Hollowkit would become an apprentice along with his brothers, leaving the kit behind to now be a paw. His mentor? A rather demanding and hard-to-please cat named Silverscar. Silverscar never give it easy to her apprentice, she always demanded more of him than he could actually give her. Hollowpaw was completely stressed out from so much demands and training that he would walk away from her. He tried to do his best to avoid her and her yells, but unfortunately he would be somewhat negligent with his training as a consequence. On his escapades he would capture the attention of Ratpaw, an apprentice whom he never took notice of as he always spent time with his siblings in the apprentice den. Ratpaw was a lazy, selfless and irresponsible apprentice, he already had his good moons as an apprentice, he always preferred to play over training so knowing Hollowpaw more deeply and his interest in getting away from training would take him to areas of his territory that Hollowpaw had not known. Either through the tunnels, forest or following the river. He was always showing him new things, Hollowpaw was in awe and was quite relieved at the peace and quiet that Ratpaw conveyed, even becoming a close friend of him. But... Sooner or later his mentor would realize that he was running away from her, would she?

Hollowpaw was still training with Silverscar these days but when he felt like he had reached his limit he simply ran away at the expense of Silverscar's screams and screams. Hollowpaw was being infected by Ratpaw's serene disinterest and neutrality from Silverscar's point of view. What made Silverscar even angrier because he knew perfectly well that Hollowpaw and Ratpaw were quite close and with his goal of improving his apprentice to the maximum was not paying off, during one of Hollowpaw's escapades he decided to follow him until he was in front of him. "Where are you going?" He asked him with a raised eyebrow and a slight growl. "Away from you." The insolent apprentice replied. "No, you won't" The mentor replied. "You will go with me, we will train, you are too negligent with your learning. And if you refuse I will tell Sandstar to postpone your warrior appointment. You want to graduate together with your littermates, don't you?" She added in warning. Hollowpaw couldn't answer that, as he was more afraid of not graduating with his siblings than his mentor talking to the leader. So he followed her to train in some point of the forest, away from her safespot with Ratpaw.

During these days, the exact time of a moon, Hollowpaw was being monopolized by Silverscar, she never let him be far from her, near the camp, near his brothers, his mother and his friend. He was really stressed until at one point everything returned to normal, or so he believed, because at least one thing didn't continue as before...

Ratpaw was faded from existence. He wouldn't even know if he was still in the Clan because he never saw him again. He was like a vague memory, a ghost, something that perhaps never happened in his mind. But boy did he missed him, it was a painful feeling on his chest, the image of him sometimes appeared in the camp or in his duties. Where was his beloved friend? He asked and asked, until somecat a tom who was his mentor told him: "He left, he quit out the life of a warrior. Not a real surprise since he didn't feel like fitting here." He reply with a really relaxed voice while was licking his paw.

He quit out away? That.. couldn't be true! He was his friend, his pal, his only close friend! The painful remember of him always infected his feelings. He will miss the only chance he got to chill on a sunspot and talk about ideals. But the training would never stop.

Every day he returned to the camp, to his nest even more tired and with pain in some parts of his body. Did his littermates care about this? He doesn't really remember it because the memory of these days his mind has blocked em, but not what he learned in them.
The following days were even harder and more rigorous, even more than he had when he went with Ratpaw to chill. But he knew well that if he didn't improve or please his mentor everything would be worse, so he tried to do everything possible because now he had no excuse to skip his training. Maybe he was neglecting his siblings? He didn't know, he didn't think so, maybe yes or no. From his point of view it wasn't like that but still he focused more on his training than on his social life. Duty is first before leisure, he said through the ideals instilled by Silverscar.

Silverscar justified her complex and exhausting training with dry words: "This will make you better than anyone else", "Don't you want to be the best? Well, I don't care. I want YOU to be the best", "To an incompetent apprentice nobody will search for when he becomes a warrior, I don't want you to be one of those apprentices. You are more of your father was. "," Are you the son of Crowtuft, or not? Are you sure? Because ya ain't showing it".

That's when he realized something, why was she talking so much about his father? What was the background of Silverscar? Why did she use to bring his father into her conversations, why now? Curiosity gnawed at him, so he went to his mother asking about Silverscar's relationship with his father. She looked at him with doubt and some contempt until she replied: "Sweetie, you know that I have never tried to hide anything from you and your siblings... But, that is a story that I don't want to and I will not tell you. You don't need to know it, has Silverscar said anything about it? " She asked, to which he vaguely responded with, "He just says he wants me to be more than him." To which Smoketalon nodded, saying that she ain't going to say anything else about it.

Hollowpaw was desperate and in despair of, as he didn't know anyone that he might know from the story behind them, then he asked Seaheart, the deputy with a hope that she knew something since she being the deputy. She was somewhat surprised by the question but willing to answer she told him. "I'm not really sure, but from what I heard ... They were in a relationship? It was supposed, not many people knew but still it was known. Silverscar was quite loud about it, y'know, when your mother became Crowtuft's mate... That's what I heard. "

It all made sense now, right? Was Silverscar jealous of his mother kits? He didn't want to speculate but he did anyway, yet he wasn't going to ask questions until he was a warrior. He didn't want her mentor, someone who had power over him, to use it to his advantage in the most corrupt way possible.

The days went on and he was almost in the last stage of his learning, to his surprise he received not scolding but praise. Compliments from Silverscar that she was now satisfied with the fruits of her rigorous training on him but still she demanded that she stay the same. Although the training was still constant, he could now tell that he enjoyed it that even the strict and obnoxious Silverscar was beginning to like him? Although, it was just an idea in her head now that she was less obnoxious than before.

On the last day of her training, Silverscar commented that she was proud of his training, that even though an annoying, soft and lazy trainee nearly ruined Hollowpaw she was able to help him. "I'm glad that I told him that you didn't want to met him again, he wasn't at your level! I really did such a great job mentoring you. I helped you scaring away that blad influence from your life! Look at you now, you're the best apprentice I could had." Helped me? He was one of my only close friends here and she had pushed him away. It pissed him off enough that he reprimanded her and called her a fox-hearted brute. Silverscar indignant responded angrily but she did not go further to scold his own apprentice with max roughness.

The day was finally here, he was under Sandstar's feet, the gazes of his now nest mates and alongside his siblings. He was really happy, more for his siblings than for himself, more for being away from Silverscar than for being a full-fledged warrior. Sandstar named him Hollowsight, because of his very good night and day vision, he could see things that others couldn't, whether it was for something technical or even as vague as knowing if someone was hurt.

Silverscar congratulated the now Hollowsight again, she was really happy and proud of him. That all of his training had finally led to him being a great apprentice. But she didn't get a thank you from Hollowsight reply, she got a dry, bittersweet reply, and with it, a request: "Tomorrow, you and I at the place where I used to met with Ratpaw. There are a couple of things I want to say to you." Silverscar was confused but accepted it. And so tomorrow would come...

It is time for a pause from this repetitive story of the Silverscar and Hollowsight discussions. Let's talk about his second Leaf-bare season! And also one of the most painful season for him...

The season was hard and without mercy because his mother fell ill with a whitecough. During those moments Hollowsight declined his tasks as a warrior to pass time with his mother, to ask how he was doing and also to annoy Tansyskip, the medicine cat. He would repeatedly tell him to keep his distance from her, that he could be with his mother but he didn't want him to get sick either. His mother agreed with this. So he tried to keep his distance from her but still he was very worried, he didn't want to lose his mother, not because of this illness.

However, as the days passed, his mother did not improve and became worse. Tansyskip tried to be as patient with all Hollowsight's questions and criticisms but had to be transparent with Hollowsight: "She's not doing good... If her status gets worse, she might not make it... I'm sorry. " He said. Hollowsight was devastated, so did his siblings. The idea of loosing their mom was heartbreaking.

And so, the days kept passing, that cold night he had returned from hunting, he was willing to take a piece of mouse to his mother, the largest and fat he found. But what he found at the entrance to the medicine cat den was not his mother waiting for him with a smile and a purr as always, it was one of his siblings calling out to him with desperation and tears in their eyes. His mother, his beloved mother, was dying of a greencough. He put the mouse down and went in a quick step to see his mother, tears fell from his eyes, his heart was racing and he felt a cold pressure on his back. He yelled at Tansyskip begging for him doing something but he shook his head, there it wasn't anything he could do for save Smoketalon from greencough. Smoketalon last sentences were love words for all of her kittens, how much she was proud of everyone of them and was glad with their achivements, but the last word that came out of her vocal chords accompanied by a look of shock and a happy smile was: "Crowtuft". She said as she looked at the exit of the medicine cat den, the others looked there but there was nothing. Smoketalon died that cold and full-moon night. He didn't remember if all of his littermates were at that moment, he only recognize and remember one of them.

He only remembers how he was watching over his mother, with tears in hiseyes as he supported his head between her fur like a kitten would with their mother. He didn't want to bury her but he always began to give her flowers, white flowers that he found because they were her favorite.

[...]

That morning, Hollowsight woke up very early, walked to the place that he remembered with melancholy and sorrow that was mixed with warm memories of the moments with his friend. There she was on her back, Silverscar. "You are always late." Started to say the she-cat.

"How the? ..." Replied Hollowsight in surprise.

"Always get to the meeting first, it makes you look more responsible, Hollowsight. I can always teach you one or two new things even if you are not anymore my apprentice, my dear." She said as advice that was poorly received by Hollowsight in a growl. "Well, why are we here? This place was always beautiful to me... I have-" Silverscar said until he was interrupted by his ex-apprentice.

"What was your exactly relantionship with my father? I heard you were mates." He asked coldly, however, his serious face changed to one of disbelief when Silverscar started laughing. "Who told you that?" She asked rhetorically with laughter.

"I won't tell, just answer! Why you always bringed my father out in our conversations at training?!" Hollowsight growled.

"Don't be brat with me Hollowsight, I didn't teach you like that." Silverscar replied offended. She paused for a long time until Hollowsight snorted again for an answer. "No, we weren't mates. But we could if weren't for that vix-... for your mother. I do loved him but I knew he only loved the warrior code more than anything so I wanted to be like him, loyal to my code, loyal to my clan, loyal to my faith, so we could be together. I asked him for training lesson and he did! I asked him to go with me, for chilling times, and he did. I have really warm pretty memories from this place, y'know that chubby apprentice didn't found this place first." She laughed and continued. "I was hopping we where close but nothing I did worked since I saw that big belly of Smoketalon... "She spoked his mother's name with a deadly disgust. "...I'm not jealous, Hollowsight, like everybody thinks, I was so frustated that he didn't tell me anything! I THINKED WE WERE FRIENDS AFTER ALL OUR TIME TOGETHER! I make a scene for that and break up my relantionship with him." She growled.

"But if you did hate him this much why you always talked about him?!" Hollowsight asked in confusion.

"I DIDN'T!" She yelled. "And you are his son! How I could not do it?" She said more calm. "But it is sad... You know?" She paused looking at him with sadness.

"What is it" He asked with his mouth open.

"That after all my effort, you're not even the half of what he was..." She admited with shame. "I did what I could, I tried to ward away that soft apprentice from you. But you already got infected from his softness. You're too soft, Hollowsight, you're not like your father." She sayed with sorrow.

Hollowsight growled, he was really ofended and angry. "Do YOU realize you freaking warded away one of my best friends?! He left the clan! It was my fault, he did left because of me?" He asked with sorrow. "Did you ever ask yourself on how I was gonna feel about it? I HATE you!" He cried.

"Wow, I'm not surprised how similar you are to your mother, what a pair of resentful crybabies." She yelled with rough and grossness.

"Don't you DARE to TALK about my mother in that way!" Hollowsight yelled in a resentful growl.

"I DARE. SHE WAS MY SISTER!" Admited for surpise of his ex-apprentice. "She knew I loved Crowtuft and still she becamed his mate. But I'm not resentful and I'm not crying because of that." She growled back.

"What?" He asked dumbfounded. "My mother never told us about whether she had littermates." He didn't understand if what she said was true. "Why didn't you do anything?" He asked.

"I'm not surprised. We weren't on good terms after that." She laughed slightly. "I'm not weak r soft like she was. Neither was your father but he becamed soft when he fell in love with Smoketalon, that was it kill him. Y'all are just too weak, but I'm not." She proudly and harshly admitted.

"Do you think you are so tough and brave? Fight me then!" He challenged her. "What?" Silverscar asked in surprise. "Fight me! I'll show I'm better than you, you greedy fox-heart!" He challenged again.

"You think so?" She ask rhetorically. "Then, come at me you little brat." She encouraged as she got into a defensive pose.

Hollowsight and Silverscar fought, neither of them used claws but Silverscar easily defeated her ex-apprentice by obvious greater experience, there were some things that she had not taught him that made the apprentice's anger burn, which in one of the attacks corresponded with a scratch with unsheathed claws.

"Enough!" Yelled Silverscar bleeding. "I'm not gonna be nicer with ya, even If you were my apprentice." She growled jumping on his apprentice.

This time they fought, a fight no one would know about, with claws and blood involved. Hollowsight was growing weaker with each wound, however small, caused by his ex-mentor. Until Silverscar knocked him down with his belly exposed, she was about to jump on him for one last attack and call the battle won. Until a grunt, a scream, and a lot of blood leaped on him.

A badger.

A badger had caught the attention of the pair's noises, biting the throath of Silverscar who was still alive and kicking to get rid of that huge predator. Hollowsight froze with fear, his belly exposed to such a vile monster. He quickly stood up and tried to attack the badger to help his mentor, she didn't deserve to die after all. The badger attacked him and seriously injured his shoulder blade, knocking him down, he was really hurt to jump again and try to save Silverscar.

The badger shook her, ending Silverscar's life, and tossed her aside. Now with it black eyes staring at Hollowsight with thirst for death it roared to try to attack him. Hollowsight growled and ran as fast as he could away from that place until his eyes saw deep darkness and with it, silence...

[...]

Upon awakening he found himself in Tansyskip's den, who asked him how he felt. He said he was sored because what hurt the most was his injured shoulder blade. What had happened?
One of his siblings entered to the den relieved that he was awake, told him that they had found him just in time before that badger delivered the final blow. They also told him that Silverscar's body was found. From there more questions continued.

Questions to which the answer was: "We went hunting, that badger appeared, then I don't remember anymore..." He lied. No one, not his littermates, not his future mate, would know of the fight with Silverscar. That secret died with her.

[...]

Today, things are quiet. Hollowsight recovered from all his injuries except the badger's left on his shoulder blade, that's how he'll gonna  remember that moment every time he looked at his shoulder blade, what a memory, right?