Ashleap's Fall

Lust

Featherstar looks down at the brown ball of fur besides me and her face turns into a sad frown. "That's not yours, is it?"

"No. We found him in the woods. He looks past the age to nurse, but..." I trail off, looking towards the empty nursery.

"We have no queens." Featherstar confirms.

"We can't leave him to starve. Leafbare is cruel, especially up here."

"Tsk." She turns away. "I suppose he can stay with you as long as he doesn't get into any trouble. Prey has been especially good and he's very strong." She lowers herself to lick the kit's head. "Good luck, my friend."

I mutter, "We... I... chose a name for him."

"What is it?" she asks.

"He's Brownkit." I tell her.

"Not terribly creative, Ashleap."

I'm taken aback by the comment. "Come on, Featherstar."

"Only teasing." She exits the den, letting the sun shine on her fur. It's a convenient shade of pale gray, colored just so it's hard to tell if she's aging or not. I admit even I don't know.

Somewhere out there, Pyrewing is barking out commands to the other warriors. I feel pride stir within me. He'll be pleased to hear that Featherstar had no objection to me caring for the kit. Even if we'll never have children of our own... we can be a family.

"Do you hear that, Brownkit?" I ask the kit, whose eyes open to a miraculously beautiful gold as he mews, comforted by my presence. "You're part of DragonClan now. Welcome home."

***

Thistlepaw races up to me and cuts under, swiping my leg. I fall down but get right back up and brace myself for his next attack. I slam down on his back with my forepaws, hoping to pin him, but he slides away. As his fur flies under me, I notice some old cuts on his back.

Oak leaves can be placed on cuts.

The thought throws me off balance just long enough for him to knock me over, pinning me in seconds.

"I'm down, I'm down." I hiss.

Thistlepaw gets up. "Sorry, Rushpaw. Are you okay?"

I struggle around him and lurch onto my paws. "Yeah."

"Goldenpaw, you two can spar next." Hazelwhisker mews. Goldenpaw pads towards me and we begin circling. I try to stay grounded in the moment despite how utterly bored I am, and with a loud hiss she jumps at me.

The first thing I notice is that she has a huge long scar down her side from a fight with some sort of woodland creature. Is she hurting?

That one could be infected. Do you think Tinyblossom has any wild garlic?

Seizing the moment, Goldenpaw slams her paw across my face. I fall back like a wounded bird, my body shaking with pain. Getting up proves to be exceptionally painful and wincing, I realize that there's a thorn buried into my back.

"That'll be enough for now." Scorchclaw says, his eyes wide with shock as to my sudden incompetence. "We should head back."

I turn to pick out the thorn, ignoring the others looking at me with desperate confusion.

"I'll meet you there." I tell them.

The clearing is empty when I finally leave. I return to camp, still disoriented, to find everyone else is already there. Of course I'm late... I must admit it doesn't bother me anymore. It's not like the other apprentices' friendships would make me feel any better during the day. I can struggle through it just fine by myself.