A New Horizon: Book 1: Sun Awakening {COMPLETE}

Chapter 22

 Falconpaw ducked away from Mudpaw, dodging his paws with ease. Falconpaw recoiled, his paws hitting Mudpaw directly in the side. The brown apprentice let out a sharp breath and stumbled away, facing Falconpaw with a spark of annoyance in his green eyes. Mudpaw attacked once more, with Falconpaw dodging easily. Falconpaw was about the same size as Mudpaw, but Mudpaw did have a bit of weight on him. Falconpaw was able to use this against Mudpaw, hitting him in the back of his hind legs and causing his legs to buckle under him. Mudpaw hit the ground and Falconpaw jumped on him, pinning Mudpaw down with all his force.

"Very good, Falconpaw." Cherryleaf praised, and Falconpaw released the other apprentice. "I swear, you improve each and every night." Falconpaw held his head high, feeling incredibly confident and powerful. He was improving every night, fighting Falconclaw kept his skills sharp and constantly on point. Fighting Mudpaw wasn't even a challenge compared to his strong mentor. It was a struggle for Falconpaw at some points, training with Falconclaw was a lot more intense.

They fought with claws out, and sometimes Falconpaw felt like he was fighting for his life as Falconclaw would pin him down, claws digging into his skin and even reaching for his throat. Falconpaw had to hold back a lot of his strength on Mudpaw but still would attack too hard at some points, he could tell from how Mudpaw was walking that the blow to his side had been rather painful. Mudpaw sat beside Earthpaw with a slight wince.

"It's my turn to fight him." Earthpaw said while standing up, her green eyes flashing with determination. Falconpaw met her gaze, maybe Earthpaw would actually be a challenging fight.

"Very well," Heatherflight gave a nod. Earthpaw took her brother's place where he had been fighting, she opened her mouth to speak but Falconpaw didn't give her a chance. He tackled her to the ground, where she landed in a flurry of dust. Earthpaw twisted out of Falconpaw's grip and spun around on her paws to face him. She was clearly much faster than Mudpaw, she was slim and quick.

Earthpaw moved in to attack, Falconpaw turned away from her paws; avoiding her hits. Falconpaw moved quickly to trip her up, but Earthpaw was fast. Falconpaw missed her legs, and instead swiped at empty air. Earthpaw pounced forward, her paws hitting Falconpaw directly in the chest and knocking him backwards. Falconpaw lost his balance and fell to the ground with a huff. He stood up quickly, anger sparking inside him, he jumped forward with full force crashing directly into Earthpaw and knocking her to the ground, pinning her.

"Ow!" Earthpaw hissed. "What's your deal?" Her voice tore Falconpaw of out of his strange trance, his eyes focused on Earthpaw. Blood was welling from a long scratch on her shoulder. Falconpaw jumped off of her as the mentors and Mudpaw surrounded Earthpaw.

"I'm so sorry," Falconpaw apologized. "I-I didn't mean to." He looked at Earthpaw who licking her wound and Mudpaw who was glaring at him with enough hatred to kill.

"What's your problem, Falconpaw?" He growled. "We're just training and you attack with claws?"

"It was an accident!" Falconpaw argued, stepping back. "I didn't mean to, I promise." He looked down, ashamed in hurting his own Clanmate.

"It's not a deep wound, just a scratch." Heatherflight confirmed. "She'll be okay, it's not the end of the world."

Earthpaw stood up, looking at the scratch. She didn't seem to be in too much pain, but guilt still clawed at Falconpaw. "Why don't you all head back to camp," Cherryleaf suggested. "I'm going to talk to Falconpaw."

"I hope you talk some sense into the mouse-brain." Mudpaw growled and turned away to stand by his sister.

Falconpaw sat down, keeping his head low. "I didn't mean to scratch her, It was an accident."