Warriors: Aquashade's Story

Chapter Twelve

Aquapaw's Point of View

I was slowly trailing after Bumblestripe, with my head heavy and my tail drooped to the ground, swishing up the orange leaves that leaf fall had brought.

When we arrived at the training hollow, I let out a huge sigh. Bumblestripe looked annoyed. The truth was, I didn't want to be battle training, or doing anything else for that matter. I wanted to be curled up in the apprentices den moping over Blackpaw, who had died for no reason. I would get revenge on Blackpaw's murderer, Crowfrost, the ShadowClan deputy who had no heart. Sleekpaw, the apprentice that Blackpaw 'killed', that was an accidental death. I heard that from Rowanstar telling Crowfrost off. I had raced out of the medicine den, despite my injuries, to witness seeing the bloody, battered body of my brother. I would avenge him, no matter how long it took.

Flashback

"Crowfrost!" Yelled the angry voice of the ShadowClan leader.
I wondered what Crowfrost had done.

"That apprentices death was unnecessary! Couldn't you see that Sleekpaw's death was an accident?"

I stiffened, pain flaring in my bones as I gingerly sat up. Who had Crowfrost killed? There were only three apprentices in the Clan, excluding myself. It could have been Alderpaw, Sparkpaw, or... I didn't want to think about it... Blackpaw.

I ran outside to see the mangled, battered, torn up body of my brother. "NO!" I screeched, I fought back grief and tried closing my eyes and opening them to see if it was all a dream. It wasn't.

Flashback Over

"So do you get it now?" Bumblestripe meowed,

"Mm, what?" I mumbled,

"Uuuggghhh. Did you not hear one thing that I said?" He meowed, exasperated.

"Nope." I murmured, my mind wandering.

"Ugh, fine, I'll re-explain everything. I'm going to teach you the belly rake. In a battle, your opponent will often try to pin you down to the ground, so you can't really move. You'll want to turn the fight around with a belly rake attack. When a cat is on top of you, their underbelly is right above you. Rake your claws down the soft flesh of the stomach. The belly is a cat's weak spot, as I'm sure you already know."

I nodded, now listening intently. I imagined myself in a bloody battlefield, facing the cat that had almost killed me in the previous battle that ShadowClan started. The cat who made me sneeze to distract me. It wasn't fair.

The cat pinned me down, two claws pinpointed down on my shoulders. I unsheathed my claws and slashed down the cat's soft belly, drawing blood. I kept slashing and slashing until the cat yowled out in pain and let go.

My vision faded back into reality. Bumblestripe was now gesturing for me to lay down on the ground. He want me to try out the belly rake.
I laid down on the sandy ground, getting sand in my fur. I would have to wash it later. I saw the leaves and branches of the countless trees above me.

My grey-striped mentor towered above me, placing his paws gently on my shoulders, but strong enough to prevent me from getting up.

I raked my paw down his belly. I didn't unsheathe my claws, but the force of the blow sent Bumblestripe toppling backwards. I forgot to mention that Bumblestripe's belly fur was literally almost all gone. I could see patches of fur parting, revealing pinkish brown skin. If ShadowClan decided to attack again, Bumblestripe didn't stand a chance. His stomach wasn't barricaded by enough fur to keep him safe.

He nodded approvingly, "Good." He meowed,

After a few repetitions of the same battle move, my shoulders were aching where Bumblestripe had pressed down on them with increasing force every repetition.

"Now lets learn how to properly use your claws in battle." My mentor told me. He padded over to a nearby tree which roots were padded with wads and wads of moss.

He demonstrated what I should do by slicing a wad of moss open with a single, powerful slash of his claw. He then proceeded to shred the moss apart with his hind claws. He used his front claws to slice at the high up moss that was imitating a cat's head.

~~~

After a grueling day of training, I had forgotten all about my brother. I had delved into the world of battle as I climbed up trees, bringing nuts down, then took countless blows from Bumblestripe, learning how to defend myself.

It was just after dusk when Bumblestripe called the training session to an end. I was burning with sweat, and I couldn't even feel the icy wind that lifted up my fur. When we got to the camp, which was overloaded with orange, dead, fallen leaves, I grabbed a plump mouse from the fresh kill pile then stumbled to a small patch of clovers that Sparkpaw and I usually sat down to eat at. I felt a tad bit guilty that I had taken such a fat piece of prey, but hey, I deserved it. I had spent the whole day battle training.

Just when I had taken my first bite, Sparkpaw settled down beside me, her wind blowing in the strong wind, which had also picked up my fur.