Sundown

Chapter Five(year one, moon three)

"Snippaw, get up!"

The white tom buried his muzzle in the moss, pinning his ears back in an attempt to block out his mentor.

"Streambright sounds grumpy today," Fennelpaw muttered as she passed by the tom.

Snippaw sighed, heaving himself to his paws and trudging out into the dawn light.

"I've already told you that I expect you to get up before any of the other apprentices," Streambright huffed. "We'll be doing battle training with Fennelpaw, Woolymist, and Cloudstripe."

Snippaw yawned and gave his mentor a nod.

"Excited?" asked a skinny, ginger ticked tabby tom as he trotted up to them.

Snippaw shrugged, flicking snow off his tail.

The skinny tom gave Snippaw a half-hearted grin and sat down to wait for Cloudstripe.

A long legged, rather beautiful, cinnamon torbie stretched outside the warriors den, making deep trenches in the thickly layered snow.

"Good morning, Cloudstripe," Fennelpaw greeted with a respectful dip of her head.

The cinnamon torbie dipped her head back, exposing a long, jabbed scar on the back of her neck.

Streambright nudged Snippaw. "Don't stare."

"It's perfectly fine, Streambright. I wouldn't expect a young cat to not be curious. Let's get going, I have a hunt planned later."

"Not straying too near DeepClan, I hope?" Streambright asked, his tail flicking ever so slightly.

Cloudstripe narrowed her green eyes. "I hope you're not accusing me of anything."

"Of course not. But, as kin of Fallowstar, I need to check these sorts of things."

Woolymist shuffled his paws. "The apprentices are waiting."

Disappointment weighed in Snippaw's stomach. He was hoping to get away from training for the day.

The group trudged out of camp, leaving trails in the snow behind them.

After what felt like forever, Streambright paused.

"This looks like a good place for it," Cloudstripe remarked.

"Snippaw, let's start off with the paw-swipe, the most basic of moves."

The large tom sighed. If he was going to be forced to train, shouldn't it at least be interesting?

Streambright demonstrated the paw-swipe, a move Snippaw had seen his former denmates, Olivekit and Bugkit, use more times than he could count.

He gave a weak, half-hearted attempt at it, staring at his mentor, daring him to correct it.

Streambright didn't seem to notice. "You're doing it all wrong! In all my seasons, I've never seen anyone fail a paw-swipe. Watch me closely and try again."

Snippaw, wanting nothing more than to go back to his den sooner rather than later, gave a worse swipe.

Streambright was getting visibly frustrated. "No. Watch me very, very closely and try again."

Snippaw, again, made no effort.

His annoyed mentor had taken to tearing up grass with his thick claws. "I'm this close to asking Fallowstar to change your mentor."

Faint guilt washed over the young cat, and he gave genuine effort in his next swipe.

"Finally! Alright, Fennelpaw is going to spar with you now. I believe the best way to learn is in the heat of the moment, but keep your claws sheathed."

Fennelpaw took up her position opposite him, her eyes sparking with ambition.

Snippaw got into a sloppy battle stance and rolled his eyes. He had no chance, so why even try?

His fellow apprentice launched herself at him, darting around him, attempting to throw him off balance.

His size alone kept him standing. He jumped slowly out of the way, tripping over a root from a nearby tree as he tried to reposition himself.

Fennelpaw batted gently at his ears, but he just kept laying there.

"Looks like Fennelpaw wins," Cloudstripe announced, sounding underwhelmed.

"Snippaw needs more training first. He'll win next time, I promise," Streambright muttered, embarrassed.

Snippaw reluctantly got to his paws, giving Fennelpaw a diplomatic glance.

Streambright led him aside, failing attempting to keep his cool. "What was that?" he snapped, his tail lashing.

"I lost."

"On purpose."

"I have no training."

"And? Your size alone should have been enough to win."

"Fennelpaw is skilled."

"Not that skilled."

Snippaw was starting to get annoyed. "Why does this matter?."

"The hard winter has made every cat irritable and I wouldn't be surprised if SunClan stirred up more trouble than usual."

"Not the fighting, the fact I lost."

"That's it, clean the elders' den for two moons."

Snippaw's tail flicked, a rare sign of annoyance.

"And go practice your paw-swipes."

The large apprentice stomped away, the snow muffling his paws.

"You okay?" Fennelpaw asked as he approached, her gentle yellow eyes scanning him.

"Fine."

"Mentors can be a pain sometimes, but they always have your best interests at heart."

"Sure."

"You don't believe me?"

"I don't trust him."

"He's younger than most first-time mentors, just give him a few days to figure things out."

"You have a lot of faith in a cat who's familial relations got him an apprentice." He gave her an amused glance.

"Call it a hunch."