Fireheart

Spottedleaf's mesmerizing amber eyes stared down at him, full of life and humor. Fireheart felt as if he could stare into them forever. Spottedleaf's perfect face was alight with joy that made his heart ache. They sat in a meadow of flowers. Just the two of them. Fireheart couldn't imagine anything more wonderful. Then there was a flash of claws. A spray of blood. Spottedleaf was no longer standing beside him. Her delicate body was splayed out over the flowers, flecks of crimson red staining her soft fur.

Fireheart sat bolt upright in his nest, his heart pounding. Then grief threatened to choke him once more. Spottedleaf was dead. I'll never love another cat. He up at the gray, morning sky, slightly obscured by the brambles of the warriors' den, I'll find who killed her. And they'll beg for death before the end.

Then he noticed Graystripe was sitting up in the nest beside his. The gray warrior's yellow eyes were wide open, and his thick fur was fluffed out. The warrior was so still that Fireheart began to wonder after a moment if he was really awake or simply sitting there dead. That would be a stroke of luck.

"Graystripe?"

Graystripe jumped. His eyes went wide and his head swiveled around to look at Fireheart.

"Um, are you okay?" the ginger warrior asked.

"I'm fine," Graystripe answered, sitting up straight and giving his chest fur a light lick. Fireheart shivered. Even nestled in between the warm bodies of the other warriors, he could feel the chilly morning air seeping through his fur.

"It looks cold," Fireheart meowed, puzzled by Graystripe's silence. Not that that's a bad thing. Graystripe nodded vigorously.

"It is!" Well, someone's a little overenthusiastic.

Fireheart sat up and tasted the air. Over the stink of his clanmates, he could detect a light frost. The scent made Fireheart want to burrow back down into his nest and sleep for the rest of the day.

"What are you going to do with Brackenpaw today?" he asked hopefully. Maybe I can get Graystripe to take Cinderpaw along with him.

"Show him the forest," Graystripe answered. Fireheart waited for the usual burst of enthusiasm, but Graystripe seemed oddly subdued. So Fireheart went with Plan B.

"I could bring Cinderpaw, and we could travel together," he offered.

"It might be better if we travelled alone today," Graystripe replied. Fireheart felt his heart sink. Great. Now I'm stuck with little Cinderfluff, on my own. Thanks a lot.

"Fine," he mewed in a miffed tone. "I'll see you later."

"Why don't we share a mouse later and compare apprentices?" Graystripe asked.

"Sure," Fireheart mewed absently. "Yah, that'd be fine."

Fireheart stretched his legs and then crept out of the warriors' den. The air outside of the den was even colder. His breath swirled up from his muzzle like smoke, and again Fireheart wished that he didn't have to take his apprentice out.

The frozen ground felt like stone under Fireheart's paws as he trotted towards the apprentices' den. When he poked his head inside, Cinderpaw was fast asleep. Her paws and muzzle were twitching, as though she was in the midst of a particularly exciting dream.

"Cinderpaw," Fireheart called. The apprentice didn't move. Fireheart reached one paw into the den and prodded the little she-cat in the side.

Instantly Cinderpaw's head popped up.. Fireheart couldn't help but notice the young apprentice's huge blue eyes as they widened and focused on him.

Then, in one blurred motion, the apprentice leapt to her paws and bounded from the den, leaving her nest in a crumpled heap.

Fireheart backed out of the apprentices' den and turned around to see Cinderpaw bouncing hyperactively from place to place, never taking her enormous kit-blue eyes off of him. He let out a tiny, barely audible groan. Spottedleaf help me. She's worse than Graypaw was!

"What are we doing today?" Cinderpaw mewed, her ears pricking up as she spoke.

"I thought I'd take you on a tour of ThunderClan territory," Fireheart answered.

"Will we see the Thunderpath?" Cinderpaw asked eagerly, the second her mentor was finished speaking.

"Er, yes, we will," Fireheart replied. And what a surprise you'll get when you see what a dirty, stinking place it is, you little ball of hyperactive fluff. "Are you hungry, Cinderpaw?"

"No!" Cinderpaw shook her head. She was still shifted excitedly from side to side.

"Oh. Okay." Fireheart had personally been looking forward to a warn mouse or vole from the fresh-kill pile, but it looked like that wasn't going to be happening anytime soon. "We'll eat later." Fireheart then turned toward the camp entrance. Cinderpaw didn't move. "Well, follow me."

"Yes, Fireheart." Again the she-cat looked up at him, her blue eyes sparkling like frost in the sunshine. Fireheart had to force himself to turn away and bound toward the entrance.

As soon as he moved, however, Cinderpaw was off like a shot. She raced past her mentor and charged up the slope that led the bramble-covered entrance. Fireheart had to break into a run to catch up. His still-stiff muscles protested loudly.

"I thought I said to follow me!" he called as they leapt up the slope together.

"But I want to see the view from the top!" Cinderpaw protested.

Fireheart leapt after her, not taking the time to reply. He sped up and soon overtook the smaller cat, allowing him to slow down a bit as he made his way to the top. He then pushed through the brambles and sat down on the other side. As he waited for Cinderpaw, he began to daintily wash one foot.

By the time the little grey apprentice reached the top of the slope she was panting, but no less enthusiastic.

"Look at the trees! They look like they're made from moonstone!" she declared loudly, if breathlessly. A new problem occurred to Fireheart and he nearly groaned aloud. Teaching her to hunt is going to be a pain in the tail. She can't even talk a decent volume. He let out a small sigh. When I'm leader, I'm never training another apprentice. Ever. Again.

"Try to save your energy," Fireheart warned. "We have a long way to go today."

"Oh, yes. Right. Okay. Got it. Which way now?" Cinderpaw began shifting from side to side again impatiently, kneading the ground with her paws as she did so.

"Follow me," Fireheart meowed. He narrowed his eyes at her. "And this time I do mean follow!"

He led the way along the edge of the ravine, into the mossy hollow where he had practiced hunting and fighting with Graypaw and Ravenpaw.

"This is where most of our training sessions will be held," he explained. "A river can through here a long time ago. Now it runs up along the border with WindClan." He gestured in that direction with his tail. "I caught my first prey near there."

"Awesome! What did you catch? Was it big?" Cinderpaw didn't wait for an answer. "Will the lake be frozen now? If it is, can we invade RiverClan? Let's look and see if there's ice!" With that she charged at full tilt down into the hollow, ran straight through it, and headed toward the lake.

There's not going to be a piece of prey left in the territory by the time we're finished, Fireheart thought wearily as he propelled himself into a run again. Stupid little―

The rest of Fireheart's thoughts faded into a sort of haze as he ran after his apprentice. Within a few minutes he had managed to catch up with her, and together they stopped by the side of the stream.

The sides of the lake had frozen and were crusted with sparkling ice, but the swiftness of the rushing water as it poured between its banks had stopped it from freezing over completely.

"You wouldn't catch much there now," Cinderpaw mewed, eyes still wide. "Except fish maybe."

"Stay clear of the water," Fireheart warned, backing up a bit from the fast-flowing stream. "Leave the fishing to RiverClan. If they like getting their fur wet, let them. I prefer dry paws."

Cinderpaw also backed up from the edge and then padded in a restless circle. "What now?"

Fireheart had a sudden idea. He was about to announce it out loud, but though better of it and bounded away instead.

"The Ancient Oak!" he called back over his shoulder. Cinderpaw charged after him, her short, fluffy tail sticking straight out behind her.

Fireheart had visited the Ancient Oak more than once and knew the way there well. He sped through the forest, never slowing down for fear of letting Cinderpaw get ahead of him. After a few minutes, the two cats reached the huge tree, which grew on the edge of the lake. Fireheart skidded to a stop and began to weave his ways through the now-brown ferns. Cinderpaw followed.

When they reached the massive oak, Cinderpaw finally came to a complete stop and stared, open-mouthed, at the huge tree. Then she mewed just one word.

"Whoa!"

"Huge, isn't it," Fireheart meowed. "This is a good place to come squirrel-hunting. They like to look for the acorns that this tree drops."

"Cool!" Cinderpaw declared. She was weaving back and forth underneath to the ferns now, still focused on the tree. It looked as though she was trying to spot the top.

"Smallear claims that he climbed all the way to the top branch when he was an apprentice," Fireheart added.

"No way!" Cinderpaw mewed.

"Mind you, when Smallear was an apprentice this tree was probably only a sapling," Fireheart said. However, the already lame joke was lost on Cinderpaw, who had rushed off again into the grass. With a long, hefty sigh, Fireheart ran after her.

As he tracked his apprentice through the forest, Fireheart began picking up a rich, earthy scent, one he had smelt only a few times before. The tunnels. Cinderpaw was headed for the few openings in the ground that led to a network of underground tunnels, which connected ThunderClan territory with WindClan. Fireheart sped up, hoping against hope that Cinderpaw wouldn't decide to explore the openings. It wasn't that he cared so much about Cinderpaw's safety; but it would be pretty awkward to explain to Bluestar how he had let his first apprentice get crushed by the tunnels.

As Fireheart emerged from the tree he saw that Cinderpaw had indeed found the tunnel entrances. She was perched on the edge of the downward slope, blue eyes shining with excitement.

"Come on, Fireheart!" she called happily. "Race you to the bottom!" Great StarClan no!

"Cinderpaw!" Fireheart yowled, springing forward. "Get away from there!"

He held his breath as Cinderpaw turned and scrambled away from the tunnel entrance, fur fluffed out in fear. When she was far enough away, Fireheart came toward her.

"This is one of the entrances to the tunnels," he explained to the wide-eyed apprentice.

"Tunnels?" Cinderpaw asked curiously.

"They connect our territory with WindClan's," Fireheart explained. "And that may seem neat to you, but one wrong move in there could bring a whole section of those tunnels down on your head!"

Cinderpaw's eyes went even wider, and Fireheart realized that he might have scared her a little too much with his description of what could happen in the tunnels. He bent down and gave her a quick, if somewhat awkward, lick on the head. She tastes disgusting.

"Come on," he mewed. "Let's go see the Thunderpath."

Immediately, Cinderpaw brightened up again. "Race you there!" And then she was off.

Spottedleaf help me, Fireheart thought as he propelled himself into a run for the umpteenth time that day. If I ever get through her apprenticeship it'll be a miracle!