Author's Note: Thank you to the fifth and sixth reviewers, Cleuq and LyingOwl! You guys are amazing!

Note #2: I forgot to mention what the territories are like, so here they are:

HallowClan lives in a forest, similar to ThunderClan's forest camp, just with a mix of pine trees and deciduous trees. Their prey, therefore, consists of mice, voles, and birds. SnakeClan's territory is similar to WindClan's lake territory, with several open spaces, except there is a Carrionplace in one area. Their prey includes rabbits and anything found in the Carrionplace. Each territory is twice the size of the normal clan territories, as there are just two clans.

Disclaimer: See previous chapter.

Though many cats seemed to disagree with allowing a kittypet to join HallowClan, eventually the whole clan had accepted Fawnpaw's presence—after all, she was hardly the first kittypet warrior. It helped that Fawnpaw was perfect in everything she did, demonstrating hunting and fighting skills hardly found in any young apprentice, clan-born or not.

Two moons passed in a heartbeat, and it soon came the time for Fawnpaw's and Blackpaw's first-stage assessment. Blackpaw was certain that Fawnpaw would pass, but he was more worried for his own success. While the skills came easy to Fawnpaw, Blackpaw had to work much harder to perform even a passable frontal claw rake or pounce attack.

Though the clan had, on a whole, recovered from the attacks of eight moons previous, strains still showed. Ivystep and Brackenleaf, though fully recovered from injuries, had now retired early to the elder's den and completely lost any powers of speech. The clan treated them with kindness, and Thrushfall brought Bumblepaw to visit every day, but it was still hard adjusting to life without Ivystep's cheerful advice or Brackenleaf's kindly encouraging mews.

Even harder was life without Lilystream and Deerleap. No cat had realized how much they had contributed to the clan until the spontaneous cleaning of the elder's den and fresh-kill pile neatening had stopped. Ashstar worked hard to help Blackpaw remember his parents but not grieve for them—mostly in the form of rigorous schedules and constant training—but every night, Blackpaw prayed for a visit from the StarClan warriors. His dreams, however, remained bleakly and desolately empty.

His daytimes were considerably more enjoyable. He was now good friends with Russetpaw, and got along well enough with Fawnpaw, although she and Russetpaw were constantly arguing. The clan pitied the young apprentice, so he received a fair amount of sympathy, which, as nice as it was at first, became a bit wearing. Blackpaw put every bit his energy into making the most progress he could in his apprenticeship.

The day of the assessment was a cold one—even though newleaf was here, the weather still felt like leaf-bare. Fawnpaw and Blackpaw were shivering as Ashstar lead them out into the forest, into a clearing where they had visited just once before. He looked at them both with a strict seriousness in his eyes and said, "The first part of your assessment will consist of hunting practice. Blackpaw, you will hunt in the far reaches of the territory, near the pine cluster. Fawnpaw, you will hunt in the area near twolegplace. I will be observing both of you, but you will not see me. When this part of the assessment is complete, I will alert both of you and you will return to this spot. Do you understand?"

Both apprentices looked up at their mentor, and, sensing his stern intentions, answered obediently, "Yes."

"Then you may begin." Ashstar lay down, waiting for the two apprentices to leave the clearing before standing up again.

Blackpaw spent much of the beginning of his hunting time pondering whether Ashstar had deliberately sent Fawnpaw near the twolegplace to test her loyalties. These thoughts were abruptly brought to an end as he remembered his task, accompanied by a sudden mouse scent. He immediately dropped into a crouch, stalking the tiny creature with light paw steps. The mouse looked up at the last minute, as if it was about to scamper away, but Blackpaw landed on it before it could move. He killed it with one bite, thinking, Thank you, StarClan. Thank you, Deerleap…Lilystream. He quickly buried the fresh-kill, part of his mind wondering whether Fawnpaw was having any luck.

Behind a tangle of trees, Ashstar was watching Blackpaw intently. If only Lilystream and Deerleap could see him now. Ashstar pushed away a wave of nostalgia and left to find Fawnpaw, heart heavy in his chest.

There were two more mice, a vole, and a blackbird under the leaves before Ashstar approached Blackpaw, feeling proud but more than a bit depressed. "Collect your prey and return to the clearing," he mewed without a premature greeting, watching as Blackpaw scrambled to gather it all.

Fawnpaw entered the clearing a considerable time after Ashstar and Blackpaw, carrying several pieces of prey with some difficulty. Ashstar looked at the small brown cat appraisingly, meowing, "Well done, Fawnpaw."

Blackpaw felt overlooked. Anything he did was eclipsed by Fawnpaw doing the same task infinitely better, no matter if it was hunting or moss-gathering or grooming the elders. It didn't seem fair that the clan-born cat was outshone by the kittypet, as the elders had not-so-surreptitiously pointed out. Yet Blackpaw could find nothing that put Fawnpaw in fault…she was just a very talented young cat. This did not help Blackpaw in feeling more compassion towards his fellow apprentice.

Practically shuddering with suppressed anger, Blackpaw did not hear most of Ashstar's next words. He dimly registered the phrase "claws sheathed" before Fawnpaw was rushing towards him—the fighting part of the assessment had begun.

Blackpaw dodged from Fawnpaw's path, but she had anticipated the move and sprang on top of him. He flipped himself onto his back, pushing her off with sheathed claws, yet she barely felt anything as she hit the ground. Fawnpaw was standing up again faster than Blackpaw could judge, and she had pinned him down before his paws reacted. The rage he had felt spurred his next movement: he went limp in Fawnpaw's clutch.

Fawnpaw was caught off guard; she hadn't expected winning to be this easy. She released Blackpaw with a self-satisfied expression—and that was her greatest mistake. As soon as her paws were no longer holding him, Blackpaw had pounced onto Fawnpaw yet again. She struggled, but Blackpaw was both bigger and stronger. She had not defeated him.

Ashstar was slightly surprised; the maneuver Blackpaw had used was one taught in stage two, and he had not taught his apprentice anything above his current stage. "Well done, Blackpaw," he meowed proudly. "And good job to you, too, Fawnpaw."

Fawnpaw was looking disgruntled but still managed to say gruffly, "Good job, Blackpaw."

The threesome walked back to camp in the rapidly disappearing sunlight with their tails held high, Blackpaw feeling like he had defeated more than just one young apprentice.

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