Stolen (Book 1 of the Outcast Quartet)

Chapter 12 (Jadepaw)

I sat, hunched and as far away from the others as I could manage. Today was a training session between all of the apprentices, even Yellowpaw had to come. Due to her blindness, Yellowpaw was a clumsy fighter however she made up for this with her immense knowledge of herbs. I don’t know where she gets this knowledge, but it’s almost like she was born knowing what herb to what. However she couldn’t exactly use this knowledge in a fight and so her she was, having to learn how to defend herself. I felt a tad torn between relief of knowing my little sister could protect herself and grief at the thought of her needing me less.

            Yellowpaw glanced over at me from where she sat, at the far side of the clearing. She had sat between Sorrelpaw, a reddish-brown she-cat, and Maplepaw. While I still held onto my strong loathing towards the maple brown she-cat, Yellowpaw had started to build up a friendship with her. Apparently, or at least according to Yellowpaw, she had changed over time. I sighed and glanced back at our current teachers, Loon and Owl. The two toms had recently arrived to the adoption center, four moons ago, and had been welcomed with open paws. Loon was rather skinny and his ragged black-and-white tabby pelt seemed to always be slightly dirty. He was an odd cat at best and I often caught him rambling to himself, but beside that Lark had proven himself to be a skilled hunter and a swift fighter.

            Owl was practically the complete opposite of Loon, his glossy mottled brown pelt was sleek against his well-built frame. He was at least two times larger than Lark and he always kept a composed air about him. He was a great thinker, a fierce fighter and never seemed to fear anything.

            “I wish they’d just shut up,” Eclipsepaw grumbled, his eyes dropped with morning tiredness and his usually well kept black-and-yellow pelt stuck out from just waking up. He shot a glare over at his sister Sorrelpaw, who was chatting up a storm, but he soon broke out into a yawn.

            “Sorrelpaw, will you answer the question?” Owl snapped, startling Sorrelpaw into silence.

            “The uh… question? Can you um… repeat it?” Sorrelpaw asked, her eyes wide.

            “Haha, she wouldn’t know the answer Owl,” Loon laughed, his somewhat crazed yellow eyes narrowed as they locked onto Sorrelpaw. “Here, here I know-”

            “Loon we agreed I’d ask the questions,” Owl snorted, causing Loon to grow quite. “Sorrelpaw let me repeat, what would you do if you saw a fox sneak into the camp?”

            “I’d raise up an alarm before going to the nursery to make sure the kits were safe,” Sorrelpaw answered confidently.

            “And if you have to fight a fox, what would you do?”

            “Er…” Sorrelpaw shifted her paws while thinking it over.

            “Exactly, today we will spend working on the basics of fox training. Foxes and badgers are great threats for adoption centers. The two species, when hungry, hope to get easy prey and young kits are a great example.”

            I flinched as my thoughts wondered back to that night, the scar that ran down my face throbbing from the memory. “I need you five to split into groups, whoever is left shall be paired up with Loon.”

            I watched as Eclipsepaw stood up and padded away, joining his sister Sorrelpaw. Standing up, I started towards Yellowpaw when Maplepaw came over to her. I froze as I watched Yellowpaw nod, had she just chosen to practice with Maplepaw. Disbelief rose through me, Yellowpaw and I always did things together. I took in a deep breath and closed my eyes, so I was alone now was I? Opening my eyes, I turned to face Owl who was looking at me thoughtfully.