Lurking Shadows - Specklepaw/ Pigeonfeather POV

Chapter 11

Specklepaw padded past Jaguarpaw and Blazepaw, heading towards a tree further away - with her mentor Foxfern.
“Dig your claws in hard and pull yourself up to the branch.” Her mentor instructed. Specklepaw bunched her muscles and dug her claws into a hollow in the large oak tree. She pulled herself up to the lowest branch of the oak tree and gazed down at the ground not far below her.
“Right, now grab your forepaws onto the branch above you and climb up.” Foxfern called. Specklepaw nervously grabbed onto the branch above her and climbed onto it.
Specklepaw carried on climbing the tree until she was near the top and Foxfern was only a small dot below her. She tried not  to to shiver at being up so high. At Foxfern's instructions, Specklepaw carefully picked her way down the tree.
“That was great!” Specklepaw said, forcing her pelt to smooth. She was relieved to be on steady ground once again.

A loud thump sounded from nearby.
“What was that?” Specklepaw asked, her pelt prickling with apprehension.
“I'm not sure, we should check it out.” Foxfern replied, concern flashing in her emerald eyes.

Foxfern and Specklepaw emerged into a grassy clearing. A silver body was slumped on the floor. Dread coursed through Specklepaw. “No,” she gasped, “It- It's Jaguarpaw.” She could hardly stop herself from sobbing.
“No. No. It can't be. He'll be okay, right?”
Falconsoar padded over,
“He'll be fine Specklepaw. He only fell out of a tree.” She soothed, though Specklepaw could see that she was worried about her apprentice.
“Only fell out of a tree. Only!” Specklepaw said sarcastically. She sat down near Jaguarpaw and waited, anxiously, for help to arrive.

Paws thrummed into the clearing. Maplepaw's and Whiteberry's brown pelts flashed through the bushes as they emerged into the clearing. Whiteberry lay down a herb wrap and tilted her head, possibly surveying the damage.
“Will he be okay?” Specklepaw asked, unable to keep a tremor out of her voice.
“Of course. I have seen many apprentices who have fallen out of trees in my time.” Whiteberry replied. Maplepaw and Whiteberry sniffed Jaguarpaw over. Suddenly, his silver head slowly lifted off the pile of leaves. “Can you stand up?” Whiteberry asked him.
“I think so,” Jaguarpaw croaked. Specklepaw hurried to meet her brother and sniffed his shoulder. Does it hurt a lot?  She wondered.
“Ow!” He complained.
“Sorry!” Specklepaw mewed, quickly providing support for her brother. Falconsoar, tail drooping, told everybody to go back to camp and get Jaguarpaw settled in the medicine den.

Specklepaw sat next to Falconsoar as Jaguarpaw curled his tail over his nose and fell asleep. Falconsoar looked upset. Does she feel guilty that Jaguarpaw fell out of a tree? It can't be her fault! She seems to care for Jaguarpaw a lot though. It's just a mentor and apprentice relationship though, isn't it? Or is it? Specklepaw questioned herself.
"You should go before Whiteberry or Thistledawn spot you. They like to be given lots of space. You can see him tomorrow. Besides, they'll claw your eyes off if they see you,” Maplepaw said calmly, however Specklepaw could see worry glinting in her eyes for Jaguarpaw.

Specklepaw trotted outside, slitting her eyes against the sunlight.
“We didn't finish our training session from earlier. We have time to finish it before sunset,” Foxfern meowed, spotting Specklepaw. Before she could protest, Foxfern padded towards the camp entrance.

“This is a birch tree,” Foxfern said, “It's bark is smooth so you should jump higher. Therefore, you won't have to grip on to the bark.” Specklepaw fought to keep her pelt from pricking with fear. I don't want to fall out if the tree! What if I die? Or become crippled forever? Jaguarpaw was lucky!  She thought, staring up at the towering tree in front of her. No I- I can't do this. Specklepaw turned around to speak to Foxfern about this. “Ummmmmmmm….. Foxfern. I saw the fresh kill pile was low; maybe we should go hunting instead?” Specklepaw blurted out.
“….Sure.” Her mentor replied, clearly hesitating.

Specklepaw proudly trotted into camp with a plump squirrel - a great catch for the time of the year! Proudly, she shared her catch with Blazepaw, casting a sad glance towards the medicine den ( where she knew Jaguarpaw was). Blazepaw, cheerfully, chatted on obliviously. The sky turned crimson as Specklepaw and Blazepaw shared the squirrel. The sun was setting.
“I'm on dawn patrol tommorow.” Specklepaw mewed, “I'm going to my nest now. See you tomorrow.”
"Ok, see you tomorrow!" Blazepaw called over his shoulder.