(Sorry I haven't updated in a while, but school is a pain and so on and I haven't gotten around to working on this story.

Okay in this chapter we find out a little bit about Goldenstar and Finchflight.

This story actually started about a quarter moon (a week) before Firepaw would have joined Thunderclan. For those of you wondering why there hasn't been a gathering yet.)

Chapter 6

Firepaw and Longpaw were following their mentors to the training area. It had warmed up a bit and the sun made Firepaw's fur blaze as if his pelt was made of flame. They arrived at the training area and moved to into the clearing. Goldenstar moved to sit in front of the oak tree.

"Today we will practice the Sky Drop. This move is an ambush move that our Clan has used for many seasons. The first thing I would like you to do is to climb at least three fox length's up the oak tree. Then I want you to walk out to the thinnest branch and balance yourself on it. Be careful, if the branch feels like it will snap under your weight then back up and try a different branch. I just want to see how you will handle leaping out of a tree, before you actually practice landing on another cats back." she meowed calmly.

Firepaw wasn't sure if he should be worried or excited. He had wondered what it would be like to jump from tree branch to tree branch, but he wasn't sure if he was ready to actually try to jump through the trees. Longpaw nudged Firepaw to snap him out of his thoughts. He noticed that Goldenstar was watching him intensely. Firepaw shook his head slightly, and looked up at the oak. He leaped up and climbed a couple fox lengths up the tree and began to padded onto the closest branch beside him. As he walked across the branch he looked down below him and froze mid step. He had never climbed this high up on a tree before, and he started to get nervous that he would fall.

"Come on Firepaw, climb up here." Firepaw tore his eyes away for a moment and saw that another fox length and a half up the tree was Longpaw looking at him expectantly. Firepaw shook his head and shivered a little.

"Firepaw, walk out to the thinnest part of the branch and jump down." meowed Goldenstar. Firepaw looked down at her worriedly, before padding out further on the branch hoping not to fall off. He started to slip and panicked causing him to fall to the ground. Luckily he landed on his feet and avoided serious injury. Goldenstar rushed over to him.

"Are you alright?" she meowed worriedly.

"Of course he's alright, he didn't fall that far." meowed Finchflight. Goldenstar whipped her head around to look at Finchflight.

"Finchflight, he wasn't born a SkyClan cat and I'm sure that he hasn't climbed a tree that high before." Firepaw looked at his paws ashamed. He knew if he truly wanted to be a SkyClan warrior he would have to get used to being high up in trees.

"I'm okay Goldenstar." meowed Firepaw. Goldenstar nodded at him before turning back to Finchflight.

"Why don't you continue teaching Longpaw the Sky Drop, I'll work on some battle tactics with Firepaw." she meowed before motioning Firepaw to follow her with her tail.

They moved away from the oak tree to some softer, warm, grass. Goldenstar spun around quickly to face Firepaw.

"Okay Firepaw are you ready?" asked Goldenstar. Firepaw shifted on his paws and gave her a quick nod.

"Very well" without warning Goldenstar shot forward, Firepaw raced forward to try and unbalance her, but Goldenstar seemed to expect the move and dodged out of the way, twisting her head around to head butt Firepaw in the side causing him to tumble across the soft grass. He shook himself before standing up turning around to face Goldenstar.

"Shall we continue?" she called. Before Firepaw could answer her, she had rushed forward again. Firepaw waited and dodged just as she was within range to strike him, however, she whipped her hind legs around fast enough to catch him and sent him spinning across the ground. Goldenstar turned to face him.

"Firepaw I want you to think about my attacks and plan ahead. I won't always do the same maneuver and neither will your opponent. Do you understand?" Firepaw panted slightly as he got to his paws.

"Yes I understand." he breathed. Goldenstar nodded

"Very well then." she meowed before once again racing forward. Firepaw watched her carefully. When she was within range to strike him again, he made a move as if to dodge her again then leaped at her paws unbalancing her and twisting around to back-kick her in the chest, making Goldenstar roll across the ground. Firepaw watched as the golden she-cat got to her paws with a slight purr in her chest.

"Well done, now will see how you handle this move." The lesson continued on until sometime close to dusk. Goldenstar called Longpaw and Finchflight telling them that training was over and that they should come with her and Firepaw back to camp. Goldenstar and Finchflight took the lead while Longpaw and Firepaw walked side by side behind the pair.

"Don't worry Firepaw, I won't tell Lightningpaw about the tree incident. Besides you didn't do half bad today." meowed Longpaw. Firepaw's ears burned with embarrassment as he thought of what the pale ginger warrior would say if he found out Firepaw fell out of a tree.

"Thanks Longpaw. You were pretty good yourself." meowed Firepaw.

"Naturally, after all you can't look like me and not be perfection." Firepaw couldn't help but laugh as said perfection tripped over a root on the ground and face planted into the dirt. Finchflight and Goldenstar looked back at the two.

"Are you alright Longpaw?" asked Finchflight. Firepaw could tell the golden warrior was trying his best to hide his amusement. Goldenstar however looked thoroughly amused.

"I'm okay Finchflight." Longpaw meowed with a sheepish grin on his face.

"Watch your footing next time." the golden warrior meowed before walking off with Goldenstar beside him in the direction of the camp.

Firepaw couldn't help but notice that Goldenstar and Finchflight seemed very close to each other. He murmured his thoughts to Longpaw. Longpaw purred.

"It must have something to do with the fact that Goldenstar was Finchflight's mentor." Firepaw eye's widened.

"Really? She was? Wow, I was thinking it was because they were related to each other in some way." meowed Firepaw.

"Oh they are, Goldenstar is also Finchflight's mother." Now Firepaw looked confused while he walked next to Longpaw.

"Why did Goldenstar mentor Finchflight?" asked Firepaw.

"It had something to do with his first mentor. He had a mentor name Crowheart who wasn't a very patient warrior. He didn't like Finchflight because he couldn't learn all the techniques fast enough. He told Cinderstar, the leader before Goldenstar, that Finchflight wasn't acting like an apprentice and told him he should be moved back to the nursery." Firepaw widened his eyes in shock.

"And Cinderstar agreed to it?" Longpaw nodded.

"Yep, he did, and Crowheart got another apprentice, but Goldenstar wouldn't have any of it. She took Finchflight out herself and trained him and he learned better under her teachings then he ever did with Crowheart. So Cinderstar decided, to make Goldenstar Finchflight's mentor." Firepaw watched the two golden warriors ahead of him before remembering something Longpaw had stated earlier.

"Who became Crowheart's new apprentice?" Longpaw looked deep in thought for a moment before answering.

"I believe it was Stonetooth."

When the group entered camp, Firepaw and Longpaw started to head off toward the apprentice den. Goldenstar stopped Firepaw.

"Firepaw, I want you to look after the elder's tomorrow understand?" Firepaw sighed before nodding. Firepaw caught up with Longpaw who was grooming his pelt in front of the entrance to the apprentice den. He looked up as Firepaw approached.

"Hey, what did Goldenstar want?" Firepaw sighed again.

"She wants me to take care of the elder's tomorrow." Longpaw looked at him sympathetically

"That's rough but it's a part of clan life so you were bound to do it sooner or later." Longpaw meowed softly.

"Yeah, but I wish it had been later." Firepaw sighed again.

"You wish what had happened later?" as soft voice called from within the apprentice den. Longpaw and Firepaw turn just in time to see Dovepaw emerge from the apprentice den.

"Goldenstar wants me to clean the elder's den tomorrow."

"Oh it will be okay, if I'm not doing anything tomorrow I'll help you." Firepaw thanked her.

"So how did your first time battle training go?" she asked.

"It was okay." he mumbled. Dovepaw looked confusedly a Longpaw. Who told her about his graceful landing from the oak tree.

"Longpaw, I thought you said you wouldn't tell anyone about that." Firepaw hissed in Longpaw's ear.

"Correction, I said I wouldn't tell Lightningpaw. I didn't say anything about Dovepaw" Longpaw meowed with a mischievous look on his face. Dovepaw looked at Firepaw with concern on her face.

"I wouldn't tell anyone about that Firepaw."

"Thanks Dovepaw that means a lot to me" Firepaw meowed softly. Longpaw rolled his eyes then gave himself a long stretch and a big yawn.

"Well I'm going to retire for the night. See you two in the morning." Firepaw watched him go with a shake of his head and stood to follow him, but was stopped by Dovepaw.

"Come with me." she murmured in his ear before leading him a small hole in the wall near the apprentice den. She motioned him to follow her as she crawled through the small opening. Firepaw looked around to make sure no one was paying attention to them before following her. We he emerged from opening he found Dovepaw waiting for him. She raced off quickly in one direction. Firepaw chased after weaving through the trees and undergrowth through the forest. As they ran Firepaw felt the stress of the day leave him as he chased Dovepaw through the forest. When they reached a clearing, Firepaw recognized it to be the clearing for the Sun Rock. He saw Dovepaw perched at the very top. The light from the three-quarter moon made her snow white pelt glow beautifully. Her sparkling blue eyes looked warmly down at him.

"Well are you going to just stand there or are you going to climb up here with me?" she teased. Firepaw quickly scrambled up the rock to stand beside the white apprentice. He looked up and thought the view was beautiful. It looked almost as though they were standing underneath the moon.

"It's beautiful isn't it? I like to think of this rock as the Rock of Stars during the night since it holds this great view of the moon and the stars." meowed Dovepaw.

"It's amazing." Dovepaw watched Firepaw briefly before sneaking off the rock and running over to a nearby tree.

"Come over here I can show you an even better view." Firepaw turned just in time to see Dovepaw start to climb the tree. Without a thought he raced over to her and started to climb up right behind her. They continued to climb up the tree until Dovepaw started to walk out onto a branch with Firepaw sitting right beside her.

"I knew you could do it" she purred softly. Firepaw blinked at her

"What do you mean?"

"Look down." Firepaw looked down and was shocked to see that he had climbed halfway up the oak tree, which was further then the height he climbed in the training area, plus the tree they were in was bigger than the one in the training area. Dovepaw looked at him in amusement before looking back up to the stars.

"My mother use to take me out here and we would look up into the stars here together. I miss her, She died in a skirmish over territory some moons ago." Firepaw touched his nose to her shoulder.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's okay, It was long ago and I know she is watching over me from StarClan and that she is proud of me." Firepaw purred softly, they brushed their pelts together and gaze into the starry sky.

Two sunrises passed, Firepaw was on a patrol with Goldenstar, Mapletail and Spiderfang. They were heading toward their border with ThunderClan. Goldenstar was leading the group with Mapletail and Firepaw walking next to each other and Spiderfang bringing up the rear. Mapletail was telling Firepaw the best spot to look for pheasants and quails during Greenleaf. Firepaw was grateful for her wisdom and wondered if Goldenstar was going to let her show him some hunting techniques. As they approached the border, Goldenstar halted them and told them to remain silent. Firepaw looked at his mentor curiously after he noticed his clanmates tense up. Goldenstar murmured for him to use his nose. He breathed in the air and smelt the unmistakable scents of ThunderClan approaching to the border. He started to flex his claws when Goldenstar touched her tail to his shoulder and murmured for him not to say or do anything to provoke the other cats. Soon the ThunderClan warriors were within sight and Firepaw got a good look at the group. There was a pale gray she-cat with blue eyes, walking side by side with a large golden tom with thick fur that wrapped around his neck like a lion's mane. Behind them padded a long haired gray tom. Leading the group was a tortoiseshell tom with a bright ginger tail. As they approached the ThunderClan patrol seemed to tense a bit as well at the sight of the SkyClan patrol. Mapletail came over to stand beside Firepaw.

"The tom leading the group is Redtail, he is ThunderClan's deputy." She murmured into his ear. Firepaw looked surprised, but nodded in understanding.

"Greetings Goldenstar, It is a surprise to see you at the border, I trust that prey runs well in your territory?" meowed Redtail giving a nod to Goldenstar..

"Indeed it does, I must say I didn't expect to run into a ThunderClan patrol, and I Trust that the prey is running well in your territory?"

"Yes, I see your Clan has grown." he meowed looking at Firepaw. Firepaw felt the whole ThunderClan patrol's gazes on his pelt. Firepaw looked at the young gray cat which he assumed to be an apprentice. The gray tom looked curiously at him before turning his head to murmuring something to the big golden tom. 'That must be his mentor.' thought Firepaw.

"It has, you'll hear all about it at the gathering." Goldenstar meowed. Firepaw wondered if she was also referring to Squirrelfur's kits that were born the sunrise before.

"I'm sure I will. Well we have to get on with our patrol."

"Yes we do as well, give my regards to Bluestar." She meowed leading her patrol in the direction of the thunderpath. The Firepaw watched as the ThunderClan patrol headed in the direction of their border with RiverClan. Firepaw turned to look at Mapletail and gave her a questioning look.

"Who were those other cats?" he asked curiously.

"Well, that miniature lion was Lionheart, he's a good strong warrior. The she-cat was Willowpelt, I know that she can be pretty fierce if pushed too hard. I'm not sure about the apprentice I haven't seen him at a gathering, he might be a new apprentice." Firepaw stopped to look back over his shoulder. He could just make out the gray pelt of the ThunderClan apprentice. 'If I had joined ThunderClan we probably would have been denmates. I wonder if we would have been friends?" he thought briefly. He turned back to his Clanmates and raced after them.

Firepaw lay in front of the apprentice den eating a robin. He and Runningpaw had just finished removing the soiled bedding from the elder's den and nursery and were currently resting. Runningpaw was lying beside him stretched out in the sun. Longpaw was out hunting with Finchflight and Dovepaw and Lightningpaw were out on a patrol. He couldn't help but wonder if the two would run into any of the other Clans' patrols like his patrol had the sunrise before. He started to take another bite of the robin when the Sunhigh patrol returned through the tunnel. Ashstorm who had led lead the patrol moved purposefully toward Goldenstar's den with Silverwind following closely behind him. Dovepaw furiously lashed her tail as she made her way to the apprentice den. Firepaw looked at her concerned.

"What's wrong Dovepaw?" he asked softly. Dovepaw softened her gaze and sighed before, turning her head to glare at Lightningpaw as the pale ginger apprentice padded after his mentor.

"Lightningpaw, that's what's wrong. I can't believe he did that."

"What did Lightningpaw do?" asked Runningpaw

"He chased this poor, helpless, kittypet kitten into ThunderClan territory." Runningpaw and Firepaw stared at her in disbelief.

"How did he do that?" asked Firepaw.

"Yes and how did that kitten get so far into our territory? And are you sure it was a Kittypet kitten?"

"Yes it was a kittypet because it had on a collar. As for how it got so far into our territory I'm not sure. Lightningpaw scared the poor thing so bad that I think it forgot which way the twolegplace was and Lightningpaw chased it across the creek and over our border with ThunderClan. He didn't even listen to Ashstorm when he told him not to chase him. I hope Ashstorm punishes him for it. I wonder what ThunderClan would do to the poor kitten." she meowed

"I wonder if he'll even be able to cross the border back into our territory to get home." Runningpaw wondered aloud.

"What did this kittypet look like?" asked Firepaw curiously.

"He was white and black. He looked like he might be around the age of an apprentice." meowed Dovepaw. Firepaw's eyes widened in horror. 'It couldn't be, no it can't be him he never would have placed a paw into the forest. It must be some other cat.' He felt a gentle nudge on his shoulder and turned to see Dovepaw watching him curiously.

"Are you ok?" Firepaw nodded and pushed his robin in front of her paws.

"Here, have some of my robin, I would eat the rest but I feel full." Dovepaw nodded briefly before taking a bite of Firepaw's robin. Firepaw watched her for a moment before his mind wondered back to the black and white kittypet.

(Okay I'm going to stop here I'll try to get the next chapter up soon. Some interesting stuff happened in this chapter. Tell me what you think of it.)