Hello, again. Please review. Oh, and I will have the allegiances up the next chapter, so you are free to send in OCs (loners, rogues, and clan cats). Oh and, this is in the forest territories, so Skyclan is there. And, you are free to send in OCs even after the allegiances are up. Oh, and your are free to review.

I-really-hope-not: Thanks! (Lol we keep writing thanks).

Other than that, FINALLY IM NOT WRITING FROM A KIT'S POINT OF VIEW! I don't like doing that since you need to put aside some important facts to make them seem more childish.

Although it may seem like Icepaw was thinking for a while, in reality it was sometimes only seconds, but you know, writing about a thought takes longer than thinking it.

Icepaw slowly lifted a paw, then another, making sure to avoid all susceptible distractions as she approached her target. Unsuspecting, the following was peacefully watching its surroundings, waiting for its fellows to join it, dusty brown fur glowing pale brown in the sunlight. Leaning back on her long legs, she calculated the distance needed for her leap. Tensing her muscles, especially the ones in her hind legs, she would need the font lags to control the distance and direction, but the power to go farther and higher with perfect balance was stored in her hind legs, or so Dustfur said an eight moon old apprentice should know.

Moving one more tail-lenth, hoping that the rare area of long grass would conceal her pale grey fur, which now had a more silvery tint to it, the very ends taking on a pure white colour while the parts farthest from the edges remained darker. She willed herself to be silent, unnoticeable, part of the background, breath and heartbeat mingling with the awakening earth and breeze, long fur ruffling in sync with the still yellow tinged grass. She narrowed her eyes, blocking out the background and focusing on her target, five tail-lengths, four tail-lengths, three tail-lenths-

Icepaw caught herself thinking back to the seasonal clan competition. Although she usually enjoyed staying away from cats who she was not completely accustomed to, she still managed to kindle an ember of competitive feelings which could easily turned to a blazing fire when is came to competitions. She knew she wouldn't particulate to the hunting competition, that just wasn't her area, but perhaps she stood a chance in climbing? She could only consider herself lucky she wasn't Windclan, because great Starclan it was hard for her to run, or do any other type of physical activity, for a long time without a familiar ache settling in her chest and forcing her to slow down.

She had figured that this was normal, at first at least, but it didn't take the most observant cat to figure out that no other kits seemed to have any issue until much later than her. Although the clan seemed to be giving her contradictory messages. Waterpetal insisted that she not bother anycat else, giving her the occasional coltsfoot and juniper, then immediately leaving to gather more, as if it would be dangerous if any cat found out it had frequently been used.

Now, she might have wondered what was so wrong about this if she hadn't learned clan tradition yet. "All warriors judged unable to be proper warriors by the leader of medicine cat are forbidden to be trained and Blah Blah Blah" ridiculous non-sense because of some prophecy that a cat named Swallownose had apparently gotten.

Barely after her first gathering, she had also noticed a pattern. Riverclan seemed to treat their cats worst. A cat named... Shadowfern who had a limp always seemed to be nervous and on end, jumping at every noise and being jeered at by her own clanmates. Then again, Swallownose was said to be a crazy Riverclan medicine cat, but still, cases of cats disappearing had been reported in there, cats who were different. Namely, a cat called Snowkit had not been seen in moons now, and it was said she was swept away by the river on a flood night.

Then there was the three other clans, from what she had seemed they were somewhere in the middle. Then there was Skyclan, and Skyclan seemed to be the least bad. Sadly, it was also one of the most populated clans in that matter. Rosethorn had no claws, Twistedleap's front paw was twisted, Whitepaw couldn't smell, and Rosekit had no tail.

Although, wasn't this disgusting? How could one treat another that way? Sure, Starclan had never contradicted their actions, but since when were the clans so blinded by their ancestors. Although, she had noticed that the cats to receive the omen seemed to have a haunted expression.

What all this lead to was this; If it wasn't normal to have breathing issues, then this meant that Icepaw was one of them. She was one of them and Waterpetal knew it. She knew she needed to discuss things with Waterpetal, but when was the right time to do so? Wouldn't that just endanger her even more? And-

Icepaw realized too late that she had lost focus, not even mid-leap, Dustfur had already turned around and knocked her over with one simple swipe of his paw. Temporarily winded, she grinned as she sat up, pieces of stray leaf-fall grass during new-leaf clinging to her fur.

"Next time you try that," he began, green eyes gleaming, " First of all, try to focus more," Icepaw already knew she often day-dreamed, "And second of all, you might want to try a different approach. In open territory, it is usually better to rely on speed and surprise rather than stalking, because out in the open you can easily be spotted. I know it's risky, but let's just be glad that our territory is not near Windclan, that way these skills will mainly be for practice."

Icepaw nodded before he continued, " I think we should work on more tree techniques now, don't you?" And the small grey she-cat nodded eagerly.

Icepaw stood in the training clearing before Dustfur. Lately, or so ever since before she had even been born, it seemed as if every cat were on edge, fighting skills sharpened until ever cat became an expert and could easily take on three cats at once. Of course, to Icepaw this sounded like a normal routine, having been part of Skyclan her whole life.

Then again, if she really were one of the 'different' ones, she shouldn't be getting this training. To contradict that she told herself firmly tat she was not breaking the warrior code's newest addition.

Fernmist had never said she was useless. As a matter-of-fact, the she-cat had never said a word about her at all. The blue-grey she-cat just seemed to try to avoid her as best as she could. Waterpetal had never commented either, only casting her disapproving glares every time she complained about the problem. Finally, Pebblestar, at best, stared off into the distance, paying no attention to her while instead muttering things about a grey feather. Of course, this was no surprise, even neighbouring rogues knew of the rumours circulating about Skyclan's crazy leader.

"-and use your claws to keep to your trajectory- Icepaw! Are you even listening to me?"

Icepaw lowered her head in embarrassment, blue eyes downcast, and Dustfur sighed.

"I said, we are going to start by practicing two techniques, then we might consider starting trying to travel from one tree to another."

Icepaw nodded, the phrase sounded familiar, almost as if she'd been listening more than she thought she had been, but of course she knew that even if her subcontinent memorized everything she said, she still needed to have the slightest bit of an idea what they were talking about if she was to practice the move in a way that required slightly more than instinct.

"The first technique is called fall. It is more of an advanced move, so we will not be practicing it from the usual height yet." Dustfur continued, green eyes gleaming, and Icepaw tilted her head to the side, waiting to hear the full instructions.

" The move, when performed at an experienced level, starts with you being at a beach higher that the lowest branches of the tree, or at least the branches that are at the maximum height a cat should jump from. You should then jump down from that branch with claws unsheathed. You have to make sure your jump is calculated, because then you have to hook your claws onto a lower branch. The tricky part is that you can't just let your claws stop your fall. You need to make sure to go with the momentum that you have already built up and let yourself swing after very quickly sheathing your claws back as you let go of the branch before your claws have the time to get twisted." He finally ended his instructions, and Icepaw braced herself for another set of instructions from her mentor, who she had learned a while ago explained everything more thoroughly than most mentor.

Surprisingly, The brown tom did not continue talking, instead looking pensively up at the huge maple tree that stood before them. Meanwhile, Icepaw was busy calculating all the flaws to this move. First of all, it was very probable to get a twisted or ripped claw if she missed her target or backed away from the move to soon out of fright. Then, if any miscalculations were made, she could get caught on another branch, or injured for that matter, or even just get her concentration shattered. Finally, although she was still busy finding other dangerous aspects of the moves, one that seemed more probable was probably the most obvious. It would be quite easy to end up just falling.

Then again, Icepaw had always loved the sensation of the wind rushing through her fur as she wove the the web of branches owned by each different tree, and the triumphant feeling of getting higher of the ground with the narrow but steady surface underneath her had always felt comforting, like a secretive presence of safety and adventure. She tore her gaze away from the random spot she had been staring off at in a distance, an old and gnarled oak tree, she noted, when her mentor's eyes suddenly snapped back to her.

"We will be practicing in the willow near the stream, but first I will be demonstrating the move on this willow tree," he mewed.

Once again, Icepaw nodded, and eyes shining with pride, the green-eyed tom leaped up to one of the branches not too far above the lowest branch. Repetitively sheathing and u sheathing his claws, while concentrating on the branch that was about four tail-lengths below. Then, he jumped, brown fur falling in a dusty blur, front paws reaching out to the branch before him as time seemed to go by in slow motion. She saw the gleam of his claws in the sun, briefly u sheathing to hook onto the branch and keep his motion going. The, the gleam was gone, his claws sheathed, and he was letting himself fall from that branch and onto the ground in a slightly diagonal motion. Backing away slowly, she watched as he pivoted mid-air, landing with bent for-legs and letting them drag through the earth before his back laws also landed, which he used to spring back up into a fighting stance.

"When in an actual battle, you can try to land on your opponent, but if you do make sure to be positioned in a manner that would allow you to remain stable in the case of a cat dodging your attack," The brown tom mewed.

Once again, Icepaw nodded before following the brown tom, who seemed to have given up on trying to get a response to his comments.

The stream was not particularly close to the border, but Icepaw knew that it was fed from the gorge river, which was said to have flooded moons ago. She sniffed the air, but found no trace of rain in the air, and there was no breeze to bring in storm clouds. Lifting her head to where her mentor was grinning in satisfaction, she caught up to him, closing the distance she had gained from trailing behind. Before her stood a bubbling stream, barely one tail-length deep. When she gazed at it she found herself entranced in a dream-like peacefulness, but for some reason she couldn't find, a small piece of foreboding drifted around her mind.

Shaking herself, she bounded towards her mentor, who was impatiently waving his tail as he waited for her to join him next the a willow tree. The latter was taller than many of the few willow trees that she had seen in her life. It had thick, sturdy branches, yet Icepaw could tell that they would be easy to dig her claws into, and from the edges of the thicker parts spread a delicate web of sweeping branches, recognizable from the one that were occasionally brought back to camp to build dens.

"So, since this will be your first time trying this technique I decided that it might be nice to try it here, the branches are sturdy but soft, and if ever you fall there is always the stream to catch you." Dustfur echoed Icepaw's logic, "Start by finding a branch to start from and we'll go from there."

Padding up to the silvery tree, which glowed golden underneath the sun's honey-coloured rays, she nimbly unsheathed her claws and leaped to the first branch. Evaluating the branches above, she finally found one that was above another branch that trailed directly over the stream. Luckily for her, the space between them was only taken up by small branches, almost twig-like, and she could jump through them without more than perhaps a scratch if she was careful.

"How about that one," She mewed, pointing to it, "Then I can jump to that one," she gestured to the next branch, which was about three tail-lengths above the water.

"Sounds good to me!" He answered, "Just be careful."

Leaping from branch to branch, ignoring the bits of leaves and twigs catching in her fur, she lifted her eyes to scan the landscape below her when she finally found a stable hold on the branch she had chosen. With the sun softly dappling everything and the stream glowing while sending little ripples across pebbles, which also sent glints of light reflecting back to her eyes, and she blinked, taking a moment to get used to all the light flashing before her eyes.

She gazed back down at her mentor, who was copying her move, apart from the fact that he was looking up, and that's when she had a flash. It lasted only a heartbeat, but it was freakishly clear and Icepaw's breath caught in her throat. Another willow tree, another river, his time surrounding by incoming clouds that indicated a storm in the future. Then, it was gone, and she was left staring at the small river and older willow tree, sky clear and sunny.

"You ready?" Dustfur asked, green eyes squinted against the glare of the sun.

"Yes!" She yowled back, measuring the space between her branch and the next one.

Sheathing her claws, she used her long back legs, long for such a small cat anyways, to jump down where the next branch was awaiting. She half-closed her eyes to avoid getting blinded by a branch and pleaded herself to be in the right position to not crash into the branch. When she saw that her front paws were about to hit the branch and that she only had a couple of minor scratches, she let out a sigh of relief as well as thanking her unusually fluffy, long and sleek fur for shielding her from harm. A moment later she quickly unsheathed her claws as a small jolt of panic ran through her. In another flash the water beneath her no longer looked gentle and soothing, the rushing torrents gathering together to uproot greenery and flood land. A over her lightning thundered overhead and she cringed before shaking her head. This unfortunately did nothing to help the situation as although she was back to reality, her focus had faltered and she found herself desperately scrabbling at the wood, and failing to get a hold.

Everything seemed to blur as the startled gasp from her mentor was lost amidst the air rushing through her ears as she fell into the water, and echoing gasp lost beneath the water as the icy water closed around her. Fighting the murky waters of the storm, she flailed desperately as the looming shape of a tree passed near her, the the image faded, and she was left drenched inside a clear stream of water with a peaceful day and a silvery-golden willow trees sweeping gracefully next to her.

She spluttered back to the surface, and couldn't help but stand there in the water for a moment, wondering what exactly had just happened, mind storming through possibilities as she did what cats often referred to as her 'day-dreaming'. She got lost in thought.

Just to mention, I am taking the liberty of inventing and changing parts of the warrior cats' territories and battle moves. It just helps me with not needing to check everything every time I want to write a descriptive sentence. Anyways, let's just say that this is much earlier than Cloudstar's reign and that everything was slightly different back then. (Apart from the course of the river, I totally invented that one to my advantage).

Please review or pm or send ocs?