Nightpaw had resumed training for a moon now. He was impatient for his assignment.

He paddled across the clearing, planning to meet Stormflight at Highrocks. The ThunderClan apprentice had spent the morning cleaning out beddings.

"Stormflight's not back from border patrol yet." Sunpaw meowed behind him.

"Oh." Nightpaw was confused. "Isn't he supposed to bring me too?"

"I guess he wanted you to clean out bedding first!" Sunpaw meowed. The golden apprentice meant it as a joke, but Nightpaw found himself sighing.

The two littermates waited for Stormflight, as Kestrelstripe had caught greencough. "How's your mentor doing?"

"She's almost healed." Sunpaw replied. "The only sick cats remaining are Kestrelstripe, Adderblaze, and the two medicine cats."

"They're not healed yet?" Nightpaw asked, disbelief in his voice.

Sunpaw shook her head and changed the topic. "What do you think our warrior names would be?"

"Uh... Nightfire? Nightblaze? Nightpelt?"

"Hmm..." Sunpaw meowed. "I'm hoping for something that matches my mother, like Sunheart."

Nightpaw didn't like how she said "my" as if Moonheart's not his mother. "You mean our mother."

"Sorry." Sunpaw muttered, giving her chest a lick.

"It's okay." Nightpaw meowed, even though in his mind, it wasn't.

"Any other names?" Sunpaw asked.

"Sunfire, for your energetic personality."

"Nightfire, for summoning blue fire."

"Sunwhisker, for your tracking skills."

"Nightblaze, for the blazing fire which you summoned."

"Sunbrain, for you never forgetting the fact that I summoned fire."

"Hey!" Sunpaw protested. "That sounded like an insult!"

Nightpaw purred. "Sunbrain, used on cats that are too bright."

Nightpaw noticed a pelt rushing into the camp's entrance. His head whipped to the cat, who turned out to be young Hawkpaw.

The new apprentice looked terrified. His eyes were wide and his pelt was shaking.

"What's wrong, Hawkpaw?" Ambershine asked nearby.

"MY KIT!" Mouseflower leaped forward, but Shadewatcher blocked her with his tail.

"What happened on the patrol?" Ambershine demanded. "Where is your mentor?"

"W-WindClan. A-Attacked. B-Blood." Hawkpaw stuttered.

"WindClan attacked again?" Rainfire let out a gasp.

"H-Help."

Nightpaw darted to the thorn tunnel, followed by almost the whole camp. He was halfway through the tunnel when he heard Ambershine yowling,

"WAIT!"

Nightpaw continued to run, not stopping at the deputy's order. But Sunpaw bit on his tail, holding back the jet-black apprentice.

Nightpaw's head swiveled to face his littermate. "What are you doing?" He hissed.

"Haven't you heard Ambershine?!"

"Get off me!" Nightpaw screamed.

Sunpaw grip remained firm. She dragged her brother back into camp.

Nightpaw began thrashing, wedging his tail out of Sunpaw's teeth.

"Nightpaw, Sunpaw, Spidernose, Mouseflower, Flutterwing, and Leafsong. You are going to guard camp."

"What!" Sunpaw shrieked, finally letting go. "We're the older apprentices! How can Hazelpaw or Hollypaw or Skypaw go instead of us!"

"Hawkpaw isn't goin-" Ambershine countered.

"JUST BECAUSE WE'RE YOUR KITS DOESN'T MEAN THAT WE HAVE TO STAY AT CAMP!" Nightpaw exploded.

"You already had your turn." The ThunderClan deputy's Amber eyes stared at Nightpaw.

"What about Skypaw?" Nightpaw snarled. "Didn't she sneak out of camp? What punishment did she get? Getting apprenticed four moons early isn't a punishment!"

But Ambershine had turned his back on his son. The deputy headed towards the thorn tunnel, not mewing anything else.

~

WindClan did not invade the camp.

The cats soon came back, heading the the medicine den or chatting with each other.

"Stormflight got the most injured." Nightpaw heard Hollypaw meow. Great. He thought unhappily. Now I'll be stuck at camp.

"Come on!" Sunpaw nudged her brother. "We're going to the lake to get water for the injured."

"Wait." Ambershine beckoned Nightpaw with his tail. "Nightpaw, you're coming to collect herbs with me."

"We're not medicine cats."

"Our medicine cats are sick and busy. This is the catmint patrol."

Nightpaw would've laughed at the patrol name if Ambershine wasn't his father and deputy. "What's that?"

"Ever since Dappleleaf and Volepaw caught greencough, we had been sending out a patrol to get catmint."

"Where is it?"

"Just a bit beyond ShadowClan and SkyClan's borders." Ambershine replied.

"Do we have to cross SkyClan's territory?" Would I see Blossompaw?

"We'll go around it." Nightpaw's father paddled toward the thorn tunnel, Nightpaw trailing behind him.

~

The two toms remained quiet as they crossed the Greenleaf Twolegplace, which fortunately, did not have any Twolegs.

"Do twolegs really come here during greenleaf?" Nightpaw asked, breaking the silence.

"Yes." Ambershine meowed. "They set up green twoleg nests called tents."

Nightpaw nodded. He sense that Ambershine have something to say.

"Are you thinking of taking a mate?" Ambershine finally asked.

"What?!" Nightpaw choked. "I'm only an apprentice!"

"I know, and I'm not asking you to mate yet." Ambershine meowed. "It's just that ThunderClan is running out of cats, with the greencough and the incident."

"The incident?"

"You weren't born at that time." Ambershine changed the subject quickly. "Are you interested in anyone?"

The name Blossompaw popped into Nightpaw's mind.

No. That's forbidden love. Nightpaw scolded himself, shoving the name away. "Noooo. As I just said, I'm an apprentice!"

"You're becoming a warrior soon enough." Ambershine meowed. "We have to have more kits or else we'll have to pair cats up."

Nightpaw looked horrified. "W-What?"

The deputy continued meowing. "Branchfrost would be assigned with Leafsong... You would be assigned with..."

Nightpaw's face paled.

"I'm just kidding." Ambershine purred. "I'm not sure of you noticed, but Skypaw likes you."

I think my father's mad! "Stop that." Nightpaw snarled. He bounded ahead. "Let's just get catmint."

~

Nightpaw carefully picked catmint with his teeth, making sure not to absorb it's juice.

He took as much of the herb as he could carry. Ambershine did the same.

Soon the two ThunderClan cats have their mouths full of catmint. They backed up, ready to leave.

Nightpaw's whiskers prickled. I smell a ShadowClan cat. He looked around, but there were no cats in sight.

It must be the ShadowClan border. Nightpaw thought, until another cat's scent ran through him. Kittypet!

Two pelts slid out of the trees. One black, one striped. One kittypet, one ShadowClan.

"Oh look." Said the kittypet. The kittypet wasn't lazy and fat as the elder's described. This kittypet was strong and muscly. "Some rogues."

"We're not rogues." Ambershine hissed, dropping his catmint.

He glanced at the ShadowClan cat, which looked about Nightpaw's age. "Where is your mentor? Why are you outside of clan territory?"

"Just minding my own business." The ShadowClan apprentice scoffed.

"Yes." The kittypet snarled, unsheathing his claws. "Don't you dare question us!"

Nightpaw dropped his catmint. "He wasn't talking to you," Nightpaw couldn't help but add, "fat kittypet."

"Who did you call fat?"

Nightpaw ignored the question. He turned to the ShadowClan apprentice. "Your name is Darkpaw, aren't you?"

"So?" The ShadowClan apprentice stiffened.

Next to Nightpaw, Ambershine must have said something insulting, because the kittypet leaped at the deputy.

And the battle begun.