Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Wolfstrike

     "Wolfpaw!  Wolfpaw!" the clan cheers.  Wolfpaw puffs out his chest, his eyes holding back cheerful tears.  It feels so great to be an apprentice!  Wolfpaw can see Deernose chanting his name, a twinkle in her eyes.  Wolfpaw jumps down from the small hill where OwlClan holds their clan meetings.  Wolfpaw pads over to his new den, the apprentice den.  Two cats are in there.
"Hey Wolfpaw!  I'm Sandypaw, and this is Fernpaw!" a tan colored cat says.  Wolfpaw purrs.
"You'll love being an apprentice!" a light brown she-cat says, Fernpaw.  Wolfpaw smiles.
"I know I will!  I'm so excited!" Wolfpaw says.
"Yeah!  Who's your mentor?" Fernpaw asks.
"Foxpool."  Sandypaw and Fernpaw's eyes widen.
"That's so cool! Foxpool is epic!" Sandypaw exclaims.  Fernpaw nods.
"Just don't let Petalpaw know right away.  She was hoping for Foxpool herself, but got stuck with Rockdust.  And to warn you, don't get off on the wrong paw with her."  Wolfpaw nods.  As he looks into the faces of his new denmates, they look worried, almost scared.  How can one cat be so bad?
"Don't let me know what?" A beautiful tortoiseshell she-cat steps into the den.  She has bright blue eyes and curved whiskers.  But there is no kindness in her eyes as she stares at Wolfpaw.
"So you're the new apprentice?" She sneers.  "You can take over my job of cleaning the elders' nests."
"Relax, Petalpaw.  Rockdust won't let you switch jobs anyway." Fernpaw says, her voice careful to choose the right words.  Petalpaw glares at her.
"When I'm leader," Petalpaw says, "I won't let apprentices talk so rudely."
"Petalpaw!  Hunting patrol!" The voice of Rockdust enters the den.  Petalpaw smirks.
"Asta la vista, losers!  While you're cleaning ticks off the elders, I'll be catching more squirrels than the warriors can carry!"  Petalpaw laughs as she walks out of the den.  Fernpaw rolls her eyes.
"If the prey doesn't hear her complaining, that is," Sandypaw mutters.
"She really is a pawfull!" Wolfpaw exclaims as soon as Petalpaw is gone.
"You got that right!  If I were you I'd take the nest farest away from hers!" Fernpaw exclaims.  Sandypaw nods.
"Sometimes she talks so loud in her sleep it wakes her up and she blaims it on the cat nearest to her.  And don't get me started on the snoring!" Sandypaw says, and all three apprentices laugh.
"Oh and by the way, Duststep says all four of us will go on a hunting session in the clearing after you've toured the camp with Foxpool.  So we'll get a nice, long nap."  Fernpaw grins.
"You mean Petalpaw is coming too?" Wolfpaw asks nervously.  I won't survive 5 minutes with that cat!  She's such a pain in the tail, and I just met her!
"Oh no, of course not!" Sandypaw exclaims.  "Brackenpaw is coming, not Petalpaw.  Petalpaw only has a few more moons of training until she becomes a warrior.  Sandypaw and I have been an apprentice for about a quarter-moon, and Brackenpaw about half a moon.  So we all might become warriors at the same time so you won't be alone."  Wolfpaw lets out a sigh of relief as soon as Fernpaw is done.  That's good. Now I won't have to sleep alone.  
"Wolfpaw!  Time to explore the territory!" Foxpool!
"Have fun, Wolfpaw!  Tell us all about it!" Sandypaw mews.  Wolfpaw nods and races after his mentor.