Snowpaw stepped out of the entrance, and the morning breeze ruffled her pelt. She heaved in the scent of flowers deeply, and padded after her mentor, looking around curiously. Frostheart sprinted forward, shouting, "It's a time to test your speed and tracking skills, see if you can follow me!" He disappeared in a thistle bush, and Snowpaw immediately darted after her mentor. The dew on the leaves brushed against her pelt, and she kept her eyes focused on the white pelt before him. For once, she felt that having white fur wasn't useful at all, it stood out among the other colors; enemies could see you when you run away. What am I thinking? Warriors don't escape! Snowpaw mentally scolded herself.

She continued running, and the dense undergrowth disappeared suddenly. What greeted the apprentice was the light blue sky and the fluffy white clouds. Snowpaw felt energy surging through her veins, and she leapt into the air like a bird preparing to take off. Her paws carried her up as she slowly closed her eyes, enjoying the wind. Suddenly, teeth pierced trough her neck skin, and hauled her back. Snowpaw was thrown hard against the ground. Pain filled her as she shut her eyes tightly. What... What happened?

Slowly, she opened her eyes. It was the same clear blue sky. But when Snowpaw looked down, she got a terrible shock. The water was rushing, splattering when it rammed into the jagged stones. Snowpaw then realised that she was about to jump down the cliff just now! If she had fallen into the water, she would have drowned, or torn apart by those jagged stones. Suddenly pain exploded at her shoulders, and blood dripped out. She spun around, and saw Frostheart huffing and puffing.

"What in StarClan got into your mind?" The mentor growled. "You could have died!" Snowpaw hung her head low as she blushed. How reckless of me!

"Mm..." She wanted to say sorry, but only those sounds came out. "Ah..."

Frostheart eyes filled with sympathy as he shook his head and sighed. Snowpaw sighed too. She felt so weird around other cats, she was the strange one, the abnormal one. Why? Why me? "Let's go," Frostheart murmured and headed back to camp. "It's enough shock fit you today." Snowpaw dipped her head and staggered after her mentor.

...

"Frostheart, I want to speak to you, in private," Stonestream flicked her tail, glaring sideways at Flamebreeze. Flamebreeze rolled his eyes, padding away. Frostheart snorted, before flicking his tail, signaling his apprentice to rest. Snowpaw nodded her head, before pulling herself towards the nursery. She shook her head wildly for while, before turning back towards the apprentices' den with a smile on her face. Stonestream smiled at Snowpaw, as she watched her daughter padding into the warm den. Stonestream's smile was wiped off as she led Frostheart to the dirt place, displease written on her face.

"What?" Frostheart growled uneasily, trying to avoid the dirt from dirtying his paws. Stonestream rolled her eyes, seemingly disapproving the other warrior's actions.

"You don't need to care so much about your pelt, they are already dirty, anyway," Stonestream mewed, her paws drew over her left ear. Frostheart narrowed his eyes, his tongue curled up. "Fine, fine," Stonestream spat. "Snowpaw is your daughter, okay? And, I didn't betray you! Please, look at how tired Snowpaw is today, can you just go easy on her... She's a mute after all... My heart ached when I saw her pulling herself into the apprentices' den. Today, my mind was filed with worries, i kept thinking about how Snowpaw is doing, is she having trouble, and if the other apprentices will despise her! It wasn't her fault that she's born like this... It was my fault, it was me who gave birth to her..." The gray queen fell limp, tilting sideways as her eyes filled with sorrow. It was then when Frostheart noticed how skinny Stonestream looked. Her fur was neat and clean, but now it was ragged and torn. Frostheart observed how much Stonetstream had changed. Just when he wanted to pity his ex-mate, he instantly remembered Flamebreeze, how they two betrayed him.

"She is not missing some leg or tail," Frostheart hissed. "But she sure is mad, trying to jump off the cliff today! Are you sure you aren't giving her pressure? And I believe what I believe, the kits are Flamebreeze's, not mine! Get it clear, please. That's it, I'm getting myself out of this dirty place." As Stonestream just watched Frostheart exit the dirtplace, her heart went colder every step the white tom took. He wasn't the old Frostheart anymore, time had changed him, he looked older, more mature. He was not that kind, caring Frostheart that Stonestream loved. Stonestream rested her head on her paws. What if I had never gone on that patrol? Will everything change? Will my kits have a happy family?

...

Night came.

Littlefern was staring at the moon, oblivious to everything happening around her. The clearing was crowded with cats sharing tongues and preys. Snowpaw was eating with Graypaw and Willowpaw. Graypaw and Willowpaw were having a conversation about their training, while Snowpaw was focused on the shrew before her. Frostheart and the other mentors were sharing about mentoring techniques. Bramblefrost narrowed his eyes and Nutblaze glanced sideways at Snowpaw when Frostheart said something. Snowpaw glared back at them, certain that they were talking about how foolish she was during training. Suddenly, Nutblaze laughed, and that angered Snowpaw. How dare he laugh at me!

...

"This is the hunting crouch," Frostheart formed a streamlined body, twitching his tail. Snowpaw crouched down, trying to mimic what her mentor had just shown her. She put more force on her right hind paw, causing her to fall sideways, landing on the grass. She scar,bled onto her paws, dipping her head at Frostheart, seemingly apologizing to him for being a stupid apprentice. Frostheart sighed and told her to get into the hunting crouch again, this time she was to lean against a tree. The white mentor adjusted Snowpaw's left forepaw, making it face straight. He then proceeded to tell Snowpaw about what was wrong with her crouch. "You put too much pressure on your right hind paw," he went on explaining. What is pressure? Snowpaw thought, but was not able to say the question out loud. She learnt words like mouse, shrew, hunting crouch by seeing others saying them while showing her what they meant. For example, Stonetsream will point to a brown-furred creature when saying "mouse". That was how she learnt. But nobody ever explained what "pressure" means.

"Is there anything you don't understand?" Frostheart asked upon seeing the confused look on Snowpaw's face. Snowpaw wasn't sure how to react. She wasn't very sure what "understand" meant. Seeing that her mentor was waiting for an answer, she quickly shook her head, thinking that Frostheart was asking if she had any questions. "Then do the hunting crouch again." Snowpaw obeyed, crouching down, putting pressure on her right hind paw again. Frostheart frowned, flicking his tail towards Snowpaw's hind paw. "I said, don't put pressure on that paw!" Snowpaw just continued to stare blankly at the mentor, until Frostheart dismissed her with a sigh. "Go back and rest."

Snowpaw didn't go back to the camp, she just left her mentor alone, heading to the cliff again to practice her hunting crouch. She wanted to master it, and catch a lot of prey back for Stonestream. Snowpaw remembered how frail Stonetsream looked and how her ribs were showing through her skin. Her eyes were dull and even her smiles seemed forced. A strange smell was coming from her lately, and it was nasty. Snowpaw was very worried, as Littlefern had been fussing over Stoenstream lately, and she even tried to stop Snowpaw from visiting Stonestream last sunrise. Whenever Littlefern fuss over someone, the cat she was fussing over definitely had something wrong. Snowpaw crouched down again, unaware of the problem in her crouch.

"That's not the way to do a hunting crouch," Willowpaw pushed herself out of the ferns, her whiskers twitching in amusement. Willowpaw crouched down, and her crouch was similar to Frostheart's, maybe even better. Snowpaw circled her sister, before doing her crouch again. "Stop putting your weight on that paw." Weight? Snowpaw didn't move, she thought Willlowpaw was complimenting her on her "perfect" crouch, since she looked happy when bouncing around, checking her crouch. After awhile, Willowpaw lost her patience and she shouted, "are you stupid or dumb?" Snowpaw cringed when being shouted at, she didn't know why Willowpaw was suddenly angry. Willowpaw stormed up, forcefully trying to move Snowpaw's hind paw. Snowpaw let out a squeak, running away. Willowpaw sigh, "a mute is forever a mute." Willowpaw spat, and stalked away. Snowpaw thought she could see smoke forming over her sister's head. A mute is a mute? Snowpaw wondered about what her sister had said. What is a mute? Strangely, those words stung her heart. Very very badly.

Fight for yourself, Snowpaw! You can do it, show them a mute is not just a mute!

QOTD:

What do you think about Frostheart's personality?

-Stuffed Watermelon.