Ivypool stretched and yawned as the mid-day sunlight poured down on her.

"Enjoying your nap?"

"Wha...?" Ivypool sat up the sound of a voice. A ginger she-cat was standing over her, becoming silhouetted against the sun, and casting a shadow over Ivypool. "Squirrelflight!" She leapt to her paws. "Sorry, I was just so tired, and you didn't schedule me for any patrols, and Snowpaw needed a break..." Her voice trailed off.

Squirrelflight let out mrrow of amusement. "I'm not angry. I was just wondering how Snowpaw's training was going?"

"Oh!" Ivypool felt relieved. "His training is doing great! He really deserves his warrior name!"

"Good." The ginger deputy nodded approvingly. "And how are you doing?"

"Fine," Ivypool assured her. "What about you?"

Squirrelflight sighed. "Well, I just can't help thinking what the Dark For- StarCl- winners of the battle will do next. I never knew Tigerstar, but I knew Hawkfrost, he was horrible! And I'm sure his father was ten times worse, if that's possible."

Ivypool winced when Squirrelflight mentioned Hawkfrost.

The she-cat eyed her suspiciously, "What?"

"Nothing!" Ivypool meowed innocently.

But the ThunderClan deputy knew Hawkfrost was Ivypool's former Dark Forest mentor, and she had never stopped being suspicious of the cats that had trained there.

Ivypool shifted her paws. "Well, I'd better get back to training Snowpaw."

"Yes," Squirrelflight watched her as she walked away, "you'd better."

***

"That's good, Snowpaw!" Ivypool called. "Amberpaw, remember to get that final swipe in!"

Spiderleg grunted. "You seem to be mentoring all the apprentices, Ivypool."

Whitewing, Spiderleg, and Ivypool all had they're apprentices, Dewpaw, Amberpaw, and Snowpaw, together in a combined training.

"Well-" Ivypool began, but then cut off to yowl at Dewpaw, "Dewpaw, keep your tail up! You'll never sneak up an enemy if you don't keep your tail from dragging on the ground!"

"I thought Dewpaw was my apprentice," Whitewing muttered.

"Sorry," Ivypool apologized, "it's just instinct."

Whitewing sighed. "It's really not a big deal, it's just that we're senior warriors, and you're not."

"I know," Ivypool admitted, " but the truth is... in the Dark Forest I was a senior warrior, so I bossed all the apprentices around." It felt good to confess that. "But I promise, I didn't know about the attack!"

"Well," Whitewing's green eyes glowed with sympathy, "we understand, don't we, Spiderleg?"

The black and brown tom just grunted.

"Don't mind him," Whitewing purred, "he's just being grumpy."

"As usual!" Ivypool purred. "Snowpaw, you're supposed to roll after that last swipe!"

"Sorry!" The fluffy white apprentice apologized.

"Nothing to be sorry about!" Whitewing called back. "Just try to remember next time!"

"Okay!" He leapt back into the fight.

Ivypool suddenly realized she wouldn't have been so nice to him. Has mentoring in the Dark Forest ruined me as a mentor? she asked herself.

***

Snowpaw padded up to Ivypool at the fresh-kill pile. "Did I do well? I mean, do you think I'm ready to be a warrior?"

"Of course!" Ivypool purred. "You're going to be the best warrior this forest has ever known!"

"Thanks," Snowpaw muttered. "Y'know, I thought you were gonna be a mean mentor, being a former Dark Forest warrior and all, but I was wrong - you're great!"

Although he meant well, her apprentice's words stung like a thousand bees. "Th-thanks," Ivypool struggled not to show her feelings.