above: rushingpaw

chapter 1

 . . .

"Rushingpaw."

I snapped out of my thoughts and blinked up at my mentor. "Yes, Applespring?" I asked, no idea what she just said.

"Did you hear the question?" Applespring sounded weary and bored.

I scrunched up my nose. "No.."

Applespring sighed dramatically, her chest heaving. Her russet fur gleamed in the leaf-fall light as she moved onto the next apprentice in line, Frostpaw.

I blushed.

His long, feathery pelt, blue and white and grey, sparkled under my gaze. His clear green eyes when held by mine shone like emeralds and the trees that covered my territory.

"Frostpaw, can you answer the question?"

His gaze darted first towards his mentor, Ashenbark, then held mine, and then flickered back to Applespring.

"Well, if you stick to climbing the bark, there's less chance that the prey will be alerted of your presence.."

I zoned out again. The way he moved, the way he talked, the way he laughed - and the way he thought of me like his best friend's brother. I frowned. I didn't even know if he was into toms, and here I was, daydreaming about him.

"Rushingpaw!"

I shook out my fur and looked up. Annoyance was shining in Applespring's eyes, and the rest of the apprentices were looking at me curiously.

"If you can't concentrate on training, then you might as well go back to camp! Deal with the elders' ticks, then clear out the old nursery bedding."

"By myself?!" That was a huge task!

"Yes, by yourself. After all, you have the rest of the day."

I hissed under my breath and took a step forward. My head and tail hung low as I felt the apprentices' gaze on me. Willowpaw, the small apprentice that had a crush on me and who was also Frostpaw's sister, Bristlepaw, the she-cat that was the bully of the group, Morningpaw, Bristlepaw's sister, Beetlepaw, their brother, Frostpaw, and my own brother, Stormypaw. Yes, the one that was best friends with Frostpaw.

I walked past them and flattened my ears as Applespring continued with the training session.

Multi-colored fallen leaves crunched under my paws as I walked angrily into camp. The guard that was on watch, Ripplefrost, dipped his head to me as I walked past, but I paid no attention.

Might as well get started with the job so that I have free time later, I thought reluctantly, stepping into the medicine den.

"Rushingpaw, what are you doing back here so early?" Riverberry greeted me with the usual stern attitude.

"I got sent back for tick duty.." I mumbled under my breath, tail flicking back and forth as I showed my resentment.

Riverberry twitched her tail. "Alright then." Her grey pelt disappeared momentarily, then she came out again with wet moss. "Here. You know the drill."

I took it with a lash of my tail. How dare she point out the fact that I have been doing so much tick duty?

Alas, she moved away before I could say anything, so I took a deep breath to calm myself and strode into the elders' den. I squeezed through the crack and into the dim space.

"Rushingpaw, greetings!" Duskwater, my mother's mother, stretched, greeting me with a small purr. Her mate, Brambleheart, rolled over on his side sleepily. "Just in time, I have a tick that needs to be taken care of."

The most grumpy elder, Seedfur, said nothing.

I began to sniff at Duskwater's side, looking for ticks. I found one, and dabbing some mouse bile on it, crunched it in between my teeth. After scouring her entire pelt, ai found two more, and drew back. "You're good," I said unemotionally. I repeated the process for Brambleheart, finding two ticks. I carefully moved on to Seedfur, taking a more gentle approach.

"Hurry up!" the old cat barked. "I have one on my left forepaw!"

I bent down to inspect her leg.

"Your other left."

Blushing, I quickly grabbed the other leg and took the tick out. "Um...that's it. Uh..see you later."

I was gone like the wind. Breathing in the cool air was quite different from feeling the stuffy den air in my nose glands.

"Rushingpaw!"

I turned around, exasperated. "Whaaat?"

My mother, Mousefoot, looked unimpressed with my tone. "Watch your voice, young cat. Now, Applespring tells me you have not been paying attention in training, care to explain yourself?"

I flicked my tail. "Stuff's been on my mind." It was true.

Mousefoot's ear twitched, I could tell she didn't believe me. "Fine then. Go do whatever you need to do."

My whiskers twitched as I padded towards the nursery. Kits always made me feel better, maybe being around them while I did my chores could calm me down. A dusky aroma greeted me as I ducked in. "Greetings, Pinewhisker," I told the queen, looking around for bedding that I would need to replace. The russet she-cat's kits climbed all over me in their ways of greeting me.

"Hello, Otterkit, Beekit, Nightkit," I told them as they raced each other in climbing up my fur.

"Kits, get off him!" Pinewhisker said sternly. "If you'd like, I'm allowing you to go out of the nursery and play outside of camp while Rushingpaw cleans the nursery."

I huffed. How did she know I was going to clean the nursery?

Ignoring my thoughts, my paws set to work, taking old nests out of the den and replacing them with new ones. When I was done it was already dusk and cats were sitting down to have their evening meal.

My stomach grumbled. Other than having a small vole in the morning, I had not eaten. I washed my paws in the brook running along our camp and then grabbed a sparrow from the fresh-kill pile. I settled down in the apprentice section of the camp with the prey. While I was eating, Bristlepaw approached me. She, older than me by a moon, was bigger than me and liked to push me around.

"Hey, mouse-brain," she mewed cooly, flicking her tail.

"What is it? Come to bully me about the fact that I didn't pass today's training?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say that," Bristlepaw narrowed her blue eyes. "You're only good enough to do the nastiest jobs."

I shook my head angrily, my ears flattening to my head. "I'll be glad when you're one of the Missing," I grumbled under my breath.

Bristlepaw whirled around from where she had begun to walk away. "What did you say?!"

I raised my head, meeting her blue orbs with my amber ones. "I said," I spoke slowly, "that I'll be glad when you're one of the Missing."

Bristlepaw's eyes flashed, and before I knew it, she lost her temper. Claws flashed in the sunlight as the tabby threw herself at me. I was knocked over in a heartbeat. But I had the advantage of being smaller, and lashing at her belly with my sheathed paws, - I wasn't enough of a jerk to stoop down to her level - I squirmed out of her grip. Bristlepaw hissed, her blue eyes filled with rage.

A discreet glance behind me told me that Morningpaw, Bristlepaw's sister, was watching our fight a rabbit length behind us.

Bristlepaw launched herself at me, but I was ready. I slipped under her belly, twisting around, and headbutted the bully into her sister.

Morningpaw snarled at Bristlepaw, who had cannoned into her with claws unsheathed, and cuffed her over the head.

Warriors ran over. "What is going on?!" Cloudedmoon snarled, her dappled pelt bristling.

Morningpaw and Bristlepaw broke apart. "Rushingpaw started it!" They cried at the same time.

"That's not true!" I said furiously, but as usual, no one believed me.

The Missing is a long story. To tell it short, a secret group of cats were working against RiverClan and stealing one cat at a time. While once full to the brim with warriors, kits, and apprentices, now there weren't many cats left. Bristlepaw only got so upset because both her parents were now Missing.

I huffed, my tail sweeping the ground back and forth as Lightstar glared at me.

"You attacked a Clanmate, is this right?"

"I didn't start it, I swear, Bristlepaw has been bullying me for moons!"

Lightstar stared at me for a while longer, her eyes boring into me as she waited for me to continue.

"She attacked me with unsheathed claws, while I defended myself with sheathed claws!"

"But you insulted her."

"Well, I didn't think she would hear!"

Lightstar's eyes were narrowed as she summed up an appropriate punishment. "Both of you will have tick duty for a moon."

"Together!?" I gasped, fur beginning to bristle.

"Yes."

I bit back the urge to yowl and instead nodded tightly. A moon spending time with Bristlepaw?!

Lightstar flicked her long, slim tail. "You may leave now."

I nodded and left to go tell Bristlepaw the unfortunate news.

----------------

Applespring flicked her tail at Frostpaw, then me. "Rushingpaw and Frostpaw for the second pair."

I gulped. Battle training with him? I don't know about this...

Applespring nodded towards Bristlepaw. "You can work with Morningpaw. Willowpaw and Beetlepaw, you are a pair. Stormypaw...."

I ruffled my fur haughty as we realized Stormypaw had no one to work with.

"..with me."

I smirked. Finally, my show-off brother is getting beaten.

"Start!"

The abrupt command came from Voletail, Stormypaw's mentor.

I jumped a little and turned to Frostpaw. The glossy-furred tom was already in a smooth crouch, his tail rippling behind me. I flattened my ears to block out the shrieks of other pairs and focused on my goal.

To be the best warrior and Frostpaw's mate.

Although this would violate one of my goals, I decided to go for it. Making sure my claws were sheathed, I looked at his paws and jumped at his shoulders. Frostpaw dropped down and started to roll over. Now, I was not the nimblest apprentice, and my paw got stuck as I was scrambling out of the way. Eyes sparkling, Frostpaw eyed my paw before lunging at me. I tugged my foot out from under him and reared up, batting at his head with clumsy strikes. Frostpaw shook his head to clear it and he leaped at my belly, canooning me to the ground. He pinned me down and stared down at me.

I didn't move.

It was like a fairytale. He was on top of me, our gazes meeting.

"Good!" Voletail barked, and the sereneic moment vanished as Frostpaw obediently stepped back.

I got up, holding my head low to hide my burning ears, and shook out my fur.

I zoned out again as Voletail launched into a lecture, and this time, I didn't get caught. Serves them right.

that's the first chapter! i hope you liked it. what do you think about the characters? is frostxrushing a no go or a ship? why do you think bristlepaw bullies him? anyway, see you in the next chapter, and make sure to leave votes and comments ;D