RainClan's Fate; The Apprentice's Destiny | Warrior Cats Fanfiction

~Chapter 3~

Flamepaw was roused awake the next day by a white-tipped paw that prodded him in the side. Flamepaw growled and lifted his head. He blinked and looking around.

He was in the apprentice's den, resting in his new nest that was still soft from all the new moss. Honeypaw was still asleep on the other side of the den, curled up in her nest with her pale ginger tail resting over her muzzle. Flamepaw moved his yellow eyes to the front of the den and blinked as a brown tom with a white chest and paws blinked back at him, his amber eyes bright. Mudpaw.

"Thistlestorm's waiting for you," Flamepaw's brother informed him. "He wants you to be ready before sunhigh."

My first training session! Flamepaw thought excitedly. I wonder what we'll be doing.

Flamepaw stood and shook off the random bits of moss from his dark ginger pelt. He quietly padded out of the den so he wouldn't wake Honeypaw. He follow Mudpaw to the fresh-kill pile and chose a mouse for himself, as that was the only prey he'd experienced, apart from rabbit and vole.

The two brothers headed back to the apprentice's den and lay down to eat beside a tree stump. Flamepaw bit into his mouse and instantly felt happy at the sudden burst of taste in his mouth. He'd been eating mouse for two moons, but he still got the same happy feeling whenever he bit into one.

"I can't wait to go hunting," Flamepaw meowed as he chewed his mouse. Mudpaw nodded in agreement as Honeypaw padded out of the den and over to the fresh-kill pile. Flamepaw noticed a white tom with black-and-grey tabby patches padding over to him.

"Hi, Thistlestorm," Flamepaw greeted his mentor. I wish Burntstar had given me a more experienced mentor, his mind whispered. I'm Thistlestorm's first apprentice...why did Mudpaw get Ivytail, a warrior who's trained two apprentices?

He pushed the thought away firmly. He wouldn't let anything ruin his first day as an apprentice!

"What are we doing today?" Flamepaw asked his mentor as he finished his mouse. He stood up and meowed a quick 'bye' to Mudpaw as he followed his mentor out the entrance tunnel, which most cats called the fern tunnel because of the thick ferns the surrounded it. "Battle training? Patrolling? Hunting? Battle training? Patrolling? Wait. I already said that!"

Thistlestorm purred in amusement. "Apprentices," he muttered under his breath, but Flamepaw still heard it. "No, we'll be taking a tour of RainClan territory."

Flamepaw couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed. Mudpaw was probably doing battle training with Ivytail right now! He felt a stab of jealousy for his brother; he shoved the feeling away and hurried after Thistlestorm. The patched tom was trotting through the forest part of RainClan's territory. Massive trees surrounded Flamepaw and he kept hearing rustling noises coming from the bushes.

"Green-leaf is good time for hunting," Thistlestorm explained. "In green-leaf, all the prey comes out and there's lot of sunshine."

Flamepaw felt a bit irritated. "I know all that! Do you think I'm mouse-brained?"

"No," Thistlestorm looked a bit taken aback. "No, not at all. I think you're an intelligent young cat. I'm just trying to act more like a mentor."

Flamepaw hissed. Of course, because you've only just become a warrior. It's not fair that Mudpaw gets an experienced warrior as his mentor!

"Whatever," Flamepaw muttered. "Where's the border?"

"Just over there," Thistlestorm pointed to a clump of holly bushes with his tail. All the forest on the other side of the holly bushes was darker, with more trees and less sunlight, plus it smelt like mouse-bile.