darkpaw shortstory
i never write about her so here ya gO
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"Darkpaw! Darkpaw! Darkpaw!"
The small dark gray she-cat puffed her chest out, feeling as though she'd explode from excitement. Her mentor, Sprucetail, stood before her with warm eyes.
Darkpaw curled her tail, smiling widely.
"Well, I believe it's time for you to meet the other apprentices. I know you hung around their den as a kit but you should get to know them better." Sprucetail explained in a friendly tone.
"Alright, Sprucetail!" Darkpaw chirped, striding away with her ears perked and her whiskers tingling. Her Clanmates congratulated her as she passed, only fueling her excitement.
Darkpaw soon found the other apprentices, all huddled in a group near their den.
"Hey! Congratulations on finally becoming an apprentice, Darkpaw." The eldest apprentice purred his greeting. Darkpaw nodded, "Thank you."
"I'm Milkpaw." The white tom then gestured to two brown tabbies who looked identical, "That's Brackenpaw and Bramblepaw." After he had introduced them, he angled his tail towards a gray tabby she-cat, "And that's Minnowpaw. Welcome to the Apprentices' Den, Darkpaw!"
"Milkpaw!" The five apprentices turned to see a large, thick-furred black tabby tom hurrying over. "C'mon. The ceremony's over, it's time for training."
"Oh! Alright, Hollystripe." Milkpaw rose to his paws, and as he padded away with his mentor he called back, "Bye, Darkpaw! See you later!"
Darkpaw waved her tail as he departed, then looked back to the other apprentices.
"Speaking of training, I promised to meet Quailnose right after your ceremony. She was pretty upset that I skipped battle training, heh..." Minnowpaw flicked her ear.
With that, Minnowpaw rushed past Darkpaw and out of camp.
"So everyone's pretty busy today, right?" Darkpaw's yellow-green gaze scanned the twin toms in front of her.
"Yeah. But I think everyone's more focused on battle training lately because of the Gathering." Brackenpaw replied.
Darkpaw tilted her head, "What happened at the Gathering?"
"ThunderClan threatened to take the meadow by the stream because their queens just had a lot of kits, and so apparently their running low on prey. But I think it's fox-dung." Bramblepaw explained, tail tip twitching behind him.
"But it's the middle of Greenleaf! How can they be low on prey?" Darkpaw shot back, "Plus, I thought they were the best Clan, always winning fights and receiving prophecies. Why doesn't StarClan grant them more prey?"
Brackenpaw snorted, "Who knows. But you're right, they do think they're the best Clan by the lake. In fact, at that same Gathering, I heard some ThunderClan apprentices boasting about a new queen who joined!"
"They took in another loner?" Darkpaw's eyes widened. She had heard many, many stories of that Clan and their habits of sheltering cats born outside the Clans.
"Yeah, they did. Apparently her new name's Larkflight or something. I don't know why their so proud of having a new queen, anyway, since they were complaining about having too many kits to feed." Brackenpaw's fur prickled along his neck.
"Darkpaw! It's time for you to see the territory." The apprentices turned again to see Sprucetail smiling at them kindly.
"Oh! I'm sorry, but I gotta go. I'll see you later!" Darkpaw excused herself then trotted over to Sprucetail, following him out of camp.
"We'll be heading for Bigrock first. It's near the Twoleg nest." Sprucetail explained as they slipped into the woods. Darkpaw's eyes widened as she stared at her new surroundings.
The pines and firs she had seen from camp looked so much bigger now that she stood beside them, and the ground was littered with pine needles, dotted with thick bramble and thorn bushes. Slices of light cut into the shady forest, making it all the more spectacular.
"Woah..." Darkpaw exhaled, her voice a mere whisper, as if anything louder would bring the entire woodland crashing down.
"Amazing, isn't it? Just wait until you see the lake." Sprucetail chuckled, amusement in his hazel eyes.
The lithe brown tabby led Darkpaw through the maze of tall conifers, until they reached a large boulder sticking from the grass, near a narrow path through the woods that let in more light.
"This is Bigrock. The other apprentices like to dare each other to attract twoleg's attention here then run off, but it's really not advised." Sprucetail grimaced, as though remembering something bad.
The tom continued to give Darkpaw a tour of the land, but near the end was when he began to build up her excitement.
"Are you ready?" Sprucetail questioned, a new light spreading through his eyes. Darkpaw nodded enthusiastically, tail quivering.
"Well, let's go then." Sprucetail grinned as he pushed through a wall of brambles, trotting down a slope. Darkpaw dashed after him, staring wide-eyed at what lay before her.
A huge body of water expanded tree-lengths from the small apprentice, its surface shimmering and dancing in the sunlight. The water lapped at the pebble-covered, sandy ground beneath their paws.
Across the lake was a range of hills, and to the left of Darkpaw was a deciduous forest, and to her right a marsh. Near the marsh was a patch of land floating on the water, covered with pines and oak trees.
Darkpaw took a few minutes to absorb the beauty of this new place, opening her mouth to take in all the new scents as a fresh breeze swirled around her.
"I can't believe I went six whole moons without seeing this place..." Darkpaw breathed out, scanning over it a few more times.
"It's a good spot to come an rest after a long day. Especially in the evening, when it's not too hot." Sprucetail chirped, then added, "Speaking of evening, the sun will be setting soon. We should get back to camp. Your training starts tomorrow."
"Alright, Sprucetail." Darkpaw cast a glance at the sun, low in the sky, before returning to the shadowy woods with her mentor by her side.
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there ya go
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