Disclaimer: I do NOT own Warriors, Erin Hunter does. Now on with the show~

Later that day, Firepaw stood in the forest with Darkstripe by her side, he had sent out the patrols and allowed Sandspirit and Ravenflight more time to recover before making good on his word and taking the ginger apprentice out to train. The young molly looked around, wondering what they would be doing as the deputy had said nothing to her this whole time but finally got her answer when he turned to face her.

"Now then, you had been gone for a few weeks, at the very least. We will need to brush up on your skills and see where to go from here. Starting with tracking and stalking, show me your crouch when hunting a mouse."

Firepaw blinked and gave a little inward sigh of hesitation, trying to remember what it was that was good for bird stalking. She settled into a crouch and carefully stepped, though her footfalls were not as light as they were supposed to be and her fur brushed the ground. Darkstripe called her to a stop after only a few steps.

"No, your stalk was good and balanced but it wouldn't hold up to a mouse. Your steps are too heavy and your brush in brushing the ground, a mouse would have heard you coming and bolted but you even got your claws out. Here, let me show you..."

Darkstripe then demonstrated the proper way to stalk a mouse and had Firepaw copy him, correcting a few errors that she still made while telling her that she got most of the gist down.

"Okay, now it's time for a bird..."

At this, Firepaw failed utterly but Darkstripe was patient, going through the steps with her and giving her encouragement every step of the way. Soon enough, Firepaw was able to pull off a decent enough crouch. Yet as she sat up, the young molly felt her skin pull and pain flaring all through her body, she hissed and fell to her haunches with a thump.

"That stinking pile of me'mre Blackfoot! I should have sent him to Meerclar, though his ka doesn't deserve her grace!" she growled, moving her head to lick at her wounds, scowling at the bitter taste of the herbs Yellowfang had placed there while her tail lashed.

Her wounds had became infected from her time away from the Clan and though Yellowfang patched her up enough that there was no fear of dying, Firepaw's body still ached and even now, fresh blood flowed through her fur.

Darkstripe smelled the blood and walked over to Firepaw, carefully licking her shoulder where the wound bled. Firepaw gave him a look but didn't push him away, closing her eyes and sighing softly. She allowed Darkstripe to continue licking her wound while her mind drifted to her time before she was made to join ThunderClan, when she spent her days with her father.

XxXx

Jake rolled on his back, chuckling as his tiny kit, who looked so much like him, climbed over his belly and batted at his muzzle. The tom opened his jaws and gently nibbled at his kit's outstretched paws, earning a squeak of laughter.

"Father, Father! Tell me a story! One about Firsthome! Or Lord Firefoot! Oh, no, no! Tell me the Song of Tailchaser! He's my favorite!" the tiny kit hopped away from her father, her fur fluffed up in excitement as she looked to her father, hoping that he would grant her rambunctious requests.

"Hold now, little hunter! First, let me find us a meal. It is always good to tell a Song over food. Tastes better that way. Now, you go hide in the tall grass there, I shouldn't be long." Jake nudged his kit towards the mentioned tall grass, chuckling as she protested, even as he picked her up by the scruff and carried her to the hiding place.

"Let me go with you father! I can help you hunt! You said I have strong legs and strong ka! I can help!" she begged softly, waving her paws about as Jake looked down on her fondly.

"Yes, little hunter-child of the Folk, you do have strong ka. But you are still too young. You haven't learned patience and besides, you are still a kitling. Enjoy your time of play, of sun, of worry less days. Soon, I promise, I will take you on a hunt."

Pouting but ultimately listening to her father, the young kit settled into the grass, waiting for her father to return with food. She thought of which stories her father would tell her. She loved the stories of Lord Firefoot, in many of his Songs, he was told to be the very first of the First-Walkers, those who journeyed with the Firstborn on their rovings.

Such wonderful, powerful hunters they seemed to be. The kit then idly wondered if her father was a First Walker. He always seemed to know more that he let on and was very knowledgeable about a lot of things and places. She should ask him when he got back.

When Jake did finally return, his pelt was bloody and somewhat torn. But his eyes were bright and calm and in his jaws was a slain massive tabby. He dropped his prey gently to the ground and nudged his kit awake, who had fallen asleep waiting for him. The smell of blood woke her before his nudging did and she went for the body, tearing into it with needle sharp teeth.

As Jake watched her eat, he started to think of certain things, his young kit was starting to grow bigger and bigger every day, maybe there was some merit to having her learn to hunt. It would certainly help if he was ever separated from her. As he thought of that, he always thought of her age. She was going closer and closer to her third Eye, perhaps he would would go to get her Named.

While it was that most of his kind did not bother with names, he wondered if his daughter wanted to go through life without having one. After all, even he could admit when there were times when a name would be useful. Even the most important heroes and villians of the Folk had names.

The older flam colored tom then shook his head, such things were not as important as feeding and learning all one can for survival. A name, after all, could not feed you. Perhaps, later, there would be time for such things. But not now.

He then stood, going over to take his share of the meat while his daughter raised her head and stepped away. But her eyes were shining bright and even as he ate, he knew what she wanted and Jake smiled, settling himself into a more comfortable position.

"I believe I owe you a Song. Fine then, here's one about Lord Firefoot that I'm sure I haven't told you of..."

XxXx

Firepaw was brought out her reminiscing by Darkstripe calling her name in an urgent manner. He sounded almost frantic, how long was she stuck in the dream-world thinking of her father?

"I'm sorry, Darkstripe. I was...thinking of my father. I miss him." she said simply, her ears flattening against her head as she remembered coming up his dead and torn body. She then shook her head, tossing the memory away. She didn't want to see her father, the brave, proud, noble demon, as nothing more than a kill wanting to be eaten.

Darkstripe tilted his head, he had heard of how Firepaw came to live in ThunderClan and felt symapathy for her. He slowly reached out to her, touching her uninjured shoulder with his paw. She flinched sligtly at the contact but didn't turn him away, yet she didn't look too comforted either.

"Please...let's just continue training. What's next?" the young apprentice's voice sounded hollow and Darkstripe shuffled his paws, wondering if now would be the right time to try and start training again. However when Firepaw raised her head to look at him, Darkstripe took a deep breath, he couldn't turn his gaze away.

Her eyes, once so full od determination and resolve, seemed so...empty now. Even when he felt his mind starting to slip away, Darkstripe couldn't turn his head. So Firepaw did it for him when she realzied what was happening.

Once her eyes were off of him, Darkstripe remained still for a moment longer. He then gave himself a shake and closed his own eyes. After taking a second to recover, he took a deep breath and took a step towards Firepaw, who mumbled a soft sorry.

"No, don't apologize. It wasn't your fault. I think you're right, we should continue training. Come on, I'll show you our tree walking ability."

XxXx

Firepaw was desperately clinging to the branch she was perched on, her claws having created small grooves in the rough bark as she tried to follow Darkstripe's example and watched as he nimblily jumped from tree limb to tree limb with practiced ease.

"Blasted rikchikchik in a tom's body." Firepaw grumbled to herself as Darkstripe called to her to try. She looked down on the ground below. They weren't that high up but it was just enough to cause soreness of one did not right their body in time. Taking a deep breath, Firepaw looked to the branch she wanted to leap to and pushed herself off the one she was settled on.

Her jump was as as true as it should have been and her chest crashed hard into the tree branch. She scrambled to foreclaws in as she slipped, her hind paws wheeling uselessly on thin air. The battered molly let out a tiny yowl of frustration and hurt and it was with some releif that Darkstripe came to her aid and pulled her up by the scruff, setting her gently down on the branch.

Firepaw licked her chest fur in an effort to show that she was not scared and tried to put on a air of nonchalance. "...Thanks."

Darkstripe nodded but was able to see through her façade, narrowing his eyes slightly as he tried to think of what to say. "You need to judge your jumps carefully, Firepaw. In battle, you can not afford to slip or waver. You may give away your position or allow others to take advantage of your mistake. It could mean the difference between victory or failure."

Firepaw gave her pelt a shake and once more tried to seem outwardly calm. "But if ThunderClan is the only one who can run through the trees like this, what is the point? Who cares if there's a mistake? You can just then settle things right then and there and crush your opponent."

"The element of surprise is everything, Firepaw. And while we may be the masters, if a cat is desperate enough, they may try to climb the trees to avoid danger. Though they would be just like you, clumsy and unfocused. Only we can walk among the trees with no fear once the skill is learned."

Firepaw huffed softly at the light jab to her but said nothing, knowing that Darkstripe was just trying to lighten the mood. She steadied herself on the branch before nodding to her mento, wanting her to continue. Darkstripe smirked at this yet before he went on, he gave her an amused look. "Also, what a rikchikchik is, I'm sure it's not nice. Mind your elders and betters, young Firepaw."

The ginger molly blinked as he spoke, surprised but then smirking as he leapt through the trees, jumping higher and higher with a jubilent laugh. So, he managed to hear her comment? Well, at least he didn't seem angry. But still...

"Hang on! That's way to high! I cn barely jump the lower branches, don't try to get me to fall to my death now!" she called to him, trying to follow but staying where it was relatively safe on the lower boughs for her.

A/N: Another short one, sorry for that folks. I kinda wanted to start setting up the Darkstripe/Firepaw relationship and all that good stuff while also putting down some more bits of Fires' life with her father before the Clan. If people can get where these strange words, names and phrases are coming from then you get a cookie. Next chapter will be with Bluestar and maybe a surprise encounter concerning her past. Until then, as always, please enjoy.