tainted line - chapter six

"And watch this!"

Skypaw pulled back as Whitepaw came a whisker away from rolling over her meal, and she watched boredly as the apprentice continued to attempt the battle move that Mudwhisker had apparently shown her during the day. Skypaw put in a comment every now and again, but it seemed like Brackenpaw was taking the most enjoyment out of watching her attempts as he sat beside her with a sparrow between his paws.

There was no living reminder of what had transpired almost a half-moon ago, and Skypaw was grateful that Whitepaw didn't seem to blame her—or Wrenpaw—for the accident that almost cost the she-cat her life. Still, she couldn't quite blame Wrenpaw for demanding that Bristlefur describe the other types of herbs that could possibly be harmful to a cat. Skypaw let her do whatever she needed to do to have peace of mind. While Wrenpaw couldn't be considered a "serious" cat, she took initiative when needed.

"Okay, okay," Whitepaw breathed when she pulled herself back to her battle stance. "Watch this one!" Biting her lip, Whitepaw ducked and rolled onto her back, springing to her paws straight after. She looked as though she was about to fall over, but she stuck with it and looked quite proud. "Yes, I did it! I've been trying to get that one right for days!"

Skypaw let the younger apprentice have her moment of pride as she observed the camp. It seemed to be moving slow today, which was surprising considering the beautiful weather they had been having the past few days. It was funny to think that they were more productive when the weather was less than ideal. Although, she couldn't really pass judgment, as the three of them were sitting around the fresh-kill pile when they very well could be out training or hunting.

She finished off her mouse and let her eyes travel across the rest of the camp, taking note of every cat who was not on patrol. Embercloud was sharing tongues with Larksplash, which was strange in itself when she considered the queen's reluctance to leave her young kits alone in the nursery for too long. It wasn't any of her business, though. Skypaw didn't know much about kits, but she didn't think they'd cause that much trouble at less than a moon old.

Next she spotted Scarletstream and Scorchpelt sharing a vole by the warriors' den. From the looks of it, they appeared to be pretty comfortable, and Skypaw couldn't help the soft snort that came from imagining the deputy getting close to any tom. Were they even mates? It was hard to tell. She couldn't even picture asking her—she was sure not even a warrior could ask her without getting claws ears as a response. Or even a simple "Mind your own business!"

"Hey, wha—ow!" She was quickly pulled away from her thoughts when she felt a sharp pain shoot through her tail, and she looked behind her to meet the mischievous and slightly guilty gaze of Whitepaw. "What was that for?"

Whitepaw slowly moved back to where she was standing in front of Skypaw. "Brackenpaw wanted to see if you were still breathing," she snickered. Couldn't she just enjoy relaxing in the camp without being poked and prodded?

"Well, then Brackenpaw can see for himself," Skypaw replied, giving a dark look to the brown marbled tom beside her who was now standing. He gave a positively bored response, merely shrugging and turning away. The tiny smirk expressed anything but boredom, however, and Skypaw frowned. A couple of moments of silence passed between the three cats before Skypaw shot up, knocking over Brackenpaw as she threw her body weight on top of him. "How's this for a dead cat?"

"Ah! Get off, you great lump!" the tom said when the she-cat purposely let herself go limp. "Jaggedclaw should tell you to lay off the fresh-kill pile!"

"Only after Duskleap tells you to do the same!" Skypaw responded as she felt Brackenpaw pushing himself up from the ground, finding it easier to do so now that he had gotten his footing. She kept her balance well and held on much like a cat would do when fighting an enemy.

Not a heartbeat after he had spoken she felt his body start to roll to the side—something she was all too familiar with. Quickly, she released her "enemy" and bounced away, gripping the earth with her claws when she landed.

"Not bad!" She turned her head when she heard the comment, and Brackenpaw seemed to take advantage of the distraction and leaped on top of her in the same way she had done to him—only this time, he had the size and weight to keep her pinned down despite her best efforts to push him off.

Skypaw heard a laugh from above her, and since she was now immobilized, her eyes moved upward and found Jaggedclaw staring down at her.

"You know, this was probably the first time I've seen you complete that move," he told her, and she felt a prickle of annoyance that her mentor had announced it aloud. "But after you did, you also made the mistake of leaving yourself open to your enemy."

She could only imagine the proud grin Brackenpaw probably wore as he literally lay right on top of her. "Gotta pay more attention, Skypaw," he teased. She heard Whitepaw let out a soft laugh.

"Thank you, Brackenpaw," Jaggedclaw said, and she had to guess that something in his tone or body language had encouraged the tom to get off of her, and she sat back up to try and rid herself of the embarrassment that she currently felt. Brackenpaw was smiling cheekily at her, and she gave a small, fake smile right back before an annoyed frown took its place once more.

"Since you've obviously learned that lesson, I was thinking that we'd get out to train with some more hunting techniques," Jaggedclaw said, and the thought of actually getting out of camp both excited and disappointed her. Yes, she liked being productive, but she found a lazy day to be enjoyable, too…

Looking over to Whitepaw, Jaggedclaw added, "I believe Mudwhisker is planning to take you out to train in a bit, too, so you might want to ask him about it. In the meantime, Skypaw, we can get going now."

Skypaw was even more reluctant to leave the camp now, but she was kept from doing so—at least for the time being—when everyone turned at the sound of cats entering the camp.

Duskleap appeared first, followed by Hailcry, Snowpaw, and Wrenpaw. From Duskleap's movements, it appeared as though he was on an urgent mission. He walked right past them as headed towards the leader's den, only a few moments later disappearing inside. Noticing the strangeness, Jaggedclaw moved away to speak with Hailcry by the warriors' den. A few moments later the group was joined by Wrenpaw.

"Hey, what did I miss?" Wrenpaw asked, although Skypaw felt like she should have been the one to ask the question. Thankfully Whitepaw brought it up for her.

"What happened? Why is Duskleap going to Silentstar's den?" the white tabby asked.

"We met a WillowClan patrol near the border," Snowpaw cut in, moving to join the group and answering for Wrenpaw. "They weren't trespassing or anything, but didn't seem necessarily happy to see us. They said that they had caught scents of a rogue for the past few days, and that's why they were so close to the border. They thought it might have crossed into our territory," he informed them. After a pause he added, "Wrenpaw said that was a load of foxdung."

"Because it is!" the she-cat retorted, straightening up. "They're hanging around the border for who knows how long, and when our patrol finally catches them, they claim it was because of the scent of a rogue? Just seems like a convenient excuse to me," she snorted.

"Did Duskleap or Hailcry actually recognize the scent themselves?" Skypaw asked.

"They wouldn't let us check," Snowpaw responded before Wrenpaw could continue her rant. "They told us to keep to our own side of the border. I don't trust WillowClan more than anyone else, but I think they were telling the truth. I've even heard Quickbreeze mention catching the scent of a rogue on our own territory. Recently, too."

"They could just be passing through," Whitepaw suggested. "They might not be interested in our prey."

"I still don't think I'd be comfortable with a rogue hanging around our territory," Skypaw said, sinking her claws into the dirt. The thought of unfamiliar cats within their territory made her uneasy. They didn't know them, so whether or not they had good or bad intentions was unknown. "Honestly, I would have tried following a trail if I happened to come across it."

"I said the same!" Wrenpaw exclaimed. "I told Duskleap that we should see if we could find the scent in our own territory to verify their claims, but he wanted to get back as soon as possible to tell Silentstar."

"I would have done that, too," Whitepaw said. "We don't know who this cat—or these cats—are."

"Following the trail could give us an idea of what we were dealing with, though," Skypaw said thoughtfully.

Wrenpaw turned to face her, and Skypaw immediately noticed the glint in her eyes. "I mean, we could go out and try and find it right now."

Skypaw rolled her eyes. "Do you even know where we could pick up the scent? I'm not going into WillowClan territory to find it."

"Of course not, mouse-brain. Quickbreeze told Snowpaw where she found it, didn't she?" she turned her attention to the white tom.

"Yeah, over by the old oak and the overhang. She said it wasn't that far off," Snowpaw said.

"So that settles it, then?" Wrenpaw asked, but it was more of a statement than anything. "Are you guys in?"

Skypaw and Snowpaw exchanged a conflicted look, while Whitepaw kept her gaze firmly planted on the ground, as if in deep thought. Finally, the youngest apprentice nodded. "Okay, if it'll help the Clan, I'll go."

"Excellent," Wrenpaw grinned. Skypaw felt the she-cat look at her and her brother once more, and under the pressure, she really had no choice but to agree.

"Okay, fine," she sighed, and Snowpaw gave a simple nod.

The whole group went quiet when they heard pawsteps approaching, and Skypaw acknowledged her mentor when he stopped in front of them. "There was only a slight problem with a rogue, but it sounds like WillowClan's problem, so we're still good to train," he said.

Mouse-dung! I forgot about that, Skypaw thought gruffly, but eventually nodded. "Okay, Jaggedclaw."

Satisfied, the black tom started towards the exit, trusting that Skypaw would follow. She took a few steps to do so, but quickly muttered to the four other apprentices, "I'll get out of it and catch up with you guys as soon as possible. Just head over to the place we agreed on." Without bothering to listen to their confirmation, Skypaw scampered after Jaggedclaw, brainstorming different ways that she could sneak away without causing suspicion.

"You obviously know the basics around hunting, but I wanted to take a different approach today to test your strategy skills as well as your patience. When you want to learn to catch more difficult prey, you have to learn…"

Skypaw didn't put much of her attention towards listening to Jaggedclaw's instructions as she probably should have since her mind was already focused on task of finding her friends and carrying out their plan as they had explained it. Half of her was listening to her mentor's words and the other, stronger half was trying to figure out a good excuse to get out of training. Or at least, away from Jaggedclaw without letting him know what they were doing.

She was so caught up in her own thoughts that she only caught the last part of what he was saying: "…and that's why we'll be hunting badgers."

"Huh?" Her mind drew a blank for a few moments before what he had just said finally registered with her. "What?"

"I knew you weren't listening." His tone was somewhat humorous, but she knew that if she continued on like this, Jaggedclaw wouldn't take it as a joke any longer. "Try and keep up with me, Skypaw. All this daydreaming isn't going to help you. We'll still be working on your techniques by the time Brackenpaw and Wrenpaw get their warrior assessment." He continued to walk and talk at the same time, and Skypaw slipped back into her thoughts.

The mere notion that the two apprentices could become warriors before her didn't really catch her interest like his last word did, and she stopped to think about it for a few moments. Assessment…

An idea was suddenly planted in her mind, and as she let it roll around in her head, she found out how she could go about her original plan of meeting with her friends. She just hoped she could make things up as she went.

"Wait, Jaggedclaw," she called ahead, and winced as she noticed she had just cut him off from whatever he was saying—he had apparently just realized she hadn't been listening again. Still, he nodded to her as encouragement to continue. "There was something I've been thinking about. My warrior assessment is obviously moons away, but I wanted to test my speed in hunting. Like, I see how fast I can pick up so many pieces of prey and come back to a designated place."

Jaggedclaw tipped his head, as if considering it, and then replied, "Do you mean to have me watch you from a distance as you hunt to test your abilities?"

"No, not that," Skypaw said quickly. Having someone watch them was the last thing she—and the apprentices—wanted. She desperately sought a way to explain it in the way she was thinking. "More like, you tell me to catch two mice and one squirrel, and I go hunt and bring them back here. You can see how long it takes me, then maybe we can try it again tomorrow and compare the time…"

She had to give herself credit for being able to come up with a logical explanation despite only thinking of the idea moments before. That was a skill really only Wrenpaw possessed. She noted with distaste what she could imagine Wrenpaw saying when she found out: "You're becoming more like me every day. I love it!"

Meanwhile, Jaggedclaw looked like he was seriously considering it, and Skypaw hoped that her idea hadn't come across as strange since she didn't often suggest training activities outside of what they usual did. She bit her lip as she watched him, and finally smiled with relief when he said, "Okay, we can try it."

Trying to play it cool, as though it had been her plan from the very beginning, she nodded smoothly, "So, what do you want to have me find first?"

Jaggedclaw took another moment before answering, "I want you to find one mouse and one squirrel. Nothing around the area around us, though. Go past the training hollow." Thankfully, the meeting place was already passed that point, and she sent thanks to StarClan for her luck. "When you have completed your task, come back here and I will see how you did."

Without needing any further instructed, Skypaw shot off, her paws saying "hunt" but her mind saying "track."

She swerved through the trees, paying no mind to the scuffling of mice among the brush as she kept her eyes firmly planted in front of her. As soon as she started to pick up the scents of Snowpaw and Wrenpaw another, stronger and unfamiliar scent hit her. She felt anxious that she couldn't put a name to it, and looked around as if she might find the source.

The one thing that stopped her was the body that she slammed straight into. She at first thought it might be a rogue cat, therefore explaining the scent, but from the paw that pushed her down, forcing her to stay quiet, she immediately recognized Wrenpaw.

"There's someone over there," the she-cat whispered, tail pointing over the small hedge that they hid behind.

"What did you find, Wrenpaw?" she heard Whitepaw ask quietly as she approached them, and Wrenpaw settled her with a glare that told her they had to be close to silent as to not get caught.

"It's a cat. I don't know who, though," she said.

"Are you sure it's not Snowpaw or Brackenpaw?" Skypaw suggested.

"I think I'd recognize our denmates," Wrenpaw retorted. "Brackenpaw makes as much noise as a badger and you can see Snowpaw's fur all the way from camp. No, this cat wasn't anyone I know." The she-cat peeked over the hedge once more, and ducked quickly to make sure she wasn't seen. "He's red. He's dark red. Or at least… I think it's a he. Doesn't matter." She shook her head. "He's just stalking… something. I don't think he's hunting, though. If he was, then he would have scared off everything from here to RavenClan's territory."

Skypaw scooted forward, and when Wrenpaw made some room, she confirmed what her friend had told her and also caught sight of the unknown cat. At first, she thought it was actually Mudwhisker or Duskleap, but this tom was more solid and his color darker and more red.

Whitepaw joined her in her observation, and not long after Wrenpaw did the same. Since it appeared that the cat hadn't noticed them only fox-lengths away, they grew comfortable enough to watch without worry of him spotting them. He continued to move slowly through the undergrowth, and Skypaw had to make a similar judgment to Wrenpaw when she said that he didn't appear to be hunting. They had only been training for a few moons—Whitepaw even less—but they know enough to say that he truly couldn't wish to catch anything with how he moved and how loud he was.

A low growl took them off guard, and the three apprentices ducked under when they thought their cover could possibly have been blown. But after the initial fright passed, they realized that the cat hadn't even caught sight of them, and that the growl hadn't belonged to him.

Skypaw brought her head up again, and watched in shock as two cats—the other half of the group she had been looking for—charged at the stranger, hissing threats and kicking up the dirt with their claws as they ran.

The outsider was obviously outnumbered, and even more so when Skypaw, Whitepaw, and Wrenpaw started to run after them as well. The tom didn't seem to want a fight, as he ran instead of facing them. Though, Skypaw figured that it seemed to be the most logical strategy when you had five cats on your tail.

"Get off of our territory!" she heard Brackenpaw yowl, and she began to feel a similar fury fill her mind. What right did they have to be on their territory?

Her and Whitepaw—the fastest of the group—were almost close enough to take a bite out of the tom's back leg, but neither her nor the tabby noticed the two other scents that suddenly came upon them, and only too late did they realize that their trip had turned into more than just fighting off a rogue.

Pain seared through her shoulder as she felt another cat slam into her, and in turn, Whitepaw as well. The two skidded across the dirt and lifted themselves up quickly enough, although they were still quite winded from the initial attack. She heard loud screeching coming from the other side, where Brackenpaw and Snowpaw were now tussling with another cat—a tall, gray tabby who looked seasons more experienced than the young tom they had been chasing initially.

Skypaw's eyes flicked back to her own opponent and narrowly avoided getting skinned when the she-cat leaped at her, claws extended, intent on causing damage to the cat on the other end. She was all too aware that Whitepaw hadn't gotten nearly as much battle training as the rest of them had, so she tried her hardest to keep the cat's attention on her. Circling the tabby, Skypaw suddenly shot at her, teeth sinking into her neck fur.

She heard the cat screech and had already kicked away from her before she could follow up with a counter-attack, wincing at the pressure she put on her sore shoulder. While the fawn she-cat appeared to be nimble and light on her paws, she didn't seem to be able to keep up with Skypaw's quicker attacks, giving the younger she-cat the impression that this cat wasn't used to fighting with speed, but rather strength.

"Foxdung!" Her attention wavered as she heard Brackenpaw, and even the she-cat's focus was divided when she, too, looked over at the marbled tom. He had shuffled away from the fight, nursing a fresh would that stretched from the tom of his shoulder down his side. It didn't look very deep, but Skypaw winced at she imagined how much it must sting.

"This is our territory!" Wrenpaw shouted, and Snowpaw and Whitepaw joined her as they approached the two toms, their fur bristling and their claws itching to fight once more.

Skypaw looked at the she-cat she had tussled with, and had to assume she was the leader of the group when she said, "Axel, Kodi, come on."

From the way she had said it, without anything added onto it like, "It isn't worth it" or "We're outnumbered," Skypaw guessed—with surprise—that the rogues didn't seemed to have intended to be here in the first place. Or, at least, the tabby tom and she-cat hadn't. Maybe it was a case of being around at the time their friend had needed them.

Skypaw ignored the sharp glare that the she-cat gave her as she moved past her and joined her two companions. The silver and white tabby couldn't help the satisfaction that came over her when she saw the stream of blood coming from the side of the she-cat's neck; it was not by any means a killing-bite, but only one that would serve as a warning that Clan cats would never readily welcome outsiders into their territory.

When they had finally left, Snowpaw followed a short distance behind and confirmed when he had returned that he saw them heading into unclaimed territory. Now that the fight had passed, they were all starting to feel their wounds; especially Brackenpaw, who was breathing heavily. At first Skypaw thought he had received an even worse injury, which sent a wave of fear through her, but as she watched she found that the harsh breaths were due to the tom's frustration and anger tied with the pain of his wound.

"Those flea-bags should have gotten a whole lot worse than we gave them," he said through gritted teeth, and Snowpaw moved to help him stand. Skypaw had to agree, and once again felt that it was strange that the three cats had left so quickly. Besides the she-cat she had personally fought, she didn't notice any wounds on the other two cats that were more severe than scratches. Maybe they were just trying to avoid any further harm.

Skypaw guessed that they should have been grateful that rogues had left at the time they, because if they truly wanted to, she imagined that they could have inflicted some serious damage onto her and her friends. Only now did she think of the wounds they had to display to their Clanmates, and how much trouble they would be in when they found out what they had done to receive them.