Here's another chapter for you! Unfortunately, I won't have a new one out for a good long while. School starts for me next week and I have to go through the usual preparations. Well, I'll let you read the chapter now.

"Do you feel any pain, Frostpaw?" Hawkpaw asked me as she massaged my right shoulder.

I hissed as her paws reached my collarbone. "Yes," I said through clenched teeth.

Hawkpaw continued massaging the rest of my body, but I only could feel the dull pain from my shoulder. "You have no broken bones or sprains," she assessed after she had finished. "Any pain your feeling is probably left over from having to relocate your leg yesterday. It's nothing serious. However, you should probably refrain from hunting or fighting until your shoulder is better. Remember to tell that to your mentor, and come back tomorrow so I or Lilacbreeze can see how you're healing."

"Alright," I replied. I stiffly walked out of the medicine cat den. Outside, I was met by the comforting sensation of patchy morning sunlight falling on my coat. Although I loved trees because of the shade and safety they provided, I enjoyed basking in the sunlight. The warmth from the sun's rays allowed me to forget the ache in my shoulder and the unusual conversation I had overheard last night. Which reminded me, I needed to find Blossombreeze.

I checked the warrior's den first, and found her there sleeping. After tiptoeing around two toms who were sleeping at the entrance of the den, I nudged my mentor's side with my nose.

Even that small prodding was enough to send Blossombreeze jumping to her paws. I was knocked off my paws as she flew from her nest. She looked around frantically, but calmed down when her eyes settled on me. "Oh, it's just you, Frostpaw," she said in relief. "Are you ready for your first day of training?"

"Hawkpaw said I can't hunt or train yet since my shoulder is still sore," I informed her.

"Well then, how about we go take a nice stroll along the border?" she suggested. "We'll take it slow and easy."

I nodded. We crept over the two sleeping toms headed towards the exit of camp.

"Showing your apprentice the territory?" Treefall asked as us when she saw us leaving.

Blossombreeze nodded. "We'll make sure to be careful around the NightClan border," she added.

Treefall nodded and turned to leave. Briefly, I wondered what she and Brightstar did when they stayed in camp. They rarely left camp, especially Brightstar, who rarely left her den unless there was a clan meeting or a gathering. Treefall also could usually be found in the camp most days. I had noticed this many times as a kit, but now that I was apprentice, I had a chance of having my questions answered.

After we had walked a few paces from camp, I opened my mouth to talk to Blossombreeze, but she laid the tip of her tail against my mouth to silence me. "Wait," she whispered as she continued walking.

I followed Blossombreeze silent and patiently. We traveled on a similar route that I had followed the battle patrol on. "Like all of the clans, our borders reach as far as the plants grow," Blossombreeze lectured as we walked. "Over here is our eastern border, which ends where the trees do. Our scent markers are only strong here to make sure the NightClan don't try sneaking around the borders in the clearing."

"Blossombreeze."

"Yes?"

"I thought we were going to talk about last night," I said. "It was… scary."

Blossombreeze stopped walking and turned to face me. "How much did you hear?" she asked.

"A lot of it," I admitted. "I woke up and heard you talking, and when I went to the den Brightstar was blaming you for me being hurt. But it wasn't your fault! Treefall said that all the warriors and apprentice needed to come!"

"Treefall wouldn't have let you come near the fight if she knew that you weren't with me," said Blossombreeze, though something in her voice made me doubt her words. "I'm usually on the night patrol, and I forgot that I needed to wake up early to train you. It was my mistake."

"But I was the one who went out of camp!" I protested.

"But as your mentor it's my job to keep you safe," Blossombreeze said firmly. I opened my mouth to protest again, but she cut me off. "Don't argue the point. Just, be more careful next time. Wait until you've had at least a moon or two of training before you try fighting in any battles."

"Alright," I replied glumly.

Blossombreeze nodded and continued walking. "You're already familiar with the clearing. Technically, it is part of the NightClan's territory, but they rarely leave the safety of their rocks just like we rarely leave the safety of our forest. Often, this is where most of our battles take place since it's the closest thing we have to neutral territory. Unfortunately, we rarely win battles that take place outside of our territory. Don't say that around others though, since Brightstar and Treefall don't like when we speak about our defeats."

"Blossombreeze," I interrupted her.

"Yes?"

"About last night…" I waited for her reaction before I continued. She nodded, so I kept going. "Brightstar said the NightClan was led by toms—"

Blossombreeze winced. "Don't think too much about what Brightstar told me," she said.

"But—"

"Frostpaw, you're too young to understand everything that's going on," Blossombreeze told me. "I promise, I'll teach you everything you want to know about Brightstar and the clan, but you're only an apprentice, fresh out of the nursery at that. You're too young to learn and understand some of these things. You have plenty of time to learn, remember that."

"Okay," I said reluctantly. I really wanted answers right away, but Blossombreeze made it pretty clear that she wasn't going to understand them right now. With my ears flat and my tail dragging behind me, I followed my mentor as she continued showing me the borders. I was glad that she took me through the places that were relatively level and clear so I wouldn't hurt my shoulder trying to go over or under obstacles.

"Over here, the trees are smaller and grow closer to the rocks of NightClan. This is a very dangerous place to patrol since there's not enough cover to hide in," Blossombreeze warned me.

"I thought we were supposed to defend our territory from the NightClan," I said.
"Not hide from them."

Blossombreeze shook her head vigorously. "We may defend our territory, but those NightClan cats are much bigger than we are. Also—" She looked around the area with her ears alert before continuing. "The NightClan know how we treat toms in our clan. Some NightClan toms wouldn't hesitate to inflict extra injury on LilyClan she-cats like us."

"But we didn't do anything to anyone!" I exclaimed.

"They don't know and don't care," my mentor replied. "This is the trouble that our clan is in. The NightClan plague us for our injustices, but their frequent attacks only add fuel to the fire." She sighed. "But that's life for us. All we can do is cope the best we can."

"Why don't we just tell Brightstar she needs to stop being mean to toms?" I asked.

"No!" Blossombreeze said sharply. "Don't talk to Brightstar unless she speaks first, and even then keep your answers brief. Don't tell her anything that's negative to her or the clan."

"But why?" I asked. "The clan seems pretty bad, and Brightstar is mean."

Blossombreeze sighed. "Just listen and obey," she said. "Remember, you'll learn more things over the moons of your apprenticeship. Be patient and obedient until then, alright?"

"Sure," I said reluctantly.

"I want you to promise me that you'll obey every order I give you," said Blossombreeze sternly.

"But why?"

"Frostpaw," she said in a stern growl.

"Fine, I promise to obey every order you give me," I vowed.

She nodded. "Now, let's continue exploring the territory," she said. "Is your shoulder okay?"

I moved my right foreleg around in circles. "It aches a bit, but I'll be able to keep up," I assured her.

"Then follow me."

She led me through the trees, which continued to diminish in size. I was surprised. Although I had never been outside of camp before, I had always expected that the trees would be thickest in the center of the valley. Instead, I saw more small shrubs, and I could smell something that was unfamiliar and smelled earthy.

"We won't go any farther in this direction because of your shoulder," Blossombreeze told me as she came to a stop. "Beyond us is the swamp. All three clans border the swamp, but no clan has claimed it as their territory. I've heard that the NightClan and RoseClan hunt there during harsh leafbare, but Brightstar doesn't allow us to hunt there even if we're starving."

"Isn't that kind of dumb?" I asked. "If we need to eat, shouldn't we do everything we can to find fresh-kill?"

"Actually, Brightstar is smart in this decision," said Blossombreeze to my surprise. "We don't have much water on our territory, so we don't know all of the dangers the swamp has, and we don't know how to catch prey that live in the water. There is also the other clans to worry about. They wouldn't hesitate to fight us for hunting rights, and they know how to fight opponents in the water. We wouldn't stand a chance.

"But that's not the half of it. Dangerous snakes slither through the swamp. They're difficult to see and hear, and impossible to smell over the odor of the swamp. They strike fast and efficiently. They've killed full-grown warriors that strayed too far from dry land before.

"And then there's the swamp itself. While our small size makes it easy for us to hide, it makes us more vulnerable to the mud."

"But how can mud hurt us?" I asked. "It just sits there."

"Yes, but we can fall into the mud," Blossombreeze informed me. "Sinking into swamp water can drown us, but we can swim to the surface. Swamp mud is different. The mud clings to fur and it doesn't move as easily as water. Although we don't sink fast, it's almost impossible to escape from the swamp once we're stuck in the mud."

I shivered. "I'll make sure to stay away from it then," I said. I was relieved when Blossombreeze took me in another direction. I could see a cluster of bushes that smelled like the LilyClan, NightClan, and another scent that I guessed was the RoseClan.

"Over in those bushes is the gathering place," Blossombreeze informed me. "Since it's outside of the tree line, it's technically on RoseClan territory. However, they don't usually patrol this small piece of territory between the trees and the gathering place because it's not rich with prey."

"The RoseClan smell strange," I commented as I wrinkled my nose. The NightClan also smelled different from my clanmates, but they smelled like moss and mountain breeze, which I was familiar with. The RoseClan lacked the smell of plants I was used to.

"They're territory is much open then ours, so you're probably smelling the rabbits they eat and the open air they live in," Blossombreeze told me. "The RoseClan aren't as aggressive as the NightClan, but they still are a rival clan. Aside from the Gathering, you shouldn't spend time around them.

"Whose side do they take?" I asked

"You mean in our feud with the NightClan?" I nodded. "Neither. They don't get involved in fighting unless it's brought to their territory."

"Is that good or bad?" I asked.

"That depends," Blossombreeze replied. "On one paw, we don't have to worry about them attacking us unprovoked. On the other paw, we can't rely on them for help if the NightClan stray a little too deep in our territory."

I nodded.

Blossombreeze pointed her nose father west. "This is the RoseClan border," she informed me. "As usual, our territory stretches as far as the tree line. However, there are a few sparse trees on the RoseClan's side of the territory. Apprentices sometimes cross the border by mistake while hunting prey. Be careful not to make that mistake. Once when I was an apprentice, the RoseClan decided that they had enough of apprentices crossing the border and lied in wait for the next one careless enough to do so. Brightstar was furious, and declared war on the RoseClan for the entire moon. However, by the next Gathering she realized that it was impossible to fight the other two clans at the same time even if they weren't actually allies."

"Brightstar seems hot-tempered."

"Like most of our clan, she's extremely fierce," Blossombreeze said in partial agreement. "Sometimes this is a strength, and sometimes it can be a weakness. That is why she has a deputy and medicine cat to balance her when she makes decisions."

"But don't they always agree with her?" I asked. "I've never heard of them disagreeing with Brightstar."

Blossombreeze purred. "You're smart for your age," she complimented me. "To answer your question, no, they do disagree on issues. However, they do it out of the public eye to give a display of unity. Unfortunately, Treefall's assertiveness and loyalty doesn't keep Brightstar in check. Lilacbreeze isn't much better. She's very temperate, so she doesn't bother to agree with Brightstar unless it's a really major issue."

I frowned. "Is there anything good about our clan?" I asked.

"There are many good things about our clan," said Blossombreeze as she continued walking. "We're agile and very good at hiding. On our territory, we're untouchable and can ambush our opponents at will. We're the only clan that climbs trees well, so we're the only ones who can ambush our opponents from above. No clan is better than us when it comes to tracking and disguising our scents since we're used to distinguishing scents in the thickness of the forest."

"But doesn't that mean we're only strong on our own territory?"

Blossombreeze shook her head. "No, it only means that we're strongest on our territory," she said. "There's a difference. Each clan is strongest in their own territory, it would be silly if they weren't. Even outside of our territory we still have our agility and strong senses. Remember that."

I nodded.

Blossombreeze fell silent as we approached camp. "Take the rest of the day off," she told me. "If your shoulder is better tomorrow, then we'll start your physical training."

I nodded again. I sighed in relief as we ducked into camp. I hadn't wanted Blossombreeze to know, but my shoulder had cramped up painfully on the return trip. I wanted nothing more than to head straight for the medicine cat's den. However, Treefall met us immediately upon our arrival.

"Did you two have a pleasant stroll around territory?" she asked us, though her eyes were focused on me.

"I showed her our borders," Blossombreeze replied with a nod.

Treefall's golden eyes bore into my blue-green ones. "Did you enjoy it?" she asked me directly.

I nodded frantically. "Blossombreeze also told me about our clan's strengths," I added.

Treefall nodded in approval. "Good work," she said to us, but I could tell that this was directed more to Blossombreeze. The brown she-cat stalked off to Brightstar's den, leaving us alone.

"You'd best go to Lilacbreeze for that shoulder," said Blossombreeze with a knowing smile when Treefall was out of earshot.

I looked at her in surprise. "How did you know?"

"You walked more carefully and favored your left side more than you did when we first left camp," she replied. "That's why we didn't cover the far side of our border with the RoseClan. Next time though, just tell me. I'm not going to cuff your ears because you're in pain. Now shoo!" She cuffed my ears playfully as she gave me a small push towards the medicine cat den.

I hope this chapter was up to your expectations. As you can see, this story is starting off with some really slow pacing. It'll speed up eventually, but not until the place is well established. I don't want to lose you guys.

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