[ ♛ ]

"Our goal today," Fawnpath started, her pelt glowing in the pale sunshine filtering through the trees, "is to learn some defensive battle moves." She pointedly glanced in Sablepaw's direction.

The morning was damp and shaded, but birds were singing to each other, making quite a ruckus.

Sablepaw's short shoulder fur bristled. "You said we were going to learn how to fight!" she meowed indignantly, giving her tail a single, agitated lash. "What good will the defensive do us in a battle if we can't even fight?"

Doetrail and Bearpaw emerged from a clump of ferns, Bearpaw grumpily giving his dark brown pelt a quick shake. "I don't see why we have to wake up so early."

"It'll warm up your muscles," Fawnpath meowed with a grimace. "Obviously you aren't a morning cat. But let's go across the river and by a little mossy area I think would be perfect for hunting." The calico warrior flicked her tail-tip and marched off, leaving the rest of them no choice but to follow after her.

The river was rushing gently, not at all like it had been when Bearpaw had fallen in a little while ago. Sablepaw glanced worriedly over her shoulder at her brother as a long, sturdy oak trunk lay across the river, making a bridge. She had only passed it twice, once to get over to the mountain forests, and another time to get Acornrustle back from FallowClan. She shuddered as cold droplets of water were thrown onto her pelt by the wind. She bushed her fur up against the chill and concentrated on placing one paw in front of the other instead.

In a few moments, Sablepaw's pads were hitting the slippery pebbles that edged the river. Fawnpath nodded in satisfaction, then turned to watch Bearpaw's progress.

Gritting his teeth, Bearpaw took one shaking step in front of the other, creeping along the branch. Sablepaw winced as his paws scrambled for a second, looking for a pawhold. But then in a flash he had made it, sighing in relief.

"Why can't Pumpkinpaw train with us?" Bearpaw asked Doetrail eagerly as he bounded ahead of them. Must be really glad about passing the river, Sablepaw thought exasperatedly, though she also had a little bounce in her step as they passed the dew-strewn foliage that surrounded the paths.

"He's still weak, hush," Doetrail mewed, cuffing him gently over his scruffy ear, claws sheathed.

A thrill of anticipation tickled Sablepaw's spine as she thought of the battle moved she'd get to use on Lilystar and Dappleslip when she met them again. Digging her claws into the ground, she trudged on, spiking up her fur as a fierce wind cut through her pelt.

Doetrail scented the air. "A storm's coming," she murmured, exchanging an anxious glance with her sister. "Do you think it's safe to train?" Her eyes were glowing with fear. "What if there's . . . lightning?" She shivered, and Sablepaw exchanged a confused and nervous glance with Bearpaw.

What was going on here?

"Remember Jumpkit?" Fawnpath whispered, averting her gaze. Doetrail nodded wistfully.

"Who's Jumpkit?!" Sablepaw growled, stepping forward. "What's wrong?"

"Jumpkit was a little kit we found on the thunderpath, and we saved him just in the nick of time. But then a storm came and he was struck by lightning. He didn't make it." Fawnpath swallowed, her short whiskers trembling. "He was going to be Bristleburn's apprentice, but he'd dead, so. . . . Bristleburn still gets dreams that he's alive, I've heard, but Valleystar doesn't do anything at all. I don't know why, but I think he should. Still, no kit should have to die that young, it's just cruel. Maybe, just maybe . . . StarClan has left us to die - "

"You can't say that!" Doetrail yowled, glaring at her sister.

"But it's the truth," Fawnpath retorted, her green eyes cold. "Now let's get a move on - we aren't here to gossip, we're here to train." She shot a glare at her sister before hurrying back on the path, her muzzle pointed up and her eyes flashing with venom.

Doetrail looked shocked. "Let's go," she sighed, flicking her ears uncomfortably and leading the way for the apprentices. They found Fawnpath in a soft, mossy clearing a minute later, and the she-cat was looking upset. She shook her head at Doetrail but gazed apologetically at her littermate.

"I thought about what you were saying," Fawnpath meowed softly to Sablepaw after a stiff moment of awkward silence. She shifted her paws on the leaf mulch that littered the ground outside of the training area she had found. "I think you should learn offense as well. It's important, if you want to chase off the FallowClan cats or if we have to attack their camp for some reason. Let's start with the paw-sweep tactic." She jerked her nose at Sablepaw and Bearpaw, and they both scrambled into the opposite side of the clearing.

Doetrail faced Bearpaw, and Fawnpath faced Sablepaw. "Try read up on your hind legs as if you were doing the front-paw-swipe and try swipe at me. Don't be afraid to hurt me, but always keep your claws sheathed."

Nervously, Sablepaw reared unsteadily on her hind legs and took a feeble swipe at her mentor. Quick as a viper, Fawnpath ducked down and brought a paw from behind Sablepaw's hind legs as she was still in the front-paw-swipe position. The bengal collapsed on the ground with a gasp, the air whooshing from her lungs like a river.

"That was good, you'll make a nice fighter all right," Fawnpath praised as Sablepaw stumbled to her paws and panted. "You have an good balance, and that's the key." Sablepaw swelled with pride, her heart lifting.

"Your turn, Bearpaw," Doetrail urged. Bearpaw gulped as Sablepaw sat down at the edge of the clearing next to Fawnpath, curling her tail around her paws and nibbling on her lip nervously as Bearpaw stood on shaky legs in front of his mentor.

Bearpaw reared up on his hind legs, let out a yowl of surprise, and toppled over, his claws unsheathed in panic. His front paw caught Doetrail on the nose, and she stepped backward, raising a perfectly groomed paw to rub at her face.

"Didn't you hear Fawnpath say claws sheathed? Pay better attention, Bearpaw." She blinked kindly at him though her tone was sharp.

Crack!

"The storm!" Fawnpath gasped, glancing upwards at the clouds rapidly gathering above them. Rain pelted down all of a sudden, and Sablepaw shook out her pelt with a yowl of annoyance.

Boom!

"Let's go!" Doetrail screeched as thunder growled all around them. She clamped her jaws around the immobilized Bearpaw as he stared with gaping jaws up into the sky.

Sablepaw ran as quick as she could. It seemed like moons of loud sounds until the rapid river came into view. It was frothing. Only StarClan could send a storm like that, Sablepaw thought confusedly as she ran blindly back into her camp. But StarClan couldn't have, or could they?

"Sablepaw? Bearpaw?" A warm grey face close to Sablepaw's made her jump to her paws, snapping out of her thoughts. It was only moments since she had ran into the camp, yet she felt like it had been longer. Bearpaw struggled to his paws while Ashenpoppy raised her voice over the storm. Fawnpath and Doetrail both were meowing swiftly to Valleystar, dripping with water and smeared with grime. Sablepaw's mother leaned closer to them, Acornrustle hurrying to her side and gazing at them.

Sablepaw felt relief to see Acornrustle out of the medicine den after a few days of recovering. Ashenpoppy looked nervous. She sighed. "Well, we're all here. . . . This wasn't how I'd have imagined telling you guys I'm expecting my second litter of kits." She winced as the family stared at her in shock.