Rainpaw yawned, stretching his paws. Blinking his eyes open, he shook his head as he glanced at his denmate, Wavepaw. His denmate's gray tabby pelt shone in the sunlight peeking through the cracks in the apprentices' den, much to Rainpaw's annoyance. Why should Wavepaw get all the sunlight? Tackling his denmate, Wavepaw let out a squeak of annoyance as he pushed Rainpaw off of him.

"What was that for? And what time is it?" Wavepaw yawned, a sharp edge to his meow. Rainpaw only nudged the gray tabby, attempting to get him to his paws. "I'm not getting up until you answer both of my questions, Rainpaw." Rainpaw rolled his eyes, digging his claws into the ground.

He grumbled, "Well, sorry Wavestar. I just don't think it's fair that you get to hog all of the sunlight when I don't get any. Also, it's sunhigh."

Wavepaw got up, shaking his long fur. "Well, thanks for reminding me," He replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "We might as well get up now rather than later, though. You know how Warblerstar is." Rainpaw padded alongside Wavepaw outside of the apprentices' den, his fur prickling with apprehension. He didn't want Warblerstar to be livid with them for sleeping in; the tom was scary when he had to be. Which, unfortunately is all the time.

The sun's rays seemed to blind Rainpaw's sight as he stretched his paws and yawned. I hate being up this early, He grimly reminded himself. But I sure don't want Warblerstar clawing my ears off for something like this. Spotting Wavepaw's mentor, Tawnyshell, he nudged Wavepaw's side.

"Come on, we should head over to the grump before he comes to us," He meowed, half jokingly and half serious. Wavepaw reluctantly followed, grumbling to himself. Tawnyshell, the golden brown tabby tom was impatiently pacing back and forth by the camp's exit, unaware of the two apprentices gawking at him. Does he even realize that he's making a scene? Padding up to the tom, Rainpaw nervously opened his jaws to greet the tom. "H-Hi, Tawnyshell…"

Tawnyshell shot a glare at the two apprentices, although a glimmer of worry shone in his eyes. "You two were supposed to be up earlier today! If you have this habit still roaming amuck in you, you'll never survive the life of a warrior!" He growled, resuming his never ending cycle of pacing back and forth. With a groan, he eventually sat back on his haunches, shaking his head. "You'd better hope Warblerstar doesn't find out. Anyways, where's Palefern? They should be here."

Rainpaw swiveled his head to catch a dilute tortoiseshell cat padding up to them, their tail dragging along the ground while their muzzle faced the ground. Their matted fur stuck up around their neck, and their eyes were barely visible underneath all their fur. That's Palefern alright, Rainpaw grimaced, slightly put off by their disheveled appearance. They trekked over to Tawnyshell and glanced fell to their paws as they begrudgingly glanced at the two apprentices.

Palefern sighed. "Why did Warblerstar have to have us do this so early? Couldn't it have been at sundown or some mousedung like that?" They wrapped their tail around their forepaws, now slightly irritated. "Either way, I hope you two are ready for your assessment. You'll pass, hopefully."

"Well of course they'll pass," A booming voice yowled from behind the four cats. Rainpaw swiveled around to be face-to-face with Warblerstar, the leader of FinchClan. Oh, StarClan! The large tom's cream tabby pelt shimmered against the sunlight, as well as his light green eyes. "Since they had fine mentors in the two of you, and that today is the perfect day for such assessments."

Tawnyshell glanced at Wavepaw, cocking his head. "I don't know, Warblerstar. It seems a little early to me for them to have their warrior assessments." Palefern nodded, staring up at the cloudy sky.

They mewed, "And despite the weather looking good…it might be downright horrible in there, Warblerstar. Are you sure this is a good idea? I mean, Juniperstar never did this with FinchClan's apprentices-"

"Don't you dare mention that name, Palepaw," spat Warblerstar, his voice edged with venom. "Lest we forget that you're the cause for his demise. Had too much trouble on your warrior assessment, so much so that he had to step in. Then…," The cream tabby let out a faint, distant chuckle, as if he had lost himself in the moment of reminiscing. "Let's just say snarling comes from the strangest of places."

Rainpaw looked over to his mentor. What had happened to them? Palefern's matted pelt was bristling, as well as their tail flicking back and forth. Never had Rainpaw seem Palefern this upset. With their shoulders bunched up and their hackles raised, Rainpaw could easily assume his mentor was enraged with Warblerstar's mention of their warrior assessment. But Rainpaw knew his mentor too well; he could tell that Palefern was thinking about the time in terror, along with the fear scent on their pelt. Did something…happen in there? A shiver ran down Rainpaw's spine as he thought more and more about it. I don't want to think about it, but...

Palefern flinched, glancing down at their paws. "Fine. Just let us get on with the assessment already. Come on, guys. I want to get this over with already." Rainpaw froze. Would he experience the same thing as his mentor? Not wanting to look afraid, Rainpaw forced himself to stay alert, as if he was intent on passing his assessment. Because after hearing that, I don't think I want to even do this.

Warblerstar let out a grunt, much to Palefern's dismay. "May I give some words of encouragement to our apprentices? It might be useful, as…some cats need extra heartening before something so life changing." Palefern only let out a hiss and headed for the exit.

They simply growled, "And some cats need to keep their noses where they belong." Palefern stalked out of camp, their tail lashing. Is Palefern okay? Rainpaw asked himself, blinking in surprise at his mentor's decision. They should be soon, if not now. I hope Palefern feels better soon.

Tawnyshell sighed. "Sorry about that, Warblerstar. Palefern hasn't been…at the best since their incident."

Warblerstar nodded. "Agreed. Would you mind going to find them? No matter how…grating Palefern can be, they are a Clanmate." Tawnyshell gave his leader a brisk nod, bounding through the exit of camp. The FinchClan leader turned his attention to the apprentices. Wavepaw whimpered, his whiskers twitching. "Oh, I'm not going to hurt you. Now, listen up. Since the previous leader's…accident, the assessment has been changed up a bit to make sure nothing like it happens again. So, I'm going to slip in a few tricks to get past it. After all, you're the first cats to try this."

Rainpaw's eyes widened. First to try the changed assessment? That seems…daunting. From the corner of his sight, to Rainpaw's surprise Wavepaw seemed to be…excited at the sound of that. Wasn't he scared at the prospect of this earlier? Shaking off the odd feeling trying to get underneath his fur, he simply pricked his ears forwards, awaiting for Warblerstar's advice.

"Now, when you get to hunting, it's best to head for Hound's Hollow instead of the normal hunting grounds," Warblerstar meowed, his gaze struggling to remain focused on the apprentices. Hound's Hollow? Isn't that…the old dying tree by the border with VineClan? Hound's Hollow was a horrible spot to hunt, let alone find any wildlife nearby. "You fancy me mad. But think about it- it's possible to find prey practically anywhere, am I right? I've been hunting there, and I will say that sometimes the best prey lurks there. But you must be patient."

Wavepaw nodded. "So we should head there, is that what you're saying?"

He shook his head, licking his forepaw. "Oh, no. I ordered Palefern and Tawnyshell to take you there. A little challenge is good for everyone, no? Now, I believe that you'll be able to pass your assessment. Both of you. So go ahead and find your mentors, they'll be waiting for you." Warblerstar nudged Rainpaw's shoulder, causing him to begin padded towards the exit. Wavepaw came to his side, pride sparkling in his amber gaze. Feeling sick to his stomach, Rainpaw had to force himself to keep walking alongside Wavepaw. Just why would Warblerstar send us to Hound's Hollow, of all places?

"Rainpaw! I think I smell squirrel!" Wavepaw yowled, leaping at Rainpaw from the undergrowth. Rainpaw bit back a bitter retort and glanced at his denmate; he knew it was best to hold his tongue. "We can try catching it together!"

Rainpaw nervously tilted his head. "I don't know, Wavepaw…we should probably just hunt separately instead. I don't want to get in trouble with Palefern." And I don't want you to get in trouble with Tawnyshell, He added.

Wavepaw gave him a downcast look. "Are you sure? Our mentors will be impressed with us; I'm sure that the two of us could find a squirrel here if we look together!"

Glancing at his surroundings, Rainpaw let out a shudder as his eyes rested upon the old tree, otherwise known as Hound's Hollow. I wonder why it's called that. The branches of the tree were drooping, as if they were slowly, painfully dying as time went on. On the ground, the grass was a singed, dark gray color. In contrast to the greens of FinchClan's territory, the grass looked as if it was scorched. Looking back at Wavepaw, Rainpaw shook his head.

"This place is practically dead. Warblerstar wanted us to fail," Rainpaw grumbled, clawing at a plump of dead grass that he'd already dug up. Wavepaw only sighed and began looking up at the old tree, presumably to find a bird. Perhaps Wavepaw can't see it, but I can…this place is where our warrior names shall be buried. "Come on, let's just go elsewhere and find prey there. We can say that we found it here-" Rainpaw's meow was cut off at the sound of a echoing screech of a bird pierced his ears. His eyes widening, he cautiously turned to Wavepaw, whose gaze brightened as he looked up at the tree.

"It's a vulture!" Wavepaw gasped in excitement, his tail lashing. Turning towards Rainpaw, he bounced up and down. "We could try catching it!" Oh, come on…are pulling my tail, Wavepaw?! Before Rainpaw could protest, Wavepaw had already begun climbing the tree. Rainpaw rushed over to his denmate, hoping that he could get Wavepaw to stop.

Rainpaw came to a halt once he reached the roots of the tree. "Wavepaw, get down!" The gray tabby tom ignored him, now at a position on the tree where he could pounce for the large bird. Wavepaw, you're a mouse-brain. "Wavepaw!" Rainpaw screeched, digging his claws into the tree bark. By the time Rainpaw had called for Wavepaw once more, the tom had jumped for the vulture. The large black bird flew up as Wavepaw's claws swiped at the dead branch the vulture rested upon, causing the branch to fall down onto the ground along with- Wavepaw!

Wavepaw let out a screech of terror as he fell to the ground, with Rainpaw frozen in fear. W-What should I do? Will I be able to catch him? Oh, StarClan, save him! With a screeching halt, Wavepaw crashed onto the forest floor, along with the branch falling on top of him. Rainpaw's legs felt stiff with horror and apprehension. I-Is Wavepaw okay…? Numbly padding up to Wavepaw's body, he pressed his muzzle into Wavepaw's fur as the dead, chilling silence between the two of them grew.

"Wavepaw?" Rainpaw murmured into the tom's fur, hoping he'd hear his voice. Taking in Wavepaw's scent, a powerful odor took over his nose. An odor he knew far too well. Rainpaw held in his breath, shaking his head. "Wavepaw isn't…he can't be…he was here a moment ago…" Wavepaw's dead. And I let him die.