A wind whispered around the tom’s fur, sending the ginger mess in all directions. He could hear the battle cries of other cats but they were so far off but he ignored them, it was such a common sound for him. The clans were always fighting; there was no way to stop them, both of the leaders were too proud to submit to the other. A sudden silver and white shape slipped past the corner of his eye and for a reason the tom couldn’t even understand, it panicked him. “Adderpaw?” A soft voice called once…

“Adderpaw? Hey Adderpaw, get up!” A voice, much deeper than the one from his dream shattered the image around the apprentice. Green eyes flickered up to black tom standing above him. Adderpaw groaned and stood up shakily. His cold gaze drifted over to his brother’s bright amber ones. “Come on lazy, we have our ceremonies today.” The black apprentice’s tail slipped across his brother’s nose.

Adderpaw snorted. ‘Damn Sunpaw, he thinks he’s so great just because he got Mum and Dad’s coat, just like all of our other brothers and I got stuck with this bright ginger coat.’ He thought fiercely. He was one of five of Blackstar’s sons. All of his siblings got his parent’s stunning, glossy, smooth, black coats, except for him. Instead he got bright ginger fur that stuck up in all directions; it never seemed to lie flat.

The tom padded out of the apprentice’s den to see the busy camp of TigerClan. A cold leaf-bare wind blew through the leaf canopy of the camp, ruffling Adderpaw’s long ginger coat. He noticed a lot of cats were missing, probably hunting; the fresh-kill pile was empty.

Suddenly, Adderpaw was bowled over by three smaller black shapes. “Uncle Adderpaw!” A sudden mew rang through the air as Twilightleaf’s two of three kits tackled the older apprentice off his paws.

Adderpaw’s ginger fur disappeared under a mass of black fur. “Beechpaw, Starlingpaw? Would you mind getting off?” He muttered through the two younger apprentices. The small cats scrambled off the bigger one. Adderpaw eased back into a sitting position in front of his niece and nephew. They were his older brother, Twilightleaf’s kits; they had been apprenticed less than a moon ago and were full of energy.

“Today you’re goin’ to be a warrior, right Adderpaw?” Beechpaw asked, giving his black tail an eager flick. His brother’s green eyes bore into his, reminding him of his father, this little apprentice was going to be just like his grandfather, and Adderpaw just had that feeling.

Adderpaw nodded. “Yeah, Sunpaw and I are going to be the warriors.” He meowed, giving Beechpaw a little nudge in the side with his paw.

“Hey Adderpaw, want to come on a patrol with me?” A soft she-cat voice entered his ear. Adderpaw turned his green eyes slipped into a pair of amber. It was Tawnygaze, his former denmate, she had been made a warrior just half a moon ago. He had missed her. “Blackstar told me it would be good for you to shake your nerves.”

Adderpaw could feel his ears go red. “S…Sure.” He muttered, giving his ginger tail a flick. “Then let’s go!” He said more confidently, trying to sound more like a warrior than an apprentice.

Once out of camp, the two cats slowed down. Their paws made almost no sound as they padded across the forest floor. “So, Adderpaw, are you nervous at all?” Tawnygaze asked, giving her tortoiseshell tail a flick.

“Nah, not really. This means I get to join my brothers and that’s the most exciting part I think. Oh yeah, and not have to share the den with Beechpaw and Starlingpaw, they get quite annoying.” Adderpaw admitted with a mrrow of laughter. His ginger ears flicked with amusement, his green eyes gazed steadily at the she-cat.

Tawnygaze smiled back at him, it was a sweet thing. “Oh, we’re nearing the LionClan border.” She muttered, flattening her ears and lowering herself closer to the ground. Admittedly, Adderpaw didn’t see why this was necessary to hide themselves when in the presence of the enemy; they should hold their heads proud. The apprentice’s paw suddenly slipped on a leaf, sending him tumbling into a rabbit wren.

“Adderpaw?” The she-cat’s voice called out from above. He tried to call out but a couple of old roots blocked his voice. As he climbed his way back up, he caught a glimpse of the tortoiseshell’s tail. Before he could call out, a shape at the border caught his eye.
It was a she-cat no doubt and she was staring at him. She was long-legged, like most LionClan cats. Blue eyes gazed steadily in his green, a wind ruffled both his ginger fur and her soft silver and white, and she was beautiful. She let out a small mrrow of laughter and bounded away, leaving just a scatter of leaves in her wake.

Adderpaw shook his head, he was probably just delusional. He had not seen such a pretty she-cat in his life and he would doubt one so would be from LionClan. The tom shook his body, trying to shake off the image but it wouldn’t leave. ‘Need to find Tawnygaze.’ He wired the thought in his mind; he was just going to forget the other she-cat.

“You gave me quite a scare Adderpaw, how about you go have yourself checked out by the medicine cat?” Tawnygaze suggested, flicking her tail toward the medicine cat’s den. The ginger apprentice nodded, giving his tail a little flick.

Adderpaw climbed into the cool, sheltered area of the medicine cat’s den. He had found Tawnygaze franticly searching for him after he went looking for her, she had been so relieved but panicked once more when she saw the many scrapes he had gotten from the fall. “Crowwing? Reedpaw?” He called out. Crowwing was the current medicine cat and Blackstar’s sister, making her, his aunt. Reedpaw was Twilightleaf’s third kit; he had chosen a different path then his siblings.

Out of the corner of his eye, Adderpaw swore he saw the shining pelt of the she-cat. The ginger tom shook his head, almost banging it into the side of the den. That couldn’t be right, it was just his imagination playing tricks on him, and the she-cat probably wasn’t even real.