Hey everyone! This chapter is a little different, shown by Flamepaw's point of view. I didn't want to run out of things for Wish, so Flamepaw is viewing her life as an outsider. Hope you enjoy it! Also, I know I said shorter chapters, but Flamepaw tends to over think things...

Review!

Chapter 2

Everyone was surprised when Lostkit became an apprentice.

When she was born to Honeyfrost, Lostkit was doomed. Her sister, now Leafpaw, was perfectly fine, but Lostkit acted strange since the beginning. She didn't react to anything. No shouting could wake her, and her eyes were empty. Even now, moons after, she has still not learned to talk.

She stumbled up the Highrock, mewling. Poor Lostkit, she probably had no idea what was happening. Smokestar tried to calm her, stroking her light gray fur with his tail until she stopped fighting the urge to escape. Then, something happened that we never imagined.

"LeafClan, as you know, our dear Lostkit is both blind and deaf, but nothing is preventing her from becoming one of us. By the powers of StarClan, I call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this kit. She faces many hardships, and has more to come, but we wish for her to become an apprentice to learn the ways of your noble code and defend the Clan. Lostkit, from this moment onward, until you receive your warrior name, you shall be known as Lostpaw. The Clan will help you to train as you strive to earn your warrior name."

Lostpaw stared at Smokestar, her blue eyes unblinking, not taking in anything. Her head tilted slightly to one side, giving her a confused expression. A thin trail of saliva dripped from her mouth, clumsily licked away with her tongue. I felt a bit sad for her, not knowing what was going to happen, or what was already happening. Her light gray fur ruffled slightly in the wind.

"Lostpaw! Lostpaw! Lostpaw! Lostpaw!" the Clan cheered after a moment of shocked silence. Honeyfrost's blue-green eyes sparked brightly, proud to see her disabled kit becoming an apprentice.

Leafpaw, Lostpaw's sister, sat beside me. For as long as I have known her, Leafpaw has had nothing to do with her sister. She avoids even coming near Lostpaw, most likely trying to shake off the fact that they are even related. It must have been something, a disappointment since they were the youngest kits, that led her to hate her sister. She wanted some sort of friend to play with, and was given a scrap of fur that couldn't listen or talk to her.

I wake up groggy, Pineblaze's frantic yowling pulling me further from my dreams. Shaking the scraps of moss from my fur, I dash out of my den. The apprentices sleep in a fairly small cavern at the end of a short tunnel, that leads into the bottom-most part of our stone hollow. In a similar tunnel beside ours, the warriors make their nests. Across is the medicine cat's den, where Stripedwhisker and Hollystream rest.

Pushing through the smooth stone tunnel, I can feel the early morning rays of light from the sun soak into my pelt. My paws feel light as they retrace the steps that I take every day. Pineblaze, my mentor, loves the dawn patrols. He is alway energetic in the mornings, ready to take on the day, even for an older warrior.

I see his brown pelt, the familiar scars tracing down his sides, slicing through almost black tabby stripes. One ear is torn at the tip, from a battle he fought before I was even born. His amber eyes see everything, sharp as an eagle, which we commonly see living so close to the mountains. He never misses anything, not even my slightest mistake. Because of that, I have to be perfect for him.

"Hurry up, Flamepaw," he growls. "We have to patrol near the SnowClan border today."

SnowClan. That word freezes in my head. Everyone has heard of them, and occasionally their medicine cat will come to use our mooncrystal, but they are still a mystery. Leafpaw told me once that see saw a SnowClan patrol once, but they are rare. We are so far apart that the borders almost never need checked, just strengthened.

"Who else is going?" I ask, avoiding saying something stupid that could upset him.

"Leafpaw, Goldstream, Ravenleap, Duskpaw, and Dawnwing will be joining us."

My heart leaps at the mention of Leafpaw. The patrolling won't feel so bad with a friend to talk with. But Duskpaw could be a problem. As a new apprentice, he won't know anything about the other Clan, SnowClan, borders, prey, or any of the other things that Leafpaw and I have learned. He will most likely be asking us questions, so we won't be able to talk together on the long walk. Pineblaze might even make Leafpaw and I do some battle moves or show some hunting skills to him. That would ruin everything.

I notice Goldenstream's brilliant gold pelt shine from the corner of his eye, Leafpaw by her side. As always, Leafpaw sat calm, with her tail tucked neatly at her paws, yet poised and ready for action. She was a brave, strong cat, worthy of becoming a great warrior, even a hero. She would be the best, if the thought of Lostpaw dragging her down, just by relation, didn't cause her to think otherwise. She had abandoned her sister, and was still ashamed by even knowing her, sharing a nest with her as kits. The strangest things always seem to block our paths.

Ravenleap crawls from the warriors' den, his eyes unaware an muscles groggy from sleep. Only two moons ago, he was made a warrior, a given Duskpaw as his first apprentice. This came as a shock to most of the Clan, seeing that Ravenleap was fairly unfocused and usually forgot to do the simplest of tasks. I felt that Smokestar would give him an apprentice no matter what, just to prove the Clan wrong.

The cats gathered around myself and Pineblaze, as he began to discuss the patrol that we were to go on.

"We are going to the Highcliffs to mark the SnowClan borders. This is a long way from our normal hunting grounds, and a very long distance for our new apprentice, Duskpaw. I suggest that you each eat a piece of fresh-kill before we leave to help keep your strength for the journey."

"Wait, where is Dawnwing?" Leafpaw asked. "Isn't she coming?"

"Yes." Pineblaze sighed. "I suppose I'll go fetch her. You can eat, and then we will leave."

Our group nodded to Pineblaze, dashing to the fresh-kill pile. I followed a bit behind, my paws sluggish. Why did we have to have Duskpaw with us? At first, it seemed fine, but he would slow us down. Only a few days out of the nursery, he could scare off prey or alert dangerous predators, like the eagles and mountain lions, of where we were. Why couldn't we take my sister, Spottedpaw instead? She was annoying, but at least she wouldn't hold the group back.

"Hey, Flamepaw!" Leafpaw shouts, breaking me away from my thoughts. In her jaws, she holds a plump squirrel, ripe from the abundant leaf-green. "Do you want to share this with me?"

I jog over to the pile, right beside my friend. We begin to tear into the tender flesh, letting the meat melt in our mouths and ripping out the twig-like bones. She doesn't know anything about the way I feel about her. At first our friendship was simple, me helping her to train past the limits of her sister that she despised. I didn't know that she hated Lostpaw back then, I only knew that she was disappointed in having a weak littermate, one that she couldn't count on.

I swipe my long, pink tongue over my muzzle, wiping away the remains of the meal. Leafpaw stands, burying the fur and bones in a small hole that she pawed into the ground. She stood, and I trail her as she makes her way to Pineblaze and Goldenstream. The others finish their quick meals, and bound towards us. Pineblaze gives a flick of his tail, signaling for us to follow him.

Claws scrape against the rough bark to the Branch. At the top of the camp is a lone tree, perched on the edge of a dangerous drop. The Branch is one thick branch of the tree that runs along the side of the camp, the end dropping down. This is the only way in and out of the camp, and is made so that kits can't escape on their own.

We pass the elders' den and nursery, both sitting two tail-lengths off the ground. Stones prod from their entrances, allowing a place for cats to land in order to enter the dens. At the top, a cave is gorged out of the stone. This is our leader, Smokestar's, den.

The rim of the hole that forms our camp approaches. I haul myself to the thickest part of the grass, then jump down onto the solid ground. Long grasses surround us in the open fields, scraping the air above our heads. The sky is crisp and blue, with only a few puffs of white clouds dotting it. Pineblaze, Leafpaw, and the rest of the patrol land beside me, and Pineblaze takes the lead once again, his nose thrust into the direction of the mountains.

Everyone else falls into place behind him. I stay as close to my mentor's side as I can, but avoid straying in front of him. I don't want to seem too full of myself to a senior warrior. Leafpaw pads beside me, her amber eyes sparkling with excitement. She really is beautiful, despite all she has been through. I guess at times both of us wish it could have turned out different, that Lostpaw could be normal, that she didn't have to be pulled down.

The blanket of crisp leafs that never fade begin to take over the moor, smaller trees dotting the landscape. Birdsong floats down from high branches, and the undergrowth is alive with the voices of the small animals that we hunt. Squirrels chatter above us, teasing us as they scatter and scramble through the trees with almost unreal ease. Larger trees sprout, looming over the small ones, and completely enclosing us into the forest.

Leafpaw nudges my side. "I bet I could catch one of those squirrels before you can."

I give a light chuckle. "I'd like to see you try."

I fall behind the patrol just a fox-length. No one notices except Leafpaw, who is slowly slipping away from the other side of the path. The forest is even denser here. I'm sure Pineblaze won't mind us hunting for a second. He will be too busy navigating us there to look back and notice us gone.

"Hey, where are you going?" a voice mews behind me. Almost covered in the bushes, I peer out. Someone caught me. I should have been quicker and more stealthy. Then I could show Leafpaw who the better hunter is.

I climb out from the underbrush. "Okay, you got me," I meow, pretending to surrender at whoever caught me. But instead of a warrior, there is Duskpaw, his eyes wide.

I knew it. This little furball was going to be trouble at some time, and now, at the one moment I needed to not be annoyed, he showed up. I figure if I tell him some story he will leave me alone, but that is sadly not the case.

"Hey, Flamepaw! I want to go with you! Where are you going?"

My mind spins, deciding what story to tell the new apprentice. Finally, it settles on one, soon enough that he won't be able to tell if it is the truth or not. "Oh, I'm just leaving for a moment to go make some dirt. You might not want to come."

Duskpaw's face scrunches, probably imagining it. "No thanks then. I'll pass."

Yes! I got the furball out of my fur! Now, to go find a squirrel...