The next generation

The sun was low in the sky, and the camp bustled with usual evening activity. Dappleleaf lay outside the elders' den, watching the goings-on of her clan. Two mice lay discarded by her paws. She wasn't in the mood to eat, but had brought them over to try tempt herself. A very social she-cat, she was searching for conversation, as the conversation in her own den was often very repetitive. It would be refreshing to chat with a cat of a different age, just for a change in conversation topic.

Much to her luck, she spotted a brown tabby apprentice wandering past with her fresh-kill. "Hello," she said, "Come sit beside me. What's your name, I don't believe I've met you before." She deeply hoped that the she-cat would take up the conversation. What it was like to be an apprentice, she mused. Her own apprenticeship had been a little all over the place due to her injury, but she'd never forget the moons she spent messing around and being mischievous with Doepaw.

Soon another apprentice joined them, an excitable-looking young tom - a nice change to the normal way of the elders' den. It didn't take long for them to be joined by a third apprentice, making their little group suddenly seem a lot bigger. "Hello to you two as well, who are you?" she greeted pleasantly.

Shrikepaw was wandering around with another exciting training with Icecloud. She had a squirrel in her mouth, which she took from the fresh-kill pile. But she was mostly lost in her own thoughts. Icecloud is a great mentor, she thought. She is so bubbly, and always is able to cheer me up even when I am feeling bad about myself. She also helped me learn how to hunt, and I caught my first prey ever with her, so that was pretty cool too!

When one of the elders called to her, Shrikepaw turned her head around. "Oh," she said awkwardly. "Hi." She hadn't realized that she had been wandering towards the elders' den. Shrikepaw, you have to know where you are walking! her brain chastised her. "My name is Shrikepaw," she said, sitting down next to the elder. "What's your name? Are you an elder?" Was that question too blunt? Did I make a mistake asking her that? What if she was just a really old warrior and I just insulted her? Shrikepaw was extremely embarrassed by this encounter, which caught her completely by surprise.

Pebblepaw's ears perked when he spotted two cats talking to each other. Quickly, he skipped over, smiling brightly. He recognised one of them, the apprentice, he just wasn't sure what their name was. As he came over he caught the apprentice's name. "Hi's Strikepaws!" He mewed suddenly in greeting. He then looked at the much older cat. "I's haven'ts seens yous at alls arounds. Ares yous an elders? I's feels likes I'ds haves seens yous mores ifs yous weres a warriors. Plus.. ers, nos offences buts you'res reallies olds." He giggled nevously. Noticing the older cat's paw, he couldn't look away from it. "What's wrongs withs yours paws?" He lifted his paw and gently touched the twisted paw with his own.

Quailpaw was laying around when he noticed that Dappleleaf was talking to his demates. Curious, Quailpaw padded over and sat down next to Pebblepaw. "What's going on here?" He asked, his voice curious.

"Yes, I am an elder, my name is Dappleleaf. Although, I don't think I'm that old," she said, smiling. To be fair to them, she was a lot older than any of them, yet still not to much older than many of the senior warriors. "I'll tell you a little secret, I met a Riverclan tom at the Gathering the other day, and I reckon that he could've been as old as Fourtrees itself!" She may've been exaggerating a little, but Carpsplash did seem very, very old, so much so it made her feel as if she retired too early.

When one of the young apprentices, questioned her paw, and then prodded it slightly, she jumped a little. Her injury had happened such a long time ago that she was almost never questioned on it. Or maybe it's because I'm too old and scary, she thought jokingly. She looked down at her two mottled paws. One looked perfectly normal, but the other twisted at a strange angle, making it almost completely useless, and creating a position that couldn't be achieved on a cat without injury. "Oh, my paw?" she said, still a little startled at the bluntness of the question. He was young, and manners would come with time, hopefully. "It's been like that for a long time, since I was probably about your age," she nodded at the two younger looking apprentices. She guessed that they could feel a story coming along, and she hoped that they would be wiling to listen. "Do you want to hear the story? It might be a bit of a long one, mind you, but if you're all willing to hear it, I'm happy to tell it."

Shrikepaw noticed as Dappleleaf called two other cats, also apprentices. Pebblepaw and Quailpaw, if she remembered correctly. "Hi Pebblepaw," she said. She didn't know very much about Pebblepaw of Quailpaw, except that they were apprentices of ThunderClan. I barely know them, she thought. Staring at Dappleleaf, she nodded. "I can't speak for anyone else, but I would love to hear your story," she said. Perhaps she would be able to take something away from it that she wouldn't have experienced before. And at the very least, she would be able to enjoy the story.

Pebblepaw's eyes widened as the old cat told him about the old tom at the gathering. "Reallies?" He giggled, not able to hold it in. "As olds as FOURTREES?"

After the elder jumped back at his touch, he pulled it away. "Erms, sorries." He muttered in apology. "I's reallies didn't means its..." He trailed off as the she-cat began talking. Before she could even finish the question he lifted his tail. "Ohs! A stories? Yeses! I's donts cares hows longs its is I's reallies wants to hears its, I'ms so's interesteds!"

Giving a quick glance to Dappleleaf's paw, a curiousity overtook Quailpaw. "I'd like to hear this story." He said, wrapping his tail around his paws.

Unsurprised at the apprentices' eagerness for a story, Dappleleaf paused to collect her thoughts. Was she strong enough for this? With Doeskip by her side, maybe, but without her? I guess I've committed now though. Keep it together and everything will be ok. Her mental state had come a long way since she pestered Daisybloom in the medicine den, but think about the late she-cat still upset her.

Deep breath. "Once upon a time, many seasons ago, I was an apprentice like you three." She began in her usual story-telling voice. "I was out hunting with my father, Featherstep, who also happened to be my mentor, my best friend Doepaw and Pansyheart. Doepaw, who later became Doeskip, my mate, now rests with our ancestors in Starclan." You can do this. She had managed to mention the she-cat without the familiar lump returning to her throat. "It started out like any other patrol, but we were soon attacked by two dogs." Luckily, dogs weren't too common in their forest, and when they were there, they were usually attached to a Twoleg by a tendril, making unable to chase the cats living there.

"We all fought with the strength of Lionclan, Doepaw later making it to safety up a tree. One of the dogs looked as if it were about to kill Featherstep, and so I leapt into to save him. The dog clamped its jaws around my paw," She lifted her twisted paw a little to indicate that this was the part of the story they had asked about, "and threw me to the side. I hit my head pretty hard on a rock and slipped unconscious. To be honest, I can't really remember what happened after that - I assume I was pulled up the tree as well, but all my mind could focus on was the pain in my fore leg."

The recovery after that had been long in hard: from her doubts of her becoming a warrior, to the pain itself. She hoped with all her heart that none of these apprentices would ever go through something remotely similar, or watch a friend or family member do so. "I guess that's the end of the story, then. Any of you have any questions?" She added at the end. Apprentices and young cats tended to be curious, and she had nothing better to do these days other than fuel it.

Shrikepaw listened quietly to Dappleleaf tell the story. The ThunderClan elder was an excellent storyteller, with a calm voice that Shrikepaw could easily immerse herselves in with. She imagined the cats and the patrol, then the two dogs that appeared. The brown tabby apprentice had never seen dogs before, but she heard about them. They were big and dangerous creatures that could kill a cat, especially if they were not held back by Twolegs. As Dappleleaf continued on, Shrikepaw began visualizing what happened in her head. In her mind, a younger Dapplepaw ended up saving her father, Featherstep by jumping in front of a dog attack, which immediately threw her back and permanently twisted her paw. Shrikepaw stared at Dappleleaf incredulously. That injury most certainly affected the she-cat for the rest of her life. And although she wasn't able to tell before the story, the brown tabby she-cat realized that Dappleleaf must have had a tough time as a warrior. "That was extremely brave of you to jump in front of the dog attack," the older apprentice said. "I know that it doesn't mean much, but my respect for you has gone up. A lot."