Dreams and Omens

I go to sleep early so I can wake up before dawn. When I wake I quickly grab two mice. Eat quickly then rush for the forest. My legs and paws are powerful now. I run for the training clearing long before anyone will be there. There I practice my new moves. It's not until the sun crests just above horizon that I stop. Still wanting to keep the moves to myself. I sit and curl my tail around myself waiting for the other apprentices and their mentors. I close my eyes for a moment. I'm walking in a grass valley surrounded by leafy trees. I see a cat in the distance.

"Cloverstar?" An old ShadowClan leader. I keep pace with her.

"They say most evil leaders come from ShadowClan. Are they right? And if they are, why?" I think on that.

"Can it be fixed?" I ask her. She tells me the truth.

"I hope so. Just maybe not yet."

"Is she asleep again?" Foxpaw voice is shrill, and shakes me from my half-dream. I've gotten good at that. My ears flatten.

"I was awake before you." I say simply in annoyance.

"A warrior needs to be awake and always ready for a fight." Foxpaw looks smug his mentor; Pineneedle agrees with him.

"A warrior. A real warrior needs to be ready. Even when tired or starving they need to be ready. Evil won't stop just because your at you weakest." I counter, paraphrasing something Cloverstar said once. "Besides I am neither. Shall we." I flick with my tail inviting us to begin training.

"You took two pieces of prey before the hunting patrol came back." Pineneedle muses.

"I doubled my training sessions. I run at both dawn and dusk. My appetite is merely a result of me putting in double the amount of work. Perhaps your apprentice could learn a thing or two." Not that I would expect or even recommend such a training routine for most cats, but he needs to learn to keep his mouth shut. He's not my mentor. Pineneedle's fur bristles. Snowdrift puts her tail tip on his shoulder.

"Come on we'll go hunting." She says. I nod leaving the other two to train.

"Why do insist on doing that? You need to show more respect your senior warriors." She chastises me. I don't blame her. Soon I'll be living the warriors den with him. But that's precisely the point. I'm almost an adult yet he insist on nitpicking everything I do.

"Does he respect me?" I ask her.

"What?" Snowdrift says clearly not having seen where my mind has gone.

"Is he respecting me by disliking my waking to night terrors. When those dwindled in frequency it was my insistence and getting up earlier that bothered him. Then my insistence on training and exercising more. Then eating more because of that. Somehow me going to bed early also bothers him. The fact that I don't hang out with the other apprentices, though they have no desire to hang out with me either. Just now, he agreed with his apprentice chastising me. Was that the apprentices job?"

"Well, no-"

"Was it Pineneedle's job to tell him it was immature to correct someone who was also an apprentice and was the same age as him."

"Well yes but-"

"My point is, is just because his comments about me bother you, they don't bother me. And I will not show him respect until he shows that same respect to me. I'm going to be living in the Warriors Den with him soon after all, I will not be disrespected. I know what I'm worth. He doesn't need to understand why I do the things that I do. It's not as if I'm actually breaking any codes." Last I checked. She's silent now. I look up to her, and she is a good mentor, but this has been happening a lot lately. My mother says I'm growing up. Growing wiser and more independent. I think I'm just more clever. I knew we were going to have a conversation like this so put together the points beforehand. That's all. Like Pineneedle, Snowdrift can be predictable at times. I'll be it she's a much stronger warrior than him, and recognizes that I will be warrior soon. Still I think it bothers her that she's never won one of our disagreements with me. Not in a long time anyway. I've noticed that her weakness is that she's quite insecure. She's also too loyal to any authority figure as well as the clan. She never questions anything. Rules or traditions she follows them blindly. That's not what StarClan wants there warriors to do. Even if it's what she thinks they want. She moves forward quickly. There's a bird flying between the pine trees. Snowdrift leapt forward, and caught it impressively mid air.

"Good catch." I comment. We move forward. Our paws silent on the bed of pine needles. As any ShadowClan cat would be unlike any other cat. Stealth was our greatest strength. Our greatest pride as ShadowClan cats. I smelled the air. Rabbit. I rush forward. Trees pass so quickly the details blur. There's only the prey in front of me. I smell the boarder. ThunderClan sent is strong in the air, and it's only as I bite into its neck do I process this.

"Nightpaw your almost a warrior. What have I told you about your impulsiveness."

"I was determined to catch it." I state.

"Come back before-" She scolds.

"Before a parol notices you." A cat finishes. I move the piece of prey over the border, and drop it at my mentors paws. The ThunderClan warrior speaks again. "Your trespassing. I'd think ShadowClan warriors would have more control over their apprentices." Mooncurl says. She's clearly leading this boarder patrol. Her apprentice unsheathes her claws.

"Are ThunderClan cats always this hypocritical?" I ask my tone light, like where discussing the weather at a gathering.

"Nightpaw." My mentor hisses. I'm only half listening now. My focus on the possible threat in front of me.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Another ThunderClan cat I don't recognize snaps.

"Why just last week wasn't it Hallowlight who crossed our boarder after a squirrel. That patrol claimed it was her squirrel given she was chasing it before she reached our boarder correct." I pause but don't wait for an answer. "So with that logic this prey would be ours would it not? Or are we all just making up rules now?" I unsheath my claws. Snowdrift does so beside me. Looking at me like she has no idea what I'm doing. Mooncurl pauses then huffs.

"Get on your side of the boarder apprentice, and don't let us catch you here again." I dip my head and turn on my tail. Just after crossing the boarder I hear Mooncurl's apprentice complaining. I call over my shoulder.

"Next time ShadowClan catches you on our territory. I'll claw your fur off." Snowdrift had been lecturing me awhile.

"What goes through your head to-"

"To talk myself out of a fight?" The tip of her tail flicks.

"Don't-" She sighs. "I just worry. Soon I won't be taking care of you anymore." I touch noses with her.

"You'll always be here for more. I just know how to get myself out of trouble."

"And into to trouble." She adds. I can't help but agree. I have been feeling a bit reckless lately. No more like restless. Not sure why. Suppose it's because my Warrior Ceremony is so soon. My mother had finished talking Branchstar, and Owleye.

"Brairpaw is adjusting well as Owleye's apprentice." I purr, pleased.

"She'll be a great medicine cat. Owleye chose well."

"StarClan chose well." She agrees. "How are you? Excited, nervous, or simply waiting with anticipation." My mother says knowingly. Nailing it on that last part.

"I suppose I'm tired of waiting." I admit.

"You won't be waiting much longer now. A few more days won't make a difference." I nod. I watch Brairpaw talks quickly with Owleye, and our leader. She still seems excited, but I see nervousness in her eyes too as she speaks. I rise to my paws to talk with her, but feel a tail on my shoulder.

"Brairpaw was talking with Owleye, Vineleap, and Branchstar earlier. She dreamed." Her voice is hushed. I hold my breath. "There was dead cats hanging from the forest branches." I feel my eyes widen. "I was one of the cats she saw."