Jaggedstar's Choice {COMPLETE}

Chapter 10

Jaggedpaw washed his fur after finishing his prey. He waited patiently for Hareclaw and Cedarcloud to come get both him and Maplepaw for tree climbing lessons. He was currently visiting with Amberflame as usual. Cherrykit and Applekit who were now nearly two moons old, were playing outside with a fallen leaf. Greenleaf had come to an end, the leaves were changing and falling to the forest floor. Soon leaf-bare would be here, Jaggedpaw only hoped the Clan's would be prepared for the cold season.

It had been half a moon since the big fight between Rowanfang and Mosswing and things were finally seeming to fall back into a sense of normalcy. Elmpaw was still under punishment but worked hard without complaining and did his duties thoroughly. Jaggedpaw was proud of him, he really stuck to his word about being the best warrior he could be.

"Jaggedpaw!" Hareclaw called as he left the nursery. "Are you ready to go? Maplepaw and Cedarcloud will meet us out there along with Featherheart, Sunstorm, Sparrowpaw and Daisypaw." Jaggedpaw perked up at the thought of training with his father, he always enjoyed that. Sparrowpaw and Daisypaw would be warriors soon. Not long after the fight, Stormsong was given her full medicine cat name and Badgerstrike had been given his warrior name a few days ago. Soon I'll be a warrior. Jaggedpaw thought with joy, he couldn't wait to earn his warrior name.

Jaggedpaw and Hareclaw hurried into the forest, presumably to the highest trees in the territory where most apprentices learned to climb. It wasn't long before Jaggedpaw saw a group of cats standing at the base of the tree, looking up with interest and excitement.

"Welcome!" Sunstorm called cheerfully from where he stood, amber eyes sparkling. The rest of the apprentices looked towards Hareclaw's and Jaggedpaw's direction. "Hope you're ready for some climbing."

"Well I've never been the best at it," Jaggedpaw mewed with a half-chuckle, looking up at the top of the tree. "But I can always learn."

"That's the spirit, Jaggedpaw." Featherheart purred, nudging Sparrowpaw who looked like he was gonna be sick. "We are LichenClan cats, we're natural climbers."

"Daisypaw, you're a natural climber, why don't you start us off?"

"With pleasure." Daisypaw flicked her tail, unsheathed her claws and jumped onto the base of the tree. Using claws and her weight, Daisypaw pulled herself up to the closest branch, sitting on it proudly. "See." She called down to her brother. "It's a super easy." The pale gray she-cat turned and climbed even higher.

"Alright, who's next?" Sunstorm faced the apprentices, his gaze resting on Maplepaw. "How about you, Maplepaw?"

"Sure." She perked her head up and faced the tree. Jaggedpaw watched as his sister began to scale the tree.

"Good work, Maplepaw!" Daisypaw called from the upper branches of the tree. With a small amount of struggle, Maplepaw soon reached one of the branches.

"That wasn't so bad." Maplepaw chuckled, and dared to climb higher. She reached a rather thick branch and placed her paws firmly on it, maintaining her balance. She was so high, Jaggedpaw and the others had to squint when looking up at her.

"You two should get up here!" Maplepaw laughed, walking along her branch. Jaggedpaw watched as the branch trembled under her weight, sending fear into his heart.

"Maplepaw! Are you okay?" Jaggedpaw called.

"Uh, yeah." Maplepaw's voice shook slightly. "I don't know how stable this branch is." Sunstorm stepped forward, going into a fatherly defense.

"Maplepaw, you need to come down now." He told her. "Be very careful."

"I don't know if I can." Maplepaw was sounding scared.