Warriors: Uprising (Book 1)

Chapter 12

(A/N: Things will get more intense.)

      Shredpaw didn't get any sleep. He's alone in the Apprentices' den, and he's never felt so alone since Dustshine left him in the Nursery alone once. I miss being next to Dustshine... It feels so cold without her... Shredpaw thought. He was on the verge of crying again, but he didn't want to cry.

Well, you have me!

Shredpaw quickly looked around. "Wh-who said that?"

Me!

Shredpaw was getting angry. "Who are you?! And why can't I see you?"

Well, I'm-

"Shredpaw, what are you doing?" There was a meow from in front of him. It was Blacksting.

"N-Nothing..." He replied, looking away from his father in fear.

"There's no other cat in here, but you Shredpaw." His meow was stern.

"We-well, you're in here now-" Blacksting cut him off by scratching his left ear with his claws.

"Don't get smart with me, you worthless runt!" He hissed at the poor Shredpaw.

Shredpaw was more frightened now than he was before. How could his father bear to be mean to him like this?

"We train soon, and I want to leave soon. So be ready or Sagethorn will pay for your faults." He snarled, then left the den in a heartbeat.

But why would he do that to Sagethorn? Shredpaw almost crying at the thought of his mother getting harmed by him.

Shredpaw got up from his nest and attempted to stretch, but it didn't help him at all. He then padded out of the Apprentices' den to a quiet Vertexclan. The camp wasn't vivacious, probably because there are few cats in the Vertexclan, but that's just a hunch.

Shredpaw didn't know any other cats in his clan beside Dustshine, Birdstar, Nova, and Blacksting, but could Shredpaw consider Blacksting a cat he knows?

If I ever had kits of my own, I would never treat them like this... Shredpaw thought as he headed to the fresh-kill pile. Blacksting stopped him in his tracks with a half-eaten piece of prey. "Here, I saved some for you. That's all you'll get." He dropped it right in front of Shredpaw. "Hurry and eat it." The black tom padded off again.

Shredpaw sniffed the piece of prey. It smelled rotten. "W-well I can't go hungry I guess..." He sighed and took a bite of the prey, which nearly made him throw up, but he gulped it down, anyway. He didn't finish it because if he kept on eating it, he would get sick.

"I knew you wouldn't finish it, you're such a weakling," Shredpaw jumped and turned to see Blacksting behind him, already looking angry. "Let's go, I'm not waiting any longer for you." He headed towards the entrance and out. Shredpaw pursued him. He didn't want Blacksting to scold or harm him again.

*

The two toms arrived at their location: the Ocean Side.

"Come with me closer to the water," Blacksting ordered as he padded into the water himself a little. Shredpaw followed.

I guess he will teach me to swim...? Shredpaw thought.

Blacksting got closer to the ocean. It was a little deeper than before, and Shredpaw had followed.

"Wh-when will we start-" Suddenly, Shredpaw felt a heavy force push his head down muzzle first into the water below his paws. He squirmed around a ton, trying to get his maw out of the water.

"I've trained you a little differently, and this is how we'll start," Blacksting smirked as he watched his son squabble around and still try to get his maw out.

I can't... Breathe... Thoughts were quickly running through Shredpaw's mind as his father continued to hold his head down.

Shredpaw's vision was slowly fading out and his movement slowed.

Until Blacksting removed his paw from Shredpaw.

Shredpaw quickly pulled his head up and gasped for a huge breath of air. He was panting heavily, along with water dripping down his muzzle.

"Why... Did you d-do that to me...?" He questioned his father's actions, to which he had no response to at all.

Blacksting pushed Shredpaw's head back down into the water, keeping it there for a while again, before he nearly blacked out once more.

Blacksting repeated this near drown process for a while.

*

  Back at Vertexclan camp, Shredpaw ran as fast as he could back into the apprentice den. Instead of going to his nest, he ran into the corner of the den and cried, tears falling onto the ground he laid at.

Blacksting just stood at the entrance for a bit. "We'll continue your training later." he meowed, then left.

Shredpaw continued to cry. "I-I want Dustshine!" he yelled.

Don't worry, friend! Everything will be okay! The voice Shredpaw heard from earlier said.

"No, it won't!"