Willowstar's Tears

Chapter 3

Willowpaw and Hailfrost emerged to the other side of the bramble barrier. Wow, the territory is even larger than I thought! Willowpaw thought as she stopped and looked around. The VoidClan woods were massive, dark oak trees which seemed to go on forever surrounded her, and even if their leaves which were once green and abundant up there in their branches were now falling and had turned to the orange and brown tones of leaf-fall, the territory still looked dark and infinitely mysterious... just like a void... just like VoidClan.

Hailfrost looked back at Willowpaw:  "These are the VoidClan woods. The main part of our territory, where most of our hunting takes place. Breath in deeply, memorize the scent, and try to tell me anything else that you can pick up."
Willowpaw opened her mouth and tasted as much air as she could.  A bunch of scents filled her up at once, overwhelming her a little, but she concentrated:  "I smell... water... it's stale though, it must be from the rain a few sunrises ago"
Hailfrost nodded in approval: "Good.  Anything else?"
Willowpaw sorted out more scents:  "Um... it smells like some VoidClan cats were here earlier... probably the dawn patrol, since they were the last ones to leave camp today."
"Correct. Can you tell me who were the ones in the patrol?" Willowpaw started to feel a little nervous, Hailfrost's gaze on her was kind, yet strict. She definitely didn't want to disappoint her on her first day of training by making such a simple mistake. She concentrated even more, sniffed the air and the ground again and finally said:
"Morningclaw, Rustwind, Foxpuddle, his apprentice Oakpaw, and... Leopardfrost?" Willowpaw held her breath as she looked back at her mentor.
"Correct," said Hailfrost with a nod of approval. "Except for Leopardfrost. That last scent belongs to Berryfur."
"Oh..." Willowpaw looked down, feeling embarrassed for not recognizing that last scent, because now that she thought about it, Berrynose and Hailfrost were litter-mates, and their scents were pretty similar.
"Don't worry Willowpaw, everyone makes mistakes like that, plus, you've been an apprentice for a few heartbeats! To be honest, you're doing better than I did when I was an apprentice." Said Hailfrost sympathetically.
Willowpaw couldn't believe her ears: "Really?"
"Indeed. Now let's go, the day won't last forever."  That said, both she-cats stood up, Hailfrost on the lead and continued with the tour.

They turned right, and walked until Willowpaw could see the end of the territory's woods, which led to a river separating them from another forest, but this forest had different trees, probably birch trees, and wasn't as dark as VoidClan's. It radiated a weird scent. Willowpaw guessed it was another clan's territory. Hailfrost came to a halt just in front of the river, where there was a wooden arc connecting both sides of it. It must be one of those Twoleg bridges Bluetail told us about in the nursery! The apprentice thought eagerly.

"You've probably heard of this in the nursery," Said Hailfrost pointing with her tail at the arc, "It's called a Twoleg bridge. It's the only way to get to the other side of the river without having to swim. As you probably guessed by the looks, and stink of it, the birch forest at the other side belongs to another clan. Can you tell me which one?"
"Um..." Willowpaw tried to recall what she had been told about each clan when she was in the nursery.

There was EmberClan, RainClan and SpaceClan. She'd heard that SpaceClan cats were odd and kind of claustrophobic, so they lived in the open, which kind of made sense, since they could be connected to space. RainClan... they lived in an area where it rained a lot, that was partially why they got their name. As for EmberClan, they were the dauntless, loud kind of cats that were up to any challenge. Bluetail used to tell Willowpaw and Twilightpaw that EmberClan cats may be full of brawn, but that they definitely had no brains. So... Willowpaw thought. It's either RainClan, or EmberClan... hmm... gah! This is too hard! Finally, she gave up and looked back helplessly at her mentor. "I... don't know."
"It's alright, don't worry," responded the gray she-warrior,  "That's EmberClan's territory out there. Make sure to remember their scent, and also, make sure to locate our scent marks, so when you go on a border patrol, you know where they go. But don't worry, EmberClan's borders are the easiest to memorize, because of their stench and because it's obvious where the territories end. Now, let's move on"

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The she-cats moved along the border until they reached a path that led down a small hill. The roaring of water could be heard in the distance. Both, mentor and apprentice stopped.  "Down there, is the Four Waterfalls," said Hailfrost, pointing with her body to the path.  "The place where we hold gatherings. I would take you there, but I won't do it today because, first, we don't have a lot of time left, and second, it doesn't really make part of any Clan's territory, so it will be a lesson for another day. Now, that said, let's move on to our RainClan limits!"

With that, Hailfrost broke into a run. Willowpaw sprinted after her, although she wasn't able to catch up to her mentor, because Hailfrost was too fast, and because she didn't have the stamina for it, soon, the apprentice had to slow down to a walk. Fortunately for Willowpaw, Hailfrost stopped in front of a fallen tree nearby. It must be what marks our borders with RainClan. She thought as she stopped besides her mentor.

Her mentor looked back at her. Her gaze was happy and youthful, yet Willowpaw could see that Hailfrost was tired because of the job, and that she was kind of lost, as if trying to figure out what and how to educate Willowpaw. Nevertheless, her mentor continued:  "So, this tree is our main border mark with RainClan.  Again, make sure to memorize their scent and look out for our markers."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Willowpaw and Hailfrost walked back into the depths of the VoidClan forest. Hailfrost seemed to regain a little of her vitality as they did.  "Now, I'm going to show you my favorite place in the Clan's territory!" She said eagerly as she led Willowpaw to a small clearing with a few flowers in it, similar to the Flower Hill, except for it not being a hill, and a big, burned tree in the middle. The place was truly beautiful. The she-cats sat down under the tree's branches.
"Wow," said Willowpaw.
"Yes, it's beautiful. This is the Burned Meadow. I like coming here to think about... life's situations. It's also a good place to hunt. That reminds me. Tomorrow, we are starting your training with hunting practice. Make sure to be up early, a little bit after dawn. I'll wait for you at the camp entrance, alright? Don't be late!" Hailfrost winked at her, (A/N: Can cats wink? Whatever, in here they can) then they both stood up and headed back to camp.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Aw, come on Willowpaw! Tell us about the territory!" Willowpaw was back at her new nest in the apprentice's den; a little underground cave located besides the nursery. Dandelionkit and her litter-mates were the ones whining to her.
"I told you kits, I'll tell you tomorrow, I promise. Please just let me sleep." She said as she tried to rest.
"Aww... alright then! But you promised us now! Make sure to keep that promise!" Said Bramblekit, then the kits turned around to go back to the nursery.

Just then, the older apprentices came in. Oakpaw on their lead. Willowpaw remembered with disgust that she had to cope with them in her own den, again. She immediately lowered her head and pretended to be asleep.
"Yo, what's wrong kits?" Said Oakpaw. "The mismatched freak turned you down? Don't worry! I'll teach her not to do it again!" With that, the black tom pounced on top of her, taking Willowpaw's breath away.
"What's wrong? That blue eye of yours took away all your oxygen? Well, let me fix-"

"Hey! Oakpaw! Stop that, right now!" Oakpaw flinched with fear as he got off Willowpaw and turned around to face his mentor, Foxpuddle. The warrior looked down at the apprentice angrily. "Oakpaw, that is definitely not what I've taught you," The ginger tom sighed and continued:   "You need to learn to respect your clan-mates even more than I thought you had to. The same goes for your friend." He looked angrily at Lightpaw, who looked down, clearly embarrassed.  "This is not getting off with a light punishment of helping the elders and medicine cats for a week. I'm speaking with Gingerstar.  Tomorrow you'll see what waits for you." That said, Foxpuddle left.

"Stupid mismatched freak," muttered Oakpaw as he srambled back to his nest and curled up in it. Lightpaw did the same. The kits left, but Dandelionkit approached Willowpaw.
"Are you alright?" She asked.
"Yeah... thanks, don't worry about me. You should go back to the nursery now," replied Willowpaw kindly.
"Alright then... see you tomorrow... I guess."
"See you tomorrow." Then the kit followed her litter-mates.

Willowpaw let out a soft sigh. I should have known this would happen. She thought miserably as she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

A/N: Man! 1578 words! Sorry if it's too long. Anyways, make sure to point out any mistakes I missed!

See y'all on the other side of the war!
-V 38)