Night Whispers

Ivypaw met his stare. “You might want to start watching for me,” she spat. “I won’t be an apprentice forever.” Her gaze darted back to Hawkfrost. “He’s always picking on the apprentices,” she hissed. “Why don’t you give him one of his own so he might leave the rest of us alone?”

Hawkfrost’s eyes glinted. “Do you want me to give him you?”

Ivypaw lashed her tail. At that moment, she felt ready to take on anything. “If you want. But then you’d have to find a new apprentice and start from scratch.”

Amusement lit the tabby warrior’s eyes. “I guess I would,” he conceded.

“I used to have my own apprentice,” Thistleclaw muttered. “She didn’t pass the final assessment.”

In spite of her burst of confidence, Ivypaw shivered. Something in his tone suggested that failing to pass the assessment meant something more final than trying again after more training.

“Come on, ’paw.” Hawkfrost dismissed Thistleclaw with a curt nod and turned his attention to Ivypaw. “We’re practicing water fighting tonight.”

“Why?” Ivypaw asked as she followed him between the trees. “I’m not a RiverClan cat.”

“But you may fight one someday.” Hawkfrost flicked his tail. “Hurry up. They’re waiting on the shore.”

Ivypaw caught sight of pelts through the trees. Antpelt sat with his tail curled over his paws. Beside him was Shredtail. Hollowpaw, a RiverClan apprentice she recognized from Gatherings, paced beside Snowtuft. Ivypaw looked for the river but saw nothing beyond the warriors except shadow. She pricked her ears but only heard the wind whining softly through bare branches. “Where’s the river?”

Hawkfrost halted as he reached the other cats. “There.”

Ivypaw stared at the flood of dark liquid sliding silently past them. “That’s a river?”

A strange sickly stench rose from it. Hollowpaw wrinkled his nose. “It’s the best they’ve got.”

“This should be funny.” Antpelt scowled at Ivypaw. “I’ve never seen a ThunderClan cat get wet.”

“And I suppose WindClan is always splashing around in the lake,” she shot back. She glanced through the trees. “Is Tigerheart here?” She kept her tone casual. She didn’t want anyone to guess how much she wanted to see the ShadowClan warrior. The thought of getting her pelt wet, especially in that sludgy river, woke butterflies in her belly. She felt safer around Tigerheart. Like the time when they’d trained on the tree trunk and Thistleclaw had knocked Sparrowfeather to the ground.

She frowned, suddenly realizing that she hadn’t seen Sparrowfeather since.

Hawkfrost strode to the riverbank. “Are you ready?”

Ivypaw stiffened.

“Before we try it in the water, I’ll show you what we’re going to practice.” Hawkfrost beckoned Antpelt to step forward.

The WindClan warrior lifted his chin and stood stiffly in front of the dark-furred tom. With a quick, low lunge, Hawkfrost knocked Antpelt’s hind legs out from under him. Antpelt stumbled and scrabbled back onto all four paws.

A shadow slid from the trees. “Easy to recover on dry land.” It was Darkstripe. “But in running water, it’s not so easy to regain your balance.”

Ivypaw’s fur pricked. She didn’t like Darkstripe. There was something sly about the skinny black-and-silver warrior that made her nervous. He’d once bitten Tigerheart after they had finished a training match, and then denied it.

Hawkfrost greeted Darkstripe with a brisk nod and went on. “When you’re in the water, it’s best to keep your claws tucked in. It may feel more natural to try and grip the riverbed, but loose stones rolled by the current may catch a claw and rip it out.”

Ivypaw shuddered.

Hawkfrost flicked his tail. “Antpelt, try the move out on Shredtail in the water.”

Antpelt padded tentatively into the thick, slow-flowing river. He waded up to his belly, then farther, until the water reached his shoulders. It slapped against him, making a sound unlike any water Ivypaw had heard before.

“Snowtuft, you work with Hollowpaw,” Hawkfrost ordered.

Snowtuft nodded, eyes glinting in the half-light.

Hollowpaw waded in. “This isn’t water!” he grumbled. “It’s too slimy.”

Snowtuft shoved the RiverClan apprentice with his muzzle. Hollowpaw stumbled, losing his footing. His shoulders dipped blow the surface as he struggled to find his paws, but he kept his nose high and clear of the dark water.

Ivypaw scanned the forest, wishing Tigerheart would come. She hadn’t seen the young ShadowClan warrior for several nights. Had he been training in a different part of the forest?

Darkstripe blocked her view. “I’ll partner with Ivypaw if you like, Hawkfrost.” He shrugged. “Since you’re supervising.”

Ivypaw straightened and lifted her chin. “Okay.” She waded into the shallows, hoping the cold water would soothe the stinging scratches on her neck. She was dismayed to find it flowing warm and thick around her legs, tugging at her fur like invisible weeds. She grimaced as she headed deeper, trying to glimpse the riverbed through the murky water.

Darkstripe slid through the water beside her. “Come on, slow slug.”