Warriors: Skytail's Reckoning (COMPLETED)

Chapter 10

"Sparkpaw! Cloverpaw! Brownpaw!" Cheered Skypaw as she looked at the three new apprentices. Sparkpaw was beaming at Skypaw as her littermates took in the cheering.

"We're going to have to have the tunneling apprentices expand the den." Bluepaw mewed in Skypaw's ear, making it twitch in amusement. "It's getting too crowded for my liking!"

Skypaw had to agree. Despite the cold leafbare, she felt warm that Sparkpaw was an apprentice with her. "Marshpaw and Juniperpaw will have a fun time with that," she replied with a glance over at her brothers.

Juniperpaw was sitting beside Slatepaw, and Marshpaw was chatting with Woolpaw and Fawnpaw, his eyes bright as he boasted about chasing a rabbit into the claws of Thrushleaf.

"It was huge!" Boasted the white apprentice as he used his paws to exaggerate the rabbit's size. "Twice the size of a new apprentice, and faster than any of us! But I managed to flush it to Thrushleaf's claws and we caught it."

"Wow," breathed Fawnpaw as she pressed against Marshpaw, her eyes glowing with excitement and awe. "You're such a good hunter, Marshpaw. We should go hunting sometime."

Skypaw scoffed to herself and muttered in Bluepaw's ear. "She's mooning over him like a fox would to a piece of prey." She remarked.

Bluepaw snickered. "Yeah, when will they have kits?" As the pair of them laughed, Sparkpaw trotted up, her eyes bright and tails waving.

"I'm an apprentice now, Skypaw!" Sparkpaw declared as she halted in front of the older apprentices. "We can train together now!"

"Yeah," Skypaw mewed and touched noses with the tabby she-cat. "Wait until you have to pull ticks from the elders," she teased. "You'll wish you still were a kit."

Sparkpaw rolled her eyes and waved her tail. "I'm just glad that I'm an apprentice finally." She looked between Bluepaw and Skypaw. "When will you two become warriors?"

Bluepaw's eyes flashed with irritation and she sniffed. "A new apprentice shouldn't be worrying about older apprentice's business," she retorted hotly as she lashed her tail. "You should be joining your mentor for the tour around the territory, Sparkpaw."

Sparkpaw's eyes flashed and she glared at Bluepaw. "Keep your fur on, Bluepaw." She snapped and looked back at Skypaw, her eyes softening. "See you later, Skypaw." With a final toxic glare at Bluepaw, she spun around and stalked toward Lakespots.

When she left, Skypaw turned to Bluepaw, her eyes wide. "Why were you so hostile towards her?" She asked, her voice stunned. "She was just asking a question."

Bluepaw turned on her, her eyes flashing. "New apprentices should worry about themselves and their training," she growled. "Sparkpaw shouldn't poke her nose where it doesn't belong." With a snort of anger, she spun around and stalked away.

Skypaw watched in confused silence as her friend padded to join Fernpaw, who had recovered from his small cold and was now talking with Hawkpool. The queen was back in the nursery, suckling her second litter of two toms, Sapkit and Saplingkit. Both littermates were born a few days ago and were barely old enough to leave the safety of the nursery.

Wolfleaf had his tail curled protectively around his mate while Hawkpool's tail curled around their youngest kits. Their eyes shone with love and pride as they talked with Fernpaw.

"Hey, Skypaw," mewed the voice of Wisppaw as she padded up to touch noses with the she-cat. Skypaw murmured a greeting, pelt still prickling as she thought of Bluepaw's hostility to Sparkpaw. "Want to go hunting? Myrtlepaw, Greenpaw, Pigeonpaw, and Parsleypaw were going to go and I thought you'd want to as well."