A/N: Hey there, dears. How you guys doing? ;) Sorry I didn't update that fast, our keyboard died, (yes, it's wireless) and it took a while for us to replace the batteries. Anyways enough rambling, onto review answers!

Violeteyes of ThunderClan: Thank you for reviewing! And yes, Pine and Amber are pretty cute, no? XD Thanks once again! *tosses Flameheart plushie*

Isi Writer: Oh my gosh. Descriptive detail? Thank you, that's too kind of you. And I probably will update faster, since I have my break. Thanks again! *tosses Pineshade plushie*

Hazelnose: Thanks! :D And yes, Pine and Amber do have some sort of bromance going on. I miiight mention them in another one-shot, so stay tuned. ;) *tosses Amberkit plushie*

ponyiowa: Yup, they did. I couldn't just let them die again. XD Thankies for reviewing! :D *tosses Tigerfur plushie*

Willowstream: Wow. Thanks so much~ I promise you I will keep writing these things, theyre so fun to write. Epic compliments, by the way. *hands a Brackenclaw plushie*

Now, for this one-shot, the theme is…

Art of Conversation

"You'll never become a warrior."

"It's too late."

"You should stop hoping. There's no point, anyway."

Those voices filled her ears, her every thought. Those comments were all she thought about now. Little did she know that her mentor was yelling at her to stop pacing around anxiously. But she couldn't hear him at all. His voice seemed far and distant, unlike the burning sounds of all their taunts, crashing down on her, torturing her, leaving her in agony. She felt like long, claws raked down her belly, making her pelt soaked with blood. She was drowned in the agony that she couldn't think straight anymore. No, nothing made her think straight. Nothing…

"Bluepaw! Snap out of it!" Finally, it came dawning on her, her mentor's sharp voice stinging her ears. Dazed, her one hind paw accidentally stumbled on a rock. Sharp pain shot up her leg, and she yelped as she bumped into a stern-looking Rainpelt.

"I said to stop overreacting and focus. You're never going to be a warrior if all you do is pace around like some crazed cat maniac." Bluepaw heard his tail lashing furiously; his yellow eyes were narrowed and he was still glaring at her furiously. Bluepaw whimpered and flattened her ears. Gentle old Rainpelt was gone for good, and all she saw was the intimidating form of a stern-looking Rainpelt.

"S-Sorry…" Bluepaw managed to choke some words out, but Rainpelt cut her off.

"You should be." Bluepaw thought she saw his eyes soften the tiniest bit, but that feeling was gone as Rainpelt abruptly turned around and started heading to the opposite direction. Sighing, Bluepaw followed unwillingly, immediately forcing her paws to move faster as Rainpelt growled at her to quicken her pace. Bluepaw's paws were pounding against the hard earth and so was the loud beating of her heart as she raced after him.

Bluepaw felt absolutely defeated. Now that her parents were gone, there was only Rainpelt left, and now he turned his back on her too. Bluepaw's eyes glimmered with sadness just thinking about that. Ever since that filthy dog came and bit off her hind leg, she had no one else to look up to…anybody but Rainpelt.

She couldn't become a medicine cat apprentice since Leafheart had already gotten one, Maplepaw. That foxhearted coward did nothing but taunt her, from the time Bluepaw woke up to the time she slept in the medicine den. It was lonely, until Foxstar finally decided to get her back in training again. But Bluepaw didn't seem overjoyed at the thought of it, since everyone commented and sneered at her a week ago. Bluepaw never felt this hurt before. This…this fear. This…rejection. Bluepaw sighed and focused her thoughts on training, though her mind was constantly nagging at her to focus on all the cats' sarcastic comments, so it was hard for Bluepaw to listen to Rainpelt's teaching.

"Bluepaw, show me your hunter's crouch," the sturdy dark gray warrior ordered.

Bluepaw was about to do so before another wave of panic surged through every nerve of her body. She felt, she heard, she smelled, all of her five senses were in reach of the cats' taunts and laughs. She didn't see Rainpelt anymore. All she saw was….Maplepaw, and Berryflower, and Leafheart, and many other cats of BrambleClan, all yowling at her, their voices clear, until it turned into a one voice, but still mingled with all of them: "You'll never make it. Just give up."

"No…" Bluepaw's voice trailed off into a whisper. "Stop it!" She clenched her teeth and shut her eyes, planting her forepaw accidentally on a small pebble. That pebble seemed to move, to form into a smirking cat—Pebbletail. And…it snapped.

Bluepaw felt rage heating up in her pelt, making her fur rise and making her unsheathe her claws. She thought she heard Rainpelt calling in her confusion, but that probably was her imagination. She wanted to terribly wound these so-called creatures—filthy pieces of fox dung. They don't deserve to be called cats. Bluepaw spat out that word, causing bits of saliva to drip from her mouth. Stupid Maplepaw. Stupid Pebbletail. Stupid Leafheart.

Letting out a yowl, Bluepaw lunged for the silhouette of the brown medicine cat apprentice. She struck down on its chest and bit down on her ear hard. She thought she heard the cries of the cat's pain so vividly that her eyes widened in realization that it wasn't Maplepaw she was attacking. Blinking down, she found Rainpelt, his fur horribly matted with blood…and she caused it. All because of visions that weren't even real.

"Rainpelt, I…" Bluepaw had no idea what to say. "Rainpelt, I'm sorry…I didn't mean to… I mean…"

Thank StarClan the tom still had a chance to stand up on all four paws, his pelt shaking uncontrollably. "Bluepaw…"

"I'm really sorry, and…" Bluepaw tried to advance towards him, but to her horror, Rainpelt and hissed and smacked her face with his large paw, blood pouring out from where it came from. Bluepaw, letting out deep breaths, just stood there for a moment before running away from Rainpelt. She couldn't bear to see his face anymore.

Her mind was racing. Her head was spinning. She felt her pelt being soaked from the raindrops that only started to fall now, but she didn't care about shelter. There was no point, anymore. She didn't know where to go, where to live, who to trust. What do I do now?

Spotting a hole out of the corner of her eye, without a second thought, she miserably crawled into that hole, her broken leg holding her back a bit. Heaving a sigh, Bluepaw looked around. This den wasn't cozy at all. It felt like the air was choking her up and wanting her to suffer from the tightness of the cave. Well, I suppose this would do. Letting out another heavy sigh, Bluepaw closed her eyes, not wanting to think of anything else before the sound of the rain pounding against her ears eventually softened, making Bluepaw sleep peacefully.

. . .

"It's…it's… a cat!"

"What's a cat doing here? I thought she was our enemy!"

Bluepaw's ear twitched furiously until she let out a groan and stood up, shaking her ruffled pelt, with was sticking in clumps. All kinds of dirt stuck to it, and Bluepaw's nose wrinkled at the stench. Reaching her tongue down to smoothen the sides, she suddenly stopped as she thought she heard….was that muttering?

The source of the sound came from the right. Eyeing it curiously, Bluepaw tried to put one forward, but eventually stopped if this was some kind of trick being played on her. Fur bristling, she yelled, a little bit too loudly, "Who's there?"

The muttering stopped, which made Bluepaw press against the cold, damp, uneven wall of the cave out of fear. Who was coming to get her? Had Rainpelt sent cats to find her, and they did? Bluepaw felt more fear surging through her, and she pressed herself harder against the wall, taking deep breaths now. Her heart was pounding wildly, and, searching frantically for an exit, Bluepaw couldn't find any exit. With a jolt of shock she realized that this wasn't the cave she slept in.

"The question is, why did you come here?" Bluepaw gasped as a mouse came out of the cave, its whiskers twitching and its nose sniffing.

"Great StarClan….I've seen a mouse talk to me!" Bluepaw screeched, racing towards the opposite side, but her leg held her down. Yowling in pain, she laid still there, whimpering helplessly. Her eyes widened as she seen more mice come out—much, much more mice this time—eyeing her curiously.

"What do you want with me?" she screamed. This was too crazy.

One mouse, a rather plump mouse indeed, came scurrying with its little paws right to her. "You invaded our territory!" it yelled. At this point Bluepaw was too scared to try to kill these mice. She glanced at her back. It had the same amount of mice as she had in front. She was trapped.

One mouse, looking small enough to be a kit, squeaked loud enough for the apprentice to hear. "Are…are you going to eat us? Momma said cats are dangerous, and—" he was cut off as a rather fierce-looking she-mouse cut him off.

"Hush now, Tiny. If she does, we attack." The mother glared at Bluepaw—at least, she thought it looked like a glare. "You heard it right. We're not afraid of you." Her stare looked challenging, and so did the other mice.

Apparently, one mouse scurried right in front of her, and it stood among the rest. It had gray fur, which hauntingly enough reminded Bluepaw of Rainpelt. She shook the thought away. There was no point in worrying. Bluepaw guessed that this was the leader, judging by the way everyone looked at him with respect. All the mice stiffened, waiting for some kind of signal. Bluepaw unintentionally lashed her tail, her fur bristling, as usual, and her claws unsheathed. If this was a fight, she was ready for it.

The mouse muttered something under its breath, then finally signaled after it seemed like moons, as clear as her mentor's call, "Attack."

In less than a second, Bluepaw was pinned down with, StarClan knows how many, mice. She squealed and squirmed as their tiny teeth nipped her ears of some parts of her legs or any other body part. Letting out a ferocious yowl, Bluepaw managed to shake some mice off, but even more mice came back on that spot, clawing and nipping. Bluepaw had absolutely no fighting skills, so when she bit, she missed, and when she clawed, she either clawed herself or some sort of object that came in her way. After quite a while of fighting, squirming, clawing, and kicking, Bluepaw found out there was no hope at all she was gong to win this fight.

So she did the unthinkable.

She tried to communicate with them.

And it worked.

"Stop! I surrender!" she yowled, her squeaks echoing through the cave walls. Bluepaw 's ears flattened when she realized how loud her voice was. She flexed her claws nervously as the leader gave her one, hard look.

For what seemed like seasons, he finally sighed and ordered his crew to step back from the cat. The leader let out some kind of loud noise, and five of some of his, best mice, from the looks of it, hurried up to him, and they started to plan in hushed mutters. For Bluepaw, of course, it seemed squeaky and high-pitched, but that's because she was much, much bigger than them.

A few seconds after, the leader spoke. "Fine. We will keep you prisoner for a few days, and we will send you back home."

Bluepaw gulped, since she didn't think the leader was going to like what she would say. She sighed, and murmured, "But I don't have a home."

High-pitched mutterings rose in the air, as if rising up to the pointed ceiling. Bluepaw strained her ears to hear some of them.

"She doesn't have a home?"

"So we will keep this cat for forever?"

"What are we going to do?"

"Is this a trick, just so she would eat us right after?"

"Nonsense! She's outnumbered."

Bluepaw sighed. These mice weren't as different as her hostile Clan members. Bluepaw raised her voice so that all of the cats—er, mice—would hear. "If you would keep me prisoner, it's up to you. It's not like I would fight back. It's pointless." Bluepaw lowered her head in defeat, her tail drooping and touching the cold, mossy floor, making her shiver.

The leader padded up to her yet again, bowing his head. "You seem pretty friendly to me," he squeaked. "What is your name, cat?"

"Bluepaw." To her surprise, her voice was calm and smooth, unlike yesterday, the day she almost killed Rainpelt. She felt like that was far, far away now, just another horrible nightmare that wasn't even real.

The mouse nodded. "I am Stone." He did this weird bowing of his head, again, and Bluepaw tilted her head in confusion. Stone's ears twitched in amusement. "It's a thing that we do, when welcoming others."

Bluepaw purred. "I am welcomed already."

. . .

Bluefrost padded up to the mice's fresh-kill pile, dropping about twenty fruits and some leaves, even. The mice started to munch on it happily. Feeling content, Bluefrost grabbed one of the nuts and started munching on it. She became a vegetarian and learned not to hunt squirrels and other kinds of prey anymore. It was hard work, but after moons and moons of living with her little mice friends, it was like she became one of them. Stone even had the courage to name her as a warrior when she explained to him how the system of the warrior code worked.

Now, she knew all the mice by heart, greeting them with friendly greetings, like the normal daily routine she was into.

"Nice catch, Ed!"

"How're you doing, Louise?"

"Glad to see you back, Juliette!"

Bluefrost padded around casually, greeting every mouse she saw. At this point she was used to limping around, and she felt normal and healed once again, thanks to Stone's medicine cat—er, mouse, Petal. She was this little white mouse that was a gentle soul to everyone, and was careful to keep their herbs in the right in her thoughts, Bluefrost thought she heard a squeak coming from the entrance.

Drake, the guard, who was a muscular brown mouse, started to panic. Bluefrost wanted to see all this commotion, and raced to the cave entrance, her leg not giving way as she expertly raced in powerful strides. Until finally she reached the entrance. "Guys. Wait here. I'll go outside."

As Bluefrost burst outside, she felt…different. Like this forest wasn't her home anymore. Pausing and closing her eyes, she let the scent of the forest soothe her. Calm her. It smelled so refreshing, the start of newleaf. It smelled like the grassy green leaves, or the tall, sturdy tress with thin branches that outlined the shining sun, as if it were really made to be placed in the sky. The sound of animals scuttering. They didn't smell tasty to Bluefrost anyway; she thought it was a waste of hunting down animals with all that nasty blood. Everything felt so serene to her, she could just lay down, bask in the sun and purr like a kit…

But…no. Bluefrost would find out who was the intruder. She remembered many instances when that intruder was a dog, fox or badger. But she overcame her fear. She wasn't afraid anymore. So why was she panicking when she recognized a familiar scent?

Sniffing around for where the trail went to, the trail abruptly stopped, right with the mixing of her fellow mice's scents. Oh no…they were going to hunt them.

Swerving to the left, Bluefrost found…Rainpelt…Rainpelt! Her mentor! She was overjoyed, but at the same time worrying, since he was trying to give the mice a swift bite to the neck. Bluefrost had to do something.

"Stop!" she yelled, tackling the surprised tom who unexpectedly was pinned down.

"What the—Bluepaw?" His look was mixed with emotions of shock, confusion, and realization.

"So…you're not dead or something?" he managed to blurt out.

Bluefrost gasped. "What? Dead? And…it's Bluefrost now." She shuffled her paws shyly, waiting for Rainpelt to say something.

"I…I thought you killed yourself after what you've…done to me…" he stammered, trying to get the right words. "I know you were just dealing with some stuff now, and…but, great StarClan, why'd you have to do that to me?"

Bluefrost apologized quite loudly.

Rainpelt shot her a sympathetic look, and murmured, "Will you come back to the Clan with me?"

Bluefrost hesitated for a moment. Glancing at Rainpelt, then her mice friends, she asked him patiently to wait.

They huddled together for a bit, talking in hushed whispers. Bluefrost didn't think Rainpelt could even hear a word they were saying.

After some moments, Bluefrost glanced back at him, her eyes gleaming with certainty and her head high. "I'm sorry, but…these are my friends. I think like them. I act like them. They were the ones who took me in when those days were so dark…" At the sight of Rainpelt's ears drooping, Bluefrost quickly finished. "I'm really sorry, but I really get to interact with them. Though I could visit my former Clans soon…"

Rainpelt's eyes widened. "Bluepaw…my apprentice…what you're doing with these fellow mice…becoming one of them…that's the art of conversation. No matter what animal you are, friend or foe, the art of conversation could do anything with it."

Bluefrost purred. "Yes." A hint of sadness was gleaming in her tired eyes. "I'll visit you again soon, Rainpelt."

Rainpelt nodded. "Bye…Bluefrost."

As soon as she saw his tail vanish into the undergrowth, Rainpelt was right: The art of conversation could do anything, as long as they understood each other.

A/N: 3,029 words. Whew~

Please, please, please review! It will make my day~ ;)