Well gee… so it turns out that this story is going to be cut off soon. This first main plot point is going to take a while – there's a ThunderClan one and a ShadowClan one. In the next section of the story we'll begin to see more and more of the sickness and the prophecy – but this story is going to be about 20 chapters long. I'll try to keep it within that limit.

It's mostly for personal reasons, so I hope all of you who are reading past the Allegiances (those few who are not offended by canon) understand. I don't want to spend forever and ever getting to the point, but in order for things to be the way they need to be a few time skips needs to take place and I need to sort through what events will be in what time skips before I get to them.

Not to mention I still need to work on more chapters for Celestial Ascendance.

Chapter 10

"Try not to get too ahead of yourself," Tigerheart warned. His whiskers were twitching. "Enthusiasm is great, but too much can be what gets you hurt."

Hawkpaw pushed himself up off the ground. He could feel the prickle of a pine needle caught in his fur. The ShadowClan training ground was covered in them, creating a soft, springy floor for practice. Warriors cleared pinecones from it so that no cat took nasty injuries – despite that, it was the best place for training.

Water oozed from between Hawkpaw's toes. A light rain in the early morning hours had made the ground squishier than usual. It brought out the smells of the wood – of pine and cedar, and the wet, growing things.

"Try again," Tigerheart offered. He broadened his stance, standing firm on the earth.

Hawkpaw took a step back. He gathered all the strength in his hind legs, and then made a massive leap. He landed just a tail-length away from Tigerheart, then he lashed out with one sheathed paw. He narrowly missed Tigerheart's muzzle.

"Quick," Tigerheart told him, "and this time you didn't stumble with your leap. But try to get yourself closer to me."

"But I could hurt you," Hawkpaw told him. "Besides, my legs don't have that kind of strength yet." Maybe in a moon's time he could leap as high as Softpaw did yesterday, but right now he was not so powerful.

"ShadowClan doesn't rely on strength, remember?" Tigerheart reminded him. "ThunderClan and RiverClan do. ShadowClan relies on guile and stealth and the speed of their strikes. Fast strikes with little power allow for the warrior to conserve their energy for when they really need it."

Speed, not strength, Hawkpaw told himself. Speed, not strength.

"I'll move closer to you so you can try again," Tigerheart offered. They got back into their positions, with Tigerheart being a few pawsteps closer to Hawkpaw. "Whenever you're ready."

Hawkpaw bunched his muscles. He aimed as quickly as he could – he felt he spent a little too long doing that – before he leaped at his temporary mentor.

He had taken too long to aim, obviously, but Tigerheart took the light blow to the face. He staggered only slightly, and he shook his muzzle as Hawkpaw took a few steps back.

"You can hit me harder, you know," Tigerheart chuckled. "I'm not made of moss."

"I don't want to -"

"Don't worry about hurting me," Tigerheart growled. "This is a training session. So long as your claws are sheathed, we won't come away with anything but bruises. Now hit me like you mean it!"

They got back into their positions. Tigerheart stood before Hawkpaw like a sentinel, unmovable and unshakeable. Strong and fierce. A true warrior. When Hawkpaw leaped, he took the full force of the apprentice's blow to his muzzle without flinching. Tigerheart rolled with the impact and never did a paw leave the ground.

"Wow…" Hawkpaw gasped.

Tigerheart shook sand from his fur and sat down, rubbing his muzzle. "You hit pretty hard, Hawkpaw," he remarked. "With claws behind that, you could give some warrior a nasty scratch on the muzzle – sometimes that's enough to send them running."

He stood up and shook himself once more. "OK," he mewed. "Let's try a defensive move. I'll come at you, and what I want you to do is -"

"Tigerheart! There you are!"

Scent washed over them both as Tawnypelt padded into the clearing. Softpaw was behind her, along with Starlingwing. Hawkpaw tilted his head slightly, wondering what they were doing here.

"What's going on?" Tigerheart asked.

"I want you two to join me on patrol," Tawnypelt mewed.

Tigerheart's eyes flashed. "We're in the middle of training," he meowed. "I told you I wanted to teach Hawkpaw some battle moves today, since I couldn't teach him yesterday."

Tawnypelt's eyes narrowed at her son. "A patrol is just as much training as battle moves. When Smokefoot is better, he'll teach Hawkpaw about fighting. I only asked you to keep an eye on him, not take over for good. Now come on."

Tigerheart's shoulders sagged. "Alright," he sighed. "Come on, Hawkpaw."

Hawkpaw sighed inwardly. Missing training, again? He was just getting warmed up. He fell in step behind Tigerheart as Tawnypelt led them through the woods.

Softpaw slowed her pace to walk with Hawkpaw.

Well, Hawkpaw reflected, at least this isn't so bad…

"Where are we patrolling?" Hawkpaw asked.

"The ThunderClan border," Starlingwing replied. The ginger tom was just ahead of them, while Tawnypelt and Tigerheart were in the lead, talking quietly.

Hawkpaw's fur rose slightly, and he glanced at Softpaw. Had she told Tawnypelt about what had happened yesterday? How he had crossed the border? What if Tawnypelt was so angry at him she was going to toss him over the border and never let him return?

"I didn't say anything," Softpaw whispered. "The early rain should have washed your scent away."

Hawkpaw felt a little relief. But there were so many trees in ThunderClan territory – what if his scent hadn't disappeared?

"Anyway," Softpaw went on. "I… asked if we could patrol with you."

"What?" Hawkpaw wondered, blinking at her.

Softpaw looked away from him, her tail-tip twitching. "I had… I had a lot of fun with you yesterday. I know we don't train together all the time, but I wanted to do it again. I miss you being around."

Hawkpaw's breath hitched. He hadn't expected her to say anything near what she had, not had he expected him to like what she had said so much. He often missed when they were kits – when he was a kit, no one dared call him names under their breath, or give him dirty looks… at least, not where he could see them. He had been protected by Ivytail and the 'kit in his name. He missed playing innocently with Softpaw and her littermates – even though he knew they weren't of the same blood, it felt like that, for a time.

He hadn't realized that they – at least, Softpaw – had missed him as much as he has missed them.

"I…" Hawkpaw began. His fur burned. "I miss you too."

Softpaw let out a soft, mellow purr.

ThunderClan scent came much sooner than any of the warriors would have liked. Tawnypelt was clearly on edge, stalking the border on her toes. They crept up the border from the lake, following the stream that marked half the border between the two Clans. Hawkpaw could sense the ShadowClan camp not too far away.

This border is way too close, he thought. He could see the reasoning behind the Clans' worries. We're a strong Clan, but our camp is just a leap away from the stream. It's too dangerous.

"Keep an eye out," Tawnypelt announced. "Apprentices, I want to know what you're scenting!"

Hawkpaw drew in a breath. "Prey," he mewed, "and ThunderClan."

Softpaw was scenting, too. "Same," she meowed. "Though I smell something like crow-food."

Starlingwing opened his jaws. "Fox," he meowed.

"It's on their side of the border," Tigerheart reported. "But we should keep an eye on it in case it moves over."

Hawkpaw opened his jaws and drew in the scent. It was new, and it smelled rather gross. Crow-food, blood, and it smelled sort of like the Twoleg nest that was in their territory. He knew that foxes were dangerous for kits and undertrained apprentices.

"If we see a patrol, we'll let them know we scented it," Tawnypelt meowed. "Let's keep moving."

Starlingwing muttered something under his breath about not liking her idea, but no one questioned the deputy.

They followed Tawnypelt up the stream and even through it as they followed the border. Hawkpaw's paws were just drying when they drew near the to Twoleg path that was the main separation of the territories. Hawkpaw's paws prickled as he realized how easily he had crossed it the day before.

"We should have the territory up to the stream," Starlingwing growled.

"And have Twolegs in our territory each greenleaf?" Tigerheart complained. "I don't know if we want that."

"It'd give us a better buffer," Starlingwing reasoned.

"Hush," Tawnypelt growled. "Didn't some cat teach you not to talk about sensitive Clan information right next to another Clan's territory?"

"Yeah," Starlingwing mewed. "You did."

Tawnypelt narrowed her eyes.

Starlingwing closed his mouth.

"There's another stream?" Hawkpaw asked, leaning towards Softpaw.

She nodded. "It's in ThunderClan territory. Snaketail said that we had it before, but not for very long," she replied. "It's bigger than the stream we just crossed. Snaketail said it was a nice chunk of territory."

Hawkpaw looked across the Twoleg path. ThunderClan's forests didn't start for some ways – there were more pine trees just beyond the path. Why was this not ShadowClan territory in the first place?

"Softpaw, should we be worried about Twolegs?" Tawnypelt asked.

Softpaw blinked and opened her jaws again. "No," she replied. "No Twoleg has been on this path today."

"Hawkpaw, care to give me a second opinion?"

Hawkpaw blinked nervously. He scented the air. The smell of Twoleg was still unfamiliar to him, but he could not smell any strong scents of it on the path. "There's no Twolegs here," he called.

"Good!" Tawnypelt meowed. "Starlingwing, Tigerheart, mark the borders."

As they went along, the two warriors sprayed markers on the borders, in the bushes along the Twoleg path. Hawkpaw watched the bushes, memorizing each one. He knew that when he was a warrior he would be doing the same.

Tawnypelt raised her tail suddenly, and the patrol stopped.

They were at the point where the Twoleg path split. One path led to the greenleaf Twolegplace, a place where hunting wasn't very good and in greenleaf Twolegs set up pelt-dens to sleep in. Snaketail had told stories of how their kits always chased warriors, so in greenleaf they stayed away from the place.

"I smell ThunderClan," Tawnypelt announced. "Fresh – a patrol. We'll wait for them and pass on news of the fox."

The patrol settled down in the sparse undergrowth. It didn't take long for the ThunderClan cats to appear and, for the first time, Hawkpaw saw warriors from an enemy Clan.

They were led by a dark ginger she-cat with a single white paw, her pelt like flame and her eyes like the leaves of the oak trees. Four warriors streamed behind her, along with one younger cat who appeared to be an apprentice.

"Tawnypelt," called the ginger she-cat. "Can we speak with you?"

Tawnypelt's eyes flashed. "Of course, Squirrelflight," she meowed.

Hawkpaw glanced at Softpaw. Squirrelflight? The deputy of ThunderClan?

Squirrelflight led her patrol across the Twoleg path, but not before scenting the area well. The ThunderClan patrol didn't seem too comfortable with being out in the open – their pelts bristled and their tails lashed, eyes glancing from side to side.

"We scented ShadowClan on our territory this morning," Squirrelflight meowed. "I've come to ask about it."

Hawkpaw froze, horror creeping up his spine.

"I don't know anything about that," Tawnypelt meowed. "My warriors stay on their side of the border."

"So do ours," a golden-brown tabby tom growled. "But that doesn't explain what my apprentice scented this morning."

"An apprentice is an apprentice, Thornclaw," Starlingwing chided. "Perhaps he made a mistake?"

The young white tom at the back of the patrol bristled, looking insulted. Thornclaw lashed his tail and growled, "Snowpaw wasn't the only one to scent it – I did too. And my nose works just fine."

Starlingwing snorted, but Tawnypelt shot him a look of silence.

"Listen," Squirrelflight mewed. "I just want to know if I should be worried."

"I wouldn't think we'd tell you," Tigerheart meowed. His eyes spread over the ThunderClan cats and landed on a pale gray she-cat with brightly-colored eyes. "You can find these things out for yourself. We're loyal to ShadowClan – we'd never reveal those secrets, even to friends."

"I've never spied on your Clan!" the gray she-cat snapped.

"How are we supposed to believe that?" Starlingwing growled. "ThunderClan thinks they're so great because three of their cats have special powers!"

"We do not!" a pale brown tabby snarled. "We don't need powers to fight our battles for us – let me show you just how strong we are!"

"Birchfall!" Squirrelflight snapped. "Enough!"

The tabby warrior backed down, but his eyes blazed with anger.

"We just came for answers," Squirrelflight meowed, her eyes narrowed. "If we're not going to get any, then we're not. We're going back to the camp."

Squirrelflight turned away.

"Wait!" Hawkpaw called.

Squirrelflight turned back.

"It was me," Hawkpaw meowed. His legs shook. "I… It was an accident. I didn't mean to do it – I was chasing a shrew."

Squirrelflight glanced between the other warriors in her party. Hawkpaw's heart pounded in his ears. He didn't dare look at his Clanmates. He didn't want to feel their anger and disappointment.

"I didn't catch the shrew, and I left as soon as I realized I was in your territory. It was a mistake," he insisted. "I'm sorry."

Squirrelflight blinked at him. It was a long silence, and then finally she meowed, "That's fine. Mistakes happen. Just don't do it again."

Hawkpaw's heart pounding in his ears as the ThunderClan cats left. The gray she-cat glanced back, only for a moment, to shoot a look at Tigerheart that Hawkpaw ignored.

Softpaw nudged him, and Hawkpaw turned back to the patrol. No warrior said a thing for some time.

Finally, Tawnypelt sighed and said, "I'll take Hawkpaw back to camp – the rest of you continue this patrol."

Hawkpaw watched Softpaw and the others leave without saying a word.

"I appreciate your honesty," Tawnypelt decided. "You should have told me earlier, though."

"I'm sorry," Hawkpaw murmured.

"We're going back to camp," Tawnypelt meowed. "You're cleaning out dens for the rest of the day."

"Of course," Hawkpaw sighed.

"You won't do this again?"

"I won't," he promised.

Tawnypelt eyed him. "No… I don't think you will."