Chapter 5

Firepaw barely listened to Bluestar's words during the clan meeting. He half-listened to the announcement of Lionheart's death and that Tigerclaw would be the new deputy. He ached all over and when Spottedleaf came to treat his wounds, he didn't even admire the glimmer of her tortoiseshell coat in the weak light from the sun.

Firepaw flopped into his nest in the apprentices' den and the lull of sleep washed over him quicker then he had expected. Spottedleaf had given him poppy seeds for his pain and to help him sleep, but he was so tired he may not have even needed them.

"Firepaw, Firepaw, wake up!" Firepaw opened a bleary eye to see Smudgepaw leaning over him, his paw raised to prod him again. "Firepaw, we have training! Tigerclaw already took Ravenpaw and Graypaw, and we have to go with Bluestar, I'll meet you in the training hollow." The black-and-white tom quickly bounded away and Firepaw heaved himself to his paws, wishing he were Sandpaw or Dustpaw, who were still fast asleep.

Firepaw pushed his way into the training hollow, the smooth, sandy floor felt good on his paws, cooled by the night's rain. Bluestar and Smudgepaw were there and when Firepaw stepped into the hollow, Bluestar put them to work.

"Practice your fighting moves," she instructed. "I want you to take turns attacking and defending. Smudgepaw will start with attack, Firepaw, you will defend against him." Both cats nodded and faced each other. Smudgepaw bounded quickly across the clearing and swiped Firepaw's ear with one paw. Firepaw lashed out at him and his friend sprang forward and they tussled on the floor until Smudgepaw was on top, pinning his friend down with both paws on his neck. Firepaw realized that Smudgepaw was not holding down his forepaws so the ginger tom reached up and gripped Smudgepaw with his paws. In one smooth movement, Firepaw pulled his friend down and pushed himself up. He managed to get on top of Smudgepaw and held him down with all four paws.

"Well done, both of you." Bluestar praised. "Now Smudgepaw will be on the defensive and Firepaw will attack."

They trained until all the energy was drained from both cats and Firepaw found it too much effort to swipe a paw at his friend, let alone hold him down. When the cats returned to camp, Firepaw and Smudgepaw staggered over to their den and fell into their nests. Within moments, Firepaw was asleep

When Firepaw awoke, he was in the den alone with Ravenpaw, who was washing himself, but kept glancing around warily. Firepaw had noticed that Ravenpaw had been especially jumpy since his mentor was chosen for Clan deputy. Firepaw had no time to dwell on what might be bothering his friend, he was supposed to be out hunting.

"Ravenpaw, do you want to come hunting with me?" The black tom nodded and together they bounded across the clearing, past Patchpelt and Smallear sharing tongues, past Whitestorm and Sandpaw, preparing to go out on patrol, and past Mousefur and Runningwind who were adding prey to the fresh-kill pile.

As they bounded out of the gorse tunnel, the two apprentices almost cannoned into Smudgepaw, Graypaw and Willowpelt who were coming back from the sunhigh patrol. Graypaw still looked sad, the grief of losing his mentor raw in his eyes. Firepaw quickly invited his two friends to come hunting, and together they padded into the depths of the forest.

Firepaw and his friends hunted until their fresh-kill was too much for them to carry and they had to push the rest with their paws. Firepaw was exhausted from breathing through only his nose so he dropped the two mice, the chaffinch and the shrew he was carrying in his jaws and sat down to rest. Smudgepaw flopped down beside him and let his prey fall to the leaf-strewn floor. The two other apprentices caught up to them and they lay gasping for breath until Firepaw heard the noise of voices. The sound and scents of Tigerclaw, Longtail and Darkstripe were carried toward them on a welcoming breeze in the sweltering heat.

Firepaw and his companions listened quietly until they heard the three warriors whisk off into the undergrowth. Firepaw replayed what he had heard in his head. Darkstripe and Longtail had listened intently while Tigerclaw shared with them his plans to 'get rid' of Ravenpaw. Could that possibly mean they wanted to kill him?

"Ravenpaw, what was that all about?" Graypaw's question jolted Firepaw away from his thoughts and he turned to the black cat, eager for a response.

"He knows." Ravenpaw stuttered out of fright so his response was hardly audible. "He knows that I know that he…that-that he k-killed Red-Redtail" all three cats gasped. Killed a cat from his own Clan? The apprentices listened in stunned silence as they listened to the rest of Ravenpaw's story. As he finished, a flash of lighting lit up the sky and icy raindrops fell on the four cats.

"We must get him out of here." Firepaw decided. "We will take our prey to the fresh-kill pile, and then we will take him away."

"Where to?" Smudgepaw asked.

"Let's take him to Barley! You know, that loner who helped us on the way to the moonstone." Graypaw piped up. Firepaw nodded and they sprinted to camp as fast as they could with all their prey.