Brambleberry's Fury

Chapter 2:

"Sorrypaw, follow me." Brambleberry's deep mew snapped at his apprentice, and the small ginger tom jumped in fright before scuttling after his mentor.

"Sorry!" He yelped before tripping over his own paws. Sorrypaw flipped forward and his chin hit the ground with a hard smash, making him grunt in pain. He lay there in the grass, winded and trying to regain his blurry vision. He blinked multiple times to see large white paws in front of him and hesitantly glanced up to see Brambleberry's stern amber gaze glaring down at him. He winced as he stood up shakily, intimidated by his mentor's harsh stare.

"Don't just stand there. Follow me." Brambleberry growled, turning and padding towards the training area. Sorrypaw hung his head in shame and trudged after the massive dark tabby warrior. As they got to the sandy clearing, Sorrypaw's ears perked up at the sound of a familiar voice nearby.

"Sorrypaw!" He turned around to see Rabbitpaw running over to him with Frogleap traveling behind, his green eyes shining with amusement at his apprentice's energy. "Are you gonna do some battle training?" He asked, his eyes lighting up.

"He is." Brambleberry mewed from behind them, glaring down at Rabbitpaw, who stared back up at him, unfazed.

"Why don't we join you?" Frogleap suggested. "Rabbitpaw needs to start learning fighting moves." Brambleberry glanced down at Sorrypaw and narrowed his eyes thoughtfully before snorting and turning away.

"Alright. Face each other in the middle." He mewed, padding towards the side of the sandy area and sitting down, wrapping his tail around his paws and stared at his apprentice intently. Sorrypaw exchanged a glance with Rabbitpaw before he slowly followed his littermate as the large-eared tom let out a small whoop of excitement and bounded over to take his place on the other side of the sandy area. Sorrypaw took his position across from his brother, his paws slightly slipping in the sand as he tried to shuffle them nervously. The first day he had started training as an apprentice, Brambleberry had begun to teach him fighting moves, telling him that he would learn how to hunt after he had mastered the basics.

"Shouldn't we do a demonstration first? Rabbitpaw doesn't know any moves." Frogleap mewed worriedly, glancing at the larger warrior, who snorted.

"He'll learn as we go."

"Wait, what? But Sorrypaw doesn't know any moves either! We've only been apprentices for ten days!" Rabbitpaw exclaimed, emerald eyes widening in alarm. "How are we supposed to learn if both of us don't know anything?!"

"Sorrypaw has been training fighting techniques since day one, he should have learned something by now." Brambleberry's tone was cold as was his gaze towards his apprentice. Sorrypaw gulped nervously and turned back towards his brother.

"Sorry..." He muttered to his brother, who only gave him a reassuring smile.

"Then I guess we'll teach Rabbitpaw as we go." Frogleap mewed, his voice laced with slight confusion. "Ready?" Sorrypaw crouched and focused on his brother, feeling a bubble of determination rise within his chest at the thought of making his mentor proud. "Begin!" Frogleap called, and Sorrypaw waited for Rabbitpaw to launch himself at him, keeping his hazel eyes trained on his brother. Rabbitpaw charged at his brother and pounced, his sheathed paws flying towards the ginger apprentice. Sorrypaw neatly ducked and rolled out of the way before Rabbitpaw was able to land, losing his pawhold on the sand and slipping over, crashing to his side. Sorrypaw leapt to his paws and winced at the uncomfortable expression his brother had on his face and felt immediate guilt.

"I'm so sorry, Rabbitpaw!" He exclaimed, rushing to help his brother up.

"Sorrypaw!" Brambleberry's sharp, booming voice made the young tom jump, turning his head to look at his mentor with wide, confused and frightened eyes. It was clear from the look on his face that Brambleberry was furious. Sorrypaw felt his heart sink in his chest and his ears drooped as well as his shoulders and tail.