"Wake up Dawn!" squeaked a tiny voice and the apprentice slowly opened her eyes to see the small black face and dark blue eyes of Inky. The tiny kit squealed with excitement when she saw the apprentice open her blue eyes.

"She is awake!" squealed the black kit, running over the apprentice's stomach, causing the older she-cat to grunt.

"Please tell me you didn't wake her up," came the tired voice of Bandit as Dawn sat up and yawned. She looked through the opening of the barn and saw that the sun was just beginning to peer over the horizon. Right now, if she was at camp, Dewpaw would probably be poking her to get her out of the den so that they could both be on the dawn patrol. Instead, she was sleeping on hay, with a belly full of mouse from the previous night and a little kit running circles around her.

"It is fine," the apprentice half yawned, standing up and stretching until her legs trembled, "I was pretty much awake anyway." It was a lie, she had been awake almost the whole night and had only got to sleep just before the sun rose.

"Can you teach me how to hunt?" begged the black kit, "and how to create a border, and how to climb trees? Oh! And how to fight as well?"

"Calm down Inky," purred Dawn, nuzzling the little kit's head.

"She will not have time to talk to you at the moment anyway Inky," interrupted Bingo, "we need to clean up after the storm. Dawn will be helping us, so you will have to wait until we get back." Inky groaned and leaped down from the top of the barn on to a stack of hay. Angel leaped out from behind the stack and soon the two littermates were rolling around with each other. The apprentice jumped down as well, dodging the two kits and made a quick kill of mouse.

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Once all of the other barn cats had woken up and had eaten enough mice, they set out, with Willow staying behind with Inky and Angel. The two kits had complained a lot when Bandit said they were not able to come, with Inky every attempting to sneak out after they left. Cheddar spotted the kit and made her turn back around to the barn.

"Why are they not allowed outside?" asked Dawn once Bingo double checked that the kit had gone back.

"It is too dangerous for them to be outside after a storm," said Bandit, "there are fallen branches as well as weak ones that could snap at any moment. There is also made unseen ditches and holes that could badly injure them if they fell in." Dawn nodded, thinking about how kits in her old Clan were not allowed out of camp and how it always use to annoy her and her littermates. They had attempted to sneak out a couple of times but Stagleap and Moonflower always found them.

The patrol continued on, looking for any signs of damage. It was mostly disgusting puddles of mud but every now and then, they would find a branch that was blocking something. They also found a couple of plants ripped out of the ground but otherwise, there was not much damage. Once they had finished looking around on the farm, the patrol began to move back to the barn. Cheddar took this as a perfect opportunity to give Dawn a tour around the farm and teach her what everything was called.

By the time they got back to the barn, the apprentice felt like her brain was going to burst. There was so much stuff to remember! To start, the strange creatures that seemed to be marking the silver vine border were called cows. The silver vine border was called a fence and the three huge creatures with flowing tails were called horses. The white cloud-like creatures with black legs were called sheep, apparently their white fur made nice nests. As well as those creatures, there were also loud bird things called chickens that woke Dawn up really early in the morning. There were also sheep-dogs, who helped to control the sheep, and pink, snorting creatures called pigs.

"How do you guys know so much?" asked Dawn as they neared the barn entry. Cheddar smiled and for just a heartbeat, she saw Dewpaw's face, his sparking eyes and cheeky smile. It pained her heart every time she thought about him.

"I don't know," shrugged the ginger and white tom, "I suppose it is just because we grew up here and it just seems like common knowledge. You will learn soon enough. Race you to the barn!" It took the apprentice a few moments to process what the older tom had said, and by the time she took off after him, he was almost in the barn.

"Thant was pathetic," teased the tom, not at all out of breath as the apprentice came in about a fox-length behind him, "I bet Inky or Angel could run faster." The two kits peaked out from behind a hale bale when they hear their names being called. They spotted Cheddar facing away from them and began stalking his swishing tail, Dawn's eyes flicking to them than back to Cheddar, she wanted to see how this would turn out. Then, when they were close to him, they leapt and dug their tiny needle sized claws into his coat.

The tom yowled out and twisted around, causing Dawn to snort when she couldn't keep her laugh in anymore. The two kits let out battle yowls and squeaked when the older tom tried to throw them off. Leaving Cheddar to survive with the two kits, the apprentice made a quick kill of a mouse and leapt up to the top level of the barn. It was about sun high and the heat was beating down on the farm, with most of the farm animals sleeping in any possible bit of shade.

What would her Clan be doing now? There would probably be a patrol out, most likely a hunting patrol. Most of the Clan would probably be sleeping or sharing tongues. The apprentices would might be training as well. What would Whiskerstar do since he had no apprentice? Would he have sent out a search party to look for her?

Dawn shook her head, she had to stop thinking about her Clanmates. She chose to leave, she was too much of a danger to them, Maplestar would not stop until she was dead, even if it meant killing her Clanmates as well. She sighed and took a bite out of her mouse, looking once more at the dry farm country. She needed to stop worrying about her Clan! She was no longer one of their Clanmates, she was a chosen outcast.