The Curse ★ Warriorcats Fanfiction

★Chapter 5★

"Now today Mudpaw, we're going to be doing the most important job as an apprentice!" Whitefoot chirped, his cheerful words meaning to reassure the brawny apprentice.

"And that is...?" Mudpaw asked, leaning closer towards his mentor, a burning and hungry drive gleaming in his deep blue optics.

"Picking off elders' ticks!" Whitefoot purred, his amber eyes a bit dodgy. "It's crucial we ensure our elders are kept happy and healthy!" The apprentice groaned as soon as the cat spoke.

I'm on tick duty? Seriously? Can't the elders pick off their own ticks?

"But Whitefo-" He began, opening his jaws in protest.

"Nope! There's no time for moping around. Those poor elders need YOUR help!" The much older tabby tom meowed, looking down upon his apprentice with hope, trying to spark an empathetic place in Mudpaws heart.

"Look, I care for elders and all- yada yada yada, but I'm sort of in a bet with Violetpaw right now for who can catch the most impressive prey! Come on Whitefoot, isn't pride important too?"

The mentor sighed, leaning back into his grassy spot between the withering trees above, shading his disappointment beneath the oaks shadow. "Mudpaw," he started, this time more stern. "Go do it, now."

Mudpaw sighed, his hench brown shoulders tensing as he fought back the rage burning inside of him. This stinks! I didn't get adopted by clan cats to do this!

The apprentice clasped his paws deeply into the soily dirt beneath him, molding his paw prints into the earth, clawing out chunks as he stood in protest to his mentor's orders. "FIIIINE!" He chuckled, releasing his strong grip on the ground. Obeying the authority figure stood before him, he raised his head to meet eyes with the passionate orange haze of Whitefoot

"That's the Mudpaw I know!" Whitefoot grinned, "Now let's go! I'll race ya!"

Whitefoot set off briskly, his elegant slick frame dashing through the Thunderclan thicket. "Hey! That's not fair!!" Mudpaw ended the trail of words with a childish giggle, pressing his muscled haunches into the dirt before springing up and running after the sleek white-footed tabby.

He felt himself come to a halt all of a sudden as a deep pain ached in his pad, tumbling over his paws as he rolled down the forest's ditch before smashing into a log.

"WHITEEEEFOOOOOOT!" He yowled, the apprentice staring down at his throbbing paw in agony. A thorn had buried far into his pad, fitting quite snugly into Mudpaw's foot.

Whitefoot turned quickly, rushing back to the aid of his apprentice, sensing something was wrong, "Hm? You alright?" Mudpaw glared up at Whitefoot.

"Of course something's wrong! Look at my paw!" The apprentice lifted his foot to reveal the painful thorn, expecting a look of disbelief from his mentor.

"Oh Mudpaw, stop being so dramatic!" He chuckled softly, "We'll get you down to Blueshine and you'll be fine and dandy!"

"I SWEAR MAN- THIS IS THE WORST THING I'VE EVER EXPERIENCED!" Mudpaw screeched, behaving as if he had just caught yellow fever. "C'mere Mud', Let's get back to camp." He laughed, rolling his eyes teasingly.

The two arrived back at Thunderclan's home, Mudpaw groaning with each limping step. "Oh Blueshine!" Whitefoot called, "Mudpaw got his first paw thorn!" He smirked.

Blueshine rose from her den with an amused expression, "Ah, I see." She meowed, "Come on in Mudpaw, I'll get you all fixed up." She smiled warmly, inviting the apprentice into her den with a slight flick of the tail. The tom approached leisurely, a little 'ouch' following every step.

A tom approaching,

Blueshine gazed down at the well built tom, holding back a giggle as she surveyed the apprentices "immense" pain. "So what happened to you, little warrior?" She inquired, setting Mudpaw down in one of the nests.

"I-I was just running, y'know enjoying my day- then this EVIL thorn decided to stab my foot with the power of a million claws!" He wailed between gasps of pain, his darker brows angled sharply downwards and tensing as he spoke to signify his angry outlook on the situation.

"Although, it did get me out of tick duty!" He added in a cheerful tone at the end, describing his relief to be free from the task.

"Lucky you then!" She purred, enjoying the character of the apprentice's presence. It really lit up her mood, considering yesterday's fateful events. "Yeah, I guess," He weakly smiled.

Blueshine crouched down to get a look at the tom's paw, "Ah, I'll get this out in no time," she reassured, grooming his paw to ease the pain. The she provided Mudpaw with a stick, "Bite down on this if it gets too painful, bud."

"Oh, I won't need that! I'm brave!" Mudpaw responded, puffing out his chest pridefully as if he wasn't yelping helplessly a minute ago.

Steadily, Blueshine lowered her head to the apprentice's paw, clasping her jaws tightly onto the sharp thorn. She yanked, pulling it out with her teeth, the thorn slowly sliding out of his paw pad.

Mudpaw yowled in pain, breaking the stick in half in mere seconds. He wriggled helplessly, his entire body squirming in discomfort.

Mudpaw finally let out a sigh of relief as Blueshine craned her head back, spitting out the bloodied thorn. He leaned back into the wall of the den, purring.

"Blueshine, you're a savior!" He breathed, grinning.

"Thank you so much!" He added, sitting up quickly, only to slam his smaller head into the back of the den. The wall collapsed down, creating a hole in the medicine den.

"Well, guess I'll be doing more than tick duty tonight," He groaned, gazing at the gaping gouged out den in disbelief and rubbing his head spitefully.

Blueshine let out a light-hearted mrrow of laughter at the tom's clumsiness.

"You're an interesting apprentice, I like you- but yes, you will still have to patch up my den!"