Silentmelody's Dream

Chapter 17

"I'm starving!" Echopaw complained, catching up.
"We'll hunt after battle training," Hawkfire promised.
The dark brown she-cat darted through the tunnel. Silentpaw fell in beside Wolfheart, leaving Echopaw to hurry after them. They padded to the training hollow in silence. Sun was slanting through the bright green leaves, and the air trembled with birdsong. Silentpaw saw Echopaw lick her lips.
Wolfheart sat down in the center of the hollow, his tail whisking over the mossy ground. "Today, we're going to be thinking about how other Clans fight-their strengths and weaknesses, and the best way to exploit them."
"So, what strengths do the other Clans have?" Hawkfire prompted.
"RiverClan can swim," Echopaw mewed, "which means they can approach from water."
"WindClan is well camouflaged and small, so they are hardest to detect," Falconpaw offered.
"Unless they're upwind," Echopaw pointed out, "in which case their rabbity scent gives them away."
Hawkfire nodded, agreeing with her apprentice. They were learning fast.
"What about ShadowClan?" She asked.
"Well, they're just evil," Echopaw growled, "so you never know how low they'll stoop to attack. That makes them unpredictable."
"And weaknesses?" Metalclaw pressed.
"ShadowClan is weak because they think they are braver than they actually are," Falconpaw mewed. "And RiverClan is so well fed that they're slower than us."
Silentpaw shifted on her paws, thinking harder. Do other Clans have this conversation about this? What do they say about ThunderClan? She wondered.
Mudpelt glanced at Snakepaw. "What about WindClan?"
Snakepaw hesitated, Silentpaw felt his pelt being burned by the eyes of his mentor. "Uh, WindClan is fast, but not as strong as us because they don't have any trees to climb on the moorland," he said.
"Good," Mudpelt nodded. "You seem to know the basics. Let's practice some moves. First, lets try one that will work on a RiverClan cat."
Mudpelt darted under Metalclaw's belly and nipped him on his hind leg. Metalclaw rounded on him ready for the counter attack, but Mudpelt had already shot out of reach. Silentpaw watched in awe as Metalclaw leaped toward him but Mudpelt rolled out of the way, sprang to his paws and launched himself onto Metalclaw's back, unbalancing the gray warrior and sending him rolling onto his side. The two warriors jumped on their paws, shook the earth from their pelts, and turned to face their apprentices.
Wolfheart licked Silentpaw's ear and rubbed against her muzzle, flaring up the long forgotten itch again. Silentpaw pulled back, daring to scratch it.
"Snakepaw," Metalclaw touched Snakepaw's flank with his tail. "You be the RiverClan cat becuase ypur bigger and more powerful. Silentpaw, you try and unbalance him like Mudpelt did with me."
Silentpaw nodded, leaving the itch alone, and her eyes shining with determination. She darted underneath Snakepaw, and nipped his hind leg. But Snakepaw wasn't going to let her get away as easily as Metalclaw had done. He dropped his whole weight onto Silentpaw before she could scamper free, then grasped her with his paws and tugged her over onto her side. "Hey!" Wolfheart growled. "That's not how you're meant to do it!"
"She should've been faster!" Snakepaw spat, and began raking her spine with his hind claws while he gripped her shoulders with his forepaws.
You're hurting me! Silentpaw shrieked, as she tried to struggle free from Snakepaw's grasp.
"Snakepaw, stop!" A new voice sounded. Snakepaw turned over to see his father, Bouncefire, wincing at his sharp command. Silentpaw slid from his grip and scrambled to her paws, Wolfheart snuggling against her lovingly, but she remained frozen and stared at Bouncefire, who was glaring at his son, his eyes blazing. "This is training! We don't want any cat hurt!"
Snakepaw slowly got up, his brown and grey pelt burning with embarrassment. "Sorry," he whispered, glancing at Silentpaw. "I got carried away."
Wolfheart was lapping at the scratches Snakepaw had given his apprentice. "I'm-I'm sorry, Silentpaw." The muted apprentice pulled away from Wolfheart and clawed the into the dusty clearing, I'm fine now. She knew nobody understood twoleg marking, but she put it down anyway, soon rubbing her paw over it to make it disappear again.
"Will you keep on training?" Bouncefire asked. "I'm taking Snakepaw out hunting."
At the sound of 'hunting', Silentpaw heard Echopaw's belly growl at hunger. Snakepaw left with his father, tail low under him. Hawkfire dipped her head. "It's about time we shall be hunting also," she meowed, glancing at Echopaw, "we don't want any apprentice getting behind in training."
***********

A loud, shrieking gust of icy cold wind blew through the ThunderClan cats. "Leaf-fall is coming," Mudpelt commented. "I suppose it's already here," Hawkfire replied. Wolfheart agreed. He watched the red and golden leaves fall, and heard the warriors' paws walk over them, leaving a crunch sound behind. He felt the frozen solid forest floor slip underneath him. And all he could scent was the frosty air of leaf-fall. "Yes," he said, nudging Silentpaw to walk ahead. "The sun's getting lower, and the air is more colder." He suddenly stopped his tracks as he scented a squirrel scavenging for nuts under a root of a tree. Quickly and easily, he killed it with one swipe of his paw. He noticed the Silentpaw has been hunting on the way back also, a vole and a mouse hanging in her jaws. She slipped through the tunnel and into the stone hollow. The rest followed her, then dropping off their prey, and headed towards their dens to hide themselves from the sudden cold. Wolfheart spotted his apprentice walking towards the medicine den, carrying her vole. Why is she always in there? He thought, a sudden tang of jealousy ripped through him. Does she like Stormwhisker more than me? He thought as he followed Silentpaw into the medicine den. All he saw was Stormwhisker controlling Silentpaw's paw as she clawed something into the ground. "What are you doing?" He asked. Stormwhisker looked up at him. "I'm teaching her how to mark twoleg." Wolfheart shrugged, and licked the top of Silentpaw's head. "Don't be too long." He said.
As he walked out of the medicine den, Wolfheart saw Shadestripe comming back from a hunting patrol with Winterheart, Applewhisker and Nightfeather. He saw Shadestripe beckon him with his tail, and so he walked towards his friend.
"Hello, Lovey-heart." Shadestripe teased. Wolfheart growled. Why was his friend making fun of him for loving Silentpaw?
"What is it?" He snapped.
"I need to talk with you," Shadestripe whispered, suddenly sounding serious. Wolfheart glared at him as they headed out of camp.
Another thick gust of wind made Wolfheart shiver. Even with his thick, medium long pelt the cold surged through him into his skin. But Shadestripe didn't flinch. This is not the Shadestripe I used to know. Wolfheart thought. He was always fun, and playful, but now, he thinks he's in charge and he's always serious.
Shadestripe stopped his tracks and flattened himself under a bramble bush. "What are you doing?" Wolfheart asked.
"Just follow me!" Shadestripe ordered.
Who do you think you are, my mentor?
Wolfheart sunk under the bramble bush and followed Shadestripe down into a small clearing that was surrounded by thorn bushes. "What is this place?" He wondered out loud. "Don't you dare tell anyone about this place," Shadestripe threatened, claws unsheathed. "I made this place for me and you when we were apprentices." He said, looking at his paws. "It got destroyed, so I rebuilt it a couple of days ago." Wolfheart smiled. "This is awesome." He mewed. "Yeah, I know!" Shadestripe agreed smiling. But suddenly he frowned again. "Let's get back on topic."
Wolfheart didn't even know if they already had a topic. But still he listened to what his friend had to say. "Wolfheart," he started. "You haven't been like yourself lately."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, its just Silentpaw."
"What about her?!" Wolfheart asked, claws unsheathing against the dirt.
"You've been all lovey and stuff with her, and not adventurous and hardworking with me."
"Heh, is this....jealousy?"
"Stop! I want you to stop! You need to be the warrior that you wanted to be! Right now your acting like Silentpaw's your mate! She's an apprentice! Now until she becomes a warrior, you need to prove yourself one of the most strongest warriors of ThunderClan. Your goal as an apprentice was to be Clan leader. No cat would chose a lovey cat like you to be deputy."
"Shadestripe--"
"You need to stand your ground, Wolfheart! Be strong! Your Silentpaw's mentor, and you need to act like a mentor. Harsh, strict, unstoppable. You're just soft, lovey, and nice. This is your weakness, Wolfheart. And I know your weakness."
"No,"
"You need to listen!"
"You told me to harsh! And I will, if you keep on treating me this way!" Wolfheart exclaimed, eyes burning in rage. But without a growl, Shadestripe actually smiled. "That's the spirit!" He yelled.
He's right. Wolfheart thought. I need to show myself worthy of becoming Clan leader. I need to start standing my ground. Now it seems like everybody knows my weakness--love. But I will still love Silentpaw. Until she becomes a warrior. But she'll never be a warrior if I don't be the mentor Moonstar wanted me to be. I'll stand up in what I believe is true and right. The only thing I'm afraid of,
He looked up, and smiled, showing his deadly fangs.
Is being afraid.