A black apprentice tiptoed out of the apprentice's den within the WindClan camp.

Excitement glittering in his dark blue eyes.

He liked his solitude, but he enjoyed the lessons his mentor brought, and couldn't wait to wake her up.

He was so lucky to have his own kin as a mentor. She was Cinderbreeze.

They had similar eye shapes and eye color, the only difference was his were slightly darker.

He took a giant leap out of the den, happiness showing on his face. Well, what possible happiness that one cat could tell on another's face.

He snickered as he recalled how early it was.

OTHER CATS ARE WEIRD. WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO SLEEP WHEN YOU COULD HAVE MORE TIME TO SLEEP AFTER AN EARLY TRAINING. OR WHATEVER. The young black tom though, waving his cream tail around.

He loudly walked into the Warrior's Den.

He just had to wake his aunt for training.

He only had one aunt after all. And he was glad she shared time with them.

Most cats didn't know more than just their mothers and fathers.

BUT I KNOW CINDERBREEZE. SHE WILL TEACH ME SOMETHING GOOD TODAY! SHE ALWAYS DOES!

The tom bounced around some of the sleeping warriors. It seems no one wanted to be up this early.

"CINDERBREEZE!" He exclaimed, his cream tail smacking a sleeping warrior nearby.

A brown-cream head poked up.

A groan escaped the young warriors lips.

"Ugh, it's you, Hopepaw. Please stop yowling loudly. You're going to wake ever cat from here to SkyClan," groaned the warrior.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN? I'M NOT YOWLING." Hopepaw remarked.

The warrior only seemed to shake his head.

"You don't even know when you're yowling."

Then the warrior lowered his head.

Hopepaw prodded his mentor, and a black head lifted from the bedding below him.

A yawn escaped the older she-cat, and she flicked her ears around a bit. She put a paw out towards Hopepaw, shoving him lightly away.

"Hopepaw," she groaned, rolling over to fall back asleep.

"Let's wait until dawn approaches. The moon is still out." She meowed tiredly, shutting her eyes.

Hopepaw prodded the she-cat even harder.

"BUT, IF WE START TRAINING NOW, WHEN WE'RE DONE YOU CAN GO BACK AND TAKE A NAP." He remarked.

More cats groaned in the distance.

"I'm trynna sleep," moaned a white tom with Amber eyes. His eyes were sleepily blinking out the sleep a bit before they found Hopepaw.

"Oh, it's the loud one. Better get a move on, Cinderbreeze. Some of us would like to get some sleep before dawn approaches. There has been a thorn in my nest, and it has been poking me all night!" The tom complained.

"One of you apprentices must have accidentally not cut my bedding correctly."

Cinderbreeze sighed, still facing the wall of the den.

She stumbled to her paws, arching her back in a stretch.

She let out a weak groan.

"I'll never be used to this kit my sister has." She mewed, pressing a paw forwards.

I AM AN ODDBALL, BUT I STILL DON'T KNOW WHY CATS THINK I'M YOWLING ALL THE TIME. IT'S STRANGE. I AM TALKING NORMALLY. THERE'S NOTHING ODD ABOUT TALKING IS THERE?

She delicately pressed it down, pulling herself from the nest with a soft gentleness.

"SO, WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO TODAY?" He asked.

In response to his voice another warrior yowled, "Hurry up and leave! Some of us would like some peace and quiet!"

Another voice barged in, "Shush, dear. That's just our son, Hopepaw. No need to get loud on him. He's just having trouble finding his quieter voice is all."

"If he has one," grumbled the gray-black tom, curling his cream tail around his nose.

"Have a good time dear! You be good to your aunt, won't you? Don't wear her out too much. She's not getting any younger." Meowed a white-and-black she-cat with green eyes.

"OF COURSE I WILL, WOOLFEATHER. YOU CAN COUNT ON IT!" Hopepaw purred as he ran out of the Warrior's Den, pausing to wait as Cinderbreeze took a bit to stretch some more in between the brambles of the den.

Her tongue poked out of her mouth slightly before she padded forwards to meet eyes with her nephew.

"So, why are you up so early? I know in two moons you will be taking your warrior assessment, but I wouldn't expect you to be excited about that. So, why are you so excited to get going today? I know you are excited about everything, but why disturb my sleep?" Cinderbreeze asked.

BECAUSE I JUST WANT TO SPEND MORE TIME WITH YOU! He thought, a small purr coming out of his throaf.

"DON'T YOU WANT TO HANG OUT WITH YOUR GREATEST NEPHEW EVER?! I KNOW SLEEP IS IMPORTANT TO YOU, BUT I WANTED TO GET MORE TIME WITH YOU. NEITHER OF US WILL BE AROUND FOREVER. SO WE NEED TO SPEND TIME WHILE WE STILL HAVE A CHANCE TO!"

Cinderbreeze purred, touched at his statement.

She glanced at the ground. "That's true, Hopepaw."

There was silence for a while before Cinderbreeze asked Hopepaw a question he never thought any cat would ask.

"Have you—have you ever wondered what life would be like without me?"

WITHOUT CINDERBREEZE? I DON'T THINK I CAN!

"W-WHY DO YOU ASK THAT? ARE YOU TIRED OF ALL THE WARS?" Hopepaw asked, confused.

Cinderbreeze sighed. "I'm sure every cat is tired of the constant wars, Hopepaw. That's exactly where your name comes from, and while it's related to what I was asking of you, my apprentice, it is not what I was explaining."

Cinderbreeze stared at the ground.

She sighed.

"You're too innocent to understand. These constant wars kill cats, Hopepaw. I just want to know that if I'm gone you'll be okay." The black she-cat meowed, her voice breaking.

Hopepaw tilted his head in confusion.

"OF COURSE I'LL BE OKAY BECAUSE YOU'RE HERE NOW. AND OUR TIME TOGETHER NOW IS ALL THAT MATTERS. ISN'T THAT WHAT I WAS TELLING YOU BEFORE?" Hopepaw asked.

Cinderbreeze didn't answer as the two padded side by side, leaving the shallow scoop within the ground that protected the WindClan cats from invaders.

The two pressed themselves through the thorns that blocked the exit.

Hopepaw didn't understand what the talk was about. Wouldn't he be fine without her? Isn't that what he said?

Sure the thought of loosing such a great cat in his life made his belly churn with worry.

Was his aunt worried she would die within this war? Surely someone as smart and sweet as her would be one of the ones to survive this war out of everyone, right?

Surely!

But still, the apprentice couldn't help but think about it.

It was a huge war. And tons of cats have already died in it. But Cinderbreeze?

No!

Hopepaw just knew she was one of those cats. The ones who were stronger than any injury.

He knew what it was like to skip over death.

He had Greencough when he was a kit, and he almost died because of it.

Another reason he was called Hopekit after that.

His name before then had been Loudkit because when he was born he was a loud wailing kit. He was louder than any kit that had ever been born before. Or that was according to his father. His mother told him being loud was just who he was, and he just believed it.

He was called Hopekit because his mother, Woolfeather, believed he survived due to the hope the clan had for his survival.

A ton of their cats had died in moons past due to greencough.

It was rarely heard of that a kit would survive the most harshest of greencough, yet somehow Hopepaw has done it.

I MUST BE ONE OF THE TOUGHEST KITS EVER. I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY CINDERBREEZE WOULD BE WORRIED LIKE THAT.

The two continued to pad side by side, Cinderbreeze glancing over at the apprentice.

IS IT BECAUSE SHE NEVER HAD KITS OF HER OWN? SHE'S NOT TOO OLD TO HAVE KITS. OR AT LEAST NOT TO OLD TO TAKE CARE OF SOME.

It was a known fact that Woolfeather and her sister Cinderbreeze were the clan's oldest cats as cats who lived past one hundred and twenty moons are usually unheard of, and since the war is still going on, it was a surprise they were still alive.

Hopepaw was sure that if they survived this long they could survive until the clans finally decided how mouse-brained the wars actually were and then they would decide to make peace and his mother and Cinderbreeze could finally get a break.

Hopepaw wasn't Cinderbreeze's first apprentice, but he hoped he was the last one she would have before she would become an elder.

She's had four apprentices. And the only survivor besides him had been Leopardwhisker. And she was still a pretty young cat.

Hopepaw was sure she was only thirty five moons old.

That was besides the point.

The two padded on for a bit more without a word between apprentice and mentor. That was until Hopepaw began to think about where they were actually going.

"HEY, CINDERBREEZE," Hopepaw began, awaiting his mentor's response.

"Yes?" Cinderbreeze questioned, twisting her neck his way with a tilt of her head.

"WHAT ARE WE DOING RIGHT NOW? I KNOW WE'RE GOING INTO THE SURROUNDING MOOR AREA, BUT WHAT TASK ARE WE DOING? ARE WE HUNTING FOR FRESH-KILL?" Hopepaw asked, beginning to guess what they were doing.

Cinderbreeze chuckled with affection towards the younger tom.

"No, Hopepaw. As important as hunting for prey is, we are not hunting today."

Hopepaw glanced at the ground.

He then looked up. He didn't care what they were doing. He just didn't know otherwise. He prayed to StarClan they weren't training today.

He had enough of training for one life time. It felt like his clan was forcefully trying to feed it to him like a piece of fish. Only RiverClan really liked fish.

It was just so much that he could learn, and he didn't like being given so much information within one session of battle practice.

"SO WHAT ARE WE DOING TODAY?" He asked as the two made their way over to a tree.

It was filled with moss.

Maybe that was a hint to what they were going to be doing today.

Cinderbreeze flicked her tail over to the tree.

"Today, Hopepaw, we will be collecting moss." She purred.

Hopepaw sighed. "IS IT BAD I'M GLAD WE AREN'T DOING BATTLE TRAINING?" He asked.

Cinderbreeze had taken a step away from him.

She sighed. "I'm tired of the battle training too. Trust me. I wouldn't be forcing you if Wishstar hadn't told the mentors to adjust their methods of training."

Her head turned towards the ground.

Hopepaw didn't respond.

He only twitched a black ear at her.

"So, are we going to be gathering some moss, or are we going to just stand here?" Cinderbreeze teased, approaching the grand trees.

The trees were tall and pointy at their ends.

There weren't as many trees in WindClan as there were in the other clans, but WindClan enjoyed the wind going through their fur, and the way it blew through their territory in favor of them.

The best part is the prey there. They had plenty of juicy and fat rabbits there.

RiverClan can have their fish. Rabbits were more tasty anyways.

Plus, when the River was frozen and it was Leaf-bare, RiverClan would be out of their precious fish, while WindClan would be eating far better than they would be.

The two started working their claws out on the moss, collecting as much as they could carry between the two of them.

It was silent between the two of them, but they worked in utter sync. Their claws curled and uncurled as the pile of moss grew.

Soon, it was peak Sun High, and the two began padding back towards camp with all the moss they had collected.

A scent wafted over Hopepaw's scent glands. He was unfamiliar with the scent. Or well, what part of the scent was. It smelled oddly like a queen's milk, but it also smelled like a cat.

It wasn't any clan he could recognize.

"Hopepaw?" Cinderbreeze began.

"I CAN SMELL IT TOO!" He meowed, and Cinderbreeze slapped a paw over his mouth.

"Quiet," she shushes. "We might have an intruder on our paws."

OH NO!

———

Author's Note: Oh No! A cliffhanger! Who is the mysterious cat the two were smelling?

On a more not cliffhanger note, who is your favorite main character and why? If you don't have a favorite what's your favorite part of the three cat's personality?

Also who is your favorite mentor out of all three? And do you prefer them because of their name or their personality?

What do you think of Hopepaw's kit name before Hopekit? And what do you think of Cinderbreeze being his kin?

Anyways, tell me some possible ships you might be seeing already.

Vote, comment, and thanks for reading!

And thank you so much, Sorrel56 for one last request on this.

And yes, I must tell you this will be on hold. I will be focusing on other stories.

But, I will be trying to see if I can update other warriors cats stories on here. Especially Riversplash's Defeat. Check that out if you haven't.

Anyways, until then... hope you enjoy! I enjoy the comments and lovely thoughts shared!😘❤️