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C h a p t e r 1

The balmy sunlight heated her face up as it rose over the tree tops, the light sinking into the apprentices den as the dawn turned to midmorning. Her nose was poked into the moss of her nest, to which she easily pulled her muzzle back and cleared her nostrils of the ticklish tendrils. The tiny apprentice got to her paws, sliding down into a stretch, and feeling content as her spine bones cracked in her relaxing twist, her tail flicking before she returned to a normal position.

She shook out her fur, unsheathing and sheathing her claws to get the comforting feel of her claws. Even though she was against using them against another cat, it was satisfying to know that her claws worked well incase Birchfire made her climb another oak today. A small prickle of discomfort snipped at her, but she forced it out, her whiskers twitching as she felt another ray of sunlight beat against her face.

The small apprentice's jaws opened, her teeth glimmering in the shine, until she closed them off from the light, blinking. Just another hot greenleaf morning, She sighed, nose twitching.

She heard the nest beside her crackle, and a loud yawn break the stiff silence that had surrounded her.

"It's morning already?" She cracked a smile as she heard Rainpaw's exhausted mew, the apprentice's fur pressing on her leg as she rolled beside her.

She remembered how Rainpaw's mentor, Brightfeather, had called Rainpaw for an extensive night training, not getting back to the den until an hour after moonhigh - or so she had heard.

She nodded, looking back in the direction of the sunlight. "Yeah," she meowed in a mellow tone. "But Brightfeather's a good mentor. I'm sure she'll let you sleep in a little longer." She told the other apprentice.

I know Birchfire wouldn't, she thought with resentment, but decided against saying it out loud. Her mentor was a good warrior, no doubt, but he was easy to anger, and he usually took a sort of joy in making her do harder work if she said anything against his orders. Which makes me wonder why Thrushstar made him my mentor.

She felt a wave of relief come from Rainpaw, before the moss in the other apprentices nest crackled, and she turned from her. "Thanks, Morningpaw," she murmured, before the sounds coming from her body dulled, and the apprentice began snorting in her sleep steadily.

Morningpaw let out a blissful sigh, suddenly feeling a small rumble in the pit of her stomach. Even though she usually decided to eat in the middle of the day, she remembered what Birchfire had told her yesterday, during another stressful training lesson.

"We're starting early tomorrow morning," the tom had growled gruffly, his voice reminding her of the sound of claws scratching against a rock surface.

She had tipped down her muzzle, feeling a sense of dispraise toward herself. Morningpaw scuffled her paws together and tipped her head up in his direction as she heard her mentor clear his throat to speak again,

"You're going to need a lot more training if you want to make it-" he had cut himself off, a sense of discomfort coming from the senior warrior.

Morningpaw's curiosity rolled from her pelt, and she twitched her whiskers. "If I'm going to make it to what?" she asked in puzzlement.

Birchfire hadn't answered her, his tail-tip flicking over her shoulder as he padded off, Morningpaw following after him steadily.

Sighing, the cream apprentice tilted her muzzle up, the warm scent of prey flooding her nostrils. Her paws felt the familiar pathway leading to the center of the Clan camp, and in no time her nose was brushing against the soft fur of the prey, sniffing each one to see which was best for her cravings.

Her jaws opened to close around a vole's fragile body, dragging the meat down and next to the fresh-kill pile, her mouth watering as she bit into it.

"You act like you haven't eaten in moons," Morningpaw's ears pricked as she heard the familiar, deep mew, her mouth curving into a smile.

The cream she-cat looked up. "Nightpaw," she purred, getting to her paws and reaching up to rub noses with her brother. She felt Nightpaw's face flush with embarrassment, and Morningpaw recoiled, her forepaw pressing softly on the vole.

She heard the grass blades crinkle underneath her brothers heavy weight as the large apprentice settled himself in front of her.

"So," he meowed suddenly, causing her ears to prick as she began to bunch her legs together, laying down. "How's Birchfire? Is he as hard as everyone says he is?" The hint of protectiveness that came from Nightpaw caused Morningpaw to sigh, slightly shaking her head.

He's so protective of me sometimes, She smiled despite her thoughts, a paw reaching out to brush against Nightpaw's huge ones. Her smiled faltered, though, as she considered his question, thinking back about their training session yesterday.

"Oh," she began slowly, feeling a small wave of a different emotion coming from Nightpaw's black fur. "He's…he's good. Tough, but I'm learning," She smiled again, her tail flicking, "But, at this rate, we can be warriors by next quarter moon!" she let out a purr, whiskers twitching.

She heard Nightpaw purr in agreement. "Yeah, we could be." He murmured, but she noticed that he voice sounded distant, in a way.

Morningpaw blinked. "Is everything okay?" she asked.

The grass crinkled once more, and she heard Nightpaw sigh once more. "Yeah," he muttered, flicking over her ears again with his tail. "Everything is…fine," She didn't miss the hesitation is his sentence, but Morningpaw didn't dwell on it, hearing the large tom's pawsteps fade away as he padded off, perhaps back to the apprentices den, or maybe to the warriors den. Probably going to get Mouseleap, She sighed as she thought of her brothers kinder mentor, the excitable but sensible warrior.

Her ears pricked as she heard heavy pawsteps drum toward her, Morningpaw's head swinging in the sound's direction.

"We're training in the trees today," She let out a small sigh as she heard Birchfire's familiar and gruff meow come from a few pawsteps ahead of her.

As her sigh trailed off, she blinked, tilting her head up. "Why? I haven't heard from the other apprentices that they're doing that," she asked, but soon regretted even thinking the words once Birchfire let out an impatient growl.

"Does it matter why? All that matters is that you have the skill. Do you understand how much of an advantage you'd have if you knew how to climb trees? Or do you just not care enough to try?" Morningpaw cringed, spine fur spiking up. "You know, Willowstream would probably love an apprentice to help out in her den," Her eyes widened. Even though her mentor had used this threat constantly with her, each time it made her prickle in fear. "So I'll say this again: We're training in the trees today."

Morningpaw didn't hesitate to nod her head, scrambling up to her paws as Birchfire let out a grunt, his pawsteps beginning to fade as he padded away. Every time, she thought as she bounded after him, her little legs only carrying her so far. Every time I ask him why we're doing something, he snaps at me. It's not fair that every other apprentice gets the nice mentors, and I'm stuck with grouchy, old Birchfire.

The sweet scent of the forest filled around her, and she blocked it out as best as she could; Birchfire was always one to tell her that she spent too much time sniffing, and using one of her senses, but not enough time listening. The larks twittered above her, the sound of their wings flapping against the small breeze filling her ears with a peaceful noise. She bounded forward a few more pawsteps, catching up closely with her mentor.

Her mentor moved swiftly through the forest, his bigger frame allowing him to travel further and faster from the apprentice than she could. I wish my legs were bigger, she thought, suddenly, and with a remorseful feeling in the pit of her belly. But I'm so small. I'm not big enough - not like Nightpaw. He's huge! Already the size of a warrior! Morningpaw bounced over a branch that had fallen from the rainstorm a few moons before, landing in a small pile of tattered grass.

"Move a little faster," Birchfire called back, the irritation in his voice evident. "You have to be light on your paws."

Morningpaw's head bobbed as the little she-cat scuttled after her mentor; her mentor didn't seem to want to slow down, even though the apprentice was struggling. I'm not surprised.

She felt the ample tom ahead of her continue with his ignoring, even though Morningpaw let out small whimpers of discomfort when her paw hit a stone, or when she accidentally had too long of a step and almost slipped.

The grass beneath her soft, pink pawpads thinned, turning into soft dirt, her paws dipping underneath a small layer, before she pulled them out. Morningpaw hopped onto a more solid area, the dirt feeling cold and hard beneath her small paws. She scented Birchfire here, but the broad tom hadn't spoken since his snap at her to hurry up. Morningpaw's ears pricked, and she sniffed the air, the scent of the plentiful prey around them filling her nose again.

After a few moments of strange silence, she blinked, turning to face her mentor. "Birchfire," she mewed, "Who are you waiting-" she was just beginning to ask, until her mentor roughly cut her off.

"For Shadeclaw and Falconpaw," he grunted, "They'll be joining us for this lesson." And he didn't give any indication that he wanted to pry further, to which Morningpaw mutely nodded to.

She knew Falconpaw a bit; he was a larger apprentice - not as big as Nightpaw, but still was quite big - and the tom was older than she and Nightpaw. Falconpaw had a limp on his front right leg, from an accident that he suffered as a kit after he and his brother, Eaglestorm, had been playing by the fallen tree bridge. Falconpaw had slipped, causing him to permanently damage his front leg.

Falconpaw was more reserved and private than the other apprentices that she knew - Rainpaw had said that it probably came from the fact that, if Falconpaw hadn't gotten his injury, than he would've been a warrior by this time. But Nightpaw talked to him from time to time, and he didn't seem too bad.

Well, it's better than being just by myself, She blinked, tilting her head up as the branches creaked in the wind. Being alone with Birchfire isn't something that I plan on spending my morning.

New scents flitted to her nose, and Morningpaw twitched her whiskers as she heard rough and off putted pawsteps come into the clearing, followed by more swift and powerful strides.

"Glad you're here, Shadeclaw," Birchfire meowed, and Morningpaw could hear the slight swish in the wind, probably of his tail lashing.

Shadeclaw's calm voice, smooth, but hiding a fierce one behind a thick façade, caused her to dip her head in respect when she realized that the tom must've been facing her. "Glad to be here. Falconpaw and Morningpaw are going to need this training," he mewed, and Morningpaw's ears pricked. He had said their names lower than before, and, even though this was a minor, tiny change, it still felt suspicious.

Falconpaw's confusion was a companion to her own, the tom cat almost as confused as she. "Eaglestorm never got this training," the tom mewed lowly, a bit to himself, but loud enough for it to be carried to her ears.

She felt irritation prickling from her mentors pelt, but was relieved when she heard Shadeclaw cut in.

"Yes, well, these methods are a little…advanced. Every apprentice will be learning them at one point or another," he meowed gently, but to both of them rather than just Falconpaw.

Morningpaw blinked, considering the answer. They're both acting really, really weird. She shook her head. Well, OakClan has been giving us a lot of pressure at the borders. I know it's bothering all of the warriors and Mom and Dad.

She felt a small ripple of irritation come from Falconpaw, but the larger apprentice didn't speak out any of his thoughts, only remained quiet. Morningpaw heard small murmuring coming from Birchfire and Shadeclaw, but she couldn't prick her ears to listen and further.

Everyday, she'd feel emotions, hear whispers, and scent distress, more so as the days passed, and as she grew a bit more experienced. I know something is bothering them, she thought, blinking. But I just wish that they could just tell me to my face that they're not happy with how I'm doing as an apprentice. Just because I can't see their distress, doesn't mean I can't feel or hear it.

Birchfire's voice pulled her from her reverie, blinking up in his direction. "Morningpaw, Falconpaw, a lot of warriors from other Clans, and even from our own don't think that you two can make it to be warriors. You two need this training - need tree training," She snickered slightly at 'tree training', but stopped when she felt burning amber eyes turn to her. "So I don't want to hear how much your paws hurt, how much you don't like climbing trees." He finished, sharply, and she felt his eyes leave her, probably to give Falconpaw the same, harsh glare.

Why did I have this feeling that we were climbing trees today? She let out a small sigh, but sucked it back in when she felt Birchfire's gaze on her again. I'm calling it a sixth sense, I guess. I think it makes up for my eyesight.

She felt askew steps coming from where Falconpaw was positioned, the tom letting out small grunts as he walked stiffly toward Birchfire and Shadeclaw.

"You too, Morningpaw. Falconpaw's not the only one who needs the training," She was glad when she heard Shadeclaw murmur this too her; Birchfire would take no moment of hesitation to snap at her.

Morningpaw bounced forward, halting when she felt Falconpaw's tail-tip brush across her nose. The larger cat moved at a slow, uneven pace - having a fractured foreleg instead of a hind leg must've been hard for the usually quiet but brooding apprentice.

Morningpaw's whiskers brushed against the thick oak tree, her paws pressing against it's tough bark. Okay, climbing a tree isn't that hard. She thought as she unsheathed her claws, lifting her hind legs from the grass.

Falconpaw was struggling; she felt the tom gasp as he began climbing the tree, his scent leaning away from her as he put his weight on his other leg rather than his injured one. She knew that he couldn't feel pain in it anymore after the facture - Willowstream had explained it to her while she was helping the medicine cat prepare borage for Grayfeather after Rainpaw and Stonepaw were born.

Morningpaw scented the thick canopies above her, where she could've sworn she heard the faint twitter of larks, one smaller and more pitchy, and the other more thick and sing song-y. A mother and a chick.

Morningpaw heightened herself, feeling a branch underneath her paws. Morningpaw whimpered as her legs swung out, exposed; she didn't know how far down she was from the ground.

The cream she-cat stood on the branch with wobbly legs, her fluffy plume of a tail standing erect to balance herself. She dug her claws into the thick bark, praying to StarClan that she didn't lose her balance and tumble down into the grass circle around the tree.

"Stop looking down!" She jolted as she heard Birchfire's sharp yell come from the ground, lowering herself and curling her tail around the branch. "You'll loose your balance so easily!"

Thanks for the vote of confidence, Birchfire. She thought about rolling her eyes, but decided against it since she could feel the warriors angry eyes glaring up at her through the breeze.

She could still hear Falconpaw's grunts, and the cream she-cat blinked, looking down. "Are you okay, Falconpaw?" she asked, sniffing.

Another grunt. "Because I'm sure you can jump down and haul me up," Morningpaw blinked, hearing Falconpaw's claws scrape against the trees surface. "You're not going to be anymore help then Birchfire."

Morningpaw recoiled, uncurling her tail from the tree branch.

"You two are the slowest climbers I've ever seen!" Birchfire snapped, causing Morningpaw's ears to flatten and a sense of humility to glow through her body. "Honestly, you two won't make it to be warriors!"

Morningpaw blinked, placing her paw back on the upper part of the trunk and looking down. It's not like we'll be playing some type of game that decides whether or not we can be warriors, right?


I know, I know, first chapter is very boring :P. But the next chapter will be hopefully more exciting for everyone. Thank you all for your reviews, they really lighten up my day!

On my blog, I'm responding to all of your reviews, and in the future will have character profiles, spoilers, and other things story-related!

Until next time!