Her dreams were interrupted by a tail brushed up and down before her nose. Skypaw woke with a sneeze, fangs missing the cream appendage by a whiskerlength.

"It's time to start training!" Dunerunner practically sang, bouncing enthusiastically.

Skypaw groaned, closing her sapphire eyes briefly; she'd been hunting in her dream and about to catch a particularly large albatross. Birds that big could feed nearly half of the Clan if necessary.

"I have a surprise for you," Dunerunner continued, whisking his tail over her nose again.

This time, the apprentice reached for it with sharp claws but missed it by more than a gull's wing.

"You're going to have to be quicker than that to defeat today's opponent," her mentor said gleefully, already leaving the apprentice den. Skypaw stretched out her sore muscles – they had been training for a half moon straight – and followed.

The Clan was up and about, Pigeonfang sitting with her kits near the Speaking Rock and watching them climb it patiently. Lilyfeather, SeaClan's medicine cat, had brought her herbs out into a stray patch of sunlight, pawing them into a neat line to let them dry. At the mouth of the cave stood Beetlefang, waiting for a patrol.

As Dunerunner approached the black warrior, Skypaw realized that all of the patrols had already left. So who was Beetlefang waiting for?

"Surprise!" Dunerunner said, whipping around to face her. "Beetlefang will be training with us today."

The sleepy haze still surrounding Skypaw dissipated in a matter of heartbeats. "Really?!" She gazed up at the other she-cat in awe.

"It's been a while since I did some battle training, I could use the practice," Beetlefang replied, whiskers twitching at the apprentice's excitement. "So where to?"

Dunerunner led the she-cats along the path running parallel to the sea cliffs until they came to a set of ledges. With a few neat hops, the cream tom was at the top of the cliffs, peering down at them. Skypaw followed, careful not to slip.

The wind buffeted her fur, bringing with it the smell of salt. Beach and sea stretched out behind them while coarse plant-life littered the rocky plateau before them. Beyond stood the Gathering Place and, beyond that, the tall grasses of MoorClan.

In her preoccupation with the landscape, Skypaw did not notice Beetlefang preparing to pounce. Within a heartbeat, she was knocked to her side, gasping for air.

"No fair!" The apprentice got to her paws.

Beetlefang shrugged. "You should always be ready for an attacker. They're not going to give you any warning."

The black she-cat lunged again but this time Skypaw was prepared. She parried the blow away, reaching out with a paw to strike at Beetlefang's chest. Her own paw was met with resistance. Before she could attack again, the warrior had skirted away, launching herself past Skypaw and whirling around to attack her from behind.

The longer they sparred, the more tired Skypaw grew. Beetlefang, however, never seemed to tire. At sunhigh, Dunerunner finally called a break.

"Not so easy when you're fighting a seasoned warrior, now is it?" Dunerunner said, coming to sit beside his apprentice.

Skypaw gave her mentor a doleful look. "If I was fighting her anywhere but on a completely flat battleground this would be a lot easier."

Beetlefang flicked her tail. "You don't get to choose your battleground a lot of the time. That's why you need to train for every possible circumstance." She gave the scar on her shoulder a lick, as if to punctuate the importance of her words.

"I know you like to use the terrain to your advantage," Dunerunner added. "But this rocky flatness is also a terrain you might have to fight on one day. How can you use it to help you?"

Skypaw surveyed the sparse greenery and flat rock around her but found nothing. There were no boulders; there was no water. Only land that seemed to stretch on forever in every direction but the sea cliffs.

"Let's keep going," Beetlefang said. "Shardtooth wanted me on a patrol later tonight."

By the time they were finished, Beetlefang had pinned Skypaw to the ground more times than the apprentice could count.

//

The following morning, Skypaw woke to someone pawing her ears.

"I'm getting up," she grunted to her mentor, who was already bounding away to the cave entrance. Quickly stretching her muscles, sore from the previous day's training, the apprentice slunk out of her den.

At the entrance to camp stood Dunerunner and Beetlefang, just as they had yesterday.

"Ready for another day of training?" Beetlefang asked. Not wanting to disappoint – or, perhaps, wanting to impress – Skypaw nodded.

Their second day of training passed with similar results to their first. The day after, Skypaw returned to camp with a slight limp, much to her mother's consternation. On the fourth day Skypaw felt she would never win against the warrior she-cat. The fifth day she almost managed to subdue her with a frontal attack; by the sixth she was right back to where she started.

"I'm never going to be able to do it," Skypaw complained to Pearlfur. Her shoulders ached and her paws stung from the days spent on the hot rock plateau.

"I don't understand why Dunerunner is pitting you against her anyhow," Pearlfur said with a sniff. "Sounds like he's pawning you off and not taking his mentor duties seriously."

Skypaw felt her fur prickle at the comment. "He's not pawning me off. He's just inviting Beetlefang to our training sessions, he's there the whole time."

Pearlfur still did not look convinced. Sighing, Skypaw tensed and relaxed her shoulders, hoping to numb some of the pain. Her mother's words only strengthened her resolve to prove her wrong.

"Maybe tomorrow," the apprentice said with a shrug. She hoped to StarClan she would find the strength to finally beat Beetlefang.

//

Strike to the chest.

Block from the side.

Scurry back to avoid the blow.

Skypaw felt her chest constricting as breath became harder and harder to draw. The sun was at its highest, beating down on the plateau unmercifully. Not even the light breeze from the sea provided any sort of comfort.

"Focus, Skypaw!" she heard Dunerunner's voice yell from the sidelines. The apprentice twitched her ears irritably in his direction, paw pads burning as she backed out of Beetlefang's way. She felt like she was always on the defensive, but how was she going to get the much stronger and more experienced she-cat to back off? If she had to do even one more day of this gruelling training, Skypaw thought she might claw her mentor's ears off.

Beetlefang's paw hit the apprentice's side in her distraction, knocking her off balance. The rock practically seared her fur, the heat from the sun trapped within it so great. Skypaw stumbled to her paws, pads aching from the scorching rock.

And then, it hit her.

Rocky flatness is also a terrain. How can you use it to help you?

Something must have changed in her face because Beetlefang looked at her expectantly. Narrowing her eyes, Skypaw put a plan into motion.

She jumped, twisting as she sailed over Beetlefang to avoid the paws that would have otherwise been battering at her stomach, and landed behind her with a swift turn. The warrior had already turned to face her, but Skypaw was dashing off to the side. The black she-cat followed, balancing more expertly than the apprentice had been counting on.

Skypaw leaped again, determined to make her plan work. This time when she landed the warrior's side was still to her. She swiped at it, making every effort to unbalance her opponent.

Still, nothing. Beetlefang reached out to strike but Skypaw was gone again.

With all of the jumping, her paws no longer felt so heated. If she maintained having as little contact with the ground as possible, and had greater stamina than Beetlefang in the energy expended on leaping, she might just be able to pin her.

Finally, Skypaw saw her chance. When she leapt she did not turn her back to Beetlefang, but instead brought her full weight down on the warrior. If the rock beneath her was hot enough and stunned the she-cat for even a moment, it would buy Skypaw enough time to complete the move.

Beetlefang hissed as her underbelly came in contact with the scorching plateau. Skypaw rolled, her own back hitting the rock for a brief moment before her paws were underneath her opponent, flipping her onto her back and pinning her shoulders down.

"And that's how you use the terrain to your advantage," Beetlefang said, eyes glittering at Skypaw.

They were in SeaClan's camp, Beetlefang recounting that day's training as the rest of the Clan enjoyed their freshkill. Skypaw shuffled her paws as Beetlefang's tale drew to a close and the entire Clan turned to look at her.

"Skypaw!" Dunerunner cheered and, soon, the whole Clan had joined him.

"My kit, almost ready to be a warrior!" Pearlfur said, grooming the apprentice's fur. Skypaw shifted away, slightly embarrassed.

"She's right, you know." The grey and white she-cat looked over to see a ginger tom limping towards them.

"Thank you," she said, bowing her head in gratitude to the battle-scarred warrior.

"You'll be a fine warrior yet," Flamestrike replied. Leaning in, he added, "Especially if you can beat that one." He flicked his tail in Beetlefang's direction.

Skypaw purred. "Only took me seven sunrises."

Flamestrike fixed her with his intense amber eyes. "Only a matter of time before it's only one."

   Skypaw's confidence only grew.

// Skypaw's a real smart cookie :)