Willowpaw weaved around her sleeping denmates, keeping her pawsteps light. A part of her wanted to go back to sleep, but curiousity overshadowed it. She wanted to know what Nightpaw wanted. If he wanted to get ThunderClan secrets out of her, she would leave at once.

"Willowpaw?"

Mousepaw's voice made her freeze in panic. The brown tabby let out a huge yawn as she thought of something to say. "What are you doing?"

"Going out to make dirt," Willowpaw didn't feel like telling Mousepaw that she was going to meet with a ShadowClan tom. It wasn't going to affect any other cat.

"You do that," Mousepaw closed her eyes and put her head back down.

After checking to make sure that the others had stayed asleep, she made her way out. But she stiffened when she saw Yellowflower keeping watch. The white she-cat was gazing up at the stars. She seemed depressed, as if troubled by something. She stood out with her white pelt. Luckily for Willowpaw, her spotted brown coat made it easier to hide in shadows. She snuck over to the dirtplace and noticed a small hole. She squeezed through.

Once she was safely in the woods, she made her way over to the ShadowClan border. She didn't see Nightpaw, so she must have been early. But there was also the option that he wasn't even going to show up at all. She hoped that he wasn't wasting her time.

"So you did show up," a shape moved from the trees, dark as the sky. Nightpaw stopped in front of Willowpaw. He sat down and began washing his face.

"So did you. So what do you want?"

"To talk," Nightpaw replied, voice smooth. "You just seemed interesting. And you seemed a bit overwhelmed, which is quite cute."

"It would be better to talk at Gatherings, than to sneak out like this."

"I didn't want to be overheard. Featherpaw is nice and all, but it's nice to have others."

"I see," Willowpaw didn't understand this apprentice at all.

"Why don't we discuss ourselves," Nightpaw blinked. "Get to know each other a little better."

"I don't have anything interesting about myself." Willowpaw admitted this, feeling very awkward.

"I guess I could say the same thing myself," Nightpaw chuckled. "But I have one question. Is there a kittypet in ThunderClan?"

"What?" She felt complete fear at that moment, so she decided to hide it in her fury. "ThunderClan is full of forest-born warriors! We wouldn't let in some useless cat!" She tried not to flinch at her own words. But she had to trick him. ShadowClan could not know the truth.

"No need to worry," Nightpaw shrugged. "Honeyfang mentioned scenting kittypet. Guess she was wrong."

"I think I should go," Willowpaw didn't feel like talking to him anymore. She couldn't help shuddering. She would have to be careful with ShadowClan and Honeyfang.

"Good job, Willowpaw," Deernose congratuated her with a soft purr. "You did good as well, Moonpaw."

"I'll win next time," Moonpaw shook her fur, getting to her paws.

"It's not a competition," Owlwing had a look of amusement on his face. "You just need to work on your speed. But you will give the other Clans nightmares."

Mousepaw and Whitepaw were gossiping while Rainfall was discussing moves with Swiftfeather.

"Not bad," Ravenfeather nudged Redpaw. "Let's see how the kittypet deals with quicker opponents."

Willowpaw tried not to panic as Redpaw smirked at her, getting ready to crouch. The others had stopped talking to watch as well. She had to beat him, since she was being judged. But he was a moon older and bigger. Getting ready to defend, she took a deep breath.

When he jumped at her, she let out a hiss as they rolled on the ground. She kicked at his stomach, but he didn't even budge. Redpaw moved so that she was over him and knocked her off. Dizzy, she didn't notice that he kicked her legs until she collapsed to the grass. She got up and tried to slide under him to reach his belly, but she wasn't fast enough. He swerved out of the way and sank his fangs into her tail, making her wail.

"Enough," Deernose raised her voice.

"You didn't have to stop them," Ravenfeather commented. "But I was right. Redpaw is clearly the better fighter."

Willowpaw felt pain all over. She could see brown tufts of her fur in Redpaw's claws. The ginger tom sat down, a smug look on his face. She wanted to rip it off of him.

"I think they both did a good job," Owlwing gave Willowpaw a light look. "You just need a little more practice is all. Sooner or later, you'll beat him in a fight."

"Thanks," Willowpaw felt embarrassment. If she couldn't even beat Redpaw, how could she even take on an enemy from another Clan?

A couple of sunrises later, she decided to go hunting on her own, given Deernose's permission. The brown she-cat just told her to make sure that the elders were fed first. So that's what she was doing first.

Having a blackbird and a mouse buried, Willowpaw decided to go for a squirrel. She was so distracted that she didn't notice the hole until she fell in.

"Ah!"

Willowpaw let out a gasp as she slid through it. It had been a burrow, and she couldn't recognize the smell. It had the smell of prey on top of it. She backed away as she realized that it must belong to something dangerous. What confirmed it was the growling from behind her.

She saw a sinister red animal growling at her, yellow teeth flashing. It was a fox. She heard nursery tales about how bloodthirsty they were.

"What in StarClan are you doing?"

Willowpaw turned as a ginger shape flew past her. She could see Redpaw on the fox's back, his claws digging into its back. He moved as swift as a breeze. The fox struggled against the faster cat.

"What are you waiting for?" Redpaw hissed at her. "Get its legs!"

Willowpaw lashed out at the fox's legs, her heart pounding hard as she avoided its sharp claws. She bit the creature's tail as hard as she could, tasting blood. It shook her off and raced off with loud yelps.

Redpaw turned to her, panting, "Looks like you needed saving yet again. You really do need protecting."

"It just surprised me is all," she huffed. But she was glad she didn't have to fight that fox alone.