Icefeather's Journey (Warrior Cat FanFic)

Chapter Four - Defence

I must have fallen asleep too early because I woke up at midnight. No one else was awake and soon found I felt lonelier than ever. The sky was black with twinkling stars dotting everywhere.

Standing up, I stretched and began padding into the middle of the camp and thought, Maybe I should wake up Scourge? Did he forget he was going to train me? I ended up not going to get him, instead I just walked around the camp. I looked to the sky and watched the dark clouds drift over the moon, the shining stars of StarClan shining brightly above.

I thought about what it'd be like if BloodClan had lost and the Clans had stayed four. What were their names? ThunderClan, BreezeClan, WaterClan and ShadowClan? No, DarkClan? No one talked about the old Clans. Scourge hated it with a passion.

Would I be here if the Clans had won against BloodClan? I bet I'd be in BreezeClan; I like to run. I heard Deathkit say they were always running around in a moor catching rabbits. I would rather be in an open space, too. I bet my name would Whitekit or maybe Snowkit.

I jumped as someone cleared their throat. I must have jumped ten tail-lengths in the air. I whipped around, expecting to see Deathkit and Bloodkit, but instead it was only Scourge. I was so relieved he hadn't forgot about training me. It was the only thing I hoped for.

"What are you going to train me now, Scourge?" I gasped, hopping up and down. He purred and led the way without replying right away. Barely anyone hears Scourge purr! I must be super lucky!

"Come with me, I will teach you how to defend yourself."

I padded out of camp with the BloodClan leader at my side, a cool chill running down my spine, making the fur along it stand up. The stars sparkled like beautiful, white eyes in the black sky. The moon was up and I realized it was half of a full moon.

We trekked silently until we came to a clearing in the forest. Scourge stood back. "Alright, I'm going to come at you with sheathed claws. Be prepared for the worst." Scourge announced, backing away.

My heart pounded as fast as a rabbit and my eyes darted from one of Scourge's icy blue eyes to the other. Feeling suddenly like I was being preyed on, I began to panic.

In a way, I was.

Scourge leaped at me and before I had time to do anything, he landed just beside me with a loud - yet swift - thump. That would've killed me! Pushing the thought to the back of my thoughts, I swallowed. I didn't want to be in a fight with him, I was sure of that!

"I want you to move. Watch me for signals that I'm going to use before I jump, like my tail might twitch or my ear," Scourge explained and I nodded.

I shook out my pelt and waited. Suddenly I felt panicky again and I didn't know if I was going to be able to pay attention enough to see the signals. Watching his ears and then his tail, I took a few deep breaths to prepare myself. I didn't see any signal as he leaped at me.

Scrambling backwards, I tried to get out of the way but Scourge must have guessed I would because he landed right beside me again. My eyes widened as I realized how sharp his claws were. The ground was torn up where he had landed. I would hate to be any real opponent.

"Try again." Scourge mewed and I dipped my head.

We tried this several times but I just couldn't get the hang of it. I only once seen his ear twitch slightly but I still couldn't move out of the way quick enough.

"That's alright, you're still a kit. But when you're an apprentice, I won't be so easy on you. Your mentor, I mean, won't. I hope anyway." Scourge dipped his head to me then nudged me along to a tree.

"Here, use your claw to get the moss off the tree. This gets your paw use to the technique of nice slices with your claws." Scourge explained and I nodded.

"Watch me do it," He unsheathed his long, sharp claws again and began to demonstrate. He tore off a perfect slice of moss with just a slight movement of his paw. "You try."

I raised my paw and unsheathed my claws. "Like this?" I cocked my head to the side, putting my claws under the moss and flicking my claw toward me. Bark from under the moss hit my face. Sadly, it scared me and made me flinch.

Scourge shook his head, sighing, "No, no. Watch." I watched him do it a few more times before I tried it again.

***

By the time I had made a small pile of clean moss, the sun was just starting to come up. Scourge stretched and fluffed out his black fur. "I think that's enough for one night, don't you?"

I nodded, yawning. "I could sleep for five moons I'm so tired..." Standing up, I shook out each leg to get them awake.

"Woah, woah now. This moss isn't going to just go to waste." He growled and I cringed.

"Sorry!"

He started to pad off and I swallowed. "Um, Scourge," I trembled and he looked over his shoulder. "How do I bring this back? I don't think I can hold all of it in my mouth."

"Yes you can. Ball it up and put it in your mouth and under your chin," Scourge explained quietly, sitting down to watch me. I didn't reply, just did as he said.

With a bit of his help, I managed to make the moss into two balls. I padded off with one under my chin and one in my mouth.

"Now, get some rest." Scourge bowed his head to me and hurried off alongside me.

***

A quarter-moon went by and each and every night Scourge taught me how to hunt and fight. We would practice until the sun began to come up the sky. It took my mind off of the abuse I went through every time I went back to the camp. Nothing had really changed, other than my skill to hunt and fight. My sassy attitude was still the same, but I found a sudden urge to fight anyone I could.

Bloodkit still called me names, Deathkit still teased me and pushed me around, Scourge still taught me things, and I was still ignored by Rowansting and Tawnypelt.

I, for one, hadn't of grown at all. Bloodkit and Deathkit were almost the same size of an average apprentice and I was still as small as a newborn kit. Not really, by then I was a touch taller then a newborn kit. I was teased by almost everyone because of it.

Cinderpelt had no idea why I hadn't grown. She suspected it was lack of nutrients or something like that, but I assumed I was just naturally small. And I hated it! I dreaded every moment of going back to the camp. I just wanted to be left alone.

Bloodkit and Deathkit were in the nursery, just waking up and doing their usual cycle of fighting, then eating, then fighting, and then playing mossball. They were currently on their second fight. I decided to eat with Frostfur like every other day. Tawnypelt found out about it and wouldn't let me have milk any longer. I personally couldn't care less, fresh-kill was way better anyway.

I was yanked out of my thoughts when something jumped onto me. "Get off!" I squealed but a second thing jumped onto me. "Think you're so strong now, huh?" Deathkit growled, pinning me down on my stomach.

Not now, come on! I thought and just like that, a fight broke out.