"I imagine death so much it feels more like a memory."

~•~•~•~

Quailpaw's eyes fluttered open to the sun stinging his eyes. He yawned and rose to his paws, his fur ruffled and messy. The older apprentice could care less and released an agitated snort.

The brown and white tom stepped out of the apprentice den. His gaze trailed the camp until it landed on his parents. Dimstar and Cloverpool were speaking amongst one another until the deputy nodded and bounded off.

Recently, the apprentice was barely able to spend time with his family. With his mother being deputy and his father being leader, they always had duties to tend to and didn't have time for him or even each other.

To Quailpaw though, his family was crumbling. Dimstar seemed to be distant from Cloverpool lately. They barely spent any time as a family together anymore. Flamepaw, his sister, had joined Archangel and even attacked Quailpaw. She killed her own brother.

Quailpaw remembered the crimson liquid staining his fur. His sister's jaws were fastened around his neck and he remembered his last breath escaping him in a loud gasp. His eyelids shut over his eyes and darkness formed around him.

When his eyes had fluttered back open, SpiritClan was gathered around him. His ears were ringing and he could only watch as they whispered amongst themselves. When the ringing in his ears finally stopped, he remembered one of the spirits turning to him and saying:

"It's not your time yet."

The memory sent a shiver down the troubled apprentices spine. A sigh erupted from him as he glanced down at his paws. Why would his own sister murder him? Why did everything have to come down to this?

The apprentice shut his eyes and drowned in his thoughts for a moment. Why does it have to be this way? Why does no cat understand? Wait..there is one who does.

He lifted his hand and scanned his gaze over camp. A vivid smile slid onto Quailpaw's visage when his gaze locked on a tom in the shadows of camp. The black and white tom was grooming his fur peacefully and Quailpaw's paws tingled with excitement at the sight of him.

A while ago when Splashsky was still an apprentice, Quailpaw admitted to Splashsky that he loved him. He arranged a special occasion for the two to go swimming and even look over upon the sunset. It was aesthetically pleasing to Quailpaw. He couldn't wait to be a warrior in about a moon and serve beside Splashsky.

Quailpaw smirked and trotted over to Splashsky. The newer warrior glanced up when the apprentice drew his tail over Splashsky's shoulder and sat down beside him with a purr.

"Good morning, Quailpaw," Splashsky purred to his companion. "How are you so far today?"

The apprentice shrugged and glanced over at Splashsky, meeting his gaze. "It's okay...I just keep thinking about..
Stuff."

Splashsky exhaled softly and pressed his muzzle to Quailpaw's ear. "You just need to stop thinking about all of that. It's the past, and all the past is going to attempt to do is hold you back. You can't let the past hold you back from walking down the right path, Quailpaw. You need to do something to get everything off of your mind for a while."

Quailpaw parted his jaws to answer but snapped them shut when he heard his name being called. His ears perked and he rose to his paws, spotting Cloverpool in the distance with Breezestorm and Redcloud.

Splashsky nudged Quailpaw's shoulder and the apprentice looked at him. "This is your chance! Go see what they need!" Splashsky purred.

"Thank you, Splashsky," Quailpaw smiled at the tom and nuzzled him before turning back ahead.

The brown and white apprentice bounded over to the deputy, his mentor, and Redcloud. Cloverpool grinned at her son and drew his tongue over his ear. Quailpaw held himself back from snapping harshly at his mother, and snorted in vexation instead.

"We are going out for some battle training," Cloverpool informed Quailpaw as she pulled away. "Just outside of camp though, Dimstar won't want us at all by the border."

Quailpaw nodded and watched as Cloverpool led Breezestorm and Redcloud towards the exit. He glanced over his shoulder at Splashsky, who was now chatting with his sister, Lilypaw. With a low growl, Quailpaw turned around and padded after the group. I wish I was the one chatting with Splashsky right now. Stupid training..I can't wait to be a warrior.

Quailpaw stayed at the rear of the group as Cloverpool led them out of the tunnels. The sunlight was even harsher once outside and it stung his eyes. He blinked away the harmful rays and growled in annoyance. The grass and leaves crunched under his paws as they padded along.

Cloverpool suddenly halted and turned to face us. Quailpaw froze in his tracks beside Breezestorm, who glanced at him out of the corner of his eyes. Last time they ever spoke, they had a small dispute when he interrupted Quailpaw's quality time with Splashsky.

"Alright, so how about we divide first and practice what we know? Breezestorm can train with Quailpaw and I can train with Redcloud. Once we are done, perhaps we can switch off and give some tips to our partners?" Cloverpool suggested.

Redcloud nodded with a small smirk. "Sounds good to me."

Cloverpool dipped her head to the tom and beckoned him away with a flick of her tail. Quailpaw stared after his mother and Redcloud for a moment, his ears twitching. Turning back, he watched as Breezestorm stepped a few fox tails away and turned to face the apprentice.

"So Quailpaw, ready to show me your battle skills?" Breezestorm asked with a smirk as he wiggled his shoulder.

Quailpaw rolled his eyes and faced his mentor. He fixed his gaze on Breezestorm and examined his posture. Let's start with a move that Cloverpool and Dimstar showed me before.

The white and brown apprentice growled before suddenly bolting forward. He directed his aim to the left side of Breezestorm, who leaned to his left and readied a paw to lash out. Near the last moment, Quailpaw suddenly swerved to the right and lashed out a paw at his mentor's right shoulder. With Breezestorm's balance already on his left side, the blow made him completely loose his balance and he fell on his side.

Quailpaw turned and rose a paw to aim at Breezestorm's face. Just as his blow was about to land, Breezestorm rolled away and used to time to leap to his paws. The warrior then lunged forward and slammed his head into Quailpaw's shoulder. The apprentice stumbled back at the blow.

Breezestorm leaped at the apprentice again but Quailpaw side-stepped to dodge the blow. Breezestorm skidded to a halt and spun around, his paws outstretched. Quailpaw hissed in annoyance when his paw landed the blow on the apprentices muzzle.

The apprentice stepped back and reared up onto his hind paws. He lashed out blow after blow at his mentor, the first few hitting. Breezestorm then began to duck and dodge every next move.

Quailpaw squeaked in surprise when the tom rammed into his hind legs. Stumbling back, Quailpaw suddenly lost his balance and fell to the earth on his back. He groaned and his eyes narrowed when Breezestorm appeared over him, pinning him down.

"You have to be stronger, Quailpaw. Stealthier. Brace yourself for anything!"

I will never be any of those..