The Apprentice:

WFW's Double Agent The Apprentice Season One, Episode 2 Enjoy!

Shall we continue with the story of Snowfeather, little one?

The Promise
“ What’s this?” I turn around and see a massive golden-brown tom stalking towards me. I gulp. The ShadowClan camp is massive. Set in a marshy valley, the territory crosses nearby hills and ends right at the Moor River. ''What were they doing there? I’ve got to figure that out. ''The entrance is made out of mean-looking thorn bushes. I think longingly of the sound of heather swishing across my back as I bound down into the WindClan camp. The ShadowClan nursery is hidden in thistles, and the warriors den is stationed directly in front of the entrance. I see Mallowpaw bound over to join three young cats under a holly bush, and I assume that is the apprentices’ den. So far, no sign of elders or a leader, until now. Blackfeather and Frozenwhisker dip their head to the mighty tom. He glares at me. “ Who’s this?” While Blackfeather and Frozenwhisker explain, I gaze around camp. I stiffen. Four toms are watching me, crouching in the shadows next to the warriors den. They narrow their eyes. I know their kind, I think to myself. ''The ‘tough cats’. Not so tough when they come mewling to a medicine cat to have a burr taken out of their fur! ''

“ Cat!” I whip around as Blackfeather pokes me. “ Hollowstar asked for your name.”

“ I think its best we do not use my WindClan name, “ I say, thinking fast.

“ What name would you like?” Hollowstar rumbles.

“Rain. Rain something,” I blurt. In my mind, I thought of snow falling onto a mallow plantation, then heard the rumble of a storm coming soon.

“ Very well, then. I suppose you can stay,” he growls. “ Let me introduce you to the Clan.”

“I’d rather not,” I say, shuffling my paws nervously. He shoots me a glare out of cold green eyes.

“ You’d rather not? Arrogant she-cat, you are now in my Clan. You will do as I say,” he snarls. I duck my head, feeling a bit embarrassed, but still seething. “ Now leave,” Hollowstar commands. Blackfeather and Frozenwhisker exit, but I linger behind.

“ H-Hollowstar?” I say softly. He turn around, snorting in annoyance.

“ What?”

“ I-I want to ask you something.” I play over my excuse in my head. “ I love plants, but I never trained as a medicine cat. Do I have your permission to go look for herbs every moon for a moon at a time?” I stutter lamely. Hollowstar scowls, and suddenly I feel terrified. ''What mess am I in? If he think I’m lying…''

“ Very well,” Hollowstar grunts and I nearly faint in relief. ''He really must be hollow to fall for an excuse like that. ''“ You can. Meet me here for your ceremony.”

''I can still go home to WindClan. All I’ve got to do is think up an excuse for my Clan as well. ''Suddenly, I feel guilty. How could I even think of lying to my Clan? ''But they can’t know. They’ll distrust me, and this wonderful opportunity to spy will be lost. ''

Hollowstar has named me ‘Rainpaw’, and given me Blackfeather as a mentor. At loss for what do to, I crouch beside a long leaf, half-heartedly poking at a frog. ''I’m hungry, but there’s no way I’m eating this. ''The mere though of sinking my teeth into the slimy skin makes me shudder.

“ Hey, you,” a rough voice growls. I turn around, but the cat isn’t addressing me. He’s talking to the four apprentices tussling on the soft grass. ''The mean cats! ''All four are standing with their fur fluffed up to make them look bigger. The leader ( or who I presume to be leader) is grey with green eyes. He pokes a claw at Mallowpaw, and the apprentice shrinks back. “ Give us that prey.” Mallowpaw scoots away as the tom reaches down and plucks the half-eaten lizard from between his claws. “ You two as well.” the two apprentices nervously hand over theirs, but one- a silver tabby- stands up on shaky legs.

“ Stop it, you greedy-guts!” she squeaks. The tom growls and swipes at her face, landing a stinging blow on her ear. She whimpers. The tom flicks his right ear. A brown-and-white tom slinks forwards and suddenly rams his head into the silver cat’s side. She falls, shrieking in pain. Rage begins to build up inside of me. I shoot across the grass and stand in front of the apprentices, then look the grey tom in the eye.

“ Hello. My name is Rainpaw. Among my chief dislikes are mouse bile, daffodils, squirrel meat, and especially,” I curl my lip “ bullies. Now back off!” I swipe at his face. Dumbfounded, he stands still. The blow lands on his ear and I feel satisfied. He quickly recovers and sneers.

“ Hello rabbit-blood.”

“Rabbit-blood!” I launch myself at his face and bowl him over. ''No one insults WindClan! Or me! Or WindClan! ''The tom yowls and swiped at my face, but I duck and slam my hind legs into his belly. He groans.

“ Nice one Reedflame,” one of his cats jeer. The rest of them purr and Reedflame scowls.

“ Beaten by a she-cat,” a black-and-white taunts. Reedflame scrambles to his paws and thrusts his muzzle close to mine.

“ This isn’t over, rabbit-blood,” he hisses. A growl rumbles deep in my throat.

“Glad to hear it.” I spit at his feet. Reedflame scowls and marches away, his three thugs following behind.

“ Thank you so much!” the silver tabby exclaims, eyes bright. “ He’s been bullying us for too long! My name is Silverpaw.”

“ You already know me,” Mallowpaw says.

“ I’m Dawnpaw!”

“ And I’m Lilypaw!”  I purr as the apprentices surround me, chattering at the top of their voices.

“ Good job,” a warm voice from behind me says. Frozenwhisker’s whiskers are twitching.

“ Thank you?” I didn’t expect praise from the deputy. Frozenwhisker purrs.

“ You’re welcome. How would you like to do night-stalking tonight with the warriors?”

“ Sure!” I say, though privately thinking I’ll stand out like a sore paw. Frozenwhisker purrs, then pads away.

“ Might want to get some rest,” he calls. I look to the yew bush and slowly pad inside. It smells like lavender. Four nests are pushes together at the side, and I find a larger on in the middle.

“ We made you a nest,” Dawnpaw says, amber eyes wide.

“ Thanks,” I nod to the ginger she-cat and settle down. All of a sudden, I realize how tired I am. My eyelids close, and I drift off into sleep.

Something pokes me in the shoulder. I groan, but it pokes again, this time sharper. I wearily lift  my eyes and spot a cream-and-white head illuminated in the  moonlight. ''Frozenwhisker? StarClan, is it time for night-stalking already? ''I lift my head and Frozenwhisker nudges me to get up. “ Come on. We’ve got to go.” he whispers. I stagger to my feet, vision still fuzzy from my nap. Frozenwhisker ducks outside of the bush and pads into the moonlit clearing. I follow him and gasp. The camp is whitewashed, seeming to sparkle and shimmer. It almost looks beautiful. Suddenly, a familiar scent hits my nostrils. I turn around and spot Reedflame glaring at me, eyes narrowed to tiny slits.

“ I’ll be watching, rabbit-blood,” he snarls, then melts into the shadows. My sight clears and energy pulses through my blood. ''No way am I going to be beaten by a stinkface like him! ''I trot out onto the dewy grass to stand beside Frozenwhisker. A chilly night breeze whistles through the pines and I shudder.

“ You’ll get used to it,” a new voice says. Blackfeather joins me. “ Our first training session.”

“ Yeah,” I say, finding her gaze cold. ''She doesn’t trust me. ''Frozenwhisker’s are warm, like a mouthful of honey after swallowing bitter herbs.

“ Is this everyone?” he raises his voice and scans the nearby cats. There is Reedflame, Blackfeather, me, the brown-and-white, a black-and-white and a light brown tabby tom. ''Reedflame’s goons. ''I curl my lip in a snarl. “ Let’s go!” Frozenwhisker hisses, then slink through the entrance. I join them, paws itching to run. The patrol isn’t running. They are striding slowly and warily, sticking to the shadows. ''What is this? ''Frustrated, I fall in behind them. The plants are thick and dark here, making every hair on my pelt prick. ''Who knows what hides in these shadows? ''But the warriors don’t seem fazed. ''And I’m not going to act like a kit in front of Reedflame. ''I hold my head high and copy the other cats. They kept their strides short and put every paw down with care. The grass hardly moves beneath their feet. It makes me look like a stomping badger. Frozenwhisker comes to a halt.

“We’re going to split into two teams. Reedflame, Drizzlefall, Darkpelt and Badgerstripe, you be one group. The rest of us are one,” he says. “ The point of the game is to capture one teams member and force them to surrender.” Reedflame’s eyes gleam as he passes me and I gulp. An owl hoots nearby and I nearly leap out of my skin. Blackfeather and the other begin to pad forwards, so I follow them. Every step is dangerous to me. Night has set in, and I can hardly see the outline of Blackfeather ahead of me. I am careful not to be left behind, for I fear that Reedflame will wait to get me alone, then ambush. Suddenly, I halt in my tracks. ''That’s it! ''

“ Wait up!” I whisper and dash to Blackfeather’s side. “ I know how to win the game. Reedflame hates me because I humiliated him. I’d bet a moon of dawn patrols that he’s waiting to ambush me alone. Leave me alone, and he’ll come out. Then you can come back and fight them off,” I say.

“ Sure,” Blackfeather snorts. “ I don’t think that’d work.”

“ Hold on, Blackfeather. She’s right,” Frozenwhisker replies. “ It’s worth a try.”

“ Fine. But you’d better not loose,” she hisses over her shoulder and stalks away. So serious over a game, I shake my head. Sure enough, four pairs of eyes appear in the thicket. ''They’re not even bothering to hide themselves anymore. ''I spot a grey tabby tail waving from among the leaves. A shape leaps out of the undergrowth and pins me down. I yelp and flail my paws, to no avail. I never had any warrior training. Stinky breath washes over my face.

“ Got you, rabbit-blood,” Reedflame growls. His claws dig into my skin and I wince at the pain. “ Surrender?”

“ Never!” Mustering all my strength, I heave upwards and throw Reedflame off. He splutters in rage. I deal a few hard blows to his face. Claws grab me from behind and the black-and-white, Badgerstripe, pulls me down. I lash out at him, but he duck and stand over my belly. Terror begins to fill me as he raises his claws and lets them reflect in the moonlight. A furious yowl rings out in the trees and a blue of cream-and-white knocks Badgerstripe over. ''Frozenwhisker! ''He holds the tom beneath his paws and growls.

“ Surrender?” the other toms hang back, not having enough courage to stand up to their deputy. I want to settle a score of my own. Slipping back into the shadows, I creep up on Reedflame and bowl him over. Planting both paws on his shoulder, I shoot him a mischievous glare.

“ Do you surrender?” Reedflame snorts.

“ Surrender to a she-cat? Beneath me. Just let me free, Badgerstripe already has,” taking that as defeat, I step away and Reedflame brushes past. Frozenwhisker looks at me, amused.

“ Good job today,” he praises. I purr. Then he says something I never expected “ I’m proud of you.”

A moon has passed in ShadowClan.

There hasn’t been anything suspicious going on, at least that I’ve noticed. It’s actually kind of nice there. Now, as I traverse up the moor, I wonder what I will say to my Clan. I know for certain I can’t tell them, but I feel horrible about lying to them. The moor breeze swirls around me and I sigh in content. The brown has been washed from my fur, and I’m looking forwards to coming home.

“ Snowfeather! Hey look, its Snowfeather!” I hear a call. It’s a relief to hear my WindClan name. A patrol speeds down the hills, and in the lead is Harestar, a brown tom with green eyes. In his wake follow the deputy Skywhisper, along with three warriors, Mintleaf, Brightcloud and Willowfall. Harestar halts in front of me and stares in bewilderment.

“ Where have you been?” he growls. I flinch.

“ Herb-collecting,” I say the first thing that comes into my mind.

“ Herb-collecting!” Harestar exclaims. “ Why on earth would you want to do that?”

“ We-we were short a few herbs,” I stammer “ so I thought I’d go get some. Unfortunately, they washed away in a stream. I should’ve have told you where I was going, but I guess I was upset about the catmint.”

“ That’s fine. Let’s get to you back to camp,” Harestar’s eyes soften. ''He’s got a soft spot for me. I used to be his apprentice. ''

“ Harestar?” I meow. “ I might need to go on more of those herb trips, every moon.”

“Really?” Harestar exclaims, then sighs. “ You’re the medicine cat. I can’t argue.” Inside, I’m relieved, but I feel sick at all the lies I’ve just told. Suddenly, Brightcloud sneezes. Her ginger-and-white fur fluffs up and she cough violently.

“ You okay?” I ask, resting a tail on her shoulder.

“ I’m fine, but I’ve had this cold for a while. Windkit took care of it.” Brightcloud says. ''Windkit? ''I remembered helping Appleleaf give birth to her litter, of one. It was a brown tabby she-cat with blue eyes.

“ Windkit?” I say. Brightcloud nods.

“ She gave me some tansy, and it helped.”

“ Windkit is right, but I’ll give you some lavender just in case,” startled by her news, I walk on ahead. ''How could a kit know that? ''It takes me a while to realize I’m at the entrance. My heart races. ''Home! ''But when I burst into camp, I see a sight like no other.

Windkit is standing outside my medicine den, talking to Alderbranch, a brown-and-white tom. She rubs a poultice onto his shoulder, then applies a cobweb on it. Envy wells up inside of me.

“ Windkit! What are you doing?” I yowl and charge down the camp. Windkit widens her eyes, but in a flash Appleleaf is standing before me.

“ What are you doing? My daughter took care of all the sick cats while you were gone! Show her some respect!” Appleleaf hisses. Her words make me even angrier.

“ I went out to get herbs! We’re short of some!”

“ No, we aren’t,” a voice chimes in. Windkit ducks behind her mother as I shoot her a withering glare.

“ Yes, we are! Have you seen any-any sweet sedge?” I growl. Windkit has no idea what sweet-sedge is. She flattens her ears. Appleleaf and I glare and each other for a long time before Harestar sees us.

“ Easy now. Snowfeather had the best intentions, but I think there is only one reasonable solution to this,” he says. “ Since Snowfeather’s going away every moon, and Windkit has great talent, she should become Snowfeather’s apprentice.”

“ Okay!” Windkit pipes up, but shoots me a scowl. I growl.

“ Fine.” ''Great, just great! ''I don’t think I would mind so much if she was a nice cat, but every time I carry out her needs, it makes me feel like she’s right and I’m wrong. Harestar nods and pads away, Appleleaf after him. She gives me a warning look, then walks to the fresh-kill pile.

“ Snowfeather, you’re storing your herbs all wrong,” Windkit says. “ The ground is wet, and they dry of the herbs, therefore making them wither.”

“ Really?” I sneer “ do you have a better solution?”

“ I do.” Windkit says. “ I’ll show you.” she pads into my den. Each of my herbs is in a hole in the ground. Windkit point her muzzle at one, and I notice it is filled with moor grass. ''She’s right. ''The thought just makes me even more furious.

“ When I’m your apprentice, I think we should establish that I’m the better medicine cat,” Windkit smirks.

“ You do that, but see if my Clanmates will come running to you before me.”

“ Not a chance,” Windkit says.

“ Snowfeather! I hurt my paw!” I recognize Mistleaf’s voice.

“ See?” I purr and hurry out to see Mistleaf.

“ I’m not your apprentice yet,” Windkit mutters.

The moon in WindClan passes in this manner, and I enjoy going back to the routine of healing. Windkit is seething, as even her mother came to me first. But she needs to be put in her place. It so happens that the day of Windkit’s apprentice ceremony is the day I need to go back to ShadowClan. I’m not very happy about it, but WindClan needs a medicine cat when I’m gone. Windkit, now Windpaw, has already made herself a nest in my den.

“ So, Windpaw. Do you know how to treat a cold?” I quiz, wanting to know how much she knows. Windpaw stifles a yawn.

“ Yup.”

“ Rat bites?”

“ Borage.”

“ What’s used for sticking poultices onto a wound?”

“ Cobwebs. Look, I already know this stuff,” Windpaw complains. “ I want to know advanced medicine. Like, how to treat broken bones. Or how to calm a confused mind.”

“ That’ll come later,” I say. ''I’ve already got a confused mind, and I have no idea how to treat it. ''“ There’s much you don’t know.”

“ You’re right, Snowfeather. Where are you going every moon?”

“ Herb-collecting. I told you.” ''I’m so dead. ''

“ Yeah right. I bet you’re going out secretly to be  a-a…” ''Warrior of ShadowClan. ''I choke back a gasp and wait for her words. “ A kittypet!”

“ A kittypet!” I exclaim. “ No way. Do I look like a fat kittypet to you?” Even though I make a light-hearted joke, my thoughts are whirling. ''She’s close, really close to discovering my secret. ''Windpaw snorts.

“ If you don’t tell me, I’ll find out. You’re going today, aren’t you? I’ll-”

“ You will stay here and look after out Clanmates,” I snarl. A chilly breeze blows through the entrance and makes the herbs rustle. I pick up a bundle of sorrel, then add a few poppy seeds. Not waiting for Windpaw to ask why I need them, I stalk out of the medicine den. A dull glow is cast over the camp. The dusk patrol has just returned. Cats purr and choose their favorite prey to settle down before eating.

“ You going?” I nearly jump out of my skin. Grasspelt watches me, amused.

“ Yeah,” I saw, desperately hoping to make a quiet exit. “ Look, I’ve got to-”

“ Bye, Snowfeather!” a group of young warriors chorus. I give a hasty purr and make a beeline for the exit. Sighing with relief when I manage to leave, I picked my way across the heather to the ShadowClan border. Suddenly, something rustles. I stop, annoyance rising within me. ''Windpaw! ''I turn around and spot a brown tabby tail waving amongst the long grass stems.

“ Windpaw?” I call. The tail shoots down. I shake my head. “ Windpaw, get back to-” a sharp screech of terror slices through the night air. My heart stops. The screech is followed by a series of loud yowls, and after them comes a savage snarling and howling. No! StarClan, no!

Dogs!