I'm really sorry that this chapter was put up so late. I actually wrote it shortly after the prologue, but I wanted to get a friend to read it and she took a very long time getting back to me. Chapter two's already written, though, and I'm just waiting for the same friend to read it over (which shouldn't take nearly as long this time).

"Get up, Stormpaw. Beechstar's called a meeting."

Two green eyes snapped open, and a black-and-gray she-cat picked herself up from the moss that was strewn across the floor of the apprentices' den. "I'll be there in a second, Larchpaw," she meowed groggily, and began to lick her ruffled pelt. The golden head currently poking into the ferns withdrew.

"Well, you'd better hurry up, unless you want to be left out of the battle," Larchpaw meowed from outside the den. Stormpaw froze in her licking. The battle! She had completely forgotten. Without even bothering to finish cleaning herself, she pushed her way out of the den into the hollow.

A dark brown she-cat was standing on the branches of a twisted thorn tree that sat at one end of the camp. Her brilliant green eyes were trained on Stormpaw as the she-cat emerged into the hollow, but as Stormpaw watched they narrowed and flickered over all the cats gathered below her. Once Stormpaw had seated herself next to Larchpaw, Beechstar cleared her throat and began to speak.

"As you all know, the battle with Slash's cats is today," she meowed, referring to the brown tabby that had intruded upon the Gathering three nights before and the cats that had come with him. "This will be the toughest battle we as Clan cats have ever had to face. Slash's cats are not restricted by any sort of moral code. They can - and will - kill you." She paused to let the words sink in as the cats below her murmured anxiously to one another. When they fell silent, she spoke again. "We have been training every cat in the Clan these past few days, but even that may not be enough to stop Slash's cats. If we fail -" the she-cat paused to look over all the cats assembled before her - "if we fail, then the remaining SkyClan cats are going to have to leave. Daypelt will be in charge, then, as the youngest elder." She nodded at the tortoiseshell she-cat sitting near the back of the assembled cats. "If Slash's cats are getting the better of us, we will send a cat to warn you. You will be responsible for taking the kits and the rest of the elders out of the camp. Go for the plains beyond RiverClan territory, then see if you can head north and reach Highstones. If not, stay where you are. We will try to reach you after that, if we can." These ominous words sent a thrill of fear through Stormpaw. She couldn't imagine that their leader would die - the she-cat was a terrific fighter and was well-known for her skills in battle. But here she was talking as if every warrior in SkyClan would be defeated. Stormpaw swallowed nervously.

No. It won't come to that, she told herself firmly. The Clans are going to win. They have to win.

"I am taking every warrior and apprentice in SkyClan, as well as the queens. Creampaw and Breezepaw will stay behind. Creampaw can't very well fight with an injured leg, and Breezepaw will stay to care for her. Everybody else, come see me by the camp entrance." The brown she-cat jumped down from the tree and padded over to the edge of the hollow. Instantly the warriors and apprentices padded over to her, melting away from Stormpaw to join their leader.

"Isn't it exciting?" A voice sounded by Stormpaw's ear, and she turned to see her denmate Robinpaw. The she-cat's brown fur was bristling with anticipation, and her amber eyes gleamed with excitement. "Our very first battle!"

"It's not as easy as that, though," a warrior growled; Stormpaw looked around to see Robinpaw's mentor, Raventail, looking down at his apprentice sternly. "This is a matter of life and death."

Robinpaw shuffled her paws in the grass with embarrassment. "I know that," she meowed quietly. "I just... I can't wait until we have the chance to drive those intruders out once and for all." Raventail's harsh gaze softened as his apprentice spoke, and he let out a purr as she looked up at him with wide eyes.

"Come on," he told her. "You too, Stormpaw." He turned away, flicking his tail over Robinpaw's pelt as he went. Stormpaw and Robinpaw exchanged a glance, before both cats bounded forward to gather by Beechstar. Stormpaw found herself standing by Larchpaw and her mother, Snowpelt; the white she-cat, noticing her arrival, bent down and licked her ears. Her gaze was shadowed with worry for her kits. Stormpaw shared her fears; after all, she, Larchpaw and Creampaw had only been made apprentices a few days before, and now they were going to fight in a battle that could potentially destroy the Clans.

"Good luck," Snowpelt whispered. "StarClan knows you're going to need it." Stormpaw twitched her ears at this. Her mother was right - she and Larchpaw were going to need all the luck they could get. They hadn't been training long enough to know any advanced battle techniques, and they were about to fight ruthless cats who had been fighting their whole lives. Her stomach twisted at the thought. What can I do, if I can't fight them properly? I'll die if I try.

"I'm not letting my kits go into battle."

Stormpaw blinked. The speaker had been her father, Rowanfur. She turned to look for him and saw him facing Beechstar, his dark ginger fur bristling slightly. Beechstar looked over at Stormpaw and Larchpaw, silently assessing the strength of the two apprentices. "They've only been training for a few days," Rowanfur insisted. "They wouldn't be able to do much damage to an enemy warrior. In the thick of battle it would be difficult for them to tell which cats are Slash's and which are Clan cats. It'd be all too easy for them to get injured..." or even killed, thought Stormpaw, finishing Rowanfur's sentence with words he did not dare speak aloud.

"We need all the cats in the Clan at this point," Beechstar pointed out. "They would still be able to inflict damage on the other cats, damage that would weaken them enough for our warriors to finish them off."

"So you would rather sacrifice their lives for some wounds on the opponent?" Snowpelt put in quietly. Beechstar and Rowanfur turned to face her. Beechstar looked as if she were about to say something, but Snowpelt continued. "I'm not risking the lives of my kits for that! They can help protect the kits and elders back here."

Beechstar stared at the white she-cat for a long moment. Finally she dipped her head. "You're right," she admitted. "Stormpaw and Larchpaw do not have to fight. However, they do have to help Mousefoot bring his herbs up to Fourtrees."

"That's fine." Snowpelt's voice was little more than a whisper.

"The other apprentices should already be in Mousefoot's den," Beechstar went on. "You can go ask to carry his herbs." Stormpaw nodded and bounded away, Larchpaw close at her heels. In a way, she was glad that she had been freed from fighting, but at the same time she felt as if she'd let down her Clan by not fighting for them. But Rowanfur and Snowpelt wouldn't let us go into battle, she reminded herself. I didn't do anything wrong.

She slowed to a walk as she approached Mousefoot's den, which was under the roots of an oak tree on the edge of the camp. A tiny stream ran by, just beyond the tree, allowing patients easy access to drinking water. Stormpaw looked down at the roots; a large hole yawned from their base. "Mousefoot!" she called through the opening. A gray head poked out of the hole.

"Stormpaw? Larchpaw? What are you doing here?" the medicine cat asked.

"Beechstar said we need to help you carry herbs," Larchpaw explained. Mousefoot blinked.

"Oh, in that case, come in. Be careful not to step on Creampaw, though." Stormpaw purred with amusement, and then slipped into the darkness at the base of the oak to enter the den. It was larger than Stormpaw had originally thought. Herbs and leaves were packed into every available crevice among the walls of the den, and the air was strong with their scent. The other SkyClan apprentices were already in the den. Breezepaw was passing them leaf bundles from piles on the ground, and as Stormpaw stood there Mousefoot padded over to the pile and picked a few up in his teeth. He padded over to the apprentices and, putting the bundles on the ground so that he could talk, told them "Pick them up extremely carefully - we don't want them splitting open before we even get to Fourtrees." Stormpaw nodded, and reached forward to take one of them. Unable to talk, she looked over at Larchpaw before padding forward to leave the den. For the first time she noticed Creampaw; the cream-furred apprentice lay in the shadows next to the entrance of the den. Stormpaw nodded to her before she pulled herself out of the den and dropped the bundle, waiting for the other apprentices and Mousefoot to come out.

Slowly the apprentices tricked out of the den: first Larchpaw, then Robinpaw, then Rainpaw and Wildpaw, and finally Redpaw and Tigerpaw were padding out of the den, followed closely by Mousefoot. The medicine cat padded over to join the battle party. Stormpaw picked the herbs back up and went to join him.

"Are we ready?" The words were Beechstar's. The rest of the Clan howled in approval.

"Good. Then follow me." Beechstar leaped up and raced away through the camp entrance, the rest of the warriors at her heels. Stormpaw found herself running alongside Larchpaw; neither apprentice could speak for the herbs in their mouths, but just being next to her brother gave her renewed energy, and the she-cat did not seem to tire as the cats flew over the border and into ThunderClan territory. No cat was going to accuse them of trespassing today. The situation was too serious for fights with the other Clans.

Unaccustomed to running through the thick forests of ThunderClan territory, Stormpaw found herself tripping a lot over roots and branches. Once she almost dropped the herbs she was carrying, but she managed to grab them before they hit the ground and continued running, pushing her legs faster to keep up with the SkyClan warriors. How do ThunderClan stand it? she thought to herself. I'd go mad if I had to live under trees all the time!

Eventually the Clan slowed to a stop, above a large hollow in the center of the forest. This must be Fourtrees. Stormpaw stopped alongside Larchpaw, her legs shaking and her heart beating wildly. She was exhausted from the run, but she would fight LionClan to protect her Clan if she had to. Mousefoot turned and twitched his ears; instantly the apprentices broke away from the rest of the Clan to follow him. He padded around the edge of the hollow, to another, much smaller dip in the ground where the other medicine cats were already waiting. Their own apprentices milled around them, chatting quietly, nervous at the prospect of the battle. Mousefoot padded down to join them, and the SkyClan apprentices followed.

"Stormpaw, once the battle starts, you will stay and help me," he meowed, looking right at the black-and-gray she-cat. Stormpaw twitched her ears in confusion, and dropped the herbs so she could explain.

"But Beechstar said I was going to go back to camp with Larchpaw." Stormpaw tilted her head. She didn't know a thing about herbs, and she feared that if she ever tried to help drag an injured warrior from battle that one of Slash's cats would attack her. Mousefoot frowned as she spoke.

"Can you ask her if you can stay here to help?" he asked. Stormpaw's whiskers twitched self-consciously.

"I-I guess so," she stammered, and backed out of the hollow. She turned once she had left and ran over to where the Clan cats were still waiting to begin the battle. "Beechstar!" she whispered once she had drawn near to the SkyClan leader. When Beechstar turned to look at her, she mewed, "Mousefoot said I needed to stay to help him during the battle. Is that all right?" Beechstar twitched her ears; Stormpaw guessed she wasn't happy that Mousefoot had chosen their least experienced apprentice for the battle, but she wasn't going to contradict him.

"All right," Beechstar conceded with a sigh. "But be careful. Slash's cats aren't going to avoid you because you're not fighting. Try as much as you can to stay out of the fighting."

Stormpaw dipped her head. "I will, Beechstar." She turned and trotted back over to the other hollow. When Mousefoot looked up questioningly, she meowed, "Beechstar let me help you."

Mousefoot let out a purr. "Good. Then come down here, and I'll show you how to use these poultices.."

He never finished showing her how. A loud yowl rang out through the forest, and Stormpaw heard an familiar voice command, "SkyClan, attack!"