Chapter 1

Icepaw pounced heavily on her mentor, batting at him with sheathed claws. The other cat swiftly rolled out from under his apprentice and leapt at her, his calico pelt melting into the sunlight. Icepaw bunched up her hind legs and jumped into the air letting her mentor pass underneath her harmlessly. He landed on his paws with a slight thump. The older cat purred with amusement and his eyes glittered happily.

"Very good Icepaw. Your fighting skills are coming along well," he offered. Icepaw felt pride swell in her chest.

"It's all thanks to you Coldsnow," Icepaw said, flicking her tail playfully. Coldsnow laughed humbly and rubbed his nose against his apprentice's pelt. Icepaw purred as she glanced around her surroundings. They were training by the river bank where the water was shallow so new apprentices could easily learn to fish and swim. Fighting was practiced on the sandy shore of the river. A huge flat rock stuck out over part of the water, a perfect fishing spot. Riverclan called the training place Gulf Rock. Icepaw remembered her first time visiting Gulf Rock. It was barely a moon ago, on her first tour around Riverclan with her mentor Coldsnow. Icepaw had fallen in love with the fresh water creeping down the bank slowly and the cool breeze in the winds. She spent almost every waking minute practicing her fighting skills at Gulf Rock. More than anything, Icepaw wanted to become the best warrior in all of Riverclan. She already knew the basics of her training: she could hunt, fish, swim and fight. And she couldn't be happier when Silverstar announced her mentor would be Coldsnow. Icepaw heard some of the stories surrounding her brave mentor. He helped fight off the Shadowclan invasion last new-leaf and he chased a badger away from the camp all by himself last year. Icepaw was beyond honored. Her training with Coldsnow was thorough and difficult. But it paid off. Icepaw's attention was suddenly grabbed by the screeching call of a blue jay not far off.

"Are you up for a little hunting on the way back to Riverclan?" Coldsnow asked, leaping out of the sand and on to the cool grass. Icepaw bounded after her mentor, still purring. She wanted to catch that blue jay.

"Sure!" she said, prancing off in the grass. A soft wind blew through the sparse trees that dotted the ground. The two cats followed the river back up to where it gave birth. Icepaw could hear the sounds of the lake and the rushing of the water grow more distant behind them. Icepaw loved the territory that belonged to Riverclan. Most cats despised water and loathed touching it. Not Riverclan cats. An old elder's myth was that the first Riverclan cat was born in a stream and had to swim to survive. Since then, the cats of Riverclan were natural born swimmers and fishers. The river flowed through their territory and into the wide lake. There was hardly ever a shortage of water. Herbs and plants grew in abundance around the camp, ideal for medicine cats. Icepaw would fight to the death for this land. Any other Riverclan cat would say the same. The two cats turned away from the river at a bubbling waterfall and went further into the woods. The sound of water died down almost completely as the noises of the forest entered the minds of the mentor and apprentice. Birds chirped as plump mice scurried through the bracken. Prey was good this year, Icepaw noticed as a squirrel rushed up a tree trunk a few yards away.

Suddenly, Icepaw heard the incessant chirping of the blue jay. She crouched down close to the soil and waited. Coldsnow, seeing his apprentice had found her mark, quietly snuck off towards a little clearing some paces away to stalk a mouse. Icepaw's white-grey fur shone in the sun-high light, dappling the earth. Icepaw tried to blend in with the grass around her, not moving a muscle. After what seemed like forever, she noticed the dingy blue feathers of a blue jay fluttering by an oak tree. The bird landed by the base of the tree and began picking around the earth, shuffling the dirt around, searching for worms. Icepaw pricked her ears forward and began to silently creep towards the bird. Her paws inched along the ground carefully, her tail stretched out like a whip. The gray cat got closer and closer to her prey. Suddenly, with a great leap, Icepaw flung herself at the blue jay. The bird gave one last angry squawk before Icepaw clamped her jaws around its throat.

"Nice job Icepaw," a voice said from behind the apprentice. Swinging her head around, Icepaw saw her mentor standing next to a border patrol. Her admirer was Crabpaw, a black and white tomcat. He was alongside his mentor, Fernfoot and another warrior, Greybelly.

"How did the training go?" Greybelly politely asked Coldsnow.

"Very well. Icepaw is really coming along," he said. Icepaw purred and set down the dead blue jay to rub her muzzle against her mentor's flank.

"Crabpaw is doing well too," Fernfoot cut in. Her black pelt was spotted with blotches of white that were shining as brightly as Crabpaw's proud eyes. "He's mastered fishing completely," she said haughtily. Greybelly glanced at Fernfoot, his whiskers twitching with amusement. Icepaw felt a growl rising in her throat. She disliked Fernfoot a great deal. She was so rude and nasty. Icepaw knew that Fernfoot hated being stood up by any cat.

"Well have a good patrol," Coldsnow said quickly. "Come on Icepaw, pick up that bird. Let's go back to camp. See you later."

"Bye Coldsnow. Goodbye Icepaw. See you back at the apprentice den," Crabpaw said, smiling at Icepaw. She licked Crabpaw's fur affectionately and sauntered off after Coldsnow. She heard Fernfoot flounce off, her tail swishing. Icepaw rolled her blue eyes disdainfully.

"You know Fernfoot means no harm. She's just…you know," Coldsnow said quietly to Icepaw. Icepaw felt her ears burn hot. She hadn't realized Coldsnow had watched her dismiss the warrior. With her mouth full of bird, Icepaw didn't say anything, she only nodded. Coldsnow sent a sidelong glance at Icepaw as they padded towards the Riverclan camp. Icepaw twitched her tail uncomfortably. She knew why Fernfoot was so mean to her. It was because of her father. While her mother was a pure blood Riverclan cat, her father was Quickstep, a Thunderclan warrior. Icepaw was a mixed blood clan cat and while she was proud of her heritage, some cats, Fernfoot included, thought she was less of a warrior because of it. Ever since Thunderclan had started excepting half-blood cats and kittypets into their clan ten years ago, the cats of the forest had been more lenient and accepting to half-breed cats. However some traditional cats thought that cats like Icepaw would only poison their clans. Icepaw felt her pads burn with the anger from these thoughts. Who were they to judge her? She was the same as them!

"Icepaw? Are you okay?" Coldsnow asked, concerned. They were both standing in front of the Riverclan camp. Icepaw looked up at her mentor.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Sorry I just zoned out," she said, giving him a shaky purr.

"Well okay," Coldsnow said suspiciously. "Why don't you go get some rest now," he said, nudging Icepaw towards the apprentice's den. Icepaw nodded and trudged over to the fresh-meat pile and dropped her blue jay on the top. Then she turned and headed into the abandoned badger set where the apprentices slept. Icepaw slid down the smooth tunnel and into the den. Tinypaw, a small white and grey cat was sleeping in one corner. Suddenly, Rainpaw, a black and grey tom, slid into the den behind Icepaw, knocking her down.

"Oh, sorry Icepaw," Rainpaw meowed, climbing to his feet with the light grey cat. "How was training?"

Icepaw gave her coat a few quick licks.

"Fine. I'm going to get some rest now," Icepaw mewed. Rainpaw purred a goodnight to his den mate and then curled up next to his sister, Tinypaw. Icepaw stretched her claws and legs and flexed her hind legs. Then, ready for some peace and quiet, she nestled into a ball of fur and drifted off to sleep.