A young yellow-brown tom sprang to his paws as he woke up from his sleep.

Nothing happened in his sleep.

Nothing ever did for this young tom.

Just how it was supposed to be.

He yawned, stretching his paws out to aid him. He wanted to wake up fully.

Today he and his mentor were going to hone his battling skills. Battling was not his thing.

So far, he's been in only two battles and he can already feel his legs fall off.

The first one was against ThunderClan and the second was against RiverClan. He hated what his life had become.

He heard of all the bravery within those battles.

All his life he has heard about the fights between the clans.

They used to be so peaceful, but now that peace has shattered, withering away to nothing within one moon.

Almost every gathering—he had heard—had ended in fights.

Halfspeckle had told him it has been like this since he had been a kit.

There had been a time where there was peace, but now it was all brutal bloodshed to see which clan would have the least amount of cats after each and every battle.

Springpaw hated every minute.

Why couldn't they solve things without getting blood on their paws?

In the nest next to him, an older and much more mature gray-brown tom with yellow eyes blinked his eyes open.

"Oh shoot! I forgot about the hunting assessment I was supposed to take! Oh no! Oh no! The clan's going to think I'm a failure! I'm going to be sent to the Elder's—"

Their eyes met.

"Oh! You're still here too, huh? Springpaw?" The brown-gray apprentice meowed.

His gaze was still a panicked one.

"Yeah. I have battle practice later, though." Springpaw responded.

He was so thankful he had a sort of laid back mentor. His mentor, a red tom by the name of Blitzwing, always let him sleep a little later than most mentors.

He was thankful, yet questionable about his mentors constant actions.

Toepaw, the apprentice who was still here with him, had a more strict mentor. Not to mentor he was the kit of the deputy. The only one of his litter. The only child of the deputy.

Everyone was expecting great things coming from this kit.

Some say he will be the next leader after Hollowstar, but Toepaw freaked out so much. He had severe anxiety whenever he did anything he considered wrong.

Springpaw didn't believe he had what it takes.

Plus, the apprentice was heard half the time saying he wish he wasn't the deputy's kit, and how he wished he had a normal father instead of one who looked down on him ever chance he got.

There was a point in his apprenticeship where his mentor had her kits, but then they grew to be apprentices and now Brairbranch was grouchy. She was grouchy at Toepaw every second she could muster.

Maybe it was separation from her kits, or the personality of her apprentice, but she was just always moody with him.

Speaking of his mentor, she poked her head in, anger clear on her face.

"Toepaw! Come on! Do you want to an apprentice forever?! Come on! The clan expects better from you, deputy kit." Briarbranch snarled.

Panicked, the young tom followed her out, tripping on his own feet.

Poor Toepaw. Such a harsh mentor. Springpaw thought.

He was a bit jealous though.

Toepaw was one of the only cats in the clan who sympathized with new apprentices since he could never figure out how to be a good one.

Springpaw had no time to think it over.

Blitzwing padded into the den.

"You ready, Springpaw?" The warrior questioned him.

Springpaw dipped his head. "As ready as I'll ever be at this point." He meowed, padding towards the exit of the apprentices den.

He was halfway through his training.

Toepaw was lucky. He would be getting his warrior name, but Springpaw didn't care.

He had more than earned it.

He picked the elder's ticks so many times Springpaw was surprised he wasn't a tick himself.

He almost showed the amusement on his face from the thought of Toepaw being a tick.

Springpaw and Blitzwing walked out into the dense forest, the musky scents of the clans filled the air as well as a fishy scent.

Springpaw smelled the air.

It was a little bit far away, but he could sort of smell SkyClan.

The two swerved away from the border, padding through the undergrowth as they approached their training spot.

It was a clear spot in the middle of the woods. There was barely anything littered on the ground. Only one leaf had been fluttered on the ground.

The wind blew slightly, making Springpaw and his mentor fluff out their pelts.

Today was the first he had known of this cool breeze. Leaf-Fall.

It was his first full Leaf-Fall.

He took a breath.

The scents of pine needles filled his nose, and he took a stance.

Breath in. Breath out. Blitzwing isn't going to go super easy on you, nor will he wrestle you to the ground like you're a piece of prey, Springpaw reminded himself, closing his eyes before opening them.

I'm ready for you, mentor!

"For this lesson, I will be teaching you the move twist and dodge. I will first show you with sheathed claws how to perform the move, and then you must repeat it back. Dodging moves will be vital for apprentices like you to learn because if you don't, you might end up with no throat."

Springpaw nodded.

That was a thing that happened in battles.

The clan was lucky enough to have two surviving elders. ShadowClan believed sending in every cat except kits was barbaric.

Some clan ought to have respect for their elders. It's just not the kits that keep the clans alive. The elders help the clan by filling young cats minds with the wisdom to go on and continue serving their clan.

Dying in battle may be an honor, but living so long as Iciclefall and Petalcrouch was an honor rarely any cat could ever have since so many were dying.

And just when we were about to have full peace too!

"Springpaw!" Blitzwing hissed, grabbing the apprentice's attention.

Springpaw's pelt was hot with embarrassment.

I spaced off again! Dang it! Focus Springpaw!

"What were you saying?" The young yellow tom asked, giving his mentor a pleading look.

Blitzwing chuckled.

To him it wasn't annoying to repeat.

The older tom was proud to repeat himself of the knowledge he had.

"I was asking you to come at me like you were going to attack, so I could demonstrate the attack." Blitzwing explained.

"Oh. Of course." Springpaw mewed, dipping his head to show he was listening this time.

Springpaw bunched his muscles. He knew from what his mentor told him when he begun his battle training a while ago that he shouldn't inform the enemy when he would attack.

He just...had to do it.

He also knew that the enemy might be expecting an attack if they saw him bunching his muscles like he was.

There was just so much that Springpaw could learn.

He could barely even do it. It was super hard for him.

Why did cats have to fight all the time instead of training to help others?

Springpaw didn't get it.

Long ago, the clans wouldn't have ever done something like this...unless it was before the recently shattered addition to the code.

In fact, that wasn't the only rule that was nulled.

The recent rules—decided by the RiverClan leader Oddstar— has declared that anyone who seemed even the slightest of loyalty to a different clan would be severely punished.

The nulled or edited rules—of which quite a few cats disagreed with the null or edit including the current Hickorystar of ThunderClan—were as followed: A warrior does not need to kill to win a battle, elders, queens, and kits must be feed before warriors and apprentices, a cat cannot become deputy without mentoring at least one apprentice.

Why were the rules nulled or edited? Because there were practically no elders in any other clan! Plus, the cats in the clans are different than what they used to be. They're not all nice and fuzzy. They're cold blooded killers, and Springpaw had no idea what made them that way.

Now, warriors had to kill in order to win a battle. The cats were becoming more and more bloodthirsty.

It didn't matter if it was a young newly made apprentice or if it was a warrior who wouldn't hurt any cat who had enough of a beating.

The clans were out for each other's blood. After all, all the clans either were blamed or blamed some other clan for the withering peace.

Springpaw launched himself at his mentor. Blitzwing dodges with an egotistical and braggart smile. He was acting like he was too cool for this move.

Blitzwing turned around, and then with sheathed paws he took a swipe at his apprentice.

Springpaw jumped backwards, startled at the suddenness.

Whoa!

Each and every clan excluding ShadowClan, which Springpaw found odd, blamed a different clan for the destroyed peace.

Blitzwing continued to expertly teach Springpaw the move, giving him advise on how to be swift and agile.

ThunderClan blamed ShadowClan. WindClan blamed ThunderClan. SkyClan blamed RiverClan. RiverClan blamed WindClan and SkyClan.

ShadowClan thought they all had something to do with this withered peace, though they blamed an unknown source.

Springpaw took a turn at the move, almost being able to dodge it without a mistake, though his timing was bit slower, so they had to practice it again.

And even after he got the move right, he wanted to continue on, so he can dodge moves.

Not to kill others, he thought. But to protect those in need.

After their session was over, and scattering about every bird in the area, they began to pad back to the dip they called home.

The two ducked their heads into the bushes, padding into the camp.

Springpaw flinched as nearly every thorn and stick tried to bury their way into his pelt.

His fur was ruffled as he padded into the camp, giving his pelt a quick kick to flatten the fur where the sticks straightened them.

His eyes left his pelt when a familiar scent wafted past his nose.

Toepaw!

I need to see how he did on his hunting assessment! If he passes he can earn his warrior name. And hopefully make a name for himself that's outside of his family.

Springpaw bounded after the scent, eager to learn if his friend had passed.

He halted when he glanced over at the fresh-kill pile.

It was surprisingly larger than when he had left this morning.

Did the hunting patrols catch this? Or did Toepaw contribute too? Springpaw wondered as he sniffed at the pile.

His mentor had followed him.

"If you want you can take something from the pile. You've earned it for a job well done today. You'll be a warrior soon enough!"

Hearing Blitzwing's praise was like a bird's song to his ears.

He dipped his head, eyes shining. He felt light.

"Thank you, Blitzwing." He mumbled.

"My pleasure, Springpaw. Now if you'll excuse me..." the tom meowed, trailing off as his eyes found their way to it's target.

His target was a tortoiseshell tom with blue eyes.

His tail lashed playfully.

Even as a warrior Blitzwing never lost his young mind.

The tom had amusement holding in his eyes as he launched himself at the tom.

The tom yelped before looking up.

"Blitzwing! Stop that!" the black tom scolded.

"Make me, Blackthunder!"

Springpaw heard footsteps behind him.

He spun around to see Toepaw with his eyes shining.

"Well...?" Springpaw prompted with his eyes closed.

He only hoped it was good news.

He's already failed three times.

"I passed!" The gray-brown tom exclaimed, his yellow eyes shining brightly.

"Tomorrow I will be getting my warrior name!"

The tom's head suddenly went to the floor.

"But...I'll miss you in the warriors den. But...you'll pass your test won't you? You're the only real friend I have in this StarClan forsaken Clan, so you've got to!" Toepaw exclaimed.

He was shaking pretty badly.

"I'll do my best, Toepaw." Springpaw promised.

I won't let you down.

———

Author's Note: Oh hey, I'm on a roll!

Tell me what you think of Toepaw, please.

Comments, vote, and fan art are appreciated.

Oh! Also Let's have a little fun. Give me at least one warrior name for Toepaw and whoever can comment the best name will end up having their name chosen as the warrior name. And I will tag you to the part as a thanks.

Anyways I hope you enjoyed this. I actually enjoyed this story so far. I'm actually getting a hang of this.

Anyways...

Shoot!

I forgot to ask of you what you think of Blitzwing and Springpaw too!

And don't forget to shout out random ships in hope they come true.

Also....rip Blackthunder for being Blizwing's target.

Until next time! I give you a lot of hearts.❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️