Warriors- Dawn of An Era: Shadows of Terror {Book 2} (COMPLETED)

Chapter Nine

Viperpaw opened her eyes, not at all surprised to find herself in the foggy forest once again. The pain of losing her sister was still fresh in her heart as she rose to her paws. Half a moon ago, Dawnslash gave birth to a rather large litter of kits. Four kits squirming at her belly seemed to take up the entire nursery. So much so, in fact, that some of the warriors had to make an addition to the den.

Viperpaw and the rest of the Clan were surprised the she-cat had survived the kitting. Her kits were rather large despite how early they had born. Dawnslash was strong during her kitting, no matter how loud and painful her screeching were. Nonetheless, Dawnslash named her kits Curlkit, Ferretkit, Scorchkit, and Swiftkit. They were odd names, Viperpaw knew, but she didn't dare say anything to the queen's face.

Every cat knew Dawnslash was fiercely protective of her family. It was known by all the Clan who the father was, as he was the most excited about his kits being born. Goldenstripe was overjoyed at the thought of being a father. Viperpaw never thought of Dawnslash falling in love with a cat like Goldenstripe. Nevertheless, ThunderClan had four new little warriors and that was the important thing at the moment.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Rushstar slipping through the dark ferns as he approached her. His gray and white pelt was glistening, as though it were wet. As she studied his fur, her eyes widened. The leader's pelt was wet, but not with water or mud. It was blood. The scarlet liquid oozed from his coat and dripped from his whiskers. Rushstar didn't seem to care or notice as he stopped in front of Viperpaw, his eyes gleaming.

"Welcome back, little snake." He greeted, his tail flicking. "I see you have been in a fight recently?" Rushstar motioned with his tail tip to her nicked ear where Poppypaw's claws had gone through and through the flesh.

Viperpaw ducked with a sharp hiss. "I'm fine," she growled through clenched teeth. When she straightened once more, she gave the tom a once over. "Why are you bleeding?"

Rushstar glanced at his bloody flanks and let out a purr of amusement. "It's not mine," he replied and jerked his muzzle to the far treeline. "Come on. Your training starts tonight."

Without speaking, the tom padded toward the trees, Viperpaw at his heels. Together they padded into a clearing surrounded by trees and fallen logs. Rushstar faced her and Viperpaw stopped, her heart pounding as she caught sight of his bloodied unsheathed claws.

"Charge at me," the tom rumbled, his voice commanding as he blinked down at the apprentice.

Viperpaw took a small step back, shocked. She barely reached the tom's shoulder with her ears and he expected her to fight him?

Rushstar let out a growl and lashed out with a paw, scratching her muzzle. She gasped, staggering as blood beaded from where he struck her. Looking at him through narrowed eyes, she leaped, paws outstretched as she aimed a blow at his shoulder.

The leader stepped to the side and raked his claws down her flank, making her yowl in pain as she landed wrong and nearly lost her footing. "Too slow," Rushstar commented and lashed his tail. "I thought you'd be better than that."

"I've never had battle training." She growled through gritted teeth, glaring at the tom. "Cut me some slack." Viperpaw lashed her tail and leaped against, this time landing a small scratch against Rushstar's hind leg, drawing very little blood.

Rushstar sank his teeth into her tail, making her yelp and instinctively kick out with a hind leg, striking home and making the tom stumble backward with a hiss of agony.

Spinning on her heels, Viperpaw leaped at him, tackling the larger cat and rolling around with him in a flurry of claws and blood. A claw caught her eye and she felt the flesh tear, blinding her as blood flooded her left eye. Wincing, she sprang apart from Rushstar, breathing hard as blood soaked her pelt.