Warriors: A Changed Fate

Chapter 8

Bearpaw pads out of the apprentice den and spots Daisybloom. He dashes over towards his mentor.

"Are you ready, Bearpaw?" Daisybloom asks him with a small purr sound.

"Yeah!" Bearpaw replies excitedly. Today, all of the apprentices are going to participate in the training tradition together. Bearpaw is excited to possibly get closer to the younger apprentices since he never got to play with them when they were kits because they were too weak. Soon, once all of the mentors and apprentices were there, Bearpaw, Sagepaw, Mistypaw, Toadpaw, Frostpaw, and Nettlepaw along with their respective mentors, Daisybloom, Mousetuft, Applebranch, Icewhisker, Smokefur, and Marshshade all exit the ShadowClan camp together, heading towards the small clearing.

"You're really pretty. I like your fur." Bearpaw hears Frostpaw meow to Sagepaw. Bearpaw's fur raises a little, feeling a little overprotective over his littermate.

Frostpaw, you're too young to be hitting on my littermate. Anyways, we're kin. Bearpaw thinks.

"Oh, thank you Frostpaw!" Sagepaw replies. "I really like your eyes. How are they like that?" She then asks the younger apprentice, looking at the white tom's different colored eyes curiously. "One is blue and the other is green." Sagepaw meows.

"I don't know, Moonheart said that they were like that when my eyes opened." Frostpaw replies.

"That's cool." Sagepaw replies. Bearpaw started to get a sick feeling in his belly as he listened to Mistypaw and Toadpaw chat.

"So, you were a kittypet?" Toadpaw asks Mistypaw. Mistypaw nods.

"Yeah." Mistypaw replies.

"Do you miss it at all?" Toadpaw then asks. Mistypaw shakes her head.

"Not at all. I love it here." Mistypaw replies with a small purr.

"Well, I'm glad you're here, even though some of the warriors don't appreciate your presence." Toadpaw meows.

"Thank you, Toadpaw!" Mistypaw replies.

"You're welcome." Toadpaw replies with a purr. Bearpaw sighs.

How come Mistypaw and Sagepaw can act all lovey with other cats this young but I can't meet with Rainpaw? I know we're from different clans, but it's hard. I want to see her again but I know for sure that I definitely shouldn't. Bearpaw thinks.

Soon, after a bit of a walk, the apprentices and their mentors reached the clearing.

"Since Mistypaw, Bearpaw, and Sagepaw did this last time, I will only have to explain this for the newer apprentices." Applebranch meows, facing the apprentices. "First, each of you will go with your mentor to try to hunt. You only have one attempt to catch something. Catch or miss, come back to the clearing after your one attempt. Then, you will come back here for some battle training, which I will explain when the time comes." He meows. "Now, let's start with hunting." Applebranch meows.

Bearpaw walks off with Daisybloom following him. Then, as he is walking, he hears something making the nearby leaves crunch. Bearpaw crouches low and moves closer to the bush, being careful and quiet. He tries his best not to make any noise as he steps on some fallen leaves. He then realizes that there's a squirrel hopping on the ground. He then leaps for the squirrel and successfully pounces on it. Bearpaw bites the squirrel's neck, feeling its body go limp in his jaws. He looks over at Daisybloom proudly.

"Great job, Bearpaw." Daisybloom meows. "Let's head back." She then says. The two of them then walk back to the clearing together. Bearpaw is carrying the dead squirrel in his jaws proudly.

When they get back to the clearing, Mistypaw and Applebranch and Sagepaw and Mousetuft are already there. Mistypaw has a mouse in her jaws. However, Sagepaw has nothing. Bearpaw notices that Sagepaw looks sad, so he walks right up to her.

"It's okay, Sagepaw. You'll catch something next time." Bearpaw meows to his silver littermate.

"That's exactly what I told you, Sagepaw." Mousetuft meows. "You just need a bit more practice and you'll eventually catch something." The senior warrior tells her apprentice.

When will Mousetuft retire? Bearpaw can't help but think. She seems to be pretty old. When I saw her try to train Sagepaw, she didn't seem to be that good herself. I hope Sagepaw can learn despite Mousetuft's age. She will probably retire when Sagepaw becomes a warrior. Bearpaw thinks to himself.

Then, Bearpaw turns around to see Frostpaw and Smokefur returning. Frostpaw has a bird in his jaws.

"Nice catch, Frostpaw!" Bearpaw compliments the younger apprentice.

"You too, Bearpaw!" Frostpaw replies with a purr and a muffled voice.

Bearpaw watches as Toadpaw and Nettlepaw both return with nothing.

"See, Sagepaw? You're not the only one." Bearpaw meows to his littermate.

"Frostpaw is younger than me and he still caught something." Sagepaw then replies with a disappointed tone of voice. "His mentor, Smokefur, isn't even that good at hunting herself. Have you seen her hunt? The chance of her catching something is like half and half. So, Frostpaw probably caught that with little training experience." She meows.

"And? Does that matter? You still need more practice. You'll catch something very soon." Bearpaw replies.

"I guess you're right." Sagepaw meows, looking down.

Then, all of the apprentices that caught something buried their fresh kill.

"Now, to battle practice." Applebranch meows. "Since we have an even number of apprentices, we can split into pairs as apprentices." He explains. "We will split into three pairs. I will not pair littermates together. Older apprentices, please go easier on the younger apprentices. They don't know very much yet." He meows. "Apprentices, use all you know on your mentor. Remember, make sure your claws are sheathed. We don't want any injuries." He continues to explain. "Got it?" He asks. All of the apprentices nod. "The pairs will be Mistypaw and Nettlepaw, Bearpaw and Toadpaw, and Sagepaw and Frostpaw." Applebranch announces. "When I say you can start, you may start. Now... start!" He meows.

Bearpaw is in shock as Toadpaw leaps right for him. Bearpaw quickly dodges the younger apprentice's pounce and the smaller tom lands on the ground. Bearpaw takes this moment to quickly attack. Bearpaw leaps for Toadpaw, and successfully pounces on the younger cat's back, knocking him down to the ground. Bearpaw pins Toadpaw down, which was not a problem for Bearpaw since he is heavier than the other apprentice.

"Okay, okay, you win this one." Toadpaw meows, surrendering to Bearpaw.

"You're weak." Bearpaw comments.

"I know, I need more practice." Toadpaw replies. Bearpaw gets up off of Toadpaw and Toadpaw gets up off the ground.

Soon, everyone else was finished. Bearpaw beat Toadpaw, Mistypaw beat Nettlepaw, and Frostpaw beat Sagepaw. Bearpaw notices that Sagepaw looks disappointed yet again.

"Great job. Now, let's head back to camp." Applebranch meows to the others. Then, Bearpaw and the other apprentices that caught something unburies their fresh kill. The apprentices and mentors then walk back to camp together.