Pineshade's Loss

Chapter 28

Pineshade is woken up in his nest due to slight pressure on his flank. The dark gray tom the opens his eyes to be surprised to see a dark figure standing in front of him. Pineshade prepares to yowl in fear, but he is quickly stopped by the figure, who he quickly recognizes as Swiftpaw.

"Shh, there's still warriors asleep," Swiftpaw meows, putting his tail up to his mentor's muzzle.

"What is it, Swiftpaw?" Pineshade quietly groans.

"You promised we would join the other mentors and apprentices today to do the tradition you told me about!" Swiftpaw meows. "I stepped out of the apprentices' den hoping to see you waiting for me with the other mentors, but you weren't there!"

"I'm sorry, Swiftpaw," Pineshade apologizes to his apprentice. "I did not mean to sleep in."

"It's fine. But, are we still going to join in on the tradition? Every other cat is waiting for us," Swiftpaw asks.

"Is that even a question? Of course we are," Pineshade meows, getting up out of his nest. "Let's go."

"Yay!" Swiftpaw cheers. The mentor and apprentice then step out of the warriors' den, joining the other mentors and apprentices.

"Now, is every cat ready?" Juniperleaf, the eldest of the mentors, asks. After every cat makes sounds of approval, all twelve cats exit ShadowClan's camp together, heading over to the small clearing.

Pineshade watches as Swiftpaw dashes away from him and decides to pad beside Wolfpaw instead. The two apprentices seem to have had a very close friendship since kithood, which makes them remind him of Milktail and himself.

"How are you feeling being a mentor so far?" Spikepelt asks Pineshade. "Swiftpaw is quite a handful, but I think he really looks up to you."

"Swiftpaw is great, he behaves well for me," Pineshade responds. "How bad was he as a kit? I'm afraid I haven't heard much about that," he meows. Spikepelt then lets out a purr of amusement.

"You'd better be glad you haven't heard much about it. He was a nightmare for Stormmist," Spikepelt responds. Then, the group of cats finally make it to the small clearing. Juniperleaf quickly takes charge.

"Be silent and listen to me," Juniperleaf meows to start off, trying to quiet down the chaotic group of cats. "Today, the five new apprentices will take part in the training tradition for the first time. So, Icepaw, Ivypaw, Wolfpaw, Fernpaw, and Swiftpaw, please listen to me closely." The five new apprentices then nod in response.

"First, we will focus on hunting. The each of you will go off on your own for your one hunting attempt. If you don't catch anything, still return to the clearing. Your mentors will be watching you. Then, once every cat returns, we will focus on fighting. Since there are six apprentices, you will be split into three pairs. Each pair will battle each other with sheathed claws until one apprentice is pinned by the other or surrenders," Juniperleaf meows. "Do all of you get that?" After sounds of approval are heard from the apprentices, Juniperleaf speaks again.

"Now, we may begin the hunting phase," Juniperleaf meows. "Remember, you only have one attempt!"

Pineshade watches as Swiftpaw begins to pad off and he begins to follow slowly and quietly behind him. Pineshade watches his apprentices as he crouches down low and begins to sneak closer to a vole. Pineshade had recently trained Swiftpaw a lot with hunting, so he hopes he will be able to catch the vole. He continues to watch as Swiftpaw leaps for the vole and kills it with a one quick bite.

"Impressive, Swiftpaw!" Pineshade compliments, getting into the apprentice's view.

"Thank you," Swiftpaw meows happily, his voice muffled by the vole in his jaws.

"Let's head back," Pineshade meows and the two cats head back to the small clearing together, quickly making it back. When they arrived, all of the other mentors and apprentices have already returned. Frogpaw and Icepaw were the only other apprentices who were able to catch something. The others returned empty-jawed.

"Nice catch, Swiftpaw!" Fernpaw meows to her brother.

"Yeah, that's amazing!" Wolfpaw quickly adds.

"Thank you!" Swiftpaw cheerfully replies.

"Now that every cat has returned from hunting, we will now move on to battling. Remember what I said, keep your claws sheathed and don't start until I say so!" Juniperleaf meows. "The three pairs will be Frogpaw and Wolfpaw, Swiftpaw and Ivypaw, and Fernpaw and Icepaw."

Pineshade watches as his apprentice split away from him and pads over towards Ivypaw.

"Go easy on me, Swiftpaw!" Ivypaw meows cautiously. "Don't act like you forgot what you did when we were kits!"

"Don't worry, Ivypaw. I'm a changed tom now, remember? I'm no longer Swiftkit, but Swiftpaw," Swiftpaw responds. "I promise I won't bite your tail again."

"Good, because that hurt!" Ivypaw replies.

"Begin!" Juniperleaf then meows. Pineshade watches as his apprentice immediately leaps for Ivypaw, knocking her down to the ground with a hard shove on the torso. The gray-and-white she-cat's emerald eyes widen she begins to struggle to breathe. Swiftpaw notices this and quickly gets off of her. After a few worrying seconds, Ivypaw finally speaks.

"I-I can't breathe!" Ivypaw wails in a panic. This quickly catches the attention of the other cats, especially the kind-hearted Frogpaw, who quickly hurries to the younger apprentice's aid.

"Swiftpaw! What did you do?!" Rosedawn growls.

"I didn't mean to do anything! I only knocked her down!" Swiftpaw frantically meows. Frogpaw helps Ivypaw back onto her paws, giving Swiftpaw a cold glare.

"Thank you," Ivypaw meows weakly, but full of gratitude.

"But you knocked the air out of my daughter!" Spikepelt quickly jumps in. "You need to be careful, young one."

"Yes, Spikepelt," Swiftpaw meows, lowering his head.

"Swiftpaw, you should apologize," Frogpaw meows as Ivypaw leans against him for support. Pineshade, not wanting to get into the situation, stays silent, although he wishes to defend his apprentice.

"I'm sorry, Ivypaw. I didn't mean to hurt you," Swiftpaw meows guiltily.

"I-I forgive you, but you said you're a changed tom, when you're clearly n-not," Ivypaw meows, still struggling with her breathing.

"Talk with Pineshade about this later, maybe he can help you change," Jayflight meows to Swiftpaw.

"I think that's enough for today," Juniperleaf meows.

"Really?" Wolfpaw whines, sounding disappointed.

Despite protests from some of the apprentices, all twelve cats begin to head back to camp together. Swiftpaw keeps his head low and his tail tucked beneath him the whole way.

"You didn't do anything wrong," Wolfpaw meows to Swiftpaw as the walk back. "Ivypaw was just being over-dramatic."

"Yeah!" Fernpaw quickly adds, siding with her brother. "I know you didn't mean to hurt her."

"Swiftpaw," Pineshade meows.

"Hm?" Swiftpaw responds to his mentor.

"Don't let them get to you. You did nothing wrong. You're still a beginner and you didn't know that knocking her down like that would cause her to lose her breath. Throughout life, every cat makes mistakes. Instead of feeling guilty about their mistakes, the best warriors learn from them instead," Pineshade meows, supporting his apprentice.

"Thank you so much, Pineshade," Swiftpaw purrs.

"You're welcome, little tom," Pineshade meows as the twelve cats pad through the camp entrance.