Warrior Cats: A Twoleg Kit

Chapter Three

Dewpaw spotted her sister crouched on a large stepping stone, her face whisker-lengths away from the surface. She crouched staring into her reflection, her mind lost in thought. Something was wrong. Dewpaw headed towards her steadily, clambering onto the bank, "Hey, Amberpaw, ready to go fishing? Smalltooth knows this really good spot to go and-"

"No thank you," the apprentice replied, her gaze down. Dewpaw confirmed her suspicions, something was wrong. She titled her head, "But don't you want to show me your moves you've been training so hard on? C'mon, I went through a lot of trouble to organise this."

Amberpaw stayed crouched for a moment longer before she jerked her head up and smiled smugly, "Well... I guess I should. I can't leave my fans waiting. And I know StarClan is expecting much of me."

She stepped across the stones quickly, her tail high in the air. She jumped down next to Dewpaw quickly and walked off, spotting Whitetail and Smalltooth in conversation. Dewpaw looked over at her, puzzled slightly. She tried to brush it off but she couldn't, she knew Amberpaw wasn't right.

What's wrong with her now? she silently complained before bounding off to join her sister.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dewpaw and Amberpaw trotted side by side along the river. The moonlight reflected in the lapping ripples along the water and made the two apprentices feel as though they were walking together in StarClan's hunting grounds.

"No, Dewpaw's been fine. How about your apprentice, Whitetail?"

"Oh Amberpaw's great, I hardly have to teach her anything."

The travelling cats stopped beside a tall, healthy tree and stood beside the river. A large rock entered the water, forcing the liquid to run around it, "Ah, yes, here it is. I used to train here when I was an apprentice," Whitetail purred proudly, "Stormheart told me how to fish on this rock."

"I remember Flowerdawn taking me here too, every apprentice should train here. It's perfect for beginners."

Amberpaw stood up proudly, "Well, I'm not a beginner, is there another place we can go?"

Whitetail wasn't listening so Smalltooth spoke instead, "I think Whitetail wants to train you here, at least for one night."

The apprentice's amber eyes dulled slightly before she perked up again and wandered towards her mentor who was already standing on the dark stone. Smalltooth moved her view to Dewpaw, "And what about you?"

The grey apprentice shook her vision away from the water, "M-me? Uh, no thanks."

Smalltooth looked at her in disbelief, "But you were really excited."

"I just don't want to go in the water, this was more for Amberpaw anyway." She turned her head toward her sister who was already crouched above the water and staring intently into it.

The black and brown warrior looked at her apprentice sternly, a small breeze ruffling her fur, "Well I haven't taught you how to fish yet, so you're still going to go to the river."

Dewpaw reluctantly followed her mentor towards the water's edge and crouched next to the smoothly lapping water. She held out her forepaw, "First, remember to keep your shadow away from the water. If a fish notices your shadow it won't even think about swimming near you."

Dewpaw crouched over the side of the rock and peered into the calm water. Her own worried face looked back at her, "Can't we do something else? Like catch a bird or something?"

Smalltooth looked back at her quizzically, "We don't need to catch birds in greenleaf. What's the problem?"

"I just don't want to go in the water, that's all."

Her mentor looked at her more sternly, "What do you mean you-"

"I GOT ONE!"

All the cats spun around as they saw Amberpaw turn to face them, her face dripping and her eyes gleaming. A struggling fish lay at her paws, sputtering and flopping. Quick as lightning, the dark grey apprentice gave it a small bite and it went limp.

Whitetail's eyes where sparkling, "Great job! Just try to keep your face a little more dry next time."

Amberpaw's eyes flashed in slight anger before picking the fish up in her teeth and prancing down the side of the rock. Whitetail followed. Smalltooth looked to her own apprentice, "There, now that they've gone you can concentrate. Just do what Amberpaw did."

Dewpaw stuck her head back over the side of the river again and gazed into her own reflection. She shuddered and looked up to her mentor pleadingly, "Please! Can you teach me battle moves or something? We can stay on this dumb rock if you want!"

Smalltooth gave a look of surprise, "What's wrong with fishing? Just try it."

Dewpaw looked back over the side and stared into the water. It gave small ripples, muddling her reflection. She went to pull her head back up again but an irregular ripple grasped her attention. A large minnow, glided through the water right in front of her. Smalltooth's face fell beside the small she-cat's, "There's one!" she kept her voice to a whisper, "Try and get it."

Dewpaw gave a small gulp and trained her face to follow its swimming pattern. It came to a stop right in front of her. She wouldn't miss this.

She lifted her white paw above the trout and brought it down as quickly as she could. Her paw smacked the water, sending droplets of water in front of her face. She gave a squeal and fell back, giving enough time for her prey to flee.

Smalltooth stifled a purr. She lifted her paw to rest it on her apprentice's head, "Don't worry, that was your first time. Next time you-"

"Next time? There won't be a next time! I'm afraid of water! In fact, I hate water, why would any cat want the stupid stuff touching them?!"

"Dewpaw, you're fine, don't let this get you down. It took Amberpaw-"

The young cat closed her eyes tightly in a desperate attempt to contain her rage. It didn't work, "Amberpaw! I'm always being compared to my sister! Well I'm not like Amberpaw. I'm not agile, I'm not strong, I'm not anything!" She turned her tail and fled to the cover of the trees.

"Dewpaw!" Smalltooth turned to see the she-cat disappear behind the long ferns. "Dewpaw, come back!"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Her paws flew over the earth, aching from such a long run. She didn't care. She was sick of everyone comparing her to her sister. All of RiverClan thinks I'm not good enough, to them I'm just a kit!

She kept running, not bothering to look back. She wasn't even sure where she was going, all she knew was that she needed to get away from camp. But you can't hide forever, you know, she tried to tell herself, Sooner or later you'll have to go back to camp.

The apprentice slowed her pace. Before her stretched a thin stream, its water trickling in a desperate race towards the lake. Dewpaw decided to stop here, she couldn't go any further without having to go through water. And she didn't want to do that.

The grey she-cat suddenly realised how tired she was. She flopped down on the ground quickly, letting the moonhigh breeze stir her patched pelt.