Okay, first off, I would like to apologize for not updating sooner. I said 165 reviews, but then I was so busy I couldn't find time to put the chapter up. Anyway, sorry for that! I am wondering who you all thought Rosepaw would team up with. Anyway, when I wrote this chapter I had difficulty writing the first part for some reason. Plus, the time I had to write was not much, so it's a bit rocky, excuse that.

Fact: The original idea for this story was supposed to almost be a LionblazexHeathertail type thing, where Dapplepaw and Ashpaw would just have meetings and find a way to be together. I even started writing, making Dapplepaw only have one sister that would play a Hollyleaf role. However, I realized how many stories just like that are out, so I starting elaborating on it.

Rosepaw paced around the holly bushes. She let out a hiss. Everything was miserable in her life. She didn't have Ashpaw, Dapplepaw was alive, and it was cold. She sat down, feeling her paws goes numb. After shaking them out, she glanced forward at the kittypet place, letting out an annoyed sigh.

She wouldn't have to stoop this low if she could just eat any prey she wanted once she caught it. But no, the warriors would smell it, and thus she was forced to hunt out of the territory. Why do we have to feed the elders anyway? I mean, they are useless to the clan!

Rosepaw glanced at the birds eating off the a feeder at a Twoleg nest. She crouched low, steadying herself. In a few swift glides she reached the edge of the fence. It wasn't s easy to slink unnoticed on to the fence, but it was doable. She crept closer, her white pelt blending into the snow.

In one swift motion she landed on a sparrow, snapping its neck. The other birds fluttered away, kicking seeds off the feeder and making a commotion in the sky.

Rosepaw triumphantly looked at the limp bird. It was plumper than the prey in the territory, most likely because it had an instant feeder. She bent down to pick it up when a yowl broke the silence.

"Hey!"

Rosepaw looked up, seeing a young tom cat barreling at her. His belly was wide and he was clearly a kittypet. She didn't even flinch as he tried to act menacing around her. "Yes?" she asked, flicking an ear to show her irritation.

"You're in my territory," he snarled, fur fluffing up.

Rosepaw snorted, getting to her paws. "So? Do I look like I care, kittypet? I can do whatever I want."

The tom growled and his ears flattened. "No you won't. I will attack you if I have to."

"Yeah, how about no? I don't want to have to hurt you. I'm not in the mood," Rosepaw retorted in a snarky tone of voice.

The tom sprang at her rather slowly, though Rosepaw guessed that the kittypet thought he was moving at lightening speeds. She easily and lazily ducked aside, giving him a kick as she did so.

The kittypet let out a yelp, flinging himself at her again. Rosepaw dodged and counterattacked, pinning him to the ground and placing a paw on his throat. "Did you really need to embarrass yourself like that?"

"Stray!" he spat, squirming around. "Let me go!"

Stray, Rosepaw thought, tilting her head to the side. What in the name of StarClan is that? She shrugged. "Should I just kill you instead?" His eyes widened with fear, making Rosepaw smirk. "No."

She jumped away from him, hurrying toward her sparrow. She wanted to eat that before it got frozen. She knelt down and started devouring it, savoring every bite.

"So then... who are you?" The tom had scrambled away to keep his distance and was watching her closely. "Are you from the woods?"

"The forest? Yes. I know how to fight and hunt." Rosepaw wouldn't release an opportunity to show off, especially to a weak cat. I'm like a hero in his eyes. That's funny.

The tom's eyes went wide. "No human food? How are you even alive? I'm Spruce, by the way." He leaned forward, expecting her name as well. When Rosepaw ignored him, he asked, "What's your name?"

"Rosep-" She paused, shaking her head. "No, um, it's Rose." She glanced at him.

Spruce nodded. "Can we be friends? I mean, you can teach me how to fight and hunt and stuff." He shrugged, looking at her hopefully. "I'd do anything you want me to."

Rosepaw snorted, ready to shoot down his request. Well, maybe he could come in handy... She sprang on to the fence, looking down at him. "Okay. I'll keep that in mind. You owe me a favor."

"It's cold, and I want food," Rosepaw complained, flicking her tail. She inched closer to Ashpaw, who was eating a small mouse at the edge of camp. "Can I have some of that? I already ate my share."

Ashpaw turned to face her, his normally warm amber eyes looked dark and cold as her surveyed her. "Nope. As you mentioned before, this is mine. Though I doubt you actually have the intelligence to think about that." He looked away with a roll of his eyes.

Rosepaw recoiled, her tail beginning to twitch. "Ashpaw, I am trying to be nice here. So what if I tried to kill Dapplepaw? So what? I didn't. She's still walking and being annoying like she never left. Get over it!"

Snow fluttered in the air as Ashpaw whipped around to face her, eyes dark. "Rosepaw, get one thing in your head. I will never forgive you. I won't ever love you, and I never did."

He started to pad away when she called out behind him, "So, you're saying I, basically, have no chance with you?"

"That's right."

"If I have no chance, then it wouldn't matter if I exposed your meetings with Dapplepaw, then?"

Ashpaw paused, turning to face her. "You know what? Go ahead. No cat would believe you over me. Not a chance. And Dapplepaw's sisters will say Dapplepaw never left the den at night. So, I am not sorry to say this, but your big plan is a failure." He then left her glowering at him.

Rosepaw let out an irritated hiss, getting to her paws. Well, I see how it is, Ashpaw. But I have one thing you don't know about.

"Back already?" Spruce asked as Rosepaw leapt on the fence. He cringed at her annoyed expression, but maintained his ground. "I tried practicing on my own, but you haven't taught be anything yet."

Rosepaw let out a sigh, calming herself. "Oh, I know. I had to get back to my clan-"

"Clans? They're real? I thought that was something the strays thought up!" Spruce's ears perked with excitement, but then he frowned. "Wait...are you really as vicious as they say the clan cats are?"

"Well, I choose my enemies," Rosepaw answered, ignoring the strange 'stray' word. She sat down, wrapping her tail over her paws. "Anyway, I think hunting is the most basic thing, and I believe it is the first thing you should be taught." Her eyes raked over his plump figure. "Hmm...you're fat."

"What?" Spruce looked down at himself. "I am a normal weight! I...you're too skinny! I have some food inside that I can bring out to you, if you want it."

Rosepaw snorted, rolling her eyes. "I don't think so. I would rather lose a fight to a hare than eat that garbage. You need to eat less, or your weight will slow you down. Trust me."

Spruce nodded eagerly. "Okay. Yeah, sure. I can do that." He tried his best to sound confident, but his eyes flashed with a bit of discomfort. Rosepaw guessed he wasn't so happy he had to limit his food intake.

She turned to the bird feeder. "Okay, birds seem like the most logical start." She slid down from the fence, landing on her paws. She may not be as skillful when climbing a tree like Ashpaw, but she could land fairly gracefully.

Upon turning around, Rosepaw found out that Spruce had slipped and landed clumsily on his side, yet he jumped up like it never happened.

Rosepaw let out a sigh. Okay, Rosepaw, look at yourself! Trying to train this mouse-brained kittypet into a warrior? You're fooling yourself. She glanced him over, before reassuring herself. He's all you have, though. And with some discipline, maybe a bit of time...

"So where do I start? Those brown birds? The black and grey ones?" Spruce was staring at the varieties on the feeder. "I've seen some really big black ones on the road before too!"

Rosepaw turned up to see the feeder and tried to find the birds he was referring to, once again ignoring the use of an unfamiliar word. "You mean sparrows, chickadees, and crows?"

"Um, yeah. I was just...you know, I was just making sure you knew..." Spruce looked at his paws in embarrassment. He flicked his brown at white tabby tail, shuffling his paws in the snow.

Something spooked the birds. They all fluttered away at once, but Rosepaw barely acknowledged them. She crouched down slowly to demonstrate. "Do the same thing I'm doing."

Spruce crouched down, his stomach resting on the ground. "Like this?"

"No, lift yourself up more." She easily glided forward on the ground in smooth, steady movements. "Okay, now that."

Spruce did his best. The result was more of a walk, especially with the thunderous pawsteps.

"You're too loud. Take light, easy steps." Rosepaw gestured at him with her tail to repeat the actions. The second time was better, and would likely be good enough to catch a stupid bird at the right moment.

By that time the clusters of birds were back, picking at the feeder. Rosepaw scaled the fence so she could leapt on it. She lowered herself, eyeing a rather large finch. In a swift movement, she was upon the stump that the feeder was on. The finch let out a small squawk before she snapped its neck.

As Rosepaw jumped down, Spruce stared in awe. "Wow!" he exclaimed. He green eyes flashed with excitement. "Can I try?"

"No," Rosepaw answered immediately. And while she believed in instant progress she did not want to have him clumsily scare everything off and make him lose confidence. "Not yet."

"Alright, Rose." Spruce sulked, wrapping his tail over his paws. "You're the teacher. I have to ask, though, what is the favor I have to do?"

Rosepaw turned away. She knew, sort of. Her mind was still recovering from her last plan's failure; she didn't want to stupidly jump into a new one. "I'm thinking, okay?"

"Spruce! Hey!"

Rosepaw whirled around to see a brown tabby tom, Spruce's age, leaping from the fence. He looked far more suitable to be a forest cat than Spruce did.

"Sparrow! Hey! This is Rose." Spruce gestured to Rosepaw, who dipped her head politely. If she could just appeal to this cat then she would have a second, stronger warrior on her team. "Rose, this is Sparrow."

"Who are you?" Sparrow snapped, his eyes darkening as he scanned her. "You look hungry. Like a stray. Why are you with her?"

Spruce shrugged, padding over to Sparrow. "She's a forest cat. Rose is teaching me how to hunt and fight!"

"I know how to do those things," Sparrow told him, eyeing Rosepaw uncertainly.

"Yeah, but you won't teach me."

"You don't need to know that, Spruce. You have a good life, so live it. The wild is a dangerous place." Sparrow snorted, jumping back on to the fence. "Go back home, Rose. Spruce is better off without you."

Rosepaw held back from snapping a cold remark at him. She tried to look innocent and said, "I am only trying to help him. We are friends!"

That stopped Sparrow in his tracks. "Friends?" he growled, hopping from the fence again. "Wait a minuet...how long have you two known each other? Did you meet today? Yesterday? Surely not long enough to warrant a friendship."

Rosepaw recoiled and was about to defend herself when Spruce spoke up in her place. "Sparrow! Leave us alone, okay? I am fine. I appreciate you looking out for me, I do, but it's my choice whether Rose is my friend or not."

Rosepaw snorted, casting a smug look to Sparrow, who glared at her. "Be careful." With that he leapt on the fence and leapt off before either of the other two cats could say anything.

"He doesn't like me," Rosepaw meowed, using her best despaired voice. It worked on a foolish cat like Spruce.

Spruce rested his tail on her shoulders. Rosepaw did her best not to cringe away. "He has a hard shell, you know? Some cats are like that." Spruce's voice sounded sincere when he said, "He is really nice once you get to know him."

Rosepaw sighed, displeased about her second warrior running away. "We'll see about that."

Once again, SORRY! I wrote it in a rush so the lines aren't as lengthy as in other chapters. I am thinking...186 reviews for a new chapter.

Next chapter: Creampaw is finally happy in her relationship with Foxstep. However, when both Dapplepaw and Foxstep get themselves into a life-threatening situation, Creampaw must choose which one to save.

Question: Did you expect Rosepaw to go for a weak kittypet ally, or did you think she would go for a stronger teammate? Tell me what you think in review form!