"Rainpaw!"

    The tabby perked her ears at the familiar sound of her sisters voice, but didn't open her eyes. It wasn't until a sharp stab in her flank did she groggily crack her eyes open. She blinked a few times to focus on the figure standing over her, which she made out to be Hopepaw. Her sister was not happy. The apprentice wore an annoyed face as she glared down at her sister.

    "Rainpaw, get up! We're training together today!" She exclaimed frantically. She was pacing back and forth now. "We can't be late!"

    Rainpaw rolled her eyes and lifted her head up. Why did her sister have to be such a rule-follower? "Being a few moments late won't change anything." The apprentice remarked, smirking. Oh how she loved annoying Hopepaw. It has always been easy. Sometimes even too easy.

    Hopepaw stopped her pacing to turn around and glare at Rainpaw. "Sorry that I actually want to be useful to this clan." She put her head and tail up high as she defended herself. "Seriously, we're becoming warriors in a half-moon and I'm not being late on the last stretch of training sessions."

    "Alright, alright." Rainpaw groaned, getting to a sitting position. Moving fast made her head dizzy for a moment, but she regained her balance and blinked a few times. Her nest was so warm and comfortable, she really didn't want to train today. "I'm up, see?"

    Hopepaw only huffed and turned to leave. "Hurry up, you mouse-brain."

    The tabby gave a light chuckle as she watched her sister quickly pad out of the apprentices den. She blinked a few more times, letting her eyes focus. Suddenly she remembered something. "Hey!" She meowed, "what about-" she turned her head, expecting to see the sleeping form of Sunpaw. "-Sunpaw..."

    Rainpaw sighed and fully stood up. She quickly shook off the moss that was still clinging to her messy fur and followed Hopepaw. There wasn't any time to groom herself now.

    Her eyes traveled around the camp as she exited her den. Most of the clearing was already empty, leaving what usually seemed like a large cave look extremely small. Patrols had been set by Nightflare and were out in the woods catching prey and marking borders. Most of the apprentices were out as well. The only ones remaining were Hopepaw, Shadowpaw, and herself.

    Her gaze landed on the fresh-kill pile, which was still looking a little slim. Since she had only just woken up, the tabby wasn't ready for a meal yet. Plus, she still had the squirrel that was still laying by her nest to get through. She hadn't even seen it when she woke up.

    Rainpaw pondered for a moment. "But where's-"

    "Sunpaw?" A voice interrupted. Rainpaw glanced up to see Stormfire standing beside her. She didn't even hear him approach. "Blackfrost took her out this morning for some early training. She'll be joining us later."

    The apprentice nodded in understanding but worry still etched her mind. She never did find out what was wrong with her yesterday.

    "Come on!" Hopepaw shouted from across the clearing.

    "I'm coming!"

    Rainpaw quickly padded across the clearing with Stormfire right behind her. Hopepaw was so getting anxious now.

    Next to Hopepaw stood her mentor Spottedoak. Rainpaw envied her beautiful, sleek, tortoiseshell and white fur. Her voice was as sweet as honey and could leave any tom at her feet.

    "Are we ready to go?" Spottedoak meowed, looking between Stormfire and the apprentices.

    "Yep!" Both apprentices chorused.

    "Great!" The older she-cat flicked her tail excitedly and turned to the exit of the camp with the others following shortly behind her.

    Rainpaw turned to her sister. Hopepaw's eyes were almost radiating excitement as she exited the cave and glanced at the greenish-orange trees. She truly wanted to become a warrior. Hopepaw was as loyal to her clan as a true leader is. Rainpaw, on the other hand, didn't think too much of it. Sure, becoming a warrior is exciting at first, but the excitement would quickly die out when you found there was nothing to do. Unless you had an apprentice to train, which she knew she wouldn't for a while.

    As the four padded through the woods she took the time to think about last night. So far, it hadn't crossed her mind. But something about Red made her uneasy. Any other warrior would have turned their back at one look at Red or even the forest. For some reason, she didn't.

    For some reason, she wanted to trust Red. She wanted to learn from her and later use those tactics in battle. She wanted to become better.

    But was it the right choice?

    A strong gust of wind tore her from her thoughts. This early in the morning, the breeze was cold and harsh. The trees and bushes around her swayed as if in greeting and let their leaves flutter down to the ground. Leaf-fall was coming soon. To her, leaf-fall was when the forest looked to prettiest and was the most peaceful.

    "We're here!" Spottedoak chirped happily.

    "Alright." Stormfire said. "We're going to play a little game."

    Both her and her sister's ears perked with interest.

    "Rainpaw will go one way and Hopepaw will go another. Whoever can catch the most prey by..." He looked up to the sky, judging the time. It was well past dawn but not quite yet sun-high. "...Sun-high will eat first when we return to camp."

    Rainpaw sighed. There was no way she would be able to win against Hopepaw. She was one of the best hunters in the clan, for StarClan's sake!

    "Hey," Hopepaw turned to her and purred. "I'll go easy on you, don't worry."

    Rainpaw rolled her eyes and turned back to her mentor.

   "Ready, set-"

  "Wait!"

   Rainpaw's ears turned in the direction of the voice before her head did. She noticed two figures, one smaller than the other. Rainpaw made out the white pelt of Blackfrost, which was followed by her sister Sunpaw.

   "You thought you could start without us, eh?" Blackfrost chucked as he drew near.

    "I was hoping to." Stormfire remarked, giving a small smile. Blackfrost and Stormfire weren't related, but were as close as brothers. She is sure that's why Redstar gave the duo siblings so they could train together.

    Blackfrost snorted at the comment and sat next to him, curling his long and bushy tail neatly over his paws. "Fill me in. What are we doing?"

    As Stormfire explained once again, Rainpaw turned her head to focus on Sunpaw. Her mentor's voice became muffled as she watched her sister. She had been so quiet that if Rainpaw didn't know any better, her sister wouldn't have even been noticed.

    She looked down, getting lost in thought. Stormfire's voice droned on in the background, but she couldn't care less as to what he was saying. Sunpaw was really starting to bother her now. This wasn't normal activity for the bright apprentice, and it even left their mother confused.

    Maybe if Ivyleaf talked to her daughter, Sunpaw would spill. She wasn't exactly the best at keeping secrets or lying.

    "-Rainpaw?"

    Her head snapped up. Both Sunpaw and Hopepaw were gone already, off chasing prey.

    "We started..." Stormfire said slowly, noticing her confusion.

    "O-oh!" Her ears heated up in embarrassment as she scrambled to her paws and raced off into the woods.

    Focus, Rainpaw. Focus.

    She shook her head. Sunpaw would tell her eventually, right? The three were extremely close and told each other everything.

    Not only did she have to worry about Sunpaw, she now had to worry about Red. And she didn't know what to expect from Red. Anything could happen.
_______________________________
oH MY GOSH.
IM SO SORRY I DIDN'T UPDATE FOR THIS LONG.
I literally could not find any motivation to do this chapter. But, here I am! Just as promised.

Please leave any comments/constructive criticism below!

Till next chapter!~