A sharp paw poked Birdpaw in the side of her stomach and she grunting, squeezing her eyes shut even more. The paw poked her again in the side and she rolled over, trying to bat the paw away with her eyes closed.

"Come on Birdpaw," came Dewpaw's voice, and the tortoiseshell and white apprentice reluctantly opened her eyes to see the cream tabby apprentice standing over her. She groaned, rolling away from him and shut her eyes again, putting a paw over her nose as she tried to go back to sleep.

"What do you want Dewpaw?" she grumbled as the cream tabby continued to poke her, "it is too early to be up!" The tom snorted in amusement as the other apprentice's tail swished, showing that she was annoyed by his presence at so early in the morning.

"Stagleap put you on the dawn patrol with Whiskerstar," he replied as Birdpaw reluctantly got up, stretching her legs out, her muscles still sore from her long journey last night to the Moonpool.

"Stagleap?" she asked, wondering why her father put her on a patrol. He was only a warrior!

"Oh, he is the new deputy," replied the cream tom, "Whiskerstar appointed his last night when you were asleep." Birdpaw yawned and nodded at the same time, very reluctantly walking out of the den, brushing past an amused Dewpaw, whose whiskers were twitching as her sleepiness.

"Do we always have to get up at this time?" asked the tortoiseshell and white apprentice, as they both padded towards Whiskerstar, who was waiting with a long-haired musty brown coloured she-cat and a dark grey tom with white spots, "I am completely exhausted!"

"No," replied Dewpaw, his whisker's still twitching with uncontainable amusement, "it is only because you are on dawn patrol. And Whiskerstar gave me the satisfaction of waking you up." Birdpaw reached out a paw and tapped the tom over the ear, sending him a look as they both stopped in front of Whiskerstar.

"Ah good," said the grey tabby tom, turning around from the grey, black and white speckled tom he had been talking to, "hello Birdpaw, good to see you up. And thank you Dewpaw." He dipped his head to the cream tabby apprentice, who nodded back and walked away. "I hope you aren't too tired to go on a dawn patrol, Birdpaw, because it is a perfect time to show you the territory, not to hot or cold." The she-cat nodded, excitement fizzing through her at the thought of going out into the territory and exploring it properly. Whiskerstar's whiskers twitched as he saw her suppressed amusement, before flicking his tail to Grassbreeze, a musty brown she-cat and Ashflake, the grey, black and white speckled tom. The patrol pushed through the camp barrier, and out into the forest beyond.

The forest was different this early in the morning, normally the sunlight would create dappled patterns on the grass and draw long shadows. Instead, the sun was just peaking over the horizon far in the distance, like a cat stalking a mouse, slow and steady. The four cats walked through the forest, their tails swishing lazily, but ears pricked. They reached a clump of bushes and Ashflake, who was the leader of the patrol, stuck out his tail to stop the other cats. He sniffed the air while Whiskerstar leaned over to his apprentice, whispering in her ear.

"This is our border with SummerClan," he said, nodding past the clump of bushes, "they have really short fur, which makes them love Greenleaf so much, even when the rest of us can't stand it because it is so hot. Their leader is Birchstar, who is a sandy-coloured tom." While her mentor has been saying this, Ashflake and Grassbreeze had marked the border with their scents before walking back to the leader and his apprentice.

"What are the other Clans?" asked Birdpaw, eager for information, literally bouncing on her paws as the patrol moved on from the SummerClan border.

"There is AutumnClan, who you have already met when we went to the Moonpool last night," replied Whiskerstar, "and WinterClan, who live in the mountains. Their leader is Mountainstar and their fur in long and thick, normally in shades of grey, white, black or blue-grey, colours found in the mountains. They also love leaf-bare."

"And are one of the only ones," added Grassbreeze, "my father was from WinterClan, but I preferred the heat, like my mother, who was from SpringClan. Though my long fur can be a bit of a nuisance. "

"It is definitely the better place to be," said Ashflake, "I would hate to live in the mountains, snow around me and barely any prey, freezing your backside off when you tried to sleep." The patrol laughed, as they entered a clearing, and Birdpaw immediately stopped.