Mossflight's Journey

Chapter 3

It had been two more moons, and still, no luck in finding Bluefur's missing kits. Bluefur sighed but knew she had to act happy, for today was Mosskit's apprentice ceremony. Before long, Seastar called Mosskit, and her new mentor, Windwillow up onto Highrock. 

Once everyone was gathered around, Seastar faced Mosskit. "Mosskit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Mosspaw. Your mentor will be Windwillow. I hope Windwillow will pass down all she knows on to you."

Then, he turned to Windwillow. "Windwillow, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You have received excellent training from Thunderfur, and you have shown yourself to be ambitious and reliable. You will be the mentor of Mosspaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to Mosspaw."

Once the ceremony was finished, and the apprentice and warrior had touched noses, the Clan shouted, "Mosspaw, Mosspaw, Mosspaw!" Mosspaw smiled and went over to her mother, who was beaming with happiness. "I am so proud of you my kit. I hope you train hard to become the warrior I know you can be." Mosspaw smiled to her mother and trotted off to join her apprentice friend, Redpaw. 

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"Today we will be practicing battle moves! I shall teach you, Back Kick first" said Wildflight to her apprentice, Vinepaw. 
"The Back Kick consists of an explosive surprise move to catch your opponent from behind. You must judge the distance from you carefully, then lash out with your back legs, taking all the weight on your front paws. This will cause the opponent to collapse underneath you. You are to demonstrate the move to me on Twistedkit, as he is a useless ShadowClan kit, and will never be a ShadowClan warrior." 

Vinepaw looked venomously at the kit. She had grown to dislike the kind-hearted kit in the moons she had been in ShadowClan. To be in ShadowClan you had to be tough. Not to mention, having one dud paw would never help. He would be a useless fighter. She did as she was instructed and grinned as the kit tumbled to the ground. "Excellent!" praised Wildflight. Vinepaw smiled to herself, and stood alert. "What are we learning next?" She was eager to learn more moves. "We will do Belly Rake, and Front Paw Blow. Then we shall finish this puny kit with the Killing Bite. For that move is never encouraged normally, but why spare this puny kit? And it will be excellent practice for you, for when we attack other Clans for territory." 

Vinepaw looked at the scared kit with no mercy, after she had done the other moves, delivering the Killing Bite to the front of the kits neck, and watched as the life drained out of him, with no remorse. Wildflight picked the kit up in her jaws and carried it, almost proudly, back to camp, laying it at the feet of Mapletail. "You produced a useless kit Mapletail. That is a sin, and for this, you are never to have kits again!" exclaimed Wildflight, and delivered the Belly Rake to the queen, making her bleed as her stomach was slashed open. Mapletail was taken to the medicine cats den to be treated, but there was no way Mapletail would ever be able to have kits again. After the deed was done, Smokepaw, Vinepaw's brother was ordered to go with two warriors, to deliver the kit to the rouges on the edge of their territory, for then they could do what they liked to the kit. Smokepaw felt nauseous at the thought of what the cats would do to the young kit. 

It was official, Smokepaw hated ShadowClan.  He hoped that StarClan was watching and would punish these evil cats, along with his sister. He decided from this moment forward, Smokepaw disowned Vinepaw from his family. 
Smokepaw arrived at the edge of the territory and laid the kit down, and sat waiting, for the rouges to appear. Soon, a massive russet colored tom walked over and stood tall, taking the kit. "We accept your offering. For this we shall leave your Clan in peace another year." And with that, he walked off and delivered the dead kit to the rouge cats. They tore into the tiny body, and Smokepaw tried not to look at the little body. As the warriors that accompanied him watched with smiles on their faces, Smokepaw took his chance. He ran away from the cats, he ran as fast as he could, but it was no use. Those cats were bigger, faster, and stronger. They caught Smokepaw and with one swift swipe, they sliced his throat, and left him to bleed out and die. They traveled alone and silently back to the ShadowClan camp to deliver the news to Deadstar. 

When the two warriors arrived back, and had told the news, Deadstar beckoned to Vinepaw, and she followed her leader out into the middle of the forest. Deadstar looked straight into Vinepaw's eyes, and snarled, "Are you a traitor like your brother?" He unsheathed his claws and waited for her answer.

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Author's Note: A little cliffhanger! I will get Chapter 4 out soon, and the story will continue!