Warrior Cats: The Deaf Warrior

Chapter Ten

Goosepaw took a deep breath as another fish swam past him, his paw not hitting the surface in time. He was out hunting with Scorchpaw and their mentors. Scorchpaw had already caught several fish and seemed very pleased with himself, but Goosepaw hadn't caught anything.

He hadn't caught any prey. Ever. In his life.

Sure, he had only been an apprentice for a quarter moon or so, but it still made him quite unconfident when he saw how well his brother was doing, and that made him feel bad. He was really happy for Scorchpaw. He just wondered whether he would ever be good at anything.

Swimming was still scary for him, and he wasn't looking forward to the next time he had to do battle training.

He stared down at the water. It had been a while since a fish had appeared now, but he still needed to concentrate. That was one thing Goosepaw was good at, and maybe the one skill Scorchpaw lacked. The ginger tom got very distracted by his surroundings, while Goosepaw was good at focusing in on one thing for a long amount of time.

Another fish. He dipped his paw into the water. He felt his paw brushing against the fish, and he tried to grab it, feeling desperate. There was no mistaking Oakfang's eyes fixed on him.

He missed.

Scorchpaw bounded over, obviously having noticed how upset his brother was. "It's okay, don't worry," he mewed, "Just remember, the Gathering's tonight!" His smile was huge. He started speaking quickly, but Goosepaw didn't bother telling Scorchpaw to slow down. He knew what his brother was talking about. The Gathering was tonight, and Scorchpaw was very excited. He really wanted to go the Gathering.

Deep down, Goosepaw didn't want to go to the Gathering. He could only imagine scary cats and being forced to socialise, or having to explain that he was deaf over and over again.

He focused on the water again.

Then it came.

A tiny fish, probably the smallest he had ever seen. But he grabbed it, and flung it straight onto the ground.

It nearly slithered back into the stream, and he felt panic rush through him. Scorchpaw grabbed the fish before it could escape, and turned to Goosepaw, giving him a nod. He wants it to be my catch.

He sank his teeth into the fish, and after a few moments, it stopped moving. Goosepaw stared at it, almost expecting it to suddenly head back to the stream again. But it didn't.

Oakfang's eyes shone with pride. Tigerstripe looked impressed, too. Goosepaw looked down at the fish. It was tiny, but it was something.

Scorchpaw nuzzled Goosepaw happily, no words needed. Thank you, brother.

After a little while longer, they returned to camp. After Goosepaw brought his fish to the nursery, he settled down beside Scorchpaw to eat. He decided only to eat a small fish. It seemed fair. Small catch, small meal.

He got confused when he saw cats starting to murmur to eachother. He turned to see where they were looking.

A fluffy grey she cat emerged from the medicine cat den. "Fuzzypaw!" He exclaimed without thinking, aware of the weird glances his Clanmates gave him. She's okay!

He could see Lilypaw glaring hatefully at her sister, specifically at the scar running over her blind eye.

He could also feel Dawnpaw's eyes on him as he padded over to the small tabby.

"Goosepaw," Fuzzypaw purred, "I'll be back to my training tomorrow."

She looked in the direction of her sister, and Goosepaw could see the desperation in her green eyes. They were huge and round, pleading. It was like all she wanted was to be accepted.

Instead, Lilypaw yowled something at her, fur bristling. Fuzzypaw flinched, backing away, ears flattening against her head.

Dawnpaw bounded over to Lilypaw, snarling something at the speckled apprentice. Lilypaw glared back at her, refusing to back down. The two she cats started arguing.

Scorchpaw trotted over, meowing a few words to Fuzzypaw. The thick furred apprentice smiled weakly, though she wasn't even looking at him. Her one good eye was fixed on Lilypaw.

More cats were heading towards Fuzzypaw now, making her uncomfortable. Dawnpaw abandoned her argument with Lilypaw and headed over, snarling at them, presumably telling them to back away. The cats, many of them warriors, looked rather shocked at Dawnpaw's confidence. Amongst them was Bluetail, her eyes narrowed hatefully at her own apprentice.

Eventually, the cats backed off, definitely tired of Dawnpaw's screeching. It was perhaps the first time Goosepaw was relieved that he was deaf.

They stayed outside, all four apprentices talking together. Goosepaw remained quiet most the time, feeling quite nervous, but was glad that all his companions were very accepting of him and made sure he could understand what they were saying.

Then, Whitestar emerged from his den. He let out a yowl, the Clan beginning to gather.

"He's going to call out the names of the cats who are going to the Gathering." Scorchpaw explained.

Whitestar spoke too quickly for Goosepaw to understand, so he just watched his brother instead. The ginger tom's ears were pricked eagerly, eyes huge and shining.

Then, he leaped to his paws. He yowled something, then turned to Goosepaw, "Me! Me! He said me!"

Dawnpaw grinned. "Me too, Scorchpaw," her eyes gleamed, "I guess I get to show you how cool Gatherings are."

Then, Whitestar stopped talking.

Scorchpaw sat down again, and blinked. He lowered his head a little.

Then he turned to Goosepaw. "I'm not going."

Dawnpaw's eyes widened in shock, and Fuzzypaw looked as though she had just seen a flying hedgehog.

"But it's all you been speaking about all day!" Goosepaw protested.

Scorchpaw shrugged. "I want to go to my first Gathering with you," he answered. "I won't go until we're both chosen."

Fuzzypaw stared at him. "You know I can just stay with Goosepaw, right?"

Scorchpaw narrowed his eyes at the grey tabby, but didn't say anything. Then, he stalked straight over to Whitestar, said a few words, then came back.

"No Gathering for me." He told his friends.

Dawnpaw blinked, then her mouth moved in a laugh, "This one," she flicked him playfully with her tail. "Is one cool brother."

Goosepaw didn't miss the very brief flash of sadness in Fuzzypaw's eyes. Lilypaw used to be a cool sister.

Whitestar called out something, and Lilypaw, who had previously been sulking in the corner of the camp, presumably not having been chosen for the Gathering, trotted over, nearly tripping over her own paws in the process.

She mewed something to the leader, before turning to Scorchpaw. She spoke slowly, her words making Goosepaw's heart sink. "Thanks, Scorchpaw. Now I can go to the Gathering instead," she smiled a cruel smile. "You need to stop waiting for him. He doesn't have to be your brother, just like blind-eye doesn't have to be my sister."

Fuzzypaw crouched low to the ground. Dawnpaw screeched something angrily at Lilypaw, but she simply smirked, taking her place with the rest of the cats who were going to the Gathering.

Dawnpaw turned to her friends. "I had better get going, too," her eyes rested on Goosepaw, "The Gathering would be way cooler if you were coming." She raced over to her Clanmates, standing next to some warriors and talking to them as if she was their equal. They looked a little uneasy around her, as if they were scared they might become victim to one of her scary outbursts. However, they did seem to like her, laughing as she spoke.

Dawnpaw and Lilypaw are both really popular. How do they manage it?

He then glanced at Fuzzypaw, who looked miserable.

And why are Fuzzypaw and I such losers?