"Fawnpaw! Leafpaw! Fawnpaw! Leafpaw!"
Fawnpaw raced down the Highrock, greeting her mentor, Featherfall. Meanwhile, Leafpaw was chatting with her new mentor, Lightningfang.
"Can we go hunting?!" Fawnpaw begged. She crouched down, concentrating, copying the hunter's crouch Mousepaw had taught her.
"Excellent," Featherfall meowed. "Keep your tail flat out like a snake. Hold it up. Good, good!"
Leapaw raced over to where they were standing.
"Can we at least have stalking practice?" Leafpaw asked.
"Alright," Lightningfang agreed, glancing over at Featherfall and Fawnpaw. "As long as you want to come."
"Oh yes! Please!" Fawnpaw gasped. Featherfall twitched her whiskers in amusement and led them all through the gorse barrier.
"Out in the forest, you need to be very quiet. See how there are leaves beneath your paws? They'll scare the prey from here to Fourtrees if you tramp along them like a badger." As Featherfall kept instructing, a scent filled Fawnpaw's nose.
Rabbit!
Instantly Fawnpaw tried tracking it, when she saw a white tail bob through the bushes. She hared off, despite Featherfall's meow of shock. Paws pounding the ground, Fawnpaw chased the rabbit as fast as she could. Suddenly it vanished into a burrow. Fawnpaw stared at it, tail flicking in anger. She had wanted to catch that nice, fat rabbit; leaf-fall was coming to a close, and the forest was growing colder. It would've fed the elders.
"Hey! You! Get out of my territory, or I'll rip your throat out!"
Fawnpaw jumped in fear and whirled around. A big apprentice was arching his back, fur puffed out, eyes blazing. He was a gray tom with a black stripe down his back. His lips were drawn back in a snarl, his sharp teeth showing. He stalked forward.
He's an enemy apprentice! And he's gonna attack me!
The gray tom roared and looked like he was just about to lunge, when a voice rang through the trees.
"Stonepaw! Stop this instant!"
The apprentice dropped to all fours, glaring at Fawnpaw in fury. Three full-grown warriors exploded through the trees.
They're all here to kill me,I bet! Oh, why did I chase that rabbit?!
"Sorry, Silverwing," Stonepaw muttered, glaring at his paws.
"Stonepaw! Can't you see this is a new apprentice? She must be barely out of the nursery."
Fawnpaw bristled, but forced her fur to lie flat.
"Fawnpaw! Faaaaawnnnnpaaaaaww!"
Leafpaw burst from the bushes, Lightningfang and Featherfall hard on her tail. "Fawnpaw! You're okay!" Featherfall panted. Then she met eyes with Silverwing and stiffened. Silverwing looked back, and tension crackled between them before Stonepaw broke the silence.
"Hey! Now there's four enemies in our territory! We have to do something," he snarled, pacing.
"Not now, Stonepaw," A dark tom growled. "Why are you in our territory?"
"We're sorry," Lightningfang apologized smoothly. "This is Fawnpaw's first day out of camp. We haven't showed her the borders yet."
"These are CedarClan cats?" Leafpaw whispered, her voice scarcely more than a squeak.
"Yes, and this one was about to attack!" Silverwing snapped, glaring at Stonepaw. "I'm sorry for my unruly apprentice. Now leave at once."
The three cats guided the shocked apprentice back into her territory.
"I'm…I'm sorry!" Fawnpaw stammered. "I didn't…I mean, I didn't know I was in their territory." she hung her head miserably. "Will I still be able to be a warrior now?"
Much to her shock, Lightningfang laughed.
"Of course you'll be a warrior. Granted, we're telling Flightstar about this…"
Fawnpaw groaned.
"…but Flightstar is very forgiving. you'll be fine."
On the other hand, Featherfall looked less forgiving. She maintained a worrisome silence, her paws moving swiftly, her eyes full of anguish.
"Why did you do that? We had to run into that patrol," she hissed softly.
Leafpaw moved a protective tail over Fawnpaw.
"It was a mistake," she said.
Featherfall sighed and shook herself.
"Lets get back to camp, and try hunting again tomorrow. And for StarClan's sake, don't go running into enemy territory next time!"