"Art is like a flower.... it will only blossom is you nurture it."

Song: "Hell Is For Children" by Pat Benatar

A/N: Before you go biting my head off and saying hell isn't for children, read the lyrics. It's a good song, and it's about a very serious matter. If you've never heard this song, I suggest playing the attached video.

Disclaimer: Oh, all the things I could do if I owned Warriors . . .

Another A/N: THIS IS A ONE-SHOT! Don't ask for more. Oh, and please review and let me know what you think BEFORE you favorite/subscribe. Thanks.

They cry in the dark so you can't see their tears
They hide in the light so you can't see their fears
Forgive and forget, all the while
Love and pain become one and the same
In the eyes of a wounded child

"Ravenpaw!" Tigerclaw's yowl cut through the frosty air of the ThunderClan camp, causing the black apprentice to jump.

"Yes, Tigerclaw?" he asked fearfully before turning to face his mentor.

The dark brown tabby tom eyes him cooly before meowing, "We're having battle practice in the clearing with Graypaw and Firepaw. They're probably already there by now, so move, will you?"

Ravenpaw only nodded, avoiding Tigerclaw's piercing gaze directly, and shoved past the senior warrior. Without so much as a squeak, he trotted through the thorn tunnel and picked up the pace until the trees blurred around him. The skinny black apprentice thought hopefully, I hope Firepaw and Graypaw can help me.

When the three apprentices returned to camp after training, Ravenpaw was even more tense and skittish than usual. Neither of his friends knew that he'd witnessed Redtail's murder; that he had not been killed by Oakheart, the RiverClan deputy, but by Ravenpaw's own mentor, Tigerclaw. The ThunderClan apprentice flinched as he heard Tigerclaw's loud meow next to him.

"Go away!"

Firepaw looked at him oddly. "Ravenpaw, it's just me. Are you okay?"

Ravenpaw blinked, coming out of a daze. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," he mewed hurriedly. Without looking back at the ginger tom, he trotted over to his nest in the apprentices' cave and curled up, choked with fear.

Because hell
Hell is for children
And you know that their little lives can become such a mess
Hell
Hell is for children
And you shouldn't have to pay for your love with your bones and your flesh

Moonlight threw deep shadows into the apprentices' den, but Ravenpaw, eyes closed, didn't notice. He was deep in a nightmare.

Mist wreathed around the tree trunks and try as Ravenpaw might, he couldn't see the comforting light of StarClan. Where am I? he wondered. Pelt bristling, he unsheathed his claws and padded warily forward.

"Scared, little warrior?" A menacing growl rippled through the trees. Ravenpaw whipped around to see amber eyes glaring at him from under a bush; then Tigerclaw crept from under it, a mocking gleam in his yellow eyes.

Ravenpaw just stared in horror. Fear slammed into his throat, making it hard to breathe.

Tigerclaw clearly guessed what his silence meant. "Good. You should be." Eyes narrowed, the dark tabby leapt on his apprentice, claws outstretched.

The coal-black apprentice jerked awake as he felt his mentor's teeth pierce his neck. Gasping for breath, he looked around. His nest was torn in pieces from when he'd tried to escape Tigerclaw's grasp.

Firepaw and Sandpaw glared at him with glowing green eyes. Sandpaw complained, "Keep it down, will you? I was chasing a mouse and it was this far away." She held her pale ginger paws a whisker-length apart.

Firepaw purred as the pale she-cat curled up again with her nose under her paw. Then, when Sandpaw's breathing deepened and slowed, "Whatever's going on, you can tell me. I won't tell anyone."

"I know," Ravenpaw murmured as weariness overtook him. He closed his eyes and fell into the comforting blackness. This time, no dreams disturbed him.

It's all so confusing, this brutal abusing
They blacken your eyes and then apologize
You're daddy's good girl, and don't tell mommy a thing
Be a good little boy and you'll get a new toy
Tell grandma you fell off the swing

"Ravenpaw." A paw nudged the black tom in the side. "Wake up."

"Mhm-uh." Ravenpaw blinked bleary amber eyes and raised his head. "What is it?"

"Dawn patrol," Firepaw informed him.

Ravenpaw felt a rush of dread at going out with Tigerclaw. Visions of his mentor turning on him deep in the forest and murdering him danced through his mind.

Don't be ridiculous, the raven-colored tom told himself. Reluctantly, he heaved himself to his paws and followed Firepaw out into the center of camp.

Lionheart, Tigerclaw, and Bluestar were waiting for them near the thorn tunnel.

"Finally," Tigerclaw meowed. "What are you, a dormouse?"

Ravenpaw chose not to respond and firmly clamped his jaws shut.

Bluestar sighed. "Let's go." Without looking back, the blue-gray ThunderClan leader bounded through the torn tunnel. The rest of the patrol streaked after her.

"Where are we going?" Firepaw asked his mentor.

"Tallpines," Bluestar replied. The she-cat slowed to a trot to compensate for the apprentices' shorter legs. "There's been a lot of kittypet activity lately, and I want to check it out."

"It's about time," Tigerclaw muttered under his breath.

Lionheart, padding beside the broad-shouldered tabby, gave no sign of having heard his Clanmate's comment. The golden-furred deputy suggested, "Why don't we run? It'll help warm us up."

"Great idea," Firepaw mewed. He took off, the rest of the dawn patrol running after him. Bluestar and Lionheart streaked ahead of the ginger apprentice, their blue-gray and golden-brown pelts blurs in the trees. Ravenpaw lagged behind.

"Move, kittypet!" his mentor growled in his ear. When Ravenpaw's speed didn't increase immediately, Tigerclaw raised a paw to cuff him on the ear but caught his apprentice's eye instead. The black cat let out an involuntary hiss of pain, but quickly silenced it. "Good. Now, run."

Not wanting to provoke another attack, Ravenpaw moved even faster and crashed through Firepaw, Lionheart, and Bluestar and over the ThunderClan scent line.

Shaking the dust out of his fur, he froze when he heard a yowl from above him: "Hey, you!"

Ignoring Firepaw's warning hiss, he looked up. Standing on the fence was a tortoiseshell she-cat. Ravenpaw bristled and unsheathed his claws.

The fat kittypet only flicked her mottled tail. "Are you one of those forest cats?"

"Yes, he is," Tigerclaw meowed as he padded forward to stand beside the ThunderClan apprentice. He sank his long claws into the ground and glared up at the she-cat. "Get lost," he snarled.

Faced with two wild-looking angry Clan cats, the tortoiseshell, eyes wide, scrambled down the fence. A few heartbeats later, a startled yowl followed by a plop told the five ThunderClan cats that the kittypet had fallen into her garden.

"Come on," Tigerclaw ordered Ravenpaw with a snort of contempt and toss of his head. He turned and padded back to the patrol, Ravenpaw following with his tail dragging the ground.

"You go on ahead," Tigerclaw told the other cats. "I want to talk to my apprentice."

The ThunderClan leader and her deputy exchanged a glance; then Bluestar flicked her tail. "We'll see you back at camp," she meowed.

Firepaw shot Ravenpaw a sympathetic look before following his mentor and the Clan deputy. His tail lightly touched Ravenpaw's flank as he passed and murmured in the black tomcat's ear, "Good luck. You'll need it." Then the flame-colored apprentice trotted after his Clanmates.

When the other cats were out of eye- and earshot, Tigerclaw whirled on Ravenpaw, eyes narrowed, tail lashing, teeth bared in a snarl.

"What in StarClan's name were you thinking?" he hissed.

Ravenpaw forced himself to swallow, feeling the cold, hard lump of fear settle in his stomach. He stammered, "I, uh . . . well . . ."

Pain lanced his muzzle, and the skinny black tom felt blood well up in the scratches. He looked at his mentor in confusion and bewilderment, hurt and fear in his eyes. What was that for?

"Mouse-brained excuse for an apprentice!" Tigerclaw spat, lashing out with an unsheathed paw again.

Ravenpaw flinched and ducked. One though raced through his mind: Why? Why is he doing this?

When the dark brown tabby leaped for him, Ravenpaw dove under his belly, twisted, raked, and flipped over onto his paws. While Tigerclaw lay winded, the terrified tomcat sprinted for the ravine.

Because hell
Hell is for children
And you know that their little lives can become such a mess
Hell
Hell is for children
And you shouldn't have to pay for your love with your bones and your flesh

The rest of the Clan looked up from their various activities when Ravenpaw came barreling through the thorn tunnel. He skidded to a stop, sides heaving, eyes wild with terror.

Dustpaw, Sandpaw, and Graypaw leapt to their paws from where they were eating and hurried over to him.

"What happened?" Sandpaw and Dustpaw asked, eyes wide. Graypaw narrowed his yellow eyes and nudged him playfully. "You lose a fight with a rosebush?" he joked, flicking his gray tail.

After taking in Ravenpaw's horrified appearance, he fell silent, his eyes deadly serious.

"I wish," Ravenpaw replied, still panting from his dash through the forest. "Tigerclaw—"

He was interrupted by the Clan leader, her deputy, and her apprentice padding through the thorn tunnel. Firepaw let out a shocked yowl as he saw his friend's injuries. The flame-colored former kittypet leaped for Ravenpaw's side. "What in the name of StarClan happened to you?" he demanded. "And where's Tigerclaw?"

At his mentor's name, Ravenpaw recoiled, his white-tipped tail twitching. "Don't mention him," he hissed.

"Ravenpaw." His leader's soft mew made the abused apprentice look at her. "Come to my den. We'll talk there." She looked over Ravenpaw to the medicine den. "Spottedleaf!"

"Yes, Bluestar?" The entrance to the medicine den rustled and a graceful tortoiseshell padded out into the clearing.

"Meet me in my den, please. And bring herbs to treat Ravenpaw. He looks as if he's been in quite a fight."

"Of course." Spottedleaf dipped her head and started to go back to her den, but not before Ravenpaw noticed her green gaze flicker to Firepaw. Despite his ordeal, he had to suppress a purr of amusement. So that's the way the prey's running.

Bluestar flicked her tail at Lionheart and Ravenpaw. "Come on." She padded to her den beneath Highrock, parted the lichen curtain, and settled herself on the floor of her cave. Her eyes glowed blue in the half-light.

When Ravenpaw had made himself comfortable, Spottedleaf began chewing up marigold leaves to put on his scratches.

"Ravenpaw, could you tell us what happened after we left you alone near Twolegplace?"

The young apprentice tensed up. Tigerclaw had told him before to say it was a rogue or aggressive kittypet if questioned about his sometimes-daily wounds, but he couldn't lie to his Clan leader. He sighed and told his Clanmates what had happened after they left.

Spottedleaf paused in dabbing cobwebs on the scratch on Ravenpaw's flank. She mewed quietly, "You shouldn't have to pay for your love with your bones and your flesh."

Ravenpaw looked at her askance, but the pretty medicine cat had busied herself with replacing the cobwebs with chewed-up marigold.

Bluestar and Lionheart's hackles had risen with horror as Ravenpaw narrated his tale, but as he finished, Bluestar let hers lie flat. The blue-gray she-cat meowed, "I'll keep Tigerclaw in the Clan for now—just to keep an eye on him," she added when Ravenpaw's mouth opened in protest.

Lionheart, who had been listening in silence, asked, "How long has this been going on?"

Ravenpaw chose not to answer.

"Tigerclaw's back!"

Mouse dung, Ravenpaw thought in despair.

No, hell is for children

It would never end, would it?

Hell
Hell is for hell
Hell is for hell
Hell is for children

Hell
Hell is for hell
Hell is for hell
Hell is for children

Hell
Hell is for hell
Hell is for hell
Hell is for children

Hell is for children
Hell is for children

So, what do you think?