The Choice

Chapter 7

"What's that smell? Another clan?" Flurrypaw asked, sniffing the air.

"It's Sorrelclan. Their forest is darker and the denser than our territory. Their leader is a light grey tom named Dewstar, but at the moment he's sick, so his deputy Rainheart is in charge." Morningdew explained. 

Hawkpaw remembered Milktail telling him that after the gathering, letting the other clan's the scent become etched in his memory. 

'One day, I may have to fight those cats.' He thought, clenching his little claws. 

The patrol moved on, and Rowanpaw suddenly scuttled off. When he came back he held a small, furry body in his jaws, and the sight and scent of mouse made Hawkkpaw's mouth water. 

"Nice catch!" Flurrypaw squeaked. 

The golden brown tom nodded, unable to speak with his mouth full. 

As they walked on, Hawkpaw found himself already getting tired. His muscles weren't used to all of this exercise, and he could see his siblings were feeling the same.

"This scent is Briarclan, led by Koistar. We don't share a border with them, but their scent pools up on the breeze here because we're near the spot where all clans can intersect, and where gatherings are held," Dawntail explained. 

They walked past this point, and yet another scent flooded over Hawkpaw. 

"Fernclan," Streamwhisker pointed out as yet another scent blew towards the patrol, "Their leader is Sharpstar, and you may want to be wary of him. His name can reflect his attitude."

Dawntail, Morningdew, and Rowanpaw purred with amusement, and Hawkpaw decided to just take his mentor's word for it. 

As they started to head back to camp, Hawkpaw let out a small frown. Though he was very tired and kept tripping over creeping tendrils, he still wished he had done more and it hadn't ended so quickly. He'd expected his first day as an apprentice to be more dramatic. 

They slipped through the camp tunnel, and were almost immediately swarmed by kits. 

"What was it like? Patchkit questioned. 

"Was it awesome? Well, of course it was! Right?" Boltkit squeaked. 

"Hawkpaw, you've got to tell me all about it!" Orangekit exclaimed. 

"Yeah, tell us all about it!" Lionkit purred. 

Cherrygaze's kits watched from the outside of the nursery, eyes wide. They had been born a half moon ago, a day after the gathering. There was Shadowkit, a small black tabby tom, and Plumkit, a dark tortoiseshell she-cat. Their smaller black and white sister had died moments after being born, but Cherrygaze hadn't been allowed to grieve for long, though she still seemed to be doing well. 

Rowanpaw trotted over to the black and white queen, giving her the mouse. She thanked him, and then the tom went to report to Ashbreeze. 

"Slow down, you four." Morningdew purred, whiskers twitching. 

"Hawkpaw," Streamwhisker said, turning to him and ignoring the others, "Get some sleep because we'll be out in the forest a little tomorrow," With that, the tom trotted over to the fresh kill pile to eat. 

After being spoken to by their own mentors, Sandpaw and Flurrypaw turned to the onslaught of kits. 

"Relax, jeez," Sandpaw muttered, walking away from them.

Orangekit rolled her eyes, "So, Hawkpaw, was it great?"

"Yeah, I was sad when it was over. The forest was so pretty, and now I know what the other clans' scents!" The dark tom purred, his amber eyes glowing. 

"I can't wait... that hunting crouch training was dumb. We just ended up pouncing on each other. I won, of course, but still."

Flurrypaw spoke to the other three kits, exaggerating her story, but Hawkpaw only spoke to Orangekit. He didn't want to tell any fake tales to his excited friend. 

"I loved it, and when it's your turn, you will too. And I can't wait for training to start tomorrow!" Hawkpaw purred happily.