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Dawn had already came and went before Sablepaw woke up. Her waking was greeted with screeching, and she blinked open her gummed eyes and scrambled around, trying to get to her paws. An attack?! But it was not cries of pain . . . happiness?

"We're going to be warriors!" someone crowed, their voice astoundingly full of glee. Sablepaw glared at the commotion, her gaze centered on two excited FallowClan apprentices. It was two she-cats, and both of them were grinning at each other. Not bothering to keep their happiness to themselves, Sablepaw noted sourly.

"Come on, Finchpaw!" one she-cat, a curly tan cat, flicked her tail-top impatiently in the other's face. The second one, Finchpaw, was a murky grey she-cat, also with curled fur. The grey she-cat rolled her eyes.

"We're fine," she meowed with a snort. "But - ooh, one of them are looking at us!" She broke off mid-sentence and gazed doe-eyed at Sablepaw. "Don't make eye contact, Sunflowerpaw!" Sunflowerpaw, supposedly the name of the tan one, squealed nervously.

"You woke me up," Sablepaw hissed through clenched teeth, lashing her tail in irritation as the got to her paws at last. The sisters - or at least they looked just like sisters - stared at her. Sablepaw's face burned as they surveyed her. She was noticeably smaller than them, but she puffed out her chest and rose higher to her paws, stretching out her back and bristling her short fur.

Finchpaw and Sunflowerpaw shied away, but after a moment of hesitation, Sunflowerpaw let out a decisive growl and stepped forward. Finchpaw's eyes widened but the other apprentice sent her a reassuring glance. "Well, you pathetic ValleyClan cat," she mewed lightly, though her eyes were sparking unpleasantly with malice. "You watch what you say, now. You're a hostage of FallowClan here, and Lilystar won't like you getting feisty with her newest warriors."

Sablepaw scoffed, sweeping her tail across the dusty camp floor. "From the sound of it, you're still apprentices, so don't get so cocky. I'll be a warrior in four moons, but I could probably beat you in a fight still."

A sharp laugh came from Sunflowerpaw, and she meowed confidently, "I'm not so sure about that. Maybe we should fight." Anger bubbled up dangerously in Sablepaw's chest, and she was about to retort when the crunching of paws in dry leaves made her look up quickly.

Lilystar, her light brown pelt ruffled in the breeze, had come to the apprentices' tails. "That's a good idea, my dear Sunflowerpaw. How about this?" She winked at the sisters and raised herself into her full height. "Let all cats, rogues, FallowClan, and hostages hear my voice! There will be FallowClanners guarding ValleyClan to the center of the clearing, and then we will have a couple of warrior ceremonies."

Sablepaw had no time to wonder why Lilystar was eyeing her so interestedly. She was thrust in with the rest of the remaining ValleyClan cats into a ragged circle at the clearing. The FallowClan cats sat down a few paces away but the rogues stood on the edge of the shadowy clearing, clearly unnerved by this sudden turn of events from the quiet morning.

Missing the warmth Bearpaw would have provided to her, Sablepaw nestled near Ashenpoppy, who had left her kits in the nursery, which the queen kept glancing anxiously back to as to make sure then kits were behaving themselves. The tiny, adorable kits peered excitedly around the ferns that sheltered the warm nursery, their round, fluffy faces bright with a curious glow. Sablepaw's eyes traveled away from the bundles of cuteness and back to Lilystar. Again, Lilystar was staring right at her, rather pointedly.

Lilystar seemed to shake herself and, tearing her gaze away from Sablepaw, drew herself back up to address the gathered cats. "Sunflowerpaw and Finchpaw have worked hard to train, as Tumbletree and Flighthawk have remarked to me." She looked around until her gaze landed right on Sablepaw. Unease twisted the bengal's stomach as those leafy-green orbs met her own amber ones. "Since this bedraggled kit has openly challenged Sunflowerpaw to a fight, it will help prove my apprentice's strength and cunning. If Sunflowerpaw wins, she will become a warrior and Sablepaw will go back to being a lowly kitten. If Sunflowerpaw loses, her training will continue and Sablepaw be able to have first pick of prey from the pile tonight. It is a high honour for a servant, so count me gracious. Now, you will start at the center, Sunflowerpaw, Sablepaw. Don't forget to unsheathe your claws . . . I'm sure it will help . . . imprint . . . the lesson behind this fight in your minds forever."

Fear replaced Sablepaw's anger quick as ice freezing a lake. An ice storm to a puddle, more like. Ashenpoppy let out a cry of disgust and wailed in fear as Sablepaw was shoved into the middle of the circle, but Sablepaw couldn't fight her way back to her mother as hard as she tried. Ashenpoppy was lost in a sea of bodies, but they retreated as Lilystar cleared her throat.

Lilystar meowed loudly and most scathingly, "Good luck to the kit, I pity your scars and humiliation at defeat after this. It is inevitable. And, Finchpaw will become a warrior still, but when an opportunity comes to have a simple battle, I will do my best to grant the wish of the contestants."

Murmurs ran through the assembled cats, and some protests bolted through the clearing, but Lilystar let out a yowl - not using any words, just a call for silence. Sunflowerpaw's curly pelt might be an asset to me, Sablepaw thought desperately as they began to circle each other. If I can just get my claws hooked into that, I can - !

She had no time to think. A screech shattered the silence of the crowd holding their breaths, and one more painful second passed before the sting of claws hit Sablepaw's body. She cried out and ripped her pelt away from Sunflowerpaw's outstretched paws. The crowd gasped as Sablepaw charged into Sunflowerpaw, knocking the older apprentice off her paws.

Sunflowerpaw sprang to her paws again and sank her fangs into Sablepaw's shoulder, but Sablepaw, being much smaller than the tan molly, slipped out of her grasp and leaped away. The cats surrounding them drew away, widening the circle. Sunflowerpaw took a long stride, and before Sablepaw could dodge, aimed a kick with her legs at Sablepaw's belly as she slid under, at the same time dragging her claws against the soft, exposed fur.

Bleeding and winded, Sablepaw flipped her body over with a huge effort and started battering at the other molly furiously, tufts of curled fur going flying around. Sunflowerpaw screeched in pain as her fur was ripped out of her pelt. She heaved Sablepaw off of her and bolted into the crowd, disoriented.

The cats shoved her back - she had made the mistake of falling into the FallowClan side of the watchers - and she staggered towards Sablepaw. Hearing Fawnpath's yowls of encouragement in the background, Sablepaw tried to lash out at Sunflowerpaw. Her energy was being sapped away by the second, but there was a chance she could win.

Summoning up the last shreds of strength she could muster, Sablepaw took a running leap and landed on Sunflowerpaw's back. She sank her claws into the she-cat's golden-tinged fur, clinging on for dear life as the other apprentice tried to shake her off. She scored long gashes down Sunflowerpaw's back, but in just a heartbeat, Sunflowerpaw had rolled onto her back and knocked her into the ground. Sablepaw's breath left her in a whoosh, and she was defeated.

"I won!" Sunflowerpaw crowed, blood soaking her pelt. "I won!" She placed an unsheathed paw on Sablepaw's throat. Sablepaw struggled, but a cheer went up from the FallowClan cats. The claws tightened over her throat but she stayed tense on the ground. The rogues watched silently with narrowed eyes while the ValleyClan cats seethed and glared at anyone who had a look of celebration on their face. Sablepaw let herself go limp, and Lilystar spoke from above her head.

"Sablepaw can go back to the ValleyClan skanks, and now Sunflowerpaw and Finchpaw may step forward." Lilystar's eyes swam into view, bright and proud. Like a mother watching her kit become an apprentice. It was almost like Lilystar possessed some kind of feelings. A cluster of bodies surrounded Sablepaw, and someone carried her carefully off to the outer circle.

The familiar rasping of Ashenpoppy's tongue made Sablepaw open her eyes. I didn't mean to challenge Sunflowerpaw, she thought faintly. This was all a mistake. She closed her eyes again and listened to the ceremony as her mother cleaned her.

It was amazing Ashenpoppy was finally treating her like she was her kit again. Maybe she just saw her old mate, Acornrustle, too much in Sablepaw's pelt and personality. Even bleeding and worn, Sablepaw finally felt peaceful ever since she saw those green eyes flashing at her from the shadows.

Sablepaw snapped open her eyes as the blur of the apprentice's warrior ceremony echoed in her head. Just by the entrance, there was a gleam of green. Then it vanished again. She had almost missed it. Sablepaw tried to stand, but the effort was too much. She knew she wasn't imagining things. The green eyes must have belonged to Acornrustle! She felt an excited glow lighten her chest, and didn't even twitch an ear as Lilystar finished Sunflowerpaw's and Finchpaw's ceremonies.

"Sunflowerfur! Finchmoon! Sunflowerfur! Finchmoon!" the FallowClan cats and rogues called to the sky. The once-StarClan. Now just a plain stretch of canvas. But Sablepaw's attention was wandering away from the events that had just taken place.

I have to find Acornrustle! He's sure to help us, bringing with him new cats so we can rebel against the mouse-brained FallowClan cats. Sablepaw's eyelids drifted to a close, and her vision was obscured by a black screen. It was a relief, and after a while her cuts and scratches stopped stinging. One day, we'll get rid of FallowClan. One day. . . .

The whoops and woohoos of the cats died away. Then a green glow was all that was left in Sablepaw's mind's eye. The green eyes she'd been longing to find.