Alright, so here's Chapter Six. It's taken a very long time to get all of this written down, so I'd really appreciate some feedback. Thanks. Read and Enjoy.

Chapter Six

Leafpool sighed in fustration as she sat in her den sorting herbs, without her apprentice, again. It seemed to her that Firestar and Jaypaw spent far too much time together, and the worst part was that whenever her apprentice got back from training, he always looked so tired and worn out that she felt obligated to excuse him from his medicine cat duties for the day.

This had been going on for three days now, and Leafpool was becoming more and more convinced that this was a bad idea. It wasn't as if she hadn't tried to put a stop to it, it just seemed that both Firestar and Jaypaw had some sort of sixth sense for those moments. Whenever she approached them about the subject, or even thought of telling them that it had to end, they would both turn such pleading looks on her that she just walked away without saying a word.

Currently Jaypaw was asleep in his nest, where Leafpool had sent him after he had come back last night. She had been hoping that today, at least, she would have Jaypaw to herself, but the scent of Firestar heading towards her den dashed that. Apparently Jaypaw had sensed his leader's approach too, for he appeared from the entrance to the medicine cat's inner quarters adn stalked right past Leafpool to sit at the entrance to the den, waiting.

Sure enough, within a few moments, Firestar was there. He and Jaypaw were just about to leave when Leafpool finally spoke. "Enough is enough!" seh cried, turning and stalking towards her father and her apprentice. "Listen, Firestar, these lessons have to stop. Jaypaw is my apprentice, not yours! And in case you've forgotten, he's in training to be a medicine cat, not a warrior. He chose to give that up, and nothing we do now will ever change that."

Firestar's green eyes were stretched wide. He had never thought that his daughter, his quiet, peaceful daughter would ever dare to say things like this to him. He wasn't prepared for it, and certainly didn't know how to handle it. And besides, he had promised to let her have Jaypaw whenever she wanted, and he was loathe to go back on his word. But I dont' really want to give up on Jaypaw either!

While Firestar struggled with his decision, Jaypaw had no such inhibitions about speaking his mind. Turning his baleful blue eyes on his mentor, Jaypaw hissed, "I never wanted to give up being a warrior, and I still don't. The only reason I did was because I thought I'd never be able to fight properly. Even StarClan had given up hope on me!" He sounded angry now, and beneath that anger, an underlying tone of sadness. Hot tears of anger were beginning to well up in his eyes.

"Yeah, well, you made your nest, and now you have to lie in it!" retorted Leafpool. She herself was fighting to remain calm, and her claws were ripping through the dirt floor in fustration.

"No I don't!" exclaimed the young tom, the fur on his neck rising. "I only became a medicine cat because I felt there was no other option. But now that Firestar's been mentoring me, I see that even a completely blind cat can be a warrior. I don't even want to be a medicine cat. Never have, never will!"

"Well, too bad," spat Leafpool, feeling her own neck fur starting to rise. "You are a medicine cat, and that's that!"

"You can't force me to be a medicine cat against my will!" growled Jaypaw, his tail lashing in furious sweeps.

"Watch me," snarled Leafpool, narrowing her amber eyes. Still glaring at Jaypaw, she growled, "Jaypaw, you'll be staying here today helping me sort out herbs. Firestar, Jaypaw isn't going to be recieving any more warrior training, ever."

Firestar bowed his head. He would miss training Jaypaw; he had enjoyed the mentoring, and his grandson really wasn't all that prickly. But as his official mentor, Leafpool had the final say, and for once Firestar was glad that the overall decision hadn't rested on his shoulders. Feeling relieved, the ginger tom left.

When Firestar was gone, Leafpool let out a silent sigh of relief. Forcing her fur to lie flat again, she turned towards her apprentice and meowed, "Now, Jaypaw, you're going to help me seperate all the fresh and useable borage from any damaged or expired stocks." She went back to her pile of herbs, expecting to hear at any second the sound of her reluctant apprentice joining her. What she did hear surprised her.

"No."

The words were low, almost murmured, and growled out. For a moment, Leafpool thought that she'd misheard the word, though there was no mistaking the tone. "What was that?" she asked, turning to face Jaypaw.

"I said," he snarled in a louder voice, "'No'."

"Excuse me?" meowed Leafpool, amber eyes stretched wide. She was unused to any level of disrespect or disobedience whatsoever, and it showed.

Jaypaw rolled his eyes and meowed, "It means no. N-O. I quit. I'm not going to waste my life sitting around in some boring old den all day sorting moldy herbs. You can be as boring as you like, but you're not dragging me down with you." With that, the defiant apprentice turned and made to leave.

"Wait," called Leafpool. "You can't just leave. This isn't a boring life! It's the life StarClan mapped out for you. You can't escape it. It's your destiny. You're fate."

"Yeah, well, guess what? StarClan doesn't decide my destiny, I do. And you know what? I've decided that my destiny doesn't involve you or your boring old herbs. I hate this life, but you know what else? I hate you more."

Without another word, he left. Leafpool was left alone with a surprised look on her face. She was so preoccupied wiith trying to sort out what had happened, she didn't even notice when Thornclaw walked in with a thorn stuck in his pad.

"Umm...Leafpool?" he asked, slightly uncomfortably. Leafpool jerked out of her reviere and turned to face him, face blank. Wordlessly, she set about healing his paw.

---

When Jaypaw left Leafpool, he had run all the way into the forest, not even concious of where he was going. His senses and memory guided him, as his own thoughts were rather preoccupied.

He had never intended to go that far. It was just that their arguement had reopened all the bitter wounds hiding just beneath the surface, and he had allowed himself to get carried away on the unfairness of it all. Despite this, he felt no misgivings about it whatsoever. He was glad that the burden of being a medicine cat, spending his entire life doing something he absolutely hated, had finally been lifted from his shoulders. Let some other cat worry about healing, my path lies far from that one.

When he finally stopped running, his senses told him that he was near a shallow hole, created by a dip in the land and sheltered by the tall oak roots stretching out on either side. Deciding that there could be worse places for a cat to lose himself in thought, he settled down inside it, lying with his paws tucked under his chest and his tail wrapped snugly around his left side. Feeling peaceful at last, he closed his bright blue eyes and drifted off.

When he opened his eyes, he saw Tigerstar staring at him from the foot of the tree opposite, a young elm that, while it still had some growing yet to do, towered high above the two cats. The big dark tabby blinked his amber eyes warmly at the younger cat. "Greetings, Jaypaw," he meowed, a rumbling purr evident in his voice.

"Greetings, Tigerstar," replied the younger tom warily. "You haven't visited me in a while. Why the sudden interest now?"

"I have been paying attention, Jaypaw. I didn't visit because I had business elsewhere, and I figured that Firestar was doing a competant enough job of mentoring you in my absence."

"Haven't you heard?" asked Jaypaw bitterly, lowering his ears, "Leafpool has forbidden Firestar to train me. From now on, the only training I'll be recieving is that of a medicine cat apprentice."

"Of course I know!" spat back Tigerstar, tail tip twitching angrily. "I also know that you disowned the life of a medicine cat, that you decided you'd pave your own path, make your own choices, decide upon your own destiny. You should feel proud! Taking control of your own life, that's what being a warrior is all about!" He smiled, an expression that didn't look quite right on his stern features. "Come here, Jaypaw. There's someone I want you to meet."

Jaypaw got up obediantly and padded over to Tigerstar's side. He looked up at the huge muscular tabby tom, his grandfather. I wonder if what he said is true, if he really is proud of me.

"Jaypaw, this is your uncle, Hawkfrost." Jaypaw looked up in time to see another large, broad-shouldered tabby tom, an exact copy of Tigerstar except with ice blue eyes in place of amber, step out from behind the elm tree.

Hawkfrost dipped his head and meowed, "Pleasure to meet you, Jaypaw. I've been watching you. You are a true credit to your Clan."

It was then, under the eyes of his uncle and grandfather, under the extremes of amber and blue, that for the first time in his life, he felt accepted. This was his family, where belonged. Among the cats that actually liked him for him, and actually were proud of him. He was home.

---

Upon waking up, Jaypaw found himself filled with a feeling of pride. If Leafpool wasn't willing to let him have battle-training, he would be more than happy to quit being her apprentice. Finally, he thought jubilantly, I'm free! No more stupid herbs, no more sitting around in the boring old camp while all the other apprentices get to go out and have fun. This is it! It's over! No more Moonpool, no more bossy Leafpool, no more Willowpaw...

Whoa, wait. Where did that last thought come from? Jaypaw felt rather bewildered. That thought about Willowpaw had just popped up right out of the blue. For a moment he contemplated that somewhere, deep, deep, deep down, he might actually harbour feelings towards the RiverClan she-cat. Then, with an angry shake of his head, he pushed the thought away. Nah, I'm just sick of her nosiness. I've got nothing to do with her. I'm just glad I won't be a mecidine cat apprentice anymore.

---

For the rest of the day, Jaypaw avoided the ThunderClan camp, and therefore Leafpool. Instead he spent his time following scent trails and attempting to teach himself to hunt. Despite the sharpness of his nose and the ease with which he was able to distinguish scents, he had had no formal training in the proper hunting crouches, and so the closest he came to catching something was a mouse he had been able to catch unawares under a holly bush. The mouse, however, was near a bolt hole and had so escaped.

Cursing his bad luck, Jaypaw's whiskers twitched with the awareness that it was nearing sundown. Feeling satisfied that at least he hadn't wasted his day cooped up in camp, most likely having his head chewed off by Leafpool, he decided that he'd better start getting back.

Using his senses to avoid bumping into anything and to guide him back to camp, he gave a small smile as the scents of many different cats flooded over him, heralding his arrival. Picking his way carefully, he decended the bramble tunnel that served as both entrance and exit. Not pausing, he headed towards where he knew the apprentice's den was. A careful sniff told him that no-one else was inside, so he crawled in and found a spot near the back that was currently unused.

Nestling down, he curled up with his tail covering his nose and slowed his breathing, pretending to be asleep. Not too long afterwards, Cinderpaw walked in with Honeypaw, and the two nestled down together next to the entrance. It wasn't long before they were fast asleep, Jaypaw drifting off after them.

You know, I seriously considered having Jaypaw say at one point "Yeah, well, you know what? Fate can just go stuff itself! That's what!", but then I read a little further on and saw that if I decided to go ahead and do that there'd be a whole load of rewriting I'd have to do to make it fit properly, and I really didn't want to do that. So it is the way it is. Oh, and about Leafpool's little tirade at the beginning there, I seriously considered deleting parts of it, but then I saw that some of the parts I wanted to delete were pretty important later down the line, so I kept it the same. Yeah, I know, you can totally tell what point I'm at in typing this thing up right now, can't you?