Warriors:Into The Wild AU (2024 Rewrite)

Chapter Fourteen

This chapter will mark the beginning of the story's climax, even if it may get boring. If you've been following along so far, I'm extremely grateful that you've found this story interesting enough to bear with me for this long. The map above is for anyone who struggles with the border lines in the story. Pls enjoy!

By the following morning, long after Tigerclaw and Briarpaw got back, a thin drizzle soaked the treetops and dripped into the camp.

Briarpaw woke up feeling damp, it had not been a very comfortable night, but she still felt warmed by Tigerclaw's acceptance and the promise of a proper training session with him as her official mentor.

She watched Firepaw wake up, fluff out his fur and leave the den to see Yellowfang. She was grooming out the dampness in her fur when Tigerclaw's scent reached her nose before her mentor pushed his head into the den.

It was very comical how much bigger Tigerclaw was than the entrance to the den, and the big warrior huffed when he couldn't go any further, so she got up to go to him.

"Good morning, Tigerclaw!" she meowed, her mentor looked at her apologetically.

"I know I promised you a proper training session today, but Bluestar asked me to assess the skills of all the apprentices. Once that's done, I'll see where you are in training and we can go more from there. How does that sound?" His meow was gruff but he did want to be on better terms with his apprentice, so Briarpaw nodded.

"Thank you, Tigerclaw!" her pleasant chirp made his whiskers twitch with amusement before he heaved himself out from the den. She woke Graypaw and Ravenpaw, and they all went outside.

By the time Firepaw joined them by their favorite tree stump, Graypaw was looking stiff and uncomfortable, his long fur clumped by the dampness of the air. Ravenpaw was pacing around the tree stump, lost in thought, the white tip of his tail twitching.

"So, you're joining us today!" Graypaw called as Firepaw approached. "Some day, huh?" The gray apprentice shook himself roughly to get rid of the clinging wetness.

"Yes. Bluestar told me that Tigerclaw is going to assess us today. Are Sandpaw and Dustpaw coming too?"

"Whitestorm and Darkstripe took them out on a border patrol. I suppose Tigerclaw is going to look at them later," Briarpaw meowed, still high on the feeling of elation that Tigerclaw was going to mentor her properly now.

"Come on! We should get going," she urged her denmates suddenly, unable to sit still any longer.

"Fine by me," mewed Graypaw. "Hopefully some exercise will warm me up a bit!"

The four cats trotted through the gorse track and out of camp, hurrying to the Sandy Hollow. Tigerclaw had not yet arrived, so they hung around in the shelter of a pine tree, their fur fluffed up against the chill.

Ravenpaw was still twitching and pacing back and forth, so Briarpaw ignored him in favor of watching for Tigerclaw. For the first time in two moons, she thought about her littermates and where they were. She'd not seen Ridge and Moon since she and Skystrike had left, and she wondered if they were okay.

By the time Tigerclaw arrived, the sky had changed. The clouds looked less like thick gray fur, and more like the soft white balls of down that queens used to line the nests of their newborns. Blue skies weren't far behind, but the breeze that brought the softer clouds carried a fresh chill.

To everyone's surprise, Runningwind followed close behind Tigerclaw, who greeted the apprentices briskly while the thin tabby launched straight into the exercise details.

"Since there are four of you, I will be helping Tigerclaw with your assessments. As I have heard, Tigerclaw and Lionheart have spent the last few weeks trying to teach you how to hunt decently," that thinly veiled insult was directed mostly at Ravenpaw and Firepaw, much to Briarpaw's chagrin.

Tigerclaw, having heard that last part, glared at Runningwind and took over the explanation, though his tone was no less stern.

"Today you'll all have a chance to show us how much you have learned. Each of you will take a different route and hunt as much prey as possible. And whatever you catch will be added to the supplies in the camp." The four apprentices looked at each other, nervous and excited.

"Ravenpaw, you will follow the trail beyond the Great Sycamore as far as Snakerocks. That should be easy enough for your pitiful skills," Runningwind continued, sneering at his apprentice.

"You, Graypaw, will take the route along the stream, as far as the Thunderpath."

"Great," mewed Graypaw. "Wet paws for me!" Runningwind's stare silenced him. Tigerclaw addressed the last two apprentices.

"Firepaw, it's a shame that your mentor couldn't be here today to witness your performance for herself. You shall take the route through the Tallpines, past the Treecut place, to the woods beyond." Firepaw nodded, frantically tracing the route in his head.

"And finally you, Briarpaw," her mentor addressed her next, and she sat up straighter.

"You will hunt by the Owl Tree, on the path to Fourtrees." She nodded excitedly.

"And remember," Runningwind finished, fixing them all with a pale-eyed stare that only served to irritate Briarpaw. "We will be watching all of you."

Ravenpaw was the first to sprint away toward the Snakerocks. Runningwind took a different track into the woods, so Briarpaw got up, wished the other two luck and dashed away towards the Owl Tree.

Getting there wasn't difficult, as she knew the track well, so she got there quickly. She'd heard no prey on the way over, so she began to prowl along the edges of the clearing the tree sat in.

It didn't take long for her to hear a bird in the tree a few fox-lengths away, so Briarpaw lowered herself to the ground and crept to the base of the tree next to her target. She quietly began to climb the tree and got onto a sturdy branch, so used to the motion that she no longer made much noise.

However, she became so focused on her prey that she didn't register the feeling of eyes on her, as a dark tom slid through the undergrowth. He watched the apprentice scale the tree with no difficulties and balance on the branch just above a small, gangly raven.

He saw her minute movements before she literally fell off the branch and neatly onto the one below, snagging the raven and silencing it before it could cry out. His eyes narrowed when he saw her lithe form stash the bird in a crevice in the tree and then swarm up to another high branch before lying in wait.

He watched her for quite a while, even managing to dodge around Tigerclaw when the Thunderclan warrior came into his view. This must have been a hunting assessment, and if it was, he was impressed by this apprentice.

A plan formed in his mind and he bared his fangs in excitement. His Clan could use an apprentice with such impressive skills as hers. The fact that she was Thunderclan was not even a problem.

As I stated before, Runningwind is an @ss, and he is scared of Briar. Am I making her too OP? Maybe. I'm trying to make her intimidating even though she's young, but I don't want her to be absolutely perfect from the get-go. Have a good day and thx for reading!