Warrior Cats: Sheepcloud's Sorrow

Chapter Seven

Several moons had passed since the deaths of Leafkit and Smallkit. Bluekit and Brightkit had both been apprenticed, Bluepaw's mentor being Whitepelt and Brightpaw's mentor being Fernpelt. Applepelt was now pregnant with Mosstail's kits, and had moved into the nursery.

The nursery seemed a lot emptier now. Sheepkit had always been used to the nursery being very crowded, but with Leafkit and Smallkit gone, and Bluepaw and Brightpaw now sleeping in the apprentices' den, the nursery seemed so much quieter.

Ravenkit will be an apprentice very soon, too.

The black she kit didn't even seem very excited about her apprentice ceremony. Whenever someone asked her about it, she simply would answer that she was happy to be given a chance to serve and defend her Clan. Sheepkit guessed that Ravenkit simply wished she could have become an apprentice with her siblings.

As for Sheepkit, she missed Bluepaw and Brightpaw, Bluepaw in particular, a lot. They still tried to talk to her when they could, but they always seemed quite busy. The siblings had just gotten back from training, and Bluekit now sat next to Brightpaw as he spoke eagerly about his day. Brightpaw seemed to be enjoying his training a lot. Bluepaw... less so.

"Fernpelt's so nice!" the ginger tom purred. "She lets me do whatever I want and she just says I'm doing so great! She says I'm super talented! Isn't that great, Sheepkit? It is, isn't it? Don't you think so?" He spoke quickly, batting playfully at Sheepkit as he spoke.

Stupid furball still acts like a kit...

Sheepkit smiled. "It is," she answered. "You and Fernpelt seem to get along really well."

"We do!" Brightpaw grinned. The two cats watched Fernpelt, who was cheerfully chatting with Squirrelheart while sharing prey with him a few mouselengths away.

Fernpelt's a really sweet cat. Brightpaw is super lucky to have her as his mentor.

"I wish Bluepaw would spend more time with us," Brightpaw mewed, his voice becoming unusually quiet, a slight frown on his face. "But Whitepelt's a really strict mentor, you know. I heard him screeching at Bluepaw earlier, and now they're in Hawkstar's den... do you suppose they were having a yowling competition?"

Sheepkit sighed rather loudly. Brightpaw was as naive as usual. Whitepelt was a huge foxheart, always had been, rude and insulting towards everyone. Bluepaw has been eager to be trained by such a confident cat, but the sadness was clear in her eyes whenever Whitepelt spat at her.

As the two cats spoke, Whitepelt and Bluepaw emerged from Hawkstar's den, walking as far away from eachother as they possibly could.

"Why are you so impatient?" Bluepaw spat. "I beat Frostpaw in that fight, and she's nearly a warrior! Brightpaw and I are the strongest apprentices, and we've been training the least amount of time? What's your problem?" She glared at the tall tomcat.

"You can always be better! You always seem to mess around when you're training!" Whitepelt glared at the grey furred she cat. "Don't think I don't see you watching Brightpaw and Fernpelt as they talk to eachother! Brightpaw is the perfect example of a cat who will fail as a warrior just because Fernpelt won't discipline him!"

Bluepaw's eyes blazed with fury. "Brightpaw's just as strong as me, even with Fernpelt giving him plenty of breaks! Why are you so grumpy?" Without giving her a mentor a chance to respond, she stalked away from him and snatched a large fish from the freshkill pile, ignoring Whitepelt as he yowled after her, "There are other cats to feed before yourself, you know!"

Bluepaw padded over to her brother and Sheepkit. "I think I'm getting stronger," she told them. "I beat Frostpaw when we were battle training today, and she's had so much more training than me."