Crown Of Silver

~8~

Rosepaw could feel herself tremble in excitement as she watched Sunfeather and Nightflower emerge from the leafy undergrowth.

"First day as an apprentice! Aren't you excited?" Sunfeather meowed as she approached them. Leafpaw gave a small bounce, and even the normally grumpy Hailpaw let out a small purr. 

But something danced in Sunfeather's eyes. There was a look of barely concealed worry lingering in her gaze, and a small tremble to her normally steady voice. Rosepaw didn't miss the look of distress that Sunfeather shot Blacktail.

"Alright, 'paws," Blacktail meowed quickly, giving his pelt a quick shake. "We'll show you around FrostClan's borders. Try to remember everything you see today, so you don't accidentally cross into another clan's territory when we start hunting."

Sunfeather gave a small mrrow of amusement. "That's right! Be especially careful of IvyClan borders. Those cats would claw your fur if they find a single FrostClan hair in their territory."

Leafpaw shuddered, giving her fur a quick lick. "I hope Sunfeather's joking about that," she meowed quietly to Rosepaw, eyes wide in terror. Rosepaw gave her a comforting nudge, before following their mentors, who were padding ahead. 

The crisp, warm air made Rosepaw close her eyes. She felt a warm breath of wind tug at her pelt, and the sunlight warmed her fur. The tall, arching branches of the FrostClan trees provided a canopy over their heads, casting mottled shadows and dappled colours to dance on the forest flow. Sunfeather's golden coat was like a spark of fire in the sunlight, and Rosepaw followed the bright colour as they wove through the undergrowth and between the twisted roots of trees.

The sharper, greener scents of Rosepaw's new homemade her pause several times in excitement. FrostClan couldn't have been more different from DoveClan, and Rosepaw's thoughts kept wandering back to her old Clan. She wondered how her littermate's training was going, and she felt a pang of sadness when she realized she'll never get to train beside Seedpaw. 

Sighing, Rosepaw quickly shook her head to brush away the thoughts. Instead, she tried concentrating on what her mentor was showing her. They stopped multiple times as Nightflower explained the different parts of the territory. Words and names like Owl Forest, Crystal Creek and Stoney Falls swirled inside Rosepaw's head. 

As they continued to walk, Rosepaw couldn't help but hear the anxious murmurs of the mentors in front of her. She caught snippets of their conversation. 

"Yes, but...what... we do? Everything....strange... danger."

"...prophecy?...to become of FrostClan?"

Rosepaw cast an anxious glance towards Leafpaw, who gave her an equally baffled and anxious look back. Hailpaw seemed oblivious, his eyes darting from tree to tree. They walked on in silence. 

Rosepaw noticed that Leafkit was struggling as her limp paw caught on the twisted tree roots they padded through. Wordlessly, Rosepaw pressed closer, using her own weight to help guide Leafpaw through the worst of the roots. 

"Thanks, Rosepaw," Leafpaw murmured, before giving her chest a small lick. Her eyes were downcast, and her flanks were heaving when they finally came to a stop. 

"We just walked along most of FrostClan's borders," Nightflower meowed. She gave the apprentices a nod of praise, her cool gaze pausing at Leafpaw's limp paw. 

"Good job. All of you," she said, her eyes lingering on Leafpaw. There was a hint of respect there, and Rosepaw saw Leafpaw duck her head, embarrassed. 

"Now, it's time to split off into individual training with mentors," Blacktail meowed. He waved Hailpaw over with a flick of his tail. "All FrostClan 'paws have special training, which is why we teach our apprentices separately", he explained.

Sunfeather nodded in agreement. "Leafkit and I will train by the clearing," she said, and Leafpaw quickly hurried to her side. 

Nightflower dipped her head. "We'll head to the stream," she said, eyes glittering. Rosepaw felt a stab of confusion. A stream? They were going to train by a stream?

As they padded away, Nightflower gave a small purr at her confusion.

"You'll see soon enough what sets FrostClan apart from the other clans," she meowed with an excited glint in her eyes.

~

A/N: Phew! Back to writing Crown Of Silver! :) This chapter was a bit long, but it's to make up for the lack of updates before. :) Thanks for reading!!