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Squirrelpaw’s claws sank into the thin hide of a mouse, shortly joined by her teeth. The rodent struggles for a moment before it slowly fades to stillness. The she-cat proudly shows it off the her mentor.
“That’s it.” Dustpelt praises, resting his tail against Squirrelpaw’s flank for a moment before beckoning her to bury the catch.
Squirrelpaw busy her claws through the dirt until she’s dug a sizable hole, and drops the mouse in. She covers it with dirt and is immediately on the move again.
Dustpelt can only sigh at his apprentice’s enthusiasm, following her shortly. The young apprentice had only gotten more and more independent as she grew. While still attached at the hip with her sister, she had started taking care of herself more and getting out into the forest to hunt.
Dustpelt has had to put a real good effort into keeping the apprentice in check. And now, as the red cat narrowly misses a sparrow and mewls in dismay, Dustpelt snorts.
“Keep your voice down or you’ll scare off all the prey in the forest.” Dustpelt teases as he catches up.
He’s honored that Firestar chose Dustpelt to mentor one of his daughters, even though they had quite a rough start. Dustpelt wouldn’t consider them friends, exactly. But they had mutual respect for each other.
Squirrelpaw puffs up her tail, raising her chin. In a tree, she’s spotted a squirrel. Falling into a crouch, the apprentice creeps towards the base of the tree, eyes sharp and focused.
Her haunches sway for a moment to test her balance before Squirrelpaw leaps onto the bark of the tree and swiftly scales it. The squirrel barely has time to react in its relaxation before teeth have sank into its neck.
“Squirrelpaw!” Dustpelt guffaws. While not the tallest tree, the apprentice is still quite small and would struggle getting down.
Squirrelpaw clings to the branch she’d caught the squirrel, staring down at Dustpelt. Her tail flicks anxiously as she tries her best to turn around towards the trunk of the tree.
Her paw slips and Squirrepaw’s heart drops to her stomach, but she manages to regain her balance. She can see Dustpelt jolt, action-ready in case she falls.
“Don’t fall!” Dustpelt meows, eyes wide with worry. Squirrelpaw glares at him, annoyed that he’d just stated the obvious.
Squirrelpaw reaches her paw to the bark, calculating her best chances of getting down unharmed. Her body quivers with nerves.
“Just jump! Keep your legs bent to embrace impact while avoiding hurting yourself. Keep focused.” Dustpelt tries. His tail is flicking with distress. Poor cat, probably about to faint.
Squirrelpaw hunches, steeling her nerves. Looking at the ground, she tries to find the softest spot to land, and jumps. She keeps her legs slightly bent, feeling her stomach twist and curl as she falls through the air.
As Squirrelpaw lands, her legs take the force and softens it as they band fully and send her softly into the mulch on the ground. Even so, Squirrelpaw yelps as her paw lands on a weird angle.
Dustpelt audibly gasps and hurries up to her. This is the most distressed she’s ever seen him.
“Are you okay? Starclan, please tell me you didn’t break something!” Dustpelt worries aloud, hunching down to check on his apprentice with feverish concern.
“I’m fine!” Squirrelpaw complains, though her voice is strained as her paw throbs with pain. It isn’t unbearable but she likely won’t be able to walk properly for the rest of the day.
Dustpelt nudges her bothered leg with worry, his entire body quivering with adrenaline.
“Let’s- let’s just fetch your mouse and get back to camp.” Dustpelt meows, rising to his paws, tail hanging low.
“I said I’m fine!” Squirrelpaw complains, but picks her squirrel up and follows her mentor.
Dustpelt digs up the mouse she caught and grabs it, before leading Squirrelpaw back to Thunderclan’s camp, keeping close enough in case she needs to lean on him.
As they enter camp, Brightheart sits at the entrance and greets them, before looking worriedly at Squirrelpaw.
“Did you get hurt?” Brightheart asks, tilting her head.
“She got stuck in a tree and sprained her paw when she jumped down.” Dustpelt cuts in, after he placed the mouse down.
“Oh! Squirrelpaw, you should probably get to the medicine den to get it checked out.” Brightheart suggests softly.
Squirrelpaw nods passively, and Dustpelt picks the mouse back up before they head to the fresh kill pile, dropping their prey on it.
“Good hunt today, Squirrelpaw. Let’s get you to the medicine den.” Dustpelt says, tapping Squirrelpaw’s back with his tail.
Squirrelpaw grumbles, pride wounded from her fumble as she follows her mentor once again. The only thing to cheer Squirrelpaw up is when they get to the medicine den and Leafpaw’s head pops out, having sensed her sister’s presence.
“Squirrelpaw! What happened?” She asks curiously. The tabby had become even more invasive on Squirrelpaw’s health since she became a medicine cat apprentice.
“Just a sprained paw. Dustpelt insists I get it checked out.” Squirrelpaw complains, parting from her mentor with a quick mew of goodbye before she joins her sister and enter the medicine den.
“Well then, sit down.” Leafpaw says, sitting in front of Squirrelpaw in front of the medicine shelf.
Squirrelpaw joins her sister, showing her injured paw. Leafpaw taps and prods at the joints, checking for trigger points and any possible fractures.
“Well, good news is that it’s just a sprain. Bad news is that you’ll have to rest for a bit so you don’t aggravate it and risk a worse injury.” Leafpaw diagnoses, an amused glint in her eyes. “Though I do wonder, how did it happen?”
“I got stuck in a tree.” Squirrelpaw grumbles, feeling the incoming laughter from her sister. As predicted, an amused noise escapes Leafpaw’s throat before she starts giggling.
“Of course you did. Just get back to the apprentice’s den and rest up that paw of yours’. Say hi to Whitepaw if she’s there, too. She had a bit of a stomachache and I want to make sure she’s okay.” Leafpaw instructs, swiping her tail at her sister’s flank to dismiss her.
Squirrelpaw mocks her sister’s voice under her breath as she limps away. The sunlight blinds her and Squirrelpaw squints her eyes as she makes a beeline for the apprentice’s den.
It takes mere moments for her hurried pace to bring her to her nest in the den, plopping down on it with a strained grunt. Spiderpaw is in his nest, too.
“Where’s Sorrelpaw? I thought she’d have gotten back from her training by now.” Squirrelpaw questions the dark tom, ear flicking.
“She got into trouble and has to check the elders for ticks.” Spiderpaw informs absentmindedly, slumped in his nest. The apprentice had been on nightwatch with Mousefur, even though she’d argued.
“Hah! Really?” Squirrelpaw muses, tail tucking around herself. Spiderpaw nods curtly, though his eyes shine with a hint of amusement.
“Oh hey, Squirrelpaw! What’re you doing here?” Squirrelpaw turns to the newly arrived Whitepaw. The snowy she-cat eyes Squirrelpaw curiously.
“I’m on bed rest. Sprained my paw.” Squirrelpaw explains vaguely. “Oh and, Leafpaw wanted you to check in about your stomach.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that, and I’ll get to her as soon as I’m done with my duties.” Whitepaw responds, touching Squirrelpaw’s flank with her tail before she leaves the den once again.
Squirrelpaw decides to lay her head on her paws, trying to get some sleep.
She’d been here for hours! Squirrelpaw’s skin was buzzing with energy but she was still on bedrest.
But as she attempted to get up, a presence made itself known. Tiny approached Squirrelpaw with a disapproving look.
“Stay in your nest.” The ghost orders sharply. Squirrelpaw glares at the tom but obeys, looking more like a pouting kit than a refined, proud apprentice.
“But it isn’t that bad!” Squirrelpaw argues, baring her teeth harmlessly. She was never truly mad at Tiny, but his quips could sometimes be annoying.
“You’ll make it worse. Would you really want to sustain a permanent injury due to your own negligence?” The cat questions. His head tilts daringly.
“Cinderpelt has a permanent injury and she’s just fine.” Squirrelpaw replies, tail lashing.
“And they forced her to be a medicine cat when she wanted to be a warrior.” Tiny points out. That, makes Squirrelpaw fall silent.
She had to admit that, while Cinderpelt is one of the best medicine cats in Thunderclan history, her life was indeed cruel. Squirrelpaw has immense respect for the medicine cat, but she herself would never want to be resigned to that fate.
“..Fine.” Squirrelpaw grumbles, laying her head back down.
“When you recover, I’ll teach you some battling techniques.” Tiny vows, sitting down beside Squirrelpaw as the ever-present comfort he’d always been throughout her life.
That makes Squirrelpaw giddy, but she manages to get herself to fall asleep.