Silverpaw was never exactly a nice cat. She wasn't easy to get along with, although she managed to get along with a few other cats. Silverpaw's favorite thing to do was battle practice, so when her mentor, Frostclaw, asked her what she wanted to do, that was her natural answer. Frostclaw had a surprise for her, though. He knew what she would choose, so he got the deputy of AuroraClan, Pinefoot, to bring his own (much older) apprentice to spar with Silverpaw.

Pinefoot's apprentice, Webpaw, was a large, muscular tom. He was the classic fluffy pale grey that symbolized a cat of AuroraClan. He was a caring cat, but didn't take kindly to cats with as much attitude as Silverpaw. His sister, Flashpaw, was the same way.

Silverpaw and Frostclaw met in the training area. It was sheltered by many trees, so the snow was only a thin layer of white. They met Pinefoot and Webpaw, who had brought the two newcomers with them. The bright orange cat unsettled Silverpaw, and his fur hurt her eyes, as they've always been used to the pale, flat colors of winter. He always wore a straight face, and never once has Silverpaw seen him look happy or say a single word to anyone besides his sister.

Rainwhisker was pressed against Furystorm, shivering in the cold. Furystorm seemed to think nothing of the shaking Rainwhisker.

"I brought these two along so maybe they could learn a thing or two about how the Warriors fight," Pinefoot explained. "We don't want them playing 'Kill the Badger' in a battle."

"What's th-th-that?" Rainwhisker asked, her shivering mutating her words. "Is it a g-g-game?"

"Never mind that," Pinefoot said, stealing a look at the gray she-cat.

Silverpaw gazed at Furystorm. The ginger tom narrowed his bright green eyes, and held her look. He almost looked like he knew he could whoop her furry little butt. In all truth, Silverpaw thought he probably could. His sister, though... Silverpaw didn't know what to make of her. She seemed strong, but at the moment she was cold. Nobody in AuroraClan was ever cold, and that made Rainwhisker different. A lot of cats didn't like differences beyond fur color. At least Rainwhisker's coat and eyes remotely fit in.

"This is going to be a freestyle match," announced Pinefoot. "The winner gets to choose if I fight Rainwhisker or Furystorm. The other cat versus Frostclaw."

Silverpaw and Webpaw stood about three fox-lengths apart, crouched with their back legs tensed. "Begin!" yowled Pinefoot.

There was a flash of light gray and a flash of silver, and then Silverpaw was on top of Webpaw, gripping his back with her sheathed paws.

"Very nice!" exclaimed Frostclaw.

"Shake her off!" yowled Pinefoot enthusiastically. Webpaw was already in the process of getting rid of her. He rolled over onto his back, crushing the smaller apprentice. He rolled off of her, and leaped backwards so he was facing Silverpaw. The silver she-cat was regaining her breath quickly. She sprang at Webpaw, who turned around and, with a last glance behind him, kicked out explosively with his back paws. Silverpaw went flying, slamming into a tree. She shook the snow from her pelt and bounced over to Webpaw. She didn't look quite so quick to attack, though. So far aerial strikes weren't working, even though they were her favorites to perform.

Webpaw narrowed his eyes, shifting some of his weight to his back paws. He raised a paw and in a flash brought it down on top of Silverpaw's head. It wasn't nearly as hard as he would've done it in a serious battle. Silverpaw moved back, shaking her head. She had never been defeated as bad as this, and that made her furious with herself. She had started out with a clever move, but now she couldn't seem to do anything right.

"Think, Silverpaw! What do you think will work?" Frostclaw suggested loudly.

Silverpaw did some thinking. She knew that she shouldn't get too close to him, that front paw blow had proved that. And he probably expected her to take that into account. So Silverpaw charged at him, sliding under him and pummeling him with her back paws. Webpaw collapsed on top of her.

"That's cheating!" Silverpaw yowled. "He can't do that!"

"Actually, it's not," pointed out Pinefoot. "I said freestyle. And also, on that point, I do believe Webpaw won, don't you agree, Frostclaw?"

"I do," Frostclaw said, nodding.

"So who am I going to battle?" Pinefoot asked intently.

Webpaw got off of Silverpaw, throwing her a victorious look. "Rainwhisker," he said without a moment's hesitation.

Pinefoot nodded. He looked over to the two former rogues. "This is only a test to see what you know. No claws or teeth. This is just to see what you've learned, so don't worry."

Silverpaw snickered. "Rainwhisker's going down," she told Webpaw.

"So is Furystorm," added Webpaw. "I can't wait to see how they fight without using their claws!" Webpaw exclaimed.

Rainwhisker faced the cream-colored tom. His paws were light brown, and there was a nasty scar on his shoulder.

Furystorm faced Frostclaw. The white warrior looked calm and collected, his pure white coat shining in the light.