Two Clans Apart

Chapter 3

Firepaw guided Winterpaw around the camp. First going into the apprentices den. A dark gray tom padded over to Firepaw. "Hey Firepaw" he nudges his fire pelt friend and turns to Winterpaw. "You must be Winterpaw, the new apprentice. Welcome to Thunderclan, I'm Graypaw" Winterpaw nodded at Graypaw and smiled. "Thank you, at least there's one cat who's nice enough to say hi to me" she mewed. Graypaw flicked his tail. "Their just not used to having kittypets join the Clan. Afterall they had the same reaction with Firepaw" he points his tail towards Firepaw, who lowered his ears in embarrassment. "Graypaw!" He yowled. Graypaw laughed and stretched his legs.

"Firepaw," a voice called. The three cats turned to see Bluestar, peeking into the apprentices den. "Come with me" she mewed. Firepaw nods before turning to Graypaw. "Mind showing Winterpaw around the camp while I go with Bluestar?" He asked. Graypaw nods. "No problem. You can count on me". Winterpaw was getting excited. She couldn't stop prancing her paws on the ground. Graypaw laughed as Bluestar and Firepaw left the den.

"Come on" Graypaw mewed. "I'll show you around, afterwards we can look for some moss for you to sleep on, I'll even share some of mine". Winterpaw jumped up. "Great. Thanks Graypaw" she mewed. Graypaw padded out of the apprentice den with Winterpaw following him. Graypaw stumbled upon a large bush. It was not so far from the Highrock that Bluestar stood on. "This is where the warriors sleep. We will be here too once we become warriors" he explains. Winterpaw lifted her nose. She could smell cats inside. "Can we go inside?" She asked. Graypaw shook his head. "Not yet. I wouldn't suggest it either. I'm sure the cats inside are asleep. And they wouldn't want to be awake after a long day of hunting and patrolling." Winterpaw's whiskers twitch as Graypaw walks off. She stood, staring at the warrior's den before walking to Graypaw. The gray tom continued to show Winterpaw around the camp. It wasn't long before a white furred tom walked up to the apprentices. "Hello Whitestorm" Graypaw meowed. Whitestorm looked at the gray apprentice then over to Winterpaw then back to Graypaw. "Tigerclaw and Ravenpaw are going hunting, do you mind going with them while I teach Winterpaw here how to hunt?" He asked. Winterpaw didn't mind this. After all, Whitestorm was a handsome looking tom, and he looked like a tough cat. According to his large size, he was much bigger then both apprentices. Graypaw nodded. "Sure I don't mind. What about Sandpaw?". Whitestorm's ears twitched. "She's gone back to the apprentices den to rest, now go on now, don't want to keep Tigerclaw waiting. He and Ravenpaw are heading to Sunning Rocks." The white tom explained. "Alright. See ya later Winterpaw". Graypaw padded away, waving his tail at the she-cat apprentice. As Graypaw left, Whitestorm crouched down to Winterpaw's height. "We'll practice by the Owl Tree. We might find a squirrel or two there. That is if the owl didn't get to them first". Whitestorm takes a path out of the camp, Winterpaw behind his tail. "It's not far from the camp" he mews.

Whitestorm and Winterpaw made their way to the Owl Tree. On the way there, Winterpaw spotted a squirrel. "Whitestorm look" Winterpaw whispered, nudging her paw on his shoulder. The tom looked at her as she pointed her tail to the squirrel. "Alright. Keep quiet and do what I do" Whitestorm instructed. He bended his front and back legs, his belly laying on the ground. Winterpaw watched and tried to do the same. However her tail was still up. The squirrel looked up and noticed it. It scattered off up a tree. "Aww what happened?" Winterpaw groaned. Whitestorm stood up and licked his paw. "It was your tail. It must have noticed it". He turned to her. "You have to keep your tail down and still so that they don't notice you". Winterpaw let out an 'oh' before narrowing her eyes on the ground. "I'm sorry" she mewed quietly. Whitestorm brushed his muzzle onto the white apprentice. "Don't worry, I'm sure that's not the only squirrel around here". Winterpaw nods and smiles before padding away. "Lets go look for another then!".

Whitestorm and Winterpaw arrived into the camp. Carrying fresh-kill in their mouths. Whitestorm carried a large squrriel, it was double the size of a kit. Winterpaw had a mouse, carrying it by the tail, which was between her teeth. The cats carried it to the fresh-kill pile and dropped it there. "Finally some fresh-kill" a pale tabby tom mewed. Winterpaw looked up at the tabby. Her eyes widen. The tabby looked at up at her. "You.." He hissed. "Now I know where I've seen you. You were that kittypet, snooping around our territory." Winterpaw squeaked and hid behind Whitestorm. The senior warrior patted his tail on her and turned to the tabby. "Calm down Longtail, you're scaring her" he mewed calmly. Longtail. That must be the tabby's name. Winterpaw watched as Longtail ignored Whitestorm and leaned down to pick up a mouse from the fresh-kill pile. 'I caught that one' Winterpaw thought. She wanted to get excited but she was afraid of why Longtail seemed.. Angry with her. What did she do? As Longtail walked away from the mouse, Whitestorm turned to Winterpaw. "Why not tell me how you two know each other?" He asked. He picked up a finch and padded away. He nudged his head, telling Winterpaw to follow him. She did. Whitestorm layed down on the ground. Winterpaw sat next to him. Whitestorm nudged the finch over to Winterpaw. "You can have the first bite". He mewed. Winter nods and leans down to take a bite of the finch. Besides the feathers being in the way, it tasted great. It was fresh and juicy. The meat was tender and nice. Winterpaw took another bite before nudging the rest to Whitestorm. The tom gladly starts to eat the rest of the finch. "So" he goes on "tell me about you and Longtail. How does he know about you?" He asks. Winterpaw wasn't sure if she should answer. She honestly didnt want to talk about what happened. About the fox attack. How she and her brother were almost killed. "It was.. I believe a day or two ago, when I was a kittypet" she mews. "My brother wanted to explore the forest. I went with him so that nothing bad would happen. Do know that we didn't know it was part of your territory". Whitestorm nods as Winterpaw continued her story. "As we explored, a fox attacked us. We tried to fight it but we couldn't. Suddenly, Longtail was it? When the fox was coming for me, Longtail jumped in front of me and scared the fox away". "He saved you?" Whitestorm interrupted, his tail flicks in curiously. Winterpaw shook her head. "I do think he did, but according to him, he was just protecting the Clan". Winterpaw heard Whitestorm mumble something, he got up and stretched his body. "Thanks for sharing such information with me. You should head off to the apprentices den. I can scent Bluestar and Firepaw coming back to the camp. I have to speak with her". Whitestorm pads away, leaving Winterpaw by herself. The she-cat sighed as she made her way to the apprentices den. Besides two cats she didn't recognize, she noticed another bed of moss. It was in the middle, besides the entrance of the den. Winterpaw walked over to the bed of moss and sniffed it. It smelt fresh. She also smelled some of Graypaw's scent. The gray tom must have shared some of his moss with her. She did notice a moss bed short then any other she spotted. Winterpaw curled up onto her newly made bed and drifted off to sleep.