"Watch it!" Cloudchaser hissed at Hawkkit through the thin bird clamped in his mouth. She scurried out of the way to let the warrior pass, and watched as he dropped it on the fresh-kill pile. Hunting was poor thanks to leaf-bare blowing through the forest, and hungry bellies were constantly growling throughout the clan. Owlpelt had kitted and birthed two kits. Unfortunately, the one died almost instantly so there was only one left. The tiny black and white kit was constantly crying for food and Hawkkit had to listen to her pitiful mewls throughout the night. Lack of food and sleep has made her irritable, so she relieved her stress by picking on her littermates and even Applekit.

"Hawkkit!" Her brothers bounded over, Applekit on their heels.

"Guess what?" Rabbitkit huffed excitedly and didn't wait for a response, "Fuzzykit just opened her eyes!"

She sniffed, "that little runt is still alive? Let me see." She squeezed into the nursery, the entrance hugging her thighs making it hard to get through. She recalled when she used to dart in and out easily, now it was a struggle to even move around inside since there were several cats living in there.

The den was surprisingly warm, and she relished the heat. Looking dazed, the tiny she-cat was lying next to her mother while Owlpelt was grooming her, her eyes stretched wide open. She blinked as she saw Hawkkit enter and sneezed.

"Hey, Fuzzykit!" Applekit peeped while Hawkkit sniffed the runt. "Let us show you around and introduce you to everyone!"

The kit blinked again and spoke slowly, "Am I allowed too?"

"Why not?" Snakekit piped in and Hawkkit frowned. Why was everyone so excited about a kit opening its eyes?

"Would it be okay, mommy?" Fuzzykit glanced up innocently at her mother with pleading eyes. Owlpelt hesitated and considered the others. She sighed and smiled warmly.

"Well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt. Make sure you don't get under any cat's paw though, okay?" Owlpelt warned.

Fuzzykit nodded and tumbled out of the nest. Everyone chuckled except for Hawkkit who snorted in disbelief. What a clumsy fool! Without saying anything, she led the way and padded swiftly towards the apprentice's den. Moonpaw gaped at the advancing kits and meowed in shock, "Fuzzykit! You opened your eyes!" She cocked her head in confusion.

"That's Moonpaw, an apprentice. He has a brother named Lightningpaw who is also an apprentice," Rabbitkit informed her.

"What's an apprentice?"

"It's a cat six moons or older whose in training to become a warrior."

"What's a warrior?"

"A warrior is a cat who is a full member of the clan," Snakekit mewed proudly. "They protect the clan by fighting and hunting. They're the best!"

"Let's show her the warrior's den," Applekit started to run over to the branches of a beech tree where the den was located. Flareheart stepped out and collided with the kit.

"Oof. Sorry, Applekit. Didn't see you there." The deputy apologized but then noticed the others coming over. "Oh! Fuzzykit, you opened your eyes! Congratulation!" she purred.

"Who's that?" Fuzzykit asked.

"That's Flareheart, she's a warrior as well as the deputy of the clan. And before you bother asking, a deputy is the cat who's next in line for leader," Hawkkit explained in an uninterested tone.

"Who ruffled your fur?" Flareheart chortled as Hawkkit spiked out her coat in indignance.

"Let's move on," she growled. They walked to the elders den next, then the leader's den and lastly the medicine cat's den. The kits hesitated at the entrance. Fuzzykit watched them inquisitively.

"What's wrong?"

"Er, nothing." They ducked inside and were immediately overwhelmed with the powerful scent of herbs. Hawkkit gagged and was surprised when Fuzzykit strode right in with no problem, investigating curiously with her innocent eyes. What's wrong with this kit?

Duckfeather was uttering something to himself when he saw them. "What are you kits doing in here? Get out!" he spat.

"Sorry!" Hawkkit and the others ran back outside.

Applekit was trembling with fear, "that was scary." Fuzzykit was silent and just stared at her.

Hawkkit snarled, "what are you looking at, Dazedkit?"

She cocked her head, "Dazedkit?"

"Yeah. Morningstar should rename you to Dazedkit since you always have that stupid look on your face," she snapped.

"Hey, calm down Hawkkit. That wasn't very nice." Rabbitkit interrupted them. She flicked her tail and stormed away. Idiots. Who cares about that freak? She kicked a pebble and plopped down on her haunches. I'll make sure everyone only has eyes for me, I'll be the greatest cat. She narrowed her eyes at Fuzzykit. That's right, the greatest. No one will stop me.

"Hawkkit, step forward." She climbed up to the highledge, forcing herself to walk slowly even though she just wanted to charge up there. Morningstar gazed at her with gentle eyes and meowed, "Hawkkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you shall be known as Hawkpaw. Your mentor will be Flareheart. I hope she will pass down all she knows on to you."

Hawkpaw dug her claws in the ground with exhilaration. My mentor is the deputy!

"Come up, Flareheart." The warrior padded forward and bowed. "You are ready to take on an apprentice again. You have received excellent training from Tallwhisker and you have shown yourself to be brave and strong. You will be the mentor of Hawkpaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to her." Flareheart faced Hawkpaw and smiled. She touched noses with her and the Clan started calling out her new name.

"Hawkpaw! Hawkpaw! Hawkpaw!" She moved over to sit next to her brothers who had already gotten their names and mentors. After the cheering died down she made her way to her parents who were waiting for them.

Pride was lit up in their eyes and Sorrelbreeze bent down to lick their foreheads. "I'm so very proud of you three," she murmured. "You will be great apprentices." Hawkpaw purred and glanced at her father.

He nodded, "train hard. You will be magnificent." She dipped her head as her mentor strode over.

Flareheart bowed her head to her parents. "I will do my best to teach your daughter to the best of my ability."

All of a sudden, Lightningmask and Moonface pounced on her. The new warriors laughed, "Congrats! Too bad we won't be training together."

She giggled, "yeah. Thanks guys."

Daisypelt purred, "Congratulations. Being an apprentice is awesome." This is so amazing! Hawkpaw thought to herself. I'm making my way to becoming a warrior!

"Hey, Flareheart, can we go outside now?" she asked. Hawkpaw was eager to see the whole territory.

"Sure, I'll show you around. See if your brothers want to come."

"Of course we do!" Snakepaw grinned with Rabbitpaw behind him.

"Alright then, let's head out." She lead the way with Hawkpaw, Snakepaw and Rabbitpaw, along with their mentors Webfur and Cloudchaser. Hawkpaw felt needles poking her skin as she scrambled through the thorn tunnel. As she burst out, she gaped at the forest surrounding her. The crisp, white snow had smothered the woods. The snowfall sprinkled down from gray, clouded skies and floated down gently, spiraling down gracefully. The winter trees shivered from the bitter cold, their gnarled branches adorned with crystals glistening from the afternoon sun. Brilliant milky drifts sloped upward in soft curves against the dark trunks. She sneezed as a snowflake landed on her pink nose.

"Come on," Flareheart continued, pushing through the snow. "Right here is a network of tunnels connecting our territory with WindClan. We don't really use them anymore and we don't want anyone sneaking inside in case of cave-ins." Hawkpaw squinted to try and see inside, but the darkness was too thick. They trudged and stopped at the edge of a trail. "This is the Old Thunderpath," she mewed. "We haven't seen any monsters on it before and hope it remains that way."

"Cool," Snakepaw sniffed it and shook his head. "Twolegs are so strange."

"Let's keep going north," suggested Webfur. Flareheart bobbed her head and motioned for them to continue. Excitement prickled through Hawkpaw's pelt as she charged ahead, giggling from the sensation of cold on her paws. Eventually, they came across an aging structure of rotten wood.

"What is that?" whispered Rabbitpaw.

"That's the abandoned Twoleg Nest," Cloudchaser said. "It's usually rich in prey and herbs which aids us during leaf-bare." Hawkpaw grimaced, she couldn't imagine living in such a confined and suffocating nest like kittypets. They turned around and traveled to a mossy clearing dusted with snow, supposedly the area where apprentices train. After struggling through knee-deep snow, they came across a large, naked oak tree. The branches hung low from the weight of ice and protruded outwards toward the sky. Hawkpaw stared in awe, her breath rising in visible puffs.

"This is called the Sky Oak. We don't use it for much, but it is a good vantage point. When you have your final test, you'll be expected to climb to the top." The large tree stood close to the shore of the lake, which had frozen over and gleamed silver. She observed the ice and saw herself peering back. She yelped in surprise and fell back.

"Haha!" Snakepaw rolled on his side laughing hysterically, while the warriors watched with twitching whiskers.

"S-shut up!" Hawkpaw licked her chest in embarrassment.

"Okay, well there's only one more place I want to show you guys. Why don't we wrap this up so we can go back and eat." Flareheart stifled a purr.

Hawkpaw grumbled under her breath, "thistles and thorns."

Rabbitpaw brushed his brown pelt against her, "It's okay." She heaved a heavy sigh and walked side-by-side with her brother. They stopped at another clearing near the ShadowClan border. The stench of ShadowClan filled Hawkpaw's nose and she wrinkled her nose.

Webfur meowed, "this is a site where twolegs camp during greenleaf. Make sure to avoid it during that time." She nodded and surveyed the large glade. The deciduous forest crammed around it, the sun making the ground sparkle. Hawkpaw froze as snarls broke the silence.

"Thundercats. What are you doing by our border?" A white she-cat with brown paws, ears, chin and tail-tip stepped out. She was closely followed by a huge golden tabby and a pale ginger she-cat.

"Amberfeet," Flareheat spoke calmly despite the tension sparking between the cats. "We were just showing our apprentices the territory. We have no business with you."

The golden tabby growled threateningly, "Why should we trust you, squirrel-chasers?"

Hawkpaw jumped in, "You fox-hearts don't even know what trust is!" She bristled her fur to look intimidating and arched her back.

Flareheart glared at her, "Hawkpaw! This is not your place to speak!"

The other she-cat sniffed disdainfully, "It seems ThunderClan apprentices don't even know where their rank stands. Maybe we should teach them." She unsheathed her claws but Flareheart stepped between them.

"Now is not that time to fight. Let's not spill blood over a silly matter." Hawkpaw was about to protest but her mentor shoot her another look, silencing her.

Amberfeet meowed, "stand down Sandfur, Goldenclaw." The ShadowClan warriors sheathed their claws but still glared menacingly.

Flareheart dipped her head, "then we shall be leaving. Sorry for the disturbance." She waved her tail and the patrol slunk away. After they were out of earshot Hawkpaw couldn't stand it anymore.

"Why didn't we fight them! They were obviously asking for it, and we could have easily beaten them!"

Flareheart studied her apprentice carefully. "Why should we spill blood needlessly?"

"But they acted so arrogant. How can you let them talk like that?"

"A tabby doesn't change his stripes," she replied.

Hawkpaw opened her mouth to retort, but closed it realizing she wouldn't win the argument. She scowled as they finished up by checking the WindClan border.

"Can we go back now? I'm really hungry." Rabbitpaw scratched his ear.

"Of course." They padded back towards the stone hollow and slithered through the thorn entrance once more. Hawkpaw shook off the snow caught in her pelt and stalked over to the fresh-kill pile. She picked out a scrawny bird on the top and carried it to the Halfrock, a smooth low stone that rose out of the ground near the elders den. She ate furiously, barely chewing before swallowing chunks of meat. I don't get it! She huffed. Why didn't we fight those fleabags? They seemed too frail and feeble anyway. If I were in charge, I would have shredded their pelts. Flareheart's just to weak, but I'll be strong.