STARLINGPAW

Starlingpaw did not mind getting up early for dawn patrols; the coolness of the canyon in the morning was a welcome reprieve from the heat that filled the camp during the day. She was always the first one up, awake before her mentor most days.

Today was different. She heard her mentor long before she emerged from her den, calling for some stronger cats to help carry Sparrowstar up the cliff face for burial. Goldfur and Thistleclaw loudly argued that they didn't need help, being strong former warriors. Starlingpaw felt her whiskers twitch in amusement as the old and grouchy Thistleclaw began to talk about his strength in battle and how it never left him. From what she saw when cleaning his den, the tom could hardly get out of his nest most mornings, let alone carry the former leader up the cliff.

Beetlewatcher broke up the fight, his voice weary. It was settled that Beartooth and Runningheart would help the elders while the other Clan members went about their duties. Sensing that patrols would be leaving soon, Starlingpaw approached her mentor.

The big red tabby purred as she approached and swatted at her with his fluffy tail by way of greeting. Starlingpaw swatted back with her paw, the feel of the fine hair soothing against the cracks in her pads. The rock floor of the canyon was hard on all of the cats in the Clan, but the apprentice's especially soft pads tore and cracked with even the smallest amount of travel.

"South border patrol!" Redblaze called out, gesturing to Frostfur and Whitepaw. The two white cats joined the deputy and his apprentice and set out for the Training Cliff, which marked the south end of their territory. The warriors took up the lead with the apprentices trailing behind.

Starlingpaw did not know Whitepaw very well, as he was two moons older and prone to looking down upon the younger apprentices. From what she saw of him during training, he was a strong fighter and could beat all of the other apprentices - except for Emberpaw, his sister. When it came to hunting, however, she outmatched him five times out of six when Redblaze and Frostfur pitted them against each other. She attributed her only loss to her cracked pads, which bled that day and forced her to admit defeat.

The other apprentice seemed to be thinking about the same thing. "Thank StarClan we're not hunting today. I don't think I'd be able to take losing to a younger apprentice again." Starlingpaw heard a note of contempt in his otherwise bored voice. It did not come as a surprise, with Palethorn being his father.

For a moment, Starlingpaw thought of commenting on how glad she was they were not training today. A training session would result in his victory and the she-cat, not being keen to put up with the immature apprentice for much longer, thought better of bringing it up. Instead, she flicked her ear and told him she was just doing her best to feed their Clan. Whitepaw grumbled in response but did not attempt to speak to her again.

The patrol followed the stream that ran through part of the canyon and, once it veered off to cut its own path through the red rock, continued on alongside the canyon walls. The giant walls of stone towered above their tiny forms, following with a movement of their own. They came together at times, creating narrow passageways for the cats to move through, and at others opened up into large open spaces where desert moss and small shrubs grew.

The sun turned the canyon a brighter red as it slowly came up and, by the time the patrol reached the Training Cliff, was visible just over the horizon. It would be sunhigh by the time the patrol returned to the camp.

For a moment, the patrol paused at the cliff. Starlingpaw made sure to stay well away from the edge, fearing the drop, but admired the view all the same. This was the edge of their world, where the canyon walls dropped away and continued on down below, creating another canyon and going on as far as her eyes could see. The stream moved along with the canyon, growing larger and becoming a river that the sun shone off of, the reflection glittering in Starlingpaw's eyes. From this vantage point, she could see the back of an eagle as it soared over the red rock landscape. She let out a call, sharp and pointed like that of an eagle's and it circled around, searching for the source.

Redblaze purred at this. "Perhaps they should have named you Eaglepaw instead of Starlingpaw. You seem to imitate eagles quite well." Starlingpaw bowed her head, imitating the sounds of a starling instead. While being named for her pelt colour, it was true that eagles were easier to imitate.

"Alright, enough with the bird imitations," Frostfur said, rolling her eyes. "Let's get this patrol over with."

"Let's spread out," the red deputy suggested, directing the patrol members in various directions.

Much to her displeasure, Redblaze assigned Starlingpaw to the least dangerous side of the cliff. Off to the side of the training ground stood a cavern of sorts, where the walls twisted and turned and opened up into pockets of space that had to be squeezed through in order to get to the other side. The Clan called it The Maze because of this and the apprentices used it for battle training in confined spaces. Being small, she fit through the small pockets easily; her mentor, being so large, would scale the wall closeby and watch her progress from above.

The black apprentice leaped up into the nearest opening in the wall and instantly felt the coolness of the rock around her. Having a pelt as dark as her own, the shade helped to bring her temperature down. The change of temperature also served to cool the burning of her cracked pads. She continued through the tunnel on light paws and out onto a sunny ledge, scenting the air. The chance of finding intruders in here was very low; snakes and lizards were much more common, but either posed no threat or were disposed of easily.

Crawling through yet another tunnel, Starlingpaw emerged into a small cave within the walls. Three tunnels led off of it - the one she emerged from and two before her, one that led in the direction of the cliff and the other which continued straight on through. Unsure of which road to take, the apprentice scented the air.

A pungent scent reached her and she wrinkled her nose. It reminded her of crowfood. Curious, but a little bit anxious, she took the tunnel that led closer to the cliff face. The further she walked, the more pervasive the smell became, until she thought that the rock itself had taken on the odor.

Then, a faint sound joined the scent. Starlingpaw strained to hear it, locating its source easily enough. While her sister, Asterpaw's, sense of smell was more keen than that of others, Starlingpaw's sense of hearing was strong. She picked up her pace, willing the encounter to be over with.

The tunnel opened up onto a ledge exposed to the sunlight and, all of a sudden, Starlingpaw wished she had not rushed to get there. The scent of rot overwhelmed her and its source became apparent soon after.

There, not too far from the edge, lay a kit. Or, what used to be one. One look at it and Starlingpaw turned away, heaving up her breakfast. The lizard tasted worse on the way up than it had on the way down. It took all of the apprentice's courage to turn back around and search for the source of the sound.

The faint mewling, from what Starlingpaw had already deduced, belonged to another kit. A feeling of dread beneath her fur, she continued to search. When she finally located the kit where it lay in the only patch of shade on the ledge she stopped short. Suddenly, she was not sure whether the dead or the live kit was the worse sight to behold.

It looked at her with eyes half-closed, its little chest hardly moving as it struggled to breathe. Its fur was orange, though Starlingpaw could not be sure because of the amount of blood caked onto it. The large gash in the kit's side reeked of infection.

This is the last thing we need after Sparrowstar's death, Starlingpaw thought.

Yet, almost without hesitation, she turned to the open air and let out an eagle's call, hoping that the slight wind would carry it to the rest of the patrol. Then, she approached the kit, murmuring softly that everything would be alright, and wrapped herself around it to provide its little body with some warmth while they waited.

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