Well hiii! Also I had a tendency to spoil a bit of the later series in my A/Ns (VoS and maybe some super editions and novellas, I haven't read BC) because I know that on fanfiction we have a majority of seasoned Warriors fans who eagerly wait the for the next book to come out, but I will try not to go too far past DotC to accommodate those who haven't read too far.

Mintflight0245 - Well, I said already: plot purposes. Ivy wouldn't have gone back to the forest if Jay hadn't died. Of course I could have found some other way... I briefly considered a fire in the City, but I decided that nah I wanted Jay dead, and anyway the fire would have killed Rose and Cesar, at least. I miss him too but I don't regret killing him, because I'm the sort of insensitive writer who kills kitties because I need to, and to spice up the story! So here's your answer! Thank you for reviewing!

Chappie time! (I'm so weird just ignore it)

Chapter 19 (you have no IDEA how much this means to me!)

Ivy could hear the uneven breathing of the nervous cats in the cave. They were as scared of the Governor as she was.

"But they will have to Train first." A visible shiver went through the cats assembled around Ivy. A black pelt bristled - whether Slick or Night, she couldn't tell. "The black tom can Train less long than the usual Trainee, as I see he can probably already take care of himself. Though he needs to be educated in our ways." The way she said it made it sound like 'their way' was synonymous of 'slow and painful death'. "The she-cat will do the usual. I will decide on their Teachers later, for the time being, Twig can show the tom around, Night, take the she-cat. You are dismissed. Stone, stay. We have much to discuss." The cold, emotionless voice finally stopped, and Ivy could have sighed in relief.

Night turned around, whisking her tail to indicate to Ivy to follow her. Close by, Twig, the small tom, was doing the same with Slick.

Reluctant though she was to turn her back on two such lethal enemies who might just be talking about jumping on them and attacking them from behind, Ivy followed the black she-cat obediently. She emerged into blinding light, so bright that she closed her eyes for a moment. When she reopened them, they were only slits, just wide enough to see through. She never would have thought that the day would come when the sun would bother her; she had almost never been blinded, as her dark, midnight blue eyes had always worked just fine even in the brightest of days. The darkness had been so complete that, coming out, light felt harsh and unnatural. She pitied those whose eyes were already sensitive to light.

She didn't want to leave Slick, but Night and Twig both went in opposite directions, waving a polite goodbye with their tail. She padded after Night, barely registering the stares of the other cats, not so much hostile as curious now. She did her best to focus only on Night's jet-black pelt, everywhere else too bright to look at.

Night sat down in a shaded corner, giving Ivy's tired eyes some respite from the blinding light as she followed her, settling down about half a tail-length from her warily.

"So," the she-cat began. "What's your name?"

"I'm Ivy. You're Night, aren't you?" Ivy was sure about that, at least. Night looked shocked, and a little suspicious.

"How do you know that?" she demanded.

Ivy looked back at her with wide, innocent midnight blue eyes. "I heard your sister, Shadow, talking to you when we arrived." That was a shot in the dark. She had no proof to back up her guess that they were sisters, other than their similar pelts and how they looked the same age. But Night was once again surprised at how Ivy seemed to know that she had a sister, and what her name was.

But Ivy's soft blue gaze melted the suspicion around her heart visibly, and she looked down at her warmly. "Let's get you acquainted with the cats of the Blood."

"That's a strange name." Ivy dared to say. "Is that the name of your group?" Once again, she had guessed right, but instead of suspicious, Night seemed pleased that she had one less thing to explain.

"That's right. As a group, we hunt together, though we all eat what we catch. If we have some left over, we can give it to sick cats or nursing queens. This is less of a united group than a bunch of random cats banded together for safety and the warmth of other pelts to sleep close to. But we find strong leadership her. We find friendship. The lucky ones find a mate." She paused. "It's mainly a good life... once you finish Training."

"What exactly are Training and Testing?" Ivy asked, curious. "It doesn't sound particularly great."

"That's probably because it isn't." The black-pelted she-cat answered ominously. "The Training is when you first join the group, or when you reach four moons old, depending on whether or not you joined before you were old enough to start Training. The Governor assigns you a Teacher among the cats of the Blood. The Teacher, well, teaches you. As a young Trainee, you will learn more hunting techniques, but in about half a moon, your Teacher will give you your first evaluation.

"The evaluation will be about hunting, and your Teacher will probably ask you something such as trying to turn a hunting crouch into an attack crouch. Most cats pass. If you don't, you'll get punished, and start all over again. If you pass, you will go on to do more battle training. Blood battle moves are very fierce. You must have noticed dog or cat claws and teeth on our collars and claws. With we cats of the Blood, it's a fight to the death of the opponent. Of course, we will run if it's necessary, but if we're winning, we kill. We are taught to do so without hesitation."

Seeing the flash of fear in Ivy's eyes as she shuffled slightly away, she backpedalled. "That doesn't mean we like it. But that's how it works here. Either way, Training is savage. Your Teacher will punish you, most of them will hit you with unsheathed claws, though in theory they will get in trouble if it leaves a permanent scar. A lot of them don't care, and the Governor doesn't really give a rat's whisker about it either.

"No Trainees get everything right for the first time, but many Teachers will punish you without thinking. If you're lucky, you get a nice one. It's a lot about luck here. If you get a good Teacher, you can rise in the ranks of the Blood, if you want to.

"Well, anyway. After Training, you have to pass a final assessment. You remember how I said that we were taught to fight until the opponent was dead? The final evaluation takes place in the Circus. It's a large bare space in the forest. It's used for the Test. All the Blood cats assemble around it to... to watch the Trainees fight. To the death."

Ivy gasped in horror. "We all have to fight each other?"

"Not all of you. You're paired up and you have to fight the cat you're with. If the Governor is unsure of your loyalty..." Night gulped hard. What had she seen in the Trainee Tests that were so horrible?

Night's POV

"If she's unsure of your loyalty, she'll make you fight somecat close to you." As she forced the words out, horrors buried deep seemed to resurface like appalling, hideous, undead zombies. She fought to force them down. Every time she saw Shadow, she was reminded. How could she ever forget? Blood was on the floor of the Circus, covering jet-black paws. She wished she could forget all the scarlet that gushed out.

Well, doesn't everyone have a terrible secret? Too bad that you won't learn about Night's until next chapter. That's right, next chapter is not a normal chapter, nor even a dream sequence, though Crystal is still visiting. No, next chapter is the very first flashback chapter! Review, I'll get it out quicker!

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~Crystalshine of LightClan