Jaggedstar's Twist

Chapter Eight:

"Come on Furzepaw, you can do better than that!"
At Nettlemask's command, Furzepaw drove his opponent further down the hill.
"Okay, okay, enough!" Tawnypaw squeaked, squinting her gaze against the sun.

It had been nearly a half-moon since Furzepaw and Whitepaw had became apprentices. Leaf-bare had finally fell upon the moorland, withering down the heather and gorse. Hunting would be more challenging now.

Climbing up back the hill, Furzepaw panted:
"How'd I do?"
"Not bad, but you kept on loosing your balance. Make sure not to fall over when you're fighting an enemy on a hill." Nettlemask critiqued.

"I don't know why _I_ had to demonstrate the StormClan warrior." Tawnypaw grumbled, licking her ruffled pelt.
"Quit complaining." Her mentor, Iceclaw, hissed. "You represented the StormClan cat since you're weaker."
"Why am I weaker?" Tawnypaw flashed back.

Furzepaw glanced at Nettlemask, his pelt rippling with unease. The two always seemed to be at each other's throats over the same trivial things.

Nettlemask opened his jaws to intervene, but Iceclaw cut in.
"Because you're a she-cat." He sneered.
"Enough. Iceclaw, you're acting like you still haven't left the apprentice's den. And Tawnypaw, don't talk back to your mentor." Nettlemask rumbled grimly.
Iceclaw's icy gaze met Nettlemask's amber, but he did not speak.

The mentors and apprentices, after a short squabble, headed back to the BreezeClan camp. They were interuppted by a hunting patrol.

"Can we tag along with them?" Tawnypaw asked Nettlemask, avoiding Iceclaw's gaze. "Whitepaw's with the patrol!"
Furzepaw spotted his brother's white pelt in the splash of cats. Shadewhisker led the patrol up the slope with Owlflight and Sheeptail just behind.

"Let's go." Nettlemask's voice snapped Furzepaw from his trance. Before he could ask where, the tom added: "we're going to join them. Now hurry."

Without waiting for a reply, the hefty brown tom bounded after the patrol. Furzepaw raced after Nettlemask with a squeaking Tawnypaw just behind.
"Wait up!" She called to the patrol. The cats halted, then turned around.

Once they stopped, Nettlemask panted: "May we join your patrol?"

Shadewhisker nodded. "Of course! The more cats, the more prey."
Furzepaw joined Whitepaw's side. A stab of pity raced through his heart. His brother never seemed to speak, but Rainsong believed that he wasn't doing it on purpose.
_I wish he knew what was wrong with him._ Furzepaw lowered his gaze to his paws. Perhaps the medicine cat still needed time.
"Are we ready to continue?" Shadewhisker broke his thoughts. The cats nodded.

Once they set off once more, Furzepaw felt excitement tingle in his paws. He could show everybody - not just Nettlemask - how great of a hunter and runner he could be.
_Especially Iceclaw._ He thought, slightly curling his lip. The tom always had something to point out if he made a mistake.

Shadewhisker bounded down the slope, extending his legs into long strides. His black pelt swished in the intensity of the wind battering it. The black tom eventually grew ahead of the rest of the patrol. He was nothing but a blur of black.

Gritting his teeth, Furzepaw dug his claws into the earth as he ran. Whitepaw trotted along with him, squinting his gaze against the sharp breeze.
The cats skidded to a halt at the bottom, panting. After recovering, they began their way through the grasses.

"I hope we didn't scare away all of the prey with our racket..." Furzepaw heard Nettlemask grumble.
As though the tom's comment was false, Furzepaw spotted a shape bobbing along the crest of a hill.

"Do you see that?" He whispered to Whitepaw, flicking his tail towards the rabbit. His brother nodded.
Shadewhisker seemed to spot it too, for he raised his tail to warn the patrol.
"We're going to have to chase it down." He whispered. "There's no way we can go up and catch it; it'll see us."
"You don't say." Nettlemask grunted under his breath.
Shadewhisker turned towards the patrol. "Alright, Owlflight, Nettlemask, and Sheeptail, you three can be behind us just incase the rabbit decides to turn around and go back up. The rest of you can help me chase it." He explained.

"Why're you letting the apprentices help you?" Sheeptail asked, narrowing his eyes at Shadewhisker.
"It would be fun for them." The deputy replied.
"Yeah, but it won't be fun if they miss it."

Furzepaw unsheathed his claws, excitement tingling through his paws. They _wouldn't_ miss this rabbit.
Once the cats got into their places, Shadewhisker slowed himself into a crouch and slithered up the hill.
Furzepaw never took his gaze from the rabbit. It continued to graze on the grass, oblivious to the patrol.

Tawnypaw suddenly squeaked. The rabbit's ears shot up, and after a split second, it disappeared.
Yowling, Shadewhisker bolted after the rabbit with the others behind.

Heart racing rapidly, Furzepaw hurled himself after the black tom. This hill wasn't as steep as the other, but it was rigid. Wind buffeting his face, he trotted onward.
He found himself nearly beside Shadewhisker. New energy flowed through his limbs. Gritting his teeth, he continued until he was a whisker ahead of the deputy.

Suddenly, pain exploded in his paw as the ground gave way for a brief moment. Hindlegs bucking, he fell forward with a shrill of pain.

The sky and moorland spun around him until darkness smacked them away.