Into the River

Into the River Chapter 20

Clawpaw padded into the apprentice's den to find Leafpaw and Lavapaw snuggled up together. And they call me sleepy. It's already Sunhigh! She decided to try what Leafpaw had done since they were kits, "SUNHIGH!"

Lavapaw and Leafpaw got up slowly, "But where did the rabbit go?" Lavapaw said sleepily.

"And you call me sleepy!" Clawpaw said.

"Hey, neither of us slept last night," Leafpaw said.

"Well, I slept a little, Lavapaw said.

Clawpaw said, "Come on, Raincall is expecting us for a third round of punishments."

"Uhg, I nearly died last night and now Raincall wants to finish the job," Lavapaw groaned.

"Fine, we're coming," Leafpaw said.

As they padded out of camp, they found Raincall waiting for them with an annoyed expression, "You're late. Do you know what happens to apprentices who are late?"

"N-No?" Lavapaw said timidly.

"Get into a hunter's crouch," Raincall ordered. The three of them obediently got into a hunter's crouch. Is she going to make us look for prey again?

Raincall turned her back to them and said, "Leafpaw, pretend my tail is prey. Catch it," Leafpaw began stalking Raincall's tail, but when she pounced Raincall lifted his tail at the last second and Leafpaw smashed her face on the floor. Raincall told Lavapaw and Clawpaw to do the same, also smashing their faces. Next, he ordered them to lick every speck of dust off him.

When they were done, he led them to the thunderpath, walking strangely. Suddenly, Clawpaw stepped on something sharp and yelped with pain.

As she drew her foot back, a small, tiny bug leaped on Clawpaw and wriggled onto her face, "Ewww!" Clawpaw said as the bug fell off to reveal three angry red marks where the bug had bitten Clawpaw. Leafpaw squashed the bug as it tried to get away.

Leafpaw and Lavapaw froze in place as hundreds of the bugs swarmed them. Clawpaw looked around for Raincall, who had conveniently disappeared. Clawpaw made a run for it and ran into Raincall, who told her to go back and get rid of the 'stingbugs'.

Clawpaw, Leafpaw, and Lavapaw spent nearly a whole hour getting bitten and by the time all the bugs were dead, they were covered in angry red sting marks. Raincall came back and made them all hang on different branches. She then set up sticks so if they fell, it would poke into them. After that, she dumped mouse bile and fox dung on them, and it dripped down from Leafpaw to Lavapaw to Clawpaw.

Leafpaw let go of her branch and fell onto the sticks Raincall had set up. Leafpaw yelped as the sticks poked her and scrambled off them, "That's it. I don't care what you do to me now. I'm telling Rainystar."

"I'm with her," Clawpaw said, letting go and wincing as she fell on sticks.

"Me too," Lavapaw said, swinging a bit and landing on Raincall's tail.

Raincall hissed and leaped on Clawpaw, who was closest. Clawpaw unsheathed her claws and Raincall froze. They both knew if they fought, it wouldn't turn out well for Raincall.

"Go on," Clawpaw said, smiling calmly, "I'd like some fur to line my nest."

Raincall backed away and turned towards Lavapaw instead. Lavapaw smiled and jumped into a tree. She effortlessly swung to the next tree, leading Raincall towards the lake. When she leaped onto a branch over the water, she cut the branch and dropped Raincall into the water.

Leafpaw came over and dragged her out of the lake, and dumped her in a pile of mud instead. Then she kicked him into a pile of mud. Leafpaw, Lavapaw, and Clawpaw set off back towards camp, pausing so they could catch a few fish.