ButterflyPaw was washing herself
« Could you please go and wake up MousePaw for me?» HurricanFur then asked her

«Why don't you go by yourself?»

« I have to talk about DuskPaw to AgileStar»
"𝓜𝔂 𝓫𝓻𝓸𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻?"

Butterflypaw wanted to question the gray and white apprentice's mentor, but he had already turned away. The blue-eyed novice shrugged, then also turned her back and found herself inside the apprentices' den. Looking for Mousepaw, she finally found him, curled up in his nest while snoring and quivering.
«Wake up Lazypaw» she meowed, shaking him with one paw.

Mousepaw pushed her away, and stared at her with an evil eye
« Leave me alone, "Butterflykit"» he grumbled, snorting

« Hey! » The pale redhead protested, «I'm not a kit anymore!»
Mousepaw sighed. Compared to the other apprentices, he had boldness, and never hesitated to question his elders, even in the worst moments.
«You're still five moons old,» he reminded Butterflypaw.

« Five and a half moons!» the other corrected him

«Yeah sure, » muttered the gray and white tom before leaving her

«What did I miss?» asked Dustpaw who had just joined his sister

« Oh, nothing at all.» Then remembering HurricanFur's words, Butterflypaw added, «HurricanFur sent me to go and wake up Mousepaw instead of him. He told that me he had to talk to AgileStar ... About you» she finished hesitantly

The brown widened his eyes
« Me ?» He said, stunned, «but why?»

«I don't know»

«Well you never know anything anyway,» he joked.

The siblings remained silent for a long time.
«By the way, Brambleleaf is going to take me at the MoonStream tonight.» Dustpaw suddenly declared, breaking the deep calm.
«Oh» said Butterflypaw. And are you happy about it?

Her brother began to think
«Not really, i mean i'm just happy since I'll be able to see the stream, but Brambleleaf told me that this is where i'm going to be named a medecine apprentice.

«And you aren't happy about it?»
«Well tell me, what do you think?» Dustpaw spat. «Neither she nor AgileStar asked me if that was what I wanted!»

Butterflypaw didn't know what to say
» I'm sure everything will be just fine.» She whispered, rubbing herself against him.
«If you say so...»

✩✩✩

«And this, is LightingClan's territory»
Flameshines concluded, pointing at the opponent territory with the tip of her tail

Butterflypaw had taken the time to memorize everything her mentor had shown her, even if deep down, she found it was a lot to remember. Following the flamboyant red deputy on the way back, they came across the hunting patrol, which was made up of Azuresky, CornFlower, and led by Cheetah'Step . The deputy and her apprentice stopped for a short moment to greet them, before continuing on their way and finally arriving in front of the vines curtain

«I would like you to go remove the elders ticks now » Flameshines ordered her apprentice as soon as they had crossed the curtain that led them to the camp. Go ask BrambleLeaf for some mouse bile,

« Do I really have to?» Butterflypaw questioned, pretending not to be disgusted.

«Removing ticks from elders is an apprentice's chore, even if it's not a fun activity to do,» her mentor tried to explain to her. «Now go!»

The apprentice nodded, without protesting, and trotted off to find Brambleleaf in her den, Dustpaw being there too.
« I need mouse bile for the elders ticks,» said the blue-eyed she, as she entered.

« I'll bring this to you right away,» declared BrambleLeaf as she went to get the bile that the apprentice needed.

The medecine she cat then reappeared a few seconds later, a ball of bile-soaked moss rolling between her paws.

« I would advise you not to take it in your mouth or you will have bad breath,» said the brown medecine she cat, as soon as Butterflypaw was about to hold the mossball in her fangs.

«Rather roll it with your paws like I did earlier, then as soon as you have finished removing the ticks from the elders, you will wash your paws at the watering- hole. Mouse bile doesn't smell like a rose»

« Okay BrambleLeaf, » meowed Butterflypaw, turning back, the mossball rolling between her paws

✩✩✩

The pale redhead apprentice applied the bile to LongFoot's fur.
«Stop moving or I'll rip your hair out!» She addressed to the old black tom, who was wriggling in all directions

«You could ask me more nicely,» the elder grumbled as Butterflypaw removed the rest of his ticks.

Once her task was done, Butterflypaw rushed to clean her paws at the watering hole, as Brambleleaf had told her. The apprentice then raised her head towards the sky, the moon was soon at its zenith, Brambleleaf and Dustpaw must undoubtedly be at MoonStream.
The pale red cat trotted off to join her mentor, who was just in the process of designating the felines who would attend the midnight patrol.
«I'm done with LongFoot ticks,» she declared.

« And what about TulipStem's?»

« I already checked, she doesn't have any»

« Very good, you can go to sleep now»

Butterflypaw thanked the deputy with a glare before slipping into the apprentices' den, and curled up in her nest, felling into a deep sleep

✩✩✩

«Is it still far away?» Moaned Dustpaw, «my paws hurt so much from walking!»

«We're almost there,» BrambleLeaf who was next to the apprentice, reassured him

The apprentice did his best to continue, during the path that led them to the Stream, a ton of questions had gone through his head

Why did he absolutely have to become a Medecine cat?

Was he really destined to follow this path?

Did Brambleleaf think she made the right choice in taking him on as an apprentice?

What did HurricanFur say to Agilestar?

It was at this moment, that the brown-haired apprentice came to a conclusion. Once they arrives at Moon Stream, he will ask his ancestors for answers.