Cinderpaw's jaw dropped. She barely noticed, however. Just a few hours ago the she-cat had been dreading her life, thinking about how she would never be able to help her Clan ever again. Reduced to nothing but an Elder who would need to be fed and helped without repayment. A boring and depressing life.

But here lay a golden opportunity for the she-cat's dream to come true. She could be a Warrior again!

Unless she wanted to take the easy way out and give up.

Yeah right!

Cinderpaw was so excited she barely took on the realism of her dilema until Deadfoot cleared his throat.

"Cinderpaw?"

"Wha-I'm sorry, what is it Deadfoot?" Cinderpaw mewed, forcing herself back to the present.

Deadfoot glanced at Fireheart before he looked at Cinderpaw again. "Your decision?"

Cinderpaw's eyes shined. "Yes! And I promise I'll be the best apprentice you have! I can't wait to tell the others. They'll be so surprised an-"

"Cinderpaw," Deadfoot meowed firmly. The she-cat shut her jaws. "If you're going to be my apprentice, we'll have to do this quietly. Besides you, Fireheart and I, you must tell NO ONE about this. Understood?"

Cinderpaw felt the flames in her heart escape. Tell no one? But what about Brackenpaw? Cinderpaw shared everything with her brother! Did this mean no one in WindClan knew what Deadfoot was doing either? Was this against the Code for him?

Cinderpaw did not know. But she felt much more cautious as she nodded.

Deadfoot mewed, "Good. Now let's hunt." With that the black tom turned and limped off.

Cinderpaw felt she missed something. She looked at Fireheart. The ginger tom shrugged and gently pushed her with his ginger tail. The fluffy gray she-cat jumped up and limped after her new mentor, scattering leaves and debris in the air in her excitement.

Deadfoot turned and raised his tail for a halt. "Cinderpaw. What was your first mistake?"

Cinderpaw pricked her ears. Her first mistake? Deadfoot's yellow eyes looked past her. Cinderpaw followed his gaze and looked over her shoulder. There was a mess of debris and leaves scattered where she walked. She stared at them for a moment. "I... wasn't trying to be quiet?"

"Precisely."

Cinderpaw felt annoyance prickle her pelt. "But I didn't know we had to do that now!"

"Cinderpaw, when hunting, you must always be silent. Prey can see and heart you from a distance if you're not careful... isn't that how ThunderClan hunts?" Deadfoot asked, tearing his gaze away from his apprentice to gaze at Fireheart.

Fireheart narrowed his eyes. "ThunderClan don't usually need to be silent, until we arrive at a hunting spot," he explained, an edge in his voice. "The trees in our territory mask the sounds."

Deadfoot flicked his ears. "I see... our hunt differs in more than just prey... Cinderpaw. Why don't you show me what kind of stalking techniques you've learned?"

Cinderpaw was about to start forward, but she paused and looked at Fireheart. Was it right to show a WindClan warrior their secrets? That brought another question to the she-cat's mind: How can Deadfoot teach her, if they're from different Clans with different customs?

Fireheart nodded, and Cinderpaw gratefully showed the WindClan deputy her attempt at stalking a pretend mouse. It did not go so well. Her twisted leg dragged noisely on the ground, and when she jumped to pounce, it was off angle and too loud.

Deadfoot padded beside the she-cat. "Repeat the crouch and hold it there," Deadfoot ordered. When Cinderpaw did, he inspected her posture. He used his tail to raise her twisted leg off the ground behind her.

A flash of pain sparked and Cinderpaw felt her vision blur.

The she-cat hissed and pulled her leg away. That really hurt!

"What did you do?" she demanded angrily. The fluffy gray apprentice gingerly lowered her leg until it brushed the ground. The waves of pain died down. "Don't yank it!"

"I didn't. And I'd appreciate it if you showed some respect when referring to your mentor." Deadfoot sat back and glanced at her leg thoughtfully. He missed the irritated look Fireheart shot him when the black tom had uttered the word mentor.

"I didn't know it hurt when you moved it," he murmured. The tip of his black tail traced her twisted leg. A small frown on his scarred face. "This changes everything..."

The fluffy gray she-cat shuffled her paws. "Will that be a problem?" she asked meekly.

"Unless we can find a way around that, yes, it will be," Deadfoot answered truthfully.

Cinderpaw felt her heart drop. "Does this mean there's no way I can be a warrior?"

The black tom prodded a paw experimentally on different areas of the leg. "I didn't say that."

Cinderpaw glanced over her shoulder. "But you're thinking it, aren't you?" she accused.

Deadfoot did not answer. "Try to move your leg again. Tell me when it starts to hurt."

"It always hurts," Cinderpaw muttered. But the she-cat obeyed and moved her twisted leg slightly from side to side. Even that caused a bit of pain.

Deadfoot sighed and shook his head. "This won't work," he muttered.

Fireheart, who had been standing quietly off to one side quickly padded beside the WindClan Deputy. "Are you just giving up?" he whispered, but his voice carried to the apprentice's ears.

"I'm sure I'll get better!" Cinderpaw mewed quickly. "Just give me another chance Deadfoot!"

Deadfoot nodded approvingly. "I'm glad you see it my way. It's not good to give up on the first try. But I think we'll stop for tonight." He raised his tail for silence when Cinderpaw opened her jaws to speak. "You're going to have to rest up that leg. I'm not a medicine cat, but I can see how stupid it would be to work on an injured leg."

Cinderpaw shuffled her paws. Maybe Deadfoot was right. But she wasn't sure if he was giving up on her so soon. "Okay, when will we meet again?" she asked hopefully.

Deadfoot shook his head. "I don't know. But it's best we all return to our Clans before we're noticed"

Cinderpaw lowered her head. She turned and limped off, her tail trailing behind her.

Fireheart waited until she was far enough away to round on Deadfoot. "You're giving up on her already, aren't you?"

Deadfoot did not meet the green gaze. He was staring after the she-cat. "Not yet. But I don't know if Cinderpaw will ever be a Warrior."

"But you've got a crippled paw too!" Fireheart whispered urgently. "If you can do it, she can too!"

Deadfoot tore his gaze away to glare at Fireheart with his fierce yellow eyes. "Our conditions are different. I don't know if CInderpaw may be able to move that leg at all without feeling pain. She'll probably have that forever. Unless she looks past the pain and tries, I'm not sure if she'll manage. And even that can cause serious problems if we work it the wrong way."

He held up his broken paw. "I was lucky I only broke a forepaw. She twisted a whole leg. It's a lot worse than my condition."

Fireheart felt the hopeful butterflies in his stomach leave. He clung fiercely to the few stranded. "But there's a chance, right?" He asked hopefully.

Deadfoot nodded. "I'm sure she will make an excellent warrior. Convince her to do some leg stretches to loosen the muscles. That might help. But don't tell her to overdo it. The medicine cat may be able to help if you tell her about Cinderpaw's irritation. it might be inflammation swelling in the muscles.

"Cinderpaw will learn to accomodate the new shape and feel in her leg soon until it's almost natural to her. Until then, we shouldn't meet until you're absolutely sure her leg's healed. Then contact me in the next Gathering and I'll schedule another meeting."

"Understood," Fireheart mewed. It was better than nothing.

The black tom turned and limped away, his tail streaming behind his back. He paused at the slope that lead to his Clan's territory. "Don't worry, I haven't given up on her yet."