The small apprentice shivered as he hid in the shadows of the den, his eyes wide with fear. Hesitantly, he placed a paw forward, then squealed as a cat rushed past the entrance, a piece of prey latched in their jaws.

His ears flickered wildly as he heard footsteps approaching from behind, a cat stepping out of the shadows. Breathing with relief, he realised it was only his denmate, and the closest thing to a friend he had in the Clan.

"Just step outside, Flaky." The cream apprentice said to him reassuringly, her pale orange eyes gentle and encouraging.

"But you know what Applepaw is like, Ally." He retorted sharply, recalling various memories of when the golden apprentice had teased and taunted him. "I'm not even that small!" He groaned, stretching up to the height of Ally.

"Debatable." Ally shrugged, walking forward a few steps, then peering out the den. "See?"

She gestured a brown striped paw outside the den, waving it variously around. It was then Flaky observed further, realising that quite a lot of cats were not in the clearing right now. Apart from the small circle of apprentices who were quietly having a discussion over something, and a few cats walking around.

"Let's join them!" Ally paced outside, then stopped, waiting for Flaky to follow.

He recognised the familiar faces of Harepaw, Rowanpaw and Rockpaw. Pigeonpaw was also there, but the grey and black striped tom was the oldest of all the apprentices, and at least a foot taller than most of them.

"Coming!" Flaky replied brightly, more uplifted knowing that Applepaw wasn't amongst the group.

When he arrived behind Ally, all cats had gathered round in a clamour. Hesitantly, he joined into the circle, flashing a small smile to Rowanpaw, who flicked an ear in recognition.

"Hi, you two!" Harepaw meowed kindly, sitting with a relaxed stance. The long haired she-cat was always chilled and relaxed. Flaky quite liked her, she was nice to him. It was only her littermate who he didn't like. Applepaw.

He must've made a face at the thought of Applepaw, because Harepaw hesitantly stepped back, dipping her head awkwardly, and walking towards Rockpaw.

"So I see the two newest sweethearts?" Ally crooned, smiling cheekily, and tilting her head in admiration. Suddenly, there was a yelp of shock as Rockpaw pounced after her, growling teasingly.

"Huh, leave us be!" Rockpaw flushed, not making his situation any better. Harepaw also seemed to look down at her paws awkwardly, the floor now more interesting than the conversation.

During the whole epidemic, Flaky could only notice Rowanpaw's yellow eyes, filled with such a twisted and jealous glare that made him shudder. It was obvious that the ginger apprentice despised Harepaw now.

"So when are you becoming a medicine cat, Pigeonpaw?" Flaky clamoured, changing the subject before the tension became too much. At the question, Ally and Rockpaw seemed to calm, Rowanpaw dropping her glare at Harepaw, yet her eyes still remained jealous.

"Marigoldflame says by the end of this week, at least." The medicine apprentice explained, a small smile on his face. "I wanna be named Pigeonquill or Pigeonbreeze."

All the apprentices looked at him with confusion.

At all eyes upon him, Pigeonpaw became increasingly uncomfortable. Flattening his ears, he raised a paw uncertainly and spoke.

"A-after my sister, Quillbreeze."

After the response, all the apprentices settled into a mournful silence. The topic of Pigeonpaw and his littermates was a sensitive topic. His last remaining sibling, Quillbreeze, had been killed by a rogue group in TwolegPlace.

There were also rumours about his other two siblings, Cloverswipe and Brineclaw, running away to join the rogue group, but no one could verify if they were true, nor Pigeonpaw himself knew of what happened to them.

"You're not the only one who lost a sibling. Think about others too." There was a snarky outburst above the silence, and Flaky froze, his eyes widening with shock.

Harepaw seemed to visibly sadden, glancing at her brother with narrowed eyes.
"Don't bring Nightpoppy into this, Applepaw."

Applepaw seemingly obeyed his sister, but then looked to the side. "Who's Nightpoppy? If I recall, his name was Nightpaw, not Nightpoppy."

"I know that." Harepaw pointed out sharply, "But mother gave him that name when he was dying and he accepted it."

"Forget it." Applepaw huffed, turning around to leave, he then noticed the green eyes staring at him with shock.

At Applepaw glaring back at him, Flaky shuddered, taking a step back when Applepaw came whisker to whisker with him.

"Don't think 'Ally', can always save your back, 'Flaky'."

"Because Cedarpaw won't always be there, Dustpaw."

A/N: And first chapter done! I gotta admit it's weird writing the characters as apprentices XD
Won't be updating this in a while, to avoid spoilers for RR.

See ya!
~ Ember <3