Two days passed. Firepaw was already falling into the routine of things, even if he was hardly doing anything meaningful. The day after his tour of the territory had been a fishing lesson, which consisted of sitting by the water for ages and him catching nothing. Dawnwhisker had caught plenty, but Firepaw's efforts brought nothing. His mentor had assured him that every apprentice takes a while until they catch prey, but it certainly didn't make him feel better. On the second day, Mallowtail had begun kitting, and Dawnwhisker had taken the day off to be with her. While the other apprentices were led out by their mentors, Firepaw had sat alone, bored out of his mind.

The next morning, however, Dawnwhisker woke him up bright and early. "Battle practice," she explained, as she led him out of the den. "Would you like to meet Mallowtail's kits first, though?"

Firepaw pricked his ears. Mallowtail was really nice. Why not? "Sure!"

Dawnwhisker smiled. "Alright. We'll join the others after. Usually we wouldn't let outsiders into the nursery, but you're young enough, so…"

"What do you mean?" Firepaw asked, as they padded across camp.

"Well, toms who haven't grown up in the Clans often have… an instinct to harm kits that aren't of their blood. I don't really understand it much, but it's like they can't control themselves." Dawnwhisker frowned. "It's sad. But you're hardly more than a kit yourself, so Mudfur said it should be fine. He thinks if you see enough kits while you're still young it won't be a problem."

I didn't know about that, Firepaw thought. Sounds… strange.

Dawnwhisker led him into the nursery. It was warm and quiet, and though smaller than the apprentices den, it was quite cozy. The ground was covered in moss, grass, and feathers, and in the back of the den lay Mallowtail, curled around her newborns. The queen lifted her head and blinked tiredly before she smiled. "Oh, hello," she purred. "Brought your apprentice to meet my kits?"

Dawnwhisker nodded. "You can step closer, Firepaw."

The young tom moved closer and peered towards the queen's belly. There were three tiny kittens tucked under her tail. They're not even as big as rats! Firepaw thought. I guess they're cute, though. "Have you named them?" he asked.

Mallowtail nodded. "Maplekit, Shellkit, and Duckkit. Maplekit for the molly, Duckkit and Shellkit for the toms." She touched her paw to each kit as she said the name—a tortoiseshell, a patched ginger-and-white, and a white kit with one little ginger paw.

"They're great names," Dawnwhisker purred. "I wish we could stick around, but battle practice is happening today and it'll be Firepaw's first go of it."

"Ah," Mallowtail said, and chuckled quietly. "Well, good luck."

Dawnwhisker led them out as quickly as they'd come in. "Let's try to catch up," she meowed. "It won't be bad if they start without us, but I don't want you to miss too much." She kept a quick, steady pace as they padded out of the camp and followed the river downstream.

"Dawnwhisker?" Firepaw asked, as they passed through the reeds. "Why'd you want to introduce me to her kits?"

"Because family is very important to the Clans," Dawnwhisker replied. "Especially in RiverClan. We're like one big family here. Even if we fight sometimes, we still have to stick together. Most cats help out the queens, more so than in other Clans. It's both a way of building trust and sharing the work of the Clan."

"Oh," Firepaw replied, not entirely understanding at all. "I didn't know my family."

"You'll get used to it," Dawnwhisker responded breezily. "It'll take time for them to get used to you, but once you've been here long enough, you'll get it. Our loyalty is important. It's how we stay strong as a Clan." She blinked down at him. "Do you have any other questions?"

Firepaw was full to the brim of questions, as always, but he went with the one that he'd been wondering about since he met Graypaw. "Why do we all have two-part names?" he asked. "It's kind of… weird."

"Well, a few reasons," Dawnwhisker meowed. "The first part, the part given at birth, usually has to do with appearance. You're Firepaw because you've got a bright red pelt. Even if a cat hadn't met you, they'd have an idea of what you looked like. The second part is about status, and when you're a warrior, it often is about skill or really notable physical traits. The kits all get called kit, apprentices are 'paws, and leaders all earn 'star' when they lead the Clan." She flicked her tail. "I'm named Dawnwhisker for my hunting ability. When I became a warrior, Crookedstar believed that I was a skilled hunter, so he gave me that name. All of our names have meaning, Firepaw. They aren't weird."

It's still weird, Firepaw thought, privately. But that does make more sense. Firepaw does sound cooler than Rusty. I wonder what kind of name I'll get when I become a warrior?

"We're almost there," Dawnwhisker meowed, after a few moments of silence. "Come on, let's pick up the pace."


The training place was in a clearing in the center of a beech copse, near the river, but not close enough that tussling cats would roll on in. All the other apprentices and mentors were there, and Firepaw was a bit overwhelmed. Other than Beechpaw and Shadepaw, the other apprentices had mostly ignored him. But Minkpaw, Grasspaw, Mosspaw, and Silverpaw were all here, in addition to that pair—and Silverpaw, the only other apprentice who didn't ignore him, was glaring at him.

In the center of the clearing, Minkpaw and Shadepaw were sparring. Shadepaw was swiping quickly at Minkpaw's face, driving her back. Minkpaw was either in a daze or just had no idea what to do—the black molly was being pushed back and she hadn't even attempted to retaliate. Finally, Minkpaw ducked and rolled to the side, but Shadepaw easily turned and pounced on her. The two rolled over for a moment, before Shadepaw came out on top. The gray molly pinned her and grinned victoriously. "Did you sleep well enough?" she asked. "You're off your game today!"

Minkpaw just shrugged as Shadepaw let her up.

That was weird, Firepaw thought. He hadn't talked to Minkpaw much, but she didn't seem the type to just hand over a win like that.

Minkpaw's mentor, Voleclaw, shook his head. "Minkpaw… I don't even know what to say. You're fighting Silverpaw next, because I need to see some serious improvement right now."

Minkpaw shrugged again. "Whatever."

Silverpaw smirked as he traded places with Shadepaw in the center of the clearing. "You're going down."

"Last time you said that I put you in the river," Minkpaw growled.

Firepaw twitched an ear. I wouldn't mind watching that. He had managed to mostly avoid Silverpaw, but the other tom would usually still glare or hiss at him if Firepaw got too close.

"Begin!" Voleclaw ordered.

Silverpaw charged towards Minkpaw, but she was ready, and sidestepped with startling ease. As he skidded past, she whipped around and landed a blow on his side—if her claws were unsheathed, Firepaw was sure it would've left a nasty scratch. Silverpaw hissed and turned, but not quickly enough. Minkpaw lashed out again and caught him across the face, forcing him to step back. She hissed, before she reared up and swiped at his ears again.

Firepaw's eyes widened. She's doing so much better now!

Silverpaw managed to get a blow on her shoulder, but Minkpaw soon pounced and bowled him over. She pressed a paw to his throat and held him for a moment, before she stepped off and huffed. "Good enough now?"

"Much better," Voleclaw grumbled. "Come here."

Blackclaw, who was Beechpaw's mentor, seemed to have been watching Firepaw. "Say, Dawnwhisker, why don't you give Firepaw a go at Beechpaw?"

Dawnwhisker frowned. "He hasn't had any training yet…"

"That's what we're for," Blackclaw smoothly replied. "Come on, Beechpaw, step forward."

"I want to try," Firepaw meowed, glancing up at his mentor.

Dawnwhisker still looked uncertain, but she nodded. "Alright, Firepaw. Oh, remember—claws sheathed for training."

Claws sheathed, he told himself. As he stepped forward to face Beechpaw, instinct urged him to let out his claws, but he held them in and stared down the apprentice. Beechpaw was much larger than he was—in fact, he was the bulkiest out of all the apprentices.

"Begin!" Blackclaw ordered.

Beechpaw charged for Firepaw. Firepaw tried to copy what he'd seen Minkpaw do, by sidestepping, but it was sloppy and slow and a heavy paw collided with his chest as Beechpaw lashed out of him. It didn't hurt, but it did unbalance him a bit. Firepaw stepped back. He tried to swat at Beechpaw's face, but the tom ducked, shot forward, and headbutted him in the throat. Firepaw choked and stumbled back again.

Beechpaw reared up on his hind legs as Shadepaw had done, and Firepaw gulped. He tried to dodge, but Beechpaw's paws hit his flank, shoving him over. Swiftly, the brown tom reared up again, and slammed his paws down on Firepaw's side, winding him. Firepaw wheezed, and was helpless as Beechpaw pressed a foot to his throat. "I win!" Beechpaw purred.

"Great job, Beechpaw," Blackclaw praised, with a smirk cast at Dawnwhisker. "I think the rest of us ought to move on and do some hunting. Perhaps you should stay and teach the kittypet a few actual moves, eh, Dawnwhisker?"

Firepaw glanced at Dawnwhisker as Beechpaw let him up. The molly looked furious, ears flat and lip nearly curled back. "Very well," she growled.

Is she mad at me? Firepaw wondered, feeling flat with defeat. Or just at Blackclaw?

"Sorry," Beechpaw whispered. "But training is training." Without waiting for a reply, he hurried to catch up to his mentor as Blackclaw led the others out of the training clearing.

Dawnwhisker sighed softly. "Perhaps we should work on your swimming practice instead," she suggested.

"I want to learn how to fight," Firepaw said. That was pretty humiliating. Especially with the way Blackclaw was gloating…

"I think you've had enough battle practice for now," Dawnwhisker replied. "Come on. We do a lot of fighting in the river, too, and cats won't take you seriously here if you can't swim."

Firepaw lowered his head as Dawnwhisker rose and began to pad away from the beeches. Was his own mentor so disappointed in him that she didn't think it was worth teaching him any fighting moves?

Firepaw sighed and followed. I guess it's better than laying around in camp all day.