Warriors: Lurking Darkness

Chapter 3

After falling into a deep slumber, Fallenpaw opens her eyes to find herself in ShadowClan's camp, right near the entrance. In front of her are some ShadowClan cats, some of them who she recognizes from her previous dreams.

"Shall we go?" A gray tom asks. Once he gets agreements from all of the other cats, he begins to lead the way out of camp.

"Where should we train? It will be hard to fit all of these cats in one place," The gray tom then asks, waiting for opinions from the other cats.

"Oh! I know!" A cat Fallenpaw recognizes as Leafpaw from a previous dream, but much older, meows almost instantly. "We could try the small clearing not far from here. It's not much, but it will fit all of us," she suggests.

"That sounds like a good idea, Leafshadow. Any objections?" The gray tom asks. After a few seconds of silence, he speaks up again. "The clearing it is."

"If this goes well, we should do this with all of the other apprentices from now on and make it a tradition. It can be more beneficial for the apprentices by boosting their teamwork and cooperation," Leafshadow then suggests. "I definitely wish I could've had something like that as an apprentice."

"That's a great idea!" A blue-gray she-cat instantly meows. "You're very smart, Leafshadow," she compliments.

"Thanks, I get it from my mother," Leafshadow responds with a purr of amusement.

After that part of her dream, she is awoken by a sudden shove against her flank. The cream tabby groans and opens her eyes to spot her brother, Stonepaw, looking down at her.

"It's time for training, remember! You wouldn't wake up at first, I was afraid you were dead!" Stonepaw meows loudly.

It is Fallenpaw and Stonepaw's first day of training. Fallenpaw very slowly gets out of her nest and heads out of the apprentices' den with her brother. Stonepaw happily bounces beside his sister while Fallenpaw slowly, clearly unenthusiastic, heads over to the camp entrance, where their mentors are waiting for them.

"There you two are!" Sootwhisker meows.

"Fallenpaw took forever getting out of her nest!" Stonepaw shares.

"You didn't have to tell them that!" Fallenpaw meows, upset over what her brother had told them.

They're going to think I'm lazy now! Fallenpaw thinks.

"It's okay, Fallenpaw, we all have those kinds of mornings," Plumnose meows. Fallenpaw lets out a sigh of relief at her mentor's words.

"That's right," Sootwhisker meows. "Now, let's head over to the clearing, shall we?"

The two apprentices nod in response and the four cats leave camp together, heading over to the small clearing where the majority of the apprentice training takes place.

This is the clearing they were talking about in my dream! Fallenpaw thinks as they arrive.

"First, we will focus on hunting," Sootwhisker meows. "Since the two of you know nothing so far, Plumnose will demonstrate how to hunt."

"Okay, watch me closely," Plumnose meows. "First, you have to sniff the air to try to catch the scent of any prey. Then, if you catch a scent, follow it until you can spot the prey. Then, you must crouch low like this so it can't see you," she explains, crouching down low. "Then, you must sneak closer to the prey, trying your best not to make a single sound," she meows, sneaking closer to Sootwhisker. "Then, once you're close enough, you pounce!" She meows, leaping right for her father, knocking him down to the ground. Sootwhisker lets out a squeak of surprise, which makes both apprentices purr with amusement.

"You didn't have to go that far with the demonstration!" Sootwhisker meows to his daughter.

"I'm sorry, I thought it would be more fun this way!" Plumnose purrs with amusement, getting up off the gray-and-white tom. Sootwhisker then gets up, licking the dirt out of his fur.

"So, today, as a start, the two of you will be practicing your pounces," Sootwhisker informs. Fallenpaw watches as Plumnose pads off a picks up two leaves from the ground in her jaws, placing them down in two different areas of the clearing.

"For practice, the two of you will try to pounce onto a leaf," Sootwhisker explains. "We will be watching the two of you closely and giving you tips and advice as needed. You two got it?" He then asks.

The two young apprentices nod as a response.

"Okay, good. The two of you may start then," Sootwhisker meows. Fallenpaw's gaze then focuses on her leaf. She crouches down low and sneaks closer to it, trying to get into a good spot to try to get an accurate pounce. Then, after a little butt wiggle and nervous shaking from her legs, the young she-cat leaps for the leaf, but completely misses.

"Fallenpaw!" Plumnose meows, clearly already getting frustrated with her apprentice being completely off. "Your legs were too shaky! You need to have more confidence in your pounce!" She advises. Fallenpaw responds with a nod and gets back to her original position. She leaps again, but misses again due to the same problem, a lack of confidence.

"Remember what I told you, Fallenpaw!" Plumnose meows. Fallenpaw lets out a groan after seeing that Stonepaw successfully pounced on his leaf on his second try. Fallenpaw goes back to where she was, getting ready to pounce. She notices her legs beginning to shake again and she tries to find a way to stop it, but she can't.

"I can't get my legs to stop shaking!" Fallenpaw meows to Plumnose.

"Just take a few deep breaths and stay calm! You can do it!" Plumnose responds to her apprentice. Fallenpaw then leaps again, missing yet again and ending up in a bush.

"Oh, I'm never going to get it!" Fallenpaw whines as she begins to get out of the bush.

"Not with that mindset you won't! You have to believe in yourself!" Plumnose meows. After a few more failed attempts, Sootwhisker and Plumnose decided that the apprentices had enough training for today and started to head back to camp. Fallenpaw walks with her tail tucked underneath her, disappointed with herself.

"We really need to work on that, okay?" Plumnose meows to her apprentice. "You will get it someday, you just need more practice."

Fallenpaw just nods and sighs, but when they back it back to camp, they are welcomed with some good news.

"Amberflower had her kits!" Batwing announces cheerfully to the cats as they arrive.

"Really?!" Stonepaw meows happily.

"Congratulations!" Sootwhisker responds.

"Oh StarClan, that's wonderful news!" Plumnose meows. "What are their names?"

"Russetkit and Longkit! Both of them are toms," Batwing answers.

"Those are wonderful names!" Plumnose meows happily.

"I can't wait to meet them, hopefully they will be nice when they're older," Fallenpaw meows.

"You can't meet them right now, Amberflower doesn't want visitors, but you can definitely go see them later!" Batwing meows.

Even more cats in this Clan, like we don't already have enough. Fallenpaw thinks.