Chapter 3

Ravenpaw's tail lashed in dismay when she realized what she had just said. She didn't know where that came from, or why. All she did know was that every cat was staring at her in shock. Firestar's eyes widened in alarm when he saw that most of the Clan was expecting him to say something. Ravenpaw's claws kneaded the ground in anxiety as she wondered what would happen next. Surely Jayfeather would argue against her action? But another part of her wanted to train as a medicine cat. She wanted to become an important part of ThunderClan, and to do that she would either have to become a leader or a medicine cat apprentice.

"Well...I suppose if that is what you want to do." Firestar sounded confused as he spoke. "Very well. Jayfeather, do you believe you are ready for an apprentice?" When the gray tabby simply nodded, Firestar swept on, "Then Ravenpaw will become your apprentice. I expect you to pass on your knowledge of herbs to Ravenpaw." Jayfeather dipped his head and approached Ravenpaw. She half-expected him to sniff for her, but he knew exactly where she was standing. Her pelt burned in surprise when he brushed his muzzle against her own.

"You're making a mistake," he muttered.

"I know what I'm doing," she hissed.

Her head ducked in embarrassment as the meeting drew to an end. The warriors were muttering to one another after they sat together. Ravenpaw knew that they were talking about her sudden change in plans. Her ears flattened as she thought of something sharp to say to them. She couldn't help what had happened - something had overcome her need to become a warrior.

"Can we see the territory now?" Ravenpaw's ears flicked when she heard Stripepaw ask the question. Her mentor, Birchfall, was still whispering urgently to Spiderleg and Foxleap. Both cats blinked and nodded to their brother before leaving him alone. "I wanna see the territory before sundown!"

"Alright calm down mousebrain," Birchfall muttered. "Go find your nest first and then we'll leave."

"Why don't you go with them," Jayfeather grunted. "Leave me in peace for a while before you get back."

Ravenpaw watched him disappear into his den, tail lashing from side to side. She felt as though he was pushing her away. Part of her was thankful - it made her stronger in the long run - but she was angry that he didn't have faith in her decision. Her lips curled in annoyance as she turned to face Birchfall and Stripepaw.

"So, are you going with us?" Stripepaw asked. When Ravenpaw nodded, she gave a tiny bounce of excitement.

Her tail dragged across the sandy clearing as she padded after her sister. Birchfall led the way through the thorn tunnel, ignoring the thorns that pricked at his fur. Ravenpaw wondered how he could stand the sharp thorns that snagged on her pelt. She hissed in frustration when a thorn got snared on her ear. Stripepaw looked over her shoulder and stuck out her tongue.

I won't let this get the better of me, Ravenpaw thought angrily.

Eventually she managed to get the thorn out without causing much trouble. The commotion had sent a flock of sparrows flapping away. Ravenpaw looked up to see a few clouds stretched across the sky, while the sun itself had risen to it's fullest height. Birchfall was already leaving the area, heading towards what sounded like a stream running in the distance. Ravenpaw's tail twitched as she followed him. The scent of moisture in the air told her that rain was on it's way.

"This trail leads to the WindClan border," Birchfall explained calmly. "You'll sometimes find them hunting in the forest on their side of the border." His lips were curled in disgust at the mention of WindClan cats hunting in the forest.

"Don't WindClan cats hunt in the moors?" Ravenpaw asked.

"We do when prey is scarce." Birchfall stiffened when the sneer came. Ravenpaw's fur bristled when she saw a dark gray tom standing close to the border. A brown and white tom stood beside a ginger tom with white paws, who had a younger cat standing in the distance. "We also claim territory when we need to," the dark gray tom added.

"You will do no such thing today," Birchfall snarled.

"No...it would be foolish to risk the lives of your apprentices," the dark gray tom meowed. "But one of these days we will need to expand our territory. Our Clan gets larger with each passing moon. I'm sure yours does as well." His blue eyes gleamed when he watched Ravenpaw's expression. She lifted her chin and curled her lips, aware that any wrong move could lead into a deadly battle. Suddenly the senior warrior's tail lashed as he faced his companions. "We don't have time for the likes of your kind," he sneered. "We'll make sure your apprentices don't cross the border."

Birchfall watched with wary eyes as the warriors disappeared over a hill. The gray and white apprentice cast a look over his shoulder before following them. Ravenpaw's tail lashed from side to side in annoyance when she realized how close they had been to a battle.

By the time they were gone Ravenpaw's nerves had gotten the better of her. Her hackles stood on end as she thought of what could have happened on the border. She flinched when Stripepaw pressed against her comfortingly.

"That could have been worse," Stripepaw whispered. "At least he didn't challenge Birchfall."

"Did you see the way he looked at us?" Ravenpaw's whiskers trembled as she rose to her paws. Birchfall was leading them away from the stream, and she was thankful for that.

"He wasn't looking at us," Stripepaw murmured. "Besides, we should be worrying about the forest, not what WindClan is up to."

"But...it felt like he was waiting for us to attack," Ravenpaw whispered. "His eyes were so dark and..." She broke off when Birchfall looked over his shoulder to watch them.

"Instead of chattering why don't you listen to the noises of the forest?" he growled. "The forest is filled with prey, if you know where to look."

Ravenpaw followed his advice, though she didn't know why. She should have searched for herbs while she was out. She just didn't know where to look or what to look for. Jayfeather hadn't told her which herbs were important to the Clan, or where the best place to search would be.

Soon a large oak tree loomed into view. Ravenpaw could hear the claws of squirrels scraping against the bark of the tree. Instinct told her to look for the source of the noise, but she kept still as she waited for Birchfall to explain what the tree was.

"This is the Sky Oak," he meowed when he stood in front of Stripepaw. "As you can see this is a great place to look for squirrels, if you know how to climb. And that leas me to another problem - don't climb the sky oak unless you're experienced. Cats have fallen in the past, and it isn't pretty when they do."

"Do they break their legs?" Stripepaw's mew was filled with fear as she looked at the massive tree.

"They can if they fall from a good height," Birchfall replied.

Ravenpaw pressed against her sister comfortingly. She could feel the fear in Stripepaw's heart as her sister gazed at the tree.

"We won't do something so reckless," Ravenpaw murmured.

She was relieved to see Stripepaw nod in agreement. The three cats continued moving away from the Sky Oak, only to hear the sounds of cats fighting. Ravenpaw's pelt bristled in alarm. She looked at Birchfall, but he remained icily calm.

"Don't worry, that's the training hollow," Birchfall said as they approached what looked like a scoop in the land. Sand covered most of the clearing, and surrounding it were shrubs and bushes. Blossompaw and Hazeltail were still out, much to Ravenpaw's surprise.

"Hey Birchfall, showing the new apprentices around?" Hazeltail suddenly stopped her hunter's crouch, giving Blossompaw time to collide into her chest. Hazeltail glared at her apprentice before she looked back at Birchfall.

"Yep," he replied. "Stripepaw's my apprentice. Ravenpaw is...Jayfeather's." He barely whispered the medicine cat's name, which infuriated Ravenpaw.

"Jayfeather's apprentice?" Hazeltail stared at Ravenpaw in disbelief. "Why in StarClan's name would you want to be the apprentice of that cranky cat?"

"She wants to feel important to the Clan," Stripepaw answered for Ravenpaw. Ravenpaw shot her a glare before giving her chest fur a lick of embarrassment.

"There are better ways of becoming an important part of the Clan," Hazeltail pointed out.

Ravenpaw's ears flattened when she realized that Hazeltail was right. She couldn't understand what had overcome her need to become a medicine cat. Something had forced her to say those words, and that something seemed to take over once more.

"I want to train as a medicine cat," she hissed.

"Okay okay, don't get your tail caught in the burs," Hazeltail muttered. "Good luck with them, Birchfall," she added crossly.

Birchfall dipped his head, though he glared at Ravenpaw as he padded past her. Her ears flattened once more as Stripepaw brushed against her. There was concern in Stripepaw's eyes, but her sister refused to say anything. Ravenpaw knew from how she thought that Stripepaw was afraid she would snap at her as well.

"That was cold," Stripepaw whispered once they were out of hearing range. "Did you have to treat her like a pile of foxdung?"

"I...I don't know what came over me," Ravenpaw admitted sheepishly. "It felt like someone had told me to say it."

"It was strange that I couldn't read your thoughts at that moment," Stripepaw mewed. Her eyes clouded over in confusion. "Do you think it's a message from StarClan?"

"If it is then maybe we should talk to Jayfeather about it," Ravenpaw replied. "He seems to have a paw in StarClan already."

"Okay, so after this we can ask him," Stripepaw told her. "We can't just ignore this."

I wish I could, Ravenpaw thought angrily. She knew that Stripepaw was only concerned for her safety, and rightfully so. She couldn't imagine what had taken over her, and she was afraid to find out. For the safety of the Clan she would ask Jayfeather.

A/N: Don't get too comfortable with the longness of these stories. They'll get shorter unfortunately :( But anyways, thanks ImXDragon and Starlit Lili for reviewing! Next chapter should come out later today if I keep listening to Gaelic Storm and The High Kings :D Highly recommend them by the way, awesome Irish Folk groups!