"Lift your paws higher! You're not fighting moles, you're fighting cats!" Phoenixpaw thrust both of her paws skyward, trying to keep up with demand after demand from Trunkthorn. By her side, Sandpaw and Growlpaw reflected Clawpelt's every move precisely.
Trunkthorn stared her up and down, and then announced, "Good."
Phoenixpaw stumbled back onto the ground.
"Did I say you could stop?"
"Well, I'm stopping. This is ridiculous." spat Phoenixpaw.
Trunkthorn shot a warning glare at her, but she continued to sit defiantly on her bottom.
"Well, miss goody-goody. If you're strong enough to not do the exercises, why don't you go ahead and fight the other apprentices who have done them?"
Phoenixpaw shuddered, but she didn't back down.
"Ivypaw!" A calico tom walked obediently to Trunkthorn's side.
"What is it?" he asked obediently. "Phoenixpaw thinks she can beat you single pawed. Can she?"
"No, but I'd like to see her try."
Phoenixpaw hissed furiously. The stupid exercises! she thought, I'd rather train with Clawpelt!
Before she could say anything else, Ivypaw barreled towards her, claws fortunately sheathed. They became a tumble of claws and fur, Ivypaw rolling her onto her stomach and Phoenixpaw batting him away, hissing. His paws stayed firm until Phoenixpaw finally put her head to the side in surrender.
"See, noone is above training. Even me. Now come on, let's get back to your exercises."
Grudgingly, Phoenixpaw filed into the neverending line.
*<>*<>*<>*<>*
"For the border patrols today, let's have Darkshadow, Stormmind, Shadowstorm and Phoenixpaw."
Darkshadow brushed past Phoenixpaw, and she followed him, trotting along. Her muscles ached, but she kept her tail up and a cheesily optimistic grin on her face.
Stormmind glared at her harshly. He was one of the cats who still hadn't forgotten her 'outburst'. After all, he was Riverpaw's father.
Phoenixpaw walked past him to patrol with Shadowstorm. Her fluffy fur was warm and comforting, and she at least didn't push her off.
The cats headed out of camp, patrolling lightly through the forest, noses sniffing the air for fresh scents, even though there were none besides their own.
The world sloped downwards, a river babbling besides them, until Phoenixpaw's nose caught the fresh scent of other cats. They smelled like mud, dirty, sticky mud, which made Phoenixpaw want to close her nostrils and run away. The others seemed to notice it too- Shadowstorm's nostrils were crinkled and the others looked somewhat nervous.
Phoenixpaw buried her face deeper into Shadowstorm's fur. The black she-cat nudged her out gently. "It's not that scary."
"Buth ith smeshls awfurl!" muttered Phoenixpaw through the layers of fur.
"It's the marsh. I don't know why anyone would ever choose to live here." grumbled Shadowstorm.
Darkshadow purred heartily. The others looked surprised- the old tom hadn't so much as smiled since his friend Wolfheart had died.
Across the border, bushes rustled as warriors passed by the scent lines. The DragonClan cats stood, tense, but the shapes slipped back into the darkness of the marsh.
"Can we go home now?" Phoenixpaw complained.
Darkshadow nodded. "Those fox-hearts are too scared to even think about crossing the border. Stormmind still remarked it, just in case."
Stormmind nodded. "Come on, let's go back home."
Even though it had been scary, Phoenixpaw felt giddy over the patrol. She was part of something, finally.
Important. Powerful. Perfect.
"Can I go out on the patrol tomorrow?" asked Phoenixpaw.
"We'll sign you up for the dawn patrol." Shadowstorm promised.
