Tawnystar's Secret

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Two

"Hey, wake up."

Tawnyflame grumbled, and rolled over.

"It's almost dawn and you have an apprentice to train."

Tawnyflame opened one eye. A fresh carp was sitting in front of her. "Thanks."

"I hope it's good. Now I'm soaking wet." Reedstorm mumbled.

"Let's go." Tawnyflame picked up the carp, starting to walk back to camp.

"Wait up!" Reedstorm's paw steps were like thunder.

When would he learn to be light on his feet?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tawnyflame licked her jaws. The fresh carp was delicious. Reedstorm had sprawled out beside her in the morning sun. His snoring almost put Tawnyflame to sleep. She was watching the apprentice den for Sunpaw. The other apprentices had already left with their mentors. Finally, her ginger head poked out of the apprentice den, and she gave a yawn. Tawnyflame stood up, walking over to Sunpaw. "Did you want to leave now?"

Sunpaw nodded. "The sooner you leave the sooner you get there!" She tore off for the entrance, and Tawnyflame had to run to keep up. Sunpaw wasn't that fast, but she was a tough competitor. They were both laughing when they sprinted into the training area.

"What do I learn first?" Sunpaw asked eagerly.

"I'm going to teach you three moves today. The first is called an Underbelly Slash. What you do, is you dart under your opponents belly, clawing their belly. When they twist, expecting you to come out the other way, back out the way you came. Got it?"

Sunpaw just stood there, eyes bulging out.

"Why don't you try on me?" Tawnyflame suggested.

Sunpaw nodded, before dashing under Tawnyflame's belly. She scratched Tawnyflame's belly, and as Tawnyflame turned, Sunpaw darted out the way she came like a fish.

"Great job! Your an awesome fighter!" Tawnyflame winced at the stinging feeling on her belly. "But next time, claws sheathed."

Sunpaw blushed. "I tried."

"Now, I want you to be the one attacked. What should you do?"

"Twist the other way?" Sunpaw guessed.

"That's right."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tawnyflame dug into a vole. It's meaty flavor satisfied her hunger. All day of training Sunpaw had left her with the biggest appetite.

Reedstorm had been watching her with big eyes. "Are you ok?"

Tawnyflame almost choked on her piece of vole. "Yes! But apprentices have a lot of energy." She took another bite.

"Yeah..." Reedstorm eyed her, but then closed his eyes, setting his face on his paws. "Tomorrow's the gathering."

"And I'm deputy!" Tawnyflame hissed. "Now I have to go!"

"Don't take it that hard. Just find a nice warrior who will talk to you. Then talk about something." Reedstorm's breathing turned slow as he fell asleep.

Tawnyflame closed her eyes. "Take me to the dark forest..." She whispered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tawnyflame was lucky. "What are we doing-"

The dark brown Tom appeared, with the white apprentice following him. "I have to train with HER? But I wanted to fight a real warrior."

Tawnyflame unsheathed her claws, but Splashheart leaned in beside her. "Don't play to hard. I think you should let him win until you've trained more."

Tawnyflame nodded slowly. "I'll beat him one day, but not today."

Splashheart chuckled, before leaning away. "You will be fighting with claws sheathed."

Tawnyflame wanted to burst, but she stayed silent. Instead, the little white furball said something. "Is she not trained or something?"

Tawnyflame had to force her claws to stay in. "ThunderClan kit." She murmured to herself as the dark brown Tom yowled.

"Attack!"

The white Tom leapt at her, and she sidestepped. He kept on flying past her. "I do know more then you." She whispered as he lashed out. He missed her by a whisker, but she missed him in her retaliate. He whipped around, kicking her down with his back legs. "If only I was fighting..."

"Show her what you did, Whitefur." The dark brown Tom said gruffly.

As he demonstrated, she thought about his name. Whitefur. Is that a real name?

"A perfect move to kill your leader when the time comes." He snarled.

"Why in StarClan's name would I kill Skystar?" Tawnyflame spluttered.

"Don't you use that word here." Whitefur snarled.

"The clans may have made a few mistakes before, but that's no reason to change the warrior code!" She protested against him. "It has worked for so many seasons and now-"

She was cut off as Whitefur plummeted onto her. He raked his claws down her side, and after her talk with Splashheart, all she could do was wimpy clawings.

"Uh!"The dark brown Tom had lifted Whitefur off of her.

Splashheart helped Tawnyflame up. "Whitefur! Clawing her to death won't make her realize that the clans aren't good anymore!"

"I was right! You even fight like a kit!" Whitefur taunted.

Tawnyflame unsheathed her claws, but a sharp flick of Splashheart's tail signaled her to sit. "Whitefur! I said enough! Thornwhisker, this wasn't a good idea. We will try again another day, but for now you may train Whitefur at the decaying hollow."

Thornwhisker nodded, leading Whitefur out of the Burnt Patch. "I'll beat you next time, Tawnykit."

"Don't get your hopes up." She whispered.

"Now, lets get on with it. When he attacked, what should you have done?" Splashheart swiftly said.

"I should have leapt at him. Then we could have collided in air and I would get advantage of shock." This was the last move she had taught Sunpaw today. "I am deputy now." She commented.

Splashheart whipped around. "Really?"

"Yes. I've been training my apprentice your moves." She answered calmly.

Splashheart nodded. "Good. Now if that stupid Skystar dies, we will have a leader with nine lives on our side." He crouched down. "Lets try the colliding scene."

"Claws unsheathed?"

"Claws unsheathed."