fur perk up like they were trying to tell me something, and I leaped to the side, hoping the air would brush it down."
"Huh, strange." Willowbounce said, "Well, I was thinking of doing what Bloodst..." Willowbounce fell short on her words and lowered her gaze slightly, casting a shadow over her eyes from her head fur. Mouse-brain! Why would you mention him...She thought, scolding herself. Shadedpaw had lowered his head slightly as well.
"...What my mentor did to me on my first day of battle training, hide in a bush and wait for you to come, make you think I was late, and walk out of the bush a bit after you arrive. But I chose to pounce on you out of the bushes, try to sharpen your senses. Though it appears that you have a very interesting new sense." Willowbounce finished. Willowbounce got into a defensive position, smiling and ready to have fun. When Shadedpaw looked up, a small grin appeared on his muzzle.
"Bring it on." He said, getting to his paws. Shadedpaw lunged at her, but Willowbounce saw it coming a mile away. She sidestepped before he had the chance to land on her. Spinning around she swiped him across his cheek, since he was temporarily distracted by his miss. He'll get faster reflexes the more we train. I did, and so will he. She thought. Shadedpaw jumped on Willowbounces back and started sending blows to her left side. He was trying to knock her over. But Willowbounce knew better. She quickly shook the tom off. But Shadedpaw recovered quicker than she thought he would. The only time I've seen a cat recover that quickly was with Bloodstar...She thought absentmindedly. Before she could react, Shadedpaw leaped at her and charged her side, sending her crashing to the ground with a hard blow. That actually hurt, and knocked the breath out of Willowbounce. She was just out of breath, but she was ok. Willowbounce gazed at her apprentice, about to congratulate him, but stopped short when she saw his expression. He had a look of fear and horror on his face. He looked dazed from hitting her so hard. Before she could catch her breath to say anything, Shadedpaw bounded out of the clearing back towards camp.
"Sh-Shadedpaw-!" She heaved, trying to stop him. But it was no use, the tom wasn't listening to her and was well on his way. Willowbounce sighed and hung her head. She finally pushed herself to her paws, the breath back in her. She shook the sand from her pelt. Willowbounce wanted to move to go after him, but her paws felt frozen to the spot.
"Always a failure...you'll never amount to anything Willowbounce!" An eerily familiar voice said from behind her. Willowbounce swung her head, and as she did, she was no longer in the training hollow, but in the Dark Forest. Her breath quickened and she began to panic. She had movement in her paws again, so she spun around her claws unsheathing on all fours and her fangs bared. Even though she was practically shaking in fear, Willowbounce kept her position, knowing just how dangerous of a situation she was in right now. Low and behold, the spirit of Direpaw appeared. His pelt was outlined in red, his ear spot stained with some black substance. His throat gash was blackened out by the black substance as well. His pelt from the middle of his legs down was filthy from the dirty Dark Forest. His eyes were all black except for a piercing yellow orb in the middle containing a thin pupil. Willowbounce had to admit, he looked slightly more threatening now. He padded up to her, though he was still apprentice sized so he had to look up only slightly to meet her gaze.
"We are not finished with what we started. I promised I would make your life miserable and I'm going to live up to that!" He snarled. Willowbounce's panic had left and she only felt her returning rage. She was silent for a few heartbeats.
"Get out of my sight, Direpaw." She hissed under her breath. Direpaw looked at her like she was joking. She snarled and suddenly swiped at him, leaving a scratch across his muzzle. He looked slightly taken aback, then he went to lunge at her. Regaining her Dark Forest energy quicker than she thought she would, Willowbounce focused behind him and blinked. And in an instant, she was there. Direpaw looked confused and swung his head around to look at her. Willowbounce was glaring menacingly at him. She only broke her gaze for a moment to look at her reflection in a puddle of blood. She realized she no longer had the black sclera and white pupils of a visiting Dark Forest cat, but rather her eyes were black with ice blue orbs in the middle, and a thin pupil in the center. She staggered back in horror. Looking at her paws she noticed they suddenly had a red outline. Willowbounce began to hyperventilate like she couldn't breathe. Her paws splashed in a puddle of blood and she slipped, too disoriented to think.
"We have a spot just for you Willowbounce...I'll be waiting..." Direpaw said as her vision started to fade.

Willowbounce woke with a jolt in the training clearing. She was breathing heavily and she was looking around wildly. Once she realized where she was she stood up, only to find her pelt drenched from the underbelly down in blood and mud. She gasped in horror. Tears rushed to Willowbounces eyes as she began to sob. She began to bound towards the lakeshore, forgetting about Deathclan and just how dangerous this was right now. Willowbounce raced through the trees with tears streaming down her face and flying off her pelt as she ran. Once she made it to the lakeshore, she jumped in the shallow water so the small, lapping waves could wash her pelt. She sobbed as she stood there, her fur getting soaked to the bone and the debris being expelled from her pelt.
"I..am not one of them..." She murmured to herself repeatedly through her sobs.
Eventually, her pelt was cleaned and Willowbounce dragged her paws back onto the land. She felt so broken and empty from her nightmare and all her crying. She waited a long while before deciding to go back to camp, once her pelt was dry of course. Willowbounce was dragging her paws back to camp, she felt absolutely terrible. I promised Icefoot I'd never go back there...but they took me...And I saw myself...I truly am, nothing but a monster...She thought hopelessly.

    When Willowbounce arrived back in camp, she plopped herself down on the sunning rocks and fell asleep, desperate to get away from her memories.