Ravenpaw trailed behind Crowstar as he marched out of the camp with the Gathering patrol.

"Good luck, Ravenpaw. I have watched your journey with interest. You may find that on this quest, you will earn more than StarClan's blessing." Crowstar whispered. He licked her ear and she squirmed away.

"Thank you, Crowstar. But I must face this myself." Ravenpaw dipped her head.

One by one, the WindClan cats bade goodbye to Ravenpaw.

"Goodbye, Ravenpaw!" Acornheart called.

"Good luck, Ravenpaw!" Bramblepelt mewed.

Finally, it was Tinypaw and Mosspaw's turn.

"Oh, Tinypaw and Mosspaw. I'll miss you." Ravenpaw whined.

"Stay safe, Ravenpaw. We need you." Tinypaw purred.

"We'll be waiting for you. We won't become warriors until you come back." Mosspaw vowed.

"What really?" Tinypaw exclaimed.

Mosspaw neatly slapped her tail on Tinypaw's mouth. "Yes, really."

"Thank you." Ravenpaw felt choked with emotion. With one last look at her old home, she fled towards the Moonpool. She trod the worn steps and collapsed in front of the Moonpool. StarClan, help me. She mewed silently.

"You?" Ravenpaw heard footsteps and a scorning mew.

"The pitiful medicine cat. Pfft." It was Amberpaw, a cocky apprentice from RiverClan.

"Hello, Amberpaw." Another voice sounded behind them.

"Ebonypaw." Ravenpaw acknowledged.

"Am I seriously stuck here with two mouse-brains?" Amberpaw growled.

"Relax, Amberpaw." Ebonypaw mewed smoothly. "We were all forced into this by an omen."

"Were you now?" Amberpaw replied frostily.

"Can't we just work together?" Ravenpaw pleaded.

"We're in different Clans," Amberpaw shook her light ginger fur, her amber eyes travelling over Ravenpaw's black fur and Ebonypaw's silver and tan fur.

"We're in the same quest!" she retorted angrily.

"Fine," Amberpaw huffed.

Ebonypaw watched with interest. Ravenpaw glared at her angrily.

"Fine." She agreed coolly.

"Greetings, Amberpaw, Ebonypaw, Ravenpaw." Ravenwing shimmered into view.

"Ravenwing!" Ravenpaw purred, delighted.

"Do you k-know this cat?" Amberpaw demanded.

"He's from StarClan," Ebonypaw noticed.

"Oh. Okay." Amberpaw muttered.

"You must work together," Ravenwing mewed.

"Fine," Amberpaw growled.

"Ebonypaw?" Ravenwing raised an eyebrow.

"O Great One, I will obey the will of StarClan," Ebonypaw mewed sarcastically.

"I take that as a yes. If we're all agreed, I'll send the sign." Ravenwing purred before fading into mist. A single black feather dropped to the ground.

"There!" Ravenpaw yowled. "Quick, it's moving!"

The feather indeed was being picked up by the wind. Ebonypaw led the chase as they followed the feather, glancing up occasionally to make sure they were on the right track.

"It's going towards the Twolegplace on our territory," Ravenpaw mewed breathlessly.

"Okay." Amberpaw nodded curtly. "Then what are we waiting for?"

---

"It's moonhigh," Ravenpaw noted. "We should make camp."

"StarClan doesn't want us to, see, it's still going farther!" Amberpaw argued.

Ravenpaw rolled her eyes. Why did Amberpaw have to make it so hard! "StarClan wouldn't want us to collapse of exhaustion!"

"What do you think, Ebonypaw?" Amberpaw asked the calico she-cat.

Ebonypaw blinked her green eyes. "I agree with Ravenpaw," she mewed quietly.

Amberpaw let out a snarl. "I'll go hunting. Ebonypaw, since you and Ravenpaw agree so much, why don't you go looking for moss together?" she stomped off angrily.

"There goes one angry cat," Ebonypaw stated.

"She's probably just scared, or unused to this," Ravenpaw decided.

"I'll go get the moss, you look for a place for us to sleep," Ebonypaw offered.

Ravenpaw nodded, grateful. Her paws felt like they were dropping off. She glanced around at her surroundings. They were in the forest next to the Twolegplace. Surprisingly, all three of them had agreed on not going to the Twolegplace. Amberpaw was the first to argue, but even she didn't want to go into a Twolegplace. 

"Prey." Amberpaw's voice sounded.

Ravenpaw didn't turn around, but took a deep breath in. She sniffed and smelt a mouse and a rabbit. But she also had the peculiar scent of cat blood on her. Turning around in a panic, she noticed Amberpaw had a large scratch on her chest as well.

"Amberpaw!" Ravenpaw gasped. "Are you okay?"

"It's fine," Amberpaw grunted.

"Ebonypaw's gathering moss. I'll find some herbs for you," Ravenpaw insisted.

Ravenpaw ducked out of the sheltered hollow which she had been crouching in and shook out her pelt. Dirt and leaves flew everywhere. She opened her jaws and separated the scents of cat and prey apart from the scents of herbs. There! Comfrey scent wafted into her mouth. Comfrey was good for preventing infection, although marigold would've been better.

She leaned down and grasped the root in her jaws. Carefully, she walked back to the hollow where Amberpaw was waiting for her. Ebonypaw had also returned and a pile of moss was on the ground.

"Finally!" Amberpaw complained. "It hurts, for StarClan's sake!"

"Who was the one who didn't want me to treat her?" Ravenpaw muttered, chewing up the root slowly.

Amberpaw flinched as Ravenpaw slapped the poultice onto her chest. Ravenpaw spat out the remainder of the root in her mouth. "Amberpaw, you need to rest," she ordered.

"No! We're on a quest!" Amberpaw retorted. She closed her mouth abruptly. Ebonypaw stopped moving the moss she had been forming bedding with too. Ravenpaw tilted her head, confused.

Suddenly, a scent blew through the air. Ravenpaw froze. Fox!

A red shape charged out of the bushes, growling angrily. Amberpaw struggled to stand up, blood pooling out of her wound. Ebonypaw moved protectively in front of Amberpaw who let out a hiss of pain and annoyance. Ravenpaw let out a whimper and the fox turned on her, it's ears flat.

The fox ran at her, closing his jaws on her throat fur. Terrified, Ravenpaw lashed out with unsheathed claws and with a pang of satisfaction, felt her claws connect on the fox's chest. It snarled loudly and Ravenpaw shrank back.

A silver shape bowled the fox over and the two shapes rolled around on the dirt.

"Be careful, Ebonypaw!" Ravenpaw mewed anxiously.

Ebonypaw gritted her teeth and clawed the fox's ears. The fox retaliated by biting into her foreleg. Ebonypaw yowled with pain and flung the fox off. Ravenpaw saw a deep bite mark on her leg. The silver she-cat gingerly tested her leg on the ground and winced.

Ravenpaw was the only one who wasn't injured too badly, so she gathered all her courage and threw herself at the fox. The fox turned around, startled, and Ravenpaw sank her teeth into its throat. The fox barked but slowly quietened.

Ravenpaw turned around to meet her companion's shocked stares. The fox swung at her jaws. "I found some prey."