Warriors #6: A Kittypet's Destiny

Chapter 16

Swiftflight's POV

My eyes actually felt a bit strained as I tried my best to watch the mock-fight happening in front of me through the darkness of ThunderClan's tunnels. I could just barely see Toadstep and Dovewing in their combat, even just a few tail-lengths in front of me.

Goldenshine was currently watching them, her gray gaze locked on their two pelts as if she was out in broad daylight. She would shout out a tip to the two younger cats every few heartbeats, and even despite her having taken several groups of cats down into the tunnels for training up until now, she seemed to be handling each of them with the same amount of patience.

I had been chosen to be in her tunnel-training group for the day, along with Dovewing, Ivypool, and Toadstep. And I couldn't help but feel excited... and a bit nervous to know that Cherrypaw had also come along with our group. Goldenshine had made the point to her apprentice that it was likely that she wouldn't be fighting, but that she might as well see what the older warriors were learning. Which, I'll admit, was a lot. It had definitely felt like a very long day.

Thus far, we had already learned how to navigate through the tunnels, work on training our eyes to see through complete darkness, and how to fight despite being in quite a constricted, confined area.

At the moment, Dovewing and Toadstep seemed to be doing a great job with the latter lesson, fighting as confidently as they would be if they were outside. I exchanged an impressed glance with Ivypool, and then glanced over just in time to see my mother standing up, her golden tabby brown head nodding with approval.

She then raised her tail as a signal for the two young warriors to stop. "Alright, you two. That's good," she meowed, her voice echoing through the tunnels. "Really good, in fact. You all seem to be well-acquainted with these circumstances already!"

I then found myself having to hold back a purr of amusement as my mother began to excitedly trot around the area. "But remember that you can use the lack of space to your advantage, too!" she went on. "As Hollyleaf demonstrated earlier, cornering your opponent in here would be as easy as catching a crippled piece of prey!"

I nodded in understanding, feeling increasingly proud and impressed to see all that Goldenshine seemed to know about these tunnels. Well, I mean, obviously she would, but I still felt immense pride seeing all of the knowledge that only my mother, along with Hollyleaf, seemed to carry. I'd only expect so much from her!

"Gee, this sure seems like it's going to be a battle to remember..." Cherrypaw then mewed, and I turned see that she was staring up at the tunnel's roof in awe. "I wish that Firestar was letting Molepaw, Wrenpaw, Emberpaw, Lightningpaw and I fight in it!"

As I felt a pang of sympathy for the ginger she-cat, Goldenshine padded up to Cherrypaw and gave her a light nudge. "Who says that guarding the camp is any less important?" she meowed encouragingly to her apprentice. "And anyway, you'll need to be on call in case we need back-up down here!"

Cherrypaw's amber eyes immediately lit up with her mentor's words. "That's true! We'll be ready!" she exclaimed. She then shifted her gaze over to me and shrugged as I let out a purr of amusement at her charming enthusiasm. "But... this still looks very fun, though!"

I nodded and let out another purr, returning the warm, amused look that Cherrypaw was giving me. Unfortunately, I had to force my gaze away from the she-cat quickly as I noticed Goldenshine nodding in my direction.

"Well then, you'll surely enjoy getting to see more practice!" my mother teased to Cherrypaw before turning to face where Ivypool and I were sitting. "Okay - Swiftflight and Ivypool - it's time for you all to have a go." I was then surprised to see her sniff and flash an apologetic glance towards Ivypool, and then to me. "Swiftflight, I'll admit that you definitely have a bit of an advantage with that nearly black pelt of yours."