Dawnflower's Sorrow

Chapter 4

"Come on, Dawnpaw! This is not how you train. You want to be a warrior don't you? Then work harder!" Nightclaw exclaimed, clearly disappointed in Dawnpaw's training session. Tigerpaw looked at Nightclaw and grimaced. "She's clearly distracted, Nightclaw. Maybe give her a minute to clear her head?" He suggested with an attitude. "No. Enemies don't wait for anyone's head to be cleared before a fight. I'll show her how it's done." Nightclaw hissed and tackled Dawnpaw and pinned her down with a thud. She then let Dawnpaw get up but soon slammed her head into the ground. "Would Blackfoot let you fight like this?" Nightclaw hissed with distaste.

Nightclaw kept her head down to the ground, unknowingly and slightly suffocating the apprentice. Dawnpaw heard her mentor's remark and she yowled angrily. She then scrambled out from under her mentor's grasp and tackled, her claws unsheathing on instinct. She slashed at Nightclaw's nose, drawing blood. She slashed her eyes and then kicked some dust up into them and pinned her down while she was dazed. "You have no right to bring him into this!" Dawnpaw yowled and bit at the black warrior's neck and tasted blood.

"Dawnpaw, Dawnpaw!" Snowfur said and grabbed the pale orange and white apprentice by the scruff and pulled her off Nightclaw. Dawnpaw took a deep breath and then had a look of horror at what she had done. She then ran off into the forest at full speed. "Dawnpaw!" Tigerpaw exclaimed and he soon pelted after her.

Dawnpaw ran to the river and once she was there, she stopped and sat down and looked at herself int eh reflection of the clear, rushing water. She had a somewhat blood-stained muzzle and she frowned. She dipped her muzzle in the water to wash it off. She took some laps of the cold water and she took her paw and dipped it in the river and dabbed herself with some of the refreshing water. She sighed and closed her eyes, taking a moment to process her surroundings.

The rushing water of the river, the chirping of the birds. The sound of prey scurrying in the tall grass, the warm sun on her pelt countered by the cooling river water. She then opened her eyes and exhaled another sigh. She heard rustling in the underbrush and tensed for a moment, before smelling the familiar scent of Tigerpaw; pine. He then revealed himself. When he blocked the sun, he looked older and more... handsome. Dawnpaw shook the thought away and allowed him to sit beside her.

"I don't like Nightclaw." He bluntly said with a frown. "Me neither." She admitted. "She didn't have to say what she said." Dawnpaw said with no emotion. "I know. It was uncalled for. But I think she did it on purpose because she knew it would make you fight. But she still shouldn't have done that." Tigerpaw admitted. Snowfur said that we were done training and she gave that black cat an earful. Snowfur sent me to fetch you and to return when you wanted to." He said. When he said 'black cat' Dawnpaw noticed he said with distaste. He then looked at Dawnpaw and smiled.

Dawnpaw noticed this and she looked up at him. "What?" She asked with a frown. "Nothing." He said with a smile as he gazed at her golden eyes. She raised an eyebrow and he got to his paws. "Where are we going?" She asked as she followed the brown tabby tom. "You'll see when we get there." He said with a smirk as she caught up to him and stood beside him. After a moment of padding along, she noticed that he was getting closer to her, and that their flanks were almost touching.

"Wait, do you smell that?" She asked as she stopped in her tracks. He whipped around and started smelling the air. "Wait, nevermind." She said with a smirk and padded along. "You did that on purpose." He whined with a wide smile. "You coming?" She asked as she turned her head and let her tail tip sway gracefully. He smirked and caught up with her. "I'm supposed to be leading." He said with a smile. "Then do it." She said with a smirk. Tigerpaw rolled his eyes playfully with a smile and bumped her hips with his. She did the same as they made their way.

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Tigerpaw stopped and sniffed the air. "This way." He said and bounded over to what looks like a large badger nest. Dawnpaw ruffled her fur and started pacing. "T-Tigerpaw-" She started but he rushed over to her and placed his paw over hers. "It's ok. It's safe. Would I ever hurt you?" He asked with a small smile and there was something to his eyes when he said it that way. There was a sparkling that was never there before. Dawnpaw smiled and he smiled too. He led the way down the large hole.