Confessions of a Troubled Apprentice

[[.v.u.l.t.u.r.e.]]

A young tom padded stealthily through the undergrowth, his amber gaze fixed on an oblivious mouse just a couple tail-lengths ahead, its back turned to him. His fine muscles rippled beneath his dark brown tabby pelt as he stalked his prey with much skill.

Vulturepaw was upwind, so he had nothing to worry about except filling the last elder's belly before they started nagging him. He paused for a moment, then crouched low, waggling his rear in the air as he prepared to pounce. Then he sprang forward with unsheathed claws and took the life of the mouse effortlessly as soon as his paws hit the ground, it seemed. With a limp mouse clamped firmly in his jaws, and the thought of being able to take a nice, long nap in his nest in the apprentices' den, Vulturepaw had nothing to worry about - except the one situation that had been eating away at him day after day, until finally his mind was never off the problem.

No, Featherpaw is not a problem, he thought sternly to himself. I love her, and whatever I have to do to keep us together...I'll do it.

Featherpaw was from ThunderClan, so at least they weren't from opposite Clans; but she was a medicine cat! Well, the medicine cat apprentice, but that still meant she was one of the healing felines. It was forbidden, even if both cats were in the same Clan such as they, so they had to keep it a secret, as much as they hated to do so. Vulturepaw especially despised having to lie to Swiftstar, his leader and mentor, but the older tom would get the angriest out of all the ThunderClan cats if he ever found out. Everyone knew their leader had a temper, so if he ever knew about Vulturepaw and Featherpaw, he might even banish them from the Clan! They couldn't tell anyone.

"Featherpaw!" Vulturepaw meowed loudly after setting the mouse on the ground. "Featherpaw, catch up or I'll leave you in the dust!" he joked, smiling slightly. He stood and waited for his forbidden love to appear.

[◘Feathereth◘]

Featherpaw was sniffing a pile of Tansy when she heard Vulturepaw call her name. She wipped her head up and saw that she had hallen behind, We have enough Tansy. She told herself and started to follow Vulturepaw's scent, she steped out from behind a tree and smiled at him.

Her silver striped pelt was bright and clean, her shoulder wound now at last didn't give her any trouble, she licked her shoulder then gazed at the warrior apprentice in front of her, the tom cat she loved so much. Her icey blue gaze was filled with sorrow, how she hated the way they had to hide it, all because she was going to be a medicine cat! She wanted to give it away to someone else.

She knew she would be letting her mentor, Iceclover if she did that though, and even more her whole Clan. If they found out though she would anyway. Iceclover had just talked to Featherpaw, Iceclover knew of her forbidden love. To featherpaw's surprise she didn't punish her or try to keep them appart, reallly she was trying to help the two of them. Featherpaw cleared her head with a shake.

She padded over to him and purred, "Shout my name to the whole forest." she snickered and warped her tail around his, she took in his scent, the scent she so loved, wishing it would stick to her forever, though she knew she would have to wash it off, with remembering that her heart slightly sank. "Good catch." she purred as she saw the mouse he had caught.

[[.v.u.l.t.u.r.e.]]

Vulturepaw's heart melted into a pool of tingling happiness as Featherpaw stepped out from behind a tree. The lovely silver she-cat walked over to him and twined her tail with his, purring jokingly, "Shout my name to the whole forest. Good catch."

He rasped his tongue lovingly over Featherpaw's ears and gently nudged her shoulder. "Thanks," he mewed in a cracking voice; whenever the beautiful fae he loved was near he couldn't control himself; he went crazy. ((Just a figure of speech. xD 'Cause...you know what's gonna happen in the future. ))

Vulturepaw glanced around warily, searching for any sign of other cats. When he ended his scanning of the forest with nothing, he meowed in despair, "Does Iceclover know about our love? She's been looking at me strangely lately..." His autumn hued orbs stared bleakly at the ground. ((Since when did Iceclover become the meddeh cat? xD I missed that...))

[◘Feathereth◘]

((yeah i do ))

Featherpaw nodded. "Yes." she said looking down, "But she isn't going to tell anyone!" she added, hoping the medicine cat would stick to her word.

Featherpaw smiled weakly at the brown tabby, so hasome and brave, how she loved him, her heart swelled in size when she even thought of him.

Featherpaw's ears twitched and she scented the air her mouth parted, "I smell sometihng....something.....strange..." she said then shook her head, "I must be imaging it, because of how nervous I am." she said and started walkeing on, her white paws padded softly on the ground.

She spoted a squrrile and knowing how fast they were she measured their destance then lept landing on it, it had no idea what was going on and wiggled helplessly. Featherpaw bit into it's neck then turned to face Vulturepaw it dangleing in her mouth she smiled slightly.

((Not that long ago really....she's been doing a good job though ;D))

[[.v.u.l.t.u.r.e.]]

((Sorry it took a trillion years for me to reply to this. ;D I replied to all my other roleplays, and I forgot about this one because I was focusing on my Falcon character. ))

"Yes," Featherpaw confessed. "But she isn't going to tell anyone!" Vulturepaw hoped the medicine cat apprentice was right. "I smell something....something.....strange..." Featherpaw remarked as she scented the air. "I must be imagining it, because of how nervous I am."

He watched as the young she-cat easily pounced on and killed a squirrel. She had quickly dismissed what she said she had smelled, but Vulturepaw now parted his jaws to drink in the forest scents. . . and he detected an odd scent as well.

((What is it?))

[◘Feathereth◘]

((she is about to say))

Featherpaw droped her kill, she pushed some dirt over it and smiled back at Vulturepaw. Her blue eyes locking with his golden brown eyes. With much force she looked away, her whiskers twitching. She couldn't ignore the smell. She smelled the air north first and then the east air.

"Vulturepaw, I think there is a drowned badger by the lake side." She said her tail pointing towards north and where salt water scent poored from into the territory.

She turned her head to the east and then looked back to Vulturepaw, "And....I think two foxes that way, they're on the move though so I can't say where they are now but I think they're on their way towards us." she said the hair on her spine rising slowly.

[[.v.u.l.t.u.r.e.]]

Vulturepaw watched Featherpaw look from here to there, alertly scenting the air a couple more times.

"Vulturepaw, I think there is a drowned badger by the lakeside," she concluded after a moment. "And....I think two foxes that way, they're on the move though so I can't say where they are now but I think they're on their way towards us."

Vulturepaw swallowed hard at the silver tabby's assumption. He didn't give the drowned badger another thought - it was dead - but the foxes. . . If they were heading in the two apprentices' direction, he and Featherpaw were in big trouble!

Sniffing the air again carefully, Vulturepaw's amber gaze grew wide, and he nearly leapt a mile into the air as a twig snapped not too far away from them.

"Come on, we have to get out of here now!" he spat, bounding over to Featherpaw and urgently pushing her forward with his head on her flank. "Let's go, hurry! They're coming!"

He could already hear loud rustling and low, menacing growls from nearby, telling him that the foxes were just heartbeats away from finding them. They had to run now if they wanted to get away with their tails intact.

Knowing that Featherpaw would follow in an instant, Vulturepaw raced away, his tail streaming out like a river behind him and every hair on his dark tabby pelt standing on end. His eyes were wild with fear.

He looked over his shoulder, and gasped when he didn't see Featherpaw behind him. He began to panic, and nearly crashed into a tree before whirling around on his heels and swiftly sprinting back.

"Featherpaw!" Vulturepaw yowled desperately, praying to StarClan with all his might that he would find his love somewhere along the trail, and they would run side by side back to camp. "FEATHERPAW!!!"

[◘Feathereth◘]

Featherpaw had been right, but about something she didn't want to be. She felt Vulturepaw push her own, and with that her paws were in a running mode. She was pelting after the dark brown tabby, her silver pelt bushed out and her claws gripping at the earth, she could hear the foxes snarls and she saw a red orange pelt behind her.

All of the sudden a fox had cut her off from Vulturepaw. It snapped at her it's muzzle long and teeth large, coming at her. Featherpaw's eart raced and she clawed it's nose barly making it even turn it head. It tried snapping at the silver apprentice again.

Featherpaw dared not turn from her love but if she kept on the path the foxes would find him as well. She lept up a tree and once the two foxes were circling below her she jumped down and ran west, away from camp and Vuturepaw, planning to give her life away for her Clan and true love.

She could feel the hot breath of the foxes on her heels, her tail was whipping behind her as she darted between trees, trying to out foot the foxes but they kept on her tail easily. Featherpaw heard her name called loudly, her heart raced and she shut her eyes, wishing to call out but she kept her mouth tight. She wouldn't put Vulturepaw in danger.

Featherpaw let out a scream as she felt a large black paw hit her in the side. she ponced on the ground and then there was nothing under her. She had been hit off a cliff! Her icy blue eyes went wide and she clung to the side of it, her claws darging on the vines and bracken. The fall wasn't to far, and the foxes had ran down the path that went to the bottom, looking up at her as they waited for her to fall and start an easy meal.

[[.v.u.l.t.u.r.e.]]

((I have to ask Hawkeh to reply to this again...))

Vulturepaw felt like he had been running for miles in the same direction, though it had really only been a few sprints from one place to another. But how could he stay calm when there was still no sign of Featherpaw?!

"Featherpaw, where are you?!" he called desperately again, but his hopeful attempts were put to no reward. And, as much as he hated it and fought himself not to think about, he had to come to the possibility that the silver fae might be dead by now.

He snapped open his jaws and hastily sucked in air, trying to detect his mate's scent. His tense muscles loosened slightly as he picked out Featherpaw's familiar sweet smell, and he instantly dropped his head to the ground and began trotting forward to follow her trail. And even though he kept on going no matter what, he was almost thrown to the ground with the force of his heart lurching as he picked up the strong, unpleasent reek of fox along the way.

It wasn't long before Vulturepaw noticed Featherpaw's scent becoming stronger, and the scent of the foxes becoming almost unbearable. As he looked up, he saw a jagged ledge and nothing beyond that except the faint misty-blue outline of distant mountains. A cliff! Please no, please no StarClan! he silently begged. He took a tentative step forward and swallowed hard as he took another...and another, and within heartbeats he was right at the edge of the cliff. Bracing himself, he looked down.

"Featherpaw!!!" Vulturepaw yowled, his eyes becoming hot with fresh tears he wrestled himself not to shed as he stared down at the she-cat struggling to keep her unstable grip on the dirt of the cliff. But his already dry throat was put to rest as a low, angry growl was unleashed from him; the foxes were circling below, waiting eagerly for an easy dinner. Not if I have anything to say about it, he thought determinedly. He craned his neck to fasten his teeth in Featherpaw's scruff - but she was too far down for him to reach. And her claws were slipping down the cliffside more and more as the heart-wrenching heartbeats ticked by with the length of seasons.

[◘Feathereth◘]

Featherpaw clung to the earthy cliff, it seemed like forever and each heart beat she started to lose her grip, she kicked her back paws but only hit air. Her front paws clawed the cliff side, she didn't even want to look below her at the foxes. It didn't matter though she could hear their growing from where she was.

Her tearing blue eyes looked up and to her fear there stood Vulturepaw, "No get out of here while you can! I'll be fine! Ju-ust g- go!" she yelled at the dark tabby. She wouldn't put Vulturepaw in danger, that's why she had lead them here in the first place.

Featherpaw lost grip with one of her paws and let out a scream, she clawed the cliff again and hung from her frount paws her back paws still only meeting air when they kicked. Her tail was tucked under her. She looked up at her love, her eyes filled with care and fright. "I love you." she meowed.

Her claws couldn't last any longer and she started sliding down the cliff side. She let go after a long pause looking at Vulturepaw. The silver she-cat fell in mid-air then hit the cliff side and bonced off with a nasty thud. She rolled the rest of the way till she lay at the foot of the cliff. her pelt looked horrible and she was knocked out. From where Vulturepaw stood she would look dead and she almost was, her breathing was shallow.

The foxs yapped and came over to the silver apprentice, sniffing her not making a move yet but they were skinny and it was a postive bet they would figure out that the she-cat would be a easy and nice meal for them.

[[.v.u.l.t.u.r.e.]]

Vulturepaw nearly cried as Featherpaw tried to get him to run away to his own safety. "No get out of here while you can!" she cried. "I'll be fine! J-just g-go!" But the dark tabby wasn't going anywhere; without saying a word, he just stood there as if he were glued to the ground.

His blood turned to ice as Featherpaw lost her grip on one paw, and almost fell. She scrabbled on the earthy cliffside and struggled to cling on longer. "Featherpaw, just hold on," Vulturepaw begged with a quivering voice. "Just stay right where you - " Before he could finish speaking, the silver she-cat gave him a long, loving look that melted his heart into a pool of sorrow as he saw the regret in her deep blue eyes.

"I love you," was her simple yet ever so complicated goodbye - and then she purposely . . . let go.

"NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Vulturepaw leapt forward to the very edge of the cliff and stared down in horror at his beloved tumbling to her death. She hit the side of the cliff on her side once, and then crashed with a bloodcurdling thud on the hard rock ground.

Hot tears started to cascade down Vulturepaw's face, wetting his paws as they fell. Suddenly, he noticed that ominous stormclouds had gathered up above, and rain started to pour down mercilessly. Featherpaw must be dead, he thought in sadness that nearly took his heart and threw it on the ground. Even StarClan is crying . . .

But even if the she-cat was dead by now, Vulturepaw still had to deal with the foxes; he was going to teach those cold-blooded demons a lesson they wouldn't soon forget. He narrowed his eyes, the old fire of determination rekindling in his now furious amber pools. He unsheathed his claws and raced at the speed of light down the cliffside, nearly slipping several times as he leaped from jutting rock to jutting rock until he was finally at the bottom - facing two growling, menacing foxes.

The red beasts were sniffing at Featherpaw's limp body, smacking their maws hungrily. Vulturepaw's eyes widened; they were going to eat her! "Not in this century!" he snarled, and leapt at the nearest one. He bowled it over to the ground and sank his teeth into its shoulder. The fox's eyes were full of hatred and fury as it bared its fangs at him and snapped at him - but it wasn't even close to how rage-filled Vulturepaw was. They made his love lose her life . . . and now they were going to lose theirs.

Wait . . . was that movement coming from the heap of silver tabby fur? Was Featherpaw still alive?! Vulturepaw's heart leapt at the thought that his mate could still be hanging onto her life. He threw the fox to the side and hissed ferociously at the other, making it clear to the animal to stay back. He buried his face in Featherpaw's sweet-smelling fur, starting to cry again.

"Please, Featherpaw, don't leave me. If you die . . . I'll throw myself off the cliff. I'll die with you, and then we'll both be in StarClan together, still in love, forever more." He sobbed uncontrollably. He didn't even take notice to the two angry foxes behind him as the rain beat down on the forest, soaking his through to the bone, and thunder rocked the skies. And Featherpaw slowly departed to StarClan . . .

[¥♥Snowhawk♥¥]

Swiftstar padded into the Woodlands, heading to check the ShadowClan border. As a rank stench hit his nose, he saw a flash of auburn fur, to small to be Rowanfire, and to lagre too be Foxpaw. Even if it was the ThunderClan leader's ginger daughter, she wasn't even supposed to be out of the ThunderClan camp.

The black and white leader followed the stench, leading to one of the many cliffs in the ThunderClan territory. After the dog attack, foxes and badgers were around every corner, at least everyother night, he would hear a howl, from a fox pack.

He reached the cliff, the stench strong. He saw a bundle of silver tabby fur lying on the ground. Looking up, he saw his apprenitce, Vulturepaw slidding down the side of the cliff. Foxes, two of them, circleing the heap of fur. "Vulturepaw," he said, calmy, his blue crystals unmoving and clear of emotians, "What happend here?"

[[.v.u.l.t.u.r.e.]]

"Ah!" Vulturepaw jumped as he heard a voice behind him. He whirled around to see Swiftstar looking from him to Featherpaw and back again. "S-Swiftstar!" he caterwauled, backing up and turning to the side as if to cover up the still medicine cat apprentice. What if he finds out? Vulturepaw thought to himself. His life would be over if Swiftstar found out about his and Featherpaw's frowned-upon love. But Featherpaw's life . . . already seemed to be over. ((I know she's not really dead, but Vulturepaw's making a big deal out of it because he thinks she is. )

Vulturepaw froze and stared into the distance as if he was blind; he could've sworn he'd heard Featherpaw's voice in his head, encouraging him to confide in Swiftstar. He didn't know if he was going insane or not ((Oh no, it's starting already! xD)) but he knew one thing for sure: his mate, dead or alive, was right.

Vulturepaw took a hard, confident step forward and stared Swiftstar in the eye. His heart thumped louder than the thunder boomed, but he ignored it as it pounded in his ears, almost like the beat of an eagle's wings. An eagle that was ready to snatch him up for its prey. But nothing was there to get him. It was just him and Swiftstar . . . and it was time for the truth to come out.

"Swiftstar . . ." he began quietly. "I have something to tell you." He looked over his shoulder at Featherpaw's motionless body. I have to tell him, he concluded to himself. . . . for her. "Featherpaw and I . . ." Could he do it? He was beginning to panic. His legs were trembling. His mind was racing. He could hear the voices in his head. "Tell him." "Don't, are you crazy?!" "It's now or never, Vulturepaw."

Tellhimdon'tareyoucrazyit'snoworneverVulturepawtellhimdon'tareyoucrazyit'snoworneverVulturepaw . . .

"ALRIGHT, WE LOVE EACH OTHER! YA HAPPY NOW?!"

((That thing where all the words were connected was supposed to be them racing through his mind really quickly and driving him crazy and making him just break down so he would tell Swiftstar. ;D))