8Chapter 7
Cold, unforgiving Ice.
A/N – AVRIL FOREVER – Glad you liked it. And I see you FINALLY got yourself an account.
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So, here's the chapter, sorry it took a while. Darktail makes another appearance in this chapter!
Thunderpaw's p.o.v.
Thunderpaw had just come back from his hunt with Blackpaw, feeling satisfied with his catch as he dropped his two mice on the pile. Blackpaw had come back clutching a wagtail. (type of bird that wags it's tail when it walks, don't you think its name is so cool?) Blackpaw lashed his tail as he saw Sleekpaw hurry through the entrance and into the apprentices' den.
Thunderpaw twitched his ears as he watched his friend react harshly to such a simple thing and blinked.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing." Blackpaw muttered, dropping his prey.
Foxtail padded up to them, waving his tail. "Thunderpaw, I see you're out again. Are you allowed out on a hunting patrol?"
"I think so."
"Great." Foxtail's whiskers twitched as he turned to Blackpaw. "Rippledstripe says you're finished for the day Blackpaw, go make yourself useful and take some fresh-kill to the elders."
Blackpaw dipped his head and ran off. Thunderpaw sullenly followed Foxtail, thinking of Featherwing.
As they reached the entrance the other cats on patrol were already there. Razorclaw was busy licking his paw and drawing it over an ear while a fluffy white apprentice sat with his paws curled underneath him, eyeing Thunderpaw evilly. This must be Icepaw. Thunderpaw thought.
Darktail sauntered up behind them, sitting down and narrowing his eyes.
"Ready to go then?" Foxtail meowed.
Darktail nodded, while the white apprentice stretched and shook his pelt. Oh, Razorclaw must be guarding the entrance.
The cat's bounded out of the tunnel. "Darktail, why don't you hunt with Thunderpaw. I'll hunt with Icepaw." He turned to Icepaw. "We'll be hunting near RiverClan's border." They bounded off, leaving the other two alone.
Darktail ripped the ground angrily with his claws. "Fine." He hissed. "Come, Thunderpaw."
Thunderpaw followed him as they made their way over towards ShadowClan's border.
"What –"
"Don't talk to me."
"But I –"
"Shut it."
Thunderpaw flicked his tail in annoyance. He would show everyone that they were wrong about him. He wasn't just a soft kittypet, and he would make Darktail respect that.
Running off into the foliage he heard Darktail call out.
"Come back here!"
He didn't answer. He was going to catch more prey than anyone ever had before.
"Fine. I hope you die! All my dreams would come true!" Darktail hissed.
Thunderpaw stopped running and looked around him, scenting for anything to catch. Mouse! He thought. It's always a mouse..
Crouching softly, he transferred his weight onto his back haunches, creeping slowly he stalked it.
He pounced! The mouse was killed before it could make a sound. He swept leaves over it and left it there to pick up later. What else can I find? Suddenly a familiar smell hit his senses. Home! No! My home is ThunderClan now. He told himself firmly. I can't go back there… Can I? Is there anything against it in the warrior code? Thunderpaw shook his head, turning away from his Twoleg nest. Soon though, curiosity got the better of him and he jumped onto the fence he was so used to sitting on. He was surprised as he saw two other cats sitting in his garden, so surprised in fact, that he fell off the fence.
He recomposed himself and got back on the fence, going into the garden and approaching the other cats. They turned to face him with large eyes, their fur standing on end.
"You're a forest cat!" The black-furred one breathed.
"An actual forest cat." The other cat meowed. He was a mottled brown tabby with grey eyes.
"Don't repeat me Oliver." The she-cat mewed.
"I'm not repeating you, you're just saying what I want to first! But where are our manners, I'm Oliver –"
"Like you should know if you were listening to me."
Oliver shot her a look. "And this is Puma."
"Glad to meet you." Puma meowed.
Thunderpaw did nothing but blink at them before he found his voice.
"Uh… Hi. I'm Thunderpaw. How long have you been living here?"
"Oh we don't actually." Puma gushed. "I live that way, Olly lives that way." She pointed to various places with her tail.
"And I'm afraid she's a bit hyper right now."
This time Puma glared at Oliver. "Which Clan are you from? Is it nice living in the forest? Are you like one big happy family? You know, with most of you being related?"
"I'm from ThunderClan, it is nice, but we're not a big happy family. My sister seems to fit in but I don't really. We used to live here."
Puma gasped. "That's so awesome!"
"Yeah, I uh, better get going."
"Bye!"
"We'll see you around." meowed Oliver.
Thunderpaw leapt over the fence and found his way back to his catch before he stopped. He could smell a squirrel. He readied himself in a position and waited for it to show. The squirrel was nibbling on a seed, taking no notice of its surroundings. He crept slowly towards it, wriggled his haunches and…. It saw him. It squealed and shot for the nearest tree. Luckily for Thunderpaw, he caught it right at the bottom, before it managed to make its way up. Unearthing the mouse, he turned around to see Foxtail approaching him.
"Just where have you been?" He asked. "You reek of Twoleg place!"
"I was hunting around there."
"And how am I supposed to know you didn't gorge yourself on foul kittypet food."
"I didn't."
Foxtail took a step forward, sniffing him. "Alright, so you didn't eat anything. Faint smell of other cats though. Did you see any?"
"No." Thunderpaw felt bad for lying, but he didn't want to get in trouble.
"Wash yourself thoroughly and come back to camp. The others have been back for ages." He spied the squirrel. "At least you got something good."
-()-
Silverpaw's p.o.v.
Silverpaw padded out of the medicine cat's den, she had just been conversing about Sleekpaw with Mosspaw, although she felt guilty talking about her friend when she wasn't there. She wanted to know if this was a normal reaction.
'Oh, she acts this way whenever someone says something about Arrowstripe, she's awfully protective about him. But don't worry it doesn't take very long for her to get over it.' Mosspaw had said.
So at least it wasn't to last that long.
Suddenly, Silverpaw collided with another furry entity and stumbled, looking up at the cat.
"Watch where you're going will you!" The cat hissed.
Icepaw. Silverpaw thought sourly, He really does have a personality like ice.
"Aren't you even going to say sorry?"
Silverpaw blinked. "It wasn't my fault. You should have been watching as well."
Icepaw curled his lip and snarled. "You're nothing but a soft kittypet, you don't belong here! Run away home little kitty."
Silverpaw started to become angry and drew herself up, fluffing out her pelt. "I'm not a kittypet any longer!" She hissed.
Icepaw scoffed. "Like I'm going to believe that!"
Silverpaw narrowed her eyes, "Oh, you will."
"Oh yeah?" He unsheathed his claws and took a swipe at her muzzle, missing by a fraction as she moved. "Kittypet! Kittypet!" He jeered.
Silverpaw crouched and flew at him with her claws exposed. Jumping over him and attacking from behind, nipping at his back legs.
He yelped and shot forward, twisting around to slash her nose, leaving three diagonal lines on it.
Silverpaw shook her muzzle to get rid of the blood, some of it flying to land on Icepaw's white coat.
He curled his lip once more. "Ew, you got kittypet blood on me! You're going to pay for that."
"I suggest aiming for her back." Came a meow from behind them.
Darktail was watching them, his amber eyes surveying their every move. "Use your weight, the kittypet won't be able to throw you off."
Icepaw nodded, calculating what she would do to defend herself.
"Icepaw! Silverpaw!" Came a deep meow. "What are you doing?" Flamestar strode towards them, his eyes filled with fire. "You do not attack your Clanmates! I trust you were stopping them Darktail?"
"Of course I was, Flamestar." Darktail meowed, a smug look on his face.
Liar! Silverpaw thought, lashing her tail.
"I'm assigning you both to look after the elders. Clean out their moss, search them for ticks and make sure they are well fed. You may not eat until they have." Flamestar instructed, looking grim. "You have brought this upon yourselves." He growled as Icepaw opened his mouth to protest.
Darktail blinked at his leader. "I believe it was Silverpaw's fault this all started. I see no reason to punish my apprentice."
"He fought back, there is no reason he should be let off."
Icepaw flared his nostrils angrily and narrowed his eyes before stalking away.
/\\/\\/\\/\\
Mosspaw twitched her whiskers, looking at the sky; she had a feeling a storm was about to ensue.
A/N – AHH… IT'S A STORM! HELP US! YAY! CHEESE! No. Not really. Anyway FINALLY I got this chapter up! Sorry for the wait! I hope you liked it and as always I'm going to be annoying and say, please R&R!