Warrior Cats: Cascade

Chapter Seven

"Begin."

Bearstep braced for the leap with a second to spare, as his apprentice moved to bowl him over. She was met with tense muscles and a swat to the head, one that she dodged narrowly.

"That's not how you attack foxes," Riverstripe chastised from above.

Lilypaw darted back in, this time feigning a bat to the left. At the last second, she ducked under what would have been a stinging blow to nip at the opposite foot. Bearstep reared onto his hind legs, ears back against his head. The pale she-cat took this as her chance and darted under him, pawing frantically with sheathed claws at his underbelly. She weaved out between his legs just in time to avoid the crushing force of the larger cat.

"Doepaw, what are you doing?!"

Doepaw looked up sheepishly, closing her muzzle.

"Get out there and help your partner!"

Without a second to think about her plan, Doepaw darted into the fray, fear spiking the fur along her neck. She couldn't hope to match Lilypaw's level of expertise; while the other apprentice may have been perky and clumsy, she really knew how to fight. Why wouldn't she, with the powerful deputy as her mentor? Doepaw would just end up getting in her way.

"How can I help?" She asked breathily, ducking under a swipe that was aimed for her muzzle.

"Distract," was all that Lilypaw had to say. Doepaw could work with that.

The bicolored she-cat waited for an opening impatiently, all the while hardly avoiding cuffs to her ears. Most blows connected, but she couldn't afford to move.

As Lilypaw dealt with a Bearstep's forepaws, Doepaw crept hastily around the massive figure. Paws spread wide for extra grip, she pounced on top of the warrior, moving to 'bite' at his scruff. He reared back again, effectively opening a hole in his defenses. Also, effectively knocking Doepaw from his back.

She toppled off with a squeak, landing hard with not enough time to roll into the air. The breath knocked from her lungs, Doepaw panted heavily. A curtain of black fell across her vision for a minute as she struggled to breath. White spots fizzed in and out of focus, but she had to get back up.

With a heave of effort, she rolled onto her stomach and then to her paws. Slowly but surely, she formed a grasp on her own inhaling and exhaling.

When she bothered to take notice, Lilypaw had her forepaws placed firmly on Bearstep's chest, holding him down. She was grinning wildly, matching the pride that radiated from her mentor's own expression.

"Great job, Lilypaw! Now we just need a real fox." Bearstep chuckled, pushing her off and standing quickly. He shook out his shaggy grey fur, sending dust flying everywhere.

Doepaw held back an indignant reply, settling for a hiss that reverberated in her throat. Riverstripe joined her beside the other pair, shooting her an empathetic look.

"Bearstep only compliments his own apprentices. Trust me, I've seen enough of his training sessions to know that. You posed a great distraction, Doepaw." The silver tabby nudged her with his shoulder, and she looked back up at him. "Why don't you go back to camp? I'm sure you're even more exhausted now."

Doepaw nodded curtly. She was tired, and her breathing was still hitched and ragged. She nodded to Lilypaw as she left, carefully avoiding Bearstep's questioning gaze. Already, mixed feelings had sprung up about the deputy. She didn't feel like wasting what little words she could muster, anyhow. She left the clearing, slightly less excited than before.

Riverstripe tailed after her as they walked back to camp. Grass tickled at her whiskers, brushing up against her chin and belly fur. She didn't mind the sensation - she had gotten used to it over time.

"I could really go for a nice, fat field mouse," Riverstripe meowed, finally having caught up and now walking alongside Doepaw.

The apprentice purred in agreement, already tasting the meat on her tongue. Lucky enough for her, there weren't any in the fresh kill pile. It was rather empty, actually. The first hunting party probably hadn't returned just yet, maybe going farther than normal to grab some of the rabbits on the borders. SunClan tended to cultivate the biggest hares. Though no cats strayed across for a simple meal, the rabbits didn't have that restraint that borders provided.

Doepaw wondered for the first time in a long time why cats hadn't grouped together as one instead of creating rivalries and scent markers to discourage mingling and bonding. It was too late now - there was no way to knock down moons and moons of fighting and hatred in a single sweep and unite the field cats, moor cats, and forest cats as one. But a she-cat could dream, right?

"Doepaw!" She whirled around at the sound of her name, and was met with the eager expression of Sandpaw. "Did you want to help us finish this rabbit?" And Rosepaw, slightly less eager. Doepaw had to admit, the red tabby was excellent at hiding her emotions.

Doepaw called back an affirmation and padded over, nodding to Rosepaw and purring a polite greeting to Sandpaw. The meal was scrawny, maybe enough for two warriors but too much for the younger cats alone.

Doepaw dug in, taking her time so as not to upset her barely-filled stomach. It was much better than the moorhen she had shared with Willowpaw.

"You were battle training with Lilypaw, right? What happened to that?" Rosepaw asked casually.

Doepaw swallowed, formulating her answer in the short time she had. "Well, I went out on that eagle patrol last night," she began, careful to keep the smug edge to her tone about being on such an important mission. "And Lilypaw had to do some more advanced things to prepare for her warrior ceremony. So it was best that I got out of the way." She shrugged simply.

"That's right! You guys are going to be warriors soon!" Sandpaw exclaimed, as if Lilypaw's eternal boasting had slipped his mind. "We'll miss your snoring in the apprentices' den," he teased.

Rosepaw stuck her tongue out. "I don't snore! I'm sure you're just hearing yourself." She beamed, leaning in subtly.

Doepaw felt like she was going to be sick. She stood abruptly, startling the two cats out of their little daze.

"I think I heard Birdleap calling me," she lied swiftly, turning away from her denmates and padding off swiftly. If she ever ended up like that, she'd have to have Willowpaw cuff her over the ears to undo the damage that couples were prone to suffer.

Couples. Blech.

~-~

Author's Note:

Long time no see, eh? Now that the 25Days25Chapters contest has been discontinued, updates on Cascade will come more frequently. I was in a bit of a rut from the last chapter, too, because I still suck at battle scenes. I'll be perfecting that, hopefully. You should expect an update by next week at the latest.

-Cresci