…

She had been in a dreamless sleep when the nudge to her side woke her. It was gentle, but firm. Squirrelpaw's eyes fluttered, blinking out sleep and haze, stretching her stiff legs, her head rising out of her paws with a yawn.

"Good morning, Squirrelpaw." A familiar voice hummed. Squirrelpaw blinked way the last trace of sleep, before returning Feathertail's greeting. The Riverclan cat looked like she never stopped smiling. Looking around, the sky was pink from the morning sunrise, the yellow glow sleepily painting the sky from the face of a distant hill. It was beautiful, no doubt, but it looked too early to be the time they'd agreed to wake up.

"Good morning." Squirrelpaw meowed, glancing up at the warrior curiously, "Is everyone getting ready to leave?"

"Not quite." Feathertail simpered, she flicked her ear in the direction of Brambleclaw who was still asleep. Feathertail hushed her voice to not wake him. "But me and Crowpaw were thinking of doing some early hunting for the group. It would be better if everyone got a good meal before we set off again. We'd like it if you could join us?"

It was definitely a great idea. The group needed to be prepared sooner than later. And Squirrelpaw couldn't help but feel a warm rise in her spirits that she was being invited along to do something important for once!

But then she thought back on that name, and inwardly cursed.

She turned, he was cleaning his ear with a paw, clearly waiting for the pair. As if by cruel circumstance, he looked to find her eyes, his cold gaze meeting hers, and he returned to licking his paws without a nod or a glare.

Squirrelpaw was ready for blood.

By Starclan, I want to tear him to pieces!

The Thunderclan cat seethed through clenched fangs, remembering her promise to not start anymore fights. It was just hunting. It was almost like going on patrol, just a job that needed to be done, not a friendship exercise. She just needed to not kill him, and everything would be fine.

"Sure!" Squirrelpaw chirped, keeping her focus on the cat she could actually stand. "I'd love to."

Feathertail beamed, waiting while the apprentice did some last-minute stretches, before they set off to the waiting Crowpaw.

"You ready?" He only seemed to be addressing Feathertail.

Game on, Crowfood! "Are you?" Squirrelpaw shot back. It wasn't openly antagonistic, much. Crowpaw paid her no attention, and Feathertail nodded to him, an apprehensive look already on her face.

The three set off into the tall grass, each listening closely for the rustling of prey. The grass towered over them and was thick enough to shield their bodies from any prey lucky enough to notice them. Squirrelpaw kept low, her paws softly paddling the ground, careful not to step on any loose grass that would snap and break their hunt.

Of course, none of them talked to another. All kept a good distance apart to cover more ground. Out of the tall grass, they saw the clearing of a landscape of hills, where the sounds of scampering prey along with their fresh scents, bringing all three cats low and ready to spring at the closest signal.

"Can you two hear anything close?" Feathertail whispered, low enough to only be heard by the apprentices.

Squirrelpaw listened and sniffed, her eyes becoming wide and focused. "I can smell mice close by."

"There's rabbit, as well." Crowpaw murmured. "This way." His pelt quivered with adrenaline as he stared to his left. Squirrelpaw would have liked to think he was only trying to one up her but breathing in deeper she cursed when she found he was right. She needed to pay closer attention if the others were going to get a good meal.

"Okay, that's great." Feathertail said, her tail swaying slightly. "If I focus on the mice, will you two go after the rabbit."

Squirrelpaw wasn't stupid enough to argue over her dislike of Crowpaw. It made sense for two cats to focus on the bigger prey, and as much as she hated to admit it, Crowpaw was more suited than them to rabbits as a Windclan cat.

She nodded to Feathertail, looking to Crowpaw who looked at her mildly, before setting off in the direction he focused on, not waiting for Squirrelpaw to catch up. The Thunderclan apprentice had to be careful to keep her paw steps soft as she hurried to hunt with the cat. She glared at his side; he was making this "be nice" promise so much harder than it needed to be.

Squirrelpaw caught onto the scent soon enough, not needing to follow Crowpaw anymore to find it, and they slowly padded up the slope of a hill, not saying anything to each other out of necessity and desire. When they reached the peak, they both looked over, finding their target at the crescent of the hill. A large brown buck, large enough to be a full meal for at least two dens of kits!

Squirrelpaw smirked, this would be the perfect chance to show the group what she could really do; she crouched, turning to Crowpaw to discuss their plan for the attack. Only to see the black blur of his pelt race past her, sprinting straight away towards his prey. Immediately, the buck's ear twitched and it began to flee from the cat up the slope of the next hill. Squirrelpaw started up with a mix of shock and anger. The mouse-brain had put no care at all into his attack! His pounce was non-existent, going straight into his run; the buck would have heard the first step without a doubt.

Squirrelpaw hissed to herself but she too began to sprint after the prey with the half-wit that was her partner. However, that was proving hard to do. One positive thing that she could say about the tom was that he was fast! His paws practically buzzed across the grass, his body sleekly twisting as he followed the rabbit's movements. He soon took a decent lead ahead of Squirrelpaw, enough that she had the slightest belief that he would end up catching the buck.

It didn't last long.

Crowpaw was fast, but he also wasn't being careful at all, he paid no attention to where he stepped. And that led to him completely ignoring the mound of Earth that Squirrelpaw saw was a few steps from him. Before she could even muster a warning, Crowpaw had caught the mound with his front paws, he twisted to catch his footing but the speed he was going made that impossible, his face skidded into the ground with a sharp thud and a cry of pain. The rabbit triumphantly disappeared over the peak of the hill, leaving its predator with a mouthful of grass.

Squirrelpaw growled, she knew that she wouldn't be able to catch it now. She sprang over to Crowpaw with a hiss of fury. He coughed out a clump of dirt, licking his paw to clean his sore face.

"Nice going, Feather-Brain!" Squirrelpaw spat, she didn't care about being nice now, the fool had ruined her chances of proving herself to the group! "What were you thinking? Rushing off without a plan like that! Didn't your mentor ever teach you any hunting techniques at all?"

Crowpaw glared at Squirrelpaw, wincing as he licked over his ruffled pelt. "I would have caught it if it wasn't for that stupid mound!" He muttered, "I've caught rabbits in worse environments than this!"

"The only reason you tripped over that mound was because you weren't watching where you were going!" Squirrelpaw objected. She was actually surprised! It had been clear from the start that Crowpaw was a stone-headed apprentice, but she had expected him to at least have some sense!

"We're hungry, aren't we?" Crowpaw meowed rhetorically, "When I see a rabbit, I don't wait around like some soft kittypet!"

Squirrelpaw's tail thumped against the ground. "Oh, I apologise! Why don't you go get it then if you're so good at it? Try not to trip this time!"

Crowpaw's muzzle drew back with a grimace, but he kept silent, glaring at the ground. But, for a second, Squirrelpaw was almost certain she saw an ashamed wilt in his eyes.

'So, he should be.' Squirrelpaw thought. She expected him to say something else, but he only returned to grooming himself bitterly. They only shared an icy silence. Squirrelpaw sighed, there was no point in sitting around like this, bickering wasn't going to catch prey.

"Hurry up." She seethed, "That rabbit won't have gone too far; we can still catch it before the others wake up."

Crowpaw gave her a sharp glance, but he continued to clean his pelt, though clearly becoming quicker at her words. Once he was finished, he gave his pelt a shake, "Let's go." He muttered, already heading off without Squirrelpaw. The Thunderclan cat looked at him incredulously, he just couldn't take anything, even when it was his fault!

They walked together, not as careful this time to make noise, the scent was weak, it would take a while before they got close again. They still refused to talk to each other. Squirrelpaw still kept her muscles tense though, ready for any other prey that could come their way. She noticed though that Crowpaw had noticeably loosened, he was slow, and his paws dragged like they were trailing through a tide.

Squirrelpaw's ire began to cool slightly, though he didn't want to show it, he was clearly put down by his failure with the rabbit. She remembered Feathertail's advice and let out the whisper of a groan. Why did being nice have to be harder than removing an Elder's ticks?

"Look, don't get upset over it." Squirrelpaw meowed, closing the space between them slightly, "Even the Deputies miss a kill sometimes."

Crowpaw looked at her like she was a wasp that had just stung him. "Maybe yours does! Not in Windclan!" He snapped. Squirrelpaw glowered, regretting the very thought of being nice to him already, "And I'm not upset!"

Squirrelpaw scoffed, "Oh right, I forgot, looking as happy as a mouse cornered by a patrol is normal for you, isn't it?"

Crowpaw rounded on her with a hiss, "You can't talk! If anyone's acted like a sad clump of fur, it's you!"

Squirrelpaw refused to be intimidated, stepping closer to him furiously. If he wanted to start a fight, he'd get it. "Am I the one with his tail tucked between his legs because of a clump of dirt? No, I don't think I am."

Crowpaw's fur tensed, spiking viciously, "Yeah, well I'm not the one crying over my clanmate not wanting me here."

The smile on Squirrelpaw's face faded a little. Had that been what she had looked like? Openly seeming like she was ready to cry? She cursed her stupidity for leaving herself open to the others like that. She inhaled, clenching her fangs together. "Bold of you to assume I care what he thinks!"

The Windclan apprentice's muzzle sat in a thin line, his eyes looking over her, unimpressed. "Nobody needed to be in Starclan to see it. Even a frog could have noticed." Squirrelpaw tensed at how unaffected his tone was, she must have looked more miserable than him if he was so sure of himself.

"I don't!" Squirrelpaw asserted, walking ahead a few paces in frustration, "Even if he didn't want me here, he couldn't get rid of me! I'm not just going to abandon the journey because some mouse-brain likes to think he knows everything!"

Crowpaw still looked unconvinced, his tail swaying lazily. "I'm not saying you'd leave; I'm saying that the fact that he upset you was as straight as a crow's flight."

Squirrelpaw tried to say something else but couldn't find an excuse. She had been upset by Brambleclaw's words and, by the way Crowpaw stuck by his thoughts, it looked like the whole group could have seen it as plain as blood on a whisker.

It wasn't just Brambleclaw though! It was everything, how Firestar acted the same way, Dustpelt as well! She wanted to show she was a good warrior, but everyone kept talking down to her. That was what infuriated her. But she would never tell anyone that, much less Crowpaw, she wouldn't give them the same idea.

"Worry-worm." Crowpaw muttered, "What does it matter what he thinks? It's not worth crying about." Squirrelpaw paused, her eyes idening a little, looking up slowly at Crowpaw. He didn't face her, but she was able to sense, even despite the bitterness of his words, there was a more gentle tone to it.

"Again, I wasn't crying," Squirrelpaw said, still needing to make that clear, but the anger drained from her voice as well. "He was just being unfair. Saying I would have told the clans about the journey when he knows well that I wouldn't!"

Crowpaw looked at her pointedly, "Then don't worry about it then! You just looked soft!" He shook his head, "If he said that to me, I wouldn't have let him think he's got to me! No way I'm gonna look weak to that bee-brain!"

"Hey, that's my clanmate!" Squirrelpaw snarled instinctively but having the sense to look embarrassed after her outburst. "Only I can call him a bee-brain."

Crowpaw scoffed, his pelt ruffling with indignance. "Then you should have done it then!"

Squirrelpaw could have taken a swipe at him then and there. He said everything like it was the plain answer, not concerned about anything else but his own opinion. She might not have minded if he was actually right most of the time. "What and let you think that Thunderclan cats are at each other's throats with unsheathed claws? Yeah right."

"Hmm, instead you'd prefer to look like a piece of prey for him to chew on."

Squirrelpaw's eye twitched, a burst of fury burning her chest. "Say that again!"

Crowpaw sniffed proudly, "I don't care if he's a warrior, even if he was my clanmate, he would have gotten a rake over the ears if he had insulted me!" He spoke so sure of his words, that Squirrelpaw almost found herself impressed. Almost.

"Firstly, that's because you're a mouse-brain who doesn't know when to keep your jaws shut! Second, remember what happened last time you two fought." She smirked at Crowpaw as he ruffled his pelt like he could shake away the memory of Brambleclaw pinning him down with one paw.

"Whatever." He spat, horribly hiding the humiliation from his voice. "At least I didn't just let him walk all over me."

"He did though." Squirrelpaw mewled with a sing song voice, grinning at the apprentice's embarrassment.

"Oh, be quiet!" Crowpaw snapped, quickening his pace ahead of her. Squirrelpaw let out a breath of laughter, following him down the slope of the hill. But she thought about what Crowpaw had said, and how, in his own weird way, he had tried to be nice to her, kind of. He had seemed to put Brambleclaw in the wrong, which at least meant he was siding with her a little. If he wasn't so icy and insulting about it, she might have thanked him.

Probably not, though. Because with every nice thing Crowpaw said, an insult was soon to follow.

They both sniffed and headed west, the scent was growing closer, which meant the rabbit had stopped at least. They padded past a group of wildflowers, dripping wet with dew, gleaming in the early morning sun. Squirrelpaw couldn't help herself when she noticed a patch of dandelions, they wouldn't find the rabbit for a while, and it would take even longer for the others to wake up. She could have a little fun with him. She whipped her tail mischievously at one, sending a small cloud of its seeds across the air. Squirrelpaw watched them magically fly in the breeze, chortling as she noticed a few seeds land straight on Crowpaw's nose.

"Hey!" He yowled, closing his eyes as she rubbed his nose with a paw. "Stop acting like a kit!" He turned to her with fire blazing in his eyes, but Squirrelpaw only laughed loudly when she saw one pale seed still resting on the tip of his nose. Crowpaw's claws dug into the grass. "It isn't funny!"

Squirrelpaw grinned cheekily, "Oh, you're no fun!" She chirped, walking past him while making sure to swish her tail across his nose, making him sneeze softly. "Do you ever take those burrs out of your fur?"

Crowpaw's expression stiffened as he met her pace. "Do you ever focus on your task instead of pushing everyone's temper? We don't have time to-" He stopped in his sentence, eyes flashing with something unknown to Squirrelpaw. She glanced at him curiously, about to ask what was wrong, then Crowpaw grit his teeth and walked ahead, his mood clearly soured. "Just hurry up! You might want to leave the others hungry, but I don't!"

Squirrelpaw stared aghast, he had snapped at her with such venom, all she had done was send some seeds into his fur! "What is your problem?" She demanded, on the verge of a growl. "I get you have no sense of humour, but can you not try to make everything a fight all the time?!" She couldn't hold it back. She was growing so sick of his temper!

The black tom sent her a disgusted sneer. "I want to catch prey, not play games with some Thunderclan apprentice who wasn't even chosen!"

Squirrelpaw's ginger fur bristled scornfully, "Oh really." She hissed, "Well, O great chosen cat, we may have been back with the rabbit by now if you hadn't sprung without thinking, like a fit crazed rat!"

"How many rabbits have you even caught, Squirrelbrain?" Crowpaw spat. Squirrelpaw's claws unsheathed, she was sure it was only a matter of time before her claws were crimson inside his cheeks.

"How many have you let run through your paws, Crowfood?" Squirrelpaw yelled. Crowpaw's eyes on her narrowed in front of her, his posture stiff as a poisonous anger overcame him.

"Don't talk like you even know what real hunting is like?" Crowpaw roared, his voice on the verge of a scream. His head shook from side to side crazily, now ferocious in his rant. "It may be easy for you, little leader's daughter, not having to lift a claw to get any respect, but some of us have actually had to work hard to earn our Warriors ceremonies!"

Hard work? He thought she had it easy just because she was Firestar's daughter? "You little…" A simmering fury burned on Squirrelpaw's lips; a green fire erupted from her gaze. "I know exactly what hard work is like, mouse-brain! If you think Firestar treats me like a Queen Bee, you're crazier than I thought!" She didn't care what she said anymore, her anger had bubbled over, and mouse-tails to what this pest thought of her!

"Being a Leader's daughter doesn't give you a break! It's endless pressure! From them and the rest of your clan! I've had to live up to my father's, and my own, worth all my life!" Squirrelpaw ranted, not stopping a beat when Crowpaw loosened in shock and he just reserved himself to an unrelenting stare. Squirrelpaw didn't notice something flicker in his eyes. "If I make a mistake, the clan hold me up to my father! Like I'm expected to be 'perfect' like him! I bet you've never had that, have you? Does your clan compare you to your father? Ever had your father breathing down your pelt every single day, constantly checking to see if you're acting 'the right' way?"

Crowpaw said nothing. He just looked at her, then to the ground with a whispering breath. Squirrelpaw scoffed, satisfied. She wasn't going to take those kinds of comments from anyone. Nobody questioned how hard she had worked.

"Didn't think so." Squirrelpaw hissed, "Maybe next time-"

"My father was Deputy." Crowpaw said suddenly, bluntly. Emotionlessly. He walked ahead, not taking another look back at the silent Squirrelpaw. The Thunderclan cat's tongue didn't move as she thought clearly about what she said. A guilty horror overcoming her gut. Instantly, she knew she was now the one in the wrong.

'Was'.

One word, yet so much more.

Squirrelpaw closed her jaw, looking to the cat that strode in front. He acted like he had said nothing, sniffing the air and following the scent. His words came back to her as she quickened slightly to walk at his side. She falteringly looked to his face, he looked as stony as ever, not perturbed by what she had said, or pretending that he didn't care.

Squirrelpaw flushed with shame regardless. It wasn't fair! She'd only tried to defend herself; she hadn't known that… No, she couldn't defend herself this time. Stupid assumptions had bit her on the tail.

When she spoke again, it was the softest she had ever sounded. "What was his name?"

"Deadfoot." Crowpaw said dryly, without so much as a twitch of his whiskers.

Squirrelpaw searched for the name in her memory but found nothing. In all the stories her father told her, even in the ones the elders had told her, she had never heard that name. She wondered how much it would hurt her, if her father died and someone just didn't know the legacy he had left. Didn't even realised he existed…

Maybe she was different to other cats.

There was only one thing to say. "I'm sorry." Squirrelpaw uttered. "I didn't know." Even if Crowpaw was moody, even if he could be cruel, there were some things Squirrelpaw would never say. She wouldn't do it to any warrior, not her clanmates, not rogues, and not Crowpaw.

Crowpaw didn't seem to acknowledge her for a while, but soon offered a nod. "It's fine." He said, scowling at nothing in particular, "I was barely an apprentice when he died. I don't remember much of him."

The Thunderclan apprentice stepped a little closer to him. "I'm sure he would have made a great leader of Windclan." She said, trying her best to sound comforting.

Crowpaw gave a sniff that sounded like he was attempting to laugh. "Maybe." He said, he didn't sound like he was saddened by it. It made a shiver ruffle Squirrelpaw's fur. "Did Brambleclaw tell you who visited him with the prophecy?"

Squirrelpaw nodded, "Yes, it was Bluestar. The leader before my father."

"I know who it is." Crowpaw said with a blunt look, though his voice didn't portray the irritation he normally indulged in, so Squirrelpaw laughed it off. "Well, Deadfoot was the one who visited me." Crowpaw explained.

"Oh! It must have been great to see him again!"

Crowpaw looked at her blankly, then his stare turned to the ground. "I never saw much of him as a kit, he'd just been made Deputy, so he was always busy." Squirrelpaw's smiled thinned at how weary he sounded.

"He must have been important to your clan."

"I'm not sure. Again, he didn't come by the nursery much, so I guess he was." When Crowpaw said that, he didn't sound proud, in fact, there was a clear distaste to his words, like he was chewing on a nettle.

"Oh." Squirrelpaw blurted, Crowpaw didn't even look ruffled, not even a dim in his eye. "But still," She said hesitantly, "You must have missed him?" She didn't mean for it to sound a direct as she said it. Bad habits die hard.

The Windclan cat perked a little, his pelt quivering like melted snow had sunken into his fur. His gaze remained hard though, impenetrable. Barely looking at Squirrelpaw, he inhaled through clenched teeth. "He was my father." He said tartly. "Wouldn't you miss yours?"

Squirrelpaw's ears drew back, a quiver of guilt crawling down her neck. "O-Of course. I d-didn't mean-"

"Your father's leader of your clan," Crowpaw said sharply, making her fall silent. "Yet he still finds time to spend with you?" He looked at her incredulously, like she was a creature that he had been the first to discover. His blue eyes looked genuinely surprised for the first time ever.

Squirrelpaw craned her head, not sure whether to be pleased he wasn't offended or worried about where he was going with this. "Well… yes." She meowed, "He always finds a way to find me and rake my ears, at least." She didn't know why she expected Crowpaw to laugh at her joke. The tom stared at her, his mouth open slightly, with a short, disgusted exhale.

"Too busy, huh?" Was the apathetic murmur he gave.

"What?"

Crowpaw looked up ahead of himself tersely, "Don't worry about it." He dictated, flicking his ear as he spoke. "It's a Windclan concern. Let's just get that rabbit, Feathertail's probably caught enough mice for all of us by now. I don't want to go back without anything."

Squirrelpaw blinked, how could a cat change how he looked so easily? With the flick of a tail, he could go from furious to completely uninterested. Squirrelpaw thought about it though. Just a minute ago she had been screaming at him. Having a sort of peaceful conversation was certainly something new for the pair. Still, did he have to be so curt with how he ended things?

Oh well, it was better than fighting at least.

It would be best if they didn't crack this already ice-thin resolve.

"Yeah." She took a sniff of the air and perked with adrenaline, "He's not too far now, we best keep low."

Crowpaw nodded, tensing his muscles again as he prepared himself. Squirrelpaw noticed that he still wasn't being careful with how he stepped though, she cringed, he was clearly going to run for it like last time and hope there wasn't a mound to trip him again. How could he be so stubborn?

Squirrelpaw was about to hiss at his stupidity, only just holding herself back with a tight smack on her teeth. Be calm. Don't provoke anything intentionally. "Crowpaw?", She said, attempting to be gentle. It sounded like she was trying to grin with a mouthful of mouse-bile.

Crowpaw gave her a murmur of acknowledgement, by the smell the rabbit could only be on the other side of this hill.

"You can't just rush at the rabbit again, you know?" Squirrelpaw stated. She ignored when Crowpaw let out a small groan. "It's going to be listening for us this time, so we have to be careful not to alarm it."

Crowpaw flicked his tail dismissively, "I know all this! What's your point?"

Squirrelpaw clenched her jaw, "My point is, we have to be patient!

"Patience isn't going to kill prey!"

"Neither is making the rabbit run away before we even see it!" Squirrelpaw snapped sternly. Crowpaw glared back at her, but to Squirrelpaw's relief he didn't look like he was going to argue. He looked at his paws, unsheathed and tense, thinking back to his face in the grass the first time. He sighed. Unconsciously, his voice faltered. "Okay." He drawled, "What do you think we should do then?" He snapped frostily, but still genuinely awaiting her answer.

Squirrelpaw perked up happily, partly out of relief that he wasn't going to question her, mostly out of pride that another cat was actually asking for her advice. But she'd rather chew on fox dung then admit that to Crowpaw.

To his credit, Crowpaw was as fast a learner as he was on his feet. He followed her advice on how to make sure his paws made as little a sound as possible, sheathing his claws and stalking up with a surprising level of control. He carried on like that until they met the peak of the hill, their noses peering just over the tufts of grass, full of the warm scent of prey! The rabbit had stopped again to feed, but it was certainly on higher alert than before, its fat head drifting up now and again to taste the air.

But unfortunately for the rabbit, the wind blew the cats scents away from him.

Crowpaw stared at the rabbit with fury, the taste of dirt mockingly waving over his tongue. He looked ready to pounce again, until Squirrelpaw's tail gently whipped his pelt. She shook her head at him, crouching down. "Wait." She mouthed, an order and a plea.

Crowpaw glared from her to the rabbit, his pelt shaking with rage. Fortunately for Squirrelpaw, he seemed to understand that she was right, inhaling softly, before nodding back at her. The Thunderclan apprentice grinned at him gratefully. They advanced as one, slow, soft, keeping low enough for the tall grass to cover them, stopping in their tracks when the rabbit peered up to check its surroundings, then pressing forward when it leant down to eat again.

The buck didn't even notice when they were within pouncing distance.

Squirrelpaw and Crowpaw looked to each other, she grinned and nodded at him. The fire of the hunt burned in Crowpaw's eyes. He tensed, careful to be quiet, and silently pounced into the air. The rabbit's ear barely had time to twitch and it attempted to flee once more, its speed equal to Crowpaw as it tried to once again dart up the slope of another hillside, but with the shorter distance the tom was able to pounce, twisting his body in the air to land in front of the buck blocking its way, causing it to flee back down in a desperate hope of escape.

Squirrelpaw couldn't help but marvel as she too ran after the rabbit, with the right moves Crowpaw was probably one of the most efficient hunters she'd ever seen. He had taken her advice on point, now carefully watching his feet even as he ran! She was so busy watching that she almost missed Crowpaw's yell.

"Squirrelbrain! Get ready!" He shouted, speeding up to the side of the rabbit, the beast twisted right frenzied as he focused on fleeing from the one cat. Not noticing as it ran straight towards Squirrelpaw's direction. The Thunderclan cat may have stopped out of sheer bewilderment that the tom was leading the rabbit to her. Hunting with her. Luckily, she was as determined as the tom, and she didn't waste a moment in pouncing before the rabbit could even notice her. Her teeth met the beast's neck and it soon moved no more.

Squirrelpaw's heart pounded, stimulated by the warm flavour of the rabbit's blood, this was the largest prey she had ever caught, it was bigger than some apprentices she knew at Thunderclan! Still she lifted it up proudly, waiting as Crowpaw paddled over to her, panting as he recaptured his breath.

"That was an excellent plan!" Squirrelpaw chirped through full jaws. She had to praise him, he had done most of the work after all, thinking on his feet so quickly! Squirrelpaw felt a small wave of admiration for the cat, he was an incredible hunter!

He was still a moody mouse-brain though.

Once Crowpaw gained control over his lungs again, he nodded graciously at the molly. "Nice catch." He sounded sullen; his voice as rough as a fish scale. Squirrelpaw frowned at his frosty tone but remembered that she was the one holding the prey. She wilted, it may not seem fair to him, he had driven the rabbit towards her after all. Squirrelpaw may have wanted to impress the group more than anything, but she was definitely above stealing another cats credit.

She dropped the rabbit between them. Crowpaw looked at it briefly than his puzzled gaze met her. She smiled thinly at him. "Go ahead. I'm not so desperate as to take credit for another clan's achievement."

The tom stared at her for a few seconds, his blue eyes flaring with shock he had never openly shown before. He looked at the rabbit than back at her quizzically, briefly opening his mouth to say something but quickly shutting it with a second thought.

Squirrelpaw liked to think he was going to say, 'Thank you'. That was probably mouse-brained though.

Squirrelpaw sighed but couldn't help but laugh at the tom's awkward display. She whipped him on the nose with her tail, albeit more playfully. "Come on, Crowfood. The others will be awake soon."

She expected him to lash back at her name calling. He just picked up the rabbit and followed her.

When they finally found Feathertail again, she openly mewled in delight at their catch! "That rabbits big enough to last two days! Well done!" She cried, her tail smoothly stroking the six mice that she had caught since they left. "Who caught it."

Before Squirrelpaw could even open her mouth to say her companion had, the thud of the rabbit's body hit the ground heavily. "We both did." Crowpaw said quickly, but with an absolute assurance. Squirrelpaw turned her head to meet him, a flutter of surprise in her eyes. What was he doing?

The tom met her surprise with a begrudging shrug, "I don't need to take credit from another clan either, Squirrelbreath!" He said dryly, but with the smallest hint of embarrassment. "We both worked to catch it. Your advice helped after all. That's fair enough."

Squirrelpaw may have been thinking like she had bees on her brain, but she could have sworn that was his way of saying that he couldn't have caught it without her advice.

But she knew that Crowpaw would never concede that fact without a fight.

So, she smirked coyly at him and accepted his silent peace offering.

She carried the rabbit back to their camp and was the first to receive the praise of the other three. But she denied everything until Crowpaw and Feathertail came back with the mice. She couldn't tell what Brambleclaw was more shocked at her catch or the idea that she and Crowpaw had worked together. It was the funniest thing she had seen in ages as he looked between the two in complete amazed confusion. Crowpaw had ignored him with a sniff, but Squirrelpaw could tell he was proud to accept the group's praise.

And as the group shared the trio's fresh kill, Squirrelpaw couldn't help but take a coy glance at Crowpaw. The tom glanced at her, eyes still as blunt and cold as ever, but when he nodded back at her, it was without a doubt of good nature.

Maybe not friendly, but it was a start.

Squirrelpaw still couldn't stop grinning though. No matter how much Crowpaw wanted to deny it, she knew. The tom had a heart.

The journey looked a little brighter.

…