Broken Code

Chapter 22

It was cold.

Greenleaf was coming to an end and Ashpaw could feel it when he woke up to the robins chirping their way into his dreams. He blinked open his sapphire eyes just as Claypaw padded past him.

"Morning." Claypaw flicked his tail and bounded out of the apprentice's den.

"Good morning." Ashpaw yawned and stretched, arching his back and extending his paws forward. Then he shivered and brought his paws all together, trying to conserve his body warmth.

"Cold?" He jumped at the voice behind him and turned to find Winterpaw climbing out of her nest. He nodded.

"It's a lot colder here than in Streamclan." Ashpaw noted aloud as he started towards the entrance. Winterpaw followed behind him as they padded out into the crisp morning air.

Ashpaw closed his eyes just to listen to the sounds that surrounded him. He remembered during one of his training sessions with Jayscratch, he was taught a very important lesson.

"Sometimes a warrior cannot see during a fight, or even during nightfall patrols. That's why we must rely on our other senses to help quite us. Close your eyes Ashpaw, prick your ears and listen. Smell. Taste the air. Feel underpaw where you are. Is the dirt cold and moist? Yes? Because we are by the lake. Hear the waves? Smell the water? Use not only your sharp eyes Ashpaw, use your whole sense."

"It's cold. Even on my fur." Ashpaw spoke aloud.

Jayscratch nodded. "It is. Because why?" He urged his apprentice to think.

Ashpaw tilted his snowy head, eyes still closed. "Because of the lake breeze. And it's sunset, so the sun's warmth is leaving."

"Good good. Now, don't open your eyes, but follow me." Jayscratch began to pad along the shoreline, leading Ashpaw towards Grassclan territory. Ashpaw followed, using his smell and hearing to follow his mentor through their territory. "Good. Now stop and stay here." Jayscratch looked at his apprentice then bounded off about 10 fox lengths away.

Ashpaw sat down and wrapped his tail around his paws in the darkness of his own eyes. "Can I open my eyes yet?"

"Not yet." Jayscratch' voice was far away. "I want you to make your way back to camp, without opening your eyes."

If Ashpaw's eyes were open, he would've widened them in shock but instead his jaw dropped. "Oh my... ok.."

He knew he was near the lake shoreline, so he should travel in the opposite direction of the lake. Ashpaw got up, turned to his left, and began walking towards the trees. He heard a squirrel crunching a nut and knew that he was going in the right direction towards camp. Ashpaw felt underpaw as the ground became drier, not carrying as much moisture as the lake line soil. It was colder underpaw, shaded by the willows and oaks. He opened his mouth to taste the air and scented more cat scents. He stumbled over a tree root.

"Oof! Jayscratch, how is this helping me?!" Ashpaw grumbled aloud.

"Because it teaches you that even when you can't see things, they're still there."

Ashpaw smiled sadly as he remembered Jayscratch's words of wisdom. Even when you can't see things, they're still there. Ashpaw couldn't see Streamclan, but he knew they were still in his heart and mind. Perhaps even in his soul. A tug in his heart reminded him of his growing love for Bluepaw. Even though no cat could physically see love, it was still there. He sighed. He would never see Bluepaw again.

"You ok?" Winterpaw snapped him out of his daydream and he nodded, shaking out his fur.

"Yeah yeah.. sorry... just uh thinking about my old clan.." He shuffled his paws.

"Oh it's ok. Um.. look I'm not an expert or anything but if you ever need to talk, I'm a good listener." She looked down at the ground, almost nervous to look him in the eyes.

Ashpaw smiled a little. "Thank you Winterpaw." And he meant it.

"Sure thing." She said quickly, than ran over to the warrior's den to wake up Crowfur, her mentor.

Ashpaw watched as she went and nearly jumped when he heard pawsteps from behind him.

"Ashpaw. How are you this morning?" Mistcloud sat down beside him.

"Very good thank you. How are you?" He swallowed down his fear of chatting with the clan deputy. She's your mentor, he thought. She's not gonna hurt you. Still, he was cautious.

"Very well. I think I'm going to take you and Winterpaw out for a little assessment of YOUR skills. I want to see how you fight, your moves, how you sense battle, how you react to certain situations. I want to know your backstory Ashpaw. What have you learned? What are your strengths? Your weaknesses? Are you a threat to us? Are we a threat to you? We don't know you Ashpaw, but we trust you" Mistcloud spoke, not quite looking at Ashpaw.

He nodded, unsure of what to say. So he went with something simple "Ok."

The deputy twitched her whiskers a little and stood up. "Fetch Winterpaw and Crowfur."

Ashpaw jumped to his feet and nodded. "Ok." It seemed as if that was the only word he could say. The snowy white apprentice bounded over to the warrior's den just as Winterpaw and Crowfur padded out.

"Hi... Uh.. Mistclound wanted..?" He found himself lost for words and he shuffled his paws. Why was he stammering so much?

Crowfur gave him a small smile. "A training session to test your abilities?"

Ashpaw nodded, his shoulders relaxing in relief as the older warrior saved him. He padded after Crowfur as the warrior padded towards Mistcloud and Winterpaw fell in step behind him.

"So how do you like Ravenclan so far?" The snowy she cat purred.

"It's... differently definite." He admitted. "Wait.. I meant definitely different. Oh my..." He shook his head. Why couldn't he think?

Winterpaw twitched her frosty whiskers and let out a mrow of amusement. "You're a funny cat Ashpaw."

He looked up into her sky eyes and smiled ever so slightly. "Thanks?" It came out more as a question, and she nodded to make him more certain. Ashpaw tilted his head and smiled again, not saying anything else. The two apprentices left camp after their mentors and padded along, dodging the trees and small streams.

The four cats reached a wide stream, causing them to fall into line and clear the stream one at a time. Mistcloud went first, then Crowfur, leaving Winterpaw and Ashpaw on the opposite side.

"Do you want to go or should I go first?" Winterpaw turned over her shoulder to look at Ashpaw.

"Oh uh you can go first if you want." Ashpaw meowed, watching her as she crouched down into a perfect crouch and leapt over the streak with such grace and dignity. Her soft cloud pelt caught the sunlight in such the right angle and Ashpaw felt a tremor in his chest.

He coughed.

"You ok Ashpaw?" Winterpaw turned over her shoulder again after she cleared the stream, the two warriors turning around to see if he was alright.

"Yeah I'm alright. Thanks though!" Ashpaw waved his tail and put on a smile. "Just a furball." He laughed.

Except it wasn't "just a furball."

His heart had skipped a beat.

But he wouldn't dare tell Winterpaw that.

*********

Woo!!

~ C I N D E R ~