^^Minnow^^

Ravenpaw||

              He knew from the second he was paired up with Eaglepaw. Coldpelt despised him. Any other cat in FogClan would say to suck it up and stop being a mouse-brain, but Ravenpaw knew better than that. Every little thing she did would be to "challenge him", and he had had enough of that. It didn't really bother him though, he knew that he could beat Eaglepaw in a heartbeat, but he had to make it seem less obvious. That meant getting hurt. Yay. Who cares, as long he won, right? There was no way that he was actually going to lose to an apprentice!

              The walk to the battle arena wasn't as bad as he expected, because even though Eaglepaw was very competitive, she was actually a really nice cat. She had the personality that would suit Sedgepaw and his group really well, so Ravenpaw took advantage of her friendship while it lasted. Coldpelt was in the front of the group, and when they arrived at the battle arena, she immediately took charge. Ravenpaw couldn't argue though, she was the deputy after all. But he always worried about what she would be like when she became leader.

              Before he knew it, Ravenpaw was going head to head with Eaglepaw. He looked over at Sealeap, who wasn't even giving a mouse-dung for the fight he was about to be in. Whatever he didn't care anyway. He launched himself at Eaglepaw and rolled over, scratching at her face and paws, throwing her off of him and tearing her ears. she was clawing at his underbelly, and even though it wasn't obvious, his belly fur was soaked with blood. There were open wounds everywhere along his body, and when she finally went limp, he was already suffering from blood loss. She was a good competitor, but he knew that he would've won anyway.

              As Ravenpaw finally got a chance to rest, he looked across the clearing to see Lillypaw sprawled out on the ground, her flank barely rising and falling. He fought the urge to run up to her and see if everything was okay, but he knew that if Coldpelt saw him doing something like that, then he would get a very severe punishment. And that wasn't what he was shooting for. Eaglepaw struggled to get to her paws, but when she finally did, she stayed where she was as well. Ravenpaw assumed that she had learned from his mistakes as well. "So, what do you think happened?" She asked. Her voice was high pitched, but that was only because she was technically still a kit. It would wear off in about a quarter-moon or so. "I dunno." He responded. That was all he could say. His fur was on edge, and when he finally got Larkpaw's attention, the small tom seemed to take moons to arrive where they were.

              "What happened?" They said in unison, startling Larkpaw. He seemed a bit taken aback, but that was expected. "I accidentally clawed her face and her eyes. Birchberry and Stonepaw said that she might end up becoming blind at one point. In fact, she already has one eye that's severely damaged, so Coldpelt said that she would speak to Rainstar about her becoming a Hunter instead of a fighter." His eyes were filled with sorrow, but deep down, Ravenpaw knew that he was proud of winning his first battle. "Well, what about the Hunger Games? Will she still be able to participate?" He asked. That was what she was looking forward to, after all. "She can still play, but she has a very low chance of winning. I may have just scarred her future permanently." Ravenpaw didn't know what to say to that; it was pretty tough to help bring comfort in a situation like that. "Oh," He started, but he didn't know how to help the situation. "That sucks, I guess. Hawkpaw and Sedgepaw will be devastated." And with that, he padded away. He had already made the situation worse. Saying anything else would make it turn from bad to worse. And that couldn't happen. Not on his watch.

              As Ravenpaw walked back to camp slowly, he was surprised when he bumped into a familiar pelt. "Minnow?" He gaped. "I thought you were gone! You were here one day, all comfortable living life as a Clan cat, and then you just disappeared! Where'd you go?" He looked up, expecting to see eyes full of joy, but he instead saw that her eyes were slits, her anger practically spewing out of her ears. "A-are you okay?" He asked hesitantly. She obviously wasn't okay, but he wanted to know why.

              "No, I'm not okay Ravenpaw!" And then he knew. "Listen," He began, "I wasn't trying to hurt you. Every cat hates me for who I am, and I thought that you wouldn't if I kept pretending I was my brother. I know I was wrong, and I should have just told you, but you seemed to enjoy my personality, and I feared that you would hate me if I told you who I really was." He paused to take a breath and she immediately butted in. "Yeah, I understand that, but you kept lying to me even after Sedgepaw said that you were Ravenpaw." She growled. "I was trying to save myself! StarClan knows how much you would have hated me if I had told you then!" He kept pleading, but she just didn't listen. "Well, I wouldn't have hated you as much, I can assure you that! Now you just made your life even more miserable. I've been watching you, and you seem to have a pretty decent life, but trust me, it's about to get much worse!" She shoved him and headed to the battle arena. "I was just trying to help..." He mumbled as she trotted away.

              Walking into camp, Hawkpaw glared at him as he padded out of the nursery, and Mousetail gazed at him with cold eyes. Why does everyone seem to hate me now?  He thought as he headed to the medicine cat den. Stonepaw had gone back to camp when Birchberry had ordered him to, so he was organizing herbs in the den. "Ravenpaw, you're here!" He said, concentrated. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be? I was just in a fight, after all." Stonepaw grumbled in agreement. "Come here, I need to help clean your wounds." Ravenpaw sat in front of him and waited until he had applied a poultice of some sort and given him poppy seeds. "Hey...Stonepaw?" He called from the end of the log. "Yes?" The gray tom went back to where he was. "Do you think that you could help me with something?" A small smile crept onto his face as Stonepaw answered.

              "Sure, what do you need?"

A/N||

AND...DONEEEEEEE! I was rushing this chapter, but I think it turned out pretty good! I don't have school tomorrow, so I'll try and update then, but I gotta say, the reads are coming in fast! I recently started this book, and we're almost up to 100 reads already! Like, what?! I wanted to dedicate this chapter to two specific people. My fourth-grade teacher, (which was only two years ago) who has made a huge impact on my life, and @billytilley11, who has been helping me behind the scenes with what should happen during the book, new characters, new ships, etc. I love them both so much and I don't know what would happen without them! As always, thank you for reading, voting, commenting, and sharing, and I can't wait to see you soon! If I don't update, HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!

Love Ya,

Briar