The Lost Heir [Book 1]

★★★ Chapter Five ★★★

Song Setting: Glowing eyes | Twenty One Pilots

Character of the Week: Larkstar

"Psst! Frostpaw!"

Frostpaw groaned, curling up tighter in her nest to ward away the cold. It was well into Greenleaf, and in SwiftClan, that meant mist - lots of it. Cold mornings, hot days, and warm nights. As for whoever was trying to wake her up, surely they could wait until later?

"Frost-" A sharp jab in her side. "Frostpaw."

"What..." Frostpaw mumbled, shivering in the cold morning as her eyes remained sealed shut. But she was beginning to think a bit more clearly, and she soon found that the voice didn't match those of any of her fellow apprentices. Curious, she blinked the sleep from her eyes, staring in turn at each blurry cat still asleep in the den. Raggedpaw's pale tabby fur was the first thing she saw, and one by one, she identified each apprentice's sleeping form. Even Breezepaw had snuck into the den during the night to rest, and he was still quietly resting as well. So who could possibly-

"Morning!" Came a startling loud greeting.

Frostpaw nearly yelped in surprise, and a large fluffy paw clamped down over her muzzle. The apprentice found herself faced with nothing but a pair of overwhelmingly blue eyes and an eager grin, which seemed to be stuck to the face of a silver and white tomcat. "Shh, you'll wake them."

"Mmph!" Frostpaw protested, finding it exceedingly hard to breathe around the paw still covering her mouth.

The tom blinked. "Meet me outside," He said, a bit more quietly, and then darted out of the apprentice den in two impossibly fluid movements. Frostpaw slowly remembered how to breathe again, shaking her head in confusion before surveying the other cats to make sure none of them had woken up. Then, still quite flustered, she picked her way around the sleeping cats and emerged into the frigid morning air. The fog was so thick she could barely see through it, and what she could see made her less than happy. Only a small sliver of sunlight could be seen from where she stood, she doubted the dawn patrol had even left yet. 

Sitting off to the side was the silver tom, long tail brushing the frost-laced grass, and Frostpaw could see crusted mud in his fur reaching well past his paws; indicating that he'd probably been trudging around in it for most of the 'morning'.

"You're crazy!" Frostpaw hissed once she was out of earshot of the other cats, picking her way around the small patches of mud and cringing every time the earth beneath her paws made a squelching noise.

"Actually, I'm Spiritseer, but good guess," The tom teased.

Frostpaw growled something under her breath, ears pulled back against her skull in a vain attempt to keep warm. "You're a Scout, right?" She mumbled, "Is this some part of my training?" She tried to brace herself as she nearly slipped on the slick patch of frozen mud, and ended up splayed out in a horribly uncomfortable position while she tried to regain her footing.

"Quickbreeze was right, you are sharp! You certainly do need to work on your form, though."

"Quickbreeze said something that about me?" Frostpaw said hopefully, lurching forward a second time when she attempted to step forward.

Spiritseer laughed. "Well, no, but I could tell he was thinking it. Don't worry - he's hard to impress, but he'll warm up to you eventually."

"You really think so?" Frostpaw muttered, deciding not to move at all. 

At that point, Spiritseer seemed to disregard the conversation and move onto a new topic. "We'll focus on that later. Lunarlight suggested all three of us take part in your training, or at least until Quickbreeze is ready," He explained, "For now, movement seems more vital."