Hollypaw's eyes blinked opened, and she was surrounded by darkness. The Dark Forest, she realized, seemed to be getting darker every time she visited.  It didn't bother her as much as she thought it would, and she actually enjoyed the harsh training sessions that that made her such a better warrior. She took pride in every scratch, and every bite that she had inflicted upon her enemies, for it showed her strength.

She walked around for a while, looking for Breezepelt, but he was nowhere to be found. Hollypaw looked around some more, and came across a dark tabby she-cat, that must have been an apprentice. It's Tanglepaw, a ShadowClan apprentice. She realized. Hollypaw had seen her at gathering before, Talking with Wildpaw and Owlpaw. It was good to see that her brother had made friends with some of the other apprentices, even though he seemed closest Wildpaw, he would still talk to Tanglepaw.

Tanglepaw seemed to notice her, and she bounded up to her. "Hey Hollypaw, have you seen Redwillow? I can't find him anywhere."

Hollypaw shook her head. "I haven't seen him, I've been looking for Breezepelt, and he isn't here either."  

"Maybe it's some kind of test?" Tanglepaw suggested. "If none of the mentors are around, maybe we have to practice with each other."

"Good Idea! Let's just fight and see who wins." Tanglepaw nodded in response, and leaped at Hollypaw, but Hollypaw easily dodged her attack. She whipped around to meet Tanglepaw, and this time Hollypaw charged at Tanglepaw. With claws out, she ducked at the last moment and dived under her belly, raking her claws against the soft flesh.

Tanglepaw cried out in pain, then spun around to face Hollypaw. Anger flashed in her eyes. "Why are your claws unsheathed?" She yowled angrily.

"Because she's supposed to, and so are you. Has Redwillow told you otherwise?" A voice growled from behind them. Breezepelt emerged from undergrowth, and looked accusingly at Tanglepaw. "Well, has he?" He said, keeping calm. Tanglepaw gulped, and looked into the amber eyes that scared her when she first started coming to the Dark Forest.

"Redwillow told me to keep my claws sheathed during training." She said bluntly.

"Redwillow, can you come out here?" Breezepelt called, his voice menacingly innocent. A few moment later Redwillow appeared from the edge of the clearing.

"Yes, Breezepelt?" He asked. Hollypaw could tell that Breezepelt was going to punish him, but how much trouble was he in? Hollypaw understood that they wouldn't have claws sheathed in battle, and you have to treat training like a battle, because part of battles is dealing with the pain that your enemies inflict upon you. It's an important part of training, and if Redwillow didn't train Tanglepaw with unsheathed claws, then the punishment must be severe.

"Why does Tanglepaw train with claws sheathed?"

"I-uh..." Breezepelt didn't let him get any farther in his explanation before he lunged at Redwillow, biting down on his throat. Hollypaw heard a surprised gasp from Tanglepaw. Redwillow's tail twitched, then laid limp. His body slowly started to disappear, before completely vanishing, his spirit destroyed.

"Tanglepaw, I will be mentoring you now, along with Hollypaw." Hollypaw thought it was terrible that Redwillow had killed. But he deserved it, he didn't teach Tanglepaw one of the most important parts of battle training.