"So, who won?" Rue asked as Tigerclaw and Felix strode into the ThunderClan camp side by side.

"Me, of course," Tigerclaw replied.

"You wish!" Felix replied, shoving Tigerclaw aside.

The Ravenpaws dashed out of the way as Tigerclaw sidestepped to regain his balance, and the dark brown cat let out a low growl.

"So... should I assume it was a tie?" Rue enquired.

"Don't assume anything," Tigerclaw muttered under his breath, and Felix suddenly remembered how strict Tigerclaw seemed when with other cats.

Strange, actually. When it had been just the two of them, Tigerclaw had seemed to loosen up a little, even daring Felix to cross the highway that the Warrior Cats called the Thunderpath. It was a logical name, actually, seeing as how, as a cat, one could feel the earth tremble as a car roared by, and the acidic smell that was too faint for humans to catch on to was still stinging in his nose. 

But he was drifting off topic again. He had been thinking about Tigerclaw.

Tigerclaw. Where'd he go?

"Hey Frostbite," Sam greeted him, pressing her head against his side in an affectionate shove, "how was your meeting with Tigerst—claw?"

"It went well..." Felix replied dismissively, not paying very much attention to her question. His eyes scoured the small camp. Where did Tigerclaw go?

"Is something wrong?" Sam asked, "or are you just lost in thought again?"

"Mmmm... He didn't really listen to me. Well, he listened, but..."

"What do you mean?" Sam asked, and Felix turned to face her, finally giving her proper attention.

"You... you were there with Smaug, right?"

"Well... yes, sort of," Sam replied hesitantly, "not all of it, you... stopped me."

"How far did you get?" 

"He was about to attack Val— I mean... Elfpaw."

"So you know?"

"Know what?"

"What I was there for?"

"Actually... no, no I don't."

Felix hesitated.

"What were you there for?" Sam asked curiously.

"Well, if you don't already know..." Felix began, trailing off.

"...you'd rather not tell me?" Sam guessed sadly, "okay, that's fair enough I suppose."

Her shoulders sagged, and Felix bit his lip.

"I... I was trying to convince Smaug not to be a villain anymore. Or at least trying to convince him to leave."

"I'm taking it he didn't listen?"

Felix shook his head.

"Of course not. I'm starting to think it's impossible to alter the storyline of these dimensions. But I suppose I'm too stubborn to stop trying."

"What does this have to do with Tigerclaw?" Sam enquired.

"I was trying to convince him not to continue down the path he's started," Felix replied, "he doesn't have to be evil. But he's convinced that he'll be Tigerstar one day."

"He will be," Sam whispered, "but it'll be his downfall. He's a lost cause, Felix. Give up. And avoid him, he's a bad influence."

Felix snorted.

"A bad influence? I've had nothing but bad influences all my life, I think I can handle one more. Besides, he's teaching me how to fight."

Felix tackled Sam with one of the moves that Tigerclaw had taught him, and Sam jumped aside just in time, hissing ferociously.

"Don't you see, Frostbite?" she blazed softly, so none of the other cats would hear, "that's what he always does! First Brambleclaw, then Lionpaw... He's not safe to be around, okay?"

Felix rolled his eyes.

"You're overreacting, Sam. We won't be staying here long anyway, and I can handle whatever he throws at me."

Sam sighed.

"Why do I get the feeling I'm making a terrible mistake by letting you do this?"

Felix booped her nose with his tail.

"You're not, trust me."

A smile quirked at her face.

"I suppose I'll just have to."

-

"Ravenpaw, pay more attention!" Tigerclaw snapped, and both Ravenpaws jumped guiltily.

"The same goes for you, Ruepaw," Felix instructed, and Rue nodded.

"Sorry Frostbite."

The wind rustled through the leaves in the treetops around the small clearing that they were training in. Somewhere else in the ThunderClan territory, Samwise, Elfpaw, Lionheart, Graypaw and Firepaw were hunting. 

The Ravenpaws muttered an apology to Tigerclaw, who shook his head in disgust.

"Now, if you're actually paying attention, I'd like to return to our original topic. Ravenpaws, could you demonstrate an attack position to Ruepaw please?"

The Ravenpaws exchanged a nervous glance, before uncertainly lowering themselves into position.

"A little more certainty please!" Tigerclaw complained, "now attack me."

"Both of us?" they chorused questioningly.

"There you go with that uncertainty again," Tigerclaw grumbled, "just do it, would you?"

The twins exchanged a glance, shrugged, and pounced.

They were hesitant in their attack, and Tigerclaw pushed them off effortlessly.

"Oh please, even a kit could do better than that!" he growled teasingly.

The Ravenpaws didn't even need to look at one another, but just attacked full force simultaneously. Tigerclaw seemed in his element as he dodged both their attacks, countering so efficiently that both Ravenpaws received an identical scratch over their noses. They winced a little but kept going, knowing that failure was not an option with Tigerclaw.

After watching for a few moments, Felix nodded to Rue.

"Seen enough?" he enquired, and Rue nodded.

"Alright then, let's see what you can do," Felix encouraged, preparing himself.

Rue began by circling him carefully, just like Tigerclaw had done the day before. Felix relaxed and sat down, hiding a yawn with his tail, as if Rue was no threat at all.

Rue rolled her eyes.

"You're asking for it," she warned.

"I already did," Felix pointed out, "twice."

"Well then, why,—"

Rue didn't finish her sentence, drowning it in a loud yowl as she leapt onto Felix.

But Felix wasn't going to be thrown off by one of the oldest tricks in the book. He sidestepped her terrifying leap, and she clashed to the ground, only just maintaining her balance.

"Diversion," Felix noted, "creative, but not good enough to catch me off guard."

Rue was fast. It was one of her strengths; speed and agility rather than brute power. She turned around again, facing Felix head on, and slashing wildly at him.

Once again Felix sidestepped all her attacks and strikes, letting her exhaust herself. Every few seconds he'd counter with a swipe or two of his own, driving Rue into the defensive, before letting her take over the attack again. But however hard she tried, her paw never connected with her target. Felix moved faster than she could attack.

"I thought you'd be smarter than this," he mocked as she paused, panting. A little to their left the Ravenpaws were doing the same, Tigerclaw towering over them, still with that look of disgust painted on his face.

"Maybe we should demonstrate," Tigerclaw suggested, to Felix, "the way these cats fight you'd think they've never seen a warrior before."

The Ravenpaws were too afraid of Tigerclaw to protest, and Rue was completely out of breath.

Felix took one glance at the three sorry apprentices, and agreed.

"Pay attention Ruepaw," he instructed, a kind undertone in his voice that implied it wasn't her fault. Tigerclaw, on the other hand, snapped in a tone that seemed to blame all their failures on the Ravenpaws.

"Get up you lazy..."

He trailed off as he heard a crack behind him of a stick snapping in half.

All of them froze, Ruepaw stopping mid-pant.

"What was that?" one of the Ravenpaws squeaked.

Tigerclaw and Felix answered at exactly the same time.

"Humans," Felix hissed.

"Twoleg," Tigerclaw muttered warningly.

Both of them were wrong.

It was Rue who caught on first as a large rounded object crashed through the bushes.

"Calypso?!?!"