Atrophy [Warriors]

07: Training In The Dark

"We'll start now." Blizzardpelt decided, "At least touch on some basics."

Foxclaw nodded. "Okay, sounds good."

Blizzardpelt looked behind himself and beckoned with his tail. After he did, a small she-cat emerged from the shadows. She looked like an apprentice, her fur was golden with white around her muzzle, chest, and paws. Her bright green eyes stared into Foxclaw, who only stared back. Though she was young, there was something that felt off about her. Foxclaw just couldn't put her paw on it.

"This is Spiderpaw." Blizzardpelt introduced. "She'll help in your training, Foxclaw."

"An apprentice?" Foxclaw scoffed. "I'm sorry Blizzardpelt, but I'm already a warrior, I don't-"

Before she knew what was happening, Foxclaw was already pinned to the ground. Spiderpaw had a paw on Foxclaw's chest, holding her down, claws unsheathed. "I'm not just any apprentice, foxheart. Now you're going to let me train you, and you're not going to complain. Got that?" Spiderpaw hissed.

Foxclaw quickly nodded, and Spiderpaw got off of her. "Good." The apprentice purred, seeming to have a complete sudden change in attitude. "Let's get started then!"

Foxclaw could tell that this was going to be a long night.

*°*°*°*

It turned out that Spiderpaw was really doing most of the training, and Blizzardpelt was more observing. Foxclaw was a bit embarrassed at the fact that an apprentice was training her, but after her first mistake she knew not to complain.

Foxclaw awoke in her nest, feeling as if she hadn't slept at all. She stood and stretched, immediately wincing at a scratch on her shoulder. She looked at it in shock- Spiderpaw had scratched it there during training, as they were practicing with claws unsheathed. So that place really is real.

Foxclaw licked the wound clean, then tried to cover it with her fur. Hopefully no one would see it. She padded out of her den, seeing that it was sunhigh already. She immediately walked over to Stonecloud, who was sitting by the fresh kill pile. He was looking through the prey, which there was a lot of thanks to morning patrols.

"Hey Stonecloud," Foxclaw greeted with a yawn.

"Hey Foxclaw, you sleep okay?" Stonecloud asked.

"Yeah, I slept fine." Foxclaw lied. Really, she was exhausted.

Just then, Foxclaw spotted the white pelt of Cloudfoot entering the camp. The BoulderClan medicine cat was finally back.

Shadowpaw ran past Foxclaw to greet his mentor, and they said a few words to each other before Cloudfoot went into Oakstar's den.

"I guess IvyClan's doing okay now." Stonecloud commented. "I know Cloudfoot wouldn't come back unless they were."

"Yeah," Foxclaw agreed, "but she really shouldn't have left like that. What if some cat got sick or something? Shadowpaw's good, but he's still not a full medicine cat."

"I know." Stonecloud sighed. "She just does what she thinks is right without really thinking it through." He stood up, looking at Foxclaw with a warm gaze. "Let's not worry about that now, everything's fine. How does going for a walk with me sound?"

Foxclaw stood as well, meeting his eyes with equal warmth. "That sounds great." She purred.

Together, the two newly made warriors left BoulderClan camp, walking off into the forest.