Nightpaw toss and turn as his dreams turn dark, eyes watching him, fangs flashing as he ran. He watch as cats made from shadows ran pass him, running from something. He heard his clan voices, rising in panic and he lower his ears as it was very loud. You was supposed to save us! he kept hearing as he turn to run from the cats made of blood. It didn't take a genius to know what was happening. Shadowclan is getting run out of their home like Windclan. He felt claws squeezing from all sides. There is too many of them and they bury him. He couldn't breathe.
"Nightpaw!" A paw shook him as he quickly jump up, tossing his nest around.
"Bad dream?" Badgerfang asks as he watch Nightpaw shake the pine needles off of his pelt.
"Yes." His tone is curt as he begin to pull his nest together and groom himself.
"Come on, the others are waiting." Badgerfang left as he finished. Others? Looking around, he realize he is alone. He shook his head to get the dream out of his mind as he went to the prey pile to grab something to eat. Badgerfang was waiting at the entrance as he finish eating, shoving the dream down the best he can as he pad towards him, licking the blood from his lips.
"So what are we going to do tonight?" He asks as they walk through the forest.
"We are going to learn how to navigate the forest while blind, learn how to communicate without speaking and do a battle patrol training. It is very different at night than the day. Badgerfang lead him towards a clearing with few bushes around. He saw Turtlepaw, Mousepaw, Gingerpaw and Gullpaw waiting with their mentors. They all look like they just woke up so he is glad he wasn't late by much. He went to sit between Mousepaw and Gingerpaw as Badgerfang went towards the mentors.
"now that we are all here, we are going to walk the forest with our eyes closed. Because the moon won't always be there to shine the light on us. You have to learn how to be without sight. We are Shadowclan, we travel the darkest paths without issues. This is a pure Shadowclan skill." Mossclaw mew as he pace back and forth.
"Due to circumstances, we have to speed up your training. You aren't supposed to learn this until the end of your apprenticeship. But you all are doing so well that Brokenstar ordered us to do this lesson." Hopeheart purr as she look at their excited expressions.
"We are going to do this, night battle and mimicry." Applefur added as she let out a loud hoot, sounding exactly like an owl.
Nightpaw's eyes widen as he watch her. He can't wait to learn these skills. Can see himself being a full warrior, teaching these to his own apprentice. Wait. Him having an apprentice? Way to get ahead of himself.
"Nightpaw will walk around the marsh, and Turtlepaw will walk towards the Windclan border." Mossclaw was mewing when he focus his attention again.
"Remember keep your eyes closed. Your mentors will be besides you to make sure of it." Nightpaw watch as the others left, leaving him with Badgerfang.
He took a deep breath to calm himself before closing his eyes. He felt the wind blowing and smelt the marshes. His whiskers kept twitching as he let his senses go outward. Is this what it like to be blind? Of course he heard of blind cats in Twolegplace. They are often white cats with blue eyes. Or maybe he thinking of deaf cats. He seen them walking around with no issues, even fighting the bullies. He begin walking towards the marsh. Why did Mossclaw give him the marsh? Was it a way to face his fears? He can feel the ground getting soft and stop walking. Bending down, he sniff the ground until he found the edge. He dip a paw in the water before shaking it off.
"So I just have to walk around it?" He asks, knowing Badgerfang is on his right side. He can feel his presence. Maybe his abuse from the Twoleg kits did teach him something.
"You are doing better than I expect. Your eyes didn't open once." Badgerfang said with awe in his voice.
"Just instinct." He mutter before starting to walk.
Sure he can tell Badgerfang on how he dodge rooms, feeling the Twolegs kits before they saw him. But he didn't want to bring the mood down. After all he is out and he don't have to think about it ever again. He listen to the reeds knocking into each other, the buzzing of insects and the smell of marsh flowers. His anxiety lessen as he continue walking, feeling a certain amount of calm settling in him. This is what it's supposed to feel like. He kept his eyes closed while walking the entire length of the marsh.
Other clans only saw a dirty muddy territory, thinking that Shadowclan embodies the darkness within. They don't see the flowers, the harmony between the bugs and frogs. Listening to the frogs singing, hearing the lizards scamper on the rocks. They don't see the beauty especially at night. He overheard other apprentices having to sneak out at night while Shadowclan is expected to go out. It is why they wake at sunhigh and train late into the night.
He sat down after coming back to the starting point. He did trip a bit because of dips in the ground. Dips that wasn't there before. Of course it wasn't going to be easy. After two dips, he slow down, felt the ground before walking forward. His whiskers and tail twitch as he felt the space between the trees and he could sense the dips once he got used to them.
"You can open your eyes now." Fernshade mew. He was startled since he didn't know the others was back. Seems I still need to work on sensing other cats. He thought to himself as he rub his eyes with his paws. His sight seem blurry before coming back into focus.
"That was hard." He mew as he watch them open their eyes as well. Badgerfang report to Mossclaw on how Nightpaw did.
"Seem only Nightpaw and Mousepaw did the entire exercise without peeking. Good job. And yes we can tell when you are peeking." Mossclaw mew is stern, looking disappointed at the others.
"We could have twisted an ankle due to the dips." Turtlepaw glare back mutinously.
"That is true. There wasn't dips before." Gullpaw agreed. "Besides it is scary because we can't see. What if we ran into a fox or a badger?"
"That is what we are here for. Everything is planned for safety. It's okay if this is a bit much for you. You can tell us if you want to back out." Applefur mew while looking them over.
"I'm not backing out. We can do this. With enough training, it won't be scary anymore." Gingerpaw said while glancing at the others.
"Besides we have to learn it anyway. Better sooner than later. These lessons are cool." Mousepaw eyes shine as she spoke up.
"We all had to do these training exercises. Don't you feel more connected to the territory afterwards? Like it is more safe after walking around without sight?" Fernshade asks, purring when they all nodded.
The mentors look at each other, coming to an unspoken agreement.
"Next is learning pawspeak. This is what we use when we fight at night. After all you don't want your enemies hearing your plans. Going to start with three phrases. Hello, goodbye and come here." Hopeheart was moving her paws as she spoke.
Nightpaw tilt his head in confusion. There a way to talk without using your voice? He learnt about tail signals but this is something much more elaborate.
"This is how deaf cats can communicate in Shadowclan. A deaf cat was born and came up with pawspeak. It been passed down through generations despite not having a deaf cat in the clan. Soon we decide to use this for night battles." Fernshade mew as she look over at Hopeheart. "Hopeheart is one of the best at pawspeak, even making new signs and teaching the rest of us. Listen well for it make save you if you lose your hearing. Anything can happen."
Hopeheart sat down, holding up her forepaws. She move one paw from left to right. Over the course of the night, they all learnt many different signs. Took a bit to learn how to use each sign. Nightpaw kept making the mistake of signing day instead of night while Turtlepaw making the mistake of sun and moon. After a while, their mentors decided to give them a mock battle. Turtlepaw, Mousepaw and Gullpaw was on one side of the clearing while Nightpaw and Gingerpaw is on the other. It is up to Nightpaw and Gingerpaw to save Fernshade from the others. The other mentors stood on the side to watch.
Gingerpaw look up while they was behind a tree, out of view from the others. It is so quiet that they couldn't talk since they would have been heard. She stomp the ground to gain Nightpaw attention as he was watching the other team, then look back up. Nightpaw look up as well, noticing that a cloud seem to be drifting in towards the moon. Gingerpaw put her paws together to sign moon, then wiggle her tail to mean the cloud. Then she push outwards with her forepaws to sign to move out. Nightpaw nodded as he flick his tail to the left. Asking if he should attack Mousepaw that was on the left instead of Turtlepaw on the right. Gullpaw was in the middle. She nod back as they wait for their moment.
As soon as the moon is covered, the clearing went completely dark. The others let out mews of shock and surprise as Nightpaw ran left. He went silently, tripping Mousepaw, holding her head down into the ground so she couldn't talk. He stomp his back leg to signal Gingerpaw. Gingerpaw jump on Turtlepaw first, knocking her into Gullpaw, tangling them up as she stood on top of them.
"Well done you two. Using the sudden darkness as a way to surprise your enemies. With them being distracted, it is too easy to gain the upper paw." Fernshade said as they let them up.
"Wasn't expecting the moon to go out. That isn't fair." Gullpaw mutter as Turtlepaw let out a playful hiss at Gingerpaw.
"Nightpaw held me down so I couldn't warn you. That was pretty smart though I hate the taste of dirt." Mousepaw pointed out as she spit the dirt from her mouth.
"That was Gingerpaw idea. She was the one who noticed the cloud was going towards the moon so she planned to ambush at the right time." Nightpaw said while scratching his side with his back paw. The moon shine again as the other mentors walk up.
"Using your surroundings, including the sky is a basic skill. Seem one of you should have been watching the sky and predict that when guarding." Mossclaw said while they clean themselves up.
"You weren't so good at that while we trained." Badgerfang playfully shove him before turning his attention to them.
"Now for the last lesson of tonight. Mimicry. Applefur is the best at that." He said as she step up.
"First you need to listen to how real owls and other animals sound. Going to take a lot of practice and not everyone can do it first try. Took me many moons to be as good as I am." She said as they listen to the hoot of an owl in the night.
"Got to clear your voice. Feel it deep within. Only when you think you are ready, let it out." Applefur raise her head so they can see the movement of her throat before letting out a hoot.
Nightpaw close his eyes to focus everything on his throat. He can only mew. He dug his claws into the ground. He can do this. Hearing the others, they was sounding out weak hoots. It felt like he is coughing up a hairball but soon he let out a small hoot. His ears twitch as he heard the owl again. Chittering his teeth, he tried again. Guess that the best he can do for now.
The forest begin to lighten as the sun begin to rise.
"That is it everyone. Time to rest as the sun is coming up. Keep practicing and you will improve. Don't do just the owls. Try the birds, frogs and even mice. I did hear that kittypets can bark like a dog too." Applefur mew as Nightpaw open his eyes. He let out a yawn, realizing how late it is. Guess he should get used to this, staying up until dawn training. No wonder both Wetpaw and Brownpaw are often out at night.
They begin walking back to camp, barely able to keep their eyes open when a black and white cat walk out from behind a tree. Before the cat can react, Mossclaw jump on him, holding him down. He recognize the cat as Scraps, the bloodclan cat who was part of the ones hurting his brother.
"Please, I come in peace." He mew as Mossclaw hiss before letting him up. "Ask them. I could have attack them during the ambush but I didn't." He point towards both Nightpaw and Turtlepaw.
Turtlepaw gave a hiss before he spoke. "So you were the tail I saw. I guess you want something?" His fur is bush out, tail whipping back and forth. All he need is an order and he will turn this cat into his namesake.
"Snipe and Claw didn't like that I didn't attack. Got a new patch because of that." He show them a bald patch on his left side. "I want protection. Now they are talking about kidnapping kits. I didn't join up for that. I want to leave but they are powerful and ruthless. They killed a cat for wanting to leave. Also my sister Gremlin is there. I know she is only there because of me." He mew as he glance at them pleadingly.
"What kits?" Applefur asks as she step closer. Nightpaw slick down his fur as he can tell he is telling the truth.
"Thunderclan kits. Their plan is to kidnap their kits, put it on your clan and watch you two tear each other apart. Going to be in three days. They say they need to wait for their contact. I'm not a bad cat! I don't want kits to get hurt. If I told Thunderclan, they would kill me where I stand. Please believe me." Scraps lower himself, bowing his head.
"Got a better idea. Scraps. You stay there and keep the kits safe. We will deal with Thunderclan. Is there more who don't want to be a part of this? Rally them if you can. Also tell your sister. If this is a trap, you should never show your face ever again." Mossclaw tone is a deep growl. Scraps look at him, gave a fast nod before running away.
"Don't forget to wash our scent off of you." Fernshade hiss as they watch him leave. Scraps' tail flick to show he heard before disappearing from sight.
"Now to camp as you all need to rest. After all we got three days." Applefur look at the apprentices with concern.
Three days. Only three days of peace. Nightpaw look at his friends and saw they all look grim. They can survive, they have to. As they walk in, he look at the peaceful camp, hoping his vision of blood warriors chasing them out won't come true.