The Forgotten Cure

Chapter One

*Chapter by Alla.*

Silverpaw glanced at her paws, hiding her frown.

"I-" she began.

"I DON'T CARE!" her mentor, Fishclaw, screamed at her. "I JUST DON'T CARE."

Silverpaw's gaze shot back to him as she gasped. "What did I do?"

"You know what you did." Fishclaw replied, his voice deadly quiet and calm.

Silverpaw felt tears running down her cheeks, "No! No, I really don't! Just tell me. Tell me what I did!" she cried, hating the situation. She wasn't lying, she didn't know what she'd done. What she did know was that she didn't trust this cat.

She didn't wait for an answer. For she knew that the tom wouldn't say anything helpful.

Silverpaw turned tail and ran away, her eyes narrowing with her fury. She promised herself that she'd never show such weakness. Not now, not ever.

That was a promise she would keep.

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Silverpaw was now in a large maple tree.

It was a moon since the incident with her mentor, and she still shuddered at the memory.

The sky was a deep blue, the clouds like cotton. Silverpaw found herself wishing, not for the first time, that she could play in that fluffy whiteness.

She stood up and scrambled down the tree.

Silverpaw stopped as the wonderful scent of mouse flooded her senses.

She scanned the land before her and saw the subject of the smell. The mouse was about twenty tail lenghs in front of her. Silverpaw smiled evilly to herself and crept forward, being careful to step lightly.

The blue-silver tabby was soon close enough to pounce, so she bunched up her muscles and pushed forward, landing on the mouse in a heartbeat. Silverpaw bit the mouse's neck swiftly, triumph boiling inside her.

She picked up the mouse and padded back to Windclan's camp.

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Silverpaw dropped the mouse and the rest of her prey on the fresh-kill pile. She looked up at Fishclaw hopefully.

The tom sniffed her contributes thoughtfully. He then looked up at Silverpaw. "There's only one rabbit. There's two birds and three mouses, but only one rabbit. Rabbits are the prey Windclan cats are supposed to mainly catch!!!" he exploded.

"Actually, the plural form of mouse is mice. Not mouses." Silverpaw interrupted matter-of-factly.

"DON'T TALK TO ME LIKE THAT!!!" Fishclaw exploded, fur bristling so much he looked like a giant, gray striped pinecone. "STAY IN THE NURSERY FOR THE REST OF THE DAY! NO FRESH-KILL OR WATER!"

Silverpaw gasped, yet refused to break the promise she'd made herself a moon ago. Instead, she turned and ran to the nursery, anger washing over her.  Why'd I have to get Fishclaw as a mentor? she wondered, not for the first time.