Fawnpaw sighed. She was glad that she was an apprentice at last, but why, oh why, did her mentor have to be Shadowfrost? Even his name sounds evil and mischievous. His pelt was a dark blue splattered with black. It perfectly suits him, Fawnpaw thought, batting around a dead leaf. His eyes were darkest of blue, and his teeth could sink into anything. Fawnpaw shuddered at that thought of her being the victim. What was Eaglestar thinking? Surely this cat couldn't be trusted.
Shadowfrost padded up to her. "Come on, we need to do some training." He flicked his ear impatiently when Fawnpaw just stared at him. She had never been so frightened in her short life. Training with Shadowfrost was definitely one of the things she had never wanted to do.
"Are you coming or not?" Shadowfrost growled. Fawnpaw hesitated but then got up and followed Shadowfrost into the sandy training pits. Skystream and her apprentice Wavepaw were already there, practicing combat moves. They glanced over at Shadowfrost and Fawnpaw as they entered. Fawnpaw shifted her paws uneasily; she knew ThunderClan didn't quite like her yet because she was a former kittypet. It wasn't her fault, exactly, why she was a kittypet. She recounted the story to herself, to get mind off of things.
When she was young, only a kit, her mother abandoned her in an old barn and left her there. It wasn't until later that day that some Twolegs found her and took her to their nest. Fawnpaw, then called Brownie, hated it there, and hated all the disgusting food. She often daydreamed about being able to catch her own prey and eat it. One day she was running around outside in a field when she heard rustling bushes and turned to look at who was disturbing her. It was a tortoiseshell cat that said her name was Eagledawn. Eagledawn asked Fawnpaw to attack her. Fawnpaw cautiously stepped back, but when Eagledawn told her it was all right, she attacked Eagledawn. She raked Eagledawn with her small claws. The tortoiseshell had told Fawnpaw to come with her, and so Fawnpaw did. While they were walking, Eagledawn told Fawnpaw that she was originally a rogue, too, and that she had to endure ridicule from her Clan. When they arrived at ThunderClan camp, Eagledawn told Fawnpaw that it was her new home. Fawnpaw was very happy to have finally gotten away from the Twolegs. ThunderClan's leader, Firestar, held her naming ceremony that day. But a few days later, Firestar mysteriously disappeared, and hasn't been seen since. Eagledawn, the deputy, took over and though she did not receive her nine lives, it was a sign that Firestar was still alive somewhere. That made Fawnpaw happy, since she had liked Firestar; he was a kind cat and warmly welcomed her into the Clan. It was a real shame that he so mysteriously disappeared.
Shadowfrost smacked Fawnpaw with his tail. "Quit daydreaming and let's get training!" he growled, then pushed his apprentice into the sandy pit. Fawnpaw stumbled in on weary paws and glared at Shadowfrost. She knew she was taking a huge risk by picking a fight with him, but she was wiling to do it anyway.
"You don't have to be so harsh," she meowed coldly. Shadowfrost's response to this was to attack Fawnpaw. He leaped at her, gripping her neck with his paws and biting at her throat. "Kittypets should die!" he yowled, ripping Fawnpaw's flank with his claws. A hard blow struck her to her forehead and Fawnpaw felt Shawdowfrost's weight on her bones and heard a cracking, snapping noise. Fawnpaw tried to throw him off, but he was just too heavy and her bones were weak. Skystream and Wavepaw bounded over to help. They managed to pull him off, and Fawnpaw gasped for breath. Shadowfrost was hissing and spitting at them. "I'll get you one day, kittypet!" he snarled, and then he raced back to camp.
Fawnpaw tried to get up, but she couldn't. She felt something hot and sticky leaking onto her fur. She knew what it was immediately: blood! She could hear running paw steps behind her and knew she was about to be rescued. Blood was running into her eyes and she couldn't see. Fawnpaw heard loud yowling behind her, and a startled screech coming from the camp. The young she-cat desperately tried to get up and see what was going on, but all she heard was a bone-chilling, blood-curdling crack. With faint horror she realized what was going on before darkness crept over her and she moved no more.