Hawkpaw leapt, paws extended straight at Heartstorm. Then just before landing, he twisted and sprung onto Heartstorm's back. Heartstorm was taken by surprise and buckled to the floor. Hawkpaw clawed at Heartstorm with sheathed claws. With a roll, Heartstorm flipped over and was now onto of Hawkpaw, clawing at him. Hawkpaw struggled and twisted and finally, managed to break free. He bunched up his muscles, balancing on his hind legs and started pelting Heartstorm with front paw blows. Heartstorm, slightly disorientated, stumbled back then quickly, reared up and brought down both his paws strongly onto Hawkpaw. Hawkpaw fell to the ground and groaned. Heartstorm let Hawkpaw get up and breathe a moment before lunging for Hawkpaw's tail. Hawkpaw wasn't ready and yelped then twisted around and bit Heartstorm on the shoulder. He tasted blood and withdrew quickly. 

                "Sorry!" exclaimed Hawkpaw, embarrassed. Heartstorm licked his small bite and shrugged. 

                "It's alright," he said. "You'll do great if I was a real enemy." Once he had licked all the drops of blood off and the bite was clean, he turned to Hawkpaw once more. 

                  "You're improving very well, we just need to fix a few things while you fight then we can learn new moves tomorrow," Heartstorm said. Hawkpaw grinned happily. Heartstorm was proud to say Hawkpaw had improve immensely in the last quarter moon in terms of fighting.

                  "What are we going to do now?" asked Hawkpaw. 

                   "We're going on a patrol to ThunderClan," announced Heartstorm. He hadn't brought Hawkpaw anywhere near ThunderClan after the battle and Wolfstep's death but he thought it was time Hawkpaw returned there. Hawkpaw seemed slightly scared but nodded nonetheless. 

                 "They should be leaving soon, let's go," Heartstorm flicked his tail and they walked towards camp. They found Sparkbelly and Dustpaw waiting at the entrance. Sparkbelly smiled at Heartstorm and Hawkpaw and Dustpaw started talking. The group of four made their way towards ThunderClan border. 

                "How is it, being a mentor?" asked Sparkbelly. 

                 "Great," said Heartstorm. 

                 "I think Dustpaw is a great apprentice, he's learnt a lot," Sparkbelly bragged. 

                  "Hawkpaw too. He's improving so much in fighting," Heartstorm told Sparkbelly. Dustpaw and Hawkpaw trotted ahead of them, playfully batting at each others ears and joking. 

                   "One day do you want to do training together? They could do some training fights just to see how good they are," Sparkbelly said lightly but he seemed competitive. "Nothing competitive." Heartstorm nodded, it would be good for Hawkpaw to fight with someone his size since he'd been practising with Heartstorm all the time. 

                  "And they can learn fishing in pairs," added Heartstorm. Sparkbelly shrugged. 

                  "It's soon going to be leaf-fall, it'll be cold," Sparkbelly put in. 

                  "Yes but they do need to learn fishing in pairs," urged Heartstorm. 

                   "Yeah alright," huffed Sparkbelly. "But we should do that fighting training together soon." Heartstorm chuckled in amusement. Sparkbelly seemed very keen to prove Dustpaw was a great fighter. But Heartstorm knew Hawkpaw could beat Dustpaw. Heartstorm scented the faint smell of ThunderClan and Hawkpaw slowed down to pad beside Heartstorm. 

                    "It's alright," Heartstorm said, seeing Hawkpaw's look. "They'll be staying on their side of the border this time." The broke out of the shelter of the trees and the river rushed ahead of them. Sparkbelly ordered Dustpaw to mark the border and Heartstorm nodded for Hawkpaw to mark the border further along. Hawkpaw trotted along, looking slightly nervous at first but when there was no sign of ThunderClan, he seemed more relaxed. 

                   "So when should we do that training?" pressed Sparkbelly. 

                   "The day after tomorrow?" suggested Heartstorm, knowing Sparkbelly was very keen. 

                  "How about tomorrow?" asked Sparkbelly. 

                   "I already told Hawkpaw we'd be working on more fighting moves and improving a few other things," Heartstorm explained. Sparkbelly seemed to take this as a challenge. 

                    "Right," he said sharply. "Then the day after tomorrow." His eyes narrowed. Heartstorm couldn't help but feel amused. It would only be a friendly training, there was no reason to be competitive. 

                     "So how are you and Deerflame getting along?" teased Heartstorm. Sparkbelly seemed to forget that their apprentices were "competing" and stopped acting hostile. 

                     "Well," Sparkbelly lowered his voice. "We haven't talk for a while... She's always with that cat - Eelfrost. Ugh, why does he always stick to her? Is there something going on between them? Could you talk to her for me?" Heartstorm knew there was indeed something going on between Deerflame and Eelfrost, both were nervous to explain their feelings to each other so both confided in Heartstorm who found it extremely cute. He was glad that Deerflame liked Eelfrost instead of Sparkbelly. He couldn't stand Sparkbelly and Deerflame together, it would be too weird and Sparkbelly just wasn't the kind of cat who had all the right personality and characteristics to be a good mate to Deerflame. 

                   "They do hang out a lot and I think Eelfrost is interested in Deerflame," said Heartstorm, not wanting to get Sparkbelly's hopes too high. "And Deerflame is interested in h-" Sparkbelly's eyes were wide and shocked. 

                   "What do you mean?" he questioned. "Who does she has an interest in?" Heartstorm didn't want to be the one to break the news to Sparkbelly that Deerflame thought Sparkbelly was pretty dumb and liked Eelfrost. 

                  "Um.., I don't know, she didn't tell me," lied Heartstorm. 

                  "So do you think she likes me?" asked Sparkbelly excitedly. 

                   "Well..., maybe?" squeaked Heartstorm. He then spotted Hawkpaw, trotting back to them and was glad for the distraction. "Any sign of ThunderClan passing the border?" Hawkpaw shook his head. Dustpaw returned to them as well. Heartstorm nodded but padded to the side of the river and sniffed just in case. The smell of ThunderClan wafted from their side to theirs but there was no sign that they had crossed. He padded to the side of the tunnel where plants lay dead on the ground or ruffled and messy after the scramble of ThunderClan cats fleeing back to their side. But there was no sign or scent to indicate they had returned. With a satisfied smile, Heartstorm returned to Sparkbelly and the two apprentices and they headed back to camp. Sparkbelly was deep in conversation with Dustpaw. 

                    "Tomorrow we'll be training in fighting," Sparkbelly was telling Dustpaw. 

                    "But you said we could practise hunting birds!" protested Dustpaw. Sparkbelly cast a look at Heartstorm and Hawkpaw then turned back to Dustpaw. 

                    "Well, change of plan. You need to master the leap and hold," Sparkbelly retorted firmly. Dustpaw sighed. Heartstorm felt a feeling of smugness settle over him as Hawkpaw had already mastered the move a quarter moon ago. 

                    "What are we going to do now?" asked Hawkpaw. Heartstorm felt that Hawkpaw had done well that day and deserved a day off.  

                   "Eat something, rest," Heartstorm told him, "and tomorrow, we'll meet at noon for training at the clearing. And remember your duty to feed the elders!" Hawkpaw nodded then bounded ahead, happy for his free time. Heartstorm slipped back into camp and wandered towards Reedpelt. Reedpelt smiled to him. 

                    "Is there a hunting patrol?" asked Heartstorm, aching to hunt.

                    "No," replied Reedpelt. "But I did want one so could you please lead one?" Heartstorm nodded. 

                   "Sure," he said and headed straight to find Silverdrop, Deerflame and Eelfrost. He spotted Deerflame and Eelfrost talking over a mouse which they had almost finished but could find no sign of Silverdrop. His best friends greeted him happily. 

                  "Wanna come on a hunting patrol with you?" asked Heartstorm. Deerflame immediately got up. 

                 "Sure," Eelfrost grunted and heaved himself up. 

                "How's training with Hawkpaw?" asked Deerflame. 

                 "Great," grinned Heartstorm. "Sparkbelly wants Hawkpaw and Dustpaw to train together and he's so competitive." Eelfrost giggled. 

                 "Does he even know how to teach?" he muttered under his breath. "It'll always be a mystery why Thornstar chose him to be a mentor." Deerflame gave Eelfrost a sharp look but seemed to agree. 

                  "Don't talk about others that way," she said half heartedly. "Heartstorm, have you talked to Sparkbelly lately because he keeps looking at me in weird ways." Eelfrost burst into laughter. 

                   "It's true!" he exclaimed. "I saw him the other day! He saw Deerflame and made this weird face - like this-" Eelfrost grimaced and stuck his tongue out. Heartstorm couldn't help but laugh. He did feel slightly bad that they were making fun of Sparkbelly but it was only the truth.

                    "He likes you," Heartstorm informed Deerflame. "He told me." Instead of being jealous Eelfrost burst into more laughter. 

                   "Can you imagine him and Deerflame?" he asked Heartstorm. Deerflame rolled her eyes. "Ha!"

                    "Well if they were together," put in Heartstorm. "Deerflame has enough brains for the both of them." Eelfrost agreed heartily. Deerflame seemed hurt by this. 

                   "I'm not going to be with him!" she protested. "He's- not my type." 

                   "You mean he's clueless," muttered Eelfrost under his breath. 

                  "It's not his fault," retorted Deerflame. The three friends made their way into the forest, joking about Sparkbelly and Deerflame being mates.