Warriors: Aquashade's Story

Chapter Four

Bumblestripe flicked his tail to beckon Aquapaw closer. He was heading out of camp. Aquapaw followed, scampering after him. She watched as Bumblestripe scooted through the thorn tunnel. Aquapaw went through after him. The thorns pierced her fur a little, but it didn't hurt. She slid through and found herself looking around in awe. Trees stood tall all around her and the branches filled with bright green leaves casted shadows over the ground.
Ferns and bramble bushes were littered around everywhere and lush green undergrowth was under her paws.

Then she threw her gaze back to Bumblestripe, who was waiting impatiently, thumping his paws and flicking his tail. He locked his gaze with hers and rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Let's get a move on!" He snapped;
Yep, Bumblestripe has definitely been taking politeness lessons from Jayfeather, the grumpiest cat in the Clan.

When Aquapaw finally stood up, Bumblestripe started padding in the direction of more trees.
"Today, we're going to be battle training. I know that you were probably expecting me to show you the territory or teach you how to hunt, but ShadowClan recently tried to take some of our territory, so we need all the cats we can get to fight in case they attack. Besides, I can show you some of the territory on the way." Bumblestripe meowed.

Several paw-steps later, Bumblestripe pointed his tail at a huge oak tree that looked like it touched the clouds above them.
"Wow..." Aquapaw breathed,

Bumblestripe huffed, looking annoyed. Oh come on! This was Aquapaw's first time out of camp!

He noticed Aquapaw's glare, and guilt shone bright in his eyes, he looked away and mumbled, "this is the sky oak, but some of us call it the ancient oak."

Sky oak. Okay.
She thought.

Countless pawsteps later, the two cats arrived at a sandy arena with moss growing around it. She threw her gaze to the small pond beyond the moss, and opened her mouth in amazement. The water was a clear blue, and the wind that blew across it rippled the water. Then, she remembered the prophecy.

Aquapaw did the best she could to keep the prophecy out of her head, once the thought faded away, her gaze flew back to Bumblestripe, who was shuffling his paws and fiddling with grains of sand.
Bumblestripe made eye contact with her and started speaking again.

"Now. This is the training arena where we will be battle training. Now, I'm going to teach you the front-paw-blow. You raise your paw above your opponent, and slam it down with unsheathed claws on your opponents head. I'll demonstrate. Pretend this bush over here is a ShadowClan warrior." Bumblestripe padded over to a small bush.

He raised his paw above ground level and above the tree. He then slammed an unsheathed paw on top of the bush, wincing when he hit the sharp, bristly branches and leaves.

Aquapaw laughed in amusement as he gingerly set his paw back on the sandy ground. He quickly regained strength and looked at her.
"Now you try." He beckoned,

"Well, I'm not doing it on that bush like you, mousebrain." She mewed matter-of-factly.

"Grrrr..." He snarled playfully.

When Bumblestripe wasn't looking, she slammed a sheathed paw on his head, causing him to jump up in surprise. She chuckled and he turned around, breathing a sigh.
"Seriously!? Well... Your technique was right, and... Your move was like... Well... Perfect I guess." The last part was quieter, like he wasn't expecting Aquapaw to get the move first-try.