Four sunrises had come and gone since Greenpaw's apprentice ceremony. And did she have her work cut out for her. With Seaheart's obvious late age, Greenpaw had admittedly been a little wary in the beginning of their training. But Seaheart was large, strong, and nimble– not a popular trio of skills. From what Greenpaw had observed, the big and strong cats were not always the most agile, or graceful. Seaheart was the exception.

And even in his age, Seaheart was all three and more. Greenpaw could see why Twilightstar had picked him as the Clan deputy so early and so certainly. And she also understood why she was given to Seaheart as an apprentice.

Seaheart had all but exhausted Greenpaw's argumentative traits. Or, perhaps, was channeling them into her training. Whenever Greenpaw would argue against a point that Seaheart made, Seaheart allowed her to make her case. And he would promptly prove Greenpaw wrong.

At first, this had frustrated Greenpaw. But now, she was growing to accept, even enjoy Seaheart's methods of training. She had learned so much in the four short days she had been an apprentice that Greenpaw often went to sleep without any of the restlessness she became accustomed to, sleeping in the nursery. Seaheart was exhausting her, period. Every night, Greenpaw laid down next to Sunpaw in the apprentice's den and fell into a deep slumber the moment her eyes closed; between training with Seaheart, nesting so near Sunpaw, and feeling the soothing rise and fall of her yellow-striped flank, Greenpaw slept like a little kit.

But now was not the time to sleep. Seaheart had taken Greenpaw out to one of the sandy islands in the Saltmarsh. The island had been growing use to battle practice for mentors and apprentices. Most of the soft sand had been pushed to the side by numerous cats' leaping paws and rolling bodies, revealing the dark, hard-pressed sand beneath. It was very soft cushioning, but easy for sheathed paws to grip.

It also taught the cats how to battle in a confined or restricted area. Unless you wanted to end up in the marsh, of course. Greenpaw had just learned this the hard way.

She and Seaheart were facing each other, backs arched in a battle position, slowly circling the island. Greenpaw tried to gaze into Seaheart's focused gray eyes with controlled ferocity. The first thing Seaheart had taught her was to not give anything away with her eyes.

"A wise cat may gaze into ye battle eyes an' view all yer intentions in a blink," he advised. "Ye must learn to hide it from him with carefully guarded thought."

At first, it hadn't made much sense to Greenpaw. Seaheart often said things in his old Clifflands' tongue that didn't make sense to her at first, until she could afford to take time to sit and think on it. That was also a quick lesson he had taught Greenpaw, the first day he had taken her out as an apprentice.

"What ye don't understand, ye sit an' think on after a good, fat shrimp. An empty belly be an empty mind."

Greenpaw hadn't even understood that until she did it exactly as so; dragging the fattest shrimp in the fresh-kill pile to her nest and enjoying it properly after a long day, then sitting and meditating on Seaheart's teachings. Standing still had been difficult at first, but a full belly helped keep Greenpaw's mind focused. Greenpaw found that she was much more thoughtful and patient when she had a full belly and her thoughts weren't laced with hunger.

So now, Greenpaw was doing as Seaheart had, in his own special way, taught her: she kept her eyes locked with his, unwilling to let wandering eyes warn him of a possible attack. They circled, circled, circled, and circled, until Greenpaw had formulated a plan without so much as a blink.

Very suddenly, Greenpaw lunged forward. Seaheart leapt back, on the edge of the island, but Greenpaw accommodated the gap between them by rearing on her hind paws, and planning to strike down with a hard blow to Seaheart's lowered head.

But instead of landing on Seaheart, Greenpaw found herself half-submerged in the Saltmarsh water, her front paws, chest, and chin all soaked with the warm water. She accidently swallowed a bit of salty water, surprised. She scrambled to get up, but Seaheart was already on her back, pinning her down and lunging at her exposed neck, hitting his nose square on the delicate neck flesh, acting as a killing bite.

"Grroff!" Greenpaw struggled, the full weight of Seaheart pushing her deeper into the water. She still did not want to give into the battle - but she went limp anyway, submitting herself to Seaheart. Had it been a real battle, she would nonetheless, be dead. And she hadn't even lasted more than a rabbit-shake.

Seaheart released her, and Greenpaw scrambled to her paws, shaking the heavy water from her fur and spitting out sand.

Why, she wondered with dark humor, am I always eating salt?

"Yer battle eyes were winners," Seaheart announced as she sat before him. Seaheart, completely untouched, sat with flat fur and an appreciative but amused look. "But ye accommodation of space was not."

"I know," Greenpaw grumbled. "This stupid island is too small!"

"And rabbits fly," Seaheart chided with laughter in his meow. "A cat worthy of battle adapts to her environment."

"Yeah, yeah." She muttered, licking salt from her chest. They were silent for a moment. Seaheart seemed to enjoy silent moments. Greenpaw, at first, tried to fill every quiet moment with chatter, until Seaheart told her that a full mouth is an empty mind. Greenpaw had asked him how that was, when he had just told her moments before that a curious mind speaks loudly.

He blinked, and told her to "sit on it."

Greenpaw still had no idea what he meant.

"Ye getting strong, lass." Seaheart praised. Greenpaw instantly stopped her grooming and met his eyes. He didn't give praise often, and when he did, she absorbed it like sea sponge. "And ye smartening up. Now, tell me. Who have you gotten yeself aquainted with?"

Greenpaw was surprised by the question, and apparently didn't mask her shock very well. "It's a simple question, lass." He pressed.

"Well," she began, uncertain. "I do like Sunpaw. Very much."

Seaheart nodded. "Any cat can see that, young one. An' who else?"

"Beachflower…" Greenpaw continued, her fur prickling uncomfortably. Which was true. Greenpaw often visited the nursery to see her and the kits. Coralclaw seemed to be over the shock of her lost kits, and while she guarded the lone survivor, Shrimpkit (for his crooked tail) fiercely, she no longer hissed at Greenpaw came by. Coralclaw merely ignored her entire existence. Which was progress, in Greenpaw's eyes.

Beachflower was always happy to see her, as were Rosekit and Bluekit. Both were padding around on shakey legs, Bluekit especially in his smaller size. His sister was much more adventurous than he was, still, making multiple attempts to wander out of the nursery. Bluekit simply stayed hear the nursery walls, near large sprigs of sea lavender. Greenpaw liked to come visit them when Sunpaw was out training and Greenpaw had a rare moment of freetime, and came to share tongues with Beachflower and tell her of her training. Beachflower always exclaimed surprise and purred appreciation at all the right parts, and Greenpaw felt proud to share with her.

"Sunpaw, Beachflower, an'?" Seaheart interrupted her train of thought. It took her only a moment of pondering to come up with her last answer.

"You?" Greenpaw answered with a questioning tone. Of course, she would have mentioned Twilightstar, but the leader seemed to drift away often. Some days, she'd leave the hollow and be gone from sun-high till sun-down. Whenever she got back, she always brought a trinket for the nursery, or the apprentice's den, or a pearl for Pearlpelt. She always came back in a much better mood that slowly waned with the sun the longer the days went by. Now it seemed every other sunrise the leader would disappear for some time. Riverpaw sometimes trained with Seaheart and Greenpaw on such days.

Seaheart let out a short mrrow of laughter, but Greenpaw hadn't intended it as a joke. Sunpaw, Beachflower and Seaheart. Were those really her only friends?

"Ye have an assignment, lass." Seaheart mewed when his laughter settled. "I knew this was the case, an' I've prepared a mission for ye."

Greenpaw's ears and mood perked instantly. "A mission?" she thought out loud, unable to keep her mew level. "What kind of mission?"

"Don't get yeself all worked up, now, young one." Seaheart warned. "Ye won't like this, I expect. Over the next quarter-moon, we'll be cutting down on ye training some. That'll leave ye time to get to know yer Clan."

Greenpaw froze, processing his instructions. Cutting down on training? So she could get to know cats she would be stuck with anyway, for the rest of her forseen life? Wasn't it enough that she was swearing her life to protect them? Now she actually had to get to know them?

"I see the disappointment in ye lass, it colors you quite certainly. Chin up. This be an important lesson, the most important ye will learn from me."

Greenpaw couldn't help but grumble, "I doubt it."

Seaheart, in his mysterious teaching methods, usually ended up right. But Greenpaw couldn't help but have dread over this new lesson she was supposed practise. How in the world could taking time from real training, to share tongues, help her as a warrior?

"But ye will do it," Seaheart confirmed. He had a way of making orders sound much happier than what they were…an order. "An' ye will make well with Coralclaw, too. Twilightstar requested that much."

Greenpaw obsiously didn't hide her disdain very well, because Seaheart repeated, "Ye will do it, lass. It'll be the best lesson ye will learn."

"I thought my battle eyes was the best lesson I'd learn," Greenpaw quipped defiantly.

Seaheart nodded his head. "Every lesson ye learn be the best, lass. Depends on when an' where ye are."

And that was the end of that. Seaheart and Greenpaw made their way back to camp in silence, the sun setting in the far ocean, painting the water with reds and oranges and yellow cresting waves. The moon was approaching it's halfway mark and shining brightly in the cloudless sky over the Clifflands, casting white gleams in the color-brushed sea.

When they slithered into the hollow, the camp was bustling. Warriors traded stories animatedly around the camp, and the apprentices were sniffing around the fresh-kill, waiting for permission to eat whilst sharing what they'd learned that bright sunny day. Greenpaw spotted Sunpaw sitting next to Riverpaw, away from the other apprentice's, near their den, sharing tongues. Greenpaw felt her heart sink – she'd been looking forward to sharing tongues with Sunpaw herself, wanting to brood on her new "mission" with Sunpaw's sympathetic and non-judging ears.

Instead, she turned toward the nursery. There were nickernut pods, dried brown with sharp spokes, laced throughout the reinforced bracken now. Twilightfur had found a good cluster fairly close to camp, deeper in the Dune scrubs. Greenpaw had seen why Pearlpelt had instructed warriors to collect them. Greenpaw and Sunpaw would have been too small to manage them without hurting themselves.

Greenpaw slid into the narrow nursery entrance. Beachflower looked up, Rosekit and Bluekit resting near their mam's warm belly. Beachflower purred as Greenpaw padded closer, the roof of the nursery tickling Greenpaw's head. The smell of sea lavender was stronger than usual: an apprentice must have woven fresh sprigs in. It was a comforting scent.

"Greenpaw," Beachflower purred. "Back so soon?"

Coralclaw turned her head away pointedly, licking Shrimpkit's small, fuzzy head as he fed. The milky scent wafted toward her, intermingling with the sea lavender. Greenpaw suddenly wondered why she had ever wanted to leave the nursery, with its comforting smells and Beachflower's soothing mews. The apprentice stuff was almost more than she bargained for. But at the same time, Greenpaw had promised her hardest work to Twilightstar, to Seaheart, and to her Clan. She wouldn't trade it, no matter how much she disliked select few of Seaheart's "lessons".

"Seaheart wants me to get to know other cats," Greenpaw began to complain, getting right to the heart of it. She settled near Beachflower, and the sandy brown dark-flecked queen licked Greenpaw between her ears. "And make amends." Greenkit added, glancing at Coralclaw. But the queen ignored her as steadily as usual.

"I don't get it, Beachflower." Greenpaw admitted, restsing her head on her paws. "Isn't it enough that I promise to fight with them? For them?"

Beachflower was silent, contemplating what Greenpaw had shared. She gave Rosekit's head a lick, and looked into Greenpaw's eyes. "Wouldn't you like to know who you're fighting for?"

Greenkit shrugged. "Maybe," she conceded, but uncertainly. "Maybe."