White Rapids Chapter Two

Chapter Two
Blackkit

Blackkit pounced on her littermate yelping, "Gotcha!" much to the surprise of everyone in the nursery. But Blackkit liked an element of surprise in everything she did, much to the annoyance of her mother, Dawnpelt.
"Hey!" Goldenkit mewed, trying to squirm out from under her sister. Blackkit's tail curled in amusement. "Come on, get off!" Goldenkit mewed, kicking with her hind legs.
Satisfied, and not wanting trouble with Dawnpelt, Blackkit jumped off her sister, who huffed and moved closer to their other sisters. "You're no fun," Blackkit meowed huffily. Usually her sisters were all for playing, but they all seemed tired just now. That was no the case with Blackkit, however. She seemed to have unlimited energy when it came to playing.
Blackkit stood on her toes for a few moments, bouncing around slightly and trying to decide what to do. Clearly no one felt like playing and now they all seemed to be falling asleep as well. How boring.
Blackkit glanced over at her mother, Dawnpelt, watching the queen for a moment to see if she was truly asleep. Dawnpelt's chest rose and fell steadily and after a moment Blackkit deemed it safe to leave the den. Olivenose and her kits had left the den a couple of sunrises ago when the kits had been made apprentices, so the coast was clear for Blackkit to go have some sort of adventure of her own.
She ducked out of the nursery only to find the camp busy with activity. It seemed that even when her mother and siblings rested, the rest of ShadowClan never did. Blackkit loved it; how could she not? Being restless was in her blood.
She nearly ran into Smokefoot as she moved toward the dirt-place tunnel. "Oh, I'm sorry Smokefoot," Blackkit mewed in her sweetest voice.
The warrior, who had looked annoyed for a moment, immediately softened. "That's quite all right, Blackkit," he meowed. "Just make sure you don't run into anyone that's cranky." Smokefoot's tail curled in amusement and Blackkit nodded, then continued to the dirt-place tunnel.
She had snuck out more than her fair share of times, so she had mastered the art by now. All the young kit had to do was wait for the nursery to fall silent and all the cats' breathing to become steady. Then she could pretend as though she were going to make a dirt, then just sneak out the back way and explore ShadowClan territory a bit. It was almost too easy. And Blackkit had a great record. Of all the times she had been out, she had only been caught once, and that was the first time. Obviously, her mother's anger hadn't deterred her spirit.
Blackkit reached the dirt-place tunnel and was happy to discover that it was empty. Checking to make sure no cat was behind her, she easily slipped through the ferns and out into the pine tree forest. The young kit's tail curled in amusement at her easy escape and she held her head high as she began to run along the forest floor, watching to make sure she didn't step on anything that would cause her to go visit Flametail and Emeraldpaw in the medicine den. Then her mother would surely know that she had been up to her old antics.
Blackkit scurried deeper into the woods, listening intently to make sure that no warriors were coming her way. She wouldn't want to be discovered sneaking out of camp when her apprentice ceremony would be coming up any time now. Blackkit could hardly wait for that. She would surely make the best apprentice ever.
Just then, she spotted a squirrel a short distance away. Instinctively, Blackkit dropped into a hunter's crouch. She moved forward slowly, avoiding all the twigs. A few feet away, Blackkit pounced. Unfortunately, the squirrel noticed her at that moment and started to run. Blackkit chased after it, using all her speed to catch the squirrel before it could run up a tree. She pounced once more, catching its long and fluffy tail. Then the kit paused. She had no idea how to go about killing prey. Blackkit unsheathed her claws and swiped at the squirrel a few times, but while it was near death, it was still squirming. Crinkling her nose, Blackkit bit into its neck and the squirrel went limp. The kit breathed a sigh of relief and released the tail of the squirrel.
Then the realization hit her. This was her first catch and she wasn't even an apprentice! Blackkit waved her tail triumphantly.
"What was that?" came a voice from nearby. Blackkit froze.
"What was what?" asked a second voice, sounding annoyed. Blackkit vaguely recognized the voices of Applefur and her apprentice, Russetpaw.
"Something moved over there," Russetpaw explained to her mentor.
"Probably just a piece of prey," Applefur said hurriedly. "Now try that move again."
"But it was white," Blackkit heard Russetpaw mutter, and then she heard quick movement as the two engaged in battle practice once more.
Blackkit decided that it would probably be best if she returned to camp in order to avoid getting caught. But what should she do with the dead squirrel? Blackkit figured she should probably leave it to avoid more awkward questions. She had already messed up her plan to sneak out, so she should probably just cut her losses and get back to camp. Pausing at the edge of the lake, Blackkit pushed herself in just far enough to wash off her scent slightly. She didn't want her denmates to smell forest on her.
As soon as her paws touched the water, Blackkit had a strange feeling of rushing water. A memory burst through in her brain. White rapids were engulfing her as she rolled down a stream. She heard the mewl of another kit as well as her own. Then her head plunged under the water and she knew no more.
Blackkit panted heavily as she jumped away from the water. What had that been all about? It wasn't possible that something like that could have ever happened to her. Of all her times out of camp she had never even been to the lake before, let alone to any sort of stream. And the mews she had heard did not resemble the ones of any of her littermates, or any of the apprentices either.
Deciding that she must have had some sort of strange dream about the rapids, Blackkit dipped the rest of her body in the lake, then came back out and shook herself off. Her black fur fluffed up, much to the kit's annoyance. Even her white tip tail seemed fluffier than usual. She ran into the forest, going as quickly as she could in order to get back to camp. Blackkit had probably stayed out a little longer than she should have, between killing a squirrel and the memory at the lake.
She peered through the ferns by the dirt-place tunnel, checking for cats, then pushed her way through. Blackkit reentered the camp and was halfway to the nursery when a voice spoke from directly to her left.
"Where have you been?" exclaimed the unhappy voice of Dawnpelt. Blackkit jumped, turning around so she could see her mother.
"I was just making a dirt," Blackkit explained, a bit out of breath by the surprise of how near Dawnpelt had been to her before Blackkit had even seen her.
"Well, it is time for your apprentice ceremony," Dawnpelt replied huffily. "At least you look clean. StarClan knows why, though, you haven't received a good licking in some time."
Blackkit pretended as though she didn't know why either, and hurried toward the nursery where her littermates were waiting. Spottedkit rushed to her side. "I can't believe it! Oakstar is finally going to make us apprentices!" she meowed excitedly.
"Yeah, isn't it great?" Blackkit asked, looking to her other three sisters. They were all looking at her in a sort of disapproving way, as though they couldn't believe she had gone out of the nursery alone. But by the way they were shifting their paws, Blackkit could tell they were excited as well, and not too angry with her.
"Today we celebrate some new apprentices!" Oakstar meowed from his perch in the giant pine tree. The tree had low branches, so it was easy for cats of all sizes to be seen by the whole Clan. "Meadowkit, Goldenkit, Pepperkit, Spottedkit, and Blackkit, come up her, please."
Blackkit led the charge toward the pine tree. As she passed by Russetpaw she heard the apprentice mention something about a bloody squirrel in the forest. Gulping slightly, Blackkit leapt up onto the lowest, and also biggest, branch. Her sisters followed suit until all five kits were on the same branch.
"Meadowkit, from this day forward, you will be known as Meadowpaw and your mentor will be Toadfoot," Oakstar stated and the senior warrior leapt up onto the branch to touch noses with his new apprentice. Then Meadowpaw and Toadfoot leapt down onto the ground, allowing space for the other warriors to greet their new apprentices as well. While there was room for five kits on the branch, there was not room for them and five warriors.
"Goldenkit, from this day forward you shall be known as Goldenpaw and your mentor will be Scorchfur," Oakstar said and then Russetpaw's father leapt up onto the branch to touch noses with his new apprentice.
Oakstar waited until the celebration quieted once more and then addressed another of the three kits still waiting on the branch. "Pepperkit, from this day forward you will be known as Pepperpaw and your mentor will be Crowfrost."
Blackkit's tail twitched slightly as she waited nervously for her turn. This seemed to be taking forever. At last, it was just she and Spottedkit still left on the branch.
"Spottedkit, from this day forward you shall be known as Spottedpaw and your mentor shall be Tigerheart." Spottedpaw's tail trembled as her new mentor came up to greet her. Tigerheart was a very prominent cat in ShadowClan and many expected him to be deputy or even leader someday. Personally, Blackkit didn't like him too well, but she could see why her sister would be excited. It would be rather fun to be the apprentice of such a great warrior.
At last it was just Blackkit standing awkwardly on the branch of the pine tree. Oakstar looked down at her for a moment, as though trying to remember what her name was, then nodded and addressed the crowd of cats once more. "Blackkit, from this day forward you shall be known as Blackpaw," he meowed with a reassuring nod to the slightly nervous kit. "Your mentor will be Snowbird."
Blackpaw stood proudly as the pure white she-cat jumped up to greet her. They touched noses and Blackpaw felt a spark of warmth from the warrior whom she knew to be one of the sweeter ShadowClan members. Blackpaw made a mental promise to learn as much as she could from her mentor, and then she hopped down from the branch to join her sisters.
"Meadowpaw, Goldenpaw, Pepperpaw, Spottedpaw, Blackpaw!" the members of ShadowClan cheered with quite a bit of enthusiasm for all the names they had to remember. Blackpaw felt as though she was radiating sunshine from her black coat in that moment. Now that she was an apprentice, everything was going to change.
As the cheers died away, Snowbird approached her once more. "We'll begin former training tomorrow morning," she meowed to her apprentice. "But if you would like, I can show you around the territory a bit before sunset."
Blackpaw nodded eagerly. "Yes, please," she mewed, though inwardly thinking that she might know a bit more than most new apprentices about her territory, having snuck out on numerous occasions.
"All right, let's go to the RiverClan border and back, there are plenty of things to learn there," Snowbird suggested, and then headed for the camp exit. Blackpaw bounded after her, eager for her first moments as an apprentice.

~***~

"Wake up sleepyhead, Snowbird's looking for you!" Spottedpaw mewed, as she crashed into Blackpaw.
"I'm up, I'm up!" Blackpaw protested, moving herself into a standing position. How could it be sunhigh already? She felt as though she had just fallen asleep moments ago. Between her apprentice ceremony, journey to the RiverClan border, and greeting ShadowClan's new kits, Duskkit, Mudkit, and Rainkit, it had been a long day yesterday.
"Well, I've already been on the dawn patrol, so you better be up," Spottedpaw teased, her tail curled in amusement.
Blackpaw merely rolled her eyes and padded out of the mostly empty apprentice's den that had been filled to the brim last night. Being one of the newest apprentices, Blackpaw had been pushed to the edge of the den, which meant smaller nests. Snowbird had commented yesterday on how full the apprentice's den would be, saying she had never seen ShadowClan with so many apprentices at once. Blackpaw herself was amazed.
Blackpaw felt relieved as she stepped outside into the sunlight, allowing the light to warm up her dark fur. Then she spotted Emeraldpaw walking nearby. "Hello Emeraldpaw," Blackpaw meowed, greeting the older apprentice.
"Good morning, Blackpaw," Emeraldpaw replied, stopping before Blackpaw. "I'm glad that you're an apprentice now. That means we can go on adventures when our mentors aren't paying attention." The medicine cat's bright green eyes sparkled mischievously and Blackpaw felt a bit surprised. Usually Emeraldpaw was a stickler for the rules, but apparently she didn't always follow them. That was probably a good thing.
"Well, in order to avoid cleaning out the elder's den, I think I better let my first adventure be training," Blackpaw replied.
Emeraldpaw's tail curled in amusement. "Yes, that would probably be best. Even Snowbird doesn't like it when apprentices are late."
Blackpaw nodded and the two parted, Blackpaw sniffing for any sign of her mentor. She caught up with the warrior near the entrance to camp. Blackpaw realized that she had rarely been to this part of camp, having always snuck out the back way. The thought amused her, though she supposed it wouldn't be that way any longer. Now she could leave the camp much more often.
"Hello Snowbird," Blackpaw mewed as she approached. "Are we battle training today?"
Snowbird whirled around to look at her apprentice, seeming a bit surprised at Blackpaw being right behind her. "Hello Blackpaw," she greeted calmly. "First we are going to go hunting. With so many cats, the Clan does not have enough fresh-kill at the present time. It is a warrior's duty to serve her Clan, so we must do that."
Blackpaw nodded, liking Snowbird's explanation of why they were going hunting. She knew that most cats would just say they were going hunting and leave it at that. "Good, I strive to serve my Clan," Blackpaw meowed in response.
Snowbird nodded, and led the way out of camp, hardly slowing down for her much smaller apprentice. Snowbird moved with ease through the forest, and while Blackpaw tried to be as graceful as her mentor, she often found herself stepping on twigs or mistiming her jumps over fallen branches. At least there weren't too many of those. Not many pine tree branches fell down.
At last Snowbird stopped just outside a small clearing. Blackpaw heard the sound of scuffling just beyond the pine needles. Snowbird flicked her tail at the black apprentice, signaling for her to take a look at what it was. Inhaling deeply to catch the scent, Blackpaw poked her head through the needles a bit to find a squirrel on the opposite side of the clearing. She glanced back at Snowbird, who nodded for her to make an attempt at the squirrel. Snowbird would probably refine Blackpaw's technique after she failed to catch the squirrel. But Blackpaw didn't intend on failing.
Crouching low and watching her paws closely, she pushed through the pine needles once more, moving into the clearing. She kept her haunches down as she moved slowly toward the unsuspecting squirrel. When Blackpaw didn't dare to get any closer to the squirrel, she pounced, landing neatly on top of its tail. The squirrel attempted an escape, but Blackpaw quickly killed it and then looked over to see if Snowbird had been watching. She had.
"Where did you learn that?" the white warrior asked, appearing shocked.
Blackpaw shrugged slightly, pushing forward the squirrel with her paw. "It just sort of happened," she meowed, wondering what was so weird about her catching the first prey she had ever attempted to catch. Didn't that happen to most apprentices or did they all miss as their mentors expected?
"Well, your technique was impeccable," Snowbird replied, still sounding slightly shocked. "The only thing you need improvement on is your tail. It must be kept down low to the ground, but be careful not to have it touch the ground. The squirrel was facing away from you, but other sorts of prey might see your white tail and run away."
Blackpaw nodded, briefly wondering if Snowbird had that problem all the time. She probably had to be extra stealthy because of her white coat.
"Show me that crouch again," Snowbird instructed and Blackpaw did so, lowering herself to the ground, trying to focus on keeping her tail lower. She felt it touch the ground and sighed softly. "Higher," Snowbird meowed. "Now a little lower. Perfect."
Blackpaw held her tail in place and moved forward across the clearing, as though she were stalking prey. "Better?" she asked Snowbird, standing back up.
"Perfect," Snowbird replied. "Let's catch a few more squirrels and then head back to camp. We can battle train a little later." Blackpaw nodded and followed her mentor deeper still into the pine tree forest.

~***~

Warrior and apprentice pulled into the ShadowClan camp with a grand total of three squirrels and a frog. Blackpaw couldn't help but resent the fact that she had been unable to catch her own frog, but she supposed it would take some time to get used to the hopping little creatures. At least she had two squirrels to show for the trip. That was probably more than her sisters, who would be coming back soon as well.
"Wow, good catches there, Blackpaw," mewed Emeraldpaw as she passed by with Flametail, who had a bundle of herbs in his mouth. He nodded, showing his agreement with Emeraldpaw.
Blackpaw placed her catches on the fresh-kill pile and then mewed a "thanks" to Emeraldpaw, before turning back to look at the entrance of camp, hoping Spottedpaw and Meadowpaw would return soon. She was eager to see what they had caught. Goldenpaw and Pepperpaw were already in camp, she could hear them practicing battle moves near the apprentice den.
Just then Blackpaw's ears caught the sound of cats rushing toward camp. Her body tensed as Tigerheart, Olivenose, and Spottedpaw came rushing in. They had been on a hunting patrol with the Clan's deputy, Ivytail.
"Ivytail's dead!" Tigerheart yelped as he reached the center of camp. As one, the warriors of ShadowClan stopped what they were doing and looked at Tigerheart. Oakstar stirred from his nest and came out into the camp.
"What? How?" the leader asked, seeming astonished. The whole camp seemed frozen, as though waiting for Tigerheart to say that he was just kidding. But Blackpaw could tell he was completely serious. Besides, this was nothing to kid about.
"We were out hunting by the ThunderClan border and a snake jumped out at Spottedpaw," Tigerheart meowed hurriedly. "Ivytail killed it, but just before it died, the thing bit her!"
There was a long silence. Blackpaw was lost for words, she knew she should try to console the obviously distraught Spottedpaw, but she couldn't make herself move. How could a cat as strong as Ivytail possibly be dead? It was unimaginable.
At once, there were three matching shrieks of grief from Russetpaw, Nightpaw, and Toadfoot, Ivytail's kin. Their pain echoes across the camp in waves and cats rushed forward to console them. Oakstar seemed the only cat to have kept his cool, though Blackpaw wondered if he would lose it in private as well.
"Smokefoot and Crowfrost, go with Tigerheart to recover her body," the leader instructed. The two seasoned warriors nodded and followed a bewildered looking Tigerheart out of the camp.
There was a rustling from the ferns in the front of the camp a few moments after they left and out came Tawnypelt and her apprentice, Willowpaw. The warrior addressed Blackpaw, who was nearest to the entrance. "Did something happen?" she asked. "We heard a lot of noise."
Blackpaw gulped slightly, not wanting to break the news to them. "Ivytail was killed by a snake," she meowed slowly. "Smokefoot, Crowfrost, and Tigerheart have gone to get her body." Blackpaw's words were spoken without emotion, as though she couldn't believe that she was actually saying them. It was true; Blackpaw couldn't believe them. She had always thought ShadowClan warriors were invincible. Clearly, they were not.
After that, she couldn't really remember Tawnypelt's response, but somehow Blackpaw managed to make her way to the medicine den. Emeraldpaw looked up at her worriedly.
"You all right, Blackpaw?" the small grey apprentice asked.
Blackpaw seemed to snap out of a daze, looking up at her friend from her sitting position. "I'm all right, I suppose," she replied in a small voice. "I just can't believe that Ivytail is dead. It feels so weird."
Emeraldpaw nodded, laying down her herbs to come sit by Blackpaw. "I know what you mean," she meowed softly. "I felt like that after Starlingpaw died. She was going to be a warrior; Oakstar had planned her ceremony for that very day. But a badger ended her life before she could get to sit her vigil. It was a very sad day. Flametail was heartbroken; I think he thought it was his fault. I was just a kit then, so I didn't talk to him much, though." Emeraldpaw sighed slightly.
"I'm sorry," Blackpaw replied, her voice still small. "That must have been horrible, too." She felt a wave of sadness come across her and wanted to curl up in a ball like a kit. It felt like ages ago that she could do that. But now, as an apprentice, Blackpaw knew she would look weak.
Emeraldpaw nodded once more. "It helps that we know that they're going to StarClan," she meowed after a moment. "Because then we know that they have a better place to be and old Clanmates that can take care of them. So we can't be too sad."
Blackpaw nodded, understanding Emeraldpaw's words perfectly. "It sounds nice to be in StarClan," she mewed.
"It does," Emeraldpaw agreed. "I think you should go take a nap now. I'm sure Snowbird will not want to train after this accident, plus it's nearing sunset." Blackpaw nodded a bit numbly. "Would you like some poppyseeds to help you sleep?" Emeraldpaw asked.
"Yes, please," Blackpaw mewed. Her friend rose, took some seeds in her mouth, and set them on the ground in front of Blackpaw. "Thank you," Blackpaw whispered, then ate the seeds and left for the crowded apprentice den. Even with the poppyseeds, she didn't know if she could possibly sleep tonight.