**OLD** Valley Cats: Of Sky and Stone 1- Daughters and Darkness

Chapter Eighteen

 "Well? Aren't you glad to see me?" Brightpaw demanded.

 "Seriously? You're training here, too?" Twisterpaw managed.

 "Well, yeah. Daisypaw brought me here last night. It's pretty cool, right?" he circled around, flinging up a few clouds of mist.

 "All right, you two. It's time you met everyone." A pale gray speckled tom spoke from atop the tallest boulder. "I'm Wolfstride, one of the top living mentors. And this is my sister, Lynxpounce. We're both senior warriors of GroveClan." he nodded at a long-clawed she-cat beside him.

 "We're going to teach you how to fight. But why don't all of the apprentices get to know each other first?" he beckoned with his tail. "Come on then, don't be shy."

 Brightpaw blindly stepped towards the strange cats, plopping down in front of Wolfstride. Another pale apprentice silently hunched over beside him, and Twisterpaw recognized Possumpaw from MeadowClan, and the two small, grayish toms from DeltaClan. The fiesty ConiferClan apprentice, Oriolepaw, was also here with her brother, Wrenpaw. And pushing his way to the front was Adderpaw of GroveClan, Daisypaw by his side.

 Twisterpaw recognized all of them from previous gatherings. She had talked with them about the weather, or news in the Clans. But none of them were evil, right? The worst things they did were pulling harmless pranks on their Clanmates. They were just dreaming in the Frozen Forest to be closer to their mentors and learn how to protect their Clan, right?

 The black-and-white she-cat felt suspicion crawling up her spine as she cautiously settled down next to her brother, who was excitedly chatting with the rambunctious Adderpaw.

 "Shut it, you two." Lynxpounce snarled, her cold voice cutting through the frigid clearing. "Wolfstride is talking now!"

 The pale gray tom nodded from atop his perch. "Thank you, sister. As for the nine of you, I've heard reports of your excellent progress. We've agreed that you can be trusted to train together. For now, ignore the spirits watching. Forget everything you were taught about combat. Here, we use our teeth and claws. We don't show mercy. And we're going to teach you how to fight like real warriors." he said ominously.

 Brightpaw and Adderpaw both chirped with joy, but Twisterpaw stared at the ground. She could feel the dead cats watching them like hawks, but she fought the urge to look back at them. Their eyes were creepy. In fact, everything about them was creepy. Actually, the whole place was creepy.

 Wolfstride lectured on about power and fear, but she wasn't listening. Of course she wanted to earn the affection of her mentor and brother. Maybe she could even impress a few of her friends from other Clans. But not like this. It was dishonorable and shady.

 But if she gave up now... what would they think of her?

 "Twisterpaw, what did I tell you! Use your teeth!" Crowpelt hissed.

 The she-cat scurried down the tree trunk, landing neatly on all four paws. "I know, I know. I tried, but it ran away." she said irritably.

 "Again, your claws! You're always relying on your claws! If your paws get cut off in battle-"

 "I don't think that's going to happen any time soon." she rolled her eyes. "And this isn't combat, Crowpelt. We're just hunting."

 "What's all this yelling over here?" Dovetail poked her head out of the bushes. "You're scaring off the prey! Could you please fight a little quieter?"

 "Sorry, Dovetail. I'll try to make him yell at me less loudly." Twisterpaw said sarcastically. Crowpelt let out a growl of annoyance.

 She shot a glare at the dark gray tom before prancing into the bushes. On the other side, Twisterpaw located a tree and began digging at the roots where she had buried a blue jay. For once, she wasn't clawing at snow. The ground showed off wet mud where the ice had held it prisoner over the season. And in the warmest spots, blades of green grass pioneered through the dirt. The air was still cold and wet, but there were signs of the coming newleaf season.