Chapter 2

Feeling herself beginning to wake up, Ivypaw opened her eyes and stretched out her legs. A huge yawn escaped her lips as she looked around. Applepaw, Lightningpaw and a tunneler apprentice named Mistpaw were still asleep in their nests. Gazing out of the den, Ivypaw noticed the two elders, Russetfoot and Snaketongue, dragging Mintleaf's body out of camp. Ivypaw's ears flattened. Snowpelt and Eaglfeather also watched the elders leave camp with Mintleaf's body before parting ways. Ivypaw sat up, letting out a sigh.

"Ivypaw!" A voice called.

Ivypaw's ears pricked and she turned to see Longstripe, approaching the apprentices' den.

"Oh! You're already awake!" Longstripe realized, "Wake up Lightningpaw and Shrewpaw," he ordered, "You're all training together today."

"Yes Longstripe," Ivypaw replied with a nod. Longstripe smiled and padded away.

"Lightningpaw, wake up," Ivypaw meowed, prodding at Lightningpaw's shoulder.

The black and white she-cat let out a drowsy groan. Ivypaw glanced down to see Lightningpaw's blue eyes blink open. For a moment, her friend's eyes seemed to put Ivypaw in a trance.

"We're going to train with Shrewpaw," Ivypaw informed.

"Alright," Lightningpaw let out a yawn.

As Lightningpaw got up to stretch, Ivypaw padded up to her sleeping sister, Shrewpaw, and prodded her side.

"Shrewpaw, get up," Ivypaw meowed.

The light brown she-cat stirred slightly but she still didn't open her eyes. Rolling her eyes, Ivypaw nipped Shrewpaw's ear. Her sister let out a shocked gasp and Ivypaw couldn't help but giggle a bit.

"Come on sleepy head," Ivypaw teased, "We're going to train with Lightningpaw."

"Ugh, fine," Shrewpaw groaned.

She sat up with a yawn and stretched her legs. Ivypaw leaped up to Lightningpaw's side with a grin. Shrewpaw padded after them, half-awake and dragging her long tail on the ground. Ivypaw looks at the camp entrance to see Longstripe, Starlingfeather, and Shrewpaw's mentor, Sunfur.

"What are we gonna do today?" Lightningpaw asked.

"You're all going to practice your speed," Longstripe meowed.

"And perhaps your hunting," Starlingfeather suggested.

"If there's time," Sunfur added.

The three mentors nodded in agreement and padded out the entrance to camp. Ivypaw, Shrewpaw, and Lightningpaw followed them out of camp and onto the sunny moor. Ivypaw smiled as the light breeze blew through her fur. Sunfur flicked her tail, ordering the rest of the cats to stop. Ivypaw stopped beside Lightningpaw. "Alright," Sunfur began, "To start, all three of you are going to race to the Outlook Rock."

Sunfur pointed at the far away rock with her tail. Ivypaw widened her eyes. They were supposed to race that far? Lightningpaw and Shrewpaw got into a stance, ready to dash toward the Outlook Rock. Ivypaw reluctantly follow their lead, trying to copy Lightningpaw's stance.

"Ready," Sunfur began, "and go!"

The three apprentices immediately took off toward the Outlook Rock. Lightningpaw took the lead early on so Shrewpaw and Ivypaw ran as hard as they could to try to catch up to her. As they ran, Shrewpaw suddenly fell into the grass, flat on her face. Ivypaw ran harder, but Lightningpaw was still way ahead of her, and Ivypaw began to feel exhausted. What was she doing wrong? Ivypaw glanced at Lightningpaw and noticed that she was taking long strides and that she wasn't nearly as tired as Ivypaw. Stopping for a moment to catch her breath, Ivypaw leaped forward and began extending her legs more as she ran. Ivypaw began to catch up faster but she was already too far behind. Lightningpaw leaped onto the Outlook Rock and stopped to turn around. Ivypaw continued forward and stopped in front of the Outlook Rock, panting from exhaustion. Ivypaw slowly climbed up the rock, sitting down and catching her breath. Ivypaw looked out from the rock to see Shrewpaw, running and panting relentlessly as she neared the rock. Once she made it, Shrewpaw fell to the ground in exhaustion. In what felt like a few moments, Sunfur, Starlingfeather, and Longstripe dashed towards the Outlook Rock.

"Now," Sunfur asked, "Shrewpaw, can you tell me why you lost?"

"Because they were just faster?" Shrewpaw asked.

Sunfur shook her head, "No, Shrewpaw. You were doing something Lightningpaw wasn't."

Longstripe's gaze shifted toward his apprentice.

"Ivypaw seemed to notice her mistake," Longstripe prompted, "Can you tell us what it was?"

Ivypaw's eyes widened. She wrapped her tail around one of her back legs and gulped nervously.

"I...took longer strides?" Ivypaw asked, nervously.

Longstripe nodded in approval, "Very good Ivypaw."

Ivypaw sighed in relief. Shrewpaw looked at Longstripe in confusion.

"How could that make a difference?" Shrewpaw scoffed.

"If you noticed, Shrewpaw, me and Ivypaw beat you by taking longer strides," Lightningpaw argued, trying her best to hide her annoyance, "It kept us from tiring out as fast as you did."

Shrewpaw gasped, "What? But I tripped! You can't say that didn't play a part!"

"Well, it made you lose even worse than you would've," Lightningpaw replied snidely.

Shrewpaw let out a loud, over dramatic gasp, "How dare you?!" She exclaimed.

Ivypaw and Lightningpaw giggled to themselves.

"Alright you three," Sunfur meowed, "Now that you know what you have to do, apply that to your running."

"Race to the Thunderpath and back!" Starlingfeather ordered.

The three apprentices took off toward the Thunderpath. All three of them took long strides, as their mentors had told them to do. As they ran, a rabbit crossed through their path. Lightningpaw dashed toward the rabbit before the other two could, killing it with one swift bite. Ivypaw let out an amazed sigh as Lightningpaw continued to carry her catch as she ran. Lightningpaw slid through the dirt and turned around to dash back. Ivypaw whipped around and leaped forward into a run again, pursuing Lightningpaw. Running stride by stride, Ivypaw lunged forward and landed in front of Lightningpaw, nearly tripping over her own paws. Lightningpaw and Shrewpaw stopped beside her shortly after. Ivypaw's heart was pounding from the adrenaline but she didn't feel nearly as exhausted. In fact, she almost felt energized.

"That was much better!" Sunfur praised.

"Well done, Ivypaw," Longstripe added.

"And that was a good catch, Lightningpaw!" Starlingfeather congratulated.

"You should all apply those skills to your hunting," Sunfur insisted.

Shrewpaw and Ivypaw nodded and gazed around, looking for prey. Suddenly, Shrewpaw took off in a sprint toward a mouse. Ivypaw kept looking to see a vole. Unsheathing her claws, Ivypaw dashed toward the small creature. She lunged forward, sinking her teeth into the vole. It went limp in her jaws within moments. Ivypaw lifted her prey with a flash of pride. She glanced back at her sister, who was holding up a mouse with the same look of pride.

���Good catch!" Ivypaw congratulated, after dropping her vole for a moment to speak.

"Thanks," Shrewpaw replied.

Ivypaw grabbed her shrew and the two apprentices padded toward their mentors.

"Great job you two," Sunfur praised, "You've come far on your first day."

"Let's get back to camp and put your prey on the fresh-kill pile," Longstripe suggested.

Lightningpaw, Ivypaw, and Shrewpaw nodded and carried their prey through the moor. Lightningpaw was practically dragging the rabbit, which was almost as big as her. As they entered camp, Lightningpaw and Shrewpaw put their catches on the fresh-kill pile.

"Ivypaw!" A voice called out.

Ivypaw glanced over her shoulder to see her mother rushing toward her. Before she could run, Silvermist jumps toward her daughter and smothered her with her fur and tail. Ivypaw felt suffocated by her purring and touching.

"I can't believe you've already made your first catch!" Silvermist squealed, "You've grown up so fast!"

��Uh yeah…" Ivypaw meowed awkwardly trying to squirm away from her mother, "Thanks mom."

Finally, Ivypaw wriggled away from her mother and grabbed a raven off the fresh-kill pile. She turned around to see Silvermist now smothering Shrewpaw, as she had to Ivypaw. Letting out a sigh, Ivypaw sat in front of her meal. Their mother was so overbearing at times that Ivypaw was glad to be an apprentice just to be out of the nursery. Yes, she loved her mother but Silvermist was just too much at times. Ivypaw began eating her meal quietly, observing the cats in camp. Longstripe and Stralingfeather were leaving camp with their tails entwined, probably going to spend "private time" together as the warriors called it. Ivypaw also noticed Eaglefeather, sorting herbs in front of his den while Lightningpaw and her brother, Antpaw, bickered about something or other as they often did. Ivypaw glanced up to see her own brother, Applepaw and another apprentice, Mistpaw, emerged from the tunnels.

"Wow, your fur really glows in the sun," Applepaw meowed.

Mistpaw's cheeks glowed red and she looked away from Applepaw.

"Thanks," Mistpaw giggled.

Ivypaw nearly spit out a mouthful of feathers. She let out an amused giggle at the sight of the young couple. Pricking her ears, Ivypaw heard Shrewpaw let out a grunt of disgust. Ivypaw rolled her eyes but Applepaw and Mistpaw ignored Shrewpaw and grabbed a rabbit off the fresh-kill pile. Ivypaw continued with her meal and buried the remains once she was done. Letting out a yawn, Ivypaw padded toward the apprentices' den. The sun was nearly gone now. Ivypaw settled down in her nest and fell asleep.

"Shadowclan is invading!" A voice yowled.

Ivypaw snapped awake and in an instant, she was on her paws. Looking around wildly, Ivypaw noticed the apprentices around her lunging out of the den. There were really invaders outside and in a matter of seconds, the camp was flooded with fighting. Ivypaw's eyes widened with anxiety. She hadn't learned any fighting moves yet! What was she going to do?! Suddenly, a shape lunged at Ivypaw from the fray of fighting. Ivypaw ducked down and the intruder slammed into the wall behind her. Ivypaw unsheathed her claws as the intruder approached her. Keeping her distance, Ivypaw slashed her claws across the Shadowclan cat's face. Blind with rage, the Shadowclan cat lunged at Ivypaw. Suddenly, another cat lunged at the Shadowclan cat, intercepting the cat's attack. Ivypaw looked up. It was Lightningpaw! Ivypaw's friend bit the Shadowclan cat's shoulder, ripping off a chunk of fur. The cat let out a yowl before racing out of camp.

"Thanks," Ivypaw sighed.

"No problem," Lightningpaw replied, "Stick with me for this battle. I got your back."

Ivypaw nodded and leaped up to her side. The two friends lunged into the battle together. As they fought a Shadowclan she-cat, Ivypaw noticed that Applepaw and Mistpaw were fighting side by side as well, as well as Antpaw and Shrewpaw. All the more experienced apprentices were aiding Ivypaw and her siblings! Ivypaw sank her teeth into the Shadowclan she-cat's scruff and sank her claws into her back. As the Shadowclan cat knocked Ivypaw off, Lightningpaw lunged at the she-cat and pinned her down, raking her stomach. Finally, the Shadowclan cat squirmed out of Lightningpaw's grasp and raced out of camp. Ivypaw looked at the camp entrance. The last of the Shadowclan invaders rushed out of camp. Cheers erupted from the Windclan cats.

"And don't come back!" Ivypaw snarled.

Cats continued to celebrate until a cry of despair exploded from the camp. Everyone was dead silent. Ivypaw looked around in confusion.

"Eaglefeather help!" A voice cried.

Ivypaw's eyes jerked toward the source of the sound. Rushfoot was dragging Snaketongue out of the elders' den and into the clearing. The old tom didn't seem to be moving. Eaglefeather dashed toward Snaketongue, his amber eyes were filled with shock.

"What happened?!" Eaglefeather demanded.

"I don't know!" Rushfoot exclaimed, "I tried to wake him up during the battle but he won't wake up!"

Eaglefeather examined Snaketongue's body. There were no scars or bite marks in the elder's black fur.

"He must've died in his sleep," Eaglefeather meowed.

Rushfoot sighed and sat down in front of his deceased denmate. Amberstar, Longstripe, and Squirreltail gathered around Snaketongue. Ivypaw felt a wave of sympathy. Snaketongue was Amberstar and Longstripe's father and Squirreltail's mate. This would be a hard loss for them Ivypaw sighed and padded toward the apprentices' den. First Mintleaf and now Snaketongue had died in such a short amount of time. Ivypaw began shaking nervously as she laid down in her nest.