"Do you have any ideas of where he is?" Lionpaw demanded

"He may have gone back to the clans." Greeneyes responded, obviously forcing himself to stay calm.

"Oh great." The golden apprentice muttered. "What are we supposed to do about that?"

"I can go after him." Greeneyes meowed, straightening up.

"What if he isn't planning to come back?" Lionpaw asked.

"Then I guess I can come back to watch you." His mentor shrugged.

"No, it's alright." The golden apprentice decided. "We've all had too much travelling lately. You might as well go home, Greeneyes. Okay?"

The gray tom dipped his head. "See you when you get back, Lionpaw."

"You too then, Greeneyes." He purred as his mentor left the den.

Travel well, Greeneyes. Travel well.

Chapter 5

It had been three moons since his mentor had left and Lionpaw was reaching the end of his elemental training. He had grown to be bigger than his mentor.

Minho was assessing them for the last time. It was a free for all match. The four cats were as ready as they could be. They stood facing each of the other three.

"Ready, fight!" Minho yowled.

Lionpaw ended up against Bay to start with. The tom split the ground open under him and he fell into it. He wasn't scared though. He began to fill the crack with water until he reached the top and swam out of the water.

Bay had a shocked look on his face. "How?"

"Never expect it to be easy!" Lionpaw purred, ending it in a growl.

He leapt on top of the other cat and they tussled on the ground. Eventually Lionpaw gained the advantage and pinned Bay down for three heartbeats.

"Aww man." Bay murmured, hanging his head low as he walked out of the way and lay down beside Minho.

Zima was easily deflecting the fire that Panther shot at her, making the black tom have to dodge it as well. The wind picked him up, spun him around, and threw him into a wall.

"Oof!" Panther slid to the floor.

They watched the tom get to his paws, stumble around dizzily, and then collapse. Zima had one.

"Final round; Water versus Air!" Minho announced.

Lionpaw faced Zima, ears flattened and ready to fight.

"Fight!" Minho yowled.

Lionpaw pushed back a wave of air as Zima made the first move. He slipped water under the air and splashed it into her eyes, making her close them and stop using her element. He rose water up from the crack in the floor and moved it under him so he stood above Zima. He dripped one drop of water onto her head from his paw. She opened her eyes and blasted him off of his water tower, making it splash back down and run back into the crack.

He burst to the surface and scrambled onto the den floor, water dripping from his pelt. He blasted her with another burst of water and then another. Soon he was spinning her around in a water bubble. He popped it and Zima landed on the ground, panting hard.

"You win." She gasped out.

Minho nodded approvingly. "You all fought well. Your training has ended."

Lionpaw simply dipped his head. Then he easily made the water wring itself from his pelt.

The other three cats just nodded.

"Lionpaw, tomorrow you must go home." Minho told him.

"I know." He nodded sadly.

"For tonight, you may stay here and get some rest." The brown tabby added.

Lionpaw looked around at the others. "It was an honor to train with you all."

"You too." Panther meowed, dipping his head. "Lion, we'll forever remember you."

Emotions flooded through Lionpaw as he looked down at his friends. They were family to him. He didn't want to leave, but he had to.

"I'm gonna miss you all so much." The golden apprentice admitted, sadness overwhelming him.

"We'll miss you too, Lion." Bay responded, a choking noise in the dark cat's voice.