The sun has just risen, though mist still lies in hollows and under the trees, and every blade of grass is furred with frost. Her pelt fluffs out against the chill, Reedpaw follows Woodleap to an open stretch of ground not far from the lake, within sight of the twoleg half-bridge.

"Okay," Woodleap begins. "Battle training. Today I'm going to explain to you what you should do if your opponent takes you to the ground."

Reedpaw brightens, standing up straighter. This should be easy! "I should fight back, right?"

There is a glint of amusement in her mentor's eyes. "Show me what you mean by that."

Stepping forward without warning, he hooks Reedpaw's legs from under her in one smooth movement. She lands on her side; Woodleap presses one forepaw on her shoulder, the other on her ear, pinning her to the ground. Reedpaw bites back a yelp of pain. She tries to free herself, pushing upward with all her strength, but the gray tabby tom is too big and heavy for her to shift.

Gritting her teeth, Reedpaw pushes again, straining to force every last scrap of her strength into her shoulders. Woodleap still doesn't move. It's not easy! Reedpaw realizes, ready to screech with frustration.

"You're wasting energy," Woodleap points out. "All the effort you're putting into pushing against me is going to tire you out, and if somehow you do manage to get out from under me, you'll probably be weak and tired. Your opponent would be able to take you down again quite easily, don't you think?"

Reedpaw can see the logic in what her mentor told her.

She gives up pushing, and Woodleap steps back from her.

"Then what should I do?" Reedpaw asks, scrambling to her paws.

"Use your attacker's weight and momentum against them," Woodleap explains. "If your attacker is charging forward, don't try to stop them in their tracks. Instead, let them go through you, so you can roll over and get back to your paws."

Reedpaw frowns, feeling thoroughly confused. "I'm not sure what you mean."

"Attack me," Woodleap responds. "Then I can show you."

Her pelt prickling with nervousness, Reedpaw charges at Woodleap, who doesn't try to resist at all as she bears him to the ground. She can feel his body limp and loose beneath her paws, almost like he is dead. As he hits the ground, the force of Reedpaw's attack carries her forward, beyond him, and as she staggers past, the gray tabby tom slips out from underneath her. Reedpaw feels a paw touch her hindquarters and looks over her shoulder to see that Woodleap is already upright, and in a very good position. From there he could jump right onto her back if he wanted to.

"Now I get it!" Reedpaw exclaims, nodding eagerly. "Can I try it?"

Woodleap patiently guides her through the movements. It takes Reedpaw several attempts, with a few painful bumps when she mistimes her move. But eventually she learns how to roll through Woodleap's attack the way he had shown her, staying limp until she hits the ground, then stretching out her hind legs to free most of her body so that she can clamber to her paws. She lets out a purr of delight when she finally succeeds.

"Fighting is actually pretty simple, isn't it?" she meows.

"It's simple if you're well trained and you know what you're doing," her mentor chides her good naturedly. "But that requires moons and moons of practice. Are you up for that?"

Reedpaw gives a vigorous nod. "I definitely am!"

"I'm glad to hear it," Woodleap responds. "Let's get started, then. . . ."

Sunhigh is approaching by the time Woodleap decides that they have trained enough. Reedpaw is exhausted, and muscles she'd never known she had are aching, but she is still disappointed at having to stop. She has mastered how to roll through the initial attack, and she is getting better at pouncing on Woodleap's back at the end of the move. She hadn't actually followed up by striking her mentor, but she can see clearly how easy it would be to strike an opponent. When she is on their back, they would be more or less helpless, unable to defend themselves.

When she'd been a Medicine-cat apprentice, her legs had carried her over the territory searching for herbs; her paws had gathered them and made poultices. Now it feels strange to think of the wounds she could inflict.

For a heartbeat she feels guilty—that's not what I've been called to do!

Then she reflects that she would only use her claws in the defense of her clan. I feel skilled and powerful, she thinks proudly. Like a real warrior.

As she and her mentor head back to camp, a warm glow is swelling in Reedpaw's chest and belly. It had been hard to decide on becoming a warrior apprentice after training so long with Flamepool. The easier path would have been to follow in Flamepool's paw steps and continue to serve her clan as a healer, even without communicating with Starclan.

But now she knows that the reward was worth the risk; admitting she wasn't a real Medicine cat, and starting her warrior training, was the best decision she'd ever made. Good things happen when she is assertive, and she feels more confident than ever before.

"You've worked really hard this morning—you'd better rest for a while," Woodleap instructs her when they arrive in the Riverclan camp. "Curl up in your nest and take a nap. Later we'll go out and I'll show you some new hunting moves."

"Great!" Reedpaw responds. "Thanks, Woodleap."

Dipping her head to her mentor, she scurries across the camp toward the apprentices' den. But before she reaches it, she spots Icefade, who is dozing in a patch of sunlight near the Highstump. He's been avoiding me, Reedpaw thinks, remembering how he had slipped away from her when she was made a warrior apprentice. Well, he can't avoid me now!

She marches across to the silver and white tom and prods him awake with a determined forepaw. Icefade jerks, startled, and Reedpaw sees the flash of his claws briefly extending as he fends off an imaginary attacker. A heartbeat later his bleary gaze clears and he recognizes her.

"Sorry," he meows, relaxing. "But you shouldn't sneak up on a warrior like that. You could get hurt."

"Not now that I'm being trained by Woodleap, I won't," Reedpaw purrs.

Icefade doesn't give her an answering purr. He still looks grumpy from being disturbed so abruptly, his shoulders hunched and his tail-tip twitching. I can change that, though, Reedpaw thinks.

"The best thing about warrior training is how learning battle moves makes fighting less scary," she tells Icefade. "When I was a Medicine cat, the thought of having to fight used to worry me, because all I could think about was getting hurt, and what that would feel like. But now….."

"Warriors still get hurt," Icefade interrupts her.

"I know that!" Reedpaw rolls her eyes. "But now that I have some idea of how to fight, and the kinds of things I can do so I don't get hurt—or at least not hurt too badly—fighting isn't so scary anymore."

This time Icefade's only response is a grunt.

"I feel braver than ever," Reedpaw continues.

The conviction that there is something she must do is building inside her. Moments before, when she'd returned to camp, she hadn't imagined what she meant to say to Icefade, but now she had found her confidence and was determined to go through with it.

"I'm going to be braver than ever right now."

Icefade blinks up at her, obviously bewildered. "How are you going to….."

"I like you!" Reedpaw blurts out. "And I think we should be mates. Don't you want that, too?"

For a few endless moments, Icefade says nothing. Her heart beating fast, Reedpaw vainly tries to read his expression. He doesn't look horrified by the idea, but he doesn't look all that excited, either. Have I made a horrible mistake? But even if Icefade doesn't want to be with her, it is better to know now, rather than spend moons vainly padding after him. It is still right for me to be brave!

"What's wrong?" she asks nervously.

Again, Icefade takes a moment before replying.

"You like me?" he asks.

"Yes! I was hoping that after I earned my warrior name we could be together."

Icefade looks thoughtful and then nods, "I accept."

Her heart soars, "You mean…..?"

"I'll become mates with you when you've earned your warrior name. If that's what you want. To be a warrior that is."

Reedpaw nods. "Of course it is. Being a Medicine cat apprentice was great but being a warrior apprentice is even greater. I can't wait to hunt and fight alongside you Icefade."

"Neither can I."

He dips his head, "Now if you excuse I have to talk to Podshimmer."

"Ok."

Happily she pads into the apprentices den, her heart as light as a feather. Icefade said yes. He said yes! When I become a warrior I will be his mate!

Author's Note: Yes I am keeping Reedpaw falling for Icefade canon, just in a different way because in this AU Medicine cats are allowed to have a mate and kits, as long as theirs a second Medicine cat around to do Medicine cat duties.

~Leafbranch