Warriors: Uprising (Book 1)

Chapter 20

Blizzardpaw knew that tomorrow she would have her warrior assessment. She wanted to make sure that everything she did was perfect or near perfect. Blizzardpaw hasn't spoken to Icejaw in a while. She wondered if she could talk to him today. She would get up and stretch, but she noticed Damppaw was snoring softly.

He looks so nice and peaceful... She thought and smiled.

Eaglepaw noticed Blizzardpaw staring at his brother and padded up to her. "Hey, Blizzardpaw! Why are you staring at Damppaw like that?" His head tilted to the side, a little in confusion.

Blizzardpaw noticed Eaglepaw standing beside her, and she shook her head. "U-Uh, no reason!" She looked away quickly and blushed.

"Alright, I guess..." Eaglepaw padded out of the Apprentices' den afterward.

Blizzardpaw quickly got up and stretched. She would leave the den as well. Then Damppaw opened his eyes. "Hi, Blizzardpaw!" He blinked a few times, then smiled at her.

She nearly jumped when he called her name. "Hello, Damppaw!" She meowed.

"How's the training going?" he asked, now getting up and stretching.

"It's going well, I'm just going to be training more today before my assessment tomorrow." she smiled and the thought of being a warrior of Driftclan.

"Really?" He gasped. "You've been an apprentice for that long already?"

"Yeah! Do you want to help me practice?"

Damppaw blushed, "S-Sure! We must ask our mentors first though," He added.

"Okay! I'll go find Sandcoat then," Blizzardpaw meowed and headed out of the apprentices' den, now looking for her mentor. As she did, she saw Icejaw and Sagethorn talking to each other, so she padded up to the two. "Hi, Sagethorn! Hi, Icejaw!" She mewed as she happily swayed her tail.

"Hi!" Sagethorn meowed.

"Hey, Blizzardpaw. Sandcoat told us you'll be having your assessment soon. We're both very excited for you." Icejaw gave a smile.

Sagethorn nodded in agreement.

"Are you proud of me, Icejaw?" Blizzardpaw asked eagerly.

"I am! You've come such a long way and you're almost a warrior! I couldn't be any more proud of my kit than I am now!" He purred happily.

Blizzardpaw gave a wide smile and nuzzled up against her father, doing her best to hold back her tears at Icejaw's words. Sagethorn huddled with both of them, "And we both love you very much." she purred.

Blizzardpaw purred. "I love you both too!" She would go back to the apprentices' den, but she remembered what she came to ask them. "Have you seen Sandcoat anywhere?" She looked up at them.

"I'm sure he's in the Warriors' den if you're looking for him," Sagethorn meowed.

"I am, thank you!" Blizzardpaw ran off to the Warriors' den.

Once Blizzardpaw got there, she peeked her head in to see Sandcoat and Rushstreak lying next to each other. Rushstreak was still sleeping, and Sandcoat lifted his head to see Blizzardpaw. "Oh hey Blizzardpaw," He meowed, "I'll be up soon so we can go over everything I've taught you," He yawned and Rushstreak shifted closer to Sandcoat.

"I wanted to know if Damppaw and his mentor could train with us?" She asked.

"Well, maybe they can join us in fighting, but the other things will just have to be us. Since they are not learning everything we have learned right now."

"Aw, okay. I'll let Damppaw know!" Blizzardpaw padded out of the Warriors' den and headed back to the Apprentices' den.

Sandcoat looked over at Rushstreak and then looked down at her slightly rounded belly.

I don't know how long she'll be training him though... He thought and sighed.

*

A while later, Sandcoat and Blizzardpaw were behind Driftclan territory again. They had meditated, hunted, swam and now they were on to fighting again, but this time they were with Rushstreak and Damppaw. Blizzardpaw and Damppaw stood in front of each other, ready to start.

"Now Blizzardpaw remember, Damppaw has practiced little so take it easy on him," Rushstreak meowed and licked her fur.

"Okay!"

"I'll be fine Rushstreak don't worry-"

Blizzardpaw tackled Damppaw before he could finish, instantly pinning him to the ground. "H-Hey!" The small version of Lionsplash mewed and blushed. He tried to shake her off, but he couldn't.

"You said you would be fine!" Blizzardpaw exclaimed and got off of Damppaw.

"Alright alright, how about you let Damppaw tackle you and you shake him off?" Sandcoat meowed.

"Sure!" She watched as Damppaw got up and got ready to tackle her.

Damppaw ran towards Blizzardpaw, and she allowed him to pounce on her. He forgot to pin her, though, so she easily pushed him off and pounced on him, pinning him.

Rushstreak sighed, and Sandcoat chuckled.

"You're good at this!" Damppaw blushed again.

"Thanks!" She licked his nose and giggled, then got up off him. The lick on the nose caused him to freeze up on the ground.

"I think that's enough of that for now. Rushstreak and Damppaw will continue on their training. Blizzardpaw let's go fishing." Sandcoat meowed.

"Yay!" she said excitedly, then hopped around.

"I'll talk to you later." Sandcoat licked Rushstreak's cheek, then headed in a different direction, away from the two other cats with Blizzardpaw.

"Hey! Get up, please!" Rushstreak prodded her apprentice.

*

Blizzardpaw was back in camp now, in the apprentices' den. She and Sandcoat had to go to a small stream to catch some fish, since catching fish in the ocean was tougher to do. Blizzardpaw sat in her nest and yawned. She just wanted to get her assessment over with and doing some Warrior duties. She heard pawsteps come into the den. It was Damppaw. He looked tired.

He laid himself out next to Blizzardpaw, who giggled. "You alright, Damppaw?" she mewed.

"Yeah... I'm just tired of today's training..." He laid his head down.

"Oh..." She was quiet for a second before asking something else. "Do you think I'll do well on my assessment?"

Damppaw almost gasped. "Of course you will! You're like the best at everything!" he mewed.

Blizzardpaw smiled, "Thanks!"

I just need to stay positive, and everything will be fine! Hopefully... She thought, then laid her head on her paws.