Dawnpaw had been training for a long time along with the rest of the apprentices, and in her opinion, she was ready to become a warrior. Of course, Feathershine didn't think so. She insisted that they train harder and harder, from dawn to dusk. Tomorrow, there will be the battle assessment, and a few days after that, the final hunting assessment. She was so excited! She had wondered countless times what her warrior name would be. From Dawnpelt to Dawnpool to Dawncloud to Dawnclaw, she daydreamed about the day she would have her warrior ceremony. She was jerked out of her thoughts as Feathershine popped her head out of the bushes.

"Why are you standing around doing nothing? You're not done with today's assignment, go hunt!" she mewed angrily.

Dawnpaw flinched guiltily. Backing away, she nodded madly. The calico spun into the nearest bush and sniffed the air.

Squirrel to the left....mouse to the right...I think I'll go get the squirrel.

She tiptoed past Crowpaw, who was stalking something, flashed her a quick look, and continued. She wiggled her haunches and leaped, her paws skimming the ground. She landed on the squirrel's tail, and with a squeak of surprise, it yanked free and hared away. Dawnpaw groaned.

"Mouse-dung!" she meowed, and chased after it. Suddenly there was a 'oof' and Dawnpaw tripped and fell. She had run right into Crowpaw. Dawnpaw untangled herself from the tuxedo she-cat as fast as she could, her ears burning.

"Sorry, Dawnpaw, didn't see you there," Crowpaw meowed easily.

Dawnpaw nodded hurriedly and backed away. She resumed her hunting, her heart now pounding out of her chest and her senses sharper than normal. She flinched at every stick that cracked and at every leaf that fell. Finally, she had managed to catch a couple of voles, and returned to Feathershine.

Feathershine looked down on the prey. "Only two voles? Is that all?"

Dawnpaw shuffled her paws. "I almost caught a squirrel..." she trailed off.

"Almost fills no bellies!" Feathershine snapped. "If you want to become a warrior, then you have to train. Hard."

Dawnpaw nodded, ashamed. "I'm sorry, I'll go hunt some more, I guess."

She turned once more into the brush. There was a faint scent of sparrow that was steadily getting stronger, and so the lithe calico crept after it. She snagged it on her claws as it was about to fly away, and delivered the killing bite. Dawnpaw lifted her head proudly and carried it towards her mentor.

"That's better," Feathershine sighed once she saw the prey.

Dawnpaw bounced on her toes happily, and picking up her thrush, they walked back to camp.

*the next day*

"I'm so nervous!" Dawnpaw cried, working her claws into the ground anxiously.

"There's nothing to be nervous about," her mentor soothed. "You'll do great, I know it!"

Dawnpaw's head began to swirl with thoughts. What if I fail? I'll be held back from becoming a warrior! Or what if my warrior name is terrible, like Dawnkiller? That would be so horribly humiliating!

There was a rustling noise and Skybright pushed her way into the clearing.

"Alright, hello there, Dawnpaw," she said in her calming voice.

Dawnpaw rose to her paws uncertainty.

"Ashstar is assessing your sister, so you get me instead! We are going to have a battle session, claws in, and then you're going to have to fight both Feathershine and me at the same time. Got that?"

Dawnpaw nodded nervously.

With that, Skybright pounced on Dawnpaw, who wasn't ready. Listing through the skills that she had learned, she twisted out of the grip and pushed Skybright away from her with her hind paws. Then, springing to her feet, she leaped at the blue-grey she-cat. Skybright flopped under her, and then rolled to the left, bringing Dawnpaw to the ground. Dawnpaw did the same thing, only in the other direction, swiping at Skybright's legs as she leaped. Skybright crumpled down again and went limp. Dawnpaw loosened her hold, thinking that she had hurt Skybright, and the blue-furred cat pushed off the ground in a big leap that drove Dawnpaw to the ground. This time, the calico could not get up, and just flopped around uselessly. Skybright let her up, panting.

"Great job!" she mewed warmly, shaking out her fur. "You can have a quick break and then we'll have the other part of the assessment."

Dawnpaw nodded, and ran to the stream. She crouched beside the water to lap. The water cooled her tired, sore muscles and soothed her tongue. Energy flowed back into her body, and after she had finished drinking, she lay down on the mossy ground. After a few minutes, she got up and padded back to her mentor. Feathershine was sitting beside Skybright, but got to her paws when Dawnpaw arrived.

"Ready?" Feathershine checked. When Dawnpaw nodded, Feathershine crouched down. "When you can't fight anymore, you can say 'stop' or 'done'."

Dawnpaw threw herself at her mentor fiercely, snapping at where her neck was. Of course, she was feinting, and not going for the kill for real. Out of instinct, Feathershine flinched away, and Dawnpaw easily drove her to the ground. Suddenly the breath was driven out of her body as a blur of blue knocked her away from Feathershine and onto the floor. Dawnpaw groaned.

I forgot! she groaned. I'm fighting two cats! Dawnpaw struggled to her paws and threw her weight onto Skybright, but the she-cat twisted on her paws and rolled at Dawnpaw. Dawnpaw jumped up and landed on her. However, Skybright arched her back and threw the apprentice off. Feathershine leaped on her, but Dawnpaw back flipped and landed on Feathershine's stomach. She spun around and stepped forward as Skybright reared up behind her. She gave Skybright a few blows to the ears and chest, then jumped into the air again, landing on Feathershine again. Using her hind paws to keep the silver cat down, she gave Skybright a few more blows to the face and then dropped to her paws, mewing, "Done!"

Feathershine beamed at Dawnpaw, her eyes sparkling. "That's my apprentice!"

"You did very well!" Skybright meowed, watching as Feathershine's eyes filled with pride. "I'm quite impressed with your skills, especially your backflip."

Feathershine nodded. "You certainly know how to fight. You'll make a great warrior in no time!"

Dawnpaw just beamed. She walked with her mentor and Skybright back to camp, a skip in her step. Once she got back, Crowpaw and Gingerpaw tackled her.

"Dawnpaw!" they screeched. "How did you do?!"

Skybright smiled. "She did great," she mewed.

"Us too!" Gingerpaw squealed, bouncing on her paws.

Dawnpaw grinned. "I say this calls for a celebratory feast!"

"Sounds delicious!" Crowpaw purred, and they padded to the fresh-kill pile. Dawnpaw tugged a rabbit to a shaded area and they all dug in, taking turns to sink their teeth into the meat.

"You think you're so good, just because you passed," said a sour voice behind them.

The three apprentices whipped their heads around.

Needlepaw.

"Needlepaw!" Crowpaw growled, springing to her paws. "Leave us alone!"

"Or what?" the cocky apprentice said.

Cloudpelt, Needlepaw's mentor, strode over, gritting his teeth.

"Needlepaw! Are you bullying your denmates?" he asked sternly.

"No! Of course not, Cloudpelt!" she said in a sickly sweet voice. Once he left, Needlepaw rolled her eyes and swished her tail in annoyance.

"I suppose you only passed because you got a biased examiner!" Needlepaw fired at Dawnpaw.

"Skybright isn't biased!" Leafpaw defended, coming up behind Needlepaw. "She's fair!"

Crowpaw glanced at her brother. "Thanks, Leafpaw," she purred. "I can always count on you!"

Needlepaw stomped her foot. "What about me? I'm your sister, for StarClan's sake!"

"Go away, Needlepaw," Gingerpaw chimed in. "We don't want you here."

Needlepaw huffed and stormed away, causing the rest of the apprentices to burst out laughing.