Our camp was deeply subdued in the sunrises following the death of Frecklewish. It was like a dark cloud hung over the heads of my clan mates, slowing their paw-steps and muffling their voices. Echosong was the one that her death hit hardest. The poor white and silver tabby padded around with her head down, going through the motions of her medicine cat duties without her usual enthusiasm. My heart twisted in pity for her, even if she had always been a bit distant with me.

I was grooming myself in the weak autumn sunlight next to Lionpaw when I heard Macgyver mention Frecklewish's name. My ears pricked up.

"...I heard Frecklewish's house-folk calling for her again today," he meowed to Ebonyclaw. "Those poor two-legs. They don't know what happened to her."

Ebonyclaw shook her head, heaving a sad sigh.

"Who cares what the two-legs think," Waspwhisker cut in. "We lost a medicine cat. All they lost was a kitty-pet."

Ebonyclaw's eyes blazed with sudden anger.

"Frecklewish was more than a kitty-pet!" Ebonyclaw hissed, leaping to her paws.

"Hey hold on—" Waspwhisker began.

"Frecklewish was just a much a part of this Clan as you are!" Ebonyclaw meowed.

Waspwhisker fluffed his fur out defensively.

"I didn't mean it like that," he meowed.

"After all we've done for you, you all still think that you're better than us daylight-warriors. You've always had," Ebonyclaw hissed, unsheathing her claws.

The cats around the clearing started to cast nervous glances at each other. Lionpaw tensed beside me. I noticed Shrewtooth curling his lip back, revealing long, gleaming fangs. The fur on Macgyver's and Harveymoon's backs were bristling. Nettlesplash was growling softly, looking that he might come to his father's, Waspwhisker's, defense.

"That's enough!" A loud voice cried out, and Sharpclaw came bounding between Ebonyclaw and Waspwhisker.

He raked a stinging green gaze over the two warriors, and they reluctantly sheathed their claws.

"What in StarClan's name is happening here?" Leafstar meowed, her voice icy as she appeared in the mouth of her den.

A hush fell over the Clan as she came bounding down the cliff with Brackenstorm at her tail. Her blue eyes fumed as she gazed about at my clan mates. Then, turning, she bounded up Rockpile. Cats silently gathered around without her having to summon them. I padded closer, taking a seat between Sparrowpelt and Nightpaw. Sharpclaw pointedly kept himself between Ebonyclaw and Waspwhisker.

Leafstar loudly cleared her throat.

"I know we are all still upset about Frecklewish's death," she meowed. "It was an unexpected tragedy, but we all know the risks of Clan life."

Leafstar turned to look straight at Ebonyclaw.

"And, I understand that it hit you heavily, Ebonyclaw, considering that you were Frecklewish's mentor when she was training to be a warrior," Leafstar meowed.

Ebonyclaw bowed her head, not meeting Leafstar's gaze.

"But, that is no excuse for this fighting," Leafstar continued, her voice lowering. "How can we protect ourselves from the dangers outside of the Clan, when we are fighting among ourselves? We are supposed to be a team."

"No one here is a kitty-pet," Leafstar meowed loudly, sweeping her gaze over all of us. "We are all SkyClan cats. I will not tolerate this arguing any more. If someone feels like another cat is not performing their duties adequately, they will report to me or Sharpclaw. No more name calling. And, as for you two..."

Ebonyclaw and Waspwhisker scuffled their paws in the sand. Leafstar's eyes flashed as she gazed at them, and she stiffened.

"You two are acting like squabbling kits. So, until you can remember how to be warriors that respect and cooperate with their clan mates, you will be treated as apprentices. You can start by changing the elder's bedding."

Waspwhisker's jaw fell open.

"What?" he shrieked.

"And, I want everyone to be on the alert for snakes, at least until it becomes colder, and they go away for leaf-bare. The snake that killed Frecklewish is dead thanks to Lightningpaw and Cherrytail, but you can never be too careful," Leafstar meowed loudly over Waspwhisker's outburst.

Then she bounded down from Rockpile, signaling that the meeting is over.

"I can't be an apprentice again!" Waspwhisker whined.

Fallowfern was meowing something to her mate, as their younger kits Creamkit and Seedkit bounced around their paws.

"Don't worry, Waspwhisker, we can help with the elder's bedding!" Creamkit squeaked.

Sharpclaw padded over to Waspwhisker to meow something at him. Waspwhisker didn't seem happy, but he slowly got up and climbed to the elder's den. Ebonyclaw reluctantly followed.

"Don't you think Leafstar is being a bit harsh on them?" Sparrowpelt meowed to his sister as Cherrytail padded over to us.

"No," Cherrytail snorted. "She needs to make an example out of them. And, she's right. They are acting idiotic."

"I suppose you have a point," Sparrowpelt meowed.

Then he turned to me.

"I didn't know you killed that snake," Sparrowpelt meowed down to me.

"Cherrytail helped," I added softly.

"Don't let her fool you," Cherrytail meowed. "She's the one that dropped a huge rock on it."

My mentor's eyes gleamed with pride, and my pelt flushed with warmth at her gaze. Sparrowpelt blinked his eyes kindly.

"Well done," he meowed.

"Thank you," I said, ducking my head at the praise.

"It was brave," Wolfshade added, his deep voice rumbling in his chest as he padded over to us.

I scuffled my paws.

"No," I shook my head. "It wasn't. My clan mate was in danger. I was just doing what any cat here would have done."

Wolfshade just blinked his green eyes at me in reply. I sighed, looking away.

"I just wish Cherrytail and I were a bit faster. Maybe then Frecklewish would have been okay," I muttered.

"We did all we could, Lightningpaw," Cherrytail meowed, her eyes softening as she looked down at me.

Nightpaw gave my side a gentle shove. I looked up at him. Nightpaw gave a soft purr before standing and padding away. I watched him go, grateful for his comfort even if he couldn't make himself express it in words.

"Well there is no sense in sitting around and moping all day," Cherrytail meowed briskly, shaking her pelt like she was trying to snap herself out of the gloomy fog.

She turned to me.

"How about we do some battle training?" she asked.

I nodded and stood.

"Good idea," Sharpclaw said, padding over.

He touched noses with Cherrytail, and I blinked in surprise at the display of affection.

"Also, take Harveymoon, and his apprentice, Briarpaw. And, Ravenpaw and Petalnose," Sharpclaw said, scanning the warriors around camp.

"And, Wolfshade," he said, nodding to the nearby dark grey warrior.

Wolfshade dipped his head in acknowledgement.

"And, Minttail. And, Rabbitleap," he finished.

"Maybe tiring the young warriors out with training will keep them from being at each other's throats," Sharpclaw growled cynically.

"I'll make sure they're good and tired alright," Cherrytail said, her eyes sparkling.

"Good. Because you're in charge," Sharpclaw purred, standing and walking away.

We rounded up the cats Sharpclaw named, and our large patrol headed out of camp and towards the mossy training hollow.

"Have you done any battle training yet?" Briarpaw meowed to me as we padded through the forest.

"A little. I did some training a few sunrises ago after my first hunting trip. And, after Frecklewish... you know." My voice trailed off.

Briarpaw was silent, only letting out a quiet sigh.

"Well don't worry. We'll go easy on you," Minttail meowed over her shoulder. "It's really a miracle that you made it out unscathed from that fight with the snake. I would've thought that as snake as big as that would have just eaten you right up."

My brow furrowed and I fluffed my fur out a bit angrily at her comment.

"Pay no attention to her. Just because she's a warrior, Minttail thinks she knows everything," Briarpaw whispered into my ear.

"I don't know what Wolfshade sees in her," Ravenpaw snorted from my other side.

I noticed the two grey warriors were walking rather closely together. I felt a small flash of annoyance at the sight. I was starting to rather like Wolfshade.

"Well, Minttail's nice sometimes..." Briarpaw muttered to Ravenpaw in a weak defense.

We finally made it to the mossy hollow, where Cherrytail divided us into groups. Wolfshade, Rabbitleap, Minttail, and Harveymoon would pair off and practice together, while Ravenpaw, Briarpaw, and I practiced. Cherrytail and Petalnose would supervise us, but switch out with Harveymoon after a while so that they could have some battle training themselves.

"We'll do some straight fighting to get a feel for your strengths and weaknesses before we practice any specific techniques," Cherrytail meowed.

"Lightningpaw, you and Ravenpaw against Briarpaw," Cherrytail said with a nod to me. "Claws sheathed of course. If a cat is pinned for more than five heartbeats, then the battle is over, and the other cat wins."

"Ready?" she asked.

I crouched down. Nervousness swirled in my belly when I thought about all of the other cats here and how they could be watching me.

"Begin!"

Briarpaw sprung at me right away, seeing me as the smaller and weaker target. But I was quick on my paws, and I sprung out of the way in time. Briarpaw's paws struck empty dirt, and Ravenpaw was able to spring and get a few swipes at her sister's face. As Briarpaw turned to Ravenpaw, I came at her other side, landing a few blows myself.

Briarpaw let out a huff of frustration and whirled on me. I recoiled in surprise at her speed. She's gotten a lot fast than when we were kits. She landed a blow on my head, then another, and another. I crouched under the barrage, my ears stinging, unsure of where to turn.

"Use your speed!" Cherrytail yowled.

Finally, I sprung backwards, breaking free. Ravenpaw leapt into the air, twisted and landed on Briarpaw's back, latching on to her fur. Briarpaw nipped at her, but she was stuck firmly. Ravenpaw had her paws tangled deep in Briarpaw's thick brown pelt. While Ravenpaw was clinging to Briarpaw, throwing Briarpaw off balance, I leapt, barreling right into Briarpaw. She tumbled over and Ravenpaw quickly scrambled on top of her shoulders, while I moved to hold down her flanks.

"Well done! Ravenpaw and Lightningpaw are the winners," Cherrytail meowed.

I let Briarpaw up. As she shook the dust off her pelt, I padded over to my mentor, dragging my paws in the dirt.

"What's wrong?" Cherrytail asked, seeing my disappointed face.

"I did bad," I sighed. "Ravenpaw did all the work. I had no idea how to fight Briarpaw."

Cherrytail swept her tail over my back in a comforting gesture.

"They've had three more moons of training than you have. You'll learn. Here, let me show you the first steps to the move Ravenpaw used to leap on to Briarpaw. That's a good one to use on enemies larger than you," Cherrytail meowed, padding over to the corner of the mossy hollow.

As I watched her go, I sunk my claws into the ground, a burning determination filling me and turning my will to steel.

I'll make sure no cat or creature will defeat me in battle.

Frecklewish's tabby face flashed into my mind.

So that no other clan mate or cat I care about will die.

I clenched my jaw in determination, and I bounded after my mentor, ready to learn.