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

Chapter 14

Clawpaw walked over to the fresh-kill pile and after getting a fish she quietly sat down to eat. Her mouth watered as she bit into the scaly animal and was soon ravenously eating it. She had earlier had a fight with Honeypaw about something trivial, and she was a little agitated. But eating or swimming would sometimes calm her down.

When she had finished the fish, she got up and looked in camp. The stony walls that hid the clearing, the sand that brushed underneath her paws, and the ocean that splashed onto the shore.

Her eyes soon stopped and focused on the tidepools. She looked around, trying to make sure that no one was checking on her when she quietly splashed into the tidepool. After taking a large breath, she went under. The water brushed through her fur, and she felt the seaweed brush her fur, she wiggled her paws and kicked behind her, and that's when she realized how low and shallow the tidepool was. The sand was starting to brush and get stuck on her belly fur. Feeling crowded by all the rocks, coral, and seaweed, she was about to come back to the surface when she was tugged out of the water by the scruff.

She was pulled out of the water and landed onto the sandy floor, soaking wet from swimming in the tidepools. She looked up to see her mentor, Amberbite, glaring at her. "What in the name of StarClan were you doing?" They snapped.

Clawpaw looked down at her paws. "I was just trying to find another way out of camp." She said, looking back at her mentor.

Amberbite blinked in confusion. "Why did you think that you could escape camp by using the tidepools?" Before Clawpaw could answer they just shook their head. "You know what- I don't- I don't really care."

Clawpaw waited for them to continue. When they didn't, she asked, "What are we doing today?" Amberbite only flicked their tail. "Don't worry too much about it right now." They paused. "I guess that you could go talk to the other warriors. So you don't accidentally hurt yourself or something." They muttered before walking over to Riverclaw who was talking to his apprentice.

Clawpaw sighed and went over to the shore, watching as the ocean shimmered from the sun. Since it was greenleaf, it felt very refreshing to cool off from the sun by swimming in the calming ocean. Though Oatblur kept fretting that a cat was going to get drifted off to sea. Though the Clan just told him to shut up so he didn't give the apprentices nightmares.

She sighed, resting her tail on her paws and looked back at the other two apprentices who were sharing prey. "Howlpaw! Honeypaw!" Their mentors shouted, calling them over. The two apprentices stopped and quickly finished and rushed over to their mentors. Clawpaw's whiskers twitched as she saw Honeypaw grab another mouse.

"Clawpaw!" The gray apprentice whirled around to see her mentor, who flicked their tail. "Come on." Clawpaw nodded and followed her mentor out of camp. They soon came upon the training clearing where the apprentices would normally practice their stalking and fighting skills. Amberbite waited for Clawpaw to hurry up. "Today we will practice our fighting techniques." They explained.

Clawpaw nodded and lowered herself to ground in her battle stance. Clawpaw felt growing anxiety start to build up at the thought of unsheathed claws. She didn't want to hurt her mentor. Clawpaw and Amberbite started to circle each other, with narrow eyes. Amberbite studied her anxiety and used it. They leaped and pinned her onto the ground.

With a loud 'oof', she thumped to the sandy ground, feeling the sand scrape and scratch her back as she landed hard. Clawpaw hissed at her mentor and kicked them off by using her back legs to kick their underbelly, careful not to scratch them. Amberbite hissed and swiped at Clawpaw who jumped out of the way and charged for their shoulder.

Amberbite rolled their eyes and dodged the attack, leaping for Clawpaw. Biting down on her fur but not touching the skin, they pulled them down to the ground. Clawpaw growled as Amberbite towered over her yet again, pressing her down. "You got to make sure that your moves aren't so obvious. Your enemy could see you coming and what you're planning in an instant." They said. Clawpaw grumbled as a response.