I'd like to say that this challenge and a few others take place in my AU world of Flames of Fury, in case of any confusion. And I hit the max word count two times while writing this, so uh...it might not be very good since I had to take out a good chunk of the beginning for this to be under the maximum amount of words.

A sharp yowl broke into Dove's thoughts. "Dove! Stop being such a pain in the tail and get over here! Me and your leaders need to talk to you!" Huh? Who is that? Rather reluctantly, Dove padded over to the direction the voice was calling from. With her tail dragging along the ground, she barely glanced at the other cats in camp staring at her. She pushed away the desolate feeling poking at her heart. It's not like I should care. I don't even remember them that well anyways. Trudging slowly into the den, she spotted Petal, Owl, and Spider glaring at her, their pelts bristling. I think I remember them. I think. From the corner of her eyes, she spotted a young albino tom with striking bloodshot red eyes staring at her. Wah! He's scary! B-But he's really young…how could one so fresh out of the nursery be so terrifying?! His eyes gleamed with pure, raw excitement while his tail lashed back and forth. Aw...at least he's somewhat friendly…

"Wow! Is she my mentor? Is she? Is she? Is she Petal?" The young tom mewed all at once. He talks fast! I don't think I even know what he was saying! Oops, was I supposed to be listening to him? Petal, the large golden brown tabby she-cat cast a sideways glare at Dove.

Petal hissed softly. "She shouldn't be." The she-cat glanced in the direction of Owl, the light brown tabby tom. "Tell her what you called her for, because I'm not doing it." Owl suppressed a hiss but only his whiskers twitched. What was that about? And why is Petal so upset about me? Is she worried? I don't think so….

Owl sighed. "Dove, you're going to start training your first apprentice." APPRENTICE?! WHAT?! He gave his chest fur a few licks. "Y-Yes, we all had the same reaction at first. But Petal isn't getting any younger, and you'll have to learn how to train new mediators for the group at some point. Don't worry, Petal should be able to help you at the most."

The golden brown tabby grunted. "I shouldn't have to." Spider let out a faint hiss at her, but didn't meow anything back. Did I do that?

"Do you think you can handle this responsibility, Dove?" Spider growled, his tail lashing in anger. Why is he angry? Is he angry with me? Oh, by the stars, why can't I go for a day without getting under anyone's fur?! "Dove! Are you even paying attention?" You know the answer to that question by now! NO!

Petal snorted in faint amusement. "You actually think that she can pay attention? Oh please. The only reason she's a full mediator is because I couldn't stand training her anymore. Always slipping up, making beginners mistakes, and never working on getting any of those problems resolved! Why would you even consider giving her an apprentice?"

The young albino tom tilted his head. "She sounds fun. At least we'd be making mistakes together. That sounds really fun, because then I'll be learning something that I never knew how to do and-"

"Shut your yap, Spiritpaw. You shouldn't have gotten a "Clan" name to be an apprentice, and you shouldn't even be here! Kittypet scum!" Petal snapped, baring her sharp, yellow teeth. "Jayson never should've brought those two kittypets here! Both of them are disgraces to the Ten Flames! Spider, we need to get rid of-"

"No, and that's final. We need more members of our group. Holly will make a good healer and Spiritpaw will make a good mediator." he hissed, his shoulder fur bristling. Spider turned to Dove, his amber eyes narrowed. "Will you mentor him? He's very enthusiastic about training, so he shouldn't be too difficult on you." Petal snorted, but didn't retort anything back. Mentoring an apprentice? Can I? I don't know...but will this make Petal proud of me? She's never been too proud of me my entire apprenticeship...maybe if I do this, she'll be proud of me! Dove nodded, anxiety fluttering in her chest as if it were a butterfly. "Very well. But Owl already announced his mentor, so you were going to mentor him anyways."

Owl licked Spiritpaw's forehead. "Don't be too much of a nuisance, alright?" The tom smiled and bounded for Dove, his red eyes gleaming with excitement. "Alright then. That should be everything. You three are dismissed."

"Okay, we need to be careful with our words, Spiritpaw." Dove reminded her apprentice. Spiritpaw nodded, his gaze trained on the small group of rogues who were hunting on the Ten Flames territory. "One mistake and we could be shredded into mousemeat."

Petal chuckled softly. "Oh please. You'll get turned into mousemeat if anything." Spiritpaw shot Petal a glare. Dove stiffened. Don't start a fight with Petal now, Spiritpaw! To Dove's relief, Petal didn't bother returning his vicious stare."Let's go and see if we can get those rogues off our territory after all." Petal padded softly towards the small group, while Dove gestured for Spiritpaw to follow. I'm supposed to just stay here and assess his progress, Dove sighed internally. Maybe if I was out there with them- no. Even Petal told me to stay behind before leaving. Pricking her ears forward, Dove tried to listen in on their discussion from behind.

Spiritpaw growled softly. "You need to leave. This isn't your territory." Oh? How long has this discussion been going on? It doesn't sound like he's very...friendly today. One of the rogues laughed, looming over Spiritpaw. He took a few steps back. Spiritpaw! "E-Erm…"

"Aw, is the little freak upset that we stole his precious prey? Well too bad. He'll just have to suck it up and deal with it." The rogue snapped, his yellow eyes brimming with anger. Please don't hurt Spiritpaw!

The albino tom hissed at him. "Leave my group's prey alone! You don't belong here! Find some other cats to torture, or even better- just don't torture them at all!" The yellow eyed rogue narrowed his eyes and took another step closer to Spiritpaw, his claws unsheathed.

"Nah, let's torture you instead." He chuckled before leaping for Spiritpaw. "Get the mangy old fleabag and pin her down!" He yowled. Spiritpaw dashed in Dove's direction, his red eyes wide in shock. Oh by the stars no!

"Dove! We need to run! The rogues-" Spiritpaw mewled. Dove simply grabbed him by the scruff and burst into a run. We need to get away from here. But Petal's still back there….but would she want us dead? I guess not. "Dove, we should hide there!" Dove sharply turned for a thorn bush and leapt into it. Spiritpaw let out a small squeak of pain. Maybe jumping into it wasn't the best idea. Releasing Spiritpaw from her jaws, Dove panted heavily. "Petal's dead because of me." He whispered in terror. "It's all my fault. Now Spider will kick me out of the group and I'll be a loner…."

Dove sighed. "I-It wasn't your fault, Spiritpaw." It wasn't. Don't blame yourself. Spiritpaw snivelled. "Don't worry, you'll be okay. If Spider decides to exile you, I'm coming with you."

"Really?" Spiritpaw murmured.

"Really."