Wingpaw shivered as Brownstar's cold nose touched his, and then bowed his head. Silversun padded over. "Your training will begin tomorrow, young one." She meowed. The apprentice blinked and nodded, and he ran over to his friends.

"Can you believe it!" Thymepaw meowed happily. "Flowerfur is the best! And Silversun isn't that bad either!" But Wingpaw frowned.

"Why did Brownstar assign most of the she-cats as mentors? Don't toms make good mentors too?" He meowed confusedly. Brownstar overheard him and padded over.

"We need the toms to protect the clan and the camp. Right now the she-cats have to learn as they train others and then perhaps we will be able to withstand an attack." She meowed. Thymepaw and Wingpaw fell silent as the leader talked to them. Finally Pawbright padded over to her son and the others.

"Wingpaw, you went to bed late last night. I want you to get some rest." Wingpaw blinked and nodded, silently walking into the apprentices den. The older apprentices were in there, including Lynxpaw, who usually bullied other apprentices or kits. Wingpaw swept past the group and went to the corner of the den, lying down in a nest of moss and putting his head on his paws. Thymepaw followed, holding her tail up haughtily as she passed Lynxpaw, who watched the beautiful brown she-cat out of the corner of his eye before laughing icily and whispering into Spotpaw's ear as he passed.

"If you, Shinepaw, or Wingpaw set a paw on that she-cat. You'll answer to me." Spotpaw skittered forwards nervously as he pretended not to hear. He lay down next to Thymepaw and Wingpaw.

"L-l-lynxpaw seems to l-like y-you." He stuttered quietly to Thymepaw. She tossed her furry brown head and replied.

"I don't care. He's a stupid fur-ball." She mewed. Wingpaw nodded, blinking. Spotpaw stared at Wingpaw's red eyes wonderingly and turned away quickly as the eyes shifted to look at him. Thymepaw set her head on her paws and fell asleep. Wingpaw curled up beside her and Spotpaw beside him. Shinepaw and Leafpaw came into the den and made a new nest a bit further away from the gang of bullies. They went to sleep beside eachother, breathing slowly as their dreams came upon them.

The next morning, Spotpaw padded outside and stretched, his whiskers quivering as he took in the scent of the morning. The sun was just rising and dewdrops were everywhere from the early morning frost. The High Stump shone in the new sunlight and Spotpaw yawned quietly as he walked over to the fresh-kill pile. Wingpaw was the next to appear, coming and taking a mouse off of the pile. His black fur soft and a bit muddy from the dust of the apprentices den and the dew drops of the morning. "I'm in the forest if Silversun is looking for me later." He meowed to Spotpaw, who nodded. Wingpaw bounded into the trees, his red eyes gleaming as he ran. He was going to his flying spot.

He soon reached the place where the trees made a clearing and the ground was covered in grass. A stream trickled down one side where the wildflowers bloomed. Wingpaw breathed in and smiled, unfurling his long black wings. They looked magnificent in the sunlight, a few drops of water on them and light rays refracting off of them. He flapped them once or twice and jumped into the air, swooping clumsily through the clearing. A raven flew past and sat in a tree, watching the apprentice keep attempting to fly and dropping back down sadly onto the ground. He churred slightly, cocking his head to one side. "That's not how you do it." He crowed, flapping his own wings experimentally. He jumped off of the tree and flew gracefully through the air towards Wingpaw, who watched amusedly as the raven showed off.