It took every ounce of self control he had to not flinch or move as Spottedleaf carefully ran a paw over his shoulder.

"No heat..." she murmured before lightly pressing down on the wounded area "How does that feel?"

"Okay? It doesn't sting or anything so I think I'm good."

Spottedleaf frowned slightly as she stepped back to meet his gaze better "I'd like to keep you a little longer," Ravenpaw's breath caught at the thought of staying cooped up in the medicine den for another day "But if you're sure you feel up to it, you can resume your apprentice duties today."

Ravenpaw nearly leaped to his paws. "I do! I mean, I am! Feel up to training! I've never felt better!"

Spottedleaf gave a small laugh. "Okay, okay. You've convinced me. Just promise you won't push yourself too hard and take breaks if your shoulder starts to bother you. Remember, you're still recovering."

He gave her a furious nod, positive anything he'd try to say would just come out a jumbled mess. Again.

Spottedleaf tilted her head towards the exit and smiled. "Go on then, I'm sure Tigerclaw is just as anxious as you are to get back to training."

Pausing only long enough to thank Spottedleaf and tell her goodbye, Ravenpaw bolted out of the den.

He was so ecstatic to finally be free of the medicine den and go back to being useful that he almost didn't see a blue-gray shape in his path.

"Ravenpaw; I see you're back on your paws."

He just barely managed to keep said paws under him as he stumbled to a stop before Bluestar.

"I uh. Yes ma'am. Spottedleaf gave me the all clear this morning."

A small smile seemed to be tugging at his leader's lips. But it probably wasn't. Bluestar was THE strictest cat in Thunderclan. Maybe after Tigerclaw. And Lionheart. Well, all the senior warriors to be honest...

"-lucky to have her. I'll be sure to let Tigerclaw know you've been given Spottedleaf's blessing to resume training. In the meantime, you can wait at the sandy hollow."

Ravenpaw gave her a curt nod. Seemingly satisfied, Bluestar continued past him towards her den.

With infinity more care than when he first set paw outside, Ravenpaw made his way towards the area just a few pawsteps away from camp usually reserved for battle training.

Normally, practicing fighting moves was his least favorite part of his apprenticeship but after the disastrous loss at Sunning Rocks he realized now it was probably the most important part of his training.

The sound of voices pulled Ravenpaw out of his thoughts.

Approaching the training hollow were Graypaw and a ginger tom. With a start, Ravenpaw realized that must be Firepaw. With a pelt that bright no wonder he had such an impressive name already.

Graypaw caught sight of him first and beamed. "Hey Ravenpaw! Good to see you out and about again! How ya feeling?"

Ravenpaw dipped his head. "Much better thanks to Spottedleaf." He turned his gaze towards the newer apprentice. "You must be Firepaw." Ravenpaw paused for a moment, unsure if the next question would be too rude but he was extremely curious where this cat had popped up from. It had to be somewhere good or Bluestar would have never taken him in. "Were you a rouge or from another clan before joining Thunderclan?"

Graypaw and Firepaw exchanged looks before Graypaw turned back to him.

"...Dustpaw didn't tell you?"

Ravenpaw's ear flicked. "Dustpaw." He began stiffly before forcing his tone to be a smidge lighter "Has been busy with his duties. We haven't had a chance to catch up yet."

Graypaw's eyes narrowed like he was going to push that (non-existent!) issue when Firepaw spoke up.

"I was a kittypet."

Ravenpaw instantly turned his focus back on the ginger tom in disbelief. "Did you say you're a kittypet?"

Firepaw raised his head slightly and stared back at him with a challenge in his eyes. "Was. I'm going to be a Thunderclan Warrior."

Ravenpaw's jaw dropped.

Before he could say anything though, Tigerclaw and Lionheart arrived with Tigerclaw giving him a harsh look in particular, probably as a silent reminder that a good warrior keeps his mouth shut.

Not wanting to embarrass his mentor before the day could even begin, Ravenpaw turned away from Firepaw and sat as upright and still as possible.

Lionheart swept his gaze across the three of them. "Today we are going to practice stalking." He began. "There is a big difference between creeping up on a rabbit and a mouse. Can anyone tell me why?"

Ravenpaw held back a snicker at Firepaw's lost look. The kittypet probably couldn't tell the difference between the two prey animals let alone how to hunt them.

"Come on!" snapped Tigerclaw, shooting a hard look at Ravenpaw to answer. Before he could though, Graypaw spoke up first. "Because a rabbit will smell you before he sees you, but a mouse will feel your pawsteps through the ground long before he smells you."

"Exactly Graypaw! So must what you keep in mind when hunting mice?"

"Step lightly?" came a hesitant mew from Firepaw.

Ravenpaw lost track of what Lionheart said next as Tigerclaw's expression darkened slightly at him. Irritation sparked through him at the look. It wasn't his fault if Graypaw and Firepaw answered Lionheart's questions first! Either a good warrior listened to those around them or they blurted out whatever thought was in their head. He couldn't be both!

At Lionheart's signal, he dropped into a crouch and moved stealthy across the sand, determined to do this right.

"Keep your rear down, Ravenpaw, you look like a duck!" Spat Tigerclaw as nearby, Lionheart praised Graypaw's stance.

Ravenpaw pushed down a growing sense of bitterness at Graypaw. As nice as it would be to have a mentor like Lionheart, Tigerclaw was leagues better. Praise was better earned and not given freely. Otherwise you ended up soft.

"Now you try, Firepaw."

Ravenpaw paused his own stalking to watch Firepaw's attempt. A small snort escaped him as the ginger tom's tail flailed behind him and his paws hit the ground heavily.

"It's obvious you've known nothing but softness!" Tigerclaw growled and Ravenpaw couldn't help smirking. It was...nice not being the sole focus of his mentor's ire for once. "You stalk like a lumbering kittypet! Do you think prey is going to come and lie at your paws and wait to be eaten!?"

Lionheart tilted his head slightly. "His pace and forward movement will come later, but his crouch is perfectly balanced."

"Which is better than Ravenpaw I suppose." Tigerclaw groused, shooting his apprentice another sour look. "Even after two moons of training you're still putting all of your weight on your left side."

Ravenpaw's ears lowered slightly. He didn't think his form had been that bad.

"His injury's bothering him, that's all!" Firepaw blurted out.

Tigerclaw's fury quickly changed targets as his head swung to face the ginger tom. "Injuries are a fact of life." He growled. "He should be able to adapt. Even you learned something this morning. If Ravenpaw picked things up as quickly as you, he'd be a credit to me instead of an embarrassment!" Tigerclaw turned his attention back towards Ravenpaw. "Imagine being shown up by a kittypet.'' He sneered.

But for once in his life, Ravenpaw wasn't cowed or trembling at his mentor's tone or dark looks. He was instead, throwing a glare of his own at the newest Thunderclan apprentice. Firepaw, fresh from a life of soft things and Twoleg mush, who couldn't even do a simple hunter's crouch, thought he knew more about Ravenpaw's own injury than he did. That he needed to protect a real Thunderclan apprentice.

Ravenpaw's claws slid out and sank into the soft sand of the training hollow. He didn't think he hated any cat more than he did Firepaw right this very minute.

Lionheart gave a small cough. "Perhaps it would be best if the three of them try their stalking for real."

Tigerclaw's tail lashed but he didn't object to Lionheart's proposal.

Taking that as confirmation to continue, the deputy looked over the three apprentices with a sharp eye.

"Ravenpaw, you look beside the Owltree. Graypaw, there might be something in the bramble patch over there. As for you Firepaw, follow the rabbit track over that rise; you should be able to find the dry bed of a winter stream and be able to find something there."

Not bothering to wait and see if Graypaw and Firepaw were heading to the locations Lionheart pointed out, Ravenpaw bolted, determined to outdo Firepaw in this activity.

'Shown up by a kittypet.'

Ravenpaw's eyes narrowed. By the time the day was done, he would prove to Tigerclaw he deserved to be his apprentice and would be the best warrior in the whole clan someday.

...

While Firepaw had somehow managed to find a mouse too deaf to hear him coming, Ravenpaw was positive his catch of two birds was enough to prove to Tigerclaw that lopsided or not, he WAS a better hunter than a kittypet.

Tigerclaw did not comment on his catch.

Not to be deterred though, Ravenpaw decided to focus on the fact that he hadn't commented on Graypaw or Firepaw's catches either meant he was satisfied enough.

Lionheart's eyes gleamed as he nodded approvingly at their efforts though. "Good job, all you. You can take your catches back to camp and take a piece of fresh-kill for yourselves while Tigerclaw and I discuss some matters. We'll let you know what you'll be doing in a little while."

Stretching his jaws wide, Ravenpaw collected his catch in one try and headed for the camp.

He couldn't help feeling smug as he saw a few of the older warriors give him an impressed look for carrying two plump birds in at once. Ravenpaw raised his head; Firepaw would probably never be able to match this!

Leaving one of the birds at the fresh-kill pile, Ravenpaw took the other for himself and was relieved to find Dustpaw and Sandpaw were still in camp.

As he made his way towards them, Dustpaw's gaze drifted towards him before suddenly freezing. Before Ravenpaw could even blink, his brother had jumped to his paws and darted off towards the warriors' den.

Sandpaw seemed just as confused as he was. "What was that about?"

Ravenpaw dropped his breakfast. "No idea." Even as he said it, a small wiggle of doubt borrowed itself into his mind. Dustpaw couldn't be blaming him for Redtail's death...could he?

"So I see you've met our newest apprentice."

Ravenpaw dragged his attention back to Sandpaw.

"Firepaw?"

She nodded and he couldn't help scowling at the thought of the ginger tom.

"That bad?"

Ravenpaw rolled his eyes. "Bad doesn't even cover it. He has no sense for hunting properly and thinks he knows more than I do." He took a savage bite from his bird. "How'd he even wind up in Thunderclan anyway?"

"Whitestorm and Lionheart brought him in yesterday. He had a collar and everything." Sandpaw snorted. "I don't think he's ever seen another cat before the way he was staring at everyone."

A small mrrow of laughter escaped him and he could feel some of the tension from training and Dustpaw's weird behavior leave him. "And everyone was okay with that?"

"Not really. Longtail interrupted Bluestar's speech about Firepaw joining-"

"Of course he did." Ravenpaw muttered.

"-and then he jumped him!"

Ravenpaw blinked. "Longtail did what?"

Sandpaw shook her head. "Firepaw jumped Longtail."

"But Longtail beat him right?"

Sandpaw shrugged. "Not really. I think the most he managed to do was get his ear nicked by a kittypet and break the collar off. Bluestar took that as a sign from Starclan that Firepaw was free to join Thunderclan and gave him his new name."

"Huh."

Ravenpaw took another bite of his bird as he mulled Sandpaw's words over.

The kittypet had beaten a full grown warrior in a fight, apparently without any effort.

With some difficulty, Ravenpaw swallowed. Was that why Tigerclaw had payed so much attention towards Firepaw earlier? Did he think the kittypet showed more promise? That he'd be a better apprentice then the one he currently had?

"Who did Bluestar choose as his mentor?"

"No one yet. I think she just has Lionheart and Tigerclaw overseeing it for now."

Sandpaw's ears pricked at a distant call from Whitestorm.

"Guess that's my cue." She gave him a quick headbump as she got up. "Don't worry, I'm sure Bluestar will give him a mentor of his own soon and he'll be out of your fur."

"...right."

Sandpaw shot him a bemused look. "Seriously, relax. You're ten times better than some stupid kittypet. Heck, I bet once snowfall hits, Firepaw will be running back to his twolegs mewling his head off."

A small smile spread across his lips at her words. "You're probably right."

Sandpaw snorted. "Of course I am. I'm always right!"

Whitestorm's voice drifted towards them again, this time a little sterner and Sandpaw winced.

"I better go, good luck with Tigerclaw!"

Ravenpaw watched her go, noting as she weaved amongst a few of the older warriors and the kittypet himself, that she was probably going on a hunting patrol.

Alone, Ravenpaw focused on eating the rest of his bird and tried not to think about Firepaw.

Unfortunately, it was near impossible not to. The kittypet could barely hunt right, yet had managed to beat a full grown warrior without any training. Sure, Longtail had only gotten his name a couple moons ago, but still. Moons of training useless against a kittypet.

...could Bluestar replace apprentices?

A cold, sharp feeling formed in his gut.

He wasn't the best apprentice.

He tended to lag behind during patrols, distracted by the plants and occasional butterfly. Sandpaw and Dustpaw were easily better hunters than he was and...he lost so badly in his first real battle that Redtail died saving his useless pelt.

Of course a kittypet would seem a better option compared to him.

Ravenpaw's eyes narrowed.

Obviously, he had to be better than Firepaw. Be a warrior his clan could be proud of and so feared by the other clans that just hearing his name would be enough for them to retreat.

Tigerclaw emerged from the ferns leading into the camp just as Ravenpaw finished up the last few mouthfuls of his bird.

Pushing down the usual nerves he got seeing his mentor, Ravenpaw padded towards him.

"Can we do some battle training today?"

Tigerclaw's eyes widened "You want to fight?"

Ravenpaw nodded. "I don't want what happened at Sunningrocks to happen again. I refuse to let another cat die because I was too weak!"

Tigerclaw eyed him curiously. "You're serious..." He murmured before giving him a rare half smile. "Very well then. I'll let Lionheart know we'll be busy for the rest of the morning. Two moons late, but I think you just may be an asset to me yet. Wait here."

An electric feeling seemed to sweep through him as he watched his mentor leave to speak the the clan deputy.

An asset!

Ravenpaw couldn't help feeling a viscous sense of glee. Tigerclaw thought he could be an asset! He'd like to see Firepaw replace him now!

Sandpaw was right. He was ten times better than Firepaw ever would be and sooner or later, the kittypet would realize he didn't belong in Thunderclan.

Until then, Ravenpaw would just have to push himself harder so no one could say he was doing worse than a kittypet.