Mudpaw leaped at Wolffang, his claws slashing the tom's muzzle. Wolffang pushed the brown tom away, his tail lashing. "Not bad," he meowed.

Mudpaw panted, his pelt feeling heavy. "Can I take a break now?" He questioned.

"No," Wolffang growled. "In fact, there's more Clan cats training here than just you," he meowed. "Mistfang trains here, and so does Sparkpelt, Needlehawk, and Scorchfur, just to name a few," he meowed.

Suddenly, Sharptalon padded from the dark fog, his green eyes fixing on Wolffang. "Wolffang, the leaders have called a meeting," he meowed. "We have to be there."

"Oh, ok," Wolffang meowed. He turned to Mudpaw. "Well, I have to go now, so training is over," he meowed. "So you tomorrow night."

Mudpaw could already feel himself waking up. So Needlehawk trains here too? Suddenly, he felt that his sister might be vulnerable. No wonder Needlehawk has such an attitude.

Mudpaw blinked open his eyes, feeling a paw prodding his side. He looked up, seeing Burntsun. Great, I have to learn boring moves. It had been four days since training in the Dark Forest, and he found it more interesting than this.

"Why do you seem bummed out? You should be excited that you're training," Burntsun meowed, his tail flicking. 

Mudpaw held back a sigh, wishing he could train with Wolffang. I'll have to wait for night to roll around. He glanced up at the gray sky, wishing sunlight would shimmer down. Leaf-Bare was here, and so snow would sprinkle down in the forest, littering the forest and the pelts of the cats.

As Burntsun and Mudpaw left the camp, snow began falling down, dotting the ground. Mudpaw winced as he stepped on the snow, which stung as it melted into his pad. 

"We're going to be learning the play-dead technique," Burntsun meowed, stopping at the training hollow. "This is a technique used in a tight situation, like when a target has you pinned an....."

Burntsun's words suddenly faded out of Mudpaw's ears. He couldn't even listen, instead, his mind wandered to all the things he'd be doing in the Dark Forest. Wolffang is a lot more interesting than Burntsun! 

"Mudpaw!"

Mudpaw snapped back into reality, his tail lashing. He glanced at Burntsun, whose eyes were narrowed.

"Did you even hear what I was saying, Mudpaw?" Burntsun growled, flattening his ears.

"Uh, yeah," Mudpaw meowed, staring at his mentor. Whatever he said, I don't care. Wolffang says the play-dead technique is a waste of time.

"No, you didn't," Burntsun sighed. He put his paw to his face, letting out a puff of air. "What's wrong with you? For the past days, you act like you haven't been paying attention! You're always looking bored when we're training, but then when you crawl into your nest at night, you look as excited as an apprentice that caught their first piece of prey! However you're acting, you need to quit it and shape up!" Burntsun spat, his claws digging into the dirt.

Mudpaw glared at his mentor, feeling the need to not respond. "Maybe it's because I miss Featherpaw," he murmured.

"That's no excuse! Your sister shouldn't get in the way of your training!" Burntsun growled. He let out a sigh, closing his eyes. "I probably just scared away all the prey in this forest," he meowed. "Let's get on with training."

Mudpaw stood up, his tail lashing from his mentor's outburst.

"So, as I was saying, the play-dead technique is good for a tight situation, like when your enemy has you pinned. When you're pinned, you'll want to go limp, which makes your target think that you're finished. When they're distracted, you push yourself up, throwing your attacker off, and then you're put into an attacking position," Burntsun explained.

"Ok, I got it," Mudpaw grumbled. 

"So then, try it on me," Burntsun meowed.

"But why? You'll know I'll go limp, so it won't even be a surprise," Mudpaw groaned.

"But I still want you to try it," Burntsun growled, getting irritated.

"Fin-" Mudpaw then gasped as Burntsun leaped at him, pinning him to the ground. Mudpaw struggled under his mentor's grip, his tail lashing. He felt the need to kick out and scratch the tom's stomach, but he knew that wasn't what his mentor wanted. He stopped struggling and went limp.

Burntsun loosened his grip, and once he did, Mudpaw kicked out, throwing his mentor off and getting back up and crouching in a fighting-stance. 

"Good. You finally understand it," Burntsun meowed, sighing in relief. "That's enough training for today. I want you to go hunt now," he meowed. "Come back to camp when you've caught two pieces of prey."

Mudpaw watched as his mentor padded away. He narrowed his eyes, then turned away, heading towards the ShadowClan border. Instead of hunting, I'm itching to use my claws on one of those ShadowClan apprentices!

Mudpaw ran towards the ShadowClan border, his claws unsheathed. I'll use the moves Wolffang taught me, that'll spoke them right out of their fur! He sped past trees, kicking up snow. More snow was falling down now, and Mudpaw figured that he could use this as an excuse to not catch prey. My mentor would still get mad! He almost giggled to himself, imagining the look on Burntsun's face when he didn't bring back prey. 

Suddenly, Mudpaw slowed as he heard voices. He was near the ShadowClan border, so he assumed it was just a patrol talking. He slunk into a large bush, then created a hole with his paw. He peered out, his eyes narrowing.

Nightpaw was just at the edge of the ShadowClan border, at plump mouse at her paws. On the other side of the border, there was a black-and-white tom. Spirepaw? But why is she talking to a ShadowClan apprentice? He decided not to leap out and confront them, instead, he'd sit back and watch this unfold.

"I'm sorry that happened," Nightpaw murmured.

"It's sad. Do you have any sick cats in your Clan?" Spirepaw asked.

"Not yet," Nightpaw meowed. "I, uh, caught this mouse for you. ShadowClan has less warriors, and I heard that Applefur and Leafstripe have kits, so I figured I'd give each this to you," she purred.

"Thank you, Nightpaw. Y-you don't have to give this to me though," Spirepaw meowed. "Although I do appreciate this."

"No, take it please," Nightpaw pleaded. "I at least want you to please your mentor," she meowed, flicking her tail. "Your mentor will be proud of a catch like this."

"You should keep it, Nightpaw. ThunderClan has tons of warriors, so there's a lot of prey that they need. And your mentor would be proud too," Spirepaw meowed.

Mudpaw bristled, feeling betrayed that Nightpaw was trying to give ThunderClan prey to a ShadowClan cat. He lashed his tail, backing up from the bush. I'll give him a good clawing to remind him that he shouldn't be here! He stalked slowly through the undergrowth, his claws unsheathed.

"Please take it, Spirepaw!" Nightpaw pleaded, standing up. She pushed the mouse towards him. "This is for the kits," she whined.

"Fine, but only because it's for the kits," Spirepaw sighed, grasping the mouse in his jaws.

Mudpaw bunched his muscles, preparing to leap. "Let go of that prey, ShadowClan scum!" He yowled, throwing himself on Spirepaw.