Stepping out of camp, Ravenpaw looked to the top of the dark green pine trees. A soft wind swung the branches above and the sky started to lose its blue tone and started taking an amber shade. Ravenpaw shook himself when a cold breeze went past him.
'Hopefully, Leafbare won't be that bad.' thought Ravenpaw, taking a close lead beside Mumblenose.

"Can we see the lake? I really want to see the lake!" purred Halfpaw, looking excitedly up at Marshpool.
"When we show you the RiverClan border, you'll be able to see the lake," answered Marshpool.

"Are you sure the dog is really gone?" asked Beetlepaw, taking a curious sniff at some ferns, as if he was looking for any dog scent. For Ravenpaw, the dog scent was still stuck in his nose and it made a sour taste in his mouth.
"We're certain," answered Mumblenose. "If the dog ever comes back, keep its scent at the back of your head til then. It will hopefully save your life." Ravenpaw made a small approving nod.

"Where are we heading first?" asked Halfpaw. She was not afraid to bombard Marshpool with questions and it made Ravenpaw even more anxious when Marshpool let out a small sigh.
"ThunderClan border," he answered. "It will be important for you to learn their scent early."

"Why?"

"Don't you know?" growled Marshpool.
The happy bickering between the apprentices and their mentors suddenly stopped. Mumblenose stopped walking and looked over her shoulder and straight at Marshpool's face. Ravenpaw froze and awaited her next action.
"ThunderClan is the Clan that brings the most threat to us at the moment," answered Mumblenose. "Marshpool is right that its important, but he should restrain from having an attitude."
Marshpool hissed in irretation and his bushy tail lashed the air. Ravenpaw's pale green eyes widdened and he took a step back. Was there gonna be a fight?

"Please, let's not get this out of hand!" meowed Fernbush, taking a quick step between the two warriors. "Use your heads, for StarClan's sake! We have just gotten new apprentices and this is the first thing we do?"
The other two warriors seemed to relize the situation and stepped away from eachother. Halfpaw seemed taken aback, but didn't avoid eye contact with Marshpool, who only stared coldly back.

For the rest of the way to the ThunderClan border, the cats were silent. Ravenpaw knew already that Mumblenose and Marshpool weren't on close terms and that would probably mean that their training sessions would be seperate to avoid more drama. That would also mean he couldn't train with Halfpaw...
The group suddenly came to a stop at a stream. At the other side had the pine trees disappeared and an oak forest presented itself.
'That must be ThunderClan territory...' thought Ravenpaw. He stretched his head and opened his mouth, allowing new scents to come toward him. He only got a small taste of the scent, but he could easily tell that it was different.

"This stream is the border for our Clan and ThunderClan," explained Fernbush. "You should never cross it. If you are hunting, always remember where borders are so you don't accidently enter another Clan's territory."
"Seems like there has already been a ThunderClan patrol here." meowed Marshpool, his lip curling in disgust. "If you find a ThunderClan cat on our territory, you have every right to sink your claws into them as much as they do."
Ravenpaw would do whatever he could to protect his Clan, but he couldn't help but shake at the thought. Anything could happen in battle, even the most imaginable Ravenpaw didn't like to think about. But he pinched his eyes closed and took a deep breath. If he trained and stayed close to his Clanmates, he could overcome anything.

"Everyone has tasted the scent? Good," meowed Mumblenose, awaiting each apprentices' response. "We could go along the lake toward RiverClan, since I'm guessing most of you would like to see it."
Halfpaw's tail suddenly started whipping in excitement, closely followed by her brothers. "Yes!"
While they walked down to the lake, Ravenpaw learned that no Clan owned the lake shore. Any cat could come and go there as they pleased. Ravenpaw was relieved at the thought, but that would also mean cats from different Clans could also do it and head straight into ShadowClan territory.

When Ravenpaw got the first glance of the lake between the pine trees, a wave of curiousity hit him. When Halfpaw and Beetlepaw started racing between the trees toward the lake, Ravenpaw quickly followed. Just at the lake shore, the apprentices came to a stop. The tall pines disappeared and there was only bare ground.

Ravenpaw blinked in amazement as he saw the lake for the first time. It was massive and the setting sun made it amber. Soft waves hit the lake shore and it was oddly calming for the black tom. For a few seconds, Ravenpaw could only stare. He snapped out of it when the sounds of their mentors approched out of the trees behind him.
"Pretty, isn't it?" purred Fernbush. "You're lucky. First time I saw the lake, it was rainy and unpleasant."

Beetlepaw chuckled at his mentor's funny comment. "What's that?"
Beetlepaw was looking straight over to the other side of the lake toward a small peice of land in the water.
"That's the island, where gatherings are held," meowed Fernbush, looking his apprentice's direction. "Its almost full moon soon, actually. Hopefully, Swiftstar will take you along for your first gathering."
Halfpaw had yet another excitement overload. "That'll be awesome!"

"If we hurry, we will be back in camp before moonrise," growled Marshpool. "We have yet to see the RiverClan border." Before anyone could say a word, Marshpool started walking again.
Ravenpaw quickly set pace beside Mumblenose, who had just growled something under her breath. Ravenpaw didn't hear, but he was certain that it had to be something about Marshpool's attitude.
The group padded along the lakeside toward the RiverClan border, allowing Ravenpaw to admire the veiw along the way. He could just make out the moor where WindClan lived and what he guessed was the Horseplace directly at the other end of the lake.

When reeds started to show along the water, Ravenpaw's paws ached and he was starving. He had barely eaten anything the entire day and he had already had too many adventures today as it was. He jumped when he heard something dive into the water among the reeds.
Ravenpaw lowered his head and focused on the reeds where the noise had come from. He could make out a small brown body sitting in a thick reed bundle, unaware of the prowling cats just a few fox lengths away. Ravenpaw licked his muzzle and the hunger deep in his stomach started to poke at him.

"Ravenpaw, what are you doing?" growled Mumblenose.
Ravenpaw looked up at Mumblenose who was quite far ahead of him now. It almost felt like a waste to leave easy fresh-kill. If he would catch fresh-kill his first time on a patrol, he would surely get praise from his clanmates. But Ravenpaw didn't know how to hunt properlly yet, specially not near water. He had gotten used to the moist and rainy Leaf-fall, but jumping straight into water was something he could never imagine.

"I-...I saw a vole," said Ravenpaw, getting up from his crouch. "I thought of catching it, but I don't know if I would be able to."
"You will learn how to hunt eventually. Leave it." meowed Mumblenose. "Come on, get a move on."
It wasn't a satisfying feeling for Ravenpaw to leave the possible prey alone, but he had no choice and hurried to catch up with the others.

After traveling a while past the lake, the cats came to a stop. They took shelter behind some ferns, staring at the small Thunderpath in front of them. This was the RiverClan border, yet no RiverClan cats in sight. The wind carried a somewhat soft border scent.
"In Greenleaf, this place is crowded with twolegs," said Fernbush. "I don't know how those RiverClan cats handle it. You would think they're half kittypet."

"They probably are." growled Marshpool. Suddenly, the red tom's ears perked and his fur bristled. "Hush, someone's coming."
Ravenpaw stared at the other side of the border and Marshpool was correct, someone was coming. Swift movement of other cats approched the border. At the lead of this RiverClan patrol was a blue tom, who stared around carefully before refreshing the scent markings. They hadn't seemed to notice the ShadowClan cats yet.

"That's gotta be Bluenose," whispered Mumblenose. "The RiverClan deputy."
Ravenpaw blinked at the blue tom after the sudden relization. He suddenly felt intimidated by the RiverClan cats. He stared at the RiverClan cats until they moved on to mark the rest of the border and disappeared out of sight.

"We should leave now." meowed Fernbush, carefully getting out of his hiding spot and turning back into the pine forest behind them.
Ravenpaw sticked closely beside Halfpaw and Beetlepaw as they returned into the thick pine forest and it made Ravenpaw feel much safer.

"Do your paws hurt?" asked Ravenpaw.
"A little bit." said Halfpaw.
"Yep." grunted Beetlepaw. "And starving."

"I will sleep like a badger tonight..." yawned Ravenpaw.
"Remember you have training tommorow," mewed Mumblenose. "You gotta wake up early."
Ravenpaw wanted to sigh from exhaustion by just thinking about it, but he only nodded.

By the time they reached camp, Ravenpaw immedietly went to lay down outside the apprentices' den. He wanted to fall asleep right there, but when Halfpaw offered him to share a sparrow with her, he sat up.
Digging into the feathery fresh-kill, he barely noticed Cherrytail padding toward them.

"How did it go?" she asked. "Did you see all the borders?"
"Yeah," purred Halfpaw, licking her muzzle from feathers. "We even saw some RiverClan cats."
"So I heard. Hope your first night in the new den will be nice," smiled Cherrytail, nuzzling against her daughter. "Are you gonna miss the nursery?"

"Not really." said Beetlepaw, eating a mouse. "Its gonna be nice to finally be able to get out of camp everyday."
Cherrytail purred and gave her kits one last nuzzle before padding off again. It was like she still thought they they had come out of the nursery for the first time.

As darkness started to crawl upon the pine covered camp, the new apprentices made their way into their den. The beddings they had made earlier was still there and Ravenpaw curled up on his bedding. Beetlepaw and Halfpaw had made their beddings around his, making them sleep in a group and exchange warmth during the night.
Mousepaw, Rushpaw and Shredpaw shortly joined them, who were equally tired. Neither of them had the energy to share tounges about their tour around the borders and Ravenpaw quickly feel asleep.