peachy | a warrior cats fanfiction

▹ chapter 3

The training had been going okay so far. The two mentors had only been letting the apprentices partake in some hunting – for some reason, Peachpaw assumed they were likely avoiding battle training for her sake. The spatter of blood against rich, green grass was still heavy in her head.

In all honesty, she was glad she'd somewhat taken Honeyfur's advice and hadn't strayed away from her training opportunity. She found herself often distracted, listening to the warriors talk, or working with Lilypaw to capture prey, whether it be real or imaginary. There were times when suddenly, something clicked back, reminding her about Leafpaw when she'd just forgotten, and then making her feel some strange way for daring to forget.

Peachpaw landed a pounce, her claws closed over a fresh leaf, poking holes through its thin form. She immediately looked back at Oakwatcher and Tansysong for some sort of reaction, validation or critique.

"Good job, Peachpaw!" Tansysong chirped. Peachpaw found it odd that she hadn't heard a bad word from either of them yet. Even when she was after a real mouse with Lilypaw, and her restlessness scared it off, forcing Lilypaw to chase it down, she still didn't receive negative comments. "Thanks," Peachpaw muttered. She lifted a paw and disentangled the leaf from her claws, tearing it as she did so.

"Your pounce was very well-judged," Oakwatcher commented. He hadn't been saying much directed towards Peachpaw, since she wasn't his apprentice and she barely knew the tom, so the compliment settled in her with a spark. She dipped her head. "Cool, thanks."

Tansysong looked between the two apprentices, giving them each a nod. "I think we can be done here, yeah? We've caught enough, and you've done good in your training." Peachpaw saw Lilypaw smile, seemingly pleased with her success, or maybe just the warrior's comments in general. The calico nodded.

"Okay," Tansysong mewed. She turned around, padding towards the base of a tree several lengths away, scuffing at the ground until she revealed a vole.

"Let's go get the mouse," Peachpaw piped up, glancing at Lilypaw. She began to step away, heading for the brush where their earlier catch was hidden. She glanced over her shoulder to see the other apprentice following a ways behind, as if her gait had started later.

With the prey gathered, the two apprentices met up with their mentors back around where Peachpaw had clawed her leaf. Tansysong held a vole, Oakwatcher a crow. Peachpaw had carried the mouse that Lilypaw caught. Nobody said much, rather Tansysong gestured with her tail, beginning to go back the way they'd came. Oakwatcher gave the apprentice's a glance and followed as well. Peachpaw supposed they were quietly going back to camp.

Peachpaw was satisfied with her lessons that day. Maybe it did feel good to go out and do things with others. The mouse they caught sat comfortably in her jaws, and she had no problem with the cats silent walking. Their work was done, what else was there to talk about? But it appeared they were taking a different path back to camp now, one more convenient than the first, now that training was over.

They were walking past the peach trees. Her namesake, her nemesis. For a moment she thought she saw a flash of orange hidden in the branches, but when she looked closer, it was only a cluster of peaches. Leafpaw would never sit in those trees again. She was fooling herself.

Peachpaw took a deep breath, hurrying past them, hearing one call from the group behind her before they quieted. She was practically running, running until she got past the trees, when she could finally slow into a trot. She didn't feel like waiting for the others. She'd just get to camp first.