CHAPTER TWO

Into the… Twolegplace?

Graypaw bounded into camp behind Bluestar and his mentor, Lionheart. It had been his first morning out as an apprentice and he felt exhilarated! Soon after he entered camp, Ravenpaw and his mentor, Tigerclaw, stalked through the entrance followed by Redtail, a short, muscular tortie tom.

"Hey, Raven!" He greeted his friend, "How was your first patrol!? I bet it wasn't as great as mine!"

"And why would that be?" Ravenpaw inquired, flashing his amber eyes knowingly.

"I got to tackle a kittypet!" Graypaw brandished a wide grin, "He was trespassing on our territory and I was the first one to see him!"

"You don't say!" The small black toms tail lay flat, his eyes now wide with awe. "Was it as fat and lazy as the elders say they are?"

"No! This one was tiny but he was tough. Gave me a tumble and a half, that's for sure!" The gray tom was in full story-telling mode, "He was out hunting and Bluestar really laid into him for stealing our prey. I almost felt bad for the little furball!"

"Did I now, Graypaw?" Bluestar smiled, pacing up to the two apprentices and taking a seat. Even as she sat, she towered over the two substantially sized kittens. "I'm very proud of the two of you, both of your first days out seem to have been eventful."

"Yeah?" Ravenpaw laughed, "Tell that to Tigerclaw, he yelled at me no matter what I did!"

"Why do you think I sent Redtail with you?" The tall molly said matter of factly, "Tigerclaw is the toughest mentor I could've given you, Ravenpaw. Do you know why I assigned him to you instead of Dustpaw or Longpaw?"

"Why?" Ravenpaw was confused.

"So you can knock some sense into him, of course! He's a great fighter, but that old tabby has the temperment of a kit!" She meowed, "You're the smartest young cat I know Ravenpaw!"

"And the klutziest!" Graypaw cut in, laughing. "Ravenpaw couldn't catch a rat drowned in a mud puddle!"

"I'm sure that's something he'll work on, Graypaw." Bluestar replied, "He and Tigerclaw will really benefit from each other."

"Yeah, sure…" The black and white kitten muttered, "I'm a little hungry! Catch you later Graypaw! And th-thank you Bluestar, it means a lot."

"You're welcome, dear." She smiled, giving the apprentice a motherly lap on the head before sending him on his way.

"So, Graypaw," She continued after Ravenpaw had left "how is Lionheart treating you?"

"He's awesome!" The ticked tabby grinned, "I hope I train up to be half as strong and handsome!"

"I knew he'd be the perfect mentor for you. When we were apprentices, Lionheart—well, paw—was just like you. Goofy and a bit absent minded… The whole badger!"

"Absent minded?" He looked up at Bluestar, betrayed.

"We all have our flaws, young Graypaw." She smiled, "I can get quite the temper sometimes but I don't let it get in the way of my leadership."

"Alright, I guess," He grumbled, "thanks Bluestar."

"You're welcome, Graypaw. Don't take that 'absent minded' comment to heart now!" The tall molly stood and walked idly back to her den, picking out a vole from the fresh kill pile on the way.

'Absent minded...' Graypaw through to himself as he walked back to the apprentices den. 'Absent minded my tail! I could remember the third feather on the thrush I ate last week!'

He entered the small bush, ducking his tail. He noticed that in a nest towards the back was a pale tortoiseshell tabby, grooming her paw.

"Hey Sandpaw!" He exclaimed, "Do you happen to remember which bed I was assigned?"

• • •

As Graypaw was dozing off, he thought about earlier and the fiery kitten he had attacked and about how Bluestar had sent him running home with his tail between his legs. He almost felt bad for the little kittypet, he had been a worthy opponent and turned around to fight instead of fleeing. Graypaw sighed, it just wasn't fair! He knew that all the other kitten had tasted was dry kibble, and that he would inevitably be taken to the cutter to be altered. Graypaw had smelled the other cat though, and he had been intact. He had fought like a clan apprentice, strong and brave. There was hope!

Graypaw had an idea, a terrible idea, a risky idea: He would train the ginger kittypet. No matter what, he would make sure the kitten got the life he deserved. No cutter, no kibbles, no sandbox, no twolegs, no more easy, fattened life. He would be a warrior and that was final, Graypaw was sure of it.

He stretched, getting up from his nest causing Ravenpaw to stir next to him.

"What are you up to, Graypaw?"

"Nothing, Raven, just going to make dirt."

"Again?"

"I ate a lot! I think I'm sick…"

"Alright, Graypaw, whatever you say."

"Night, Raven,"

"Night, Gray."

Graypaw gave a sigh of relief, slinking through the entrance of the apprentices den and out into the camp. There was a slim, calico molly on guard duty but she was asleep, her haunches rising and falling rhythmically. He tensed up, padding by her as slowly as possible so not to wake her up. She twitched slightly as he passed her face but she didn't wake up, thankfully. Graypaw sighed again as soon as he was out of earshot of the camp, the last thing he needed was to be caught training a twoleg pet!

The young tabby slunk in and around the bushes, under tree roots, and over boulders following the scents from earlier as best he could. As he neared the twolegplace, Graypaw began to rethink his decision. What if his clan smelled the Kittypet on him? Would he be punished or exiled? He was still going over the possibilities in his head when he ran muzzle first into tall, wooden, wall-like object. This had to be a fence, what his mentor told him separated the twolegs world from the clans world. The fence smelled strongly of the kitten he had tousled with, holding the scents of other cats, too. They were similar but still differentiable from the ginger cat, it must be the scents of his family.

Graypaw gulped, the hair raised on the back of his neck, this was it. He crouched and lept, landing on the top of the fence. It was much thinner than a tree branch but he managed to balance. From the top there was a strange sight, a seemingly endless stretch of box-y structures stretched before him, they had triangles on top and tiny clear boxes on the sides. He swallowed and leapt down into the tiny patch of grass surrounded by fence, padding up to the tiny entrance and mewing.

"Hey kittypet, it's me again, Graypaw!"