A/N: Hi everyone, sorry for not updating for 18 months. I logged into my Google Docs after ages and found a half-written chapter 3!

Updates might be slow from now on.

Enjoy!

"The apprentice's den is over there." Squirrelflight gestures at a small cave in the quarry wall. "Mousepaw can show you."

Hollypaw stares at the den that Squirrelflight is motioning at, feeling both fear and excitement deep inside her. There are several cats her age, sitting outside the den, chatting and casting sidelong glances in her direction. Will they like us? she wonders. She hopes against hope that these apprentices, who they would have to share a den with for nearly six moons, would be more friendly than some of the warriors.

Squirrelflight's whiskers twitch. "Don't worry," she says comfortingly, laying her tail on Hollypaw's shoulder. "They're all very nice. It's past their bedtime, of course, but that's because they're excited to meet you."

Hollypaw doesn't even have to look at Jaypaw to know that he is rolling his eyes disbelievingly.

"You three will be fine," Squirrelflight adds. "I know you will."

Hollypaw cannot help but feel a sense of intense longing at the soft, almost maternal look in the ginger she-cats eyes.

"Hey!" Mousepaw, the gray and white apprentice, is beckoning Hollypaw, Lionpaw, and Jaypaw over. "Come over here!"

Squirrelflight gives the three one more encouraging look before sitting back and watching as they make their way over to the apprentice's den. Hollypaw looks at her brothers. Lionpaw is nervous, she can tell, as he cannot stop fidgeting. She wishes she could comfort him, but the many pairs of eyes on them makes her hesitate. Jaypaw, on the other hand, is staring ahead expressionlessly, as if he is just daring the apprentices to make fun of him so he can chew them out.

The smoky gray tabby apprentice from earlier is gesturing excitedly into the den. "Now that we've got three more cats, I bet we can convince Brambleclaw to let us expand the den! Wouldn't that be amazing? We'd have so much more space!"

"That would be way too much work," a cream-colored tom groans. "I like the den the way it is right now. Why does it have to change?"

"Don't be rude, Berrypaw," says a gray and white she-cat.

"Whatever."

Mousepaw blinks amicably at Hollypaw. His green eyes are warm and friendly, and she feels slightly better knowing that maybe she does have someone on her side here.

"Anyway," the gray and white tom says, "Squirrelflight told me to introduce you three to everyone. So, everyone, this is Hollypaw, Lionpaw, and Jaypaw!"

He gestures at the three cats grandiosely as if he has made the most incredible statement in the world, and as if the sun is casting its golden light down onto him in the dark of the night.

"Uh, you could at least tell them our names," says a tortoiseshell she-cat.

Mousepaw shrugs sheepishly. "Oh, yeah." He motions at the creamy tom and the gray and white she-cat. "That's Berrypaw and Hazelpaw — my littermates."

"Hi!" Hazelpaw says excitedly. "It's really nice to meet you!"

Berrypaw raises his head pompously. "I am extremely fortuitous to be in your company."

"Oh, shut up, Berrypaw," Hazelpaw says. "You probably don't even know what fortuitous means!"

Hollypaw has to suppress a purr as she watches Berrypaw give his chest a few embarrassed licks.

"And this—" Mousepaw gestures at the remaining apprentices, all of whom are she-cats. There is a gray tabby, a tortoiseshell, and a light brown cat. " — this is Cinderpaw, Poppypaw, and Honeypaw. They're sisters."

The gray tabby — Cinderpaw — immediately bounds up to Hollypaw and her littermates, blue eyes shining excitedly. "So you're really Leafpool's kits?" she asks. "Wow! That's cool! She left before I was born, but they tell so many stories about her!"

"Cinderpaw, at least give them some room to breathe," Honeypaw says jokingly.

Poppypaw laughs. "Yeah, Cinderpaw."

"Why don't you tell us about yourselves?" Cinderpaw asks, ignoring her sisters.

Lionpaw, Hollypaw, and Jaypaw exchange a glance. They must be careful with what they say next, as it could mean the difference between making friends and making enemies with their fellow apprentices.

"Well," Hollypaw says, "there's not much to tell. We were born outside the Clans, and we lived with our parents until we were six moons old. And then we asked them to let us come here …. and they did."

"Are your parents coming back to the Clans?" Mousepaw asks.

"Of course they aren't," Berrypaw replies, rolling his eyes at his brother. "They broke the code."

"But Cinderpelt has been talking about getting a new apprentice. She wouldn't have to if Leafpool came back."

"That's dumb. Leafpool still broke the code."

" You're dumb!"

Hollypaw is frozen, watching as the two brother: argue over the mistakes — crimes — committed by her parents. Is this what I am? she wonders hollowly. A mistake? A sin? Because the warrior code has made sense to her ever since she was a kit, since her parents recited it to her from the warmth of her nest. Even away from the Clans, it still shaped her life, providing a level of stability. And now — now Berrypaw and Mousepaw's argument makes the notion that she is really just a mistake seem so much more real.

Lionpaw presses himself against her, just briefly, as if he knows her thoughts. Don't worry , he is saying. We'll get through this. But she does not know if his words are true, which makes the whole situation even grimmer.

"All right! That's enough!" Cinderpaw's voice cuts across the din. "You two are being really rude."

She turns to Hollypaw. "Don't worry," she says apologetically. "They're not usually this dumb."

The feeling of someone being on her side alleviates Hollypaw's worries — if only a little, and she has to laugh. "Toms, right?"

"Hey!" Mousepaw, Berrypaw, and Lionpaw all say simultaneously.

"It's true," Poppypaw says. "All you care about is fighting."

"No, it isn't!"

"Anyways," Cinderpaw says, "who are your mentors going to be?"

"We don't know," Hollypaw says. "I guess we'll find out tomorrow."

"It'd be so cool if you got Sorreltail," Honeypaw says offhandedly. "Or Brackenfur. They're our parents."

"Just wait and see — being a warrior is the best thing ever!" Mousepaw exclaims.

A warrior . Hollypaw's mind immediately jumps to Jaypaw. Her brother is the most determined and stubborn cat she knows, but even he doesn't know what he wants to do. Leafpool taught them all herbs and medicine from an early age, in case they ever needed to heal themselves, but Jaypaw is the only one for which it stuck. She knows he has dreams — ones that wake him up in the middle of the night, gasping for air. He won't talk about them, if they're good or bad or if they mean something, and all she can do is curl herself around him a bit tighter.

He could be the medicine cat apprentice, she thinks. It'd be perfect for him. But does he even know what he wants?

"Stop it." Jaypaw nudges her, seeming to have sensed her questions.

She shakes her head. "But —"

"Later," he hisses, casting a look at the curious apprentices around them.

Fine , Hollypaw thinks. They will have this discussion tomorrow.

The apprentices stay up talking late into the night, and by the end of it, Hollypaw's eyes are drooping from exhaustion. As they finally settle down for the night, all she can think is how much she misses the absent warmth of her parents around her. Turning around restlessly, her eyes meet Lionpaw's, and in his warm amber orbs, she can read the message clearly. We're home.

"We have to choose mentors for you." Firestar is pacing back and forth in his den, and Hollypaw cannot help but wish that she were this tall, this powerful.

"Hollypaw," the ginger tom says. Hollypaw straightens and looks into his eyes, hoping, hoping, hoping —

"Brackenfur will be your mentor."

Oh. She remembers what Honeypaw said last night, about Brackenfur being her father. Honeypaw, Cinderpaw, and Poppypaw seem nice enough, but Hollypaw does not know much about their father. Leafpool never told many stories about him, and when she did, he was always mentioned as an afterthought, like some sort of generic background character.

"Which one is he again?" Lionpaw asks.

"Lionpaw, don't be rude," Hollypaw hisses at the same time Jaypaw tells him not to be stupid.

"A golden brown tabby tom. One with blue eyes," Firestar says. "Not Thornclaw. That's his brother."

"Oh." Lionpaw looks thoughtful. "What about my mentor?"

Firestar purrs. "I was just getting to that. Your mentor, Lionpaw, will be Squirrelflight."

Immediately, Hollypaw's heart explodes with envy. Lionpaw, who is golden, whose pelt looks like Sandstorm, and whose amber eyes shine like he truly belongs in ThunderClan, is getting their mother's sister as a mentor. He will be closer to family than she ever will, and it makes her ever so slightly jealous.

"That's great!" Lionpaw mews brightly, nearly knocking Jaypaw over with his excitement. "When can we start?"

"As soon as I give Jaypaw his mentor," says Firestar, his green eyes glowing with amusement at Lionpaw's enthusiasm.

Besides her, she can feel her brother straighten up, his gray tabby pelt pressing closer to his skin. This is his moment, she knows, and he is understandably nervous, though he would never admit it. And so she leans closer to him, twining her tail with his.

(And for once, he doesn't let go.)

"Jaypaw," Firestar says. "Your mentor will be Brightheart."

"No, no, no," Jaypaw says, when they are in the empty apprentice den waiting for their mentors to come back from the dawn patrol. "I don't want to do this."

"It's not even that bad," Lionpaw says, comfortingly. "From what Leafpool said, Brightheart seems pretty cool."

"Oh, please," Jaypaw says, rolling his eyes. "You got Squirrelflight."

Hollypaw purses her lips. "For what it's worth, I think you're being stupid. So what if she's blind in one eye? She knows what it's like, then, and she can train you better."

"That's exactly the point," Jaypaw says. "She's blind in one eye. I'm blind in both. Firestar thinks I need another blind cat to be my mentor because I obviously can't manage like everyone else."

"Don't be rude," Hollypaw says. "Brightheart is a perfectly good warrior, half blind or not. Leafpool told us about her, remember?"

Jaypaw doesn't respond. Hollypaw wraps her tail around him, because she knows he is worrying. "It'll be alright," she says comfortingly.

"Yeah," Jaypaw says, though she can tell his heart isn't in it. "It will be."

"I'd like to see where your skills are at," Brackenfur says. He is standing at the camp entrance, waiting to lead them outside. Hollypaw stands next to Lionpaw and Mousepaw, and all three of them exchange a glance at Brackenfur's words.

The golden brown tom is incredibly nice, Hollypaw has decided. He's calm and collected, and unlike other ThunderClan cats, has never brought up Hollypaw's parentage once since she met him. She decides that she's glad to have him as a mentor.

"Oh," Hollypaw says. "What are we going to do?"

"We're going to take a tour of the territory first," Brackenfur says. "To get you accustomed to ThunderClan. But after that if you're not too tired, we can practice some hunting so I can see where you're at."

Hollypaw's ears prick up. A tour of ThunderClan territory! In the past half moon, she and her brothers have traveled and seen more than she has ever seen in her entire kithood. Despite missing Leafpool and Crowfeather and the old hollow they lived in, she's enjoyed seeing the new sights, and the idea of more exploration right now excites Hollypaw.

"I'll show you the place where Berrypaw slipped on ice while hunting," Mousepaw says brightly, ignoring the stern glare that Spiderleg gives him.

"That's great!" Lionpaw purrs. "Is Jaypaw coming with us?"

"No," Squirrelflight says. "He and Brightheart are doing something else on their own."

Even without seeing him, Hollypaw can picture the sour expression on Jaypaw's face right now. He still hasn't gotten over Firestar assigning him Brightheart as a mentor, and Hollypaw knows that the idea of doing a different first activity than his "normal" littermates would further aggravate him. She knows that he doesn't wish to be treated as different because of his blindness, but that doesn't mean he has to be rude about it.

When they exit camp and enter the forest, Hollypaw feels more alive than she has ever felt. The Greenleaf sun filtering through the leaves overhead tickles her back and makes her want to jump up and down in joy. She didn't know it was possible to feel this good, but ThunderClan territory just has that effect on her. Looking over at Lionpaw and the spring in his step, she knows he is feeling the same, and it just confirms her confidence in belonging to ThunderClan.

"This is the WindClan border." Hollypaw doesn't realize they've been walking for a while until Squirrelflight's voice shakes her out of her thoughts. They're standing at the edge of the forest, near a stream. Across the stream is a vast stretch of grassland. Even from here, Hollypaw can feel the wind blowing into her fur.

"Oh," Lionpaw says. "So that's where —"

"Yes," Squirrelflight interrupts him. "That's where your father came from."

Hollypaw stares at the moor across the stream. So this is the place where half of her lay. This is the place that Crowfeather gave up for Leafpool and their family. This is the place where half of her should call home even though she doesn't know what home is now. She becomes all too aware of how nice the wind feels on her fur, and how the vastness of the moor makes her want to just run until she can't feel her legs anymore.

She looks over at Lionpaw, and she can see the same hunger in his eyes.

"I knew we shouldn't have brought them here," Spiderleg says, his paws scuffling the ground. "Their loyalties are divided, anyway. They're never going to be able to choose ThunderClan."

His words hit Hollypaw with a pang, but before she can react, Squirrelflight's voice rings into the silence.

"Oh StarClan, shut up," the ginger she-cat says, glaring at Spiderleg. "They have ThunderClan blood in their veins. Just because you're miserable doesn't mean everyone else has to be."

Hollypaw and Lionpaw exchange an anxious look. Squirrelflight and Spiderleg's pelts are raised in aggravation, and they're looking at each other with incredible fury. Are they going to fight? Hollypaw wonders. Because of us?

"Just because Leafpool's your sister doesn't mean she can just break the warrior code like that," Spiderleg shoots back. "She was our medicine cat and she just left that behind."

"It doesn't matter," Squirrelflight snarls, her eyes a green fire. "They're innocent. They're kits. They didn't do anything. If you've got a problem with them being here, I suggest you take it up with Firestar."

But Spiderleg merely shakes his head, and mutters something under his breath before turning and walking away back into the forest. Hollypaw feels Squirrelflight's tail on her shoulder, and she appreciates her mother's sister more than ever.

"Don't worry about it," Brackenfur says reassuringly. "He'll just need some time to adjust. We all do."

"Yeah," Mousepaw mews encouragingly. "He's always this grumpy." He ignores the look Brackenfur shoots at him and instead takes to telling Lionpaw and Hollypaw some story about how he caught a bird just before it flew off yesterday.

Even as they explore the rest of the territory, Hollypaw can't shake a nagging feeling in the back of her mind. Will we ever be welcome here? Should we have come here at all? She looks at Lionpaw, bright, golden Lionpaw, as glorious as the sun, and notices with a pang that he looks similarly despondent.

Finally, they are lead to the bank of a small stream, at the heart of ThunderClan territory. It's nice here, Hollypaw notes. The birds are singing and there's a breeze in the air and the sound of the bubbling stream is soothing to her tired ears.

"We're going to hunt here," Brackenfur says, coming to a stop. "I just want to assess your hunting skills so I can see where you're at right now."

Hollypaw nods. She realizes only now that she's nervous, that her body is trembling slightly. Lionpaw gives her an encouraging look. "Don't worry," he says brightly, "you're the best hunter out of all of us."

And he's right. Lionpaw is muscular and strong and he's better suited to hunting and Jaypaw is Jaypaw and Hollypaw's slender shape and light paws make her the best hunter out of the three. Even on their way here, independent for the first time, Hollypaw had caught the vast majority of the fresh-kill for the three. Crowfeather used to brag that she had gotten his speed and stealth, a memory that makes her miss her father more than ever. But right now, Hollypaw needs to hunt well and make a good impression on her mentor.

And so she sniffs the air, tasting for prey. It's almost too easy. There's a mouse nearby, and with a few more seconds of deliberation, she knows that it's hiding in the long grass stalks of the riverbank. Dropping into a hunter's crouch, Hollypaw marks her target.

It's so quiet that she can hear her own heartbeat. She can hear Crowfeather's words in the back of her mind. Be steady, be silent, make sure they never see you coming . Without a sound, Hollypaw pounces. She catches the startled mouse between her claws and with a swift bite to the neck, the mouse stills its movements.

Thank you, StarClan, for this prey. Hollypaw can feel herself breathe again. Relief floods her body as she realizes that she did not, in fact, miss her first chance to impress her mentor.

"Well done!" Brackenfur purrs. "You've got a really good foundation."

Hollypaw holds her tail high, proud. She notices that Squirrelflight is looking at her with some sort of emotion in her eyes, some mixture of sadness and pride, but she decides not to question it for now. Instead, she drops her mouse on the ground to be taken home later.

"There's fish in the stream!" Mousepaw's voice shakes her out of her thoughts. "Do you think I should try and catch one?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Squirrelflight purrs. "We're not RiverClan cats."

Mousepaw turns to Hollypaw, his eyes shining. "Watch this." He steps into the stream, on top of a rock. His head is angled down, looking at the fish flitting through the water.

"Mousepaw, get back here before you get hurt!" Brackenfur says, his voice slightly more serious.

Mousepaw rolls his eyes. "Don't worry, I'll be fine," he mews. "Besides, this is how RiverClan cats do it. I saw them once."

Hollypaw and Lionpaw purr in amusement at how ridiculous Mousepaw looks, squatting over the water.

It happens so fast that Hollypaw can barely process it. Before she can react, there is a yelp, and she sees Mousepaw slip off of the stone he was perched on. She lets out a yowl as she watches his body fall into the shallow water.

"Mousepaw!" Squirrelflight is running into the stream, in pursuit of the gray and white apprentice Hollypaw's heart beats rapidly and she realizes that her paws are glued to the ground.

For a moment, she feels relief as Squirrelflight grabs the apprentice by the scruff, pulling him out of the water. But her relief is soon replaced by horror when she sees the crimson blood rapidly staining the tom's gray and white pelt.

A/N: And that's it for chapter 3!

Truthfully, I'm not entirely sure where I want this story to go. All I know is I love Crowleaf and Holly being one of the Three. If y'all have any plot ideas, feel free to PM me!

Thank you for reading!