Chapter Five

Berrypaw looked awkwardly at his paws as the clan chanted the new apprentices's names.

"Berrypaw! Cherrypaw! Berrypaw! Cherrypaw!"

Berrypaw was sitting by his new mentor, Koileap, and Cherrypaw sat next to her mentor, Fawnpounce.

The other kits had been apprenticed a few moons earlier. Icepaw had Thornfall, Cloudpaw had Rippleshade, Flickerpaw had Pineclaw, and Mousepaw had Mossyfeather.

Dawnpaw had Laurelflight as a temporary mentor as her mentor, Lilacice, was in the nursery with kits that were due any day.

Berrypaw turned to Koileap, eager to see the territory. It was late leaf-bare now, and Berrypaw wanted to learn how to hunt so he could provide for his clan.

"We're going to go to learn some new hunting techniques with Cherrypaw and Fawnpounce," announced Berrypaw's new mentor.

Cherrypaw smiled warmly at her close friend, causing Berrypaw's stomach to flutter.

Koileap padded across paths comfortably while Berrypaw walked behind, eyes trained on the ground to make sure that he didn't trip over any undergrowth.

Finally, they arrived at the first landmark.

"This is the Large Birch," Koileap announced.

"Are there lots of squirrels hiding there in green-leaf?" Cherrypaw asked.

"Yes," answered Fawnpounce. "But don't get any ideas of climbing up there. Cats in the past have broken bones and got crippled from falling from trees, leading to becoming a medicine cat or retiring to the elders den early."

Cherrypaw gave the tree a cautious glance before following the warriors as they continued on.

"Over here is the CliffClan border," meowed Fawnpounce.

The cats continued on, looking at places like the minnow pond, the Great Pines, and the GardenClan border.

The sun was almost down by the time the four cats. Berrypaw and Cherrypaw were utterly exhausted, but they managed to drag themselves to the fresh-kill pile.

Dawnpaw padded up to Berrypaw. "Hey, Berrypaw, do you want to share a vole with me?" The she-cat looked down, as of she was embarrassed to ask. Behind her, her littermate, Sunnypaw, smiled reassuringly at her from behind Berrypaw.

"S-sure!" Meowed Berrypaw, surprised that the apprentice actually noticed his existence. "See you tomorrow, Cherrypaw!"

Cherrypaw stared uneasily at them, a feeling swarming in her stomach. She moved to sit next to her brother, Mousepaw, explaining what happened.

"Sounds like you're jealous that Dawnpaw is spending time with Berrypaw," teased Mousepaw.

Cherrypaw felt herself grow warm in embarrassment.

"Th-that's not it!" She protested. "I-I'm just...I just hope that Berrypaw won't get annoyed by Dawnpaw's constantly running mouth!"

Mousepaw shot his sister a look. "Sureeeee. What ever you say, sis."

Cherrypaw shifted her paws awkwardly for a few heartbeats before heading towards the apprentice den.

A rolled up wad of fresh moss sat near the entrance. Cherrypaw was glad that someone gathered some, as she was too tired to go out and gather moss after her first day of being an apprentice.

Cloudpaw padded into the apprentice den.

"How was your first day of training?" Asked the white tom.

"Exhausting," Cherrypaw replied simply.

The white tom gave his new denmate a sympathetic look. "I know how that goes," he meowed.

Cloudpaw's gaze shifted over to the moss.

"Oh! Dawnpaw gathered some moss for you and Berrypaw! Isn't that nice?" Cloudpaw meowed.

"We could gather moss on our own," Cherrypaw replied sharply. "Dawnpaw doesn't have to treat us like we're helpless kits."

Cloudpaw looked a little shocked at Cherrypaw's words, but chose to end the conversation, instead moving to his nest near the middle of the den. Cherrypaw picked up about half of the moss and placed it in an empty spot in the back corner of her new den.

Berrypaw entered the den soon after.

"Thanks for collecting this moss! That was really nice," Berrypaw told Dawnpaw.

Dawnpaw licked her chest fur, embarrassed. "It-it was nothing. Hey, Berrypaw, do you want to have your nest next to mine?"

"Sure!" Replied the russet tom, scooping the moss up and placing it near Dawnpaw's nest in the front corner of the den.

In her nest, Cherrypaw growled quietly. She wasn't jealous. She just decided something.

She hated that Dawnpaw.


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