Warriors | A Prophecy Reborn: Book 2. (A Path Beyond Stars)

~A Path Beyond Stars: Chapter 29~

"Reedtail?" asked Coldpaw. "Reedtail?"
Reedtail shook her head and stared at her apprentice in the spare den. She looked around, wondering what had just happened.
"You said we should check to see if it's too wet to spar?" Coldpaw asked.
Reedtail shuddered and looked around once more, remembering her camp. What in StarClan was that about?
"Reedtail," Coldpaw groaned, slightly more impatient. "Are we going or not?"
"Er- Yes, sorry," Reedtail said quickly. "Let's go. Hmm... Let me know if you smell anything strange while we're out."
Coldpaw looked confused, but nodded and followed her outside the camp.
When they left, they could smell nothing odd. No scent of carrion, no scent of ShadowClan or rogues. Though, sadly, the sparring place was too wet, so they went to patrol the borders and hoped to meet Ashpelt and Frostpaw along the way.
An odd scent wandered up Reedtail's nostrils and she stopped. She thought for a horrible moment that her dream had been a vision, but thankfully the smell was not that of a dead cat, but that of a living mouse hiding under a dead leaf.
Coldpaw stopped a quick second later, his ears pricked. He dropped into a crouch.
Reedtail quietly took a step back and watched as he searched for the mouse. A few short moments after, he pounced on the dead leaf and clawed up a mouse, killing it swiftly with his claws.
"Well done," Reedtail praised. Coldpaw smiled and began to bury his prey so they could return for it later. "You're getting better at hunting," she said once he'd finished. "Once this rain stops, we'll see if Spidertail and Brackenpaw have time to spar."
"Brackenpaw will have time," Coldpaw said bitterly. "Spidertail won't."
Reedtail went to protest, but Coldpaw spoke first.
"He's such a lazy mentor!" her apprentice growled. "Brackenpaw and I have both learned more from you than he would've on his own with Spidertail."
"Even so, I can't change who his mentor is," Reedtail pointed out calmly. "That's up to Fernfeather and Stonestar to decide."
"Stonestar's weak," she heard him mutter. Reedtail frowned and was about to protest, but decided to leave the matter. She would deal with it when it got worse.
Eventually, after a quick hunt and patrolling their part of the border, they came across Spidertail storming off back in the direction of camp, shoving Brackenpaw ahead of him as a cloud of rage covered his face.
"Hurry up, you!" Spidertail growled. Brackenpaw stubbornly stood in his place, but Spidertail shoved him forward again.
"What are you doing?" Reedtail demanded.
"I didn't-" Brackenpaw began, but Spidertail cut him off with a sharp hiss, shoving him forward again.
"He scared the prey!" Spidertail said after a slight hesitation.
"You seem awfully worried about that," Reedtail retorted.
"I didn't scare anything away!" Brackenpaw insisted as his mentor shoved him toward camp. "I saw-"
"Move!" Spidertail hissed, shoving him forward again, this time knocking him over.
Brackenpaw fell on his side with a grunt. Reedtail growled and stepped forward. "What is your problem?" she demanded. "He's an apprentice! Stonestar and Fernfeather trusted you to train him, and instead you're forcing him back to camp just because he accidentally scared some prey?"
Spidertail turned on her and growled, unsheathing his claws. "You will not tell me how to train my apprentice," he said through gritted teeth. "Mind your business and let me work."
Reedtail lashed her tail, then turned to Coldpaw, who had ran over to help his brother up. "Come with me, you two," she ordered. "We're going to find Ashpelt and Frostpaw. Spidertail can hunt on his own, or he can go back to camp and complain about his awful mentor skills, if we should even call them skills."
Coldpaw followed her, sitting down to wait for Brackenpaw, who got up and shot a scornful glance back at his mentor before following.
If this goes on much longer, Reedtail thought as they followed the border, I'll make sure Spidertail gets his apprentice taken away to someone more responsible, and he can be as angry as he likes. It will not change anything.