With her kits out of the nursery, Bluefur was finally able to move back to the warriors' den. She reclaimed her old nest the same day her kits became apprentices.

Although Bluefur loved her kits, she was overjoyed to be a warrior again. The patrols, the hunting, the togetherness with her Clan- they were things she had missed greatly.

Sometimes she thought about what could have been. If she had made a different choice, she would have been deputy. Instead she was taking orders from her enemy. Thistleclaw seemed to delight in that; he strode around the camp like it belonged to him, and Bluefur supposed that in a way, it did. She tried not to let Thistleclaw's arrogance bother her, and most of the time succeeded. Even though she knew she would never become ThunderClan's leader, she did have her kits. They knew Bluefur as their mother, not an enemy warrior, and she told herself that meant more than any feeling leadership could bring.

Mosspaw, Mistypaw, and Stonepaw's apprenticeships were uneventful for the most part. Although they no longer lived with her, Bluefur tried to involve herself in their training as much as she could without being overbearing, remembering how she had wished for her own mother's help as an apprentice. She kept track of them from a distance, hearing about their progress from their mentors or the kits themselves in the times that they spoke with her.

Mosspaw was the best of the three in terms of keeping Bluefur informed, although Stonepaw and Mistypaw were by no means detached.

One time early on in their training, she had gotten the chance to patrol with all three of her kits. They had padded along the stream, and Bluefur had picked up a faint prey scent. She ordered her kits to race ahead to flush them out.

"Quick, Stonepaw, that way! Mistypaw circle around back! Mosspaw, take the other side!"

"I don't smell anything," Stonepaw meowed, peering through the trees in confusion.

"There's a vole nest, Stonepaw, now go or you'll miss them!" With that, Stonepaw shot off and sure enough, he returned with a vole.

"How did you know that?" Stonepaw dropped the vole on the ground.

"Yeah, I couldn't tell anything was there until the vole started running away from us," Mosspaw added.

Bluefur shook her head. "The scent was in the breeze. You'll get better at tracking with more experience. Come on; let's try again further down. Mosspaw, why don't you try to make the catch this time."

They had caught three more voles and a squirrel that way. Her kits had been impressed; they hadn't scented the prey at all and thought Bluefur had a sixth sense.

That was one of the only times Bluefur had been able to patrol with her kits, and she knew that their wide-eyed wonder at the volume of prey they managed to catch would remain one of her favorite memories.


One day several moons into her kits apprenticeships, Bluefur decided to take a walk in the forest. She had taken the dawn patrol, so she was done with her required warrior duties for the day.

Padding aimlessly, Bluefur passed the training hollow. "Good job, Mistypaw." Bluefur's ears twitched. That was Patchpelt. "Now, when you're using that move in battle you'll need to be quicker, but that's a fine start."

Bluefur heard the sound of rustling leaves. "Can I try against Stonepaw or Mosspaw?" asked Mistypaw.

"Once their mentors have finished teaching them, I don't see why not," Patchpelt told her. "But for now keep practicing. You want to beat them, don't you?"

There was silence; Bluefur guessed that Mistypaw had nodded. She walked farther.

"Swipe like this, Stonepaw," Lionheart was mewing. "Yes, that's it." Curiosity getting the better of her, Bluefur scooted to the edge of the clearing, settling herself into a hidden spot that allowed her to view the training session without gaining notice.

Eyes narrowed seriously, Stonepaw reared up on his hind legs, reaching out with a forepaw. Then he fell back onto all four paws. "How was that?"

Lionheart gave him a satisfied nod. "Excellent." He glanced over at Patchpelt, who was demonstrating a pouncing move to Mistypaw. Swiveling her head, Bluefur wondered if her kits' mentors would have them face off. She was curious as to how her kits might handle a fight.

In the opposite corner from Mistypaw and Stonepaw, Sparrowpelt was standing with Mosspaw. They crouched facing each other, about to practice a mock battle. Bluefur craned her neck to watch. How would her daughter fare against one of ThunderClan's senior warriors? Mosspaw crouched, wriggling her haunches. She was just about to leap when-

"Bluefur?" hissed a cat's voice. Bluefur spun around to see Thrushpelt facing her. "What are you doing here?"

It took her a moment to get her voice back. "I was just hunting," she replied. "And . . . I overheard the kits' training and wanted to see how they were doing." Her ears burned. She must look like one of those busybody mothers, spying on her kits' warrior training sessions. Come on Bluefur, she mewed to herself. You're better than that.

Thrushpelt watched her, and Bluefur's pelt prickled uncomfortably. "So, how are they?"

"They're doing well, as far as I can see." Bluefur paused, avoiding Thrushpelt's gaze. "Stonepaw's getting quite good at the up claw-swipe."

They were silent for a moment. Thrushpelt turned to Bluefur, seeming to be able to tell she was thinking about something. "What is it?"

"It's just- I want them to be the best warriors they can be. For ThunderClan." She stopped, hesitating, and Thrushpelt nodded, patiently waiting for her to continue. "I gave up so much for them," she confessed. "I want ThunderClan to be better for it." Bluefur shook her head to clear it.

Thrushpelt flicked his tail to draw her away. "Come on, let's go hunt."

Bluefur nodded, allowing herself to be led away. Her kits would be fine. ThunderClan was strong.


Around sunhigh one day about three moons into the kits' apprenticeships, Mosspaw returned to camp after a morning of training, her eyes glittering mischievously. She practically bounced over to Bluefur.

"Guess what?" she meowed. She didn't wait for Bluefur to answer before she continued. "I beat Runningpaw!"

Bluefur blinked, confused, but couldn't help but share her kit's enthusiasm. "Beat him at what?"

"A mock battle! And he's almost a warrior too!" Mosspaw kneaded her paws into the ground, seemingly unable to contain her energy. "Right, Whitestorm? Wasn't it great?" Turning her head, Bluefur saw her sister's son pad up at the mention of his name.

"It was impressive," Whitestorm admitted.

"Although I beat her a moment later!" called Stonepaw. Bluefur squinted, making out the shape of the blue-gray apprentice bounding through the gorse tunnel. Stonepaw loped over to his sister, his eyes uncharacteristically playful.

"No, that didn't count. You cheated," Mosspaw mewed, wrapping her tail around her paws.

Stonepaw flicked his ears. "Keep telling yourself that. There's no rule against feinting and then attacking."

Mistypaw must have heard the commotion, and she poked her head out of the elder's den. "What is it you two are yowling about?" Shaking moss from her paws, she padded over to the group. "Did one of you catch a pheasant or something?"

"I won a fight against Mosspaw," Stonepaw told her.

"With a cheap trick," Mosspaw protested.

"I'll show you a cheap trick!" Stonepaw pounced, and soon he and Mosspaw were scuffling on the ground. Sighing, Bluefur shook her head and shared a glance with Whitestorm. She and Snowfur hadn't been like that when they were apprentices, had they? Stonepaw, Mistypaw, and Mosspaw always seemed so full of energy.

Suddenly Thistleclaw burst into the camp, followed by Tigerclaw, Windflight and Goldenflower. He padded across the camp to the Highrock, where Sunstar was resting, and Bluefur could pick out the words 'ShadowClan' and 'trespassing'. Leaving her kits to bicker good naturedly amongst themselves, Bluefur moved closer, and she could hear Thistleclaw telling Sunstar that the scent of ShadowClan had been detected on the ThunderClan side of the Thunderpath.

"We must attack," he finished. "We cannot tolerate their disrespect for our borders. They need to be taught a lesson!"

Sunstar calmly waved his tail to quiet him. "Not so fast, Thistleclaw. One cat is hardly an invasion. Up our border patrols in the area, but for now we shall wait and see. We can respond at the next Gathering."

Although his ears were flat, Thistleclaw nodded stiffly in respect for his Clan leader's wishes. "Yes, Sunstar," he meowed. "I will organize the additional patrols right away."

As Thistleclaw began to walk away, Bluefur abruptly sensed another cat's presence, and whipped around. Pelt ruffled and dirty, Goosefeather was muttering to himself at the center of the clearing; apparently he had observed the exchange between ThunderClan's leader and deputy as well. Thistleclaw walked back to the warriors' den, eyeing Goosefeather with a look of disgust. The former medicine cat turned to Bluefur, and she couldn't help but shudder when she met his eyes.


AN: Even though the first few chapters of this are mostly sunshine and rainbows, this story will get darker. There will be no warnings on chapters in which deaths occur. This is your final warning.

Next up: the kits' first Gathering