Chapter One

Hollypaw padded nervously up to the iron gates of her new school. 'APPRENTICE ACADEMY' read a nearby sign. The Clan leaders had decided at the last Gathering that it would be easier to train all the apprentices at one big place. Even the younger warriors would learn new skills.

She heard an amazed mew behind her. "Wow," meowed Lionpaw, her brother. He pushed open the gate and together they led Jaypaw to their new school.

The black apprentice looked down at her schedule. "It says I've got ge-ge-geo…" She struggled to sound out the long word.

Lionpaw took the sheet of paper from her. "Geometry," he pronounced perfectly. Hollypaw sighed. Even at school, her brother had to do everything better than she did.

She recalled an event a little over a moon ago, before their trip into the mountains. Ashfur had fought Lionpaw as hard as any warrior would in a real battle. They'd actually had their claws unsheathed. But Lionpaw had fought back like a warrior. Hollypaw wished she could do everything as well as he could, even though she would have a different power from the prophecy.

"I wonder what geometry is," she meowed.

"It says that class is in room B," mewed Lionpaw, scanning the schedule. "Let's go find out!"

* * *

By lunchtime, Hollypaw didn't think she'd be able to take another class. Her paws felt so heavy that it was a miracle she could put one in front of the other. Her eyelids were drooping so she could hardly read the sign of what was for lunch. To top it all off, her book bag was weighed down with what felt like several tons of homework.

"Great StarClan," she gasped as she collapsed at a table next to Honeypaw and Cinderpaw, "I've never had so much work in my life!"

"Have you had math class yet?" asked Cinderpaw.

"I think so," Hollypaw replied. "It's the one with all the shapes, right?"

"That's the one," meowed Honeypaw. "Mousefur's brutal." The grumpy ThunderClan elder had taught them about confusing shapes with weird names that somehow had something to do with 'one mouse plus one mouse equals two mice.'

"Mistyfoot's not a bad geography teacher, though," Cinderpaw commented.

"I thought Mousefur taught geometry," Hollypaw mewed thickly through a mouthful of her fresh-kill sandwich. She had never tasted anything like it before.

"She does," replied Honeypaw. "Mistyfoot teaches geography. There's a big difference."

Hollypaw sighed. She felt like a kit just out of the nursery. It seemed like Cinderpaw and Honeypaw knew everything about the school already, even though they'd only been there as long as she had. They finished their meal in silence.

When the bell rang, (a harsh, grating noise that hurt Hollypaw's sensitive ears), she dove into her bag for her schedule. "I've got geography next!" she meowed to her friends.

"You'll love it," Cinderpaw promised. "Mistyfoot didn't give us that much homework."

Waving her tail in a last goodbye, Hollypaw set off for geography in room E. She meowed a greeting to Mistyfoot and took a seat near the window. Gazing outside, Hollypaw thought to herself: I wish I could be out there, learning to hunt and fight, like a Clan cat, and not cooped up in this school learning geometry and history.

She was glad when Jaypaw sat down next to her. It was nice to see a familiar face; she hadn't had any classes with her brothers since geometry that morning.

"How's your day been?" she whispered to him.

"Fine!" Jaypaw snapped. Regardless of what he said, he didn't look fine. His fur was ruffled and his eyes were dull with exhaustion. Hollypaw suspected that besides having a lot of work, some other apprentices had been picking on him for being blind. Before she could say any more on the matter, though, Mistyfoot called the class to order.

Cinderpaw was right, geography was interesting. She had never known that twolegs had called their old forest the New Forest, or that the Sun-Drown-Place was located near what the twolegs called the Ocean. Everything was much more interesting from the twolegs' point of view.

Hollypaw's next class was P.E. She wasn't quite sure what it stood for, but it had to be something interesting. She met up with Lionpaw in the hallway.

"I can't wait for P.E. class!" he meowed excitedly. "I hear we're playing tackle-football."

"What's that?" Hollypaw asked. She couldn't believe that even her brother knew more about the school than she did, but then, Lionpaw was so perfect.

"I don't know," Lionpaw admitted. "But it has 'tackle' in the name, so it's gotta' be something good!"

Hollypaw made to follow him to the gym, but he turned her around with his tail. "This is the toms' locker room. The she-cats' is over there." He gestured to the other end of the hallway. "Meet you in class!"

She sighed and turned in the direction Lionpaw had pointed. When she reached the locker room, she saw that there was a sign on the outside that said 'She-cats.' A little more reassured that she was in the right place, she pushed open the door.

Besides sensitive ears, Hollypaw had a very sensitive nose. Upon entering the locker room, she slapped her tail over it. A stench much like crow-food hung heavily in the air. A dozen or so shabby lockers stood to one side of the room, and changing stalls to another. According to her schedule, Hollypaw's was locker 13. Thirteen was an unlucky number to her. School didn't look like it was going to turn out well.

Inside the locker, there was a pair of shorts and a matching top. Hollypaw slipped them on, crinkling her nose at the stale scent that came with them. A door to her right was labeled 'Gym,' so she went in there. Inside, the rest of the class was already assembled. Much to Hollypaw's dismay, Crowfeather was there too, wearing a jersey that read 'Coach.'

"Hollypaw, you're late," he snapped. "Give me two laps around the gym, and make it quick."

She dashed around the gym as quickly as she could, but about halfway through the first lap, her legs started aching. Remembering what Crowfeather had said about being quick, she picked up her pace and made a sharp turn around the corner. There was a piercing pain in her paw. Hollypaw skidded to a halt and gasped in agony. Lionpaw rushed over.

Jaypaw, who had been sitting on the sidelines, joined him. He grasped Hollypaw's paw between his teeth and shook gently. She gasped. "It's sprained, but not broken," he declared. "I'm going to take her to the nurse." The RiverClan cats in the class laughed at the two of them walking awkwardly down the hallway to Leafpool's office.

* * *

"You were right, Jaypaw," Leafpool was meowing. "It's sprained, but not badly. Put this ice on it, and then you can go back to class." She scribbled something down on a piece of paper and handed it to Hollypaw. "It's a doctor's note. You won't have to participate in gym class today."

Overjoyed, Hollypaw walked back to class. Jaypaw stayed behind to help an apprentice with a bad nose-bleed.

She was really glad not to be in class when she saw what tackle-football was. Clutching the ice to her paw, she watched as Lionpaw tackled a RiverClan apprentice and stole something oval-shaped that smelled like fresh-kill from her. He tossed it to Berrypaw, who expertly dodged two apprentices and dashed into an area of the gym that with a sign that said 'End Zone.' His team cheered wildly. They assembled for the next part of the game.

The RiverClan team was lined up in front of the ThunderClan cats. The oval-shaped fresh-kill was perched on a little stand. Lionpaw stood behind it. He took a running start and kicked the ball through two posts.

"Field goal!" Crowfeather yowled. "ThunderClan wins the game!" The class crowded around him. "Well done, well done. We'll go over strategy next time. See you all tomorrow!"

Lionpaw joined Hollypaw outside the locker room. "You missed a really great class," he meowed. "Did you see me tackle Minnowpaw? That was awesome!"

"You did great," Hollypaw agreed. "Although I'm not sure P.E. class is my favorite."