Meows of excitement filled the cool leaf-fall air. Roseblossom gave a purr of amusement as the cats ahead of her played like newly made apprentices. Swoopbite tossed a pawful of brown leaves at her friend, Acornhollow.
      "Hey!" Acornhollow exclaimed.
       Crystalflame, who was leading the patrol, turned on the warriors behind her. "Come on, and stop acting like kits seeing the camp for the first time."
       Acornhollow ducked  her head to the senior warrior; the brown she-cat flicked her white-tipped ears back in embarrassment, though Swoopbite spun a last leaf at her tail. The light brown she-cat earned an annoyed glance from her companion; Roseblossom stifled a purr.
       The patrol was out for a training session near the ThunderClan border. They were to practice battle moved under the cover of the few trees on WindClan territory. Sandstar had insisted. He had said they should be ready for anything. Roseblossom couldn't help but disagree with her leader. Why would they need to learn to fight under the cover of trees? It's not like we're going to attack ThunderClan, is it?
       Roseblossom pushed away the thought once the patrol came to a halt. Crystalflame turned to face her Clanmates. "Acornhollow, Swoopbite, show me your skills."
       The friends exchanged a shocked glance. "Both of us against only you?" Swoopbite raised her tail.
       Crystalflame nodded, russet tail swishing. "Go ahead."
      Roseblossom found a spot at the edge of the clearing to watch. Swoopbite jumped almost immediately, landing on Crystalflame's shoulders. Crystalflame staggered but twisted and reared up in her hind legs, letting herself fall backwards. Swoopbite released her grip and scrambled away just before Crystalflame hit the ground.
Crystalflame jumped to her paws, rushing at Swoopbite, who side-stepped out of the way. Crystalflame swiped at Swoopbite, knocking her over and pinning her down. Swoopbite wiggled beneath the senior warrior's grip.
Suddenly, Acornhollow lunged between Swoopbite and Crystalflame, knocking the russet tabby to the ground. Crystalflame heaved herself to her paws with a grunt, waving with her tail in a signal that the fight was over.
"Nicely done, both of you," Crystalflame praised, green eyes heavy with exhaustion. "Nice job looking out for Swoopbite, Acornhollow. That's an important thing to remember in battle."
Roseblossom suddenly felt her stomach open into a bottomless pit of nothingness. Anxiety pulsed through her chest. She wanted to shrink away to the ground. She remembered the fierce battle when her first ever apprentice lost his life. Terrible thoughts blocked out everything else around her. I should have been looking out for him.
"Roseblossom."
He was my responsibility.
"Roseblossom?"
He hadn't even received his warrior name.
Roseblossom blinked open her eyes. She hadn't realized she had closed them. She stood all the way up, she hadn't realized she had been crouching down, either. Roseblossom blinked up at the cat who had called her name.
"It's your turn, Roseblossom," Crystalflame beckoned with her tail. "Would you like to try?"
Roseblossom felt as if every set of eyes in the forest were watching her. Every cat was looking at her, watching her every move and judging her for it. She wanted to shrink away to the ground again.
She gave an anxious shake of her head. "No thank you..." Roseblossom managed to whisper the words.
Crystalflame gave a puzzled look, but shrugged it off. "Let's head back to camp, then."
As the patrol set off, Crystalflame leading and Roseblossom trailing behind in the back, Roseblossom couldn't shake the feeling of anxiety from her pelt.
She didn't want to fight anymore, and that's why she hadn't wanted to battle train. She also didn't like the though of cats watching her. It wasn't Roseblossom's first group training session, and she didn't know what had come over her. Hopefully those feelings will go away. And hopefully the tensions between the Clans will, too.