ALDERPAW

Alderpaw returned with a chaffinch gripped firmly between his teeth.
He dropped it in front of Shadowfoot, who stood waiting in the hollow.
"You're the first one back," meowed the warrior.

"Yeah, but I've got loads more prey to fetch," Alderpaw mewed quickly. "I buried it back—!"
"I know exactly what you did," Shadowfoot growled. "I've been watching you."

A swish of snow-filled bushes announced Shinepaw's return.
She was a carrying a small mouse in her mouth, which she dropped beside Alderpaw's chaffinch and had a proud expression on her.

Shadowfoot glanced at the sky, "Icepaw's late," he observed. "We'll give her a bit longer and then return to camp."
"But what if she's been bitten by an adder?" Alderpaw protested.
"Then it's her own fault," Shadowfoot replied coldly. "There's no room for fools in IceClan."

They waited in silence.
Shinepaw and Alderpaw exchanged glances, worried about Icepaw.
Shadowfoot sat motionless, apparently lost in his own thoughts.

Alderpaw was the first to scent Icepaw's arrival.
He jumped to his paws as the silver tabby cat leaped into the clearing, looking unusually pleased with herself.
Dangling from her mouth was a long, diamond-patterned body of a adder.

"Icepaw! Are you okay?" Alderpaw called.
"I was too quick for it!" Icepaw purred loudly.

Then she caught Shadowfoot's eye and fell silent.
Shadowfoot fixed all three excited apprentices with a cold stare. "Come on," he said shortly. "Let's collect the rest of your prey and get back to camp."

Alderpaw, Shinepaw, and Icepaw entered the camp, strolling behind Shadowfoot.
Their impressive day's catch hung from their mouths, although Icepaw kept tripping over her dead snake.

As they emerged from the stone tunnel into the camp, a group of young kits scrambled out of the nursery to watch them pass.

"Look!" Alderpaw heard one of them say. "Apprentices, just back from hunting!" He saw a little red-brown tabby kit, the same one Leafeye hissed at the other day.
Sitting next to him was a tiny silver tabby kit and a small red kit stood beside them.

"Isn't that the kittypet, Alderpaw?" squeaked the red-brown tabby kit.
"Yeah! Look at his golden-brown fur!" mewed the silver tabby one.
"They say he's a good hunter," the red kit added. "Do you think he's as good as my dad?"
"I can't wait to start my training," mewed the red-brown tabby. "I'm going to be the best warrior IceClan has ever seen!"
Alderpaw lifted his chin, feeling proud of the kits's admiring comments.
He followed his two friends into the center of the clearing.

They then dropped their catches for the other cats to share.

"What should I do with it?" asked Icepaw, sniffing the snake's long body as it lay beside the heap.

Icepaw looked at the adder, "I wouldn't want to eat it. I mean, my mouth tastes pretty foul after carrying it back."
Shinepaw sniffed it, pulling back.
"Yeah, I wouldn't wanna eat that. It's a nice catch, though."

"Let's put it on the tree stump, then," suggested Alderpaw, "so that Shadowpaw and Flarepaw can see it when they get back."
"And then you can brag about it if you want, Icepaw!" Shinepaw teased.
Icepaw flinched, "I'd never want to brag to any cat!"

They each carried a piece of their fresh-kill, and the adder, back to their den.
Alderpaw carefully placed the adder on the stump, arranging the snake so that it could be seen clearly from all sides.
Then they ate.
When they had finished they sat close together to groom one another and talk.

"I wonder who Poolstar will choose to go to the Gathering?" Alderpaw meowed. "It'll be full moon tommorow,"
"I don't know. I hope I can go, but I understand if I won't," Shinepaw meowed.

"Perhaps Poolstar will choose one of us this time," mewed Icepaw. "After all, we've been training for three moons now."
Alderpaw nodded. "And this Gathering will be an important one. It'll be the first time the Clans have met since EchoClan disappeared."
"I wonder what happened to them," Shinepaw said.

Shadowfoot's low meow interrupted them. "You are right, youngster." The warrior had strolled up to them unnoticed. "By the way, Alderpaw," he said smoothly, "Poolstar wants to see you."
Alderpaw looked up, startled.
"Now—if you can spare the time," Shadowfoot meowed.
Alderpaw jumped up immediantly and bounded off across the snowy clearing towards Poolstar's den.

Poolstar was sitting outside, her tail flicking restlessly back and forth.

When she saw Alderpaw she stood up and looked steadily down at him. "Shadowfoot has told me that he saw you talking with a cat from the Twolegplace today," she meowed quietly.
"But—!" Alderpaw began.
"He said that you began by fighting with this cat but ended up sharing tongues with it."
"That's true," Alderpaw admitted, feeling his fur prickle defensively. "But he was an old friend. We grew up together." He paused and swallowed. "When I was a kittypet."

Poolstar's eyes widened with shock, as if Alderpaw's words had more meaning to her than he realized.

Poolstar then looked at him for a long moment. "Do you miss your old life, Alderpaw?" she asked. "Think carefully, now."
"No." How can Poolstar think that? Alderpaw wondered. His head was spinning. What was Poolstar trying to make him say?
"Do you wish to leave the Clan?"
"Of course not!" Alderpaw was shocked by her question.
Poolstar didn't seem to hear the passion in his answer.

Poolstar shook her head, looking suddenly tired. "I won't judge you if you leave us, Alderpaw. Perhaps I expected too much of you. Perhaps my judgement has been clouded by the Clan's need for new warriors."

Panic swept through Alderpaw at the thought of leaving the Clan forever. "But my place is here! This is my home," he protested.

"I need more than that, Alderpaw. I need to be able to trust in your loyalty to IceClan, especially now that it looks like a rouge group is planning an attack. We don't have room for anyone who isn't sure whether their heart lies in the past or the present."

Alderpaw took a deep breath and chose his next words carefully. "When I saw Vince today—that's the house cat Shadowfoot saw me talking with—I saw what life would have been like if I had stayed with the Twolegs. I felt happy that I had not stayed. I was proud I left."
He held Poolstar's gaze without flinching. "Meeting Vince made me certain I made the right decision. I could never have been satisfied with the soft life of a kittypet."
Poolstar looked closely at him for a moment, her eyes narrow. Then she nodded. "Very well," she said. "I believe you."
Alderpaw dipped his head respectfully and let out a sigh of relief.

"I spoke to Leafeye earlier," meowed Poolstar in a lighter tone. "She thinks a lot of you. She's a wise old she-cat, you know. And I suspect she wasn't always bad-tempered. Indeed, I think that I could grow to like her." 

Alderpaw felt an unexpected glow of pleasure at these words.
Maybe, in caring for Leafeye, his admiration for her had grown into affection, despite the she-cat's ill temper.
Whatever the reason, he was glad Poolstar liked her too.

"But there is something about her that I don't trust," Poolstar went on quietly. "She will stay with IceClan for now, but remain as a prisoner. The queens will care for her. You must concentrate on your training."
Alderpaw nodded and waited to be dismissed, but Poolstar hadn't finished.

"Alderpaw, although you showed bad judgement today in talking to a house cat, Shadowfoot was impressed by your hunting skills. In fact, he reported that you all did well. I am pleased with your progress. You will come to the Gathering—all three of you, as well as Flarepaw."

Alderpaw could hardly stand still. His body tingled with excitement. The Gathering! "What about Cherrypaw and Shadowpaw?" he mewed.
"They will remain and guard the camp," replied Poolstar. "Now you may go."
She flicked her tail to show he was dismissed, and returned to her grooming.

Shinepaw and Icepaw looked stunned to see Alderpaw bounding happily toward them.
They had been waiting nervously for him beside the tree stump.
Alderpaw sat down and looked at his friends.

Well?" Icepaw burst out nervously. "What did she say? Shadowfoot told us you'd been sharing tongues with a KITTYPET on your hunt. Are you in trouble?"
"No. Although Poolstar wasn't pleased," Alderpaw admitted ruefully. "She thought I might want to leave IceClan."

"Anyway," Alderpaw said, getting off topic. "You'll never guess what else she said!" He purred excitedly.
"What did she say?" Shinepaw asked.
"We and Flarepaw get to go to the Gathering!"
Shinepaw purred. "That's amazing!"

"Are Cherrypaw and Shadowpaw coming too?" puffed Icepaw.
"Nope!" Alderpaw replied, unable to disguise the note of triumph in his voice. "They have to stay behind and guard the camp."
"Oh, let me tell Shadowpaw!" begged Icepaw. "I can't wait to see the look on his face!"
Shinepaw laughed. "That would sure show him!"

"I wonder what the Gathering will be like," mewed Icepaw.
"It'll be fantastic," Shinepaw replied confidently. "I bet all the great warriors will be there. Nightshine, Goldenpelt..."

But Alderpaw wasn't listening anymore.
Instead, he found himself thinking about Shadowfoot and Vince.
It was bad luck that Shadowfoot sent him so near the Twolegplace at all.

Suddenly a dark thought entered Alderpaw's mind: Why had Shadowfoot sent him so near his old haunts?
Had he wanted to test him?

Could be it be the great white warrior didn't trust his loyalty to IceClan?