Heartstorm dodged, lunged, swiped and leapt. His movements were swift, hard and he never thought about it. He was flowing as quickly as a river. Coldpelt suddenly stopped and stood, breathing heavily. he flicked his tail. 

           "Let's take a break," he panted then turned around. Heartstorm sat down, and watched Silverdrop. She was fighting alongside Applenose against Deerflame. They were training by the river, in RiverClan. Heartstorm hadn't talked much to Silverdrop since the day before. He wanted to go over right then and tell her he was sorry. He wanted to tell her he loved her. He didn't know if she was still angry at him. Finally, they finished fighting and Silverdrop trotted to the river to drink. Picking up as much courage as he could muster, Heartstorm walked over to Silverdrop's side. She looked up and tilted her head. 

          "What's up?" she asked lightly. Heartstorm didn't know if that was a good sign. 

          "I'm sorry about yesterday," he sighed. "I got carried away. I understand why you'd be worried. I didn't mean to unsheathe my claws... it just was in the spur of the moment." 

          "Yeah well don't do it again, ok?" Silverdrop said, nuzzling him. Heartstorm felt extremely relieved. He licked her on the forehead. 

          "I won't," he murmured. Coldpelt was back again. 

          "Ready?" he asked gravely. Silverdrop gave Heartstorm a slight nod and padded away. Heartstorm faced Coldpelt for another session of training. 

Heartstorm was sitting by the stream in RiverClan, thinking about his day. His muscles didn't ache anymore, he just felt tired. Training the whole day had reminded him of being an apprentice again. He felt soft steps behind him. They were light and silent. The stream trickling made it hard to hear them. Heartstorm turned around. Brightpaw was crouching behind him. She groaned and rolled her eyes. 

          "Aww damn it!" she cried. "How did you hear me?"

           "You were silent and the stream helped with the sound," Heartstorm said. "But I felt it. On the ground." Brightpaw sighed and sat down next to her father. 

            "I saw you training with ThunderClan today. Eelfrost let me watch you guys for a while," explained Brightpaw. "You were great. I never knew you were so good. You literally beat up that ThunderClan cat. It was so cool." Heartstorm chuckled then turned serious. 

          "Well, they're our allies now and I did not beat him up..." he said. "But thanks." He winked. 

         "I trained with Daisypaw today as well. We did some fighting in pairs. It was so fun. I think Eelfrost was really surprised," smiled Brightpaw. "I mean, we beat him." 

          "Haha, that's great," praised Heartstorm. "I'm proud of you. Heard of your brother? Haven't seen him today." 

           "Yeah, he did some intense training with Frogleap. Apparently they went to like this secluded area in RiverClan where there are loads of random plants and had this intense lesson about all of it. I saw Bumblepaw going into the apprentice den early. I think he's really tired," Brightpaw told Heartstorm. He nodded. 

           "Oh that explains it," he said. 

           "When will I be able to train with ThunderClan?" asked Brighpaw. "I could beat all the apprentices." 

           "Mmm, well don't get too excited," Heartstorm said. "But soon." 

           "Cool!" cried Brightpaw. "I'm going to sleep now. Good night." Heartstorm gave her a small lick on the cheek. 

           "Good night, sweet dreams," he replied. He watched as she trotted away. He turned back to listen to the stream. He imagined Bumblepaw listening to it everynight. It calmed him. Another cat came up behind him. He thought it was Brightpaw for a moment but then recognised the smell. 

           "How was your day?" asked Deerflame. She put her paw into the water. "Mmm, it's cold." The breeze ruffled Deerflame's fur. 

           "Good," shrugged Heartstorm. "I mean, training sort of reminded me of apprentice days. It was hard but I like it." 

           "Yeah, I remember our swimming lessons. And that time we learnt fishing," grinned Deerflame. "It was so fun... and funny." 

           "Oh yeah," laughed Heartstorm, remembering the fond memories. 

           "Do you think we're going to be ready?" asked Deerflame suddenly, tilting her head. "For battle?" 

           "Yeah, of course," Heartstorm said convincingly although he did not believe so himself. 

           "Aren't you scared? For Silverdrop. For your kits?" asked Deerflame. 

           "Of course I am. And I worry about you and Eelfrost as well. I worry about the whole Clan getting hurt. But the best I can do is help everybody get ready for the worst so that when the time comes, there will be a smaller chance of cats getting hurt," Heartstorm exclaimed. Deerflame looked at him, as if seeing through him. Heartstorm sighed and looked at his paws. "But... I'm scared... I don't want Silverdrop to get hurt. I don't want Brightpaw to get hurt. I see her and I just... She's so happy, you know? Like so innocent. And she's so excited and she's so good at fighting. She really is. I'm not as scared for Bumblepaw. In a way, I'm glad that he chose to be a medicine cat. That way he won't ever know what fighting will be like." 

            "He'll see it," pointed out Deerflame. "Anyways, Brightpaw is a great cat. She's going to do great things." 

           "I hope so...," shrugged Heartstorm. He remembered seeing Hawkflight that day. He had not joined in with the training, making up some excuse. but Heartstorm remembered spotting him watching from afar. Something in Hawkflight's look made Heartstorm think Hawkflight was not very happy. 

          "I think Hawkflight is mad..." Heartstorm told Deerflame suddenly. Deerflame nodded. 

          "Oh he is," she assured him. "After all, ThunderClan killed his mentor." Wolfstep... Heartstorm's heart ached. He remembered the wise grey cat. He had been a loyal and great warrior. 

           "You should talk to him," suggested Deerflame. "He can't be like that. Imagine in battle, if he turns on them. You were his mentor after all... you can talk him out of it. Make him see sense." Heartstorm wasn't so sure. He understood how Hawkflight must feel. But he had to talk to him. Hawkflight might get hurt if he tried anything stupid in attempt to avenge Wolfstep. 

           "I'll talk to him now," decided Heartstorm, getting up. Deerflame stopped for a moment and touched her tail to Heartstorm's back. 

           "Wait," she said suddenly. Heartstorm looked at her in concern. He wondered if she was sick. She looked normal. Her stomach was not as lean though. Her fur was more puffy. 

          "What is it?" asked Heartstorm. 

           "I need to tell you something...," Deerflame said slowly. Heartstorm's heart raced. He didn't know what she was going to tell. He hoped it wasn't something bad. Not more bad news about ShadowClan... Please nothing about ShadowClan. 

           "Yes?" Heartstorm urged gently. 

           "Heartstorm.. Heartstorm...," Deerflame continued. "I'm pregnant." Heartstorm wasn't sure he had heard properly. He flicked his ears and felt a weird flutter in his stomach. 

            "Sorry what did you say?" he asked. Deerflame looked shy. For the first time in his life, Heartstorm looked at Deerflame and she looked shy. 

           "I'm pregnant," repeated Deerflame. Heartstorm realised it was true. He had heard right. He imagined little kits. He imagined how happy Eelfrost would be. They would be great parents. He grinned broadly and jumped at Deerflame excitedly. 

           "Congratulations!" he shouted. "That's great!" Deerflame smiled but her smile faltered. She looked down at the ground. 

          "Yeah... I haven't told Eelfrost yet," she admitted. Heartstorm's eyes widened. 

          "Then what are you waiting for?" he cried. "Go tell him! He's going to freak out. In a good way, I mean." 

          "I know... I know..., that's what I'm scared about," Deerflame said softly. 

          "What? why?" exclaimed Heartstorm not understanding. This was great news. Why couldn't Deerflame see it?. 

          "I don't know...," murmured Deerflame. "I just... I can't be giving birth to kits just when we're about to go into battle with ShadowClan." 

          "What? Oh... Of course you can! You can stay in the nursery. We will protect you. Nothing will hurt you or your babies," Heartstorm assured her confidently. He would do anything to protect his best friend.  

          "I don't want to be in the nursery," grumbled Deerflame. "I want to go out to battle. To be with you guys. And Eelfrost. I don't want him to get hurt..."

           "Deerflame...," Heartstorm trailed off. 

          "I don't want Eelfrost to get hurt... when I'm not there. I don't want our kits to grow up.., not knowing their father...," whispered Deerflame.