Dawnstar's Trouble {COMPLETE}

Chapter 12

Dawnpaw made her way to camp, her paws sinking into the muddy ground. Each step kicked up flecks of water and mud onto her white belly fur. Dawnpaw's ears twitched with annoyance the closer she got, she hated the rain and she wanted it to stop. The early morning air was bitter and cold, stinging her ear tips. The rain had not subsided in the moon since the apprentice den was flooded.

The water inside turned to mud and hardened, leaving Dawnpaw with the impression that they would not be returning to the apprentice den anytime soon. The outside den still felt too big and empty, but she and the other apprentices were slowly growing accustomed to it. Dawnpaw knew that Willownose's kits would be joining the apprentice den soon, they were nearly six moons old and she hoped that it would help with the empty feeling of the large den.

Dawnpaw reached camp, life was just barely getting started for SunClan but the first cat she spotted was Thornpelt. He stood outside the warrior's den speaking with Applespots, Sandfoot and Bramblepelt. When Dawnpaw saw her mentor, she grew slightly tense with images flashing in her mind of her recent nightmares of the tabby warrior.

As if he sensed her arrival, Thornpelt turned his head to look at Dawnpaw. Fur rose along her spine, but she forced herself to calm down. Dawnpaw had no idea why she felt this way about her mentor. I kind of do. Dawnpaw's told herself silently but shook away the thoughts, she wanted to trust her mentor, she had to trust him. Thornpelt bid farewell to the three cats he was talking to and turned to Dawnpaw.

She headed towards him and met him in the center of camp, she looked up at him, feeling smaller than normal. "We're going battle training today." He said, his voice stern.

"In the rain?" She looked around, somewhat concerned. "It's muddy."

Thornpelt's tail twitched in annoyance. "It won't always be clear skies when you're fighting an enemy. You need to learn to fight in all situations." He didn't wait for a response, he just headed towards the entrance of camp. Dawnpaw quickly followed, catching Lionclaw's eye as he stepped out of the warrior's den but didn't have a moment to talk to him. She and Thornpelt entered the forest, which was just as wet and muddy as the journey into camp from the apprentice den.

Thornpelt pushed through the wet foliage, flicking water droplets onto Dawnpaw. She bit back a growl and bared through it. Every day that the rain fell, Dawnpaw found herself craving the warm, dry season of greenleaf. Trying to ignore the rain, Dawnpaw followed resiliently and keeping her mouth shut.

They soon reached the training area, and the sand was thick from the rain. Thornpelt stared at it for a moment. "We won't train here for the moment. Follow me." Thornpelt walked past the training area into another small clearing. It had several fallen, wet leaves on the ground. Dawnpaw felt uneasy, this didn't look like a particularly good place to train. "This will work." Thornpelt worked then faced Dawnpaw. "When you're fighting in the rain, it's very easy to lose your paws. You need to work on not falling and learn how to get back up quickly if you do fall."

Before Dawnpaw could respond, Thornpelt attacked. His paws hit Dawnpaw directly in the shoulder and her paws slipped on the leaves, kicking up water and mud. She hit the ground, her fur making a slight splash. Thornpelt put his paw inches from Dawnpaw's throat, causing her to nearly panic.

"And now you're dead." Thornpelt growled. "I could've sworn I've taught you to be more alert than that." He let her up and Dawnpaw shook the mud from her pelt, this time she got into a fighting stance, preparing herself for Thornpelt's next attack. As soon as she took her stance, Thornpelt went in for the attack. She readied herself for his attack and lashed forward, trying to cut him off before he could get to her.

However, Thornpelt veered away from her attack, and went right for her side. She could feel his paws digging into her ribs, knocking her back onto the wet ground once more. She hissed in annoyance and jumped back to her paws, slipping on the leaves in the process. While she struggled to gain her balance, Thornpelt attacked again. He knocked her legs out from under her, making her fall to the ground yet again. Dawnpaw didn't have time to get up before he was attacking again.