Chapter 3

Waterpaw was pinned on the ground, her attacker's hot breath fanning her face as she scrambled to get free. Her attacker placed one hind leg on her soft belly skin and she winced as she prepared for the pain that would soon come. Play dead, Waterpaw didn't know if it was her own conscience or if some member of StarClan was trying to speak to her, but she decided to take the advice. Waterpaw stopped moving and she could sense her attacker's satisfaction as they bent forward to give the killing bite. Waterpaw then sprung forward, her strength and speed allowing her to knock her attacker onto their back. Pinning them down, Waterpaw watched as the gray-and-white cat squirmed below her.

"Enough!" Waterpaw looked over to where Orangepelt and Maroonfeather were padding forward, both their eyes glimmering with pride. It was Maroonfeather who had spoken and he flicked his tail on Waterpaw's shoulder, meowing, "Now why don't you let my apprentice get up, hm?" Waterpaw obeyed and Maroonfeather continued, "You both displayed excellent fighting techniques today. Cloudpaw, nice beginning, you just have to stay focused and make sure that your opponent really is dead before getting ready to go for the kill." Cloudpaw looked very pleased by Maroonfeather's complement and he wasn't the easiest to please. "And Waterpaw, I'm not your mentor, but I can even tell you, you did a great job. I wouldn't want to be the cat who crosses you."

Both Waterpaw and Cloudpaw dipped their heads in thanks and Orangepelt mewed, "I agree with both of you, well done. Cloudpaw, your leap in the beginning was amazing. You must have WindClan in your blood after all or you are just blessed with powerful hindlegs." Cloudpaw gave a squeak of surprise. Clearly she wasn't expecting to be praised by another warrior. "As for you, Waterpaw that was a good battle. I thought that Cloudpaw had you beat until that last move at the end. Did you come up with that on your own?" Waterpaw shrugged, not knowing whether to tell her mentor about the voice she heard. "Secretive, eh? Just like your father."

"Are you talking about me behind my back?" All four cats jumped and turned their heads to look where Woodstar was padding towards them, Reedtail and Airpaw flanking him. Reedtail's muzzle was practically hidden since he was carrying two squirrels while Airpaw was proudly holding a mouse. Waterpaw had heard Orangepelt and Maroonfeather talking about how Reedtail was taking Airpaw out on his first hunting practice. Waterpaw glanced proudly at her brother, impressed that he caught something on his first time out. At her first lesson, all Waterpaw had gotten was a face full of mud after attempting to catch a rabbit that was stopping for a drink of water.

Orangepelt was about to protest when Cloudpaw meowed, "Did you catch that all by yourself, Airpaw?" Like Waterpaw, Cloudpaw hadn't caught anything her first time, but almost managed to fish out a minnow. Maroonfeather had been impressed even though Cloudpaw hadn't caught it. When they were alone, Orangepelt told Waterpaw a secret: Maroonfeather had never gotten a fish before. Waterpaw had thought that to be amusing and spent no time at all, informing her kin. Darkpaw had rolled his eyes, saying he had no time for kit gossip while Cloudpaw had instantly gotten fired up and defended her mentor. Only Airpaw seemed interested to listen to Waterpaw.

Reedtail dropped his two squirrels and answered before Airpaw could even say anything, "Yes he did. Your brother also managed to sniff out this squirrel, but I got to him first." Reedtail nudged Airpaw playfully and Waterpaw was surprised to see a glimmer of amusement in the dark warrior's eyes. Was he truly enjoying having Airpaw as an apprentice? Was Airpaw a replacement for Lakepaw who Reedtail had always given the cold shoulder? Waterpaw didn't know, but as she glanced at her own father, she was glad she had a healthy relationship with Woodstar.

Woodstar purred along side Reedtail and Airpaw before turning to Maroonfeather, his expression suddenly serious, "Maroonfeather, I still wish to speak to you about the rogues. Voleheart said another group of them was seen by the border of ShadowClan and RiverClan territory."

"Did he say Toby or Squirrel was among them?" Maroonfeather demanded and Waterpaw was curious about the expression in Maroonfeather's violet eyes. Why did he care so much whether Toby or Squirrel had been part of the group? Waterpaw had met the two rogues on her first day out as an apprentice and was in no hurry to repeat the experience. There would have been a fight if Gingereye hadn't been there.

"Toby was, but Squirrel wasn't," Woodstar answered and with a glance at the other cats surrounding them added, "Why don't we speak about this in my den? Reedtail, why don't you and Airpaw continue training with Orangepelt and Waterpaw? Maroonfeather and Cloudpaw can carry your prey back to camp." At the way Woodstar spoke, Waterpaw could tell that Reedtail didn't have a choice.

Reedtail dipped his head and Woodstar gave Airpaw and Waterpaw a gentle flick on the ear before the three cats padded away. Reedtail ten turned around to face Orangepelt, Airpaw, and Waterpaw and growled, "Okay what we you doing before? Airpaw can just jump in. I took him fighting once so he knows the basics."

"Well," Orangepelt began, but Waterpaw cut across her, "Cloudpaw and I were play-fighting. She was really good, but I ended up winning. I doubt Airpaw would even stand a chance against me."

"Oh really?" Airpaw meowed, his face doubting. Waterpaw was about to shoot back a response when Airpaw jumped forward and tackled her to the ground. Waterpaw tried to back up, but Airpaw was right on top of her, his small, fast body making him a formidable opponent. It would have been easier if she had been smaller, but she just tripped over her giant paws and was soon pinned down by Airpaw.

"Nip her, Airpaw," Reedtail growled and Airpaw obeyed, gently nipping his sister on the shoulder while Orangepelt nudged her Clanmate in false anger, hissing, "No helping, Reedtail. That's cheating."

While Airpaw had glanced over to Reedtail to wonder why his mentor was being chastised, Waterpaw kicked her hindlegs hard into her brother's stomach, making him squeak in surprise. Leaping forward, Waterpaw pinned Airpaw down, placing one paw softly on his throat and a hindleg on his stomach just as Cloudpaw had done to her.

"See I told you, you wouldn't stand a chance against me," Waterpaw purred as Orangepelt flicked her on the shoulder to get off Airpaw. Her brother scrambled to his paws and growled, "You know I really won, Waterpaw. If I hadn't been distracted I would have-"

"A good warrior never blames others for their mistakes, right Orangepelt?" Waterpaw purred, glancing at her mentor who nodded. Reedpelt too nodded and meowed, "Waterpaw's right, Airpaw. In battle if one of your clanmates is being attacked you can't look at them if you are fighting someone else. You have to pay strict attention to the battle."

"I don't know about that Reedtail," Orangepelt disagreed while Waterpaw and Airpaw glanced at the two warriors. "If one of their clanmates is being attacked, I would hope that they would try to help them. I hope you would do that for one of your clanmates."

"Orangepelt, I disagree-" While the two warriors were talking, Waterpaw and Airpaw crept away, losing interest in their mentors discussion. As they walked, Waterpaw kept leaping around while Airpaw walked quietly, growling playfully, "What are you a kit, little sister?"

Waterpaw rolled her eyes at Airpaw and was about to shoot a reply back at him when she realized something. The scents around them were changing. To something she knew yet didn't. "Airpaw, are we in-"

"In ThunderClan territory? Yes I think we are," Airpaw meowed, suddenly looking nervous. "Waterpaw, maybe we should go back to the others. We haven't explored this part of the lake yet. Waterpaw!" Waterpaw had sprang forward and started sprinting ahead, leaving Airpaw to do nothing, but chase after his sister.

Waterpaw wasn't even listening to Airpaw as she ran deeper and deeper into ThunderClan territory. This was the Clan of her ancestors! Waterpaw had always listened to Songbird's stories about Jaystar, Lionstar, and the other cats that made up Waterpaw's bloodline. For some reason she had always found it interesting.

As she ran, Waterpaw's paws suddenly left the ground and she was spiraling downward. In the midst of her fear, Waterpaw heard Airpaw screech, "Waterpaw!" Glancing down, Waterpaw saw that she was falling into a stone hollow. Yowling in terror, Waterpaw thought to herself, Please StarClan! Please help me!

Suddenly her fall stopped, as someone grabbed Waterpaw by the scruff and heaved her onto one of the stone ledges. Still gasping in terror, Waterpaw felt her savior drop her, allowing the young apprentices' paws to sink onto the cold stone. "Are you okay?" Waterpaw glanced up and saw a reddish brown tom with two gold eyes glancing down at her, worry etched onto his scarred face. He couldn't be much older than Waterpaw herself, but she noticed that he was larger than Reedtail and the other toms of the Clan. "Hello?"

"Um hi," Waterpaw squeaked, her voice sore from yowling. Standing on shaky paws, Waterpaw was relieved when the tom offered her his shoulder to lean on. Meowing quietly, Waterpaw answered, "A little shaky, but I'm okay I think." There was an awkward pause. "Um who are you?" The tom was so neatly groomed that he couldn't be a rogue and no kittypet in their right mind would head into such dangerous territory. Maybe he was a loner?

"I'm Cody," The tom meowed, "What's your name?" Waterpaw was about to answer when she noticed someone standing beside Cody, the cat's gray eyes thoughtful. Waterpaw was about to warn Cody by springing on the she-cat when she noticed something odd about the cat. The she-cat's golden brown fur was covered with stars. That meant only one thing: she was a warrior of StarClan.

The she-cat opened her jaws and hissed: "Four will take one and make five, making history repeat itself. Thunder will fall on the lake and the Clan of birds will be no more. The end is now."

Waterpaw blinked in confusion and the she-cat was suddenly gone, leaving her alone with Cody who was still waiting for an answer. "Waterpaw," Waterpaw meowed, orange eyes still searching for the she-cat, "My name is Waterpaw."

"Well then Waterpaw-" But Cody was cut off by Airpaw who was leaping down the stone ledges, yowling, "Waterpaw! Waterpaw, get away from him! He's a rogue!" Waterpaw glanced at Cody who was snarling at Airpaw who suddenly leaped on top of the rogue, knocking him to the floor.

"Airpaw! Airpaw, stop! He saved my life!" Waterpaw tried to get in front of the two wrestling toms, noting that they were still on the ledge. "Fleabrains, if you keep on fighting, you'll going to head right over the side of the ledge!" This made the fighting stop. "Good. Now let's get out of here and then you two can fight each other later." Waterpaw glanced up, but couldn't find anything to jump on. Were they stuck?

"Follow me," Cody growled and he jumped onto a ledge, flicking his tail, silently saying that the two Clan cats should follow him. Airpaw turned to look at Waterpaw and whispered, "Can we trust him?" Waterpaw ignored her brother and sprang after Cody, leaving Airpaw to make his own choice. Hearing claws meet stone, Waterpaw knew that Airpaw had chosen to follow her and Cody.

After many jumps and almost falls, Cody led them onto safe ground. Turning to face them, Cody hissed, "This is where we go our separate ways, Clan cats. Next time we meet, maybe we'll have another fight."

Cody was about to bound away when Airpaw stepped forward, snarling, "We'll have a fight right now!" Airpaw was about to spring forward when suddenly a brown tabby cat jumped in front of Cody, snarling as she protected him. An unnatural wind whirled behind Waterpaw and suddenly Reedtail was standing in front of her and Airpaw, his body shaking as he hid them from the she-cat's view. Behind her, Waterpaw heard Orangepelt's growls.

"Reedtail," The brown she-cat hissed while Reedtail growled, "Squirrel." Suddenly Waterpaw realized she knew who the she-cat was. It was that rogue she had run into on patrol with Gingereye and Orangepelt. The one with Toby.

Squirrel glanced over at Orangepelt and snarled, "Orangepelt."

Like Reedtail, Orangepelt growled, "Squirrel."

"Now that we all know each other," Airpaw snarled, "Get out of our territory, you piece of foxdung."

"Your territory?" Squirrel hissed, glaring at Airpaw and Waterpaw felt her brother's paws quiver, "Last time I checked, you and you Clanmates hunted on RiverClan and WindClan territory. ThunderClan's prey was slowly growing and if you aren't going to use the territory, we will."

"Woodstar gave you ShadowClan territory. A generous offer which seems to have deluded you in thinking that you can take whatever you want from us," Reedtail growled, "Now get out. We don't want to hurt you or your kit."

"Kit?" Squirrel hissed in mock confusion, "Oh you mean Cody. He is far from a kit at seven moons of age and one day he will lead us rogues to taking over you weak Clan cats. His father is Toby and unlike our earlier mistakes, we will be training this son to be strong enough to rip Woodstar's lives from him and any other leader who takes his place."

Airpaw snarled at this and Waterpaw tried to sound just as angry, but she didn't miss the look of reluctance on Cody's face as Squirrel talked about his future. Reedtail stalked forward and growled, "As much as I want to shred your pelt, I must return to my Clan and Squirrel, I will be telling Woodstar and Voleheart of this meeting. ThunderClan territory won't be as poorly guarded anymore. Let's go."

And with that Reedtail turned and stalked away, Orangepelt and Airpaw flanking him. Waterpaw took a step forward and glanced back to see Squirrel stalking away without Cody. Glancing at his fellow rogue, Cody mouthed 'bye' before disappearing after Squirrel.

"Bye," Waterpaw whispered.

"Waterpaw!"

Author's Note: Wow another long chapter. I'm on a roll. Sorry for the delay though. I've been sick with the flu. Please review!