Well I finally got my lazy bum up to write another chapter. And s*it, tomorrow is Mother's Day. Crap.

Warriors (c) Erin Hunter

Cats/Clans (c) Me

July

"Good…good," a dark ginger tom muttered as Barkkit snatched a falling leaf neatly with his tiny claws. Their father's warm amber eyes glowed with pride. He snatched up another green leaf with his claws and let it slowly drift to the ground. "Try it again, but use your legs to jump higher."

Barkkit nodded determinedly and crouched low to the ground. He watched the leaf slowly fall to the ground in a subtle swinging motion. When the leaf was a tail-length off the ground, Barkkit leapt upward and swiped the leaf with his claws.

"Much better," the dark ginger tom purred. "In battle, many cats will expect us to be slow and clumsy. However, the other Clans don't have the advantages that we have of training in both the forest and the river. When they see how swift we can leap, they'll sure be surprised!"

"Will you become my mentor, Stoatshade?" Barkkit innocently asked.

Stoatshade let out a low sigh. "Unfortunately not, my little warrior. Turtlestar forbids parents from mentoring their young, and Salmonpaw will probably still be in training by the time you become an apprentice."

"That's stupid!" Barkkit growled and glared at his stubby paws. "When I become Clan leader, I'll make sure apprentices get the best training—from their parents!"

Stoatshade let out an amused purr. "I'm sure you will, Barkkit. You'll become the greatest Clan leader WaterfallClan has ever seen."

"Will you become my deputy?" Barkkit excitedly chirped, his sadness immediately gone.

"Hah, that is for you to decide, my little warrior, and you might find out that you want to pick someone else who might be worthier than me."

"Like Cracklekit?" Barkkit sneered and glared towards his brother's slump form near the creek a few tail-lengths away.

"I said someone worthy," Stoatshade growled.

Cracklekit blocked out the rest of their conversation and weakly tried to groom a tangled knot on his right flank. It wasn't his fault that his parents despised him; he didn't know what he did. Did they believe in Lakesplash's omen or did they just hate him for no reason? He was too busy yanking at his flank that he didn't notice Treekit coming up to sit next to him.

"Need some help?" Treekit asked.

"With what?" Cracklekit snapped.

Treekit didn't flinch and instead rephrased her question. "Do you want some help with your knot?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"No."

Treekit laughed. "Always uncertain about things, aren't you Cracklekit?"

"It's better than knowing everything."

Treekit casted a sideways glance towards Lakesplash, who was sitting outside the medicine cats' den and glaring at the two kits. "I suppose." She turned her attention back to her friend. "So, did you want my help or not?"

Cracklekit shrugged. "It beats trying to do it myself."

Treekit gave the rat's nest a quick examination. "Have you tried getting it wet? It might make it easier to untangle the knot."

The ruffled dark brown tabby tom bore his sharp teeth at his older denmate. "I hate getting wet."

"I never suspected you were a drypaw."

"I never suspected you were a chatter-box."

Treekit glanced at the sun, which was at its apex in the bright, green-leaf sky. "But doesn't a nice dip sound refreshing in this humid weather?"

"But doesn't a nice dip sound like torture?" Cracklekit sneered playfully. "I don't understand how so many of us can stand getting wet. It soaks through your pelt and chills your skin." He shuddered.

"But you can stand eating fish?" Treekit questioned.

"Oh, I like eating fish. Salmon is my favorite."

"Well…they are plentiful during their breeding season during leaf-fall," Treekit said with intellect.

"Tell me something else that I don't want to hear," Cracklekit joked.

"Okay! Umm…did you know that a tom's—"

"I was joking!" Cracklekit interrupted. "I don't even want to know what you were about to say."

Treekit laughed once more. "Well…it did achieve one thing."

"And what's that?"

The light brown tabby she-cat giggled as she then shoved Cracklekit into the nearby stream. The dark tabby tom yelped as he flailed in the water. "You know I can't swim!"

"Stand up."

Cracklekit closed his eyes and held in his breath as he forced his paws downward. He expected for his paws to continue sinking in the water, but instead he felt moist and gooey sand beneath his paws. The water barely reached up to his chest. Cracklekit glared at the amused Treekit.

"Well I didn't know it was that shallow!" he snapped.

"Look on the bright side," Treekit chirped as she splashed into the water to meet him. She once again examined his tangled knot, now moistened by the water. "See? Now it'll be easier to untangle."

"I can't see," Cracklekit insisted over Treekit's body. He tried to twist around to see what she was doing only to be scolded to remain still. Treekit gently licked the knot and soon turned the mangled patch of dark brown fur into its former smooth form. "There!"

Cracklekit veered over to glance at his now moistened fur. He sniffed it. "Not bad, for a she-cat."

Treekit gently swatted Cracklekit's muzzle with her tail. "Don't mention it and you're still standing in the water. Does this mean you now enjoy getting wet?"

Cracklekit splashed her face with water by swatting his tail across the stream. "No," he simply meowed.

Treekit retaliated by raking her paw across the water, soaking Cracklekit to his skin. "Payback."

Instead of shaking dry his wet pelt, Cracklekit once again splashed her and the two denmates soon engaged in a full-out water battle and any cat who stepped too close to the splash zone was immediately soaked.

Cracklekit knew that things would turn out all right as long as he had Treekit as his friend.

This time on The Curse of Crackleclaw, Treekit teaches Cracklekit about biology. He was disgusted.