"Elders are taken care of?" Firepaw asked, taking a big bite of his prey.
Ravenpaw nodded, swallowing. "Stormpaw isn't done? I thought you two would be finished at the same time."
Firepaw shook his head. "Where are Sandpaw and Dustpaw?"
"Training still. Probably battle." Ravenpaw shrugged. "Maybe Lionheart will take you and Stormpaw out again later."
"You don't think Tigerclaw will train more with you today?" Firepaw asked.
"Doubt it. Now that I'm close to my warrior assessment, he'll want to spend as little time as possible with me. I'm sure he'll be glad to see me gone."
"You finished first with hunting," Firepaw meowed. "Maybe he just thinks you've mastered everything he has to teach you?"
Ravenpaw opened his mouth to respond, but he was interrupted by Spottedleaf walking over. "Bluestar has asked to see you, Firepaw."
"But I'm eating," the striped apprentice pointed out, motioning to his bird.
"Take it with you." Spottedleaf smiled at him before turning and heading back to her den.
Firepaw looked at Ravenpaw quizzically before grabbing his meal and running to the leader's den. He mewed wordlessly around the fresh-kill, getting a "Come in." He did so, seeing Bluestar looking at him.
"Sit and eat while we talk," she told him.
Firepaw was mystified by the rare chance of speaking directly to the Clan leader, but he nodded and did as he was told. As he was taking a bite, never taking his eyes away from her, she began to speak again.
"I understand that although you did wrong by attacking Yellowfang, she striked first and so you won't be punished," Bluestar meowed. "However, you still offered help without permission. Understand that even though we treated her by our own decision, you can't make promises that you might not be able to keep."
"I'm sorry," Firepaw told her earnestly. Yet he was a little confused; why would she send for him just to issue a warning? Lionheart himself could do that.
"You're forgiven. Don't repeat your mistakes. Learn from them." She lowered her chin slightly. "As you've probably guessed by now, there's something else I wish to tell you. I've decided on your mentor."
Firepaw's eyes grew wide. "Who?" he asked excitedly.
Bluestar curled her tail around her paws. "Me. You're my apprentice. I've already informed Lionheart."
Firepaw could hardly believe it. From what Ravenpaw had said, leaders never took on the role of mentoring. "But aren't you too busy?"
"Not too busy to mentor one of ThunderClan's young," Bluestar told him.
He couldn't shake the feeling that he wasn't being told something, but he was too ecstatic to care. "Thank you, Bluestar!" he meowed.
"You're welcome. Finish eating at the stump, and I'll take you out after. There's still enough sunlight left for a session."
Firepaw grabbed his prey and strutted back to the stump. He set the robin down, but he was too excited to eat. Bluestar was his mentor! He still couldn't believe it.
"What's wrong?" Ravenpaw asked, mistaking his feelings for anxiety.
"I'm Bluestar's apprentice!" Firepaw meowed, hardly able to hold back.
"That's really weird," Ravenpaw mewed quietly. "You don't think it's because of something bad, do you?"
"Definitely not. It's just because she decided on herself, that's all."
Ravenpaw 'hm'ed softly. The rest of the meal was silent. Firepaw eagerly ran to Bluestar's den after finishing. Before he could enter, Spottedleaf ran up to him.
"Not yet, Firepaw," she told him. "With me, please."
The sweet smell of herbs on her pelt (sorry Lauren) reminded him of his wounds. With everything else going on, they just faded into unimportance. He felt a little proud at that; he was learning to bear pain! He was finally past his kittypet days truly.
Firepaw followed right at her dappled side to the medicine den. He sat down, eager to spend time with her - even if it was brief. He held perfectly still as she cleaned his wounds and applied a poultice, refusing to acknowledge the painful stinging. He hoped that she noticed his newfound tolerance.
"I can't wait for the Gathering!" he meowed. "Do you think I'll get to go?"
"I don't know, but I think you probably will," Spottedleaf replied. "How's your training been going?"
"Fun! I did an assessment today. I caught a lot of prey!" He puffed out his chest.
Spottedleaf purred, "Well done! I remember Willowpelt and Redtail's first assessment. They caught lots of prey too. Do you like hunting?"
Firepaw noticed how Spottedleaf always spoke like she was interacting with a kit. Despite his annoyance with others when they did this to him, he liked it when she did it. He often thought about how she was his only maternal figure that he could remember. She treated him like the son she'd never had.
Firepaw nodded. "I really like fighting too. Hurting Yellowfang made me feel bad, though. How's she doing?"
"Fine," Spottedleaf responded. "She's asleep right now. Actually, that brings me to something I wanted to ask you. Will you be her caretaker? She's basically an elder, so she'll need to be treated as such while she's with us."
"Can't she just go live with the elders and be taken care of with them?" Firepaw asked, hesitant to take on the responsibility. He liked having the free time that he did; Yellowfang would take that away.
Spottedleaf sighed, "Very well. I'll take care of her myself." She finished up with his wounds. "You're good to go. Remind Bluestar that I said to go easy on you, alright? You don't want those rubbing off."
Firepaw nodded and left the den, heading for where Bluestar sat talking with Frostfur. However, a sudden stab of guilt made him pause. Why had he refused the care of Yellowfang? He'd been selfish, and he knew that being a warrior meant doing good things even if it hindered you.
But even so, he was given a choice. It wasn't an order. He had the right to decline. Besides, Spottedleaf immediately took up the responsibility when he refused. All would be fine. He shook the former ShadowClan cat from his mind and continued on to Bluestar.
Bluestar noticed him and left the white queen. "I'm going to briefly assess you on your battle knowledge. Lionheart and Tigerclaw will tell me of your hunting results from today. By tomorrow I will have an ideal training plan for you."
Firepaw nodded. "Okay. Oh, and Spottedleaf said to go easy on me. Because the poultice. And stuff." Her blue gaze made him stumble slightly over his words. Something about just her presence was intimidating and powerful. Would he ever be comfortable around her like he was Lionheart?
Bluestar acknowledged his words with nothing but an ear flick. She walked past him and began leaving camp. Firepaw followed quickly at her tail. Maybe this isn't nearly as exciting as I thought, he considered, not looking forward to her cold formality that he would have to face.