Cloudpaw trailed slowly after Whitestorm as the ThunderClan senior warrior led him and Brightpaw towards Fourtrees for a hunting patrol. Ever since Fireheart's injury in the battle with WindClan, he had been joining in on the other apprentices' training sessions, since all of his friends had insisted that he couldn't allow himself to fall behind while his mentor was recovering. He knew they had a point, but he was finding it difficult to care about becoming a warrior when Fireheart was so close to death. Besides, Bluestar obviously wasn't keen on making them warriors anyway, so what did it matter?

Bluestar. Cloudpaw's fluffy white fur bristled with resentment at the thought of his leader. It was her fault that Fireheart was as badly hurt as he was. If she hadn't decided to attack WindClan, his uncle would still be safe.

"Are you okay, Cloudpaw?" Brightpaw asked gently, seeing the anger in her denmate's blue eyes.

"Not really," Cloudpaw admitted, feeling himself relax at Brightpaw's warm, sweet voice nonetheless.

"I'm sorry, I know this must be hard for you," the ginger and white apprentice mewed soothingly. "I don't know what I'd do if anything like that happened to Whitestorm."

"It isn't just that!" Cloudpaw burst out angrily. "This is all Bluestar's fault! If she didn't order us to attack WindClan, none of this would have happened! And why do we have to listen to what she says anyway? Yeah, I know the warrior code says a Clan leader's word is law, but why should we give a rat's tail what the code says when our leader obviously doesn't care anything for us?"

"Cloudpaw!" It was not Brightpaw who replied, but Whitestorm, his eyes fierce. "Show some respect. I understand how you feel, but–"

"No, you don't!" the white apprentice interrupted, forgetting for a moment that he was speaking to a senior warrior. "You don't know anything about how I feel, so stop acting as if you do! Why are you defending Bluestar anyway? You know as well as anyone else that her actions caused Fireheart's injury, yet you're still standing up for her! And as for showing respect, why should I? Because of Bluestar, I'll probably never receive my warrior name, and neither will Brightpaw, Swiftpaw, or Thornpaw! Because of her, my mentor and only kin in this entire stupid forest might die! Respect? Ha, as if! I have more respect for a flaming pile of fox dung than her!"

Without waiting for a response, Cloudpaw whipped around and stormed back towards the camp. He knew he would pay dearly for his outburst later, but he didn't care about that. Whitestorm might have been Bluestar's friend, for who knows what reason, but there was no reason to excuse her actions. He was acting as if Bluestar hadn't done anything wrong at all!

The sound of approaching pawsteps caught his attention, and Cloudpaw turned his head to see Brightpaw racing towards him. There was a look of anger in her eyes, and he found himself torn between regret and indifference as their gazes met.

"What is it, Brightpaw?" he asked, although he could already guess what.

Sure enough, his denmate's fur fluffed up angrily, and she spat, "Apologize to my mentor, Cloudpaw!"

"No," Cloudpaw snapped back. He didn't like upsetting Brightpaw any more than he already had, but he wasn't about to apologize for speaking the truth. "I don't owe him anything. Bluestar caused Fireheart to get hurt, and all Whitestorm does is defend her! Why should I apologize to your precious mentor when he doesn't even care that my mentor might die?"

"He does care!" Brightpaw snapped. "But he cares about Bluestar too, don't you see? They've known each other forever; of course, he's going to defend her!"

"Really? Well, if he does care about Fireheart, he's sure doing a poor job of showing it," Cloudpaw snarled.

Brightpaw shook her head, all traces of anger suddenly gone. "I'm not having this argument with you, Cloudpaw. Just...just go back to camp and calm down, will you? I know you're upset, but you can't keep lashing out at everyone. Fireheart might be your kin, but the entire Clan is your family now, which you'd see if you'd only look past your whiskers for a change!"

She spun around and stalked back towards Fourtrees, her tail held high. Cloudpaw watched her go for a few heartbeats, feeling torn between guilt and resentment at her words. He knew that he'd hurt her and the former kittypet was sorry for that, but Cloudpaw also knew that she could never understand how he felt. She didn't have the misfortune of being born outside the Clan as he did or having everyone judge his every mistake because of his birthplace. Besides, no matter how close Cloudpaw was to his foster parents and siblings, nothing could ever replace his blood kin, and Fireheart was all he had of that in the Clan.

He was the only one who understood how Cloudpaw felt at times, the only one who could relate to his feelings of being an outsider in his own home. Brightpaw might believe that the Clan was his family now, but Cloudpaw knew that if he or Fireheart were to disappear from the Clan suddenly, most of them wouldn't be sad to see them go. Some might care but would forget all about them within a matter of days. What kind of family was that?

Sighing, Cloudpaw turned around and continued his walk back to the ThunderClan camp. Maybe he would apologize to Brightpaw and Whitestorm later, but at the moment, their feelings were the least of his concern. His leader was stubbornly refusing to give him his warrior name, and Fireheart was lying in the medicine den, a mere whisker away from death. As far as Cloudpaw was concerned, Brightpaw and Whitestorm could think whatever they wanted about him.