The 27 Reasons of Blackpaw
When We Fall
by BladeOfHope
Blackpaw
"Freepaw, you in there?"
Firenose sticks his ginger muzzle into the apprentice's den, letting the sunlight assault my eyes. "Oh, there you are. Ready to go hunting?"
I mumble something intelligent, like "Aghhhhhhthahurtsowwwwwww", and roll away from the entrance, towards the darker interior of the den.
"Nope, you're not getting off that easy." Firenose comes into the den and scoops me up, grabbing my scruff in his mouth like you'd carry a kit - I'm not a kit! - and drags me up out of my comfy nest with a grunt.
"You've been putting weight on lately, Freepaw," he pants. "Maybe we should do more fight training to get you back into shape..."
"But why?" I protest, struggling to stay upright on my sleep-weakened legs. "ThunderClan hasn't attacked us in ages. There's no point in learning how to fight anymore, 'cos everyone's safe."
"Have you been listening to the elders' tales again?" Firenose shakes his head. "They're all full of mice, content with their lives and convinced that nothing bad will ever happen again. You know that's not true."
"But wouldn't it be nice if it were?" I pout.
Suddenly, Firenose sees through my ploy. "Stop distracting me!" he exclaims. "Come on, we're hunting, and that's final!"
He reaches out to grab me again, and I shiver away from his touch. "No, no, no. I'll go, but I won't let you carry me like that again!"
His eyes twinkle with amusement. "Good. You're heavy!"
"Hey!" I lash out with my front paws and push Firenose. He staggers into the den wall with an awful rattling sound, but he doesn't fall over.
Someone shifts behind us, the leaves in their nest rustling noisily. "Freepaw... is something wrong..."
I straighten up immediately. "Ah, no, sorry! Firenose is just being a klutz. You can go back to sleep, Blackpaw!" My mentor snorts indignantly.
He peers up over the edge of his nest, wincing adorably when the sunlight hits his blue, blue eyes. "You sure?"
"I'm sure." I look down at my paws, too embarrassed to meet his gaze.
"Okay..." He sinks back into his nest, and within heartbeats, a soft snore starts coming from that direction again.
I sigh wistfully. Blackpaw is one of RiverClan's three apprentices, the others being myself and Dewpaw. But unlike my stupid little brother, Blackpaw is great. He's not annoying, he's not loud, he's soft-spoken but smart, he's clever, he's unique...
In other words, he's perfect.
"So... you coming? Or will I have to drag you out here after all?"
Firenose's voice drags me out of my happy contemplation. "Sorry, yeah, I'm coming!" I dart out of the den before he can carry through on his threat, careful not to rattle the den and wake Blackpaw again.
Firenose and I meet up with Reedfur and Dewpaw - argh - and then we all go out hunting with each other. As a training exercise, I have to go with Reedfur, and Dewpaw gets to hunt with Firenose.
So Reedfur sends me off to look for mice and voles on the mainland.
"This is so stupid," I complain. "We're RiverClan. Why should we have to hunt mice?"
"You never know when there might be a shortage of fish," Reedfur berates me sternly. "You should be proud that you're preparing to help the Clan in a famine."
"Yeah, yeah," I grumble, and drop into a clumsy crouch.
"Honestly, has that Firenose taught you nothing?" Reedfur exhales sharply, sounding frustrated. "Keep your haunches down!"
He slaps my rear end sharply with a heavy paw, and I growl. "That hurt!"
"Well, maybe it'll help you remember next time." Reedfur sits back, looking very proud of his arrogant self. "Now go catch a mouse."
"This is stupid," I mutter to myself, but I do as he asks. No point in having Firenose get mad at me later for not following directions.
I track what I think smells like a mouse - how should I know what they smell like? I'm RiverClan - through the tall grasses on the RiverClan island area.
-tbc-