Owl, after finishing his sunhigh meal, limped heavily toward the apprentices' den. Sandy popped up from behind the reeds. "Hi, Owl!" she purred. "We're all glad you're okay."

Owl forced a smile onto his face. "Yeah, no, I'm fine." He made sure to grimace in pain.

"Everyone was worried, Panther especially," Sandy continued. She flashed Owl a bright grin. "He feels bad."

"Oh, he doesn't have to be," Owl responded. "He did nothing." Owl limped past Sandy into the den. He nearly jumped in surprise when he spotted Tiger Fang at the end of the den, long green rushes framing his muscular figure. Owl thought he'd be training.

Tiger Fang sneered. "What are you doing here?" The dark tabby sniffed the air. "Yuck, you stink of herb poultices."

Sandy slid into the den beside them. "Tiger Fang," she hissed, rolling her eyes. "You're so insensitive sometimes. Owl here has a sprained paw."

Tiger Fang smirked. "Did we get sprained paws on our second day of training?" There was an expression of exaggerated thoughtfulness on his face. "Uh, no, we did not." He turned his nose up into the air smugly.

Sandy swiped a sheathed paw at the tom in exasperation. "You're no help. What are you doing in here anyway?" She glanced at me in sympathy and started to fluff up the moss in my nest. "Hey, rest there."

"Thanks, Sandy," Owl murmured, guilty that he was faking his injury.

"Well?" Sandy snorted. "Tiger, darling, are you in trouble again?"

Tiger Fang snarled, standing. Owl looked up at him in awe of his size. And muscles. He had lots of muscles, probably from all the training he did. Tiger Fang admitted gruffly, "I was hunting on rogue territory. The cats on my patrol were even angrier than I thought they'd be! You'd think that a battle was fought on rogue land by how tense everyone was." Tiger Fang settled back down into his nest, looking glum. "I'm required to stay in this Starclan forsaken nest for two days with no meal today."

Sandy's eyes softened. "Aw, Tiger Fang. If you need food…"

Tiger Fang snapped at her, "I'm fine! If anything, make mouseheart over there do it."

Owl flinched at the insult. "I'm not a mouseheart!"

Tiger Fang taunted, "You so are. You're a weakling."
Owl had enough of this. He, despite the fact that he was supposed to be faking his injury, launched himself at Tiger Fang. Fury surged through Owl as he battered Tiger Fang's muzzle. Tiger Fang was so startled that he didn't do anything for a few moments. Then he surged up and threw Owl off. He landed outside the den of reeds. That actually hurt. Owl couldn't lift himself- maybe his paw was actually sprained now. He felt tears rising to his eyes. He didn't know if it was from the pain or from the shame.

Sandy snarled at Tiger Fang. "You idiot! Foxhearted idiot! He's injured and you injured him more." She rushed to Owl's side and helped him to his paws. Owl didn't need to fake his limp anymore as he staggered toward Omega's den with Sandy supporting him. He looked back at Tiger Fang, who had come out of the den and was lurking under the tall reeds. Was that a hint of guilt in his amber eyes?

Owl stumbled into the small cave and fell into the nearest moss nest, groaning in pain. He saw out of the corner of his eye Omega running toward them from the back of her den.

"What in the name of Starclan happened?" Omega asked Sandy, nudging Owl's foot with her muzzle. Owl yelped. That was the leg he landed awkwardly on.

"Er, we were play fighting…," Sandy lied.

Omega shot the dark ginger tabby a sharp look. "Are you sure about that? Why don't we ask Owl?"

Owl lifted his head weakly. "Honest, we were just training."

Omega narrowed her eyes but nodded. She jerked her chin at Sandy. "Fetch me some soaked moss." Sandy dipped her head and dashed out of the den.

Owl sighed as Omega started to peel off the herbs that were slicked to his leg. "Owl," Omega said sternly, "Tell me what really happened."

Owl confessed, "Tiger Fang was taunting me about being weak, so I attacked him, and he threw me off." He winced as Omega unwrapped the reeds and the small stick that acted as a splint for his "sprained" foot.

"You dislocated your leg, so you won't be needing these anymore," Omega explained. "I'll have to fix your bone. It'll hurt a lot, so we'll wait 'till Sandy gets back so she can hold you down." Owl widened his eyes but nodded. Just then, Sandy arrived with a huge scrap of soaked moss dangling from her jaws.

"Thanks, Sandy," Omega said. She let Owl lap water from the moss, then instructed Sandy, "Place your paws on his spine and hind leg- no, not the dislocated one… all right, that's good. Be sure to not let go, and stop him from moving." Omega shoved the soaked moss into Owl's mouth and he clamped his jaws down into the moss in surprise. Hardly a moment after, Omega gripped his leg and jerked it back into place. Owl let out a high pitched scream, but was panting in relief.

"Great Starclan, that feels better," Owl exclaimed. He stood up on wobbly paws.

"Owl's all right?" Sandy asked Omega. "Even his sprained paw?"

Omega smiled. "His sprained paw is doing better, but he'll have to stay in camp tomorrow and have regular check ups with me. Why don't you take him back to your den, and mind you, be careful. He's still limping!"

Sandy purred and she helped Owl to his paws. The two cats walked away, their flanks brushing.

Author's note: Sorry for such a short chapter. I've been super busy. Do you think Owl x Sandy could be a thing? And what do you think of Tiger Fang?

Please stay tuned for the next chapter! If you want to know exactly when a new chapter is up, please follow this story :) I'll definitely try to write up a longer Chapter 5!