The Elementals Trilogy [REWRITING]

Chapter 12

(Bloodpaw's POV)

Bloodpaw nervously twitched her whiskers, tail whisking erratically from side to side. Flintpaw, Slatepaw and she were to depart at sunrise. Anxiety pooled low in her stomach as she tried to quash it. Most were terrified of living outside of the clans for longer than a few days, never mind a whole moon, but Bloodpaw was most anxious of the Skulls of Death. Living by one's self was much easier than living in a clan where she'd have to face tortuous hours of communicating with a clan that she never much liked.

The Skulls of Death. She laughed at them in her kithood, much to Lonesoul's displeasure. Her ancient friend had attempted to instill awe and wonder into Bloodpaw via the stories of Skull and his surprising youth when compared to the things he'd achieved. Now, she wished she'd listened more closely, than shrugged off those tales like they were mere droplets of water on her fur.

According to MistClan's medicine cats that'd entered BreezeClan to help, after the Skulls wreaked havoc on the Royals of BreezeClan. Venom, formerly known as Applekit and a former Heir, murdered Queen Ivystar and Heir Lilacfern. She heard of the fact the rest of the Skulls that lay siege on the BreezeClan camp whilst the attack happened departed like a mere shadow in the wind after Venom had killed the pair of she-cats.

A shiver ran down Bloodpaw's spine as she fluffed her fur up to disguise her fear. She'd trained her illusions to be so strong they almost resembled that of real objects and beings that she herself almost mistook an illusion for a clan cat that was spying on her whilst she was practising.

"Helloooooo, is someone in there?" Flintpaw meowed loudly at Bloodpaw's ear.

"Oh, yes, what do you want?" Bloodpaw spluttered, shaking herself to reality.

"Slatepaw and I will go first to scout for any dangers before we split, since we're such nice sisters. You can go after we've checked for dangers, since you're younger than us, therefore, you need protection and because we're not supposed to stick together," Flintpaw replied, voice dripping with false sincerity.

Bloodpaw nodded, pretending that she definitely did not immediately forget what words came out of Flintpaw's mouth. After ten moons of being in the same clan as them, she'd gotten quite well at immediately dispersing the words from their mouths into thin air.

The three mentors, Umbrastar, Wildstorm and Echopath stood behind their respective apprentice to ensure they did not leave before their designated time. Most of the clan gathered behind them as well, to bid them farewell and good luck.

A faint brush of her mentor's tail followed by a quiet 'good luck' was all her mentor had to say and Bloodpaw gave a curt, sharp nod before awkwardly taking a few steps forward to stand in line with her 'sisters'.

The faint warmth of the sun rolled luxuriously among her fur and instantaneously, all three apprentices looked at the Queen of MistClan.

Umbrastar yowled, loud enough to scare away all the prey in the four clans,

"Our three apprentices, Flintpaw, Slatepaw and Bloodpaw are now ready to commence their warrior assessment. We wish them all the best; good luck, and we'll hopefully see you next moon."

Flintpaw and Slatepaw darted off the moment Umbrastar's voice ceded to ring amongst the foliage and Bloodpaw waited patiently for them to disappear along the horizon. A pang in her chest startled her; she was jealous of their sisterly bond and their complete loyalty to each other, of how they'd sacrifice themselves to save the other, yet, despite that, a possible advantage of her loneliness could be that she would effortlessly survive the moon...provided she managed to traverse across the Skulls' territory.

Bloodpaw leapt into the channel that separated their territory from BreezeClan's and swam through the calm yet bitter cold water with ease. She shook the water from her fur before skirting to the edge of BreezeClan's territory, running along their border.

Where BreezeClan's territory ended, the Skulls of Deaths' arose. A flat, musky scent of death lingered at the border where it clashed with BreezeClan's rancid scent. Bloodpaw inhaled the scent once, almost choking on it before she boldly placed a paw within their territory.

She prayed the grasses were pale enough, or the sunlight would mask her white pelt amongst the moorlands. Bloodpaw felt so exposed wandering around the moors in her pale coat. At least in the dark, dreariness of MistClan, the undergrowth and formidable foliage offered a sliver of shelter and protection, no matter how small that might've been.

A shift in air currents, followed by a flurry of scents barreling down Bloodpaw's nostrils signalled a border patrol had arrived.

Just my luck for them to arrive the moment I step on their lands, Bloodpaw grumbled to herself.

"Death," a cold, icy voice sliced across the silence, so sharp and cold it made her flinch as she automatically cowered down into the tall grasses, "Take a patrol to BreezeClan's territory to check on their condition. I'm certain that expanding their borders will be the last thing on your mind, but I don't like taking chances."

Bloodpaw inwardly cursed herself for taking so long to cross their territory. She crawled a few fox-lengths along the ground before the flat stench of death invaded her senses with full force once again.

Relief flooded her being as Bloodpaw sprinted forwards. She was almost out of the Skulls' territory.

Springing forwards, she crashed into a soft, yet hard wall of darkness. Bloodpaw glared upwards to see what dared to cause her to stop only to find herself staring into the purple eyes of Skull himself.