A/N: Thanks so much Sakeraa for my first review! Uh . . . I don't have anything else to say, which is amazing considering the last three author's notes.
Disclaimer: I only own this story and its characters (except the ones from the books I will metion later in the story), so I don't own Warriors.
Orangepaw crouched, her white paws making no sound as she approached the mouse. The small creature was eating, like mice usually were. She prepared, and then leapt. She landed with her paws on the mouse and quickly bit it. She froze when she heard a sound, and then relaxed as she realized it was just her mentor, Raventail. The black she-cat leapt from one of the few trees and said, "That was great! After you catch one more and take them back to camp, meet me by the Great Oak.
Raventail leapt back into the tree. Orangepaw watched the black cat jump from tree to tree. Raventail was better at jumping than most cats, and, though the trees were sparse, she could go almost anywhere in FlowerClan territory without touching the ground.
Orangepaw caught a small bird and took both pieces of fresh-kill back to camp. Though Orangepaw had never seen another Clan's camp, she was pretty sure none of the other Clans had a camp like FlowerClan's. There were a group of bushes that had room to sleep underneath. The leader and deputy each got their own bush unless they chose otherwise, if there was more than one queen with kits, every queen would share a bush with their kits. If there were a lot of apprentices, they would use two bushes, and warriors usually took up two or three bushes. The medicine cat's den was a cave under one of the larger bushes so that herbs and safe cats would be safe in bad weather. There was one bush that had a pile of prey – the fresh-kill pile – under it. There were no elders right now, but, like the nursery bushes, the long branches close to the ground were woven and had other branches woven in to keep it warmer and safer. In cold weather, apprentices would pad the walls with moss.
Orangepaw ran out of camp like she was fleeing from dogs. At first, she didn't see Raventail when she got to the Great Oak, but she looked up and saw her mentor. They began battle training.
"This is a move that scares dogs," the black cat said, and then she displayed a move where she turned sideways to look larger, hissed, and grabbed the imaginary dog's nose or face. Orangepaw tried, and then she said, "Would it work if you hung on and kicked the dog with your hind paws?"
Raventail was surprised. She thought for a moment and then said, "If the dog was very large, it would work, but on a small dog, you couldn't even swing your hind paws up to scratch them unless you suddenly gained the ability to go through the ground like a ghost." The black mentor looked around for something, and then said, "Try it on this rock."
The rock was rather large, and a part stuck out of the top that she could hang on to. Orangepaw crouched, and then pounced. Her paws slipped a little on the rock, but she dug her claws into it like it had done her wrong and she was punishing it. She swung her dangling legs up to the rock and scratched while hanging on. She fell onto her feet easily. She practiced the normal version and hers before moving on to a move to knock a foe over. Since Crowpaw was hurt, Mousetail had nothing to do and was wandering around.
Raventail called over the smaller she-cat and demonstrated the move on her. Orangepaw noticed how careful Raventail was not to hurt her fellow FlowerClan warrior. Raventail had Mousetail stand doing nothing, and then she rammed into the tabby she-cat. The rolled a little bit, but then Raventail leapt away while Mousetail was still on the ground and attacked the smaller warrior. Soon, Mousetail was pretending to beg for mercy, and then she pulled her back legs up and raked Raventail's belly gently. They stopped, and Mousetail left. Raventail thanked the smaller cat and began talking to Orangepaw. Mousetail's white paws were hidden in the tall grass that made this place perfect for practicing.
Raventail said, "You can scratch or bite your opponent while they are on the ground, but, as you saw, you have to be fast so that they don't hurt you. This move is dangerous because you usually use it to hurt their belly, while you leave their paws free to scratch and their mouth free to bite."
Next, they practiced fighting and then went back to camp. Orangepaw split the bird she had caught with Pinepaw, who was resting in the apprentice den. Apparently, Pinepaw had sprained one of his feet and couldn't walk very well, let alone hunt or fight. Soon Crowpaw returned. He was followed by his sister, Windpaw, and Windpaw's friend, Owlpaw. Crowpaw and Windpaw were Raventail's and td Pinefoot were Mousetail and Whiteclaw's kits. Owlpaw was a tabby with white paws, like Mousetail, but Pinepaw was white with tabby paws, face, tail and ears. Orangepaw was the only kit of Goldenstar, the leader. Her father was Blackleaf, Raventail's sister. She had been surprised that her mentor was kin. She wondered if an apprentice's parent could be their mentor.