Maplepaw's chapter was going to be boring, and like, a hundred words, so I put this here instead and it works much better! Thanks, The Imprisoned of Hell, for reminding me of your OC scene.

Chapter ten is ready. It's pretty heavy. I suppose I'll put a small warning there.

Thank you everyone for your OCs! Also for your patience! I bet you've noticed that I'm not updating as much. I've been having a lot of story ideas lately and it's kind of hard for me to work on this. My days have also been more free, which is a bad thing. For a normal writer, it would mean more time to work on a story, but for me, it's not good. I need a time limit to complete individual chapters, otherwise I'm not motivated. And I am keeping track of the OCs - I'm just not posting the list on a chapter. If you want to see the full list, it's on my profile. At some point I'll edit the first chapter to have the full list as well, it's just a lot of work.

Here you are!

Chapter nine: Training

"Push your legs in a little… keep your tail off the ground… looks good!"

Vinekit raised his tail. It felt a little awkward, but that didn't matter. His mother was teaching him the hunting crouch and he was only three moons old! He could already be an apprentice.

Waspclaw pulled away from Vinekit, satisfied. "You'll be a warrior in no time!"

On the other side of the nursery, he could hear the shifting of moss as Butterflytrail sat up. His mother had explained to him how she was in the nursery because she was going to have her kits soon.

"Don't you think it's a little early to be teaching him that?" The calico queen asked, sounding a bit worried. "He's only halfway through his kithood! Besides, Vinekit is - "

"I don't care what he is!" Waspclaw cut her off sharply. "It's about what he will be! He's going to be the best warrior in the clan, and I'm not letting anyone say otherwise!"

"Yeah!" Vinekit chimed in, annoyed. Why couldn't Butterflytrail just leave him alone?

"Alright then." Butterflytrail's voice sounded tense.

Waspclaw nudged Vinekit in the shoulder to get his attention. "Come on Vinekit. Let's go practice outside."

"Alright," Vinekit meowed, raising his chin and following his mother outside the den. He could always tell when he'd left the nursery - a blast of cool air hit him in the face and the scent of milk disappeared.

"What can you smell?" Waspclaw asked him.

Vinekit concentrated.

"Rain from earlier, ferns and Blossomclan warriors… nothing else though."

"Hm." Waspclaw tasted the air. "That's right."

They sat there for a moment silently then Vinekit spoke.

"Mama?" he asked.

"Yes, Vinekit?" Waspclaw turned towards him.

"What… what will the other clans think of me? Being a warrior, I mean?"

Waspclaw grunted.

"They have no problem with Archedpaw."

"I know, but she doesn't go to Gatherings, and she's only blind in one eye!" Vinekit grumbled.

"She's different, and she's not blind in one eye. She's missing an eye." Waspclaw's tail lashed against the ground. "And who do you think would care about you being blind?"

Vinekit slouched over. "The other clans are going to think I'm weak!"

"Then you show them you're strong," Waspclaw hissed. "You have it in you. If the clans aren't going to see that, make them."

Vinekit sighed, then straightened up. "I will."

"Now go inside." Waspclaw prodded him. "You're starting to get cold."