Five and a-Half Moons Later

"Ravenpup, get down from there!" Sparrowflight warned. The black pup was supposed to be playing with Hawkpaw, but he fell asleep at the bottom of the Highrock, leaving Ravenpup unsupervised. Ravenpup was pawing her way up the Highrock when she heard her mother's call. /I never get to have any fun./ she thought. She climbed down and sat beside Sparrowflight, who began to groom her.

"You need to be more careful, Sweetheart," Sparrowflight told her. "You're just a pup, and the Highrock is not a play place. You could have fallen and gotten hurt." Ravenpup tried to wriggle away.

"Don't worry, Mama. I was being careful, honest. I wouldn't have fallen and if I did, I would've landed on Hawkpaw." she said. Sparrowflight stopped grooming her and smiled.

"I don't think Hawkpaw would like that." she chuckled. Ravenpup shrugged.

"I guess not…but he needs to wake up anyway." she said. "He's so lazy."

"He's not lazy, little one. He's tired." Sparrowflight corrected. "Being an apprentice is hard." Raven pricked her ears at the word 'apprentice'. She bounced around Sparrowflight in a circle.

"Mama, when am I going to be an apprentice?" she asked eagerly. Sparrowflight raised her tail, blocking Ravenpup's way, then used her tail to pull her closer.

"You'll be an apprentice soon enough." she answered. She lightly nuzzled Ravenpup's cheek. "Right now, you're my pup. My lovely little adventurous pup." Ravenpup nuzzled her back and ran off deeper into camp. Soon, she found Crystalpaw and Blackenedpaw. She ran into Crystalpaw. . . literally. Crystalpaw drew back a bit too late, but Ravenpup tumbled head first and landed on her stomach.

"Where are you going in such a hurry?" Crystalpaw asked. She propped Ravenpup up with her nose. Ravenpup shook herself off, ruffling her fur slightly.

"I'm not going anywhere. I was looking for someone to play with." she said. She sat down and huffed. "Hawkpaw was playing with me, but he fell asleep…" Just then, Hawkpaw bounded over to them. Ravenpup padded to his side.

"And just where have you been?" she demanded as authoritatively as her little voice would allow. Crystalpaw giggled and Blackenedpaw was trying to hold back a snicker, smiling smugly to himself. Hawkpaw rolled his eyes and laid beside the black pup.

"If you must know Mother, I was napping" he said. Ravenpup raised an eyebrow.

"Mother? What do you mean?" Crystalpaw and Blackenedpaw's laughter echoed through the camp. Hawkpaw sighed and shook his head.

"Doesn't matter, Ravenpup." he said. He looked up at the other apprentices.

"Fawn, Riverpebble, and I are going hunting. Wanna come?"

"I'll go." Crystalpaw offered cheerfully. Hawkpaw grinned, sitting up slowly. He had a crush on the white she-wolf and was happy she was willing to spend time with him . . . even if it was just hunting, it was a start. Ravenpup stole a glance at Crystalpaw before raising her tail high in the air.

"I wanna come! I'm going, too!" she declared. Hawkpaw's grin vanished and he frowned down on the younger wolf.

"Sorry, Ravenpup, but you're too little." Blackenedpaw explained. "You won't be an apprentice for awhile."

"Well, how long is awhile?, Ravenpup asked, cocking her head to the left and looking up at the black and white wolf.

"Um…the next full moon, but that's not very far away." Blackenedpaw answered. He was the oldest of the apprentices, but only by about a moon or so. He felt he had to be the most mature of the group. Crystalpaw nodded, agreeing with Blackenedpaw.

"Blackenedpaw's right, Ravenpup." she said. Ravenpup looked down with a genuinely dejected expression on her face. Crystalpaw touched the aged pup's ear with her nose.

"Listen," she began. "I know you want to come with us, but-"

"Hawkpaw! Are you coming?" Riverpebble cried from afar. Hawkpaw glanced at Ravenpup once before looking at Crystalpaw. Crystalpaw addressed Ravenpup once more.

"But we'll play together when I get back, okay?" she said. Ravenpup hesitantly nodded. Crystalpaw smiled and nuzzled her muzzle lightly against Ravenpup's ear.

"You'll be an apprentice soon enough." She promised. All three apprentices padded off, leaving Ravenpup alone. She flicked her tail angrily. /I'm not too little. I'm not! I'll show 'em . . .but how?/ Ravenpup padded to the camp entrance and a thought popped into her head. She looked over her shoulder once and padded as quietly as she could out of camp. When she was a few fox-lengths away, Ravenpup began to run. The wind ruffled her fur and the grass beneath her tickled her small pads. Once she was out of breath, she sat down and looked up into the treetops. /Where am I?/ She smiled. /This could be my chance for an adventure!/ She padded around the unfamiliar territory with her head and tail high.

.oOo.

"Shadowpup, get off!" Echopup growled. Shadowpup was pinning her youngest brother down and nipping his ear.

"Make me!" Shadowpup challenged. Echopup squirmed and batted at her underbelly with his hind legs, trying his best to throw her off.

"You'll have to do better than that!" Shadowpup teased. This only made Echopup angrier. He growled at her, but couldn't do much more than he was already doing. Ashpup came out of nowhere and tackled his sister from the left side, causing them both to tumble away from Echopup. Echopup took the opportunity to sit up, fix his ruffled fur, and watch his battling siblings. Fallowpup padded up to him.

"Hi, Echopup." she greeted cheerfully. She had taken a liking to young Echopup, but he was oblivious to it.

"H-Hi, Fallowpup." he said. He turned back to his brother and sister. Ashpup and Shadowpup were wrestling and fighting to stay on top. Echopup sighed. /Seems like I don't fit in./

"Ha!" Ashpup growled. He pinned his sister down and was beaming with pride. Shadowpup pushed him off with a light kick and padded away without saying a word. She prided herself on her strength and was upset to have lost. Ashpup padded over to Fallowpup and his brother with his chest puffed out and his head high.

"Hey Fallowpup, did you see?" he asked nonchalantly. "I took Shadowpup down without really, uh, trying." He tried to seem uncaring on the matter, but truth is, he had developed a crush on Fallowpup. Fallowpup shook her head at the gray wolf's question.

"No, sorry." she said. "I was talking to Echopup; I didn't see you."

Ashpup glared at Echopup, causing the younger wolf to take a step backwards. Fallowpup seemed to miss the gesture, focusing on Waterpaw, who just padded into camp with Lightninghowl, Falconhunter, and Icygaze.

"I'm going to visit Waterpaw." Fallowpup said. She trotted off. Ashpup glared at his brother once more and soon padded over to their father. Lightninghowl greeted his son warmly and began to play a game with him. Echopup sighed. /Shadowpup bullies me, Ashpup sends me death glares whenever I talk to Fallowpup, and Father doesn't play with me like he does with my littermates…I don't understand./ The golden pup decided to pad out of camp. He knew it was wrong for a pup to do so, but he didn't care. /No one will notice I'm gone, anyway./

Ravenpup ran through the forest until she saw another pup across the way. He appeared to be made of pure gold the way the sun hit his pelt.

"Hey!" she hollered, trying to catch his attention. The mystery wolf said nothing, so she tried something else.

"Hey, Goldie!" she hollered. Echopup looked to his left and then to his right. /Whoever that is, they must be talking to me./ he thought.

"Goldie? Hey!"

Echopup was soon greeted by Ravenpup, who seemed to drop out of nowhere. The she-wolf walked around the slightly older wolf, her nose pointed towards him. Echopup's first instinct was to stand still. Ravenpup seemed strange to him. After circling Echopup for the third time, Ravenpup moved about a yard away from him and sat down.

"Were you t-talking to m-me?" Echopup stammered. The black and white pup nodded.

"Yeah, I was talking to you. I saw you from all the way back there. What are you doing out here by yourself? Are ya hiding? You stick out here, you know. Your pelt's really shiny. But not my pelt. It's black, and a little white. They kinda look like scratches, but I don't know how I would get white scratches, 'cause blood is red. Unless I have white blood." she rambled. Echopup narrowed his eyes and blinked in response. Ravenpup chuckled.

"My name's Ravenpup. I'm from Stormpack. Where are you from? You got a name, Goldie?"

"Um, m-my name's Echopup. I live in Shadowpack." Ravenpup giggled and sat beside Echopup, receiving a confused look in response.

"Ravenpup. . . what are you giggling about?" he inquired. The Stormpack pup shook her head.

"Nothing." she smiled. "Nothing at all. . ."

So the pups meet. :) Sorry for the LOOONG wait, but I've been working on other stories. I don't think I'm going to continue this one, though. . . but I'm not certain yet. Review please.