A/N: This must be the longest chapter I've written so far! YAY for me! I'm so proud of myself...Again, sorry this took so long! With school starting and everything, I'm under alot of stress now. But I work on this fanfiction whenever I can, really! I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Thanks to all my readers and reviewers (reviews make me so happy :D), and welcome to any new readers!

"Great StarClan, what's wrong?!"

Kisa's eyes shot open. Glaring sunlight threatened to blind her as she tried to focus her blurry vision. Next to her, Whitepaw was hissing; when she came to, Kisa could see Whitepaw's fur was bristling as she directed a question at Kyo.

"Sunpaw! What in StarClan's name is going on with you?"

Kisa looked curiously over at Kyo, who was also hissing and spitting violently, his orange fur sticking out like spiky needles. His eyes were narrowed in suspicion and anger, and his unsheathed claws dug into the ground. "Don't give me that 'what's going on' crap! Oh, nothing is wrong with me…except that some bastard sneaked up on me just a few minutes ago and did this!" He spun around, showing off deep gashes raked down on his back. It looked like some cat had sprung on Kyo and slashed him across his back as hard as it could.

Kisa gasped. "Ky—Sunpaw, it's bleeding!"

Kyo peered over his shoulder and saw that the wound had, indeed, begun to bleed quite heavily. "All right, who did this?!" Kyo angrily demanded. "I swear, I will--"

"ENOUGH." Whitepaw had had enough. She rolled her eyes at Kyo, who had stopped short and was now glaring at her with undisguised indignation. She glared back. "Cut the act, Sunpaw. You're no warrior. None of us apprentices would do that; if I were you, I'd go see Leafpool at once. Then I'd go and tell Firestar, or Brambleclaw, what happened. Now, that makes more sense, doesn't it, than just standing there bleeding while threatening us, hmm? GO. Go see Leafpool." She flicked her tail towards the den entrance, casting an irritated glance in Kyo's direction.

Kyo tried his hardest to bite back a sharp retort. He wanted nothing more than to ask that cat who the hell she thinks she is. Who was she to talk to him like that?! She was just an apprentice…After all, back in his world, he would've been much older than her. (A/N: Kyo's about the same age as a warrior. Kisa is about the same age as an apprentice.) Who was she to talk down to him, then?

'We're equals, in a way. What right has she to order me around like that?!' Kyo furiously thought. 'Thinks she's better than me, now does she? Well, I'll show her…just wait till I start my training, you bitch! Then we'll see who superior!'

Kyo rolled his eyes and yawned pointedly. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Why don't YOU cut the act? I'm tired of being talked to and treated like nothing; you guys are no greater than I am! Now," he paused and held his head high, trying to maintain his so-called "authority" and continued, "Who the hell is Leafpool? Where is he?"

Whitepaw gave him a disgusted look. "Ugh…this is only your first day of being an official member of our clan and I'm sick of your attitude already! How am I ever going to survive training and sleeping in the same den as you?!" She shook her head in annoyance. "Who's Leafpool? She's our medicine cat, stupid furball! I'm telling you to go and show her your cuts. She'll be able to help…if she wants to help you, ungrateful mousebrain." Whitepaw muttered under her breath.

Kyo caught that last statement and sank his claws deeper into the ground. "How DARE you, you--"

"Shut it, Sunpaw! Just go already!" It was Whitepaw's turn to roll her eyes as she sharply cut Kyo off. 'He just can't take a hint, can he?' She flicked her tail towards the exit in finality and walked out herself, calling over her shoulder, "I'm going hunting with Brakenfur. See you all later."

When her white pelt disappeared out of sight, the few apprentices caught between Whitepaw's unusual anger and Kyo's defiant attitude breathed a sigh of relief. After casting worried/annoyed glances in Kyo's direction, they, too, went outside, heading to find their mentors or to the elders' den if they had chores to do there, leaving Kyo and Kisa alone in the apprentice den.

Kyo sorted in disgust and disbelief and clawed at an invisible cat in front of him. He looked over at Kisa, just noticing that she was there, nervously staring at him. "Can you believe her?! I mean, really, acting like she knows best and all. Does she really think I'm going to listen to her and go see this Leafpool? Well, I'm sure not!" Kyo glanced at Kisa expectantly, as if waiting for her to back him up.

She only shuffled her paws and looked away from him. "Er…I think you'd better listen to her, Kyo…umm, Sunpaw, I mean. I'm sure Leafpool will heal that gash on your back." She shuddered after risking a glance at it. "Besides, Whitepaw's really nice…She was talking to be last night and everything…" 'While you were just bothering Brambleclaw…' she thought.

Kyo abruptly stiffened and narrowed his eyes at Kisa. "Oh, okay. I get it. You're siding with her. So you don't believe me when I say somebody in this den made this gash on my back?! It WAS someone in here, I'm telling you!"

Kisa quietly said, "She could be right. I mean, why would someone here to that to you?"

"Well, I don't know! Maybe they were jealous or something, or--"

"Jealous? Of who?" a cat meowed.

Kisa and Kyo whirled around to face the entrance. Brambleclaw had just walked in and was now waiting for Kyo's response.

Kyo flattened his ears in anger. "Of me! I don't know why the hell they would be, but look! Look at this!" He turned around, facing his back towards Brambleclaw. Kyo heard the deputy's sharp intake of breath.

"When….when did this happen?" Brambleclaw slowly asked.

Kyo let out an exasperated sigh. "Just. A. Few. Minutes. Ago." he said through gritted teeth. "Somebody in here obviously thought it'd be nice to claw my back while I was sleeping!"

"Sunpaw, I--" Kisa started.

Brambleclaw abruptly cut her off. "Go and see Leafpool, she's our medicine cat, now. Her den is across the clearing. Then, I suggest you go see Firestar. Tell him what happened; he'll know what to do." He nodded for Kyo to head out.

Kyo opened his jaws as if he was going to protest, but quickly closed them when he noticed Brambleclaw's 'don't complain; do it' look. After shooting a glare in Kisa's direction, Kyo walked out irritably and headed to Leafpool's den.

Brambleclaw watched him go and sighed. To Kisa he said, "And you are to come with me. I have decided that we'll start your training today by getting to know our Clan boundaries, and maybe starting to work on hunting techniques." He noticed that Kisa, who was looking dejected, instantly perked up at the mention of starting her training.

"Now, follow me. If we go now, we might be able to catch up with Whitepaw and Brackenfur on the way."

Kyo walked through a curtain of moss into Leafpool's den. He noticed that it was surprisingly big—it had a few mossy nests scattered around for patients, a whole side wall of the den housed clumps and bundles of herbs, flowers, and others supplies, and further in, there was a separate room for Leafpool's nest—it was chilly, and it was empty. He shivered, glanced around quickly, and began backing out of the den, thinking he could escape treatment and go straight to Firestar.

"Sunpaw, where do you think you're going?" came a collected female voice.

'Damn! I was so close!' Kyo froze and glanced over his shoulder. His arrogant gaze met Leafpool's calm put piercing amber eyes. He saw that she had a sleek, brown pelt and had several cobwebs around her paws.

Kyo flushed in embarrassment. "Er…getting some fresh air," he mumbled. He thought he saw the corners of Leafpool's mouth twitch in amusement. Wanting to distract her from his all-too-obvious attempt at running away, he asked, "Umm…what're those cobwebs for?"

Leafpool's amber eyes didn't leave Kyo's face. "Oh, they're for stopping bleeding. It looks like I was right to go and get some—you're bleeding quite heavily there!" Shock and worry flickered in her eyes for a second, soon replaced by her signature calmly authoritive one. "When and how did this happen?"

Kyo slumped his shoulders in defeat. It looked like he wasn't going to escape getting treated or the constant questions. For what seemed like the thousandth time today, he found himself explaining, yet again, what he was sure happened.

Throughout his retelling of the events, Leafpool didn't even blink once. She just sat there, the cobwebs still on her paws, staring at Kyo. Though he didn't want to admit it, Kyo was getting uncomfortable under Leafpool's steady gaze. She reminded him of someone…

When he finished, Leafpool immediately said, "Well, Sunpaw, I think you'd best go and see Firestar when I'm done with you. Tell him what happened…Oh, and I don't believe any apprentice would--"

"Yeah, yeah, I've heard it already." Kyo snapped. "More than once, too. Everyone tells me the same thing but, I swear, someone in that den did it! I know!"

"—Be able to make a gash that deep," Leafpool continued, as if she had not been interrupted. "Anyway, go over there and sit down on one of those nests." She pointed her tail towards one of the many mossy nests on one side of the den.

Kyo (surprisingly) obeyed without complaint. He sat down and waited.

Leafpool strode over with a clump of leaves in her mouth and the cobwebs wrapped around her paws. "This might sting," she warned him, breaking into a few of the leaves with her teeth until sticky liquid flowed out. She smeared the liquid onto Kyo's back and started pressing the cobwebs into the gash.

Kyo hissed under his breath. It definitely did sting. It felt like his back was on fire. But, there was something else besides the sting of the liquid seeping into the gash that made his belly clench. He shivered. From what, he did not know.

Kisa followed Brambleclaw excitedly out of ThunderClan's camp. 'Yes! I'm starting my training! Just wait till I tell K--' Suddenly, her cheer drained away and her tail started to drag along the forest floor. 'Wait, he probably wouldn't want to talk to me after our fight this morning…'

Brambleclaw looked down and noticed Kisa's sudden change in temperament. "Tigerpaw, what's wrong?" he curiously meowed.

Kisa stiffened and tried to sound somewhat perky. The last thing she wanted was Brambleclaw (who would probably tell Firestar) knowing how she and Kyo were getting along! "Oh, nothing! Nothing at all!" She lifted her head up and looked around, seeing trees around her that seemed to stretch for miles. "So…uh, where to first?"

Brambleclaw sighed inwardly. She didn't trust him, did she? 'Well, she IS new. We haven't gotten to know and respect each other as mentor and apprentice yet…She'll have to learn to open up in the future…though not as much as her friend Sunpaw,' he thought, starting to laugh to himself when he remembered how foolishly arrogant Sunpaw had acted. 'Well, once Firestar is done training him, I'm sure he'll be a …decent warrior.'

To Kisa, he said, "We'll go to our border with ShadowClan first…You'll need to recognize their scent and where they can attack from. Yes—out of all four of the clans, ShadowClan has always been sort of a treat to us." His eyes clouded over, and he paused, his mind traveling back and remembering many events from the past.

Kisa looked at Brambleclaw and shuddered. He looked as if he was reliving horrible moments from his memory. She found herself yearning to know what they were, though she told herself she would probably find out in time. Instead, she tentatively meowed, "Uh, FOUR clans? So far, I've only heard of two. What are the others called?"

Brambleclaw violently shook his head and focused his eyes on Kisa, who was looking at him curiously. "Oh….there's WindClan, who probably are, or were, considered our closest allies, and RiverClan…" 'Where Hawkfrost is…' he thought distractedly. "…Anyway, we're going to head towards ShadowClan now. Follow me closely and try to remember this path. Oh, and if you can see, hear, or scent any prey, feel free to chase after it and catch it if you can. This will help me evaluate you and figure out what I need to teach you in the future."

Kisa determinedly nodded her head and set off in the direction of ShadowClan with Brambleclaw. It felt weird, feeling soft ground underneath her paws, being surrounded by towering trees, and being able to scent and hear prey skirting through fallen leaves. After all, she had never transformed into a tiger for this long…already, her parents, school, Akito and her obsession with the curse, and even Hiro seemed so far away. This forest was her home…for now.

Along the way, while trying to memorize the path they were taking, Kisa thought of Kyo and what he had said about an apprentice scratching him. She highly doubted that was true. All the apprentices seemed fairly nice. None of them seemed hostile towards Kyo…except Whitepaw. 'Maybe she did it?' Kisa wondered. 'No, she wouldn't! Whitepaw's too nice of a cat to do something like that…'

Suddenly, a horrible smell struck her senses numb for a moment. Not wanting to sound rude, she said as politely as she could, "Er….Brambleclaw? Could you please tell me what that smell is?"

Brambleclaw's whiskers twitched in amusement. "Hmm, that's the nicest I've heard anyone react to that smell! That's ShadowClan's sent for you!"

He and Kisa stopped at the edge of a dark forest. They had just crossed several roads (Thunderpaths, according to Brambleclaw) and were now standing at the edge of ShadowClan's territory. "It is said that the cold wind that blows across their territory chills their hearts. You can't trust a ShadowClan warrior…so it seems." Brambleclaw said, rather sadly. He cleared his throat. "Anyway, that's ShadowClan's territory. Just be careful not to---" He broke off suddenly when a mouse darted right in front of Kisa and she unexpectedly shot after it…right into ShadowClan's territory. "—trespass onto their land," Brambleclaw finished, groaning and chasing after Kisa.

She was surprisingly quick and agile for a lost kittypet, Brambleclaw noted. He was actually falling behind. Trying to quicken his pace while keeping on the lookout for a ShadowClan patrol, he called to Kisa as loudly as he dared try without alerting the ShadowClan cats of the intruders. "Kisa!! Kisa, stop!" She didn't stop, pause, or even take a breath it seemed to Brambleclaw, but kept on her pursuit of the mouse.

Brambleclaw's paws were starting to ache. ShadowClan's territory was void of grass, littered with rocks jutting out of the forest floor, and filled with large mud puddles.

Finally, he spotted Kisa…in RiverClan territory. 'Oh, for StarClan's sake!' He burst forward through ShadowClan's territory and onto RiverClan's just in time to see Kisa leap onto the mouse and put it between her jaws while it was still squirming. She noticed Brambleclaw, who was wildly panting, and walked over to him, her eyes glimmering with pride and joy. She hardly seemed out of breath.

'Wow. That was great! For her first catch, I mean. And—wait, I should've told her BEFORE we set out not to step a paw into another Clan's territory!' He groaned in disappointment with himself, and quickly beckoned for Kisa to come over. She reached his side and looked up to him, almost expectantly, as if waiting for his praise. Instead, he sternly told her, "Tigerpaw, I'll admit that was great for a first try, but I have something very important to tell you. The warrior code prevents us from crossing over into different Clan's territories. It's disrespectful, and may also seem like a treat to the other Clan. Now, come with me….and you can take the mouse with you, since you did spot it on our territory. Hurry, before we're spotted."

Kisa flattened her ears in shame. She had only wanted to….what, prove herself? 'I'm not THAT desperate to prove myself. That's Kyo's job…What WAS I trying to do? What was I thinking?!' She had felt so free running through the forest like that--like no one could stop her. She almost felt powerful, like a fearless leader rushing into battle. 'What's wrong with me? I shouldn't know what THAT feels like! I'm only an apprentice! I shouldn't have done that!' She let her tail drag on the floor as she dejectedly followed Brambleclaw, the mouse still wriggling in her jaws, her eyes directed down to her paws.

It was then that she noticed clumps of orange fur stuck in between her claws.

A pair of ice blue eyes silently watched Brambleclaw and Kisa leave RiverClan territory from a bunch of tall river weeds. They blinked, then disappeared like the brief shimmer of water when it catches the rays of the sun.
Kyo left Leafpool's den and walked to Firestar's. His back still stung but the rest of his body felt numb. And he didn't know why. "Damn…"

He took a deep breath and strode into the leader's den, not bothering to announce his presence. Firestar was (once again) pacing around his den. When he noticed Kyo, he motioned for him to sit down, not even bothering to admonish him. "Sunpaw, I've heard about what happened."

"What? How did you--?" A bewildered Kyo asked.

"…I have my ways. Anyway, I want to tell you that I am absolutely sure that none of the apprentices would do a thing like that. Sure, they might be jealous….perhaps because you have me as a mentor….but they would never harm you…unless…" He paused, thinking to himself, 'Unless…NO, it couldn't be! It's too soon…' He looked at Kyo. "Never mind. I'll do my best to try and find out exactly what happened. In the meantime, does it hurt that much?" Firestar asked, gesturing to the gash, freshly wrapped in cobwebs, on Kyo's back. "I see Leafpool has done an exceptional job treating it for you…If it still hurts, we might have to postpone your training."

Kyo jumped up and, ignoring the insistent sting of pain on his back, he shouted, "No, you can't do that! I saw Tigerpaw head out today, to train I guess, and I want to, too! Otherwise--" He broke off, hearing Firestar's amused laughter. "What's so funny?!"

"Don't worry, Sunpaw! I was kidding. You'll start your training tomorrow." Firestar reassured him, his eyes gleaming with amusement. "Just rest for a day. We don't want that cut of yours to start bleeding again…For now, I need you to---"

His ears flicked; he heard pawsteps rushing to his den. Then, Whitepaw, her eyes alight with fear, burst in and meowed urgently, "Firestar, there are Twolegs on our territory!"

A/N: There you have it, the longest chapter so far! Hope you all liked it!

Just to warn all of you now: the next chapter probably (most likely) won't be up for awhile (which means a few weeks to a month, unfortunately). I'm trying my hardest to work on it, but lately, I've been really busy. Not to mention that I've got writers' block again...

Anyway, until next time!

-Red Princess-