Pineshade's Loss

Chapter 21

Pinepaw awakens in his nest. He lifts his head and opens his eyes to see that Milkpaw and Mousepaw are still asleep, but Flamepaw and Frogpaw are nowhere to be found. He slowly begins to get up out of his nest. Once the dark gray tom is up, he heads out of the apprentices' den. Once he steps out, he is immediately greeted by Hawktalon.

"Oh, hey Pinepaw," Hawktalon meows. "I was about to come and wake all of the other apprentices. Are they awake? All of the other mentors and I hope to do the training idea Leafshadow came up with today. Deerwhisper and Flamepaw are out on dawn patrol, but Frogpaw is waiting with the other mentors," she tells him.

"Milkpaw and Mousepaw are still asleep," Pinepaw responds, looking into the brown she-cat's yellow eyes.

"Okay, thank you. I should go wake them then. You can go ahead and join Frogpaw and the other mentors if you'd like," Hawktalon responds as she pads past Pinepaw and into the apprentices' den. Pinepaw spots Frogpaw and the mentors waiting by the entrance of the camp. He quickly pads over to them excitedly. Frogpaw's face lights up once he spots Pinepaw padding over to them.

"Hey Pinepaw! Come join in with us!" The black-and-white tom calls out.

"I'm coming!" Pinepaw responds to his friend, sitting down next to him and Leafshadow. Hawktalon eventually joins back with the rest of the mentors with Milkpaw and Mousepaw slowly following her. Lately, the two she-cat apprentices have been getting close. Pinepaw is glad that Milkpaw finally has a friend who is a she-cat.

Finally, not long after, the dawn patrol returns. Deerwhisper and Flamepaw immediately join in with the other mentors and apprentices.

"Is everyone ready?" Jaggedfoot asks, taking charge as the oldest mentor. After sounds of agreement from the other cats, the mentors and apprentices leave camp, heading towards the clearing. Milkpaw pads in between her father and her mentor. Even though Pinepaw isn't up in front of the group of cats with her, he couldn't help but keep his eyes on her.

"You like her?" A small voice asks from beside him. Pinepaw turns his head to spot the dark ginger tabby ball of fur, Flamepaw.

"We're mates, so of course I do," Pinepaw responds. He couldn't help but feel pride by saying those words.

"Really?" Flamepaw asks excitedly. "That's great news! Hopefully I can get a mate someday too."

"You will. You're kind and you will grow to be a handsome warrior," Pinepaw responds.

"Thank you!" Flamepaw purrs. "Hey," the fluffy dark ginger tabby whispers, then getting closer to one of Pinepaw's ears. "Frogpaw and I are going to sneak away from training to play, do you want to join us? No she-cats allowed," he whispers, clearly up to no good.

"You know, you two could get in big trouble," Pinepaw responds in a whisper.

"What punishment will we get if there's no more elders we can pick ticks off of?" Flamepaw whispers back with a mischievous purr of amusement.

"You can be held back from being a warrior longer," Pinepaw quickly responds. He watches as the dark ginger tabby's blue eyes get wide.

"It doesn't sound worth it anymore, I gotta tell Frogpaw!" Flamepaw whispers back, quickly dashing ahead towards the black-and-white apprentice.

He's definitely a pawful. Pinepaw thinks. Juniperleaf, Flamepaw, Mousepaw, and their mentors have been planning on making Flamepaw and Mousepaw strong warriors early to prove Boulderstar's ideas about them wrong. So, they have been training whenever they can. More than any apprentice I've seen. I love Boulderstar and all because he's my father, but I really hope they prove him wrong.

Finally, the five apprentices and their mentors make it to the small clearing. The cats gather around Jaggedfoot, waiting for the injured tom to start speaking.

I've heard stories about Jaggedfoot. He was an apprentice when the wolf attack happened. His name before then was Toadpaw. It seems like Silentstream really had a thing for slimy creatures when naming her kits. But, during the wolf attack, his leg was permanently injured. The tom eventually learned how to walk with only three working legs. He wanted to change his name to Jaggedpaw and eventually become Jaggedfoot because of his pride over fighting so bravely against the wolves due to the torn up part of his leg where his paw was yanked off. Clearly, Cherrystar granted his wish. Pinepaw thinks.

"First, we will focus on hunting. Each apprentice must go off in separate directions while their mentor silently and distantly observes them. Apprentices, you only have one attempt to catch something. Whether you catch your first prey or not, return back to the clearing afterwards," Jaggedfoot explains, giving Leafshadow a few glances to make sure he's doing it right. Pinepaw watches as his mentor gives Jaggedfoot a nod of approval. "You may begin," the black-and-white tom goes on.

Pinepaw then turns around and begins to pad away from the clearing, parting his jaw in attempt to catch a scent of prey. Then, the tom catches the scent of toad. He begins to follow the scent until he spots the toad resting beside a rock. Pinepaw lowers into a crouch, beginning to slowly stalk closer to the toad. Then, the dark gray tom leaps for it. He successfully catches the toad by surprise and bites its neck, killing it instantly.

"I'm not surprised, you've been ready to become a warrior for moons now," Leafshadow meows. "Let's head back," she then meows. The mentor and apprentice then pad side-by-side back to the clearing. When they return, Flamepaw and Mousepaw have already made it back. Each of them successfully caught something. Flamepaw with a mouse and Mousepaw with a lizard.

"Wow, nice catches!" Pinepaw meows to the two young apprentices.

"You too!" Mousepaw responds.

"That's one big toad!" Flamepaw meows, admiring Pinepaw's catch.

"Thank you," Pinepaw responds with a purr of amusement. Then, Milkpaw and Frogpaw return, each with nothing. Pinepaw notices that his mate seems disappointed with herself, so he speaks up.

"It's okay, you'll get the hang of it soon. I
promise," Pinepaw assures her.

"Now, onto battling," Jaggedfoot meows. "Since we have five apprentices, each apprentice will practice battling with their mentor. Make sure your claws are sheathed. You may start once I say so," he goes on. Pinepaw glances over at Leafshadow and pads closer so they are facing each other.

"Now, start!" Jaggedfoot calls out. Pinepaw watches as his mentor immediately leaps for him. He quickly dodges his mentor's attack, taking the opportunity to dart past his mentor when she lands on her paws. He drags his paw against his mentor's flank, pretending to scratch her.

"I give in, you're good enough," Leafshadow responds. "You didn't even need to come."

"But, I wanted to. I would never give up the opportunity to spend time with my friends," Pinepaw meows. Pinepaw, Flamepaw, and Mousepaw were the only ones who managed to defeat their mentors. Milkpaw and Frogpaw failed to do so.

"I'm never going to be a warrior!" Pinepaw overhears Milkpaw wail.

"No, you will. It will just take more time," Volenose responds to his apprentice.

"He's right," Pinepaw meows. "You just need to practice more."

"But, even Mousepaw and Flamepaw are better than me!" Milkpaw wails, the fur on her back starting to stand up.

"This is not about who is better or worse than you. You only need to focus on yourself, not the other apprentices. You know, they've been doing nothing but train," Volenose meows.

"Listen to Volenose," Pinepaw tells his mate.

"Lets head back," Jaggedfoot meows. Then, the group of cats head back to ShadowClan camp together.