The Elementals Trilogy [REWRITING]

Chapter 6

(Bloodpaw's POV)

"Bloodkit, you have chosen the path of a warrior and your mentor shall be Echopath!" the light grey Queen yowled from her position on the High-ledge.

Bloodkit, soon to be Bloodpaw, walked over to her mentor and lightly brushed her nose against Echopath before withdrawing and standing stiffly beside her. She sensed Echopath's fear and decided it would be best to not provoke it further.

"Slatepaw! Flintpaw! Bloodpaw!" the rest of the clan chanted, barely a whisper for hers, filled with distrust, angst and fear.

Her sisters always wanted to be warriors, sparring with each other the second they could talk. Bloodpaw only joined as she didn't want to be left out and ridiculed for her inferiority.

"Bloodpaw! Focus! A mouse ran right over your paws and you didn't even notice!" her mentor harshly reprimanded her.

Bloodpaw had been training as a warrior for three moons, three more before her assessment. She dug her claws into the moist earth and faced her mentor, cursing at Echopath. Bloodpaw watched as her foster siblings snickered, sharing barely audible words of contempt behind their mentors' backs.

Umbrastar's tail swished disapprovingly and she faced Slatepaw and sighed,

"Slatepaw, this is an example of what you should not do. Listen carefully, pay attention and don't fall asleep and you won't end up a commoner."

A screech of rage echoed over from the far side of BreezeClan's border. The one that touched the Skulls of Death. BreezeClan must've decided their strip of land wasn't large enough and wanted more. She couldn't really blame them. The Skulls, as she had heard about from the elders, only formed two moons before her birth. Before them, BreezeClan could freely expand their territory, doing it so frequently that many travelling through their territory were confused by where the boundaries lay. She'd also heard about BreezeClan and about how envious they were. They envied OakClan for their lush forests, MistClan for their skills and silence, TorrentClan for their abundance of prey and now the Skulls, for all the territory they had.

Bloodpaw lifted her head and saw the sun finally creeping down the horizon. Streaks of fiery red, soft pink and bronze were carelessly strewn across the sky, yet at the same time, it seemed like some divine artist spent moons crafting such an intricate piece. The narrow but deep stream that separated BreezeClan and MistClan glowed with vibrant colours. It truly was magical.

An unusually bright gleam caught Bloodpaw's attention as she realised the Queen was slightly hunched over, not saying a word, but it could be sensed her mind was buzzing with ideas. She had seen this too many times before and knew it was about to happen as dread slowly pooled in her stomach. Such a look from Umbrastar meant only one thing: that something bad was certainly about to happen to some cat or some clan.

"Change of plans for today's lesson," Umbrastar abruptly called, ripping through the silence. "We'll be hunting in BreezeClan's moors today."

"And if we get caught?" Slatepaw winced slightly, echoing Bloodpaw's thoughts and remembering the audacity of her mentor.

Umbrastar merely rolled her eyes and scoffed,

"Being with Bloodpaw must've ruined your good sense. You see, if the Skulls are attacking, BreezeClan would focus their energy on that and not a couple of cats from a neighbouring territory. Those that aren't fighting would be confined to camp for their safety."

Without another word, Bloodpaw watched Umbrastar leap into the channel and swim across with a couple of strong, deft strokes.