Warriors - A New Tale

Chapter four

Nutpaw went into the apprentice's den to go to sleep. She walked in the den with Darkenedpaw, and one apprentice perked up her head to them. "Oh, hello, Darkenedpaw!" She purred. Darkenedpaw looked happy to see her. "Hello, Snowpaw!" He mewed. Snowpaw then looked at Nutpaw. "Who's that?" She meowed, looking stern. "This is my sister" Darkenedpaw purred. "But we've really got to go to sleep." Snowpaw lowered her head and Nutpaw bared her teeth while Darkenedpaw wasn't watching. She and her brother lay down and slept ready for the next day.

Nutpaw woke up, ready for her next training. She waited next to Darkenedpaw and this time, with Snowpaw. Darkenedpaw and Snowpaw were chattering away, making Nutpaw feel left out. Eventually, Snowpaw's mentor, Whitestripe arrived. He nodded for Snowpaw to come and she got up and walked away. As soon as she disappeared into the trees, Darkenedpaw started purring. "Isn't she just... awesome?" Nutpaw rolled her eyes. "She's a..." but she caught her tongue as she realized her brother had feelings for Snowpaw! "She's alright I guess." Nutpaw saw Orangepelt arrive. "Bye, Darkenedpaw" She mewed. Darkenedpaw nodded his reply and padded off with his mentor. Nutpaw sighed. She and her brother were growing more and more apart. What if they stopped talking? "Nutpaw?" Nutpaw jumped at her mentor's voice. "Mudspeed!" She purred. Mudspeed started at her. Nutpaw remembered how he was. "I mean, I'm ready for training" she meowed. "Great," he meowed back, starting to pad in the direction of the training grounds. Nutpaw was excited for what she was going to learn. Mudspeed stopped. "Okay" he meowed. "Today you're learning how to catch a mouse" he explained. "I will demonstrate."
Mudspeed looked around and spotted a mouse. He got low to the ground and moved his paws silently. After a few heartbeats, he swiped the mouse up and killed it quickly. "Woah!" Nutpaw purred. Mudspeed dropped the mouse. "Now you try." Nutpaw tried her best, but the mouse ran away. She didn't look to see her mentor's reaction. "Well..." Mudspeed mewed, to Nutpaw's surprise. "You tried your best, didn't you?" Nutpaw turned around. "Y-yes" Nutpaw mewed back. "Of course..." Mudspeed purred. "Then I bet you'll learn soon enough." Nutpaw was pleasantly surprised of how Mudspeed was acting. "I will!" She mewed happily. "Then try again." Nutpaw waited for a mouse to appear. When one did, she crouched down. She hunted the mouse well. "Excellent!" Mudspeed mewed to his apprentice. Nutpaw purred. She was happy with her mentor's change. They both carried their prey back to camp, and dropped it into the fresh kill pile. Nutpaw noticed Darkenedpaw sitting and licking his paw. She was about to go to him, but then she heard her mentor's voice. "Nutpaw?" Mudspeed meowed. "Yeah?" She replied, turning around to meet his stare. "You are quite a fine apprentice, and I'm sorry for how I've treated you before..."
Nutpaw couldn't believe her ears, but she kept calm on the outside. "That's fine," she mewed back. "And it makes me feel better to hear that. Before today, I thought you didn't like me or something!" She meowed politely. "Of course not" Mudspeed answered quickly. Nutpaw still wondered why he had started off acting like that, but she kept her mouth shut. "Okay" She mewed. "See ya later, Mudspeed!" She meowed as she ran to her brother. "Hi, fleabrain" Nutpaw teased. "Hey!" He hissed playfully. "So, how'd you training go?" Nutpaw sat down and asked Darkenedpaw. "Not that good," Darkenedpaw mewed sadly. "I just couldn't figure out how to catch a rabbit." Nutpaw brushed her brother's side. "That's okay," she purred. "You're bright, I'm sure you'll learn soon enough.