Early morning light slanted through the walls of the apprentice den. Young cats slowly opened their eyes and stretched their limbs, yawning. Sunpaw gave his paw a couple of quick licks before stretching his legs. Willowpaw rasped her tounge across her chest, then over a paw; which she then dragged over her forehead.

She nudged Frostpaw awake. "C'mon Frostpaw! Do you want to miss our first training session? All the other apprentices will be there!"

Frostpaw's head shot up, a stray bit of moss dangling from her ear. "We're apprentices!" She exclaimed.

"Yeah! Lets go!" Willowpaw mewed, bouncing on her paws.

All the other apprentices were already having their morning meal. Willowpaw led Frostpaw to the fresh-kill pile, choosing a squirrel to share. The fresh-kill pile was now beginning to run low, since the rodents had begun staying in their burrows to escape the chilling weather. Leaf-bare was still several moons away, yet the cold winds were approaching quicker than usual.

The first snow would not be far off.

As Willowpaw and Frostpaw ate, their mentors emerged from the warriors den. They padded to the fresh-kill pile to take a sparrow. Willowpaw's paws tingled with excitement. Their first real session! And with other apprentices, too!

Driftbreeze walked over to Birdpaw, motioning with her tail to come. Brightblossom and Ashpelt watched Beeflight and Oakfur collect their apprentices.

"Hold on, you two. Let me finish my bird." She meowed. She took another bite, drew her tounge over her bloody jaws and stood.

While they waited for Ashpelt to finish, Willowpaw couldn't help staring at her mentor's eyes. One was the color of a clear summer sky, without a single cloud in sight. The other was grass in the spring; bright green with darker flecks.

At last, Ashpelt rose to his paws and led them to the entrance of camp, where the other cats waited.

"Ready?" Driftbreeze asked. Everyone gave a short nod of the head. The deputy waved her tail and bounded off into the trees.

__________________

"Willowpaw, Brightblossom, Sunpaw, Beeflight, Ashpelt and Woodpaw. You practice over there in the clearing. Birdpaw, Oakfur, Frostpaw and I will be over here by the Great Oak." The two groups divided and padded to their assigned places. Frostpaw and Willowpaw exchanged a sad glance at the fact that they became separated, but didn't object.

"Alright, I was thinking that we could do scent identifying." Beeflight suggested.

"That's a great idea! We can sneak up on the apprentices and let them guess." Bightblossom added.

Ashpelt snorted. "Won't that get old?"

Beeflight flicked his ears. "We can make it more challenging." He said.

Sunpaw was up first. He sat in the middle of the small clearing, eyes closed. The other cats gathered in front of him.

Ashpelt waved his tail to Brightblossom. She nodded and padded away into the forest.

A few moments later, Ashpelt meowed, "Who left?"

Sunpaw tilted his head and thought for a moment. "Bee...no, Brightblossom?" he guessed, clearly unsure.

"Postive?" Ashpelt pressed.

Sunpaw lashed his tail. "No, its Beeflight, isn't it?"

"Open your eyes."

Sunpaw blinked and scanned the cats. "Mousedung!" he cursed.

"Watch your tongue, Sunpaw. And why'd you say Beeflight?" Sunpaw cast his eyes at the ground, shuffling his paws. He shrugged.

Ashpelt narrowed his eyes. "If it was an ambush from ShadowClan, we'd be dead."

"I thought the Warrior Code said that we don't kill...?" Woodpaw chirped.

"Obviously I didn't mean it literally!" Ashpelt retorted.

"It's okay, Sunpaw." Beeflight meowed. "You're still learning."

Sunpaw growled and stalked over to Willowpaw and his brother. "That's not good enough," he muttered.

Willowpaw touched his shoulder with her tail. "Don't worry, you almost had it." She mewed. Sunpaw fixed his bright blue eyes on her. He longed there for a moment, then shrugged her tail off and averted his gaze.

Brightblossom trotted back in the clearing. "How did it go?" She asked cheerfully. But based on Sunpaw's expression, she lowered her head.

"Woodpaw, you're next." Beeflight meowed.

The dark brown apprentice plodded to the center and sat, wrapping his tail around his paws. He shut his eyes tight. Ashpelt left and after a while, he guessed right. Lastly, Willowpaw made her way front and center. Her fur felt hot, being judged by her Clanmates. She closed her eyes and breathed in the scents. She swiveled her ears when she heard a cat brush through the ferns, leaving the area. Opening her mouth, she tasted the smells with her tongue.

Ashpelt, Woodpaw, Sunpaw, Brightblossom. "Beeflight," She meowed, without a moment's hesitation. She blinked and looked around. All the cats were present....except Beeflight!

"How did you know?" Brightblossom asked.

"Beeflight's scent went a bit to the left, while everyone else's stayed put." She responded. Brightblossom calmly congratulated her, but her face gave away her surprise and joy. Her apprentice got it right the fastest!

This exercise continued for a while, gradually getting harder. Two cats would leave, and then three cats. When it lost it's sense of challenge, both groups merged. Willowpaw did the best of all, only messing up twice. It was obvious that she had natural talent.

Once the sun had begun its descent back to the horizon, the cats started heading back to camp. "You did brilliant, Willowpaw! How did you do that? Don't tell me you cheated!" Frostpaw exclaimed, catching up to her friend.

Willowpaw lowered her head. "I guess I just got lucky," she mewed humbly.

"Aww, come on! You have a knack for it! Hopefully I'll do great in battle training!" Frostpaw said.

Brightblossom gave a mrrow of amusement. "Well, you will have to wait a bit longer, Frostpaw. For the next few sunrises we'll be working on scents and then hunting skills."

Frostpaw dragged her tail in the grass. "Not fair..." She muttered.

When they emerged back through the camp enterance, Pondpaw strode up to Frostpaw and Willowpaw. "Hey, how's warrior training going?" She asked.

Pondpaw already smelled like herbs, and bits of leaves clung to her fur. "Good," They both responded.

Frostpaw nudged her sister. "And medicine cat training?"

Pondpaw gave her fur a lick. "There's so much to remember!"

Fawndapple shouldered her way out of the medicine den. When she spotted Pondpaw, she called, "what does marigold do?"

Pondpaw thought for a moment, and then meowed, "helps wounds with infection?" Fawndapple gave a nod and made her way to the fresh-kill pile. "See?" Pondpaw insisted.

The three cats told each other what they had done that day, while Driftbreeze called together a hunting patrol, leading them out.

Brightblossom padded up to Willowpaw. "Tomorrow, be ready at dawn. You and I are going to practice scenting prey."

She turned to leave but Willowpaw asked, "Will Frostpaw be there?"

Brightblossom shook her head. "You two won't be able to do everything together."

At the sight of their drooping tails, Brightblossom added "I can talk to Ashpelt and see if we can learn how to hunt together."

They perked up at that . "Thank you!" They chimed. Brightblossom curled the tip of her tail, going to the fresh-kill pile.

"Do you want to share a meal?" Frostpaw asked. They headed over and snatched a mouse from the top of the heap.

As they chewed on the rodent, the dawn patrol returned. They were extremely late- it was sundown. Scarletfang, Sootclaw and Fadedleaf looked worried, their eyes wide. Fadedleaf's light brown fur was spiked more than the other cats'. She was usually fearful, but this time she seemed like she had just wrangled a fox. Scarletfang led them up the rockpile, calling softly to her leader. A moment later they nosed through the bracken into his den. The whole Clan quieted their conversations, trying to catch snippets what the patrol was saying.

"What do you think happened?" Frostpaw whispered, spraying bits of food everywhere.

Willowpaw flicked her ears crossly, but said, "I don't know; they don't look wounded though. Maybe they got lost?" She tried to joke around- it did not lighten the mood as she had hoped, though.

Meanwhile, Hollyheart and Fernbelly were sharing tongues in a patch of sunlight. Despite being several moons since the deaths of two of her kits, she was still depressed. She had vowed never to have kits again, which was a shame because of the fact that she was a natural mother. Fernbelly spotted the three apprentices and bounded over. Hollyheart followed at a slower pace.

Fernbelly rasped her tongue over Pondpaw and Frostpaw's heads. Hollyheart nuzzled Willowpaw. "How was my kit's first day of training?" She purred. Hollyheart spoke to her kits about their day as well, drowning them in loving purrs. Frostpaw and Pondpaw wriggled to get away from their mother. Willowpaw resisted copying her friends- her mother still was hurting, so she let Hollyheart shower her with affection.

"Mother, I am an apprentice now." She gently reminded her.

Hollyheart pulled away, stopping herself from embarrassing Willowpaw even more. "So how was training, my apprentice?" She tried again, unsuccessfully keeping the pride from shining through.

"It was fantastic! We practiced identifying scents." She lowered her voice. "I did the best!"

Hollyheart's eyes glowed. "You're a special cat, Willowpaw. I see you doing great things." She gave her daughter a lick. Willowpaw spotted the dawn patrol come out of Badgerstar's den. The leader followed them out.

"Volefur, Foxtooth, Larksong." He called. The senior warriors joined Badgerstar and the dawn patrol, talking low. Hollyheart nuzzled Willowpaw one last time, then padded away.

Willowpaw, trying to act nonchalant, made her way to the apprentice's den- which was across from where Badgerstar was discussing with his warriors. She laid in a spot of sunshine and closed her eyes. She pointed her ears towards them and listened.

"....Where did you see this?" Badgerstar asked.

Scarletfang responded, "Over by the ShadowClan border. Fadedleaf almost got caught."

Badgerstar sighed. "Do you know how to...make it useless? Disable it?"

Scarletfang shook her head. "No. I think these traps were meant for cats, though. Twoleg food is inside."

Willowpaw's eyes flew open. Traps!

"What are you looking so surprised about?" Frostpaw mewed. Willowpaw hissed at her to be quiet, and angled her ears towards Badgerstar.

"Eavesdropping again? Hmmph" But Frostpaw sat beside her friend. Willowpaw caught parts of talk- they had lowered their meows to bare whispers.

"Will we tell everyone..."

"Not until we can disable..."

"What if...killed in the trap?"

"We...careful...don't take chances."

Willowpaw watched the cats debate, when the finally they came to a conclusion, nodding all around.

When the sun started to turn the sky into a fiery red, Driftbreeze's hunting patrol returned. Badgerstar was pacing anxiously, and at their arrival, leaped over to Rockpile.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath Rockpile for a Clan meeting!" He yowled. The apprentices were the first there, eager to hear the newest threat to their Clan. Maybe they could fight a fox!

The rest of the cats exchanged curious looks - all except for Willowpaw. The remaining warriors gathered, faces solemn. Hollyheart and Greeneyes sat next to each other towards the back. Fernbelly and Sootclaw joined the Clan after a nuzzle. Scarletfang, Fadedleaf and Oakfur took their place beside Driftbreeze, which aroused some comments. Shimmerpelt and Raggedclaw poked their heads out from the elder's den, grumbling. Fawndapple softly made her way to where Driftbreeze sat.

"Clanmates, I have called you together because the dawn patrol has found something most disturbing." Badgerstar motioned for Scarletfang to speak.

The reddish she-cat stood."While we were patrolling the ShadowClan border, Fadedleaf almost stumbled into a twoleg trap."

Gasps spread throughout the assembled cats.

"It was a shiny cage, and it had kittypet food inside. We believe that it is intended to trap cats." More gasps. Several cats hissed. "We do not know how to disable them, so be careful where you put your paws."

Badgerstar stepped forward. "That's right. For now on, no cat may go alone into the forest. I don't want anyone to get hurt. And do not play with these traps. No one knows what they are capable of." With that, he dismissed the Clan with an anxious flick of his tail.