Swiftstar's Prophecy - Unofficial version

Chapter Thirteen

Swiftpaw was prodded awake by Blizzardtail's massive paw. She lifted her head tiredly, which made Maplepaw stir beside her. Her mentor lightly nudged her again, and she met his blue eyes. "Come on, Swiftpaw. Let us go," he meowed quietly, and she stood up against her will. She could see that it was still dark outside, and the cool air of late Greenleaf made her shiver. 

Blizzardtail had already left, his shredded tail flickering as it disappeared. Swiftpaw looked down at her sleeping littermates. Last night, she and her littermates had made their beds from the stale moss in the corner of the reed den, but Maplepaw asked for Swiftpaw to sleep with him for the first night away from the nursery. Of course, she happily did so, moving her moss bed a bit to his. But now, her brother slept peacefully, his white paws tucked under his chest. Webpaw and Ripplepaw remained asleep as well; the twins were inseparable, so of course they slept together. Fallowpaw and Acornpaw were asleep near the front of the den, but a bit more farther away from each other. The two brown tabbies were better off left alone than awakened.

The calico apprentice snuck out of the Apprentices' Den, the grass tickling her paw pads. Barely she could tell that the sky was lighting up a bit. Blizzardtail waited for her at the entrance, and she bounded over to him. Already she could scent that Minnowstream and Bloompelt had recently exited camp.

"Let us go view the territory, and maybe learn to swim," he suggested lightly as he padded under the stone arch. Swiftpaw followed, and asked eagerly, "Learn to swim? But I already know how to swim!" It came out more as a whine, and the senior let out an annoyed huff. "Obviously you're not ready to learn how to properly swim with these," he yet again swiped his paw to her leg and she nearly toppled over. "If I can teach you how to swim with your strong paws and quick legs, you'll be an unstoppable hunter. But you need to be patient," he growled at her, before he yet again turned and burrowed directly into the reed bed. Swiftpaw narrowed her eyes and held back a growl herself. But I'm already so fast! How much should be doubt me? 

They padded through the Training Clearing, but the big tom took a left. Swiftpaw then saw the entrance of the clearing, and realized that Blizzardtail simply took a mere shortcut. But how could he memorize where his paws would take him through the dense reeds? How much does the senior warrior know? She thought curiously, her tail lashing as Blizzardtail now set foot into what seemed to be the wood part of TideClan territory. Some willows grew, tall and grand, but there were also beeches and cypresses, a beautiful mix. But they weren't close together, and the ground wasn't littered with dead leaves. Instead, healthy, green grass grew, and wildflowers stood at the base of the trees. Swiftpaw could hear the faint gurgling of the Grand River, but also another source of running water.

"This is the Willow Stream, apprentice. Another place to hunt for prey, but obviously this is much different than the Grand River." They approached a stream that ran against a pebble bay, some weeds growing here and there, but the water was clear and blue. Blizzardtail stepped to the stream, and gazed down into the water. Swiftpaw's ears perked in curiosity, but she did so as well. The running stream reflected a white calico she-cat, her amber eyes stood out the most. Blizzardtail looked at his apprentice and scoffed, "What? Never seen your reflection before?"

"No," she replied quietly, "It's just that..."

"What?"

"I look so much like Echoflower." The more she looked, her face resembled Echoflower's, with feathery fur, bright eyes, and even the same ear shape! But her whiskers were in the shape of Redstar's, and her pale ginger spots reminded her of him. She didn't like that. 

Blizzardtail didn't say anything for a moment. It seemed as if he too was looking at his own reflection for something. What it was, Swiftpaw didn't know. But when he spoke, he barely murmured it, and it came as a whisper, "You do, Swiftpaw. It must be a gift." A gift? Her heart began to beat fast and it ached. Her shoulders hunched as she tucked her paws under her chest. She choked out, "It's more of a burden." Her heart ached even more as her voice broke a bit. Her mentor remained quiet, but his shredded tail rested on her shoulder. 

Swiftpaw didn't know how long she remained like that, but Blizzardtail stood up and gruffly meowed, "Let's continue our tour." The sun was just beginning to rise, as its warm, golden rays stretched to the dark sky. Swiftpaw nodded, and turned to follow her white mentor. But her mind was led a bit astray by Echoflower. It was obvious she missed her, yet her mother left a burden on her shoulders. A constant reminder. Something that Swiftpaw will have to live with forever until she saw her mother in StarClan. Echoflower... Her gaze lifted to the pale blue sky. I miss you. 

"Keep up, Swiftpaw. We're about to reach a meadow," he ordered bluntly, as he leapt gracefully atop of a fallen log. But because he was so big, the top of the log gave away under him and he yelped. Swiftpaw immediately chuckled at him, as she leapt unto the part of the log that didn't give away. Because she was so light, she was able to keep her place.

Blizzardtail stood up, and shook bark and dust away from his white pelt. "I'm too big for these," he muttered, but he chuckled slightly. Swiftpaw purred, "I'm able to stay, though!" That's when his white paw struck out to hook her leg, but she leapt back. "Ha!" she cheered triumphantly, but that was before another paw hooked her leg. She fell off the log into grass and wild wheat with an "Oof!". 

"You're too quick to celebrate," he snorted, as he now began to walk away from her. Swiftpaw scrambled to her paws to him, "Hey, at least I know what I'm doing!" she called. But he only chuckled and replied back, "Oh, you don't even know the half of it."