It had only been a moon since Robinear had become a full member.

A moon of paranoia and anxiety about Leopardpaw and Willowpaw.

Three moons until she'd belong to one of them.

Despite Gingerfur's reassurances, Robinear couldn't help but distrust the cheery golden tom. Sure, he seemed nice...but seeming and being were two different things.

Especially in FloraClan.

"Robinear?" Her mother's mew cut through the silver tabby's thoughts, and she snapped her head around swiftly.

"Yes?" she answered cautiously.

Kestrelwing met her gaze, then looked at her trainee. "Would you be willing to come with me to teach Leopardpaw a bit of fishing? He's only gone once."

Robinear blinked, considering. The undisputed best fisher was Larkfoot, so it seemed a bit bizarre for her to be asked.

Then she realized.

Her mother wanted to speak with her.

Kestrelwing had been released from suspicion three days ago, and seemed to have been deliberately avoiding Robinear since.

Not that she really blamed her.

After all, Robinear had testified against her.

"Of course," she mewed, dipping her head slightly to indicate Kesterlwing's seniority.

A look of relief flitted across Kestrelwing's face, and a weight seemed to be lifted off her shoulders. "Thanks," she mewed simply.

Leopardpaw shot Robinear a grateful glance as well, and the silver tabby realized that Leopardpaw didn't feel comfortable around his mentor.

Not exactly strange, considering she'd been his mentor for only three days and been accused of neglective abuse.

"Upstream or downstream?" inquired Robinear, breaking the brief silence between them.

Kestrelwing tilted her head, considering. "Upstream," she decided.

Robinear nodded briefly and stood up, shaking the dirt out of her fur. "Well, let's go then, shall we?"

Kestrelwing bobbed her head and exited the camp clearing quickly, Leopardpaw on her tail. Robinear followed a little behind Leopardpaw, and slowed as they neared the stream.

She dipped her paw in. It was still quite cold-- a symptom of early new-leaf-- but it didn't nearly freeze her paws off like it had on her assessment.

Leopardpaw didn't have to be asked to get on the correct side of the stream this time. He splashed noisily across it, pulling out and shivering violently, splattering water everywhere.

Robinear rolled her eyes and leapt across neatly, her tail barely skimming the water. For some reason, Leopardpaw had crossed the stream at its widest point. Why, she had no clue.

He looked like he regretted it now.

The fishing started slow.

Numbed by the cold water, Robinear's reflexes were dulled. How she'd managed to catch anything on her assessment was beyond her.

Robinear was acutely aware of Kestrelwing, just a couple fox-lengths downstream from her. It felt so very strange to have her mother, the cat that had birthed her then shown no care toward her, hunting beside her and muttering a helpful tip whenever she missed a fish.

It didn't seem to make sense.

Her earlier theory replayed itself in her mind even as she concentrated on catching the trout ambling downstream. Perhaps Kestrelwing had just distanced herself to prevent it from hurting so much if she lost a kit.

Or, in her case, two.

That, of course, raised another question: were they Kestrelwing's first litter of kits? All she knew was that her mother never told them who their father was...leading her to believe it was a temporary claim.

A splash interrupted her thoughts, and she saw Kestrelwing brandish a fish proudly in her jaws, killing it with a swift bite. She dropped it beside her, then returned to the water.

Kestrelwing has an unusual way of fishing, Robinear noted. She catches the fish with her mouth...

Wait.

She should probably actually hunt.

Robinear scoured the river, looking as far upstream as she could. A gleam of silver caught her eyes, and she snatched brought it out of the water quickly with her paw. She picked it up as it still wriggled and whacked it solidly against the ground.

It went limp.

Glancing at her mother, Robinear was gratified to see a look of approval there-- something she'd never seen for her in the 21 moons she'd been alive.

Her thoughts returned once more to the theory.

Thinking on it, perhaps Kestrelwing had lost a kit before. That would explain why she was so distant now.

But then why didn't the Testers make it safer...?

Pushing her thoughts aside once more, Robinear scanned the river again. She glimpsed a fish, but it sped by before she could react. Cursing silently, she continued her search and saw another fish.

Splash!

Robinear's paw entered the water and pulled the fish out in one fluid movement, sending it flying out of the water and landing on the soil with a wet splat. She brought her  paw down on its head quickly, feeling the skull crack.

Leopardpaw stared at her, gaping, and Kestrelwing gave her a nod of approval.

Somehow, that nod meant more to Robinear than an entire Clan of awe-stricken Leopardpaws would.

One more.

Just moments later, Kestrelwing snagged one fish, then another. The fish sat proudly on the shore at Kestrelwing's paws, and Robinear felt a surge of admiration for her mother.

Unfortunately, the ripples caused by her lunges had scared all Robinear's potential prey away, but now they swam back cautiously.

Her gaze focused on one fish, one slightly slower than the rest.

Now!

Her paw shot into the water, but only succeeded in carving a long gash into the fish's side. Robinear hissed and was about to give up when she realize that the fish had lost a fin and couldn't move properly.

Her paw darting down low and pulled the crippled fish out of the water with ease. She put it out of its misery quickly with a whack against the ground, then studied her catch critically. A bit messy, but not bad.

Upstream, she heard a jubilant cry as Leopardpaw caught his first fish and whacked it (a bit harder than needed in his excitement) against the ground.  "I got it!" he crowed.

"Good job!" called back Robinear. She glanced back down at her catch. The blood made her dizzy for a moment before she reminds herself it was fish blood, not cat blood.

She turned to face Kestrelwing. "Should we head back?"

Kestrelwing shook her head. "Let him catch one more fish," she replied, nodded toward Leopardpaw.

Robinear nodded and sat down, arranging her three catches into a neat pile that would be easy to carry back to camp.

The tree swayed gently as a breeze swept through the air, rustling the bare branches slightly. Robinear noted that the leaves were only just budding-- a shame, considering how beautiful FloraClan was in greenleaf.

Leopardpaw was studying the water intently, his tail swaying slightly without his knowledge. Suddenly, he paw shot out and exited the water with a wiggling fish.

He slammed it violently against the ground, and its wiggling ceased. he dropped it, exhausted, and purred.

"I did it!" he cried. "Finally!" His tail lashed happily, and he almost knocked his catch back into the water.

"Careful!" Robinear cried. Leopardpaw's tail froze immediately, and he look at it bashfully.

"Oops. Sorry," he mewed.

Kestrelwing snorted. "I mean, it would've been you who had to jump in after it," she pointed out. "Be careful, Leopardpaw."

Leopardpaw's gaze dropped to his paws.

Kestrelwing purred. "It's alright. Why don't we go back to camp so you can show off your catches?"

Leopardpaw's eyes lit up. "Yeah!" He pranced back to camp proudly, his two fish tucked under his jaw and in his mouth. Kestrelwing, though, slower until her pace matched Robinear's. "I'm sorry," she sighed, stopping and dropping her fish on the ground. "I was a terrible mother."

Robeinear flicked her tail and paused, letting the fish in her mouth be placed on the ground. She felt an urge to blurt out the question she'd been thinking all day: Did it work? Distancing yourself from us? but knew that even mentioning Brownkit and Tankit would make her break down. Instead, she mewed, "It's ok."

And that was that.

They entered the camp to see the majority of the Clan gathered under the Great Tree. She felt a stab of panic. What did I miss?

"...and so, at six moons of age, Greykit and Gingerkit, kits of Tanfur, will begin their Testing."

The worry in her chest faded as she realized that it wasn't a ceremony, just an announcement. Greykit and Gingerkit weren't even there, as was customary for Testees.

The poor kits, though...they had no idea what they were in for.

Oakbranch flicked his tail, dismissing the meeting, and he and the other Leaders landed on the ground one by one and retreated to their dens.

"Robinear!" called a cat to her right suddenly.

The silver tabby turned, purring as she recognized Gingerfur beside her. "Gingerfur! What is it?" she asked curiously.

"Well, I'm going to the nursery," mewed Gingerfur.

"Oh!" Now she remembered Gingerfur's confession earlier. With a sudden sadness, she realized this was a goodbye. Still, she forced her mew to stay cheery and bright. "Who's the father?"

"Birchtwig," purred Gingerfur dreamily.

Birchtwig. A Lesser Leader. It wasn't unheard of for Lesser Leaders to take claims from the Servants, but they were rarely permanent. Gingerfur, though, was clearly in love.

"That's awesome!" exclaimed Robinear, purring at her friend's sappy expression.

Gingerfur nodded. "I know..." She paused, suddenly serious. "You've thought about what I said, right?"

Robinear nodded. "Yeah." I've thought and come to no conclusions, she added silently.

"Good," mewed Gingerfur, turning toward the river. She sighed. "I...I have to go now."

As she watched her friend cross the tree bridge, Robinear felt suddenly alone.

Hello! Ember here with your weekly chapter! I really hope you enjoyed!

Leopardpaw is me with my clumsiness, ngl xD

So, what do you think of the chapter in general? Of Leopardpaw? Any theories? 

Oh yeah, and you can find the rules for that fanart competition on FloraClanCharacters now! The chapter outlining it on Blossom has been deleted to make reading smoother and without interruptions (I also deleted my A/N near the beginning of the book)

In other news, I've written a prologue to the book, so go check it out!

Dedicated to WarriorCatMoon335 for editing this for me! :)