The Clans Beside the Waves - A Beginning | A ClanGen Story

Chapter 3

Oatpaw stared around the camp, thinking about how his life had already changed. He just... couldn't believe that he was now a part of something that he heard stories about when he was a kit! It just was very surprising. But he was very happy that he wouldn't be alone in his new den. He looked at his denmate, Clawpaw, who was looking at the fresh-kill pile, specifically a shrew, very hungrily. Even if she is a little weird. He thought.

He looked down at the sand that started to poke at her pads. He sighed and looked at the shore were the waves crashed, and he while he understood that the waves were dangerous, the waves lapped onto the sand innocently. He shuddered and looked at the other warriors. Is this really what I want to do? He wondered. Do I want to be a warrior? He sighed and looked down at some fish that on the fresh-kill pile. He sniffed. Do I even want to be a Clan cat? He asked himself. He didn't know if he could answer that.

He sighed again. However, a small shadow covered him and as he looked up, he saw his mentor, Wolfblotch, looking down at him. His ear twitched and he felt very insecure. At first, his mentor was just a normal warrior, and it was perfectly fine. But now she was deputy, maybe even leader one day. He felt like as though he had a lot of expectations given on him now that his mentor was given a high rank. An honor. Oatpaw didn't know if he deserved that. Wolfblotch cocked her head. "Hey, I was thinking that we should do some training together. Maybe work on some battle moves?" She asked.

Oatpaw looked at his mentor. He nodded slightly. "Uh, sure. It would be useful to learn new moves. Especially since we live somewhere completely different." He added, glancing back at the waves that lapped onto the sand. That's when he noticed that Clawpaw was gone. "Wait- where's Clawpaw?" He asked, feeling his fur prickle. Wolfblotch didn't seem too frightened, however. "Amberbite took her out to show her something." She explained. Oatpaw let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, okay." He watched as his mentor started to walk toward the exit, confused. Until he realized that they were leaving, and he scampered over.

Wolfblotch's whiskers twitched. "Did you think that I was randomly leaving you?" She asked. Oatpaw shook his head which started to lower. Wolfblotch frowned and rested her tail onto her apprentice's back soothingly. "Hey, no one is going to leave you behind, okay?" She meowed. "Okay." Oatpaw replied. He tried to raise his head up and Wolfblotch nodded happily. "Come on," She mewed. "Amberbite is going to another one of the tidepools near BubbleClan territory. Let's go practice near the grass." Oatpaw followed his mentor to some softer grass. Though, there were some drier grasses which poked at his paw pads. He tried to ignore it, but it was still a little annoying.

Wolfblotch soon stopped and glanced back at Oatpaw. "This seems like a good start." He crouched low and wiggled her flank. "Alright, I'm an enemy that is coming to attack you directly. What do you do?" She quizzed. Oatpaw frowned, trying to remember. "I- I don't know." He responded. Wolfblotch waited patiently. "Just try something out." She responded. Oatpaw felt himself start to panic. "Um, dodge?" He guessed. Wolfblotch nodded. "Yes, then what?" She asked. Oatpaw calculated what would happen in his head. Well, if I was attacked, I would dodge and attack back? The ginger tom looked back at his deputy. "I would slash at the cat's side." He answered. Wolfblotch shook her head. "No, you would unbalance the attacker." She responded.

Oatpaw frowned. "Unbalance? That doesn't seem to make any sense. I would attack them, so they're wounded." He explained. Wolfblotch flicked her tail. "I'm talking about an attack against you, and you are still a young cat. Your attack would take that to their advantage and would be bigger and stronger than you." She argued. "But if their wounded, then they couldn't fight back! They would have to stop!" He snapped back. Wolfblotch sighed and sat down, her fur started to calm down after bristling. "I'm sorry for my outburst, but if you listen to me, I have a reason." Oatpaw stopped and walked over to her. "Since you are younger and smaller, you could be faster and more agile than your opponent. If you managed to unbalance them, that would make them winded, giving you either another chance to attack or run away." She explained. Oatpaw listened to his mentor and when she finished, he understood where she was coming from. Shame started to spark in his pelt. Why did he have to argue with his mentor, his deputy? Even his future leader? "I understand, and I'm sorry." He mumbled. Wolfblotch smiled and gently licked the apprentice reassuringly. "I'm glad. I'm not trying to harsh on you, I just want to prepare you." She replied. Oatpaw looked back up at his mentor. He smiled, his trust and comfort for the older she-cat started to grow. "Can we continue training?" He asked. Wolfblotch nodded and the two continued training for the rest of the morning before returning home.