•★★Chapter 1 ★★•

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Opalpaw waited quietly by the entrance alongside Rosepaw, waiting patiently for their mentors to come over. The brown tabby she-cat was thumping her tail on the cave floor impatiently, sighing loudly as she watched, quite grumpily, as her mentor, Skysilk, helped Dewdash out of his den,  helping him choose a piece of prey. Opalpaw felt a touch of warmth in her heart for the young she-cat, always wanting to help everyone. "She'll be here soon." She assured Rosepaw, stroking her back with her tail. Rosepaw sniffed. "Whatever"

Opalpaw's mentor, Silvercrow, was in the medicine den due to an upset belly. Cloudflame had gone out with her new apprentice, so Vixentuft was looking after the clan. Rosepaw let out another upset snort as Skysilk sat next to the elderly tom and said something. Privately, Opalpaw shared Rosepaw's disapproval, she just wanted to go. She had seen a tuft of fox fur by the TideClan border, and she was dying to investigate. Suddenly, Rosepaw nudged Opalpaw. "Come on. We'll never get out of here. Let's just go, and they can catch up later" She said lowly. Opalpaw blinked. "U-um..." She turned her head to see Skysilk still chatting. "Okay, fine." She said softly. Rosepaw's amber eyes lit up with excitement. She walked past Opalpaw, stalking out of the entrance, calling to Opalpaw over her shoulder. "Come on. Don't be a clean-paw" 
Opalpaw turned to look over at Skysilk, then ran after her. "Okay, so where do we go?" Opalpaw asked skeptically, feeling a twinge of annoyance at the brown tabby. Rosepaw snorted. "Isn't it obvious? We're going to the Boar Border!" She snapped. Opalpaw stopped dead, freezing in absolute terror. "Boars!?" She snarled. Rosepaw stopped to look over her shoulder at her. "What? Just a couple of fat rats with tusks. Nothing to be afraid of!" She said impatiently. What if it bites you?" Opalpaw challenged. "Pffft. That thing won't get near me. Or you. Just follow my lead" Rosepaw said confidently. However, Opalpaw wasn't so sure. 

********

After walking for what seemed like days, the two apprentices finally made it to the spiny trees with dead clustered ferns around the bended roots, and immediately smelled the stench of flies,  muck, mud and leaves. Opalpaw gagged. "Great StarClan, it stinks in here!" She huffed. Rosepaw nodded in agreement, lashing her tail. Opalpaw shook her head, feeling itchy all over, as if flies were crawling in her pelt. But along with that tingly feeling, she felt something weird. "Rosepaw?" She mumbled. Rosepaw, however, was padding over to inspect a pile of torn leaves. Opalpaw felt a jolt of fear as something moved in trees. Opalpaw sprang over to Rosepaw, knocking her over and sending them tumbling through huge shrubs, and into a dark clearing, landing with Rosepaw under her and Opalpaw curled around Rosepaw. "What in the-" Rosepaw was about to exclaim, but Opalpaw wrapped her tail around her muzzle to shush her. Suddenly, the two heard a loud, shrill squeal, and Rosepaw stiffened. Opalpaw curled tighter around her,  fear prickling her fur. Just then, a burst of light met the she-cat's eyes, and a shadowy figure stood there, with a slim tail and tusks sharper than Rosepaw's tongue. Opalpaw immediately leaped in front of Rosepaw, the hair on her spine rising. "What are you doing, mouse-brain!" Rosepaw snarled, jumping to her paws. But she let out a hiss of pain, falling right onto the ground chin-first. "Rosepaw?" Opalpaw hissed through her teeth, not taking her eyes off of the beast. "Ouch! I think you sprained my paw, you overgrown lump of toad dung!" Rosepaw growled. Opalpaw knew she didn't mean it, so she let the insult slide. For now. 

There were more serious matters. Like a full grown boar staring down at them, eyes gleaming with fury. "Don't move" Opalpaw hissed under her breath, her eyes darting around, looking for any possible escape. "I can't exactly move with a hundred-pound cat sitting on me like I'm some sort of perch!" Rosepaw snapped quietly. Opalpaw was tempted to unsheathe her claws and grip this sassy cat's fur tightly but resisted. As she scanned the clearing, her breath becoming faster as the boar slowly advanced towards them. Finally, she spotted a thicket of bushes that weren't completely packed together, leaving a small hole casting a faint yellow light in the clearing. "Opalpaw, get off of me!" Rosepaw growled, louder this time. The boar heard, flicking an ear. "On my signal, we'll both run to that bush over there, got it?" Opalpaw whispered, nodding at the escape. Rosepaw turned her head sharply, causing an angry squeal from the female boar. "What's the signal?" Rosepaw asked. 

"1..."
"Opalpaw! What's the signal?"

"2..."
"Opalpaw, you StarClan-foresaken cat! What's the signal, you dumb frog!?"

"3!"
 Opalpaw yelled the word, and Rosepaw darted from under her paws. Opalpaw skimmed the ground as she sprinted after her, placing each paw down carefully but swiftly. She had been taught that boars liked littering their territory with vines and branches to trap unfortunate cats that wandered into their dens. The boar shrieked with surprise and bolted after them. 

(ROSEPAW'S P.O.V)

Rosepaw flew towards the bushes, still feeling a prick of annoyance at Opalpaw's unclear directions. She was very aware of the boar giving up a chase, determined to kick their tails. But Rosepaw would eat toads before letting the boar snatch her life before she became a warrior. Her amber eyes blazed with persistence, and brightened with satisfaction as the bushes became closer to her paws. She heard Opalpaw call out to her, "Rosepaw! It's getting closer!"
Rosepaw narrowed her eyes as she kicked up more dirt, increasing her speed. Wind buffeted her face as she ran, causing her eyes to water.  The thrumming of hooves grew louder, and Rosepaw had no other choice but to take a risk. Bunches her leg's muscles, she leaped, paws outstretched. Her body slipped through the hole without any problems, except for maybe getting THOUSANDS of thorns pierced into her fur. She continued running, completely unaware that she passed an unusually slim tree. She heard the smack of paws on dirt slow, and she slowed her legs herself, skidding to a hard stop, almost tumbling into the dirt and leaves below. Rosepaw lowered her head to take deep breaths, coughing and panting. Her tail was high, however, and a laugh escaped her lips. She raised her head and turned to see Opalpaw sitting down, catching her breath as well. As soon as she met her eyes, Opalpaw began to laugh too. "We just outran a boar. We just outran a boar!" Rosepaw said between breaths. Opalpaw smiled. "Yup. All while you kept that snappy attitude up!" She said, smirking. Rosepaw scoffed. "At least we're safe!" She countered. 

Opalpaw's face grew serious. "No.. Rosepaw, do you know where we are?" she said, her ears going back as she sniffed the air. "A forest? Probably the oak one" Rosepaw said, but was genuinely concerned about Opalpaw's remark. Opalpaw stared at her, eyes wide. "Opalpaw, your freaking me out. What are you on about?"
Rosepaw parted her jaws to taste the air, gagging as the scent of salt, fish, pine and sand wafted into her mouth. 
"Opalpaw... Did you bring us into TideClan territory?..."

Author here :D
Whew, did that take a while! It's so interesting to me. Sorry for keeping u lovelies waiting for month! You can expect a new chapter to be out soon, to pay up for my poor updating. 

𝓦𝓪𝓻𝓻𝓲𝓸𝓻𝓼: 𝓒𝓻𝔂𝓼𝓽𝓪𝓵 𝓦𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓼 (𝓐𝓹𝓹𝓵𝔂𝓕𝓲𝓬!)Where stories live. Discover now