A/N: Happy belated Fourth of July (and for those non-American devoted readers, happy Normal Day!). Tried getting this out yesterday, but my computer wasn't co-operating.

Sedgewhisker let me out of the medicine den early, because she was in mourning. In her defense, I wasn't that injured, but what if I was? She couldn't just drop everything to cry about Ivyheart, I mean, I didn't when Gorgekit died.

Hollyflower had been awake for a while now, and waited while I emerged from the apprentice's den. "Hush, we're going off for some secret training. It'd help when you fight WindClan again."

I gaped at her, but she shook her head and whisked out of camp. Following her was no easy task, as my mentor decided to nearly sprint over the marsh. She took me out by the Carrionplace, and its rank smell invaded my delicate scent glands.

Before, the sun had just barely risen, and was casting a nice orange glow on the ShadowClan surroundings. Here, however, the gray smoke rising from within covered up any of that previous beauty, and substituted its own disgusting reality.

"Why are we here?" I ask, my nose wrinkled. Hollyflower looked at me, and shook her head. She shushed me, and stared into the Carrionplace with great interest.

"My brother is coming. He was exiled from ShadowClan for killing a WindClan warrior. Those were the days, when you actually get in trouble and exiled for killing – and going against the Warrior Code. You'll be learning a few things from him, since he excels in his new Clan with this," Hollyflower explained, her expression not changing. The only thing that changed about her was her mouth, and how it moved often.

A snap in the Carrionplace made Hollyflower's ears twitch, and she stepped forward daintily. A dark gray tom slunk from the reek, and purred as he saw his sister. They touched noses, and spoke a few choice words before the tom came over to me.

I could see why he had come through the Carrionplace, because he stunk of nothing other than it. He looked healthy enough, and Hollyflower spoke of him living in another Clan. Therefore, he simply couldn't live in the Carrionplace, so the scent was to hide where he was from.

"Kit," he spoke, bowing his head a fraction of a centimeter. I ruffled at the word, but he continued to speak before I could make a scathing remark. "I am Wolf, once Cindertail. But I can never go back to that, and I like my name better now, anyway."

Hollyflower chuckled at his words, and I looked at her shocked. She didn't often laugh at much, and it was surprising to see her so happy and jolly. I saw her eyes, and how they were bright and sparkling; she must really have missed her brother.

"First of all, I am an apprentice. Surely you remember them? Not a kit," I growled, my fur still not back to its original position. I went to speak again, but Hollyflower shoved her tail in my mouth. She growled at me, and motioned towards Wolf.

"You have attitude, I like that," he mewed, sounding very bored. "You might actually be a fair recipient of this knowledge." Wolf paused, and looked at Hollyflower. She nodded, and carefully drew her tail out of my mouth. My mentor warned me quietly, and I huffed in response.

"My sister told me that you want revenge on WindClan for the death of your Clanmates, and more importantly, your brother. Is this true?" Wolf asked, his narrow yellow eyes darting between me and his sister.

I was dumbstruck. How did Hollyflower know I wanted revenge on WindClan? Did I say it out loud? I racked my brain for any time that I could have said that, but came up blank. She must know me a lot better than I expected. "Yes," I said quietly, fearing that Cedarstar might pop out and discover what I was doing.

"Good. Two moves – horrible ones that shouldn't be used out of a revenge plot – will do the trick. They are variations of two things," Wolf explained, drawing my attention with every word he mewed, "that every cat knows. One is a simple fighting move, but the other is a move used while hunting prey. Are you ready?"

I braced myself for an attack, and gave a terse nod. Wolf and Hollyflower laughed in harmony, and my mentor bumped me out of my strict defensive position. "He's going to explain it first, mousebrain," she laughed, and I was shocked once more. Hollyflower calling me names in a fun, light manner? This was starting to creep me out.

Wolf stepped forward, and I flinched instinctively. Hollyflower giggled again, and I found my gaze drawn to her rather than my new mentor. "What do you do to kill a toad, or rat?" he asked, and I was thrown off by the random question.

"With… uh… the bite to the back of the neck… uh… the killing bite!" I thought, nearly shouting it at the end. I crouched when I realized what I did, still expecting Cedarstar to come from someplace.

Wolf nodded. "Good. A cat is just like a rat, except much harder to kill. For one, they have claws, and will be trying like mad to escape you. Revenge is perfect – an eye for an eye, a death for a death. Imagine how you would bite a rat, and then do that on a cat, except much harder. That is the true Killing Bite, and, as I said, it's the best revenge for a death."

"Sadly," Hollyflower cut in, and my eyes shot to her, "we can't practice here, since none of us are willing to die. And I doubt Wolf brought any cats for killing with him."

Wolf didn't correct Hollyflower, and that made me shudder. That must mean that his Clan would actually murder cats, and do it just for practice!

"Visualize that one, and remember it when you come into a revenge fight. It doesn't require practice on cats, since you do it so often with prey. The other one is a fighting move greatly amplified. You do know what they call the… Leap and Cover, I think. Right?" Wolf asked Hollyflower, uncertainty creeping into his voice for the first time since I met him.

Hollyflower nodded, and Wolf continued on with his speech. "For a smaller cat like you, because you're not going to get much bigger than that," he mewed, and I looked at my body. I was about average sized for my age, but this was considered kinda small for a warrior. "You leap onto your opponents back, and cover their eyes with your paws. It blinds them temporarily, and allows you to do a lot of damage to their body with your teeth."

I nodded, and looked at him with curiosity, this was getting good. "And how are we going to amplifythat move? It seems pretty bad as it is."

Wolf chuckled, and I realized in that second how much I disliked his gruff, scratchy laugh. "Simple. You extend your claws into their eyes instead of in the skin around it." I gasped, appalled at the horror. Eye juices would come out, and that's disgusting.

"Now, don't knock that technique just because it's gross. Imagine what would happen if faced with a large opponent? Blind them or suffer multiple injuries? The previous is a lot better for you, and they can't attack if they can't see you," Wolf explained, and some of the disgust faded away. My life was more important than something I could lick away. Plus, it'd be very good revenge against WindClan, to blind them all.

"Practice on Hollyflower, and then on me," Wolf mewed. "Except," he continued menacingly, a growl building low in his chest, "don't extend your claws! I like my eyes a lot, thank you."

I nodded, and instantly crouched. I stalked towards Hollyflower, who pretended not to see me. When I was about to jump onto her back though, she turned around and snarled, batting at me with her paws. I yowled, and jumped back a few foxlengths.

Stunned, Hollyflower took a menacing step towards me, and I charged forward. Now it was her turn to be startled, as I quickly overtook her side, pretending to drag my claws along it. I dove under her, confusing her even more, and quickly got up before she landed on me.

I was in a high of adrenaline, and felt like I could beat any cat that dared challenge me or my Clan. I feinted to the left, and Hollyflower took the bait. With a war cry, I landed on her back. My mentor writhed and tried to dislodge me, but I struck my paws over her eyes, and teased my paws. She hissed, and stopped fighting.

"That's good," she mewed gruffly. "Now get off. And if you ever even just 'pretend' to extend your claws, I will have you train until you drop dead from exhaustion. Do you understand?"

I nodded, and whispered a quiet "Yes, Hollyflower." I got off of her back, and dropped to the marshy ground beneath my paws. Wolf was looking at me, and slightly smiling.

"You're very good at improvising. I wanted Hollyflower to fight back, and you overcame her. That's enough practice." He went over and touched his sister's nose again, and whispered goodbye to her, and that he'd see her soon. "Well done, Kit. I wish you luck against WindClan. Get revenge for your brother, and a little for Cindertail, ok?"

With that, the dark gray tom I had begun to realize as a new teacher left, starting a swift jog towards Carrionplace, looking a lot like his sister.

"Come on," Hollyflower said tersely, and I sighed in relief because she was back to normal. We nearly sprinted through ShadowClan territory, and we arrived at the camp entrance. I was out of breath and heaving, but my mentor was calm and collected, as if she didn't just sprint.

"We need to work on that. ShadowClan cats are stealthy, but still should be able to run as long as they desire without tiring. Maybe you should do that in response of pretending to take out my eyes?" The end of her sentence quieted until she was nearly whispering. With a flick of her tail, Hollyflower was off to talk to Stonetooth, and I was left alone.

I saw Raggedpaw sitting quietly by the fresh-kill pile, and joined him. "Anything particularly interesting about that frog?" I asked, and he jumped a few inches.

"No, just thinking about… death… and stuff," he muttered. I pressed my side to his, and purred contentedly. He looked at me and smiled.

"I'm here for you," I mewed. "But now I'm going to sleep. But I'll still be here for you, just unconscious." Raggedpaw laughed, and smiled.

I turned away, my happy, light mask falling quickly. Instead of happy thoughts my mind was filled with death and stuff, but not about dead warriors and medicine cats. My mind was filled with Wolf's teaching and how to kill – to cause death.