Into the River

Into the River Chapter 15

When the hunting session concluded, the group returned to camp with their catches. Clawpaw had caught the most out of the three, returning with several small fish and a big trout. Leafpaw proudly carried five fish and was helping Clawpaw carry her trout. Lavapaw padded in a little annoyed with only three fish. Stormfrost made 3 trips from the river and back to bring almost a whole fresh-kill pile's worth. The third time she came back she had two pikes in her mouth.Raincall shot a stern glance at Clawpaw and Doveripple, Doveripple shot a stern glance right back and told Clawpaw that she was excused from further duties. Raincall was told to "find some other cat to pick on".When they reached the camp Doveripple beckoned Clawpaw, turned to look sternly at Raincall, and beckoned to him as well. The group headed towards Rainystar's den. Leafpaw and Lavapaw bounded toward Doveripple to catch up. "Can we join you?" Leafpaw asked, "We want to be there with Clawpaw,""Sure," Doveripple mewed.And they headed to Rainystar's den."Rainystar, can we come in?" Doveripple asked."Of course," Rainystar responded.They headed in."We have a mentoring issue with Raincall," Doveripple summarized."Continue," Rainystar prompted."Raincall here has made Clawpaw do all cleaning of the elder's den since she caught a minnow while she was sleeping, I have been keeping an eye on Clawpaw." Doveripple mewed."Raincall, why have you done this?" Rainystar asked."I... I," Raincall stammered, "I didn't," Raincall made an "amazing" excuse."Okay then," Rainystar mewed then lowered her voice, "Doveripple," she hissed, "go get the elders," louder she meowed. "Doveripple you may leave," "Of course, Rainystar," Doveripple mewed then padded out of the den.Raincall's shoulders loosened, apparently thinking that he had won.Leafpaw broke the silence, "Clawpaw," she prompted, "Do you want to tell us what Raincall did?""Okay," Clawpaw gulped, "I suppose it was when we were doing battle practice," she began, "I accidentally knocked Raincall off balance and he fell on his face, then said that I had to clean the elder's den for the rest of my apprenticeship, alone." she ended, sounding more confident."Raincall, it seems that you are not ready to become a mentor, you do not have the patience or the ability to withstand humility," Rainystar mewed, then flicked her tail at the entrance. Doveripple padded in with the two elders Minnowsight and Elmtail."Ahh, welcome," Rainystar welcomed the elders, "If you could answer a question...""We would," Minnowsight mewed, "wouldn't we Elmtail?""Of course," Elmtail answered after hesitating a bit."Great," Rainystar meowed. "Raincall has ordered Clawpaw to do all cleaning of the elder's den. Is this true?""Yes, it is," Minnowsight responded, giving Clawpaw an affectionate glance, "She has done a great job.""Well, Raincall," Rainystar announced, "It seems that you are lying and that this apprentice needs a new mentor, and you need to be punished for lying and treating this apprentice unfairly for being humiliated.""I propose Icewind for your new mentor. We will have a meeting about it tomorrow."The next morning, Clawpaw woke to Rainystar's mew ringing across the camp, "Let all cats old enough to swim gather to hear my words!" As the RiverClan cats gathered to hear Rainystar's words, Streamripple started grooming Clawpaw, again.When Streamripple was finished grooming her, Rainystar called Clawpaw to the Highstump, "Clawpaw, you have had a bad mentor.," Rainystar began, "and you are ready to be re-apprenticed. Clawpaw, your mentor will be Icewind. I hope Icewind will pass down all she knows to you." And be a better mentor than Raincall."Icewind, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You have received excellent training from Frostfang and shown yourself to be stealthy and fast. You will mentor Clawpaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know,"Clawpaw was excited to the point where she was jumping up and down. She padded forward and tripped over her paws, still managing to bump noses with Icewind. Icewind looked at her, and she sat beside her."Raincall," Rainystar turned on Clawpaw's former mentor. "You have been wrong to punish Clawpaw for humiliating you. You will follow orders until it is time for your punishment." She concluded."Yes, Rainystar," Raincall bowed his head."The Clan is dismissed." Rainystar mewed, and the Clan dispersed, going back to what they were doing. "Ready?" Icewind nudged her gently."Yes," Clawpaw replied. "We're going with your littermates. They're waiting at the entrance," Icewind informed her.Icewind led her to the entrance and her littermates were indeed there. "Slowpoke," Lavapaw teased. "I was in the middle," Clawpaw retorted. "Stop it!" Leafpaw broke in, "Let's go," "Battle training today," Stormfrost informed. Lavapaw bounced a bit, it seemed like she was excited but also nervous. Weird. Leafpaw gazed at Lavapaw looking worried. She notices too. Clawpaw met Leafpaw's gaze, and Leafpaw pulled Clawpaw aside to talk.Leafpaw said, "Something is wrong with Lavapaw."Clawpaw mewed back, "I know, but what do we do?"Leafpaw decided, "We need to talk to her."Clawpaw retorted, "She won't tell me."Leafpaw mewed, "I will try, and then you meet me and I'll tell you."Clawpaw asked, "Okay, when? Where?"Leafpaw answered, "Moonhigh. The river."Clawpaw complained, "But I need to sleep!"Leafpaw sighed, "Clawpaw, really?"Clawpaw agreed, "Fine, this is pretty important."Leafpaw smiled, "Good.""Come on," Doveripple mewed, interrupting their conversation."Okay," Leafpaw mewed, bounding out of the camp entrance.Clawpaw followed. They reached the clearing by the river where the battle practice was held."Let's try the double front paw slap down," Icewind suggested.Clawpaw quickly stood on her hind legs, then tilted, falling forward and splashing the water straight at Icewind. Icewind easily dodged, landing neatly without getting wet, except for her paws, but she was standing in water."Great!" Icewind praised. "If that weren't a RiverClan cat they would have gotten soaked. Now the underwater leg sweep," She demonstrated it, crouching under the surface and then sweeping her legs into Clawpaw's unbalancing her and knocking her into the water."Cool!" Clawpaw exclaimed, after regaining her balance.Clawpaw tried it. Crouching she swept her legs at Icewind's, unbalancing her though she quickly regained it.After battle practice Clawpaw was exhausted, but also full of energy, she had been able to knock down Icewind several times, and instead of punishing her, Icewind congratulated her.