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

Chapter 3: Petal Markings

Goslingpaw treaded over to the prey pile, her belly growling with hunger. The whole morning, Aldertrail had showed her all the herbs to use for treating patients and she'd give the young apprentice a tour of the territory later to see the best herb locations.

She snatched up a squirrel and quickly carried it over to the Fallen Log to eat. Settling down comfortably, she was about to take a bite of the plump critter when suddenly, a russet paw snatched it away.

"Hey-!" She glanced up to see Beetlescar and Lichenfrost towering over her, smug smirks on their faces. "Oops, sorry, kit, but this squirrel is ours now," sneered Lichenfrost as she sauntered off with her brother, the plump squirrel hanging from his jaws.

Goslingpaw gritted her teeth with anger and got to her paws, hurtling after them. She wanted to eat something that would actually fill her belly for once, not a puny mouse or a scraggly crow!

She halted in front of them and shouted, "Give me back my squirrel!" The royal twins looked at each other and burst out laughing.

"Look at that, the tiny midget trying to stand up for herself!" Beetlescar leaned closer and snarled, "Pathetic she-cat, you dare to yell at us, Cougarstar's children? Have you no shame?"

Goslingpaw was having a hard time trying not to tell Beetlescar his breath stank of dung.

Many eyes were in them now; Goslingpaw knew she was no match for the two royal pains; they were like thrice her size! But she knew something had to be done. The squirrel had been hers; she took it first! She was supposed to be able to eat it without this kind of problem!

She wasn't surprised to see many cats staring at her with pity and alarm as well. It was no big surprise that not many clan cats, tom or she-cat, liked the royal siblings as well; they could do whatever they liked and whenever they wanted.

Most of the Claws watched with interest, intrigued to see what would happen next. The Nettles and the Shines watched with horror.

The Titanpaws were whispering smugly to each other, and Goslingpaw heard one of them, Lionpaw, say, "That stupid Littlepaw is too weak to do anything!"

The Starpaws had mixed reactions, some horrified and fearful while others were smug. Slatepaw and Stonepaw crouched together near the Nettlecave, eyes wide with fear.

Goslingpaw felt anger crash like tidal waves in her belly when she saw her sister Swanpaw and their mother Dovetail smirking smugly at her, silently challenging her to fight back and embarrass herself.

"Time to put my vocal cords to good use," Goslingpaw thought as she flattened her ears, pinned her tail to her body and took a deep breath.

She had strangely been gifted with rather powerful vocal abilities and sharp hearing since young, and was able to raise her voice to alarming levels with no issue.

No cat was able to ever explain why.

She wasn't sure if what she'd do would work, but it was worth a try. Beetlescar rolled his eyes while Lichenfrost snickered upon witnessing this and said, "What, are you gonna cry or throw a tantrum, little cry-kit Littlepa-"

The two were completely taken aback when Goslingpaw suddenly screamed at the top of her lungs, "I SAID GIVE ME THE SQUIRREL BACK! I TOOK IT FIRST, NOT YOU!"

Almost every cat within hearing range immediately covered their ears or buried their heads into their paws as her shrill voice echoed through camp.

Lichenfrost covered her ears in alarm and Beetlescar jumped. Goslingpaw glared at them, her sides heaving in and out. She suddenly felt a strange burning sensation on her throat, but dismissed it as a strain on her vocal chords.

"My ears!" Groaned Lichenfrost, wincing in agony. Her brother, unfortunately, seemed more livid than alarmed at her scream. "You little punk! You dare to yell at us and command us?!"

He raised a paw, claws unsheathed and glittering under the sun. Goslingpaw stood her ground, but her legs shook slightly in fear.

A shadow was cast over them all of a sudden, and the three cats turned to see Azuregale standing over them, his eyes glinting with malice.

"Commander Azuregale!" Goslingpaw hurriedly bowed to her foster father, while the royal twins reluctantly dipped their heads.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, Crown Heirs Lichenfrost and Beetlescar," Azuregale snarled, saying their names like they were a bad taste in his mouth. "But didn't the two of you say the other day that prey is first come, first served? I saw that Goslingpaw took the squirrel first, did she not?"

Goslingpaw then remembered that the two russet furred twins had gotten into a spat with two Claws over prey, and they'd loudly declared that prey was first come first served as they'd been at the prey pile before the Claws.

Lichenfrost spluttered, trying to come up with an excuse while Beetlescar stared at Azuregale in disbelief.

The silver furred deputy had a photographic memory and clearly remembered every event that happened before.

"W-well, we're the royal heirs of BlazeClan! She's just a lowly Littlepaw, and she dared to challenge us!" Beetlescar protested.

Azuregale narrowed his eyes. "I'm sure you'd do the same if another cat stole prey from you, correct?" The twins scowled and glared at Goslingpaw before throwing the squirrel down and stomping away.

The rest of the clan returned back to their regular conversations and Azuregale gently used his tail to guide his foster daughter away after he picked up the fresh kill.

"My dear gosling, are you okay?" The clan deputy asked once he dropped the squirrel. Goslingpaw shuffled her paws nervously and nodded. Was she going to get in trouble?

Azuregale lifted her chin up with a claw, covering her smaller form with his bigger silver tail and looked at her, before meowing, "You are a brave cat, Goslingpaw. But maybe try not to pursue such a small matter."

The Littlepaw's fur bristled. "It's not a small matter! I took the prey first!"

Azuregale stared at her sternly and answered, "There is enough prey for you to choose from in the pile. There's no need to make a huge fuss over a mere squirrel."

Goslingpaw fell silent and sighed. The pattering of paws suddenly filled the air as Slatepaw and Stonepaw suddenly stampeded over. "Gos! You okay?!" They asked in unison.

Azuregale snorted in amusement and Goslingpaw felt her ear tips burn with embarrassment. "I'm fine..." she mumbled. The two Titanpaws sighed in relief, but their eyes soon widened again in confusion.

"Um...Gos?" "What?" "Since when did you have petals under your eyes?"

Goslingpaw's eyes widened and felt her face with a paw. Azuregale immediately moved her head so he could have a glance too, and immediately his eyes went wide as well.

"What happened?! What do you mean by petals under my eyes?!" Goslingpaw demanded shakily.

Stonepaw gestured to a puddle of water nearby and she slowly treaded there, dreading to know what her foster father and her friends had seen.

Upon reaching the puddle, she peered curiously into it, and gasped in a mixture of shock and disbelief when she saw her reflection.

Under her eyes were markings like flower petals that were white as snow, and next to her eyes were five sparkling white dots that glinted like twin suns.