Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead. - Oscar Wilde

Hawkpaw dipped her head in greeting as Swiftfoot entered the camp. This would be their first night-hunting practice, and the golden apprentice was sure excited. The rest of the apprentices were formed in a line, and Hawkpaw quickly ran over to join them, sitting beside Lavenderpaw. She puffed her chest as Nightsky dipped his head to the apprentices. She was being recognized by the deputy!

''Okay, okay, this is nice and all,'' Bluedapple growled, kicking a pebble away. ''You're going to prove to us that we can trust you with higher stuff as warriors. And, the deputy is here.'' She angled her ears towards Nightsky. ''We want to see if you have been actually listening to us, but this time you've got to coordinate. No more excuses, kitties, this is a test.''

''Tough, isn't she?'' Hawkpaw whispered to Lavenderpaw, who strained to hear her.

The pale gray she-cat nodded. ''I wonder how Darkpaw manages,'' she meowed carefully, her blue eyes darting from Hawkpaw to Bluedapple.

Swiftfoot, the cat Hawkpaw least expected to say something sweet, blinked at them sympathetically. ''Calm down, Bluedapple,'' he meowed. ''It's just a little exam to see if they're good at fighting. However, you're right to speak to Stormpaw, Ravenpaw and Darkpaw like that. It's their assessment after all.''

''Yes, but Owlpaw, Hawkpaw, and Lavenderpaw's assessment isn't going to happen for at least three or four moons,'' Lilyfrost interfered. ''It's something good, though. More warriors mean new kits and new kits mean more apprentices.'' She winked at the apprentices. ''I think some of you are already mooning with cats.''

The apprentices stiffened a nervous laugh, almost in chorus.

Shadefrost rolled his eyes. ''Oh, ignore Lilyfrost, she's too romantic,'' he informed. ''As we're wasting a lot of time talking about other stuff, I'll explain what you're going to do. You'll be hunting in teams of two-'' Lavenderpaw and Hawkpaw stared at each other, as if to say 'Want to be pairs? ''- chosen by us.'' The dark gray tom narrowed his eyes at the golden apprentice and Lavenderpaw. ''You'll need to bring as many prey as you can.''

Redfern nodded. ''This will be hunting in the dark in pairs,'' she purred. ''Don't think we can make it more difficult, can't you? Well, you've got to catch prey together. For example, one of you drives a bird, the other one could be hiding and catches the prey. It's the easiest technique. If you can create another one, suit yourself.''

''I'll announce the pairings,'' Lilyfrost meowed. ''It's Owlpaw with Ravenpaw, Lavenderpaw with Darkpaw, and Hawkpaw with Stormpaw. As you may have noticed, we've placed the newest apprentices with the older, more experienced ones. While an older apprentice may know the exact technique, how to position themselves, and what to do, a newer apprentice has more energy.'' She looked at the older apprentices, who sat side-by-side. ''Even warriors lose their energy as they get older.''

Nightsky narrowed his amber eyes at the apprentices. ''I'll tell everything to Snowstar,'' he meowed. ''We need to know about our warriors in training. For the apprentices who this will be their assessment, you've definitely got my support.''

That helps a lot, Hawkpaw though, growling.

Bluedapple looked at them expectantly. ''So? Are you gonna go or are you waiting for an invitation?'' she asked, glaring at us. Hawkpaw clearly knew that Bluedapple was her new hated cat in the Clan. ''Because, you can go now!''

The apprentices scattered. And it became total chaos. They were a small group, yes, but they all wanted to get away from Bluedapple's fury at the same time. The golden apprentice quickly found Stormpaw, and gave a quick nod to him. The tom gave her a quick nod as well and they sprinted towards the entrance.

They got pushed away by the rest of apprentices. Literally, because of the force, they flew and landed on some ferns. Stormpaw was laughing while Hawkpaw tried to scent something. She glared at Stormpaw. ''Shut up,'' she hissed. ''We need to get back there first. It's gonna be a hard night.''

''It's not a race,'' Stormpaw reminded her, though he was still chuckling a bit. ''Besides, we've got plenty of time. We've got 'till dawn, remember? It's barely dusk. Why did they even send us so early? Now the Clan won't need any hunting patrols. I feel sorry for those who wanted to hunt tomorrow.'' He yawned and stretched.

''Whatever.'' Hawkpaw didn't want to say it was true, so she sat down and stared at the trees. She had never talked with Stormpaw a long time, only quick chats. To don't get bored, the golden she-cat asked, ''you're never around in the den yet you're the daredevil… How do you do it?''

Stormpaw scratched his ear. ''I guess I've played so many stunts in the past that they still remember me as that,'' he meowed. ''You wouldn't have recognized me before. I would never listen to Shadefrost, and they even delayed my warrior ceremony one time.''

Hawkpaw gasped. ''So you would be a warrior now?''

''I guess so…''

''What're you doing chatting like squirrels?'' Shadefrost's greenish-gray eyes were barely visible in the darkness of night. ''Get to hunting, this is your assessment, Stormpaw, and a test, Hawkpaw!''

''Okay, Shadefrost'' Hawkpaw meowed, dipping her head. She didn't want to make Stormpaw uncomfortable anymore or make Shadefrost mad. ''Shall we go to hunt?''

Stormpaw, with his head low, answered, ''Fine with me.'' He continued walking ahead.

After what felt moons, they had caught a squirrel, a mouse, two small birds and one, huge pheasant. Hawkpaw felt proud when she caught the pheasant herself. It could feed all the cats that were in the nursery.

The golden apprentice nudged Stormpaw. ''Look Stormpaw, I'm sorry if I made you feel bad, but this is your assessment. And I wouldn't want you to fail,'' she added, looking around to see if any cat heard her.

He stared at her. ''What if we forget the prey for a while?''

Hawkpaw's heart flew and beat harder.

So we see a little love sparking, huh? Do not worry at all, I won't do the choices filmmakers do when a characters deserves another characters but he/she chooses someone else. Don't you think it's something annoying and that makes you wanna shout?

=== NOTICE ===

Why don't go and nominate this story for Up-and-Coming Drama in Empress Tansy's The Next Big Thing? It's very dramatic, right?

Reply to Reviews:

Potatotheumbreon - Hawkblaze is okay, I guess... The answer is below the reply to reviews.

Stream that Flows Around Rock - Ikr, Hawkflight is lovely!

kkatfoster - Everybody keeps saying they haven't read anything like this... I love ya guys! And yes, time travel is complicated. Who knows, maybe she'll end up breaking the space-time continuum but who cares?

lucky333123 - Adding one more vote for Hawkblaze...

Bobbie1776 - I think Hawkflight's gonna win.

Anova00 - Yep, Hawkflight must win.

=== HAWKPAW'S WARRIOR NAME ===

Hawkflight :: 9

Hawkblaze :: 4

Hawkwing :: 2

Hawkfeather :: 2

Hawkleap :: 1

Hawkpool :: 1

QOTDs:

Would you go and read the notice up there?

Don't you hate it when a character deserves a character (PocahontasXJohn Smith ; QuasimodoXEsmeralda) but chooses another one (PocahontasXJohn Rolfe ; QuasimodoXMadellaine)?