A/N: Storm's age as of this chapter: 12 moons old. Dapplepaw's age as of this chapter: 10 moons old.
Another moon had passed. Dapplepaw had managed to sneak away from her Clan daily. Storm honestly didn't know how she did it. They often hunted together, or one would bring prey to the other. Storm was getting very used to having Dapplepaw around, and though he'd never admit it, he was beginning to think of her as a friend. She was the only cat he talked to, and really the only cat he needed to talk to, considering Dapplepaw talked so much!
"If only you were at the gathering! It was so great! Since it's leaf-bare now, everyone's on edge, and it looks like RiverClan's going to attack us! If they do, it'll be my first battle! I'm so excited!" Dapplepaw mewed, walking very closely to Storm. "ShadowClan and WindClan are at each others' throats, too."
"Well, if you have a battle, be careful, alright?" Storm blurted out. He regretted it a moment later. He hated showing any emotion that wasn't anger.
Dapplepaw's fur bristled slightly, and Storm guessed she was surprised, but her sudden purr told him that she was quite pleased with what he had said. "What? Worried about me?" The calico teased.
"Never." Storm growled in reply.
"Sure, Storm." She glanced at him with her green eyes, which were quite a bit brighter than his. Storm had a deeper, darker green color for his eyes. "Anyway, mind if I practice my battle moves on you?"
"Not at all." Storm said. He blinked at Dapplepaw, happy that he'd be able to use his claws on something other than rock for once. There hadn't been any trespassers to his territory lately, so Storm had been itching for a fight that never came.
The tom crouched, prepared to retaliate whatever move Dapplepaw had planned for him.
Dapplepaw took a deep breath and lunged at Storm, her claws sheathed. Her jaw gaped open, and she gently bit his throat. Storm unsheathed his claws and raked them across her belly. Dapplepaw leaped back and squealed, "Hey! You're supposed to keep your claws sheathed!"
"Who said?"
"Every warrior I've ever met!"
"I'm no Clan cat. I don't follow Clan rules. How was I supposed to know that you keep your claws sheathed in training?"
"Well, you are." Dapplepaw said, her ears flat to her head.
"Why is that?" Storm questioned. "After all, if you keep your claws unsheathed, the training is more real, and will give you a better taste of what a real battle is like. I could see apprentices getting scared and shocked during their first battle when they feel a lot of pain from other cats' claws."
Dapplepaw's eyes narrowed and her tail lashed, "Apprentices aren't stupid! We know we're going to feel pain when we get into a real battle! If we trained with our claws unsheathed, then we'd be getting many more wounds and wouldn't be as strong for battle. Not only that, but our medicine cats would waste herbs on us just for training when they could be using them when the herbs are actually needed."
Storm shrugged, "Your answer's good enough. I'll keep my claws sheathed." He let his claws slide back into their sheathes and waited.
Dapplepaw nodded then ran at Storm again, but this time, she swerved to his right flank and batted at it. This took Storm by surprise, but he was much bigger than Dapplepaw, so she didn't knock him down or even unbalance him. He stood on his hind legs and grabbed hold of Dapplepaw with his forepaws. The gray tabby threw her to the side and landed on all four paws. He headed over to her and stepped on her with his forepaws when she was done, causing her to be unable to get back up. Storm heard the calico she-cat hiss and backed off. "Maybe you should stick to hunting." The rogue tom mewed, licking a paw.
"I can't! Every cat in a Clan fights and hunts, except for the medicine cat and their apprentice!" Dapplepaw mewed. "It doesn't matter if I'm bad or not. As long as I serve my Clan loyally and put my Clan above myself, then I'm fine."
Storm glanced at the ThunderClanner. "Loyally, huh? Well, if you were loyal to your Clan, then you'd stay in your own territory, now wouldn't you? What's the point in marking your land if you're not going to stay within those markings? Putting your Clan above yourself sounds pretty stupid, too. We all try our best to survive, don't we? Why would you put a bunch of other cats, some that you may not even have any care for, above yourself? It's not right. Live your own life, Dapplepaw. Care about yourself above all others."
Dapplepaw stared at Storm with dilated eyes. As she sat up, her shoulders drooped. "Shut up, Storm. You don't know what it's like to be in a Clan." She meowed weakly. "So you still don't want me around, do you? I thought you'd gotten over it. Fine, then. I'll go. Forever. Goodbye, Storm." With that, Dapplepaw padded off, her head and tail drooping.
Storm, once again, watched as she left. This time, however, she didn't look back.