New apprentices and newer battles

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 “Amberkit, from this moment you will be known as Amberpaw. Nightclaw, you are without an apprentice since Birdtail was made warrior. You will be mentor to Amberpaw.” Rainstar spoke from on top of the fallen tree that bridge the small gully. Amberpaw bent to lick his shoulder as he rested his muzzle on her head.

 “Dawnkit, from this moment you will be known as Dawnpaw. Poppystripe, she will be your first apprentice. I trust you will pass down all the warrior skills you learned.” Dawnpaw bent to lick her new mentors shoulder, Poppystripe rested her muzzle on her head.

 “Smokekit, from this day forward you will be known as Smokepaw. Pineheart, this is too your first apprentice. I trust you will pass down all your bravery and loyalty.” Smokepaw licked his mentors shoulder as Pineheart touched his head with his muzzle.

 “Moonkit” Dawnpaw, Amberpaw, and Smokepaw prodded each other and watched expectantly. Rainstar continued. “you have shown an interest in herbs and healing. Silverwing has offered to take you on as her apprentice.” Moonkit bounced excitedly. “Moonkit, do you accept the Post of apprentice to Silverwing?” he asked “Yes” Moonkit answered seriously. “From this moment on Moonkit, you will be known as Moonpaw.” Silverwing rested her muzzle on her head, Moonpaw licked her shoulder respectfully. They went to stand beside Moonpaws littermates. “Amberpaw! Dawnpaw! Smokepaw! Moonpaw!” their clanmates sitting in the gully and up in the trees cheered. The cheering was suddenly cut off with a yowl. Amberpaw sniffed. The scent was unfamiliar, but it smelt like trees, and mice. “Rainstar!” the strange cat yowled. He was bleeding from severel different cuts and bites. She had never seen wounds like those before. “You have to help us! Windclan’s attacking our camp!” Rainstar, shocked, lept from the tree. “Sunfall, Ravenpelt, Gingerblaze, Cloverpelt, Bluetail, and Ashclaw. Snowwhisker, your in charge of camp.” Rainstar and the warriors he had called left camp by scrambling strait up the camp wall. When the Skyclan cats reached the top, they kept on climbing, into the trees. Soon they were out of sight. The other cat, the one who had come to get Rainstars help, had flopped on his side. Silverwing stood over him, trying to get him to the medicine den. Moonpaw scampered over to join her, together they supported the warrior to the medicine den. When the reached the willow, Moonpaw jumped to make a nest for the stranger. Silverwing laid him down in the moss and went to the herb store, beckoning with her tail for Moonpaw to follow.



 “this is Marigold. Its good for keeping infection away. We’ll bring some of this out for a poultice for Seedfur.” Silverwing said. “wheres Seedfur from?” Moonpaw asked. “Thunderclan. But this fight has been brewing for a long time. Windclans leader is called Stonestar. A more ambitious cat I have never met. Hes trying to make Windclan stronger, by gaining more territory and possibly more cats.” Silverwings voice took on a seriosness it hadn’t had before. “Cats will die before Stonestar is stopped.” Silverwing took the margold and some cobweb and left the herb store, Moonpaw following after her.



   Moonpaw watched as Silverwing treated Seedfurs wounds. She pressed cobweb on scratches and bites to stop bleeding, then chewed Marigold and rubbed it into the wounds. She bound it with cobweb and moved onto the next. The last wound, a claw scratch on his left flank, Moonpaw treated herself, guided by Silverwing. The Marigold tasted yucky, but she chewed it anyway. They bound the last one in cobweb and left Seedfur to sleep. “go get something from the fresh-kill pile, and bring me something too.” Silverwing told Moonpaw. She nodded, then bounced out of the willow.

   She picked two sparrows for Silverwing and a thrush for herself, then hauled them back to the medicine den.



   Amberpaw and Dawnpaw pushed their way into the apprentices den under a very wide dirt overhang. There was fresh moss scattered around the den, all they needed to do was collect it. Dawnpaw chose a tough dirt shelf halfway up the cave wall. She liked sleeping off the ground. Amberpaw found a shelter mini cave right underneath her. Smokepaw would have to sleep somewhere else, Dawnpaw thought. “Dawnpaw!” Poppystripe called from outside the den. “Don’t you want to go out into the forest?” Dawnpaw jumped up and raced outside. Amberpaw followed her sister out just as quickly. Nightclaw stepped towards her. “I suppose you want to go too. Alright. Out we go.”



   Dawnpaw and Amberpaw stood in the tangled underbush of skyclan territory, gazing around in disbleif. “How do you get around through all the underbrush?” Dawnpaw asked. Poppystripe nodded “Good question. Like this.” Poppystripe gave a massive leap into a tall oak tree. She ran in a complete circle around them, staying off the ground, and partially out of sight. She dropped on the other side of them, hanging to a branch with the claws on her forepaws stuck into the bark. “Skyclan cats run through trees because there is too much under brush in our territory to hunt or travel quickly. We hunt from trees, too.” “That’s right. First lesson-tree-climbing. We won’t be going far until you two master the basics of tree running, either.” He nodded at a towering maple near the center of the small clearing. “Have at her. See how high you can get.” Amberpaw looked at her sister. “I’ll beat you to the top!” she ran and gave an enormous leap, scrabbling for a hold. Dawnpaw followed after her. Tree climbing was exhilarating. Amberpaw looked down and saw Poppystripe and Nightclaw far below. “Stop there Amberpaw!” Amberpaw grudgingly stopped on a sturdy branch. Dawnpaw joined her a moment later. Amberpaw looked down to see Poppystripe and Nightclaw climbing the tree next to theirs. A second later, they both arrived on a branch just across from the one she was sitting on. “Okay. Good job, the both of you. Now, try to come over from that tree to this one. Amberpaw, you first.” Nightclaw said. Amberpaw edged out to the end of her branch. It started to bend under her weight. She backed up hesitantly. “Use the branch like a spring” Poppystripe advised “Take a run at it, and when you feel it bending, jump.” Amberpaw nodded, backed up, and ran down the branch. It started to bend, but she ran just a bit too far. When Amberpaw jumped, the branch sprang her out of her tree, and past the one where Nightclaw and Poppystripe sat as well. She tumbled through the air, yowling, and hit the trunk of an old oak several foxlengths away. Nightclaw, hoping his new apprentice was fine, sprang towards her through the trees. Poppystripe followed. Dawnpaw sat nervous on her branch. She didn’t want to go flying like Amberpaw, but she did want to try tree-running. Finally, she gave up holding back. How hard could it be. She backed up, then ran at the branch and jumped just when it started bending. She landed perfectly at the next tree. Okay, she thought ‘I can do this’. She ran and jumped again, and again until she found a steady rythim. It was so natural, just like walking on ground. All too soon she reached the place where Amberpaw fell. Dawnpaw dropped out of the tree with a humph. “Are you all right, Amberpaw!” her littermate just groaned in response. “She’ll be fine. She hit her head pretty hard, though. We’ll take her to get checked over by Silverwing. As for you, though. How did you get here so fast? I thought we left you in that tree?!” Poppystripe asked, obviously impressed. “I used that spring thing you showed Amberpaw!” She looked at Dawnpaw skeptically. “Right after your littermate nearly killed herself!? Are you insane!?” Dawnpaw shrank from the ginger warriors critizing. “No.” Poppystripe corrected herself. “You’re an apprentice. your supposed to do stupid things. That’s how you learn.” Dawnpaw smiled. She liked Poppystripe.



   Moonpaw looked up from the herbs she was sorting when the hanging willow branches rustled. Poppystripe and Nightclaw, supporting a woozy black apprentice. “Amberpaw!” she yowled. Her littermate looked up with unfocused eyes. “Moonpaw?” she whispered weakly. Moonpaw nodded. “Lie her down over here, beside the pool.” She spoke to the two warriors. “What happened?”

 “We were practicing tree-running. It’s the first thing every apprentice learns. She sprang to hard and flew into a tree. She should be okay. She just hit her head pretty hard.” Moonpaw nodded. She didn’t know what to do for head injuries yet. “I’d better go get Silverwing. She’s checking on Fawncloud right now.” Moonpaw bounded out from the willow. The nursery smelt like home. It reminded her it was only her first day as an apprentice. Silverwing was over in the corner, bringing borage leaves to Fawncloud, so she’d have plenty of milk when her kits came. She was bound to be nervous, or so Silverwing said. Her mate, Rainstar, had gone to help thunderclan. “Silverwing? Moonpaw started “Amberpaw hit her head pretty hard. I don’t know what to do for that.” “Hmm? Oh, I’ll be right there, Moonpaw. For now, just give her some Cob nuts for her headache, she’s bound to have one, and Rasberry leaves for the pain. Tell her to try not to move, as well” Moonpaw nodded and headed back to the medicine den.

<p class="MsoBodyText">   “Rasberry leaves, raspberry leaves… Ah!” Moonpaw murmered to herself as she searched, “Then cob nuts…” she reached into the hole in the wall and hooked one with her claw. Carrying the two in her mouth, she went back to Amberpaw.

<p class="MsoBodyText"> “Here, eat these. They’ll help with the pain.” Moonpaw told Amberpaw, pushing the leaves towards her. Moonpaw started biting through the cobnut shell with her teeth, as Silverwing had shown her just that morning. The shell snapped in two, Moonpaw spat it out, and gave one half to Amberpaw “eat that. It’ll make your head feel better.” Amberpaw licked up the nut obligingly. “Go ahead and sleep now.” Moonpaw told her. She nodded and fell fast asleep.

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<p class="MsoBodyText">   Smokepaw followed his mentor, Petalwhisker, through the valley trail. It went for a much longer time than he suspected. “the valley was carved out by a tiny stream that runs into the river. The river is much deeper here than it is in Riverclan territory, because of the beaver dam.” It was hard to walk along the stream without getting his paws soaked. Late in newleaf like this, it was bound to be fuller than normal. Petalwhisker reached a bend in the stream. With a flick of her tail, she jumped up the walls of the gorge. Smokepaw followed her, though with difficulty. When he reached the top he gasped, and looked across the deep river. It was a muddy brown, with oaks and maples shadowing it heavily. “Never go in the river unless you can swim. There’s hardly any current here, but the water is well over a cats head.” Lectured Petalwhisker. “Its easier to cross in the trees.” Her eyes brightened. “Speaking of which, I’ll show you how to climb them.”

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<p class="MsoBodyText">   Dawnpaw made it back to camp exhausted. After they had taken Amberpaw to the medicine den, Poppystripe took her back and spent till well after sunhigh adjusting her tree-running until she felt like a squirrel. Near the end, Poppystipe deemed her fast enough to keep up to go see the river. On their way back to camp, Poppystripe had caught a thrush in the trees and caught with a leap so huge Dawnpaw was astounded. Back at the camp, Poppystripe told her to get something to eat and then rest. Dawnpaw was more than happy too do so.

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<p class="MsoBodyText">   Back in the apprentices den, Dawnpaw had scrambled onto her mossy ledge when Smokepaw pushed through the hanging roots to his nest under long, hanging roots. “What happened to Amberpaw?” Smokepaw asked. “She hit her head. She’ll be staying in the medicine den tonight, I expect.” Dawnpaw told her brother. “that’s too bad. She’s missing our first night in the apprentice den.” Dawnpaw nodded. Out of all of them, she guessed, Amberpaw wanted to be a warrior most.