Warrior Cats: A Twoleg Kit

Chapter Two

Dewpaw opened her light green eyes tiredly and stared at the crack in the roof of the den. She tried to turn but her shoulder ached so much that she instead let out a loud yowl. Instantly the golden head of Goldear rose and turned to face the wounded apprentice, eyes open in alarm. The medicine cat rushed up quickly and ran to the grey she-cat's side.

Goldear pressed a paw to her patient's shoulder, "Are you okay?" She asked, her voice laced with concern. Dewpaw nodded slowly and carefully lifted herself up, dropping moss and feathers down her sides. Her paws became dirty quickly. "I'm okay," she started as she began to flatten her fur out, "You're a great medicine cat, Goldear."

"I'm just doing my best. But you'll need some rest for the remainder of the day. And go easy on that shoulder, you can train but don't overdo it."

She spoke her thanks to white, black and gold she-cat. As Dewpaw walked towards the den entrance she flicked her tail in farewell and pointed her face to the warm sky.

It was already sunhigh when Dewpaw stepped outside. A strong greenleaf wind blew around her and the smell of fresh-kill filled her senses. Snowpaw and Ferretpaw were busy fetching moss to repair the dens Dewpaw and Amberpaw had broken. Ferretpaw, at the sight of Dewpaw, narrowed his eyes with slight hatred whilst Snowpaw merely flicked her tail as they walked by. Dewpaw wanted to tell them that it wasn't her fault but she saved her breath, they wouldn't listen to her, not when Amberpaw was such an amazing storyteller.

The apprentice bounded over to the fresh-kill pile, tore out a small minnow and helped herself. She gave a quick glance past her shoulder to see Oakfoot crawl into the nursery, no doubt to check on Flowerdawn. He hadn't left her side all week, she'd only just announced she was having kits. Dewpaw gulped down another chunk of the minnow.

The grey shadow of a cat bounded over to her and shoved her roughly aside. Amberpaw nosed into the fresh-kill pile and grabbed a much bigger minnow than Dewpaw's and threw it in front of her sister, "That's MY freshly caught prey!" she announced smugly. Dewpaw looked at it, then to her sister and shrugged before taking another bite of her fish.

"I caught it MYSELF. Whitetail taught me how. It's not that hard really."

"Great, can I eat in peace now?"

"How many fish have YOU caught?" Amberpaw asked and sat down beside her sister, wrapping her tail around her forepaws.

Dewpaw lifted her head slightly, "None. I haven't been in the water yet."

Whitetail and Smalltooth wandered over before Amberpaw could start again. They bent down, their shadows covering the small apprentices, "What happened last night?" Whitetail's voice was low. Smalltooth stood calmly next to the white warrior, her expression stern.

Amberpaw went to stand up but Dewpaw interrupted quickly, "We had a play fight and it got out of paw. I'm sorry, but we were so used to doing it in the nursery."

Amberpaw nodded.

The white warrior eyed them closely, his eyes narrowed, "You are apprentices now. You are growing up and I expect you to begin to act like proper warriors. No more play fights at moonhigh. Understood?"

"Yes, Whitetail," the siblings answered in unison.

Smalltooth stood up, "Speaking of being apprentices." The warrior tilted her head towards the elder's den. Two old cat's lay outside the den walls, their bellies facing towards the sun, "The elders may want some more fresh-kill and they will need to be checked for ticks."

Whitetail nodded, "I agree. Amberpaw, Dewpaw, we need you to care for the elders today."

"Ew! Whitetail, you said we'd go hunting today! I don't want to look after elder's all day!"