Warriors- Rise of Darkness

Chapter 8

     Hailpaw watched from the apprentice den as Kinktail and Moonheart kept watch silently. This was incredibly difficult for Kinktail and it was going to be quite entertaining to see her keep quiet.

To her brother, on the other hand, this was probably the easiest task he had to do so far. His tail flicked, keeping a dead close eye at the entrance of the camp.

Hailpaw frowned, annoyed with the slight fact of the clan's sudden admiration of the two new warriors. She buried her chin in her paws.

"Moonheart has the heart of a clan leader, I see it," Runningpaw said.

"I know right, it won't be long until he's over Snow clan" Sweetpaw responded.

Hailpaw's fur ruffled. He would be a great leader, if only he cared about other cats other than himself. He was a good fighter and hunter but his selfishness would get in the way. He wasn't that great, well, according to Hailpaw.

"I wonder if he'll get to mentor one of Joyseed's kits" Sweetpaw commented.

"It's a possibility, they'll be apprenticed in two moons" Runningpaw replied.

Hailpaw turned around in her bed, annoyed at hearing any more of this conversation. She had to get some sleep tonight. Mintpool had told her that tomorrow they were going to start working on battle training.

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"Good, Good" Mintpool trotted over to Hailpaw "This time, try to keep your balance as you land."

"This is too hard" Hailpaw growled frustrated.

"You'll get the hang of it. Use your tail to balance if you feel off as you land" he said, "Now try again."

Hailpaw readied herself. She pounced on Mintpool. He dodged her attacked. She motioned her tail, trying to land perfectly on her feet. She hit the forest floor but as soon as her back legs came in contact, she lost balance and stumbled further away from Mintpool. Dust covered her fur and she hissed in frustration again.

Mintpool padded toward her "That was better."

"Mintpool, I'm terrible at this!" She groaned.

"It'll take some practice," he said, "but I promise you, you'll get the hang of it."

She frowned.

"Let's go and do a quick hunt before we head back," he said.

She nodded, watching him take off into the pine forest. She flicked her tail, slowly standing up on her feet. She walked toward the opposite side of where Mintpool was headed.

She wasn't in the hunting mood but maybe she could try, even though it would be incredibly difficult to do so.

Why was she so terrible at fighting and landing? She could land and catch prey easily but when it came to a battle, it made things so much more hard for her.

She became lost in her thought, completely losing sight of where she was going. She tripped over a tree root, sending her falling face forward and rolling down the steep hills of the territory. She slammed into a rock, groaning and sore.

She meowed, struggling to open her eyes. Pain surged through her lower backside. She flinched in pain. Lying there, she felt helpless. She was helpless. Her legs were limp and she couldn't feel any motivation to move them. All she could do was lie there and complain about herself and her lack of battle skills.

But she was only an apprentice, she knew she shouldn't be so hard on herself. But the fact of the matter was that her siblings were better than her, they were more skilled and there was a chance they would receive their warrior names before she would. She wasn't going to let that happen. She wasn't going to be the laughing stock of Snow Clan and the rest of the clans. She was going to fight for her title.