Squirrelflight realized something as she walked out of the den into the clearing. She was about to take Emberpaw to the training hollow, but as she walked around to the apprentice den, she realized her sister, Starpaw, could never be leader, her name would not allow it. What was Sandstorm thinking when she named her? Squirrelflight wondered. Daisyfur's kit might have had a point, she was stuck with her sister, and her other sister was stuck as a warrior without a chance as a deputy. Lost in thought, Squirrelflight ran into Dustpelt's apprentice, Cinderpaw. As Cinderpaw stumbled, Squirrelflight remembered what she was leaving the den to do.
"Hey, Cinderpaw, do you want to see if Dustpelt will let you come training with me and Emberpaw???" Squirrelflight asked, so long as Whisperkit doesn't interfere.
Dustpelt agreed and so he, Squirrelflight, Emberpaw, and Cinderpaw went to the training hollow. Before they left, Squirrelflight noticed Brambleclaw walking up the path towards Firestar's den. "One mintue, I will be right there, just meet me at the entrance." Squirrelflight yelled his name and Brambleclaw turned around. He walked over to his mate and flicked his tail when he saw Whisperkit coming nearer, the kit immediately went towards her mother.
"What is it?" Brambleclaw fretted. Squirrelflight returned, "Brambleclaw, have Firestar change Starpaw's name. She'll never become leader or deputy!" It was clear that Brambleclaw understood so he nodded and went up the path, as he had been before, and disappeared into Firestar's den. With a blink of satisfaction, Squirrelflight met up with the apprentices and Dustpelt. As they padded through the entrance, Emberpaw noted that she smelled a pecular scent.
"Squirrelflight, what's that smell?" She mewed. The other three cats sniffed the air, Cinderpaw recited, "TwoLegs! Stale, about three days old." Emberpaw stared in amazement at the older apprentice. The dark gray she-cat stared back and the gaze was broken by a sudden, piercing meow. "Over here!" Emberpaw and Cinderpaw looked around, realizing that they were alone and their mentors were not there. Cinderpaw sniffed the air, it would not be long now until she was a warrior with the speediness of which she learned. Daisyfur had given in to training and had trained along-side Cinderpaw, and therefore, Cinderpaw learned quickly and helped teach Daisyfur. But at that moment, Cinderpaw realized something was in the air, a scent that was new. A scent that was fresh, but that she had not smelled before. Emberpaw's whiskers twitched and she remembered when she had run through the back of the nursery while playing with Silverpaw and Barkkit. "Cinderpaw, it's a TwoLeg pet. It looks like a weasel, but it acts like a kittypet."
"You mean a ferret? One of the warriors found one, they asked what it was and it said it was a ferret. Brambleclaw found it." Cinderpaw said to her clanmate. This interested Emberpaw, and she thought of how Barkkit would have enjoyed it, but she brushed it off her shoulder and walked forward a little landing face-to-face with the ferret.
"Who are you?" Emberpaw asked the little ferret. The ferret stuttered, "Please, please don't eat me! I am just a ferret, my name is Hermit." Emberpaw liked this, the ferret was not too big, actually it was quite small. "Don't worry," Emberpaw said. "I won't hurt you, my name is Emberpaw." She prodded his head with her paw, begging Cinderpaw to let her keep him. But there was a problem, Cinderpaw was not there. Emberpaw looked around and sniffed the air. She smelled fresh ThunderClan scent near a rotting log, "Squirrelflight!" Squirrelflight had blood running down her shoulder, and Dustpelt was not far off, fighting off a RiverClan warrior that traveled over the boundary line. Emberpaw knew who the cat was. What is Mothwing doing on our side of the boarder? Emberpaw wondered.
"Mothwing?" She called to the MedicineCat. The two cats stopped fighting and the WindClan cat walked over to the young apprentice.
"I came over here to talk to Leafpool, I saw a rougue attack your sister and I went to help, but furball over here," Mothwing gestured towards Dustpelt who backed down slightly at mistaking the MedicineCat for the rougue. "decided it would be better to make sure I wasn't hurting his friend. I understand though, that Cinderpaw went to fetch Leafpool." As if on cue, Leafpool and Cinderpaw wandered out of the brambles, Brambleclaw and Jaypaw following them. Jaypaw started making a paste while Leafpool checked the wound. Emberpaw sniffed the air, she smelled more RiverClan scent. Mistyfoot was among them, and that meant only that RiverClan needed ThunderClan- and fast.
"Cinderpaw, Brambleclaw, Dustpelt, I will be right back." Emberpaw bounded off without a reply. She traveled through brambles and brush, arriving in the clearing just before the RiverClan warriors. "Firestar!" The young apprentice yowled. Without another word, there was rustling in the clearing.
"Sandstorm! Firestar!" It was Leafpool.