Warriors: The Trail of Centuries

Chapter 7

     The mornings following the Gathering carried a crisp breeze through the air. A brittle leaf drifting along the cave floor reminded Spottedpaw of the harsh seasons that were inbound. Even though it was technically still greenleaf, she knew that they would need to prepare for anything that got thrown at them. Their cave systems provided plenty of shelter from the harsh weather of leafbare, but it wouldn’t protect them from the seasonal bouts of whitecough and greencough. 

     Spottedpaw looked away from the dancing leaf and back to the activity at hand. Mudwing was showing Nightpaw a few battle stances, both offensive and defensive, while she and Hawkscar watched them. Spottedpaw held back a snort of laughter as Nightpaw nearly toppled over; the grey apprentice was clearly not used to the moves and wobbled every time she tried it. Through her laughter, the golden-furred molly couldn’t help but feel bad for Nightpaw—they were using the training cave to practice since the newly appointed apprentice was not yet ready to venture outside. Training in the caves meant that they were punished more harshly for mistakes; every time the she-cat slipped, a harsh clunk echoed from where she fell. She’ll be hurting after this, Spottedpaw thought and cringed when she remembered her own first day of training.

     “Bored yet?” her mentor mumbled and wrapped his tail around his paws. With a rush of embarrassment, Spottedpaw realized that he must have noticed her tuning the others out. She ducked her head apologetically, at which her mentor only chuckled and nodded to the other two in the cave. Spottedpaw cast her gaze back to the center of the room and noticed that they had begun to spar with one another.

     “You have to pay attention to multiple things at once, Nightpaw,” Mudwing instructed as he swiped his paws at her relentlessly. “My paw up here—” he swiped at her from above, “—is just a distraction for this.” While Nightpaw was busy avoiding the downward slash, the black-and-white tom had hooked his other paw forward. With a single swipe he had knocked her paws from underneath her and Spottedpaw winced at the impact of her friend’s body against the stone floor.

     “You know, she was training almost all day yesterday,” Hawkscar murmured as the she-cat leaped right back to her paws and began sparring again. “She’s got a lot of determination for such a new apprentice.”

     “She sure does. Is there a reason we’re watching, though? Shouldn’t we be practicing in the forest?” Spottedpaw twitched an ear as she spoke; they both knew there was now a threat of war looming over them all. She wanted to be ready for anything that happened, and this cave was not helping her with that.

     “I want you to spar with her; practice what you know. It’s been a while since you practiced in the caves, and I’ve taught you almost everything I can about fighting in the forest.” By now, the two training cats had stopped and Mudwing was padding over to them. Hawkscar flicked his tail and added, “Besides, Mudwing and I need to speak. Go on, now.” Spottedpaw stumbled a bit as her mentor nudged her towards Nightpaw. She glanced back at him quickly and padded towards the other apprentice who had been waiting patiently in the center of the cave.

     “So . . . what are we practicing first?” the golden molly asked awkwardly. Nightpaw was all too eager to choose as she bounced towards her companion.

     “Oh, I know! Check out this new defensive stance I learned!” the slender molly chirped. Spottedpaw stiffened and got ready to spar as her friend got into position, but the result froze her paws in place. 

     “What in the world are you doing?” she asked slowly. After a slight hesitation, she sat down and gave Nightpaw a funny look. The speckled apprentice had somehow balanced on one front paw and the opposite hind leg, her remaining two legs stuck out awkwardly in the air and her tail wobbling as she maintained her balance. Some stance! Spottedpaw thought as she gawked. That wouldn’t save her from any blow I know! Suddenly Nightpaw darted forward, slamming into Spottedpaw and knocking her right off of her paws. Spottedpaw let out a gasp of surprise and held back a yelp as Nightpaw slammed her down against the cold ground.