Lostpaw padded out of the apprentice den, seeing his mentor waiting for him.

"Are you ready for training," Scorchedfur asked, purring.

"Yep," Lostpaw mewed. His mentor was a lot of fun, and he enjoyed training with her.

"Where to? Want to go by the river?" The silver-furred she-cat questioned.

Lostpaw nodded, before his mentor said, "I bet that I'll get there first!"

No way! Lostpaw darted out of camp entrance, keeping his eyes on Scorchedfur who was racing through the pine trees; though it was difficult due to the heavy mist. He had already been an apprentice for two quarter-moons, and was now used to he and his mentor's new schedule of racing before breakfast.

He pumped his muscles, making sure to land his front left paw on the ground each time. I'm almost in front of her! Just a little faster! In his distractions of getting first place, he didn't realize that he nearly ran into the river; Scorchedfur having to grab his scruff to stop him.

"Be careful now! You're a cat, not a fish." His mentor let out a mrrow of laughter. "You're lucky I caught you. The river is moving quite fast today."

Lostpaw panted, "I'll be more careful next time." He looked into the river with his icy-blue eyes. "Can I get a drink?"

The silver she-cat nodded, "Be careful. I wouldn't want to get my pelt wet on a cold day like this."

He leaned down, lapping at the water's clear surface. Now that he wasn't a kit, he didn't have to drink from mossballs anymore. The water tastes much better like this.

"Let's walk back to camp now, I'm sure you're hungry."

As they were walking back to camp, Lostpaw tasted the air, smelling a mouse nearby. Scorchedfur, too, noticed the prey. "If you want, you can catch it," the burned she-cat whispered.

Lostpaw crouched down, eyes searching the undergrowth. There it is... He creeped forward, trying his best to keep quiet. However, when he tried to lift his front paw up to move forward, he fell on the ground. He quickly stood up, but the mouse was already gone.

I'll never be a warrior if I can't hunt! He sighed in disappointment, tail drooping on the ground. "I couldn't catch it, I fell."

"Don't worry about it, Lostpaw. This is all new to you, and for a cat with only three legs, you already are doing a great job. Sometimes things don't work out perfectly, and that's okay. At least you tried," his mentor soothed.

"And there are plenty of other opportunities. If it makes you feel any better, after I got all these burns, it took me longer than a whole season to learn how to hunt again - and I had been a warrior for a while before that!"

"I guess you're right... But what if I never learn how to hunt or fight properly? I really want to be a warrior." I'm already named Lostpaw...but my mentor also had her name changed, and she is a good warrior.

Scorchedfur thought for a heartbeat. "How about you think, 'I will learn how to hunt and fight, and I will be a warrior, because I won't give up', instead of 'I can't hunt or fight, I'll never be a warrior'? Because it's true, and I can tell that you will be a great warrior someday."

The three-legged dark brown tabby tom smiled, "Thanks, Scorchedfur."

The rest of their walk back to camp was mostly silent, as they were listening to the birds' songs of morning.

Entering camp, his mentor requested, "You should find some prey for Beechtuft and Stonefeather before you eat. I think they'll appreciate it. I'll be on the dawn patrol. After you eat, get the nursery some fresh bedding."

Lostpaw watched as Scorchedfur started to crawl towards Brambleheart - who was by the warriors den - before pouncing on her. The two she-cats had been mates moons before he was born, and would always play around with each other.

Walking over to the fresh-kill pile, he grabbed two mice. He entered the medicine den, dropping the prey at the entrance.

"Hello." Beechtuft was first to notice him as he turned around from sorting herbs.

"Welcome, Lostpaw. It's great to see you. Are those for us?" Stonefeather padded towards him, smiling.

"Yep! I made sure to get the best ones!" Lostpaw grinned, mewing happily. 

Stonefeather purred, "Thank you, we really appreciate it." 

"Is there anything I can do to help you?" The dark brown tabby tom asked, wondering if the medicine cats were in need of assistance. 

The gray tom shook his head, "No, today seems to be pretty peaceful. How about you get yourself something to eat?"

Lostpaw mewed, "Alright," and trotted out of the medicine den. His blue gaze wandered to the fresh-kill pile. I think I'll eat a bird today. He carefully crouched down once he was at the prey pile, and grabbed a small sparrow by the tail with his teeth. He plucked out its feathers before biting into its meat. Within a few mouthfuls, he was finished with his meal.

He stood up and gazed at the nursery. This'll be fun! He always loved to help out in his Clan, and cleaning the nursery was the perfect way. He'd get to see the kits again; he'd get to see Poppykit!

Once he entered the den, the kits were instantly on their paws. Queen Minnowflight and Rainfeather both blinked in a silent greeting, whilst Maplefern waved her tail. 

Amberkit, a calico she-kit, strode over to him. "Hello, Lostpaw. It's good to see you again," she purred, amber eyes gleaming.

"Hi! Good to see you as well," Lostpaw responded, looking down at the three-mooned kit. He then looked in front of him as he saw Poppykit trotting over, Wrenkit following.

"Lostpaw! How have you been?" Poppykit asked him, pupils dilated.

"I've been good. How about you?" Lostpaw gazed at the princess. Her sleek, flame-colored fur complimented her small frame.

Poppykit grinned, "Great! And soon, I'll be in the apprentice den too! And you as well." The princess switched her focus to her cousins: Amberkit, Wrenkit, and Onekit who was off to the side.

"Mhm, we'll all be in the apprentice den together. We'll all have fun~!" Wrenkit sang the last sentence, heather-colored eyes bright and cheerful.

Lostpaw purred, before remembering his task. He took a look at the nests which were in a neat mound. 

"Oh, right!" Poppykit flicked her tail towards the nests. "We knew that they would be changed today, so we put them in a pile. You can go do that now if you want."

The apprentice nodded, and walked over to the nests. He took a glance at the mothers of the kits. They were at the back of the nursery, engaged in conversation. Lostpaw looked back at the nests, and picked up all three of them at the same time. It was difficult since they were rather large, and it didn't help that he only had one front leg. But, nevertheless, he carried them out and discarded them at the dirtplace.

Afterwards, Lostpaw slid into a tunnel which lead to a stash of bracken. The brambles were fresh and green; perfect to make nests with. Better for him, they already were in the shape needed to make a nice bed. He took three of the bracken frames and exited the burrow. 

Lostpaw padded over to the old, fallen tree by the elder's den. It was charred, yet it had moss growing all over it. He carefully placed the bracken frames onto the ground. Balancing on his hind legs, he started to scrape off the moss with his front left paw. Once he had enough, he padded the insides of the nests with it, and started to carry them back to the nursery. 

"Welcome back! Thank you for making our nests! I'll show you where they belong," Poppykit scrambled to her paws. Lostpaw followed her, and placed the nests to where she had shown.

Lostpaw watched as Queen Minnowflight, Rainfeather, and Maplefern turned around. "Thank you very much, Lostpaw. We appreciate that you changed our nests," the queen purred. 

"You're welcome. I'm glad I could help!" As the apprentice said that, Onekit stalked over to his mother. Why is he unhappy? Did I do something?

"Oh, don't mind Onekit. He's been in a bad mood ever since you and your brothers left the nursery," Rainfeather mewed. The blue-gray she-cat then called Amberkit and Wrenkit over. "It's time for singing practice!" The two she-kits excitedly ran to the mother.

Poppykit bounded up to Lostpaw. "Do you think Thornpaw can come? It's been half a moon since he was last here, which was when he still lived in the nursery!"

Lostpaw purred, "I'll tell him to come as soon as I see him."

"Thank you!" With a wave of her dark ginger tail, Poppykit skidded over to her mother, who amusedly told her to calm down.

As the four kits had begun their lesson, Lostpaw waved his tail in parting and left the nursery. His icy-blue eyes landed on the fresh-kill pile, where Thornpaw and Frondpaw were. They were arguing again, so Lostpaw walked over to them. "What's going on? What happened now?"

"He is saying that I eat too much, so I- I-" Frondpaw started to laugh, unable to continue.

"Frondpaw obviously wanted to prove his point, so he threw a mouse at my face and stole my lizard. He ate my lizard," Thornpaw's claws dug into the ground.

Lostpaw sighed, looking at his gray brother. "Frond, I told you not to do that. Nobody likes having their prey taken from them." He then turned to his larger brother. "Try not to get so angry, Thornpaw. You know he's just playing around-"

"I don't care if he's playing around, I don't want him to eat my lizards! He already eats half of the fresh-kill pile, he doesn't need to eat my food!" At that comment, Frondpaw, who had previously calmed himself down, was back to cracking up. Lostpaw watched as Thornpaw stormed away and to the apprentice den. 

The dark brown tabby tom gave his green-eyed brother a prod in the shoulder. "What? You have to admit, Thornpaw's funny when he gets angry!"

"Maybe to you, but he's really upset. Please don't get him angry again, especially when it comes to food," Lostpaw sighed, walking over to the apprentice den. He entered and cleared his throat. "Hey, Thornpaw, I know this might not be the right time, but-"

"What is it, Lostpaw?" The dark brown tabby tom snapped, his amber gaze lowered with his back turned.

"The kits want you to visit the nursery. Can you, please?" Lostpaw requested, blue eyes hopeful. However, his brother only snickered.

"No, I'm not going there. I'm not a kit anymore and I don't plan on ever becoming one again."

Lostpaw exhaled, "The princess will be sad if you don't. It's been two quarter-moons since you last visited the nursery. And from what I heard and saw, Onekit is very angry."

"Look, Lostpaw, if I go back into the nursery I'll be seen as a kit still. I'm not going into it. Have them come out if they want to see me so bad, for whatever reason."

Lostpaw huffed and exited the apprentice den. Why does he have to be like this? As he gazed through camp, his eyes landed on two cats who were sharing tongues. It's mother! The apprentice hobbled over to Fernshade and Stonefeather, who were deep in a hushed conversation.

"We need to tell them as soon as- Hello Lostpaw!" Fernshade was caught off guard, and Lostpaw could see how abashed she and her brother were.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you!"

"It's okay! No harm done," Stonefeather hastily mewed. "Is there anything you want to talk about?" The gray-colored tom asked, taking a glance at his cream-furred sister.

"Nope, I just wanted to say hi!" Lostpaw flicked an ear, thinking for a moment. He didn't want to snitch on his brother, but Poppykit seemed very hopeful. "Actually, mom, there is something I want to say. I asked Thornpaw to visit the nursery, and he said no. I don't want the kits to be sad. Do you think you can ask him to? He's in the apprentice den."

Fernshade nodded, "Sure. I'll go tell him." Lostpaw watched as his mother got up and trotted over to the den. 

The apprentice then switched his gaze over to the medicine cat, who smiled at him, though was still a little uneasy. "It's good to see you again. How's your training going?"

Lostpaw sighed, "Well, I can run fast, but hunting and fighting is a bit of a challenge. I don't know how I'll be able to become a warrior if I can't do either."

Stonefeather looked at Lostpaw. "You are a new apprentice, you aren't going to suddenly know how to hunt or fight. It takes a lot of practice. You will learn how to someday. Trust me on that. I believe in you." The medicine cat kept his icy-blue gaze on Lostpaw and wrapped his tail around his shoulders. 

"Thank you, Stonefeather."

"You're welcome."

Chapter 10?! Sorry for the wait, this chapter was a struggle. I hope you enjoyed it! Can you answer these questions?

1. Who do you ship most and why?

2. Are you invested in this story? If so, how come?

3. Who is your favorite character and why?

4. Who is your least favorite character and why?