Reedpaw's First Border Patrol

Reedpaw rocketed out of the apprentice den at the speed of a Twoleg monster, and out in front of Froststar's den, jumping up and down excitedly.

It was still very early in the morning, with the sun up in the sky only barely, as it was probably as groggy as the rest of the camp. Froststar, being leader of course, was always much too busy to train him and this was the day that he was going to start. He felt as if this was going to be the best day of his life, and was shaking with excitement. Or maybe that was the chilly air biting and nibbling at him through his layer of absolutely sexy fur.

Yes, like in all of Sleepy's topics because he is a miserable Washingtonian Seattlite who secretly wishes everyone around him was dead, it was terrible outside because the unoriginal arse can't bring himself to make it a nice morning. It has to be windy, cold, and gray.

Fourth wall demolition aside, Reedpaw was having a mental battle with himself whether or not to step inside the den as he looked around. As much as he was shaking and jumping around and just begging to be punted across a field full of angry dogs because of how happy and excited he was, he was still freezing while everyone else were in their nice cozy dens underneath a hard reedy roof.

"Brrr!" A voice sound from the leader's den as Froststar pulled herself out of her nice warm moss bed and into the drab, dismal camp. This morning the camp wasn't so lively, as she had expected considering how much she herself didn't want to step outside. She looked around and saw- oh hey, it's your apprentice, Frosty. The one you've been totally neglecting? ... "Oh, hi Reedpaw. Do you need something?" She asked casually, giving her shoulder a few licks to smooth down the messy fur from sleep. "Because if not, I could really use some help on a border patrol." She suggested.

Reedpaw nodded a bit too entusiastically with a wide grin. He resisted the urge to just dart out of camp. "Yes!" Reedpaw said, struggling to keep his voice level.

Froststar nodded, with less enthusiasm than the apprentice, an amused gleam in her eyes at his excitement. "Alrighty then, we should get going." She meowed, before walking out of camp and towards the river. The ground was covered in dead leaves, some simply brown, some sharp red and golden colors. Some of the prey was becoming harder to find, like the mice, and voles, but as long as the river didn't freeze over- which probably wouldn't happen because of the running water- then RiverClan would be fine. She felt bad for the other clans when it came to the colder seasons, but she couldn't dwell on that. She looked behind her, to make sure her apprentice was following.

Reedpaw was indeed following, right on Froststar's tail. He looked around the territory in awe. While he had left camp once for the Gathering, it was dark and he could hardly see. Now he looked around at the tall reeds and pebbly path, coated in dead leaves. This was of course Reedpaw's first Leaf-Fall, and he had never seen leaves of these colors. He still kept up though, following his leader closely. The smell of the territory was nice too; it was everything he was familiar with. The freshness of it all was simply lovely to the nose.

ooc; Oh look, a wild post appeared. *hides in bomb shelter* Don't kill me. ;n;

IC; Froststar didn't take a lot of time to look around at the vibrant fall colors, instead at the path ahead of her. Soon she arrived at the river, and then Frosty added stuff to this post to make it look like she actually tried harder than she did. I cannot write and listen to the music at the same time.... >.< Anywho, yaaay. I posteeeddd. :'D

Reedpaw looked at the crystal clear river with awe. He could see silvery flashes of the skin of fish and all the colorful rocks scattered about the bed. Reedpaw approached the shore, dipping a white paw in the icy cold water. The apprentice recoiled sharply when some foamy white water splashed up from some of the boulders standing defiantly in the path of the raging river, comically shuffling backwards on the hard rocky shore.

"Are those the Sunningrocks, Froststar?" he asked, after looking up and pointing his tail over at the collection of rocks. It seemed to be where the shore ended and the thick undergrowth and trees began.

Froststar watched the apprentice's awed reaction, a smile in her eyes. The river really was something all RiverClan cats could love. Even when it was so wild and free, and she chuckled as Reedpaw stumbled backwards, showing no reaction other than twitching her ears. She followed the direction in which his tail pointed, and then nodded softly. "Yup. Do you want to go over there?" She asked, looking in the tom's direction.

Reedpaw's whiskers twitched a bit as a big excited smile formed. "Yes!" he mewed, bouncing on his paws.

OOC: Small post. Terrible post. *seppuku*

Froststar nodded softly, and Reedpaw's excitement soon grew contagious. She lead him up to Sunningrocks, hopping up and feeling the warm, sunbathed stones beneath her paws, spreading warmth through her body. Even in late fall, these rocks still seemed to be radiating warmth. She looked over at Reedpaw, a smile bright in her eyes.

Reedpaw smiled back, joining her on the rocks and feeling the nice warm feeling, contrasting against the chilly day.

A rustling brought him to attention.

A snuffling black and white creature stepped onto one of the rocks. It was short but stout, pure muscle behind its lumbering paws.

A badger.

Reedpaw froze up, a look of fear and surprise quickly being covered up by a look of determination. A hiss escaped Reedpaw's throat as he pressed himself against the rocks, swinging a paw threateningly at the beast.

It would be a lie to say that Reedpaw was really fearless in the situation.

On the contrary, every muscle in his body told him to flee. He hid his shaking with the rigid position.

To him, he needed to be brave. Not only for his Clan, but for himself. He was going to be the best there was. Reedpaw wasn't about to be tossed around like he had been in kithood. He'd be the best warrior the forest had ever known.

Then the badger slapped Reedpaw across the face.

The heavy paw knocked him senseless with just the first blow, its claws raked across his muzzle in three ragged red stripes, staining the white and brown coat of the tabby with crimson blood.

Reedpaw stumbled, falling over on the rock he was standing on. But as Reedpaw attempted to stand back up again, another blow landed on the other side of his face. Three crimson ragged lines appeared on his muzzle from the long nails of the attacker.

Reedpaw fell backwards without so much as a yelp of surprise. Cats being dexterious creatures could usually land on their feet, but Reedpaw was surprised and muddled. He began to turn in mid-air but landed on his side, a sharp stone piercing his flank. Another couple of painful tumbles before he landed on the ground with a sharp CRACK.

His fur was a mess; he was coated in a cake of dirt and blood. From under Reedpaw a stream of blowed flowed throughout the rocks, tinting them. Reedpaw was completely still except for his tail, which twitched at the tail tip. It seemed to be bent at an impossible angle though.

Reedpaw's expression was one of twisted pain. "F... Fros..." he mewed pitifully, nearly inaudibly.

The badger then turned to the multi-colored she-cat, ready to take her down too.

Oh dear StarClan, did Froststar hate badgers. They could do no good, it seems. They were large and bulky, and hard to fight without getting your head smashed in with their annoyingly large paws. She remembered seeing her first badger when she was an apprentice. She was unfortunate enough to be on the patrol that ran across the intimidating creature. She had watched, frozen in panic as the older warriors fought the badger, warning her to stay back. She recalled running back to get help as they fought. Eventually they chased off the badger, but she had been so terrified...
So for a moment, Froststar watched Reedpaw, almost in awe as he batted at the monster, realizing that he was much more brave than she had been back then. But as he suffered the first blow, Froststar noticeably winced. That was her apprentice that badger just harmed. And this was her territory.
She watched with wide, angry eyes as Reedpaw's blood painted the rocks. Granted, the anger was directed towards herself and the badger. She hissed, sharply turning towards the badger, who was already coming towards her. She watched with focused eyes as the animal brought it's heavy paw up, then descended it towards her. Froststar dodged the blow and brought sharp claws to the creature's face in a quick jump. The badger yowled in pain and surprise, slapping Froststar away and digging sharp claws into her side. She yelped, rolling away from it's grasp as blood began to trickle from her side. She watched the badger blink away blood, and she noticed in pleasure that she had cut into his left eye.
Fighting off the pain at her side, she darted to the creature's new blind side and bit sharply into it's side, holding on even after the taste of warm blood filled her mouth. The badger cried out again and- now outraged, batted Froststar off roughly. She slid across the rocks, grimacing in pain. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to calm herself. Everything was quiet except for the ringing in her ears, but she knew the badger was closing in on her- mainly because of it's stench. Thinking fast, she sprang forward and dug her sharp fangs into the badger's front paw. It yowled in pain, beginning to toss Froststar around like a ball of moss the kits played with as a nursery game. Stars covered her vision as her spine hit a sharp rock, and she went limp, letting go of the badger in defeat.
Seemingly satisfied, the badger wandered off, and Froststar watched before her vision went completely red. She couldn't hear anything but the sound of her heart slowly down, and felt nothing but pain pulsing through her body.

BumpBumpBump.
Bump. Bump.
Bump.

Then silence, as she slipped away completely.

OOC; Well, that post was a lot longer than it needed to be. xD Hope you're happy. D;

Reedpaw watched the conflict through blurry vision and half-slit eyes. Froststar battled so bravely against such a strong opponent. And with such mastery, too! It was a shame that he didn't possess the same skills... As Froststar was taken out and joined him at the bottom he opened his mouth to speak but only blood came out, and he coughed violently. He attempted to move one of his legs. No response. He tried another one. Reedpaw had more success, and he was able to move it slightly. He started to roll over and attempted to stand up. The strenuous pain in his legs was unbearable and he collapsed again. The apprentice couldn't even stand up. Reedpaw looked back to his leader, his mentor... She wasn't breathing.

I am going to die.

The thought rang out through Reedpaw's head. He was going to die after just six moons of life. There was no hope here. The best Warrior in RiverClan was losing a life to this animal and he was incapable of movement. He had no battle practice or any training in general. The most aggressive opponent he had ever faced was an aggravated moss ball.

No. I can't die here. Reedpaw began to stand up again. The pain instantly returned and he wanted to give up. But he didn't let in until he was standing shakily on three paws. His right foreleg hung limply. He had no idea if it would ever work again. He turned his eyes to the badger, who seemed to be more concerned with traversing down the steep rocks than with its prey. He'd have to be swift.

Of course, swiftness was never on a RiverClan cat's side. Especially a crippled one. He began his shaky walk towards Froststar's now lifeless body. She'd get up soon, right? StarClan granted leaders with nine lives. Hopefully she still had some in her.

Come on, Reedpaw... Come on, StarClan...

"Fr... Froststar... G-get... Get..."

The words couldn't form in his throat. Another coughing fit hit him and he felt blood well up in his throat. The crimson substance flew out in front of him and he was feeling a bit dizzy now. He just wanted to close his eyes...

Come on, Reedpaw... You can do this.

Reedpaw took another step and stumbled, falling face first. "Frost...star... Get... get..." his emerald eyes began to close again, a stream of blood trickling from his mouth.

Darkness. That's all she saw. All around her was pitch black nothing, and under her feet was cold, soft stone. She knew she was suppose to be somewhere, doing something. She knew it was urgent, and important... But she couldn't move. And not because she didn't want to, although there was a sense of peace here... But no, she simply couldn't get her limbs to work.
Suddenly, she looked up as stars appeared, washing the surroundings in starry light. And then, like falling stars, past cats of RiverClan appeared around her. Since when was she in her territory? And she was, she noticed as she looked around at familiar ground. Stepping in front of her was her past leader, a sad smile on his face. Where did she need to be? Did she hear someone's voice?
"Where am I?" She questioned, though she wasn't scared.
"In StarClan. You've lost your first life." He answered sadly.
Froststar nodded, images of a bloody fight flashing in her mind. But she wasn't upset. She was at peace. Even as she felt a part of her being ripped away, she wasn't frightened. "When can I go back?" She finally asked, frowning slightly. Reedpaw was hurt, and the badger could come back at any moment.
"Give yourself a moment's rest, at least." Her past leader insisted, voice laced with worry.
She smiled sadly, shaking her head. "I'm afraid I don't have that long."
And then it went black.

Froststar's eyes opened immediately as she drew a sharp breath. The pain came rushed back, but it was less now, a bit dulled. She looked around and spotted Reedpaw, who couldn't have been in worse shape. "Oh, Reedpaw... I'm so sorry..." She murmured. How could she have let this happen to him? He had been so brave, and yet this had happened. He didn't deserve this. Despite the protests of her body, Froststar slowly stood up. As the world began to spin, she closed her eyes tightly. When she deemed it safe to open them again, they were filled with tears that she blinked away, and a determined look that couldn't have been wiped off by another badger blow. She grabbed Reedpaw gently by his scruff, and began to slowly limp towards camp. Blood stained her whole left plank, her back was throbbing intensly where she had landed, she figured at least a rib or two was broken, and blood dropped from a cut above her eye, blinding her. But she continued to walk.

Reedpaw's voice was hardly a whisper by now. "You... Frost..." it turned into an unintelligable quiet murmur. He felt himself being dragged by the scruff back to camp. He was helpless to do anything, though, even if he had the will. He'd been saved. For now, at least. But even still he wasn't in the clear. Reedpaw was weak. Yes, maybe the danger of the badger had begun to fade but his pain had surely just begun. These injuries... He ached all over. It hurt to move anything, so he didn't try. Even though Reedpaw hated to further burden his mentor he simply couldn't do anything. She might as well have been carrying a dead body.

The sad part was that the apprentice wasn't so far off. His breaths were shallow and came far too spaced out from each other. His life was hanging on a thread, and without a medicine cat... There was just no way. It'd be a miracle if he survived. And even if he did, would he be able to become a Warrior? Would he be able to do anything? Reedpaw attempted to push away the thought of being unable to move, forever condemned to the Elder's den. It was surely a fate worse than any death the dangers of the forest could offer.