You read all of that in ten minutes!!
Oh wait, i could probably do that too.....
I am glad you like it! I mine as well post more, since the disc I have the story saved onto is still in my computer...
@Mosspelt Ahh, you commented while I was editing the last details!
Blackpaw is actullay Blackclaw, a RiverClan warrior who is usually seen every time RiverClan is around. Yes, I did know that Willowbreeze was Silverstream's mother, but this was written a LONG time ago before that was confirmed. The freaky part was when I was orignnaly writing this, I thought about making Silverstream a desendant from WindClan.
Chapter 4
Greenflower licked Silverkit furiously.
"Mom, You've groomed me five times already, I am fine!" Silverkit insisted.
"There's nothing wrong with a first impression." Greenflower said between licks. Silverkit wanted to point out that she was already thought highly of since she was Crookedstar's daughter, but she decided to keep quiet.
"I wonder who our mentors will be?" Swiftkit wondered.
"I hope I'll get Mistyfoot." Silverkit chirped.
Greenflower purred with amusement.
"She's not old enough to have an apprentice yet, young one."
Crookedstar meowed from the high boulder, and Silverkit and Swiftkit approached.
A moon passed since the flood, and Swiftkit and Silverkit were now old enough to be apprentices. Greenleaf had arrived to, and the island was above the surface again, RiverClan had moved back to their camp.
"By naming apprentices, we show that RiverClan will remain strong. Silverkit, Swiftkit, from now on, until you have earned your warrior names, you will be known as Silverpaw and Swiftpaw." Crookedstar spoke, his eyes shining for his daughter. he lifted his head to look at the crowd.
"Whiteclaw, you are ready for an apprentice. You will mentor Swiftpaw." Crookedstar said. Whiteclaw approached Swiftkit and they touched noses.
"And Silverkit, your mentor will be Leopardfur. You will be known as Silverpaw until you earn your warrior name." Crookedstar mewed.
Silverpaw's heart sank. Leopardfur was so strict! Who knows what horrible mentor she would make? Leopardfur approached her, pride filling her eyes like a stuffed mouse.
Silverpaw hesitated to touch noses, trying not to panic. Her clanmates started to mutter curiously and the other apprentices encouraged her quietly.. Silverpaw knew she had to touch noses with her, Crookedstar was starting to look worried. But memories of Leopardfur, yelling impatiently at the apprentices, and her amber gaze that always seemed to look through her, kept preventing her.
Leopardfur frowned, and started to look hurt. Silverpaw sighed to herself. Leopardfur may be scary, but she didn’t want to hurt her feelings. She touched noses with Leopardfur, and all the cats breathed a sigh of relief.
Crookedstar waved his tail to dismiss the meeting, and patrols were being organized.
"Can we go on the hunting patrol?" Swiftpaw begged.
"No, were going to teach you how to swim of course." Whiteclaw purred.
Swiftpaw gulped and followed Leopardfur and Whiteclaw nervously. The four cats waded across the river separating the island from land, and the two mentors showed the kits the landmarks as they neared their destination. After the long walk, Silverpaw was exhausted. She felt like her short legs would fall off.
How do Leopardfur and Whiteclaw stand it? Silverpaw thought, glancing over at Swiftpaw. He seemed to be even more tired than Silverpaw was.
Silverpaw looked up at Leopardfur to ask why they stopped, but Leopardfur was already staring at her.
Look out there, mousebrain. Leopardfur seemed to say with her glowing gaze.
Silverpaw followed the direction of Leopardfur’s flicking ear, and all the sudden Silverpaw’s legs ready to leave her immobile didn’t matter anymore.
"Wow!" Silverpaw gasped.
The river was very wide and sparkled in the sunshine. The water was so clear Silverpaw could see the slimy fish swimming under the surface. The river was a deep blue that reflected the sunshine like the stars on a clear night, it’s waters seeming to call out to Silverpaw and offer the same joy from gazing to her Warrior ancestors above. Round, flat stepping stones connected RiverClan territory with whoever's territory was on the other side.
"This is the river, our main source of fresh kill. On the other side is ThunderClan territory." Leopardfur explained. Leopardfur and Whiteclaw dipped into the calm waters, and paddled in circles.
"Why are you standing there? Come in, the water’s nice!" Whiteclaw persisted.
Silverpaw didn’t hesitate to splash in. The water looked so clear, and welcoming. But Swiftpaw stood frozen in his tracks.
"Come on, Swiftpaw!" Whiteclaw growled, losing patience. Swiftpaw didn't move a muscle, his eyes wide with fear. Whiteclaw sighed and waded back to shore. He grabbed Swiftpaw by the scruff and tried to drag him in.
"No! No,no,no, NO!" Swiftpaw wailed in terror, trying to get away from Whiteclaw. But Whiteclaw managed to get him in the river.
Swiftpaw yowled and paddled madly, splashing the three cats. He started to sink as he fought the current to get back to shore. Whiteclaw tried to stop him, but Swiftpaw got to shore, and raced back to camp. Silverpaw would bet two moons of giving up fish that Swiftpaw was running faster than a WindClan cat.
"Swiftpaw!" Whiteclaw called, concern in his voice. He dashed after his apprentice, and they both disappeared from sight. Silverkit felt her own fear rising, Now she was alone with Leopardfur.
"Now, Silverpaw, just paddle with your paws like this,," Leopardfur instructed. Silverpaw copied her instruction, but Silverpaw couldn’t keep her belly strait and started sinking. Leopardfur dragged her up again.
"You'll never swim like that, furball!" Leopardfur scolded, amused. Leopardfur showed her how to paddle with her back legs too, and soon Silverpaw was swimming as good as a fish.
Chapter 5
Sunset approached as Leopardfur and Silverpaw returned to camp. Leopardfur caught a fish, but Silverpaw didn't catch anything. Leopardfur told her it was normal for an apprentice not to catch anything on its first try, but Silverpaw still felt like she could have been faster and caught that stupid fish.
Whiteclaw and Swiftpaw were eating nearby.
"So how did your training go?" Silverpaw asked.
"Horrible. It took me the entire day to pry him out of that hollow log!" Whiteclaw hissed grumpily. Swiftpaw sighed and limped toward the apprentice's den, tail dragging in the sand. Silverpaw wished she never asked.
She ate two small water voles until retreating to the apprentice den. Swiftpaw was curled up in his nest, a haunted look in his eyes.
Why is he so afraid of swimming? Silverpaw thought. Then her memory flashed back to her, on the day of the flood, when her and Swiftpaw almost drowned. How could she have been so blind? Swiftpaw was scared of water!
Two sunrises passed and Swiftpaw still refused to set paw in water. Whiteclaw almost forgot about him, now helping Leopardfur with Silverpaw's training.
Silverpaw concentrated on the smooth surface of the river. She spotted a fish swimming by, and leaned back so her shadow didn’t cast over the fish. The fish swam by, unaware of the danger. Quick as lighting, Silverpaw swiped her paw through the water, hooking the fish with her claws. The fish was flung into the air and landed on a sandbank. he desperately flopped toward the river, but Silverpaw batted the fish and finished it off.
"Good catch, Silverpaw! Your learning quickly." Leopardfur purred. Silverpaw basked in Leopardfur's praise. Leopardfur wasn’t as bad as Silverpaw thought.
Whiteclaw turned back to Swiftpaw.
"Why don’t you give it a try, Swiftpaw?" Whiteclaw asked hopefully.
"No thanks. I just won't eat from the fresh kill pile tonight." Swiftpaw replied.
Silverpaw frowned with concern. that was his excuse every day. And now he was just skin and bones. And he was getting weaker. Mudfur said that he had to start eating if he wasn't going to get sick. But Swiftpaw still didn't touch water ,and in return let his clanmates get the meal.
"You have to learn to swim sooner or later, Swiftpaw. How are you going to provide food for your clan?" Leopardfur meowed.
"Maybe I just don’t belong here." Swiftpaw whispered. Silverpaw was shocked by the deep sadness in his voice. Even Whiteclaw was too dumbstruck to give him a good scolding. Swiftpaw stood up and limped away, and Whiteclaw didn't stop him. If he wasn’t going to try, then why keep him here? Silverpaw knew he was thinking that.
The three cats returned to camp, and Silverpaw carried her catch proudly to Graypool.
"Thank you, Silverpaw. This fish is huge!" Graypool purred, and started eating.
"Your welcome." Silverpaw said, dipping her head and backing out.
"You know, this reminds me of a story,," Graypool meowed. Silverpaw sat back down. She wanted to see Swiftpaw, but it was the polite thing to do. Graypool was the only elder in the den, and she often got lonely. She would make any cat who came in the den listen to her stories, kit or apprentice or warrior.
Besides, it would give her something to do while she waited to carry out her plan.
"A long time ago, there were three clans of huge cats, even bigger than twolegs. They all had something special. LionClan had big manes; LeopardClan could run faster then anyone, but not TigerClan. They were golden, just like LoinClan, but with no manes. So one warrior,," Graypool began. Silverpaw heard this story dozens of times when she was a kit, but she never got tired of hearing it.
The sun only poked over the horizon when Graypool was finished her story. Silverpaw had asked questions to deliberately let time pass, and Silverpaw was satisfied that most of the clan would be asleep by now. Silverpaw gave her ears a few licks, then left for the apprentice's den.
She crept over the den carefully as to not disturb anybody. She poked Swiftpaw in his nest until he lifted his head.
"What?" Swiftpaw yawned.
"Come on, I want to talk to you." Silverpaw whispered. Swiftpaw was on his paws at once. Ever since their apprenticeship started, they didn’t hang out as much.
Silverpaw led Swiftpaw on a twisting path toward the river, but one he wouldn't recognize.
"So do you think a WindClan cat could run so fast, he could run on water?" Swiftpaw said casually.
"WindClan cats are so scrawny, I am sure they couldn’t sink on water." Silverpaw purred. A conversation started, and soon Swiftpaw was relaxed and confident, like his old self. Silverpaw heard the river just out from the bushes, but Swiftpaw was to busy chatting to notice.
"Hey Swiftpaw, want to play a game?" Silverpaw mewed.
"What game?" Swiftpaw questioned, his eyes shining.
"You just have to catch me!" Silverkit squeaked playfully. She raced off, Swiftpaw in hot pursuit. Silverpaw tried to run as fast as she can, and twisted around thorn bushes and trees. She heard Swiftpaw panting behind her, falling behind. Good, he’ll be more desperate to catch up now. Silverpaw thought as she crashed through the bushes and splashed wildly into the river. Swiftpaw was running so fast, he landed in the river.
"Your so slow, you'll never catch me!" Silverpaw taunted.
"We'll see about that!" Swiftpaw hissed, forgetting all about his fear. Silverpaw paddled through the waves, but Swiftpaw was having trouble. he started to lose confidence, And Silverpaw smelled his fear rising above the waves. Silverpaw slowed down, and Swiftpaw pinned his front paws on her shoulders.
"Caught you! Now you have to do what I say!" Swiftpaw yowled in triumph.
"What is it?" Silverpaw meowed in mock defeat.
"You have to be my mate." Swiftpaw kidded.
"Never!" Silverpaw growled playfully, escaping his grasp.
The two apprentices played in the river for a while more, and when they returned to camp, Silverpaw could tell from the light in Swiftpaw's eyes and the pride and energy rippiling in his muscles that his fear was gone.