CotS #1: The Dark Path (currently being rewritten)

Chapter Twenty-two

To be honest, I adjusted to life pretty well here. I liked not having Duckstep as my mentor. It had only been a day, but Duckstep was awful! Dawnsight was a little like Lovegrass, but not so ruthless. She was fierce on the battlefield, but fiercely loyal and protective. Not Lovegrass mean.

I trained with Swanflutter a lot, and they were surprised at how much a match we were. Of course we were. I was even better than her – for StarClan's sake, I trained her!

I could anticipate Swanflutter, but I made my moves go haywire. It was distracting, but so unpredictable that Swanflutter could never catch up. Tawnyrose and Dawnsight would watch in awe, and sometimes Tawnyrose would say that literally all Dawnsight would need to teach me was swimming and catching fish, and I would be done. Swanflutter, too. She wasn't up to my standard – it was funny saying that from an apprentice's point of view – but she was the normal warrior standard.

We went to the river. This was where I struggled. I'd never swam before in my first lifetime, so I had no experience regarding this. Still, the waters were cooling and it felt natural. I was still getting used to the taste of fish, but it grew on me. I'd never forget my favorite thrush, though.

"Into the water," Dawnsight called, and I groaned. "Come on, Silverpaw, you have to learn this," Dawnsight scolded. "There's not much else I can teach you. How old are you again?"

"Six moons and a few days?" I guessed.

"What?" Dawnsight asked. "But you're so good."

"I'm a fast learner," I said defensively, and she purred.

"Well, do that for swimming too!" she said. "I'll need to give you a swimming assessment, and then you can be a warrior."

Swanflutter overheard this. "Silverpaw just became an apprentice a few days ago."

Dawnsight shrugged. "But there's nothing else she needs to learn."

"You know what I am," I told her. I meant like, a fast learner, and that was what Dawnsight interpreted, but Swanflutter knew I meant that I was Stormdawn and this was perfectly normal.

Unfortunately, Swanflutter almost drowned that day. She hated the water, really hated it, and tried her best to swim but couldn't. I pitied her. The water came naturally to me. I wondered why. I'd hated swimming as Stormdawn, but maybe these were instincts that came from Silverpaw.

"You swim well," Dawnsight commented. "Who are your parents?"

"Frogleap and Coriandermist," I said. I'd almost said Peacewind and Root.

"Oh, that's why," Dawnsight meowed. "Frogleap used to be one of our own, but he fell in love with ... wait... Coriandermist? I thought he loved Ashenface."

"He did," I said. "They had Darkwind, Oakbark and Lilypool together, but then they broke up. Coriandermist and Frogleap and Ashenface are all dead, Ashenface went onto a killing rampage. She killed our former deputy, Stormdawn."

"Oh, I heard about Stormdawn!" Dawnsight meowed brightly. "My mother named me after her, if you'll believe it. Dawn."

Oh, wait, what? Dawnsight? Named after me? Or former me? This was all too confusing! Why would a mother name her daughter after me?

"You look like her," said Dawnsight. "I only caught glimpses of her across the border when I was Dawnpaw, but you two are identical."

"Hey! I'm here to join you for swimming!"