Robinpaw yawned and opened her eyes.

She turned to greet Thrushnose, then a pang shot through her when she remembered that she was on the other side of the den now. Even after a couple days, it was still strange to wake up without the white-furred she-cat beside her.

She sighed and turned in her nest, accidentally flicking the golden-furred tom beside her, who, despite her protests, had insisted to sit next to her.

She prayed to the Sun and Moon she hadn't woken him. She tensed nervously, but his breathing remained steady, and her heartbeat returned to normal.

Finally, she began to drift off once more, only to be awaken by her least favorite cat.

"Hey," whispered a voice next to her. "You awake?"

The silver she-cat whipped around to see Leopardpaw stretching. A flash of unfounded annoyance came through her, and it was all she could do to not snap at him. "Yes."

He purred. "Good. Wanna hunt with me?"

Part of Robinpaw wanted desperately to say no, but the other part insisted that she ought to give Leopardpaw a chance. She exhaled. "Fine."

"Great!" mewed Leopardpaw. He stood up, tail lashing excitedly. "Let's go!"

Robinpaw followed her golden-furred denmate, not crazy excited. "Why do you want to hunt anyway? You're a fighter."

He shook his head. "No, I'm not."

What? "Really? But your mentor is a fighter!"

He flicked his tail. "Well, my actual mentor is Kestrelflight," he mewed. "But she's being investigated for her possible part in Tankit's death and your...uh, torture."

Robinpaw blinked. "What?"

He nodded. "Yeah, the other ones declined. Larkfoot and Thrushnose are still too young, Harewing is retiring soon, Deerleg and Moletail's trainees just became full members and Ratmuzzle is expecting kits."

"Oh."

"Yeah, so I'll be training with you and your mentor. Crowclaw is just my mentor in name. A substitute, per se." The golden tom looked a little shocked that she was so confused. "Didn't you know this?"

Robinpaw shook her head, feeling her fur heat slightly. "No one told me."

He flicked his tail. "Well, alright then. Are we going to hunt, or not?"

"We are," mewed Foxtail, causing the two trainees to spin around. "Bird hunting." She paused, studying the new trainee closely. "It's harder than it seems."

Leopardpaw just smirked. "I'm sure I'll get something."

Robinpaw had to fight back the purr that threatened to escape her muzzle. She knew that she was an exceptionally good bird hunter, and even she had trouble on her first bird hunt.

Her annoyance of Leopardpaw resurged, the confusion of the previous conversation melting away and remembering the look he'd given her. His smug blue gaze met hers, a challenge sparkling in them.

This was going to be fun.

~----------------------------------------------~

They had until sunhigh.

Tilting her head slightly and swiveling her ears, Robinpaw listened for the calls of any birds. Silence-- then a faint twitter in the distance.

Ahead and to the right.

Robinpaw placed her paws carefully on the ground, making doubly sure that no leaves were in her way. She wasn't as worried about the weight of her pawsteps, but she was still careful that he didn't disturb some mouse that would, in turn, alert the bird.

The call came again, a little louder. I'm a little too far left, he thought, quickly correcting her course. She scanned the trees ahead of her, trying to locate the elusive creature.

A jeer came through the air, startling her.

Robinpaw's ears pricked as she slowly moved her head to try and spot the bird. She had to stop herself from jerking her head toward the prey-- sudden movement would catch its eye.

She was pretty certain she'd found the right tree, so now she scanned it for a flash of blue or brown. From its call, she was fairly certain it was a jay, though she'd only heard one once.

There!

A bright blue, clearly visible against the red and orange of the tree. The jay cawed again, puffing out his chest proudly and fluttering his wings pompously.

Climbing the tree wasn't an option-- brids were even more sensitive to movement than squirrels and would notice her instantly-- so instead she waited patiently and silently for it to come down and eat.

WIth a flutter, it alighted on the ground and began to eat some type of insect.

A first-time hunter may have leapt then, but Robinpaw knew better. She waited until the bird's head jerked up suddenly, scanning the area for predators. He fluttered his wings once and returned to his prey.

Then she pounced.

The bird didn't even have time to cry out before it was dead with a clean bite to the neck.

It was her third catch. She dropped it proudly and quickly buried it, marking the clearing in her mind. She swiveled her ears again and listened carefully. Not a couple moments later, she heard the distinctive cry of a finch. Praise the Sun and Moon!

She crept toward the cry, her pawsteps making little to no noise as she got nearer and nearer. It was very close-- she could see its yellow plumage--

A tweet of terror and alarm.

The finch's frightened cry was abruptly cut off by the thump of paws against the hard earth.

Indignation filled the silver she-cat. How dare the new trainee steal her catch! "Hey! That's mine, Leopard--"

Her mew froze in her throat as an unfamiliar tortoiseshell she-cat emerged from the bushes, carrying a finch and narrowing its green gaze on her.

Definitely not Leopardpaw.

The tortoiseshell dropped the finch and glared at her. "I caught it," huffed the she-cat. "My name's not Leopard, either. It's Primrose," she started.

Robinpaw's blood ran cold.

A rogue.

All the terrible stories she'd heard as a kit flashed through her mind. Stories of cats killed just for being from FloraClan, brutal, organized attacks, their lack of mercy-- she had to fight hard to keep from hyperventilating.

The elder's words flashed through her mind-- pretend to be one of them. "Robin," she stated, not trusting herself to one more syllable at a time. Besides, Robin was a rogue name, right?

Primrose narrowed her eyes. "Well, you and your companion Leopard get the fox-dung outta my land, you got that? We rogues have a code, you know! We leave each other alone-- finding food is hard as it is, with those nasty Clan cats shoving us out of every territory with the slightest bit of food--" She froze, studying Robinpaw's expression. "Wait, you're not one of them, right?"

Her entire body stopped moving. She tried to open her mouth and reply, but it refused to work, and she could only stare helplessly at the tortoiseshell before her. She closed her eyes quickly, expecting the rake of claws at any moment.

Then Primrose did something...unexpected.

She looked at her from all angles, then flicked her tail in approval. "You don't seem like a halfway bad sort. You aren't weak, you didn't kill me on sight-- good for you, by the way..." She neared Robinpaw's ear and whispered. "We are the Fire. Our gates are open for those who wish to burn the trees and flowers."

Robinpaw blinked. Trees and flowers?

"If you ever need us, we'll meet you in the Great Field," she the mysterious she-cat. "Good luck. The Fire burns on..."

Then the tortoiseshell disappeared into the forest, her pelt of orange and black blending in perfectly with the fallen leaves, finch in her grasp.

The Fire burns on...

Those words haunted her throughout the rest of the hunt.

~----------------------------------------------~

Not surprisingly, when they met up again, Leopardpaw was empty pawed.

"I couldn't find anything," he hissed. "I don't think there ARE any! You sent us on an impossible trip!"

Foxtail exhaled sharply. "No, Leopardpaw. Look! Robinpaw, show him your catches."

Smugly, Robinpaw revealed her prey-- a jay, a blackbird, and two finches.

Leopardpaw's blue eyes flashed icy cold for a moment in jealousy as Robinpaw basked in her victory. "Whatever. I'll get you next time."

Robinpaw just nodded skeptically. "Uh-huh. Right."

The golden trainee sighed, then turned to Foxtail. "What now?"

Robinpaw felt a surge of relief that Leopardpaw seemed to be ignoring her-- maybe he'd hate her now!-- but she stayed silent as her mentor replied.

Foxtail shrugged. "Whatever you want. Talk, hunt, whatever."

Leopardpaw turned to the silver trainee, a challenge in his eyes. "Want to hunt? The one with the most prey wins?"

Robinpaw shook her head instantly. "No. I'm going to go talk to Thrushnose." She spun away from him haughtily.

"But, beautiful--"

Robinpaw sped up. "Good-bye."

Foxtail purred as Robinpaw stalked into the den and covered her ears with her paws.

Robinpaw could just barely hear her mentor say: "And that, Leopardpaw, is how not to become friends with Robinpaw."

Good. Stay away, she thought angrily. She glanced around, but didn't see Thrushnose anywhere. Must be hunting, she thought. Just my luck.

Alas, her wish was not to be granted as she heard pawsteps approaching. "Robinpaw?"

She stood up and turned to face him, annoyed. "What?!"

Leopardpaw shuffled his paws. "I'm...I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that-- can we just be friends?" There seemed to be a genuine note of apology in his voice.

I don't really want to...but he sounds sorry. And I know the difference between sorry and not...

Robinpaw sighed. Curse my kindness. "Maybe," she mewed, and shoved past him out of the den.

Yay! New chapter! Not edited, so if you see a mistake, please comment!

A lot of excitement this chapter! What do you think of Primrose and the other rogues she mentioned? What should Robinpaw do? And do you think Leopardpaw's change of heart genuine?

Hope you at least vaguely enjoy this-- I'll work as fast as I can on the next chapter!

~Ember