Chapter 19

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  Talonpaw woke with a start, looking around the apprentice's den. His brother was sound asleep beside him. He looked over to the new apprentices, Hoppaw and Hushpaw.
  The eldest apprentice, Birchpaw, was curled in the corner of the den.
  It's still dark out. Talonpaw thought, resting his head on his paws. He closed his eyes and drifted back to sleep.

  The next day, all of the apprentices were out early to train. Birchpaw was helping Hushpaw train.
  Midnight had come to watch them train. She was sitting at the edge with her eyes wide, seeming very interested.
  Hoppaw bounced around her mentor, Gingertail, smiling.
  "Please! I really want to go hunting!" Hoppaw begged, her eyes round.
  Gingertail hissed. "No! A warrior doesn't beg the way you are, so start acting like one! You're not a kit anymore!"
  Hoppaw looked down. "Ok... I'm sorry Gingertail."
  Talonpaw shook his head and looked away. I think Gingertail was a bit hard on her.
 
  The apprentices continued training until it started to get dark.
  Brokenheart had come to watch them train with Midnight.
  "Alright everyone, I think that's enough for today!" Orangepelt said.
  Gorsecloud nodded, stretching. "Good work guys."
  As they started to leave, Talonpaw pricked his ears, hearing a bristle in the long grass at the edge of the training area.
  Suddenly, a orange and white animal leapt out, going towards Brokenheart. Orangepelt quickly shoved her out of the way and slashed his claw across the fox's face. Talonpaw's eyes were wide with shock.
  The fox seemed to be smaller than what Talonpaw had heard about, but it was still big. Talonpaw narrowed his eyes, he needed to help his mentor!
  Talonpaw raced forward, ignoring the calls from behind him. He jumped forward, dragging his claws against the fox's flank.
  "Leave my clanmates alone!" He shouted.
  But before he could react, the fox whipped around and hit him across the face with his huge paw.
  Talonpaw slid across the ground, and his vision started to get blurry.
  The last thing he could see was his clanmates fighting off the fox, and he closed his eyes.
  How could I have failed like this?

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