Moonpaw didn't know what to do. Some of her best friends, Nightpaw and Smokepaw were quarreling. She didn't know who's side to take, or why they were fighting, but for the last three sunrises, they had been avoiding each other. She had tried her best to help, but she had only made it worse. Petalheart said that they were littermates, and they were going to quarrel from time to time, but not to worry about it too much. Moonpaw didn't think that was true. They had been avoiding each other for three whole days! Then, finally, Nightpaw came over that sundown when they were both about to eat, and said, "Do you want to share a thrush?" Smokepaw had been laying in the shade, but when Nightpaw had asked that question, he stopped and stared for a moment, then his gaze softened. "Of course. I'm sorry for calling you a cheater. I was just angry that I didn't win." "Its okay." Nightpaw replied. Then, they both sat together and shared the prey. /Finally, the fighting is over. I thought it would never end./ Moonpaw thought. That night, she could sleep again, not worried about the friendship of her two denmates. .... "Okay, why don't we try that again?" Petalheart meowed to Moonpaw, who just accidentally did a new move wrong. It had been two moons since the quarrel between Nightpaw and Smokepaw, and the littermates were best friends again. "Okay." Moonpaw meowed back. She tried again, and she got it this time! /Yes! I got it!/ She landed the blow on Petalheart, who stumbled and fell. All five apprentices had grown fast. Three moons into the older apprentices' training, and they were nearly finished with their training. 'Just about two or three moons left for those four.', Petalheart had said. 'As for you, let's get back to training.' Petalheart had said that just a couple days ago. Moonpaw had gotten pretty good at the battle moves she knew. She was great at hunting, and she had seen all the other Clans at Gatherings.
She trotted into camp with the prey she had caught on the way back, happy as she dropped the mouse and the sparrow onto the fresh-kill pile. Then, she smelled something. Something... odd. She went to tell Petalheart. "Uhh... Petalheart, when I walked into camp, I smelled something strange." She mewed. "Okay, thanks for telling me. I'll check it out." Petalheart sniffed for a couple seconds, then her eyes went wide. "FOX!" She yowled, so Robinstar could hear. "Where?" Robinstar meowed back, coming out of the leader's den. "Near the entrance to the camp." "Warriors! There's a fox coming into camp! Get ready to fight!" Robinstar yowled. Just then, the fox barreled into the clearing, destroying some of the gorse tunnel. Moonpaw stared at the fox, eyes wide. She had never seen a fox before. "Petalheart, what do I do?" She meowed in terror as the fight came towards her. "Use your battle moves we practiced earlier. I know you can do it!" Petalheart meowed back, and after that, she jumped onto the fox, raking her claws through its skin. Moonpaw thought about it for a moment, then joined into the battle. "Alright, everyone that was in the fight needs to let me check them for any injuries." Mintleaf, the Medicine Cat said, going over to Thrushfur to treat his deep scratch. ........... One moon after the fox attack, and the gorse tunnel was fixed, and everyone's wounds were back to normal. Nightpaw, Smokepaw, Cloudpaw, and Glacierpaw were going to get their Warrior names soon. They almost knew everything they needed to know. Each of them had passed one assessment so far. Moonpaw wasn't quite ready for an assessment yet. She still had a couple more battle moves and hunting techniques to learn still. But she was happy to be an apprentice. Written By: Me Cover Art: Me Moonpaw: Me Nightpaw: Glacierpaw: Me
