"Come on," came the mew of her new mentor, Foxtail. When Robinpaw didn't react, the ginger she-cat tapped her with her tail. "Come meet your denmates."
"Oh, right," mewed Robinpaw. "S-sorry."
Foxtail purred. "It's alright. I'm not as strict as your Testees."
Robinpaw purred as well, feeling relieved as Foxtail led her over to a hole in a large pile of rocks. Padding in, she saw twenty or so nests spaced evenly around the den. At the sound of her entrance, three curious faces- golden, white, and tortoiseshell popped up from the moss, turning to face her.
"Everyone, this is Robinpaw, your new denmate," introduced Foxtail, tapping the silver trainee lightly with her tail.
The tortoiseshell dropped her head back unto the moss. "We know," she muttered quite loudly. "We were at her Naming."
The golden she-cat glared at her and hit her with her tail. "Don't be so grumpy," she said to the other trainee. She looked back at Robinpaw. "My name is Swallowpaw, and this grumpy she-cat is Quailpaw. I think she always sleeps with a thorn in her nest."
"Hey, shut it," mewed Quailpaw, lashing her tail and accidentally hitting the white trainee.
"Hey!"
"I'm so sorry."
"Ugh." The last trainee turned to Robinpaw. "My name is Thrushpaw." She glanced at her denmate. "She's not usually this annoying."
Robinpaw shrugged. "It's fine. Not any worse than my sister, so I'm used to--" Robinpaw stopped, the memory of Brownkit's tortured face swimming back up to the front of her memory. And the blood...the blood... Her thoughts spiraled towards the cause of her fear...Tankit, poor Tankit...
"Tankit against Brownkit."
Silverkit ran her tail against her brother's flank as he walked into the arena. This was so exciting!
"FIGHT!"
The two testees rolled toward each other. Swipe, slice. Swipe, leap, roll. Silverkit nearly cheered in excitement. Her brother was going to win! Tankit was about to hit Brownkit in the head, when Brownkit suddenly spun around and sunk her teeth into his neck. Tankit went limp.
Brownkit backed away in horror. "What's wrong with him? What did I do?"
Poppyflower turned to face her. "You killed him, Brownkit. Be more careful next time."
He was dead? How could this be? But all the blood, all the blood, it meant death!
"Hello? Robinpaw? Hey, I love the Sun and Moon, too, but maybe take a break from visiting them and talk to us?" Thrushpaw's worried voice cut through her thoughts.
"Oh, sorry," mewed Robinpaw, embarrassed.
"And she's a mousebrained cat with her head in the clouds as well," whispered Quailpaw to Swallowpaw not too subtly. Swallowpaw proceeded to hit her in the head with her paw, causing Quailpaw to leap up and hiss in outrage. The tortoiseshell trainee leapt at her denmate and they began tussling. Robinpaw stood awkwardly next to Thrushpaw.
After several moments of silence, Thrushpaw suddenly purred. "The mousebrain."
"Who? You?" purred Robinpaw.
"Hey! Of course not. I'm talking about Quailpaw. Attacking a Warrior-- even if they're only a trainee-- is downright...well, mousebrained." She purred again. "We seem to be using that word a lot, don't we?"
Robinpaw purred even harder and opened her muzzle to speak when Swallowpaw's triumphant mew interrupted her. "I win! As usual." The golden she-cat had the tortoiseshell pinned down firmly, and her eyes flashed
"Ugh. Be quiet."
"Well, what did you expect from challenging a Warrior?" asked Swallowpaw smugly.
"A Warrior trainee," shot back Quailpaw. "There's a difference."
Swallowpaw rolled her eyes. "Just because you're a little older than us doesn't make you better than us."
"A little? I'm probably become a full member in a moon!"
"Not with that attitude, you won't."
The trainees turned to see a brown she-cat glaring at Quailpaw. "I was going to let you have the day off, but it seems that some cats can't handle it. Quailpaw, we're going to perfect your bird hunting."
"But, Deerleg-" Quailpaw froze, her mentor's yellow eyes boring into her. "Whatever you say."
Deerleg strode out of the den purposefully, her strides long and confident. She turned around to see Quailpaw trudging slowly behind, her head ducked. "Hurry up, Quailpaw!"
There was a flash of fear in Quailpaw's amber eyes, and she quickly increased her pace, swiftly disappearing from view.
The brief moment of silence that followed her departure was almost immediately broken by an explosion of purring. Thrushpaw and Robinpaw turned to face Swallowpaw, their whiskers beginning to twitch. "What is it, Swallowpaw?"
"Just...just...the expression on her face!" Swallowpaw choked out. "It was terror. Pure terror!"
Thrushpaw began to purr as well. "The bravest cat in the den is definitely the most afraid of her mentor!"
"Bravest?" Swallowpaw whipped around and stared at the white-furred trainee.
"Fine, second bravest."
"Um..." interrupted Robinpaw, glancing out the exit of the den. "Are all the mentors that strict?" Is Foxtail only being nice because it is my first day?
"Of course not!" exclaimed Swallowpaw. "She just needs to be strict with her because Quailpaw won't listen to her otherwise."
Robinpaw let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding.
Thrushpaw shoved her playfully. "Yeah, Foxtail's awesome. She helped me out with my tree hunting once or twice, and she's really nice."
"Oh, good," mewed Robinpaw, her body relaxing. She paused, then glanced outside. It's getting late, she thought, peering around the den. "Where do I sleep?"
Swallowpaw gestured to the right side of the den. "That's where the full members sleep, on the other side of that line. So the dens on this side-" She gestured to the left side. "-are fine."
Robinpaw looked down to see a line freshly drawn in the dirt and turned to the left side. She thought for a moment, then realized she had only been told which nests not to use. "So, which nest can I use?"
Swallowpaw bounded up to hers. "Not this one!" she mewed. She paused, then jabbed her tail at the one next to it. "Not this one either. It's Quailpaw's."
Thrushpaw rolled her eyes. "She doesn't want to know what nests not to use, Swallowpaw." Thrushpaw gestured toward two beds of moss. "Either of those are free."
Robinpaw walked up to one of them and lay down, marveling at its softness. She hadn't slept in moss like this since-- she didn't even know.
She yawned, sitting up in her new nest. "Is Quailpaw always like this?"
"No," mewed Thrushpaw. "Actually, I have no idea why she's acting like this."
Swallowpaw nodded. "She's usually quite nice- unless you insult her."
"Which you never fail to do," pointed out Thrushpaw.
"True," the golden she-cat mewed.
"But she'll probably be nicer in the future?"
"I wouldn't say nicer."
"More like less grumpy!"
"Good," replied Robinpaw, settling back down unto the moss and yawning again. "How late is it now?"
Thrushpaw looked out of the den entrance and turned back to Robinpaw. "I'd say about sundown. Probably time to get to sleep."
As if on cue, a sullen Quailpaw stomped into the den and collapsed unto the soft moss of her bed.
Sleep, thought Robinpaw, letting her eyes begin to close. That sounds good, she thought, letting the moss envelop her in its softness. "It's so soft..."
"Much better than the dry old moss they give you as testees, am I right?" Swallowpaw's soft mew seemed to come from far away, and Robinpaw barely managed a nod before sleep took her in its waiting arms.
Um, just out of curiosity, I have a couple questions I'm curious about your answers for. Why do you think that Quailpaw is grumpy? What do you think about Tankit? Who is your favorite of the new characters?
I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
~Ember