Rowanpaw shook his head to clear the ringing in his ears. "Can't take it, Ratpaw?" a mocking meow called, and the solid brown tom looked up to see Carppaw facing him, crouched down with his haunches in the air.

The young apprentice licked his jaws, his amber eyes narrowing at his denmate. Carppaw was older and had gone through more battle training than he had, but he was too arrogant and too sure of his bulk, not realizing what Rowanpaw lacked in strength, he took for in speed and agility.

Quick as he could, Rowanpaw shot forward towards the older apprentice, his eyes looking to the left but his paws ready to leap to the right. Sadly, Carppaw knew the trick, but he played along for a moment. He braced his body to be attacked from his own left, but as Rowanpaw leaped into the air, the brown tom veered out of the way then quickly slammed his front paws into Rowanpaw's side, sending him flying.

He landed heavily on the hard stone ground of the camp, and dust floated up around him. His shoulder was sharp with pain and his eyes were fuzzy from the impact, but he didn't give up. He forced himself to his paws and jumped at Carppaw again. But, like the last time, the bigger apprenntice just easily moved to the side, though this time he swatted at Rowanpaw's back leg, so when he landed his body collapsed under him.

"Come on, Ratpaw, surely you can do better than that?" Carppaw sighed, sitting down. Giving up, Rowanpaw sighed and went over to sit next to him.

"I'm trying, all right?" the younger tom grumbled, scratching his sharp claws over the stone.

"You'll get better soon, I know it." Frondpaw came trotting up, her brown eyes shining. Despite her ribs showing through her coat, she kept her dark tortoiseshell fur slick and shining. Rowanpaw's stomach yowled in agony when he saw she had a wiry rat in her teeth.

She dropped it down in front of the two toms just as Blazepaw made his way over, his dark eyes rounded with hunger and saliva dripping from his narrowed muzzle. "Prey time?" he muttered, dropping down beside his brother. "Finally!"

"Who gets the first bite?" Rowanpaw wondered, trying to calm the voice in his head that was yowling, do it! Just take it!

"Since you share its name, why don't you take the first bite, Ratpaw?" Frondpaw offered. Despite his happiness to being allowed to eat first, Rowanpaw was upset about the she-cat making even more notice to his name. But, he swallowed his pride and leaned forward, taking a soft bite from the hard flesh, forcing himself to not just take the whole thing for himself.

Right as he leaned back, Frondpaw moved forward to take her share, then Carppaw and finally Blazepaw. By the time they each got two bites, there was barely scraps left, and it was given to Frondpaw because it had been her kill. The tortoiseshell stared at it for a moment, her eyes narrowed with starvation, but then she shook her head and stood up, ruffling out her fur.

"I'm going to bring this to Ashbreeze. Does anybody want to come see the kits?" She looked at the group as she picked up the remaining morsels.

"I will," Rowanpaw offered, licking any bit of blood from his jaws before standing, stretching out his legs, and following the she-cat. She seemed happy with her company, but stayed quiet and began to head across the small clearing. A few warriors were practicing their own moves, and the two apprentices had to slip along the stone camp wall to make sure they were out of the way.

They soon made it to the nursery and elders' den, a small little place surrounded by stiff dry bushes. They forced themselves through and saw Lakeshine sleeping in her nest, the bones in her haunches jutting upwards, while Ashbreeze raised a slow head to look at them.

"This is all we have to offer," Frondpaw muttered, dropping the scraps in front of the speckled gray queen.

"Thank you, Frondpaw," the she-cat whispered, then looked at Rowanpaw. "Ratpaw, would you like to meet my kits?"

He nodded, his mind calm for a moment, then he moved forward and peered into the nest. Ashbreeze was definitely the healthiest of the Clan. She was given almost half the prey the Clan caught, so her kits could grow strong. She didn't like it, but it did keep her kits alive, so that was the good side.

She had three. One was a dark brown tomkit; another a lighter shade; and the last a blue-gray she-kit with white on the bottom half of her little body. "The she-kit is Bluekit, the light tom is Breamkit, and the dark one is Bramblekit," the queen sounded proud of herself.

"Are you happy to have them?" Rowanpaw asked it without even thinking, and he tried fixing it by adding, "I mean, are you scared of them not getting enough prey?" But it just made it sound worse.

The speckled she-cat didn't seem to mind, however, and her blue eyes sparkled softly as she nudged Breamkit closer with a mud stained white paw. "Yes, I am happy to have them, but I am also scared of losing them." She looked up at him. "It's the price to pay as a queen. Raising kits mean new warriors, but new warriors mean new battles, new wounds, new deaths..." She looked back down.

"Don't worry, I'll protect 'em," Rowanpaw tried sounding brave, and he actually almost convinced himself.

Ashbreeze let out a soft snort. "I know you will, Ratpaw. You had to grow up without a mother and father, but you'll understand what it means to have a family. You'll find a cat one day to father kits with, and you'll watch the next generation of warriors rise with your blood in them," She meowed wisely.

Rowanpaw didn't really like the thought. He liked kits, they looked so fun and he wanted to help raise them, but the thought of getting a mate seemed odd to him. It didn't appeal to his heart. Besides, the closest cat to his age was Frondpaw. After that, it was Hazelfur--Emberheart's littermate. That seemed a little odd to think about.

"Ratpaw!" At the thought of his mentor, she appeared, sticking her head through the bushes. "We're going hunting, remember?" she called.

"We are? Bye Frondpaw, bye Ashbreeze, and kits." Rowanpaw waved his tail in goodbye then quickly hurried from the den. They were night hunters, not day hunters, but it didn't really matter; they were hunting, and that meant more prey to eat. "Where are we hunting at?" he meowed.

"Come with me." Emberheart turned around and hurried away. Confused, the apprentice followed his mentor to the leader's den not far away, and he went into the shadows of the bramble bush that curled over and created Dawnstar's den.

Waiting in the shadows of the den was Dawnstar, her pretty tan tabby coat freshly brushed but showing signs of age and hunger. Near her were the youngest warriors Birchsplash and Hazelfur, both of them looking as confused as Rowanpaw. "What's going on?" he meowed but was ignored as they sat next to the two other warriors, facing their leader, who waited a moment before speaking.

"Emberheart and I were speaking, and we have both agreed we need to find more prey to strengthen ourselves for the battle. She has offered to lead a search patrol into the Old Twolegplace to try to find prey. I told her to pick three cats, and she choose you all. Her littermates, and her apprentice." Dawnstar's pale amber eyes turned to Rowanpaw.

"How long will we be gone?" Hazelfur asked, her tail flicking excitedly, wanting to leave their small territory without protest.

"A quarter moon, maybe more," Emberheart replied. "We'll head far into the Twolegplace to see if any Twolegs are left and if there are any predators. We'll eat anything we find on our way in, then everything we catch on our way back goes to the Clan. Hopefully, if we find something not too far, we can start traveling there to get prey."

Dawnstar gave the tabby a nod. "You will all be leaving now, we haven't time to waste. Sandflight doesn't have much, but she has just enough herbs to help you with the journey, Ratpaw." His leader looked at him. He shook his head bravely.

"Sandflight should save her herbs for cats who need it more." He stared into her cool gaze, trying not to flinch.

"You're a good cat, Ratpaw," she meowed, then turned and looked at the four cats. "If any of you do not wish to go, speak now, or hold your peace."

"I want to help my Clan, and this is the right way," Birchsplash meowed, puffing out his chest, and Hazelfur nodded in quick agreement.

"Ratpaw, do you want to come or stay here? I'll get you a mentor to help with your training if you don't want to," Emberheart meowed, but he instantly shook his head.

"I want to come. It'll be good experience, right?" He looked at his mentor. "But I'll stay if you want me to."

"I want you to come, mouse-brain," Emberheart rolled her eyes. "Let's get going, shall we?"

"One more thing," Dawnstar meowed, standing up. "I want you all to remember there will be only three fully-trained warriors and one young apprentice. You will not have back up or a medicine cat, so you need to stay safe at all costs. It will be dangerous out there." Her eyes looked at them, seeming to ask for a second time if anybody wanted to stay.

Rowanpaw looked over at Emberheart and her two littermates, and he saw that Hazelfur had doubt in her eyes, but then shook it away. "We're your youngest warriors, are you sure you want us to go?" she asked, though her meow stayed strong.

Dawnstar gave a nod of understanding. "I understand your doubt, but you being young is one of the main reasons I have chosen all of you. The older warriors are lacking hope and don't have the strength you all do. I need cats with the strength to travel so far," she explained. "If anybody asks, you are going on a normal patrol, but still go say goodbye to your families, tell them what you must, but try to keep the mission a secret."

Birchsplash stepped forward. "But, we're going to be gone for so long, how are you going to explain our absence?" he questioned the leader, but Emberheart answered.

"Dawnstar will tell the Clan about the mission tonight; she just wants to make sure no cat tries to come along." She looked at her leader for confirmation, and she nodded.

"Get going, all of you, before I think of something else to say," the she-cat let out a well-humored mrrow, and, after bidding her goodbye, the four cats left the shadowed corner.

"Rowanpaw, go and tell your friends and littermate goodbye, but remember what Dawnstar said," Emberheart murmured in his ear quietly, then hurried off with her littermates to where a group of warriors was settled, and it took only a few heartbeats to get there because the fight training had stopped.

Rowanpaw raced across the clearing to his friends, skidding to a stop beside his brother. Frondpaw had returned from the nursery, and she was drawing her paw over her ear. "Hey, so, Emberheart and I are going out on patrol, and I just wanted to say bye," he mewed quickly.

"A patrol? But you're a night hunter," Blazepaw meowed, looking up at the sky in confusion. The sun was still quite high, so Rowanpaw would have a long time before he and Emberheart usually went to find prey.

"A border patrol, I mean," the solid brown apprentice quickly fixed his words, but this made Blazepaw's eyes brighten, and he began to push himself to his paws.

"Can I come? I can ask Heronclaw--" Rowanpaw placed a paw on his brother's back to push him back down.

"We have a full patrol, sorry." He looked over to where Emberheart, Hazelfur, and Birchsplash were talking to their mother, Clovertail, who was also the BatClan deputy and most likely knew where the patrol was heading off to.

"Oh, okay," Blazepaw sighed, his ears flattening.

"Ratpaw!" Emberheart called across the clearing. She was heading to the camp entrance.

"Coming!" he called over his shoulder, then looked back at his denmates. "Bye... I'll see you soon." He turned away from their confused gazes and raced to his mentor, not saying anything but instead climbing out of the camp and leaping down with hesitation, ignoring the feeling of the mud curling around his paws.

"Good leap," Hazelfur meowed as she landed next to him, with Emberheart on his other side. Keeping true to his name, when Birchsplash landed he sent a bit of wet soil into Hazelfur's face, and the pretty light brown she-cat shook it off. "Birchsplash!" she growled, and the tom bolted off, with the she-cat right behind his paws.

"Come on, faster we get away from camp, the better; fewer questions that way," Emberheart meowed then raced after her littermates. Rowanpaw licked his jaws before hurrying after them. It wasn't the easiest to bound through the trees, with the earth trying to pull him down, but he managed against it by taking high, powerful leaps, though that did cause him to sink deeper.

Even though soon Hazelfur and Birchsplash weren't chasing each other, the group continued at a run. Half the Clan was out hunting at the moment, and they needed to try their best not to get caught so they wouldn't have to make up more lies. Luckily, their camp wasn't too far from the Old Twolegplace, and their territory was quite small, so it seemed like no time before they were slowing, watching as the border fence loomed before them.

"Well, we got here quickly," Hazelfur panted, and Rowanpaw gave a breathless nod, his sides heaving and his tail lying in the soil. Also on the good side, the ground was solid over here, so the boggy ground was behind them and he felt safe collapsing to his belly.

"I guess it's not a good idea to run hungry," Emberheart muttered, then followed Rowanpaw's example, getting down low and running her tongue over her whiskers.

"Look! The pond is right there!" Birchsplash rasped, lashing his tail in the direction that dark murky water was, only a few fox-lengths away.

"At least it's water," Hazelfur swallowed heavily, padding over and leaning down to lap at the surface. The other three followed her example, all of them deciding they needed to quench their thirst. The water was brown and tasted like grass and soil, but the cats drank without complaint. The water they usually had was the same as this; rainwater found in little dips in the ground.

They finished soon and went back to the area that was right next to the Old Thunderpath and the fence, silently agreeing to settle down and wait for a bit. "So, Rowanpaw, how's the adventure so far?" Hazelfur meowed after a while of silence, and Rowanpaw gave a start of surprise, whipping his head around to look at his mentor.

"You told them?" he mewed hoarsely, scared but also a little excited.

Emberheart nodded. "I told them when you were still a kit. Having more cats on your side will make it more likely Dawnstar will change your name when you become a warrior," she meowed. He stared at her gratefully but didn't get a chance to respond.

"Yeah, but Emberheart never told us why you wanted it changed. Sure, I wouldn't want to be called 'Rat' something for the rest of my life, but there has to be more than that," Birchsplash meowed, looking over at the brown apprentice, and Hazelfur added her yellow eyes to his coat.

"Well, my mother decided to name me Ratkit, while my brother Blazekit, and my sister Lavenderkit. And, not only that, when we were one moon old she took my sister and abandoned the Clan and us, because she didn't want to starve but didn't want to leave her daughter alone, not even thinking about how her sons would feel," he growled sourly.

"Oh." Hazelfur looked around, her ears flat as she tried to make conversation. It was Emberheart who spoke.

"Rowanpaw wants his name to mean something, and Ratpaw isn't it. I still remember his first Gathering. He made a friend from EchoClan, Firepaw, I think his name was, but once he heard the name Ratpaw he started treating Rowanpaw just one; a rat. But he--" she cut herself off and looked at her apprentice, "--you are a good cat. I don't think you need to change your name to show that, but it is a rather horrible name." Her eyes sparkled with amusement.

"Thanks, Emberheart," Rowanpaw murmured, flicking his tail and averting his eyes. She always understood him, it seemed, even when it seemed impossible to the apprentice himself. The group rested a little more, the water having made their stomachs upset, but soon Birchsplash's belly began rumbling loud enough for everyone to hear.

The tom looked embarrassed, flattening his ears and lowering his head, but both the she-cats didn't seem to notice. "Let's get moving, shall we?" Emberheart slowly got to her paws. "Hopefully we'll find something to eat soon," she added.

"Please," the black-patched white tom murmured, looking up at the sky and closing his eyes. Emberheart groaned and rolled her head, then flicked her tail and started forward, with Hazelfur by her side and Rowanpaw walking next to Birchsplash.

"I still remember your mother," Birchsplash meowed suddenly, and Rowanpaw looked up quickly at him. Though, after a moment, he looked back down at his paws and focused on walking. "She was such a sweet cat, but after she found out she was having you and your littermates, she got really scared that something might happen."

"Nice to know she didn't want me," Rowanpaw muttered sourly, but Birchsplash didn't seem to notice.

"When you three were born, she seemed to forget her fear at that moment, when she saw you for the first time. I was the apprentice assigned to get everything she needed, so I was in there a lot. She really did care about all of you, I know she did, no matter what you think." And with that, the warrior padded forward and became even with his sister Hazelfur, touching her flank with his tail to let her know he was there.

A heartbeat later, Emberheart stopped, and Rowanpaw looked forward to see that they had reached where the Old Thunderpath slipped through an opening of the fencing. The patrol waited for a moment, looking in at what they could see.

Rowanpaw had only been here once before, and his heart twisted with the thought of entering the broken place. The Thunderpath ran forward through the Twolegplace, with the ground cracked and uneven, with grass fighting to grow in some places, while it stretched high on each side.

"Stay safe and keep your eyes and ears open," Emberheart murmured, then flicked her tail and stepped onto the hard path in front of her. Birchsplash was next to follow, while Hazelfur and Rowanpaw stayed a bit behind, all four of their tails flicking uneasily. They stayed on the path as they walked, looking around at the Twoleg dens that had vines and moss growing up their sides, the entrances broke open and the insides dark and dusty.

Rowanpaw's eyes narrowed on a Twoleg nest that was crumbled on the ground, spilling out over the Old Thunderpath and blocking their way. "We could go around," Hazelfur suggested, looking at the other side of the path, but there was a Twoleg nest right up next to the Thunderpath, and a strange scent came from it.

"It smells like a fox, fresh, most likely," Birchsplash meowed, his ear flicking, and Rowanpaw swallowed and stepped away from the nest. He had never met a fox, but he knew they had killed many of his Clanmates in fights over food.

"It's not too high, we could climb," Emberheart meowed, looking at the group, but they didn't disagree, so she flicked her tail and started up the heavy rocks. A few smaller pieces crumbled under her paws, but she continued without stopping.

This is gonna be fun, Rowanpaw thought, shaking out his fur, then he forced himself to follow his mentor. And, for a little moment, he wanted to go back to his friends. But the thought was pushed from his head when Birchsplash fell down back to the path, and Hazelfur followed after she laughed too hard at his tumble.

Sorry this chapter is a little rushed! I want to do Rowanpaw's story, but I was having some writer's block with him!

Question: What do you think of BatClan?