The Four Apprentices

Chapter Five

Leaves fell from the leaf-fall trees. Birds were heard all around, but the only focus was the squirrel in front of the path. It was chewing on a nut, acting as if it wasn't in danger. 
Crack.

A stick cracked in the distance. The squirrel's ears perked up as it ran up into the trees. A small gray cat dashed toward it, before bumping her head into the tree. It's been three moons since the dog incident, and so much has changed. Moonpaw still remembers the time Thunderfox came into camp with Shadowpaw, Wolfkit, and Ferretkit, who are now Ferretpaw and Wolfpaw. That night, neither Moonpaw nor Redkit, who is now Redpaw, could sleep. She remembered that gentle murmur from Featherwish, "Shadowpaw….. will never ever see again…."

But not just bad has happened over the last few moons, some good had happened in their small lives. Morningblaze had kits with Grayclaw, Stormkit and Soulkit. Swiftpaw has indeed become a warrior, now known as Swiftstorm. Darkpaw pounced beside Moonpaw, "Nice catch." He teased, his tail softly touching her cheek. She scoffed, "Oh please…" Hollycloud and Bloodmoon padded over to them, "Hey it's okay Moonpaw, better luck next time." Hollycloud smiled gently at her. She smiled back at her mentor. Bloodmoon chuckled, grabbing the prey they caught. With that, she padded back to Sunny stones. Darkpaw smirked at Moonpaw, tail lashing back and forth. He followed his mentor, proudly digging up the plump rabbit he caught. Hollycloud sighed, looking at her apprentice while Moonpaw kicked the soft green grass, "Don't worry, Moonpaw. Practice makes perfect.. you have to be cautious when your hunting." She crouched down, watching a mouse closely, "Watch…" Her gaze didn't leave the mouse. It was chewing on some roots, not noticing Hollycloud. She slowly went towards it. Her tail as still as a stick. Moonpaw watched her mentor closely as she pounced onto the mouse, pinning it down and finishing off.

She padded to her mentor. Hollycloud turned to her, "See, hunting's not so hard. You just have to practice." She smiled softly at Moonpaw. Moonpaw smiled a bit. I'll get there…. 
Bloodmoon perked up, "Ready to head back to camp?" Hollycloud glanced at Moonpaw and turned back to the dark gray deputy, "Yep, I think we're ready to go." Birds sang softly as they passed their trees. They headed back to camp, murmuring happily. Darkpaw's chest fluffed out, "I bet Stormkit will be so happy with the prey we caught." He meowed to Moonpaw proudly. She chuckled, "Sure he will…." 

When they got back to camp, she padded over to Redpaw, who was laying down at the foot of the apprentices' den. She perked up towards Moonpaw, "Hey Moonpaw." Moonpaw laid down beside her, "Hey, Redpaw." 
"How was hunting?" Redpaw asked. Moonpaw sighed, "Could be better…" 
"Catch anything?" 
"No…." She growled, "How is everyone else so good while I'm the one getting all the bad karma!" Redpaw flinched, "It's not so bad.." Moonpaw glared at her, snarling, "How would you know? You haven't even made one mistake in your life." She stomped away angrily, "Moonpaw, Wait!" She ignored Redpaw and headed out into the forest. I need to cool off before talking to anyone else… 

"Moonpaw!" Darkpaw's voice was heard from behind. She growled, turning to him, "I don't need any false hope, Darkpaw!" She ran deeper into the forest, into the depths of unknown territory. She couldn't stop. She just couldn't. "Run……" a voice whispered in her ear. She ran faster, not paying attention to where she was going. Suddenly, everything went black and she tripped, falling face first onto her face.

Blood trickled down from her forehead and onto her nose. A cat padded over to her, watching her closely. She looked up to see who it was, "D-Darkpaw?" She called his name, shakily. Blood poured from his eye sockets, as if they had been gouged out with a claw.

Bite marks and scratches covered his body. His dark gray fur was now stained with his blood and clumped up. Tears fell onto the ground from her eyes, "Darkpaw!" As soon as she called his name, his body fell onto the hard ground as he took his last breath. She rushed to his dead body, sobbing, "Darkpaw!!" She buried her face in his clumpy dried up fur, "W-wake up……" 

A jab in the ribs woke Moonpaw up. Mischievous amber eyes met her calm blue ones. The tom smirked, his ginger pelt fluffing up with rage, "I'm so sorry to say this, Skyclan cat… but you're a horrible spy." He covered her mouth with his black tail. She looked at him. Pure horror went through her eyes. He smirked, shifting closer to her, "How about I teach you a lesson. One you'll never forget…" His smirk turned to a snarl as he sank his teeth into her soft skin. She screamed out in pain, trying to get out of his grasp. He bit harder, making her moves cease to a stop. He smirked proudly, his teeth slowly came out from her skin. Tears pooled in her eyes. I'm going to die here…. I'm going to die. 

A loud noise suddenly burst behind them. Before either of them could react, water splashed over them, as if it wrapped them in a pile of blankets. Moonpaw thrashed helplessly as mud and water filled her small lungs. Oxygen began to run out and turn into nothing. All that she could do was sink further and further into the flooded water, waiting for death to slowly arrive. This is the end….. 
Memories flashed through her head, as if to calm her senses down. The fading smell of the warm nursery flashes into her nose. She imagined what life would be without her. Probably same as always.. 

Hollycloud's look of despair flashed through her head, from when she dragged Dovelight's corpse into camp. Hollycloud surely wouldn't forget about her, right? Oxygen left fully, as she was left with nothing but muddy water. She thrashed around helplessly but made her situation worse. Salty tears formed into her eyes as mud splattered into them. She closed them shut tightly. This is all my fault……….. 

Right before she could feel her heart stop, something grabbed her by her neck fur and pulled her up. She took in a breath of air, but couldn't due to all the muddy water she swallowed. All she could do was allow this cat to do whatever, due to the fact that She's defenseless anyways.

She was dropped onto land softly, out of the swamp like water, "What were you thinking, you could've been killed!" Swiftstorm's loud hiss was heard. She gagged and threw up all of the water and mud with a huff. She opened her eyes, looking at Swiftstorm, "You……" She coughed, ".....Saved me……"