A Wish from ThunderClan (Warriors Fanfiction)

Chapter Two: Hidden in the Shadows- Ivypaw

"So a dungbrain, eh?"

Ivypaw heard the mocking tone of his brother Buzzardpaw's voice as he made his way from the clearing to the apprentices' den. The dark grey cat, however, was not in the mood for any of Buzzardpaw's 'caring words' or so the lighter grey tom called them.

"Don't even start," Ivypaw growled sharply and shortly, hoping that Buzzardpaw would mistake the pleading in the statement for decisiveness.

"Well then dark and gloomy, don't be too happy," Buzzardpaw's amber eyes twinkled with amusement at the prospect of a new joke. Unlike Ivypaw, Buzzardpaw had no stripes, keeping the two brothers from being completely identical.

Ivypaw glared at his brother for a second before realizing that other than the two of them, the den was empty. Ivypaw had expected to see at least Beaverpaw and Halfpaw as well before he remembered that Halfpaw was with Stoneslip at the moment, and Beaverpaw was probably doing StarClan knows what. Ivypaw thought that he might be able to clear out the den even more. Soon enough, after Ivypaw had ignored Buzzardpaw's nagging for long enough, the other apprentice left the den. Of course, Ivypaw would have much rather been out in the forest hunting by himself, but the now empty apprentices' den was the next best thing, considering he'd have to go through the still crowded camp to get to the forest. The camp was still full of everyone, even after the announcement was over. Ivypaw really didn't want to go back out until it had cleared up a bit.

Ivypaw began to get comfortable in his nest, hoping the other apprentices wouldn't come in and bother him. They were loud and annoying, and it frustrated Ivypaw at times. Only his one friend, Littlepaw really knew how to act to make Ivypaw comfortable. Well, Littlepaw and Thistleshade that it, but Thistleshade was the medicinecat now and didn't count as an apprentice.

"Ivypaw!" The voice of Ivypaw's mentor, came into the den from out in the clearing. Ivypaw groaned in reaction. He really didn't want to get up from his comfy spot, and even thinking about going back out made his coat and paws feel heavy. Sadly, he had to listen to his mentor's call, which meant leaving the relative safety of the den. He walked over to the exit to the den and carefully poked his head out of the den, just far enough to see, so he would be able to seek out his pale ginger mentor. Soon, he spotted her standing underneath the Rocktower, searching the camp for him with her dull green eyes. At least it wasn't nearly as crowded as it had been when Featherstar was announcing Nightberry's death. The elders had left to go bury Nightberry, and the cats chosen for the sunhigh patrol were probably getting in some rest. Ivypaw tried not to think of how uncomfortable he'd been at the Clan meeting. He'd just sat by himself at the edge of the crowd, hoping it would help with the itchy, crawling feeling the squirmed through his pelt and into his body. Ivypaw shook his head. He needed to be focused rather than remembering what had happened just a little while ago.

With a burst of speed, Ivypaw darted across the hardened ground of the ShadowClan camp, slipping and sliding his way across an unexpected sandy patch. His muzzle burned fiercely underneath his dark fur, made worse by the bright sunlight beating down on him. He was sure someone had seen him slip. Quickly coming next to a stop next to Softspeck, he looked about to make sure he at least wasn't being stared at.

"Ivypaw, calm down," Softspeck said, brushing her tail against Ivypaw's shoulder, which ended up being an extremely unhelpful action that only really made Ivypaw jump away from her on reflex. Used to this kind of behavior from her apprentice, Softspeck didn't say a word about it. She'd given up trying to get him to stop a long time ago.

Ivypaw took a second to brush down his chest fur before speaking. "So... what did you need me for?"

"We're going hunting with Littlepaw and Lizardstep," Softspeck said, referring to Ivypaw's golden tabby friend and his lighter brown tabby mentor. Ivypaw released a breath that he hadn't really known he'd been holding as his heart leapt a bit. Littlepaw was the best, and his mentor wasn't so bad herself, being a generally quiet cat. Plus, it would be a hunting patrol, so they would be able to split up the group at some point anyway. It would be much easier than a border patrol.