Virtually every society that survived did so by socializing its sons to be disposable. Disposable in war; disposable in work [...] - Warren Farrell

The golden she-cat still remembered that magical night when she and Stormpaw were alone. They, surprisingly, had caught the most prey out of all the apprentices, so they won as well. However, all the apprentices were now teasing them for their 'love'. Hawkpaw had answered, ''We're just friends.'' But she knew it would only lead to more teasing.

Things with Stormpaw were going amazingly well. They tried to be together as much as possible. As when the other day the apprentices were able to choose partners, and Hawkpaw and him already knew who their partner was. She felt terrible for giving more attention to Stormpaw than her best friend, Lavenderpaw, but Hawkpaw guessed that's how love interests worked. Lavenderpaw had already said she felt happy for them, though Hawkpaw felt regret in her friend's eyes.

Now, Hawkpaw was trying to make amends, so she was sharing fresh-kill with her gray friend. They were in front of the apprentices' den, not being disturbed at all. These days, the golden apprentice was doing her best and was one of the best apprentices of the den.

Even Owlpaw started being nicer to her since their last fight. The main reason Hawkpaw was supposed to be here, was because she needed to change Owlpaw's personality to be nicer. Or, it was just to escape her former horrible life. Maybe that's what StarClan had intended to, but Hawkpaw thought that it would work even better if Owlpaw grew nicer.

As Hawkpaw ate a small vole, she meowed, ''So, how was training yesterday?''

She shrugged. ''It was amazing!'' she meowed, a bit muffled because of the toad she was eating. They were ShadowClan, after all. ''I beat Darkpaw in fighting. It was awesome! And she's the oldest one of us,'' she added, her eyes gleaming. ''Of course, she fought nicely but a kit-move I used in the nursery made her trip and let me win! If battles are like that, then I want to be in one. Not right now, but when there is one, I want to defend ShadowClan!''

''Yeah,'' Hawkpaw agreed. She found it hard to, since she didn't want a battle to happen. Not now, not tomorrow, not ever. Battles brought enough sorrow to cats. ''I was in a hunting practice yesterday. It was me alone. Swiftfoot basically told me I was wrong in every single little thing.'' She cringed. ''It wasn't nice.''

Lavenderpaw shrugged, and continued eating her fresh-kill. Her ears perked up, her blue eyes looking in the direction of the nursery where kit cries were coming out, and stared at Hawkpaw. ''Those kits are getting too noisy,'' she complained, rubbing her ears. ''And Seedblossom is going to kit any moment now. Blizzardkit, Robinkit and Spottedkit may seem cute, but they aren't.'' She snarled the last word.

Hawkpaw purred, as it was the truth. ''Are you becoming an elder?'' She nudged Lavenderpaw playfully, who chuckled with amusement.

''I know, right? Those kits are a nuisance.'' Hawkpaw and Lavenderpaw lifted their heads to see Owlpaw with a squirrel in her jaws, her tortoiseshell pelt messy and ruffled, with some twigs and leaves on her pelt. She glanced at her pelt. ''Oh yeah, I was training with Redfern. He's tough.'' She looked at her squirrel. ''Mind if I join you?''

''We won't mind,'' Lavenderpaw promised. Hawkpaw's surprise was great, as she believe the long-haired pale gray she-cat and the small tortoiseshell she-cat were enemies for life.

Hawkpaw shrugged as Owlpaw sat beside her. ''So, you've seen Snowstar these days?'' she asked, and both apprentices shook their heads. ''Exactly. She's not coming out at all. I've even noticed Nightsky worried; he's restless. She's our leader, she can't give up on us, especially now!'' When the other two apprentices looked confuesd, Hawkpaw explained, ''In my last patrol, we all noticed that WindClan has moved their borders, inside our territory.'' She bared her teeth.

The long-haired pale gray she-cat gasped, obviously shocked. ''Really?'' she asked. ''Why didn't you tell us?'' Hawkpaw thought she caught a trail of sadness, but shook it off as Lavenderpaw continued. ''Then we do need Snowstar more than ever! If she doesn't go outside, she cannot lead or give the orders to go and fight WindClan if they provoke us even further.''

''I thought it was ThunderClan, actually,'' Owlpaw confessed, staring at her paws and unfinished fresh-kill. ''They seem to think we're fox-hearts, and they're the center of everything.'' She was already bristling. ''Haven't you heard, Lavenderpaw? They've got a gazillion prophecies. How much prophecies do we have? Not a single one!''

''It's true,'' Lavenderpaw meowed, looking at Hawkpaw. ''They've got four. Four or more. Owlpaw's just exaggerating about 'gazillion', but it's true we have nothing.''

Hawkpaw felt downcast by knowing the former DarkClan didn't have so many prophecies. ShadowClan in the future- or DarkClan- was much more interesting because, since Cedarstar's reign. She already knew who the leader was! It was brave and stubborn Cedarflight, the future father of Seedblossom's kits as well as her mate. It was awesome knowing what would happen next!

She opened her mouth to speak, but a voice from Nightsky rang out, ''Snowstar! Snowstar's dead!''

So, here it is: a new chapter :) Hawkpaw and Owlpaw are now friends, and Lavenderpaw shall be in a story for at least ten chapters more or something like that. And finally, Snowstar's dead. I liked her, but... she needed to die. Let's say a lot of leaders shall die in the story.

BTW, why don't you write your thoughts on that shiny review box?

*We've been nominated for 'Up-And-Coming Drama' in 'The Next Big Thing'! Let's make Owlpaw, Hawkpaw and Lavenderpaw proud of us!

Reply to Reviews:

guest - I had chosen the three most voted names from a poll, and my dear ShadowClanners helped me choose through them. Hawkheart, lamentably, wasn't one of the most voted ones and that's why I never asked in the author's note to vote for it.

Snowfeather4876 - Really? Thanks! About Hawkpool and Hawkfeather they had already been disqualified. It wasn't a poll; it was the real warrior name which Hawkpaw will have. In this case, Hawkflight. Reviewers voted for those names through a poll and the reviews. It's done, now.

And you bet there's StormXHawk. I'm not dreaming about Hawkpaw going with another tom. She either has a romance with Stormpaw, or is single.

Thanks for the follow :D