Hello! Thanks a lot to everyone who fav'd and followed, I really appreciate it :) Today I'll start some Questions of the Day since I completely forgot last time, whoops. Well, here's chapter 2!

Chapter Two

Firepaw stalked through the undergrowth, her tail twitching excitedly. The warm smell of vole filled her senses and she spotted the creature a few paces ahead, nearly obscured by the night. She knew that her Clan would appreciate the catch.

As she slowly put one paw in front of the other, an odd smell entered her nose. She struggled to ignore it, keeping her golden eyes on the vole. But suddenly it disappeared, running away as if spooked.

Firepaw's whiskers twitched in frustration, but then suddenly the smell grew stronger. She raised her nose, attempting to detect what it was. Then a loud crack echoed through the forest.

The ginger tabby apprentice jumped in fright, realizing with a jolt that she was surrounded by a whirlwind of bright, hungry flames. She tried to run, but a wall of fire burned around her, closing in.

"Help!" Firepaw wailed, trying to keep her paws away from the flames. "Someone, help!"

She glanced up at the sky, hoping StarClan would do something. But her heart sank as she realized that the night was dark without a single star.

Firepaw closed her eyes in fear, feeling the burning fire licking her pelt. Throughout the pain, she thought she heard soft whispers echoing in the forest. She strained her ears to hear, but suddenly the pain was too much to bear.

"...paw… repaw…"

"Firepaw!"

Firepaw jolted awake with a gasp, struggling to breathe. She felt her muscles relax when she realized the fire was gone. Her paws brushed against the soft moss of her nest, and her tail curled gratefully.

"You're finally awake!" a voice meowed, breaking her out of her thoughts. It was Snowpaw, an older apprentice; his snowy white fur, his namesake, was ruffled. "Blossomfall and Toadstep have been waiting for you."

"What?" Firepaw blinked the sleep from her eyes, stretching to her paws. "Why is Toadstep waiting?"

"We're going to train together," Snowpaw meowed, his tail twitching.

"I'm training with you?" Firepaw stretched her eyes wide in surprise. Excitement coursed through her veins. She was going to train with someone who was nearly a warrior!

"Yes." Snowpaw avoided her gaze, suddenly interested in the dirt near his paws. "Toadstep said it would be like training with someone who just stepped out of the Nursery. It'd be good practice."

She blinked at him, but before she could reply, the snowy white tom had bounded out of the den. She shook out her ginger tabby pelt and then followed, stifling a yawn.

She narrowed her eyes against the bright sunlight, but then spotted Toadstep, Blossomfall, and Snowpaw all waiting near the camp entrance. She bounded over, her paws tingling. Now her real warrior training would start!

Blossomfall's green gaze brightened upon seeing Firepaw. "Alright, let's go," she meowed, flicking her tail. "Toadstep will explain more once we reach the mossy hollow."

By the time they all reached the clearing, the sun had moved to its highest position in the sky. Toadstep immediately herded Snowpaw to the middle, his tail twitching impatiently. "First, Snowpaw and I will show you a few battle moves," the black and white tom meowed to Firepaw. "After that, you can practice them with Snowpaw. You won't have to worry about being out-matched."

Firepaw blinked. It was the second time today that Toadstep said Snowpaw didn't have any skill. But that couldn't be true! He had been training for so much longer than her. Perhaps he only meant that Snowpaw would go easy on her?

With a flick of his tail, Toadstep launched towards his apprentice. Snowpaw watched him carefully and then he launched forward as well, angling his paw so that it could brush Toadstep's underbelly. But before he could touch, his hind paw slipped on the grass. The white tom let out a mrrow! of surprise, landing clumsily on his side.

"What was that?" Toadstep growled, turning around to face Snowpaw. "That was awful! How did you slip on the grass?"

The white apprentice scrambled to his paws, flattening his ears and staring at the ground. "I… I don't know," he mumbled. "I'm sorry, Toadstep."

Firepaw stared in surprise. Was Snowpaw always this clumsy?

"Let's try it again. We're supposed to be setting an example." Toadstep glared at him for a moment before bunching his shoulders once again. He leaped, heading towards Snowpaw, and the white tom leaped as well. It seemed like it might actually work this time.

But with a jolt of alarm, Firepaw realized that Snowpaw had misjudged his jump. He collided with Toadstep, both letting out hisses of pain as they slid to the soft grassy ground.

Snowpaw immediately jumped to his paws, his ears pressed against his head. "Toadstep, I—"

"Save it," Toadstep hissed, shaking out his fur. He turned back to Blossomfall and Firepaw, rolling his eyes. "Well, Snowpaw can't do it properly, but you see what's supposed to happen, right? Firepaw, try it out with Blossomfall for a moment."

Firepaw glanced at Snowpaw, seeing the devastated look glittering in his deep amber eyes. Her tail drooped slightly in empathy. Poor Snowpaw. His mentor doesn't even believe in him!

"Come on, Firepaw," Blossomfall meowed, nudging her apprentice's shoulder. "You leap under me. It's alright if you mess up a few times."

Firepaw nodded in reply, relieved that her mentor wasn't anything like Toadstep. She got into the position that Snowpaw had been in and waited for Blossomfall to leap at her.

The tortoiseshell launched towards her in moments. Firepaw leaped forwards as well, aiming under her mentor's belly, but to her dismay she skidded on the ground just as Snowpaw had done.

"It's alright!" Blossomfall reassured her, licking Firepaw's forehead. "It was your first time. You're bound to mess up."

Firepaw peeked over at Snowpaw, frowning as she saw his ears pinned to his head and his drooping tail as Toadstep hissed at him. "If it was Snowpaw's first time, would Toadstep have been nicer?"

"Yes," Blossomfall meowed, glancing at the cross black and white tom. "But Snowpaw is very skilled despite his clumsiness. I've seen it before, so don't worry about him being a bad example."

Firepaw tried out the move a few more times, wincing every time she messed up. But Blossomfall's kindness never wavered, the she-cat murmuring words of encouragement whenever Firepaw ended up tripping. She was very happy and relieved that she had such a nice mentor.

"Firepaw," Toadstep called, waving his tail. "Come over and try a practice battle with Snowpaw."

"Are you sure she's ready?" Blossomfall asked as Firepaw uncertainly stalked over.

"She should be more than ready," Toadstep replied, giving Snowpaw a look with narrowed eyes. The white apprentice shuffled his paws uncomfortably under his stare.

Firepaw met Snowpaw's gaze and gave him a reassuring smile. "Good luck!" she meowed to him, although she believed he didn't need it. He was five moons older than her, for StarClan's sake! It would be good to learn from, but there's no way Toadstep actually expected her to win, no matter how clumsy Snowpaw is.

"You too," Snowpaw replied, suddenly looking more embarrassed than awkward.

"Begin!" Toadstep announced.

Firepaw immediately launched forward, aiming to finally perfect the move she had been trying to learn. Snowpaw sidestepped, batting at her as she flew past him. Firepaw skidded, managing to regain her balance before leaping eagerly at him again. Snowpaw moved to dodge again, but to Firepaw's dismay, he tripped over his own paws. The tabby apprentice landed squarely on his side, surprise lighting up her golden gaze.

"That was quick," Toadstep meowed, his tail lashing irritably as he stalked over. "It's obvious that Snowpaw won't be able to recover from here. Nice job, Firepaw."

"Can't we start over?" Firepaw demanded, scrambling off of the older apprentice. "He only tripped. I'm sure he would've won if he hadn't."

"There are no do-overs in an actual battle," Toadstep hissed. "His mistake would have cost him his life. We're done here."

"Toadstep, please let me try again," Snowpaw pleaded, getting to his paws. "I can do better, I promise."

The black and white tom looked away from his apprentice with a huff, moving back towards camp. "We can continue tomorrow," he said before disappearing into the undergrowth.

Snowpaw's entire body sagged sadly, and Firepaw glanced at him with concerned sympathy. It was unfair that Toadstep was getting so angry at him over mistakes.

"It's alright, Snowpaw," Blossomfall meowed, padding over to him with a gentle look in her eyes. "Toadstep is only hard on you because he wants you to be the best warrior you can be. I'm sure he's more concerned about you than anything else. He's always been a bit difficult with his feelings."

"I guess," Snowpaw muttered dejectedly.

"Let's just head back to camp. We can train more later," Blossomfall added to Firepaw, flicking her ear with her tail.

"Can Snowpaw come with us?" Firepaw asked as they headed out of the clearing. "I know he's an amazing apprentice. And maybe Toadstep doesn't have to come?"

"I'm not sure he'd like it if I trained his apprentice," the tortoiseshell warrior replied. "But I can ask him."

"I'd love to come with you," Snowpaw meowed, looking down at his paws in embarrassment. "Thanks, Blossomfall and Firepaw."

"You're welcome!" Firepaw said happily. "And when we get back to camp, you should eat fresh-kill with me! I wanted to yesterday, but you were still out."

"Sure," Snowpaw replied, his dark amber eyes glittering gratefully.

"I'm glad you two are getting along," Blossomfall purred amusedly. "I'll definitely have to convince Toadstep to let me take you off his paws for the evening, Snowpaw."

When they got back to camp, Firepaw and Snowpaw picked out a sparrow and a mouse, chatting as they ate. Blossomfall had managed to convince Toadstep to let them take Snowpaw later, and they all had a ton of fun without his degrading comments. Snowpaw was even less clumsier.

As they headed to their nests for the night, Snowpaw turned to Firepaw happily. "Today was really fun," he purred. "I wish we could train together again tomorrow."

"Good luck with Toadstep." Firepaw looked at her new friend in concern.

"I'll be fine. Goodnight, Firepaw," Snowpaw meowed, settling into his nest and closing his eyes.

"Goodnight," the tabby said softly, stepping into her own nest. Since it was near the entrance, she was able to peek up at the glittering stars in the sky.

Is StarClan watching?

Firepaw shifted her paws in sudden discomfort, remembering her dream from the night before. There hadn't been a single star in the sky and the fire had been so scary. Was she in danger? Was StarClan not going to help her?

No, that's silly, Firepaw thought, shaking her head to clear out the bad thoughts. It was just a nightmare. Of course StarClan will be here for me.

Satisfied with her conclusion, Firepaw quickly drifted off to sleep.

QOTD #1: What's your opinion of Snowpaw?

QOTD #2: How would you feel in Toadstep's shoes? (Having an apprentice for 5 moons but they're still incredibly clumsy)

That's all! Have a good day :)

~Orangeflight of ShadowClan