Out of the marsh and into the road (For Grey and Drippy)

Gray paws padded through the mud, making a slight squishing sound, though Curlypaw couldn´t hear that. She needed to do something to get her mind off everything. Off of Daypaw, Crowpaw, Willowpaw, Lilacpaw, now even Cedarpaw, and birds. She had way too many stressful things going on in her mind, and hunting would be the best way to get her mind away from her troubles. Spotting a small frog, she slid into a hunters crouch, ready to pounce, when the frog leaped away. Though it wouldn´t be the first time she had scared a frog away, she hadn´t even done anything yet, so it must have been something else. And she was right. Close to where the frog had been, a bird had landed. That filled her with rage. That bird had made her lose her catch, and all birds reminded her of what she could never have. Not even caring about sneaking up on it, she lunged for the bird as if attacking another cat. It, of course, flew away, leaving only a feather in its wake. The apprentice, of course, landed face first in the mud. Though the rest of her head was fine, her muzzle plunged into the thick mud, not letting her breathe. Frantically, she put her paws next to her muzzle and pulled her head back with all ther force she could muster. She stumbled back a few feet, taking gulps of air through her mouth, though mud still plugged her nose.
Suddenly she saw movement in the bushes, and faintrly heard the sound of her clanmates. Not wanting to be seen like this, she took off sprinting in a random direction, closing her eyes to make sure no tears came. Now she could hardly sense anything going on around her, as her eyes were closed, nose was plugged, and she had never been able to hear well. Though her paws grew sore from stepping on roots and pine needles, she couldn´t stop running. It felt too natural. Because of her lack of available sense, she failed to notice the ThunderClan border markers, or the even more distinct Thunderpath. She kept running until her paws hit the hard stone, then she opened her eyes and looked up. She was pretty far along the Thunderpath already, so it would be safer to just cross all the way instead of turning around, or at least she thought. Not hearing any monsters, she didn´t trot too fast, but unfortunately, unknown to her, there was a monster coming straight for her on her deaf side.

Sharppaw padded behind her mother, her green eyes narrowed. Now was the perfect time to impress her by winning a battle or catching a Twoleg.
Or something like that.
A butterfly flitted past and her eyes widened, filling with wonder.
"Momma?" She mewed, quickly abandoning her tough act and skipping after the strange, colorful creature.
"What... what is this stange... thing?"

Specklefang looked down at Sharppaw with a raise of her brow, her maw pushing together as she followed after the brightly coloured butterfly. "It's called a butterfly, have you never caught one in camp before?" She asked, her eye following it as well she herself positively enraptured by it. Until the rumble of a monster caught her attention; a movement on the path, turning to her son she pushed her kit behind her before turning to look towards the path and realizing- it was a cat! "Sharppaw, stay right where you are." The she-cat spat, her fur bristling.

Specklefang turned to look at the monster now rounding the bend, the thoughts of it being too late for the apprentice on the fore front of her mind but she ignored them. She knew she wasn't the fastest but she wasn't going to let this apprentice die right before her, she could do or try something even if it meant trading her life for another. Claws unsheathed she didn't wait another moment as she shot forwards, her jaw jutting out in concentration and need.

Tail high the she-cat felt the path on her paw pads, her head dipping as she passed the apprentice just barely before snatching the she-cats scruff in her jaws and heaving the apprentice to her paws. Specklefang was a shooting forwards, nothing was stopping her as she heaved the apprentice onto the Shadowclan side, her tail and everything bushed as she threw the apprentice into the muck where it was safe. Chest heaving Specklefang loomed over the apprentice, her eyes wide with the exhilaration and oncoming anger.

"Sharppaw! Make sure the path isn't rumbling when you cross!" Cruelly spat Specklefang as she glared down at the apprentice. "Feel free to lead us to Shadowclan camp." Specklefang growled, she didn't want to waste her words on the mouse-brain of an apprentice before her. Something irked in the back of her mind, knowing that she was also going to see Waspstep, hopefully. She hadn't seen the tom for a few moons now and hoped he was alright, after all she didn't want to loose two fathers.

Curlypaw's eyes narrowed and she growled under her breath when she saw the two ThunderClan cats. But that anger disapeared in an instant when she felt rumbling beneath her paws. She froze in shock and her jaw dropped in complete terror as she saw to monster speeding towards her, looking huge and hungry. To scared to react, she knew that this would be her end. Suddenly she felt teeth grab her scruff and she was being carried through the ir and onto her feet, basically being dragged at a bizarre pace by this huge she-cat. She felt the wind the moster created when it whizzed by a whisker-length behind them, though still terror kept her in its grasps. It wasn't until her body hit the ground on the side of the Thunderpath did she relax. She let out a sigh of relief as the realization that she wasn't going to die filled her. But as she looked up at the cat nearly the size of a badger glaring at her, her heart skipped a beat when she realized that the danger was far from over. Though gratitude was inside of her, now she felt terrified of this cat that had just saved her life.
"Th-thanks for saving me. But really, there is no need to come back to camp with me," she said nervously, stuttering a little from fear. Her single ear flattened and lifted, a nervous habbit. But then she remembered how there had been another cat, who this huge cat had called Sharppaw. Suddenly she stood up tall, trying to look confident. As scary as this huge cat was, she needed to look strong. And she needed to seem better and strong than the other apprentice, because outdoing someone younger than her was something that she could handle.

Sharppaw scowled and ran across the Thunderpath after Specklefang.
"What were you doing?" She mewed, her eyes narrowing as the apprentice's ear twiched- good, at least she had some respect and fear for Specklefang, the greatest warrior Thunderclan has ever known.
"Even a blind rabbit knows to stay away from here!"
She huffed, taking a step forward and continuing to scold the older apprentice. "And now we've gotta walk you back, if you're even capable of that."
Sharppaw pushed the apprentice forward roughly. Although she looked scared out of her wits, someone had to remind her not to cower like prey.
"What's your name, anyways?"

"Oh there really is a need, see, if you hadn't decided a stroll on the thunderpath was a fun idea!" Giving the apprentice a nudge into the territory she blinked, recalling that she had been to Shadowclan camp before. "Sharppaw, keep an eye on the apprentice for me." She meowed coolly as she strode towards the camp, her tail high as she led them.

When Sharppaw cam up to her, at first Curlypaw just narrowed her eyes angrily. But when the ThunderClan apprentice implied that she was dumber than a blind rabbit, she knew that it wouldn't be enough. With a long, low growl, she took a few steps closer to the cat. Though she was probably a little bit older, they were about the same size. She had often wanted to do this to one of her clanmates, but that was against the warrior code. However, she would not feel at all guilty about putting an enemy apprentice in her place. And the rough push with the harsh words put her over the edge. With a sudden burst of movement, she threw herself on top of the other she-cat, paws on her shoulders.
"I'm capable of a lot more than walking," the gray tabby growled, "And my name is Curlypaw by the way. A name given to me because I deserve it, because I help my clan. Unlike you, Sharppaw, who is as much of a burden as you were a newborn. Judging by how you didn't know what a butterfly was, I would say you don't deserve your pprentice name." Remembering the warrior, she looked up and hopped off of the other apprentice.
"I didn't try to go on the Thunderpath," she replied. If it had been an apprentice who said that, she would have made a snarky comment. But this warrior scared her. "And I will keep an eye on Sharppaw, not the other way around."

Sharppaw lifted her lip, her muscles flexing beneath her pelt. With one easy movement she tossed the she-cat off of her back, quickly rolling her over and grounding her face into the marshy ground, stepping on her back with all four paws.
Stepping back, she roughly pulled her up by the scruff, dropping the Shadowclan apprentice at her feet.
Her muzzle twisted into a snarl, the apprentice trotted forward.
"Come along, Curlypaw." She chirped innocently. "I guess I'll need to talk to Leopardstar about that display of violence. After all, we're only trying to help."

Once Curlypaw and Sharppaw were off each other, Specklefang was on the shadowclan apprentice in an instant. Grasping the apprentice's scruff she heaved the cat off the ground and into the marsh with a swiftness akin to a Windclan cat, scary for a lumbering beast like the she-cat was. "Don't you touch my daughter! We may be on Shadowclan territory but I have no qualms killing in 'defense'" She spat angrily, but she wasn't done. "You didn't try to go on the thunderpath? Then how did you get on? You get thrown on? Trip on?" Specklefang roared her tail lashing angrily.

"My daughter has more sense, butterfly or not because she knows to look and wait for my orders." She spat, bodily shoving the apprentice to her mud soaked paws. "Get moving, I don't want to hear any other words come out of your mouth until I've spoken to leopardstar. That include you, Sharppaw." The she-cat's lips curled before she over took the apprentice with ease once more.

Curlypaw was surprised how easily Sharppaw was able to roll her over, though she obviously didn't realize that she was too accustomed to the marsh to have it be used against her. When the other apprentice tried to grind her face in the mud, she promptly turned head and made sure she was on soft but not sticky mud, not even bothering to fight back. This excuse for a she-cat could't undermine her in her own territory.
"No, your mother mother was trying to help. And this is my territory and you are in-" she stopped abruptly as the huge warrior lifted her up and tossed her into the muck. Once again, she was able to control her fall just enough to land somewhere that would cushion her landing, rather than worsen it. She wasn't facing the monstrous she-cat, so didn't even realize that she was talking. Her lip instinctively curled back in a snarl when she was pushed to her feet, but no sound came out. Then she realized that everything was silent. The huge brown cat was talking, but she couldn't hear a thing. Oh no, she was having a deaf spell again. At the worst time possible. She knew she couldn't let any other cat know her weakness, especially enemies. She had to get to a medicine cat right away, or else the horrible sound would start. She would have to run away from the two cats. She realized right away the the big one would catch up to her in an instant, but then they would all be running for a little while. It was worth a shot.
So without any indication that she would do so, the gray tabby started sprinting towards camp.

Sharppaw nodded obediently, keeping her lips sealed. But something was wrong- Curlypaw had an odd expression on her face.

Then, without warning, the she-cat took off towards camp.
Sharppaw sprinted after her, staying on her tail but not overtaking her. She'd let Specklefang do the talking. The giant warrior could probably catch up to them in a few steps.

Sharppaw grimaced as they raced through the marsh, dodging puddles and trees alike in their made race.
Sharppaw managed to close her teeth on the apprentice's tail, but all she was rewarded was a few tufts of fur in her mouth. She spat it out behind her and continued to run.