Eggpaw's Mission - ShC MCA Application

[MockingRabbit]

[MockingRabbit]

Prologue

Sunlight glistens on the still surface of a pond. A she-cat sits at its edge, staring into the depth. Starlight glimmers at her paws. The reed stems to the far side of her rustle, and a broad-shouldered tom pushes his way through. He sits, and the two gaze at each other coolly.
“Lionstreak,” the she-cat says at length with a dip of her head, her ears twitching.
“Briarwing,” the tom greets in kind. “You wished to discuss the living.”
Briarwing nods her head. “Indeed. I presume that you have seen the states of the Clans, and more specifically, our own, ShadowClan.”
Lionstreak nods sharply. “ShadowClan remains stronger than any other.”
“Not for much longer, though. You have read the signs as well as any cat. Great weakness will spread through ShadowClan in the form of disease. It will wipe out many cats if it cannot be stopped.”
Lionstreak grunts grudgingly. “So what?” He asks. “They have medicine cats, that is what they are there for.”
“Medicine cat,” Briarwing corrects him. “Singular. And Lostspark does not have the knowledge to deal with this, no Clan cat does.”
“Well, what do you propose to do about it?”
“I propose we help them, suggest them a new Medicine Cat.”
Lionstreak’s golden pelt fluffs up. “Got anyone in mind?”
In answer, Briarwing drags a paw over the pond’s surface, sending ripples flowing outward. An image seems to rise from the depths and imprint itself into the water.
“Him?” Lionstreak’s mew is thick, and he looks up in dumb surprise. “He is hardly anyone’s first choice.”
“No,” Briarwing agrees, “but he has his unique traits.”
“What, like not being able to walk straight?” Humour drips from his voice like honey.
“Among other things. He has an active mind, for starters.”
Lionstreak shakes his head. “Honestly, I think you would do better -the clan would do better- choosing someone else. Someone more experienced, someone who has finished their training or hey, maybe even tell Lostspark herself how to cure it.”
Briarwing glares at him coldly.
Lionstreak lets out a ragged sigh. “But that is never the way of you, is it? You can never just make it easy. Very well, I will approve of your choice, just don’t blame me if it all goes horribly wrong.”
“It won’t. And thank you,” Briarwing says, her expression softening slightly. Lionstreak gives his tail a flick and stomps away. Briarwing looks down at the sleeping tom in the pond and drags her paw over it until the image disperses, then she too whisks away into the reeds.

[MockingRabbit]

Chapter 1

Pale blue eyes glinted in the grey dawn light. Eggpaw wanted to close them again, but they were open now and he wasn’t getting back to sleep. If he ended up spending the morning bored out of his mind and doing nothing, then it was his fault for opening them in the first place.
So he was awake. What next?
No point staying in his nest.
Sighing heartily, the pale apprentice stood up and flicked the bracken from his pelt, then moved to the clearing.
Just his luck; it was nigh on empty. As was his belly and the prey-pile. It was still a while until the dawn patrols started, so he couldn’t hunt- not that he was very good, anyway. He considered taking a stroll, but he was already on thin ice with the leader, due to his lack of training.
So what, then?
Eggpaw slumped down next to a rock and began grooming himself. Curse the dream that woke him up.

[MockingRabbit]

Chapter 2

Eggpaw crouched, ready to pounce.
A tall tree stump drilled with woodpecker holes.
He stood on a twig. A crack, and for the third time that morning, Eggpaw found himself staring at the rear end of a mouse as it disappeared into the overgrowth.
Stars curse it!
Eggpaw could feel the familiar rage growing under his skin. Why could he not even get the simplest catch? He looked over to where the rest of his patrol was, and was dismayed to find that even the youngest apprentice had caught something.
There were a million things to blame his failure on. From an unlucky change of the breeze, or the squeal of another cat’s prey, to his stupid alignment deficiency, Eggpaw could name them all. Maybe today just wasn’t a good day for hunting; he wasn’t usually this bad. He should have caught at least a shrew by now.
He could blame his misses on the dream, too. It had been very vivid, and yet he couldn’t quite remember it. It was distracting him...
“Come on, Eggpaw, we are heading back,” his patrol leader called to him. Eggpaw gave himself a shake, and turned to look at them.
But I haven’t caught anything yet!
He forced himself silent. He would not complain to his patrol mates; he didn’t want them thinking he was weak, that he needed extra time to prove himself. Keeping his fur flat, the pale tom padded over, picked up a portion of the fresh-kill and helped them carry it home.

[MockingRabbit]

Chapter 3

I am strong. I can do this.
When his mother died, he had been strong. When his brother had been torn apart by dogs, he didn’t mope about. When his mentors had abandoned him, he didn’t give up.
His failure wasn’t due to a lack of trying, he was just really bad.
Now before him stood a challenge that he wasn’t all too sure about. He stared at the branch adjacent to him, fur spiking. He was very high up now. It had seemed awfully easy when he was on the ground, but the distance between the two landings seemed to have grown further apart.
His claws dug into the bark, and he looked down at the warrior who was helping him.
“Come on, Eggpaw, it is just a small jump,” they said.
He would not be humiliated. He would not be scared. He would not back down. He was going to do this.
Gritting his teeth, Eggpaw leapt forward.
A single red berry hanging on a leafless bush.
His claws dug into the pine needles, gravity pulled him down. The apprentice hung there for a brief second, the branch sagging with his weight, then there was a small popping sound and the needles came away in his paws.
The branch below him broke his fall. The one after that hit him hard. The ground rose up to meet him. He bent his legs to absorb the impact, landed awkwardly and rolled.
He looked up at the warrior. “Well,” they said, “maybe next time.”

[MockingRabbit]

Chapter 4

StarClan curse. That stupid. Dream!
Eggpaw lay in camp, licking a wide scrape on the inside of his hind leg. That was the sole reason that he had fallen. It wasn’t because he was scared, because of his disability, it was because that dream kept popping into his head in the worst of times and places.
It had ruined his entire day.
He glared at the wound on his leg. Really, it wasn’t even big enough to be called a wound. It was just a shallow scratch. But the warrior had suggested that he go see Lostspark, and he thought they were probably right; he didn’t want it getting infected. He pushed himself up, and padded to the medicine den.

[MockingRabbit]

About the author

Mocking Rabbit is a Warrior Cats Role Player, and currently has about four active Clan OCs and is comfortable writing about one hundred words per-post. Previously, he was very active on WCO with ten plus OCs, and about fifty word posts.
Right now, his activity is not at his highest, but can you imagine what it would be like when he picks things up again and has only two characters? Supa-dupa active!!!
Mocking Rabbit lives in GMT timezone, and has one rabbit.

[MockingRabbit]

Interview with the author

Why should you be chosen as Medicine Cat Apprentice over anyone else?

FAITH, TRUST AND PIXIE DUSTTTT!!!
Well... I have had an active presence on WCO for almost two years now, but it doesn’t feel enough for me. I want a chance at being something more. On other sites, I have been known as wise and funny, and hope to be able to translate those traits into Eggpaw at some point. Other than that, I honestly cannot say.

Why do you want to be the ShadowClan Medicine Cat Apprentice?

The deputy role was taken. It is true that I did want to be the deputy at one point, and that after it was taken, I had a rethink. Deputy is way too ambitious for me, I would prefer a calmer, lower role that still gets me recognised. MCA is perfect.
I also had a dream that I was the MCA, and it just felt right.
Why Eggpaw?
In my dream, I was being Oakpaw, an OC I haven’t made yet, so why didn’t I choose that cat instead? I have had had Eggpaw for a very long time now, and he has been very dear to me at times. I knew that I couldn’t have Oakpaw and Eggpaw coexist, so I had to choose.
Besides, MCA suites EggJ

You have been to the Moonpool, what did it say?

I asked them if I should be MCA and they said no.
I asked them if Eggpaw should be MCA and they said yes!