[header art drawn by me]

"And this here, you see, this collection of rocks?" The tom meowed, beckoning with his tail towards a group of overgrown boulders. "Great place to hunt! There's always some little critter between these stones. Here, let's see..."

Adderthorn slunk into a hunting crouch, tail frozen still above the ground. Mosspaw watched his whiskers as they twitched, his nose alert for prey scent. After a few moments, she realized she should probably be taking this whole crouch into account. The gray and white apprentice focused on the way Adderthorn held himself, low against the ground, muscles bunched and eyes alert. Abruptly Adderthorn sprung into the air, above the weeds, and fell into the grass a little farther off. It startled Mosspaw, and she jumped back with a gasp. When Adderthorn lifted his head, he held a wiggling vole between his teeth.

"Whoa," Mosspaw said admiringly. Her mentor's jaws closed more tightly around the brown creature and finally it stilled, dead.

He dropped the prey on the ground beside his paws. "Cool, huh?" He said cheerfully. "I'll show you some of that stuff tomorrow, maybe. For now we're checking out the territory."

Mosspaw nodded. "Oh, okay!" she mewed. "Great! So, um, where to next?"

Adderthorn hesitated before answering. "How about I show you a brook nearby?" Mosspaw nodded enthusiastically. She padded after the older warrior, inhaling the scents of the forest. Thank StarClan, Adderthorn seemed to like her. They never interacted much when Mosspaw was a kit, especially seeing as Dawnwish preferred for her to stay in the nursery, but Adderthorn acted like they were already good friends. Sometimes Mosspaw regretted following Dawnwish's ordered. The queen had always said she shouldn't go outside because she might get into trouble, but what kind of trouble could she encounter while in camp? Remembering her apprentice ceremony, Mosspaw wondered if Dawnwish was worried if it was the other warriors. It seemed that many weren't fond of her.

"Hey Mosspaw?" Adderthorn meowed in a question-like tone. Mosspaw directed her attention towards him. "Did you know I was the cat that found you and your brother?"

"You mean... when we were found outside camp?" inquired Mosspaw. "You were the cat who found us first?"

Adderthorn sighed. "Snowbranch was there too," he told her. "We thought it might have been an ambush at first, and they were using you to get the Clan's attention. There was the smell of rogues around you." Mosspaw nodded solemnly. And that's one of the reasons no one likes me.

"Speaking of rogues..." Adderthorn muttered. His muzzle was wrinkled and his eyes flicked around the forest. "Smell anything off? Or is it just me?

Mosspaw raised her muzzle to the air and took a deep whiff. She blinked and screwed up her eyes as countless scents slapped her nostrils. "I-I don't know," the gray and white apprentice admitted. "Sorry."

Adderthorn ignored her though, and began prodding at the foliage. He pulled back a few fronds and peered into the shadowy vegetation. After that, he pushed his tabby head into the leaves. Mosspaw's whiskered twitched, unsure what her mentor was doing. "Adderthorn?" She asked curiously. The cream tom's ears only flicked to show he'd picked up the apprentice's mew. Suddenly, to Mosspaw's surprise, he snapped his head back. His fur was on end and he glanced over his shoulder towards Mosspaw.

"There's blood. Don't come over here. It's nothing much, just scarlet on the leaves."

Mosspaw's pale green eyes widened. "Blood?" She echoed. Warily the she-cat scanned the trees. What if an enemy was hiding in the shadows? Were they going to jump out and hurt her? Was her blood going to be the next spattered on the greenery? "Adderthorn?" The she-cat meowed worriedly for a second time.

Adderthorn stepped back, padding back towards his apprentice. "I think a cat was injured. Maybe rogues." He touched his slender tail to Mosspaw's shoulder comfortingly. "Hopefully they're gone now. The blood is dry." Mosspaw didn't feel much better, but she nodded.

"Can I see it?" Mosspaw questioned. Her gaze turned towards the trampled ground. Adderthorn frowned. After a moment's hesitation, he nodded. "Don't look long though," he meowed. Mosspaw flicked her tail and trotted towards the scene. The she-cat crouched by the bushes.

Her eyes scanned the undergrowth until dark stains suddenly caught her eye. She bent her white muzzle to give it a few sniffs and pulled back quickly. It was metallic and unpleasant, but she thought there was also something off about it. She reluctantly moved her pale nose closer, and thought she tasted something interesting, almost familiar. Was it of a Clanmate? Probably not, since Adderthorn said it reminded him of rogues. Rogues... Mosspaw was related to rogues. She knew her mother must have died, but her father? She knew nothing about him.

Is this my mother's blood? she wondered. After a few moments Mosspaw realized that wasn't the case. Her mother had been dead for a while, and any traces of blood would be stale and washed away by now. So... is it my father's?

"Mosspaw? You okay?"

It was Adderthorn's voice, and Mosspaw glanced upwards. "Oh! Y-Yeah, I'm fine. Just, um, not sure what this could be."

Adderthorn's head tilted. "Hm. Okay. We should get going though, and make sure to report this to Mintstar." Mosspaw nodded quickly and rose to her full height.

"Right. Let's go," She mewed.

The scents in the leaves were familiar... I feel like I know them. Mosspaw shook her head slightly. I'm so confused.

a/n – heyyy! are you enjoying this so far? I'll try to update often but don't count on it, ahah. you're welcome to leave your thoughts and opinions in the comments below. ^-^