Chapter 3

"Come on, go for it!" Redpaw lunged out towards her mentor, narrowly missing her and sliding face-first into the sand, Pigeonwing laughed for a moment until she too fell off-balance and plunged into the sand.

"Urgh, maybe we should pit you against an apprentice… and a cat that can stand on their paws!" Pigeonwing meowed in amusement.
"I think he should be around here… hey Swiftfoot!" Pigeonwing called. The white and black tom padded out of the bushes, a little she-cat following alongside him.
"How about we let our apprentices do some battle training?" Pigeonwing suggested to Swiftfoot. Swiftfoot nodded in agreement.

"Yes, that will be fine. I'm sure you've got lots of moves to show off to Redpaw, huh Dovepaw?"

"Y-yes." The she-cat stammered. Redpaw could see as Dovepaw approached her that she was shaking like a leaf, her face in a constant look of fear and shame.

"P-please go easy on me, I-I don't want to get h-h-hurt like I did with y-your siblings." Her voice shook, and Redpaw felt a twinge of pity for the apprentice.

"Ready, set… go!" Pigeonwing cried. Dovepaw hurled herself at Redpaw with a whimper. Redpaw took the hit and batted at her with her paws. Dovepaw sprang back up and started to batter Redpaw with her paws, the two parried each other with their paws, until one of the blows knocking Redpaw to the ground. Dovepaw looked at her, her blue eyes confused as the fiery she-cat lay still. Of course Redpaw had plenty of time to get up and take Dovepaw out with a few easy moves, but she winked at Dovepaw, and she understood what to do. Dovepaw leaped into the air, landing beside Redpaw and gently putting her paw on her neck. Redpaw beat the ground with her paw.

"Stop! Stop! You're too good!" Redpaw gasped. Swiftfoot and Pigeonwing came over, where the two apprentices had sat up and was washing the sand out of their fur.

"Good job! I knew you had it in you!" Swiftfoot meowed proudly, giving his apprentice an approving lick.

"You weren't half bad either Redpaw." Pigeonwing said, although her eyes flashed, and Redpaw thought there was something more she wanted to say, but she kept quiet.

"I owe Swiftfoot a mouse, so why don't you two practice some?" Pigeonwing suggested. The two apprentices shook their heads enthusiastically, and the mentors set off for the words. Dovepaw turned to Redpaw.

"...You let me win?" Dovepaw tilted her head in confusion.

"Well… maybe, but I knew training had been hard on you, so I thought you might want a confidence boost." Redpaw said awkwardly. The words came out a little harsher than she expected, but Dovepaw just looked at her happily.

"Thank you. Nobody's ever given me a chance before!" Dovepaw bounced on her toes.

"It's nothing." Redpaw dipped her head in embarrassment. "Now, let's practice some. Those hits could be a little harder, perhaps."

"Okay!" Dovepaw mewed excitedly. The pair began to exchange strikes. Redpaw was pleased she'd restored some of this she-cat's spirits.

Both cats were lounging around camp, Redpaw washing her fur while Dovepaw enthusiastically talked about her family.

"…and you haven't seen the real Graypaw! He may be a bit of a klutz, but he's a genuinely sweet cat, and-"

"Hey, you two!" Pigeonwing padded over to where both cats were sitting. "Leafheart wants to know if you two are up for a border patrol?"

"Absolutely." Redpaw said, getting up from her spot in the sun.

"Good, I'll go ask Brackenfeather and then we should be good to go. Wait at the camp entrance will you?" Pigeonwing turned to head for the warrior's den. Redpaw stifled a laugh as Pigeonwing went off balance and almost bit the dust. Dovepaw turned to her with a sparkle in her eyes.

"Woah, a real patrol! I've never been on a border patrol before!"

"You haven't?" Redpaw was puzzled. She thought it was something all apprentices went on when they became one.

"Well, Swiftfoot always said we'd do it at another time because I was so nervous, but I think I'm ready now!" She reared up and started to swipe the air playfully. "Watch out, ThunderClan scum!" Redpaw watched amusedly as she practiced mock battle moves. It was really nice to see her so lively after she'd been perceived as worrisome.

Pigeonwing came over soon enough, Brackenfeather following, flicking moss out of her ears.

"I swear you all don't like for me to get some sleep every now and then." She muttered.

"Come on Brackenfeather, I think you slept plenty when I was your apprentice!" Pigeonwing laughed. "Oh shut up." Brackenfeather growled. Although Redpaw could see her eyes held a bit of an amused look. Leafheart strode up a moment later, ushering the patrol out into the woods. Redpaw was amazed at all the stuff she saw, the warriors explaining most of what it was to her (although Pigeonwing had trouble identifying a thorn bush, causing a wave of chuckles from the patrol). They had just reached the ThunderClan border, Leafheart explaining the ThunderClan territory to them.

"It's mostly trees like ours, but ThunderClan cats have legendary tactics that you should always-" A yowl cut her off, and the patrol caught sight of a ThunderClan patrol heading towards them.

"Dustwhisker? To what do I owe the pleasure of meeting you?" Leafheart's tone was icy as she spoke.

"Nothing much, although I wanted the chance to inform your clan about a disturbance." He said, his yellow eyes unwavering.

"Is something wrong?" Leafheart asked, the tom's steady tone making her wary.

"Badgers. Flarestar wanted the clans to know." He replied nonchalantly. "Anyway, I see you have two new scraps of fur in the clan?"

"I'm Dovepaw, and this is Redpaw! Nice to meet you!" Dovepaw said in a chipper voice.

"We're not scraps of fur…" Redpaw meowed sullenly. For some reason, this cat reminded her so much of her father.

"A pleasure to meet both of you. Who's your parents?" Dustwhisker's question caught Redpaw off guard, and she stammered before Leafheart cut in.

"I'm her mother." She said, edging herself between Redpaw and Dustwhisker.

"Interesting… Well, I hope to see you all at the gathering sometime. Good day." He dipped his head respectfully to Leafheart, who returned the favor. Her eyes narrowed as he turned and walked away.

"He seemed really cool!" Dovepaw gasped in amazement.

"He's not." Leafheart retored. Dovepaw shrank back at the deputy's sharp reply.

"Why?" Redpaw asked, curious as to why Leafheart seemed to hold a grudge against Dustwhisker.

"He just reeks of being no good." Leafheart answered, though she seemed pretty cautious about her answer. Redpaw shrugged and continued along with the patrol. Nothing unusual happened after that, but Redpaw couldn't help but wonder: What was Leafheart's connection to Dustwhisker?