Heart Of A Fighter (Book 1): The Story Begins

Chapter 2: Slate and Stone

"What is this herb, Goslingpaw?" The cream and brown apprentice scrunched up her muzzle in concentration and thought for a moment before uttering, "T-Thyme?"

Aldertrail nodded and smiled. "What does it do?" "It..uh..calms a cat down?" Goslingpaw answered, voice quavering with uncertainty.

"You're a fast learner, little gosling. I'm very impressed. Now, what is this herb called?" Her mentor gingerly used a paw to pick up a bunch of small leaves.

Goslingpaw stared hard at it before mewing, "Nettle leaves, they're used to treat swelling." Aldertrail smiled warmly and nodded. She placed the herb back on the storage shelf and purred, "Very good, Goslingpaw."

Goslingpaw forced a smile. She wanted to be out of the Nettlecave so badly! The pungent smell of all the herbs filled her nostrils and made her a bit dizzy.

Her mentor seemed to know what she was thinking and mewed, "You can go out for some fresh air for a moment. Come back afterwards, I'm going to show you the more poisonous herbs."

The she-cat nodded in excitement and quickly pelted out of the cave. She breathed in deeply, relishing the fresh air. Her peace was soon interrupted when one of the other Starpaws, Honeypaw, stalked past and shoved her rudely.

She stumbled slightly but quickly regained her footing, making eye contact with the golden-furred Starpaw before her who stared at her in disdain, eyes narrowed and lip curled in disgust.

"Oops, didn't see you there, goosebrain," she sneered, gazing at her scornfully with eyes like the midnight sky, her soft golden fur spiking up as if she was trying to assert dominance.

Goslingpaw chose to ignore the comment as Azuregale had taught her to hold her tongue unless it was important. She stayed silent, hoping the lack of reaction would bore Honeypaw and send her away.

Honeypaw seemed to take her lack of reaction as a chance to jab at her again, however, and scoffed, "Fine, act like you don't hear me. You're just an ugly goose, wayyyyy too ugly to be a Shine like me. I'll bet you'll fail at being a Nettle too, since you're so stupid."

Goslingpaw wanted to laugh at the insult. She didn't care about being a Starpaw, and she already knew Honeypaw had less than five braincells due to most of her head probably made of air.

She simply strode off, trying to hold in her laughter as Honeypaw, shocked that she'd ignored her 'hurtful' insult, spluttered, "H-Hey! Don't ignore me! Come back here, I'm not done with you yet!"

Suddenly, a different voice called out, "Gos! Over here!" She turned her head to see Slatepaw and Stonepaw sharing tongues nearby, their blue and yellow eyes gazing at her.

Slatepaw gestured for her to come over, and she gladly obliged, smiling with satisfaction as she heard Honeypaw having a hissy fit behind her.

Slatepaw and Stonepaw were two of the more sensible toms in the clan. They'd defended Goslingpaw since young from the other toms and some of the boastful, airheaded she-cats and had become friends with her as well.

Goslingpaw settled down beside her friends and Stonepaw grinned before saying, "You really showed Honeypaw who's boss! Especially since she's one of the most spoiled and bratty cats in the clan, seeing her face was hilarious!"

Goslingpaw grinned and answered, "Well duh! She needs constant compliments to inflate her ego just to make up for her lack of a functioning brain!" The three apprentices shared a laugh at the comment.

"So, how's training as a Littlepaw going?" Slatepaw asked. "It's a little boring, but Aldertrail's going to show me some poisonous herbs later! How about you?"

Stonepaw grimaced and tucked his head into his fluffy tail in a show of embarrassment and frustration. Slatepaw sighed at this and Goslingpaw braced herself for his answer.

"Not going well. Stormslash left halfway to mate with one of the Shines, I think she's called Minkstripe, and I caught them in the old badger set. He warned me not to say a word or I'd be forced to become a Littlepaw."

Goslingpaw gaped at her friend in disbelief. "Doesn't he have a mate already? Cottonsong? She's pregnant, right?"

The brown Titanpaw sighed, drawing a paw over his ear. "You know how twisted Cougarstar's mind is. The full-grown Claws can do whatever they want here, the she-cats' opinions don't matter."

Goslingpaw nodded in agreement and turned to Slatepaw. "How about you, Slate?"

Slatepaw shook out his silver and white fur and let out a loud groan. "I swear to the Crown Spirits, if another Starpaw approaches me AGAIN, I'm going to lose it! They clearly don't know what 'I don't care how you look like' means!"

Stonepaw laughed hysterically, curling his brown tail around his paws before he turned to Goslingpaw. "Your sister tried approaching him for whatever Shine practice and wouldn't stop nuzzling him! It was hilarious!"

Goslingpaw snickered as the silvery tomcat swatted Stonepaw over the head.

"It's not funny! She only stopped when I threatened to tell Cougarstar and even then she was still so confident because she's the self-proclaimed 'cat of the prophecy'. Like I care!"

Goslingpaw felt a prickle of unease as she remembered the time the prophecy was brought up, that was when her mother decided right there and then Swanpaw mattered more than Goslingpaw ever would.

Stonepaw gave him a swat over the head and Slatepaw immediately covered his mouth with a paw, baby blue eyes wide in alarm. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to strike a nerve!" 

She cracked a weak smile and sighed, "It's okay, really. I've got Azuregale and you guys, that's enough for me."

The toms smiled awkwardly before they heard Aldertrail call, "Goslingpaw! Come here!"

The cream and brown she-cat replied, "Coming!" And bade good bye to the two Titanpaws before streaking back to the Nettlecave.