This may seem like a pointless chapter, but it ties in a lot with the story's plot. Please review! Thanks everyone who did!!!

Chapter 6

Flightkit stepped closer and lowered her voice. "Falconkit went missing! I think he went out in the forest!"

"What?!"

"Flightkit, what are you talking about? He couldn't have! He's probably hiding, or playing a joke on you!" Cloudpaw growled.

Flightkit cringed. "He wanted to prove to Eaglekit that he could catch something."

Cloudpaw sighed. I used to be like that. My sisters were, and still are, bigger than me, and better at some things. I can understand why Falconkit did that. "Okay, does anyone else know?"

Flightkit nodded. "My brothers. They didn't know what to do, and they didn't want to get themselves or Falconkit in trouble. They said to ask you for help."

"Why me?"

Flightkit lowered her green gaze to the moss on the ground. "Well, they say that you're…a really nice apprentice, and a great…role model for them to follow."

Cloudpaw was immediately filled with a swell of pride. Him! Over his sisters! "Um, thanks."

"It's true…" Flightkit trailed off.

"Come on, let's go find Falconkit before he gets into trouble," Cloudpaw muttered. "I think we should get Dewpaw to come with us."

"Okay," Flightkit mewed reluctantly. "I didn't want any more cats knowing, but, I guess we should."

Cloudpaw quickly roused his sister and explained everything. After a moment of hesitation, she agreed to help them.

"Come on, we'll have to sneak out of camp," Cloudpaw mewed.

"There's a break in the camp barrier behind the nursery," Dewpaw reminded him. "I'll lead the way."

Cloudpaw nodded. "Okay. Let's check near the stream first," he added quickly. He and Dewpaw shared a glance, saying, Skykit. Their mother's brother had snuck out of camp and drowned in the stream. It was still a sensitive subject for Feathercloud.

They squeezed through a gap in the brambles, their pelts getting tangled and dirty.

Dewpaw shook her fur and led the two others toward the stream.

Cloudpaw glanced at Flightkit worriedly. Her tail was quivering with anticipation, and her fur was bristled. "Are you okay?"

Flightkit looked up at him, her green eyes wide. "I've never been out of camp before…Falconkit must be scared. He could be lost!"

"He probably is," Dewpaw scoffed from ahead. "I picked up his scent, it's going around in circles."

Cloudpaw heard Flightkit mutter something about a stupid kit and flick her tail irritably. He let out a small purr and scented the ground where Dewpaw motioned to. "You're right, Dewpaw. We have to follow the trail."

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

"I'm so tired!" Dewpaw yawned, stretching her leg. Then she curled up in her nest, beside Cloudpaw. "I've got to admit, that was kind of fun."

Her brother nodded in agreement. "Yeah, but if we had been caught, who knows what Smokestar would've done to us?"

Dewpaw purred at the thought. She could picture Smokestar, the usually gentle and kind leader, lashing his tail furiously and confining the two apprentices to camp, or making them clean out all the dens. "At least Falconkit got back safely." She purred again, remembering finding the ginger tom huddled in a holly bush, scared but proud. He had caught a measly mouse, but hadn't been able to find the way back to camp. Both Dewpaw and Cloudpaw had made it a point to tell Falconkit, "Never do that again, or we'll tell Smokestar next time!"

Cloudpaw nodded, then yawned. "I wonder where Cloverpaw is? It's gotten pretty late."

"And Lightpaw?" Dewpaw wondered. Cloverpaw could've been out training. Maybe Lightpaw was talking to Frostpaw. "Well, in any case, I'm worn out!" She curled her tail over her nose and sighed. "That was a good day. I got some hunting done, a little battle training, and a little adventure, all in one day!" She yawned again, until her eyelids finally grew heavy and drooped. "Good night, Cloudpaw."

Cloudpaw only grunted from beside her. No doubt, he was already asleep. Dewpaw purred to herself and fell asleep.

(Did anyone notice the POV change? From Cloudpaw to Dewpaw!)

~oOoOoOoOoOo~

Dewpaw stretched, flexing her legs and yawning at the same time. She looked around and saw that Cloudpaw was the only other cat left in the den. I should wake him, she thought.

Then she heard Hazelstep calling her and hurried out into camp. He'll have to wake himself.

Hazelstep rushed over to her, her tail twitching. "Dewpaw, didn't I tell you we would go on border patrol in the morning?"

Dewpaw shook her head, yawning again. "I'm sorry." She vaguely remembered her mentor telling her to get rest for the dawn patrol.

Hazelstep sighed. "Well, we have to go, and there's no time for you to get anything to eat. Come on, we can hunt afterward."

Dewpaw sighed, hearing her stomach grumble faintly. Then she padded after her mentor, where Shadowclaw and Dawnheart waited.

"Hi, Dewpaw," Dawnheart said, a bit dully.

"She's finally awake," Shadowclaw grumbled, flicking his tail crossly. "We've been waiting all morning."

Hazelstep sighed. "Not all morning, but long enough." She turned to Dewpaw and mewed, "Come on. We already decided to patrol the ShadowClan border first, then WindClan, and finally RiverClan. Then we'll go hunting."

Dewpaw nodded.

Shadowclaw flicked his tail and led the way out of camp. He took them on a main trail, which led to the ShadowClan border. He glanced back once in a while to make sure the three others were following.

Dewpaw yawned as she stumbled after the patrol. She nearly tripped over her own paws, and Hazelstep glanced at her with an exasperated expression.

"Dewpaw, pay attention. You wouldn't even know it if a ShadowClan patrol ambushed you," she reprimanded.

Dewpaw nodded. "I'm sorry, I'm just not feeling myself today. I'm sure I just need to wake up." She shook her fur and sighed.

Hazelstep peered at her apprentice. "Are you alright? Maybe you're sick. You should head back to camp and let Mosspelt or Frostpaw check you."

"No, I'm okay," Dewpaw said hastily, stifling another yawn. "I'm sure of it, I'm just a little tired, Hazelstep."

When Hazelstep narrowed her eyes, she added, "Please, I'm okay!"

"Fine," the grey warrior sighed. "Just pay more attention, and keep up."

Dewpaw nodded and began following at a more brisk pace. Dawnheart peeked back at her curiously, but didn't question her.

At the ShadowClan border, all seemed well until an enemy patrol approached.

Dewpaw could spot the golden pelt of Sunnypaw, the ShadowClan apprentice she despised, and her mentor, Rustyheart. Along with them was Bearfoot, a young brown tomcat.

Rustyheart narrowed his eyes as he approached. "Why are you so close to the border?" he hissed. "Are you trying to steal our land?"

Shadowclaw stiffened. "That's your job!"

Dewpaw cringed. Both Shadowclaw and Rustyheart had fiery tempers. This can't go well, she thought. At least Shadowclaw had held his tongue and not insulted the ShadowClan cats.

Sunnypaw saw Dewpaw and her eyes narrowed, but she didn't say anything.

Dewpaw looked up at Rustyheart, whose green eyes were smoldering with anger. He looked as if he would attack! Instead, he spat, "Shut up, ThunderClan filth!"

Shadowclaw snarled and took a step forward.

"We're not doing anything wrong!" Dawnheart protested. "We were just checking the border!"

"That's right," Hazelstep confirmed.

Dewpaw nodded, feeling as if she should add to that.

Sunnypaw rolled her eyes and glanced at her mentor expectantly.

Rustyheart hissed. "I have eyes, and it looked like you were about to cross the border! Are you trying to start another battle? Do you think you'd be lucky enough to win again?"

Shadowclaw rolled his eyes. "Of course we'd win. Besides, we weren't looking for a fight, we're just here on patrol." In a low voice, he muttered, "Stupid cat."

Rustyheart bristled.

Bearfoot stepped in, his ears flat. "So did you come here just to throw insults at us?"

Shadowclaw glared at him for a moment, then turned and began to stalk away. "We don't have time for this! We ThunderClan cats like to border our patrols and hunt, instead of picking unnecessary fights like you lazy fleabags!" The other ThunderClan cats began following him back into ThunderClan territory.

Dewpaw glanced back once and saw Rustyheart wearing a look of sheer anger on his face. She heard him yowl, "Oh, so you came here to throw insults at us, then run away like kittypets!"

Dewpaw cringed when Shadowclaw snarled and leaped back toward the border. Uh-oh. Now what?

"Say that to my face!" he roared. Rustyheart only sneered.

Hazelstep quickly followed him and pleaded, "It's not going to help, let's just go. Ignore them."

Shadowclaw glared, as if wondering what he should do, then listened to his daughter and turned around. He glanced over his shoulder, then raced deeper into ThunderClan territory.

Dewpaw had to run quickly to keep up with him. Finally, they reached the WindClan border. Dewpaw, panting, sat down to rest for a minute as the warriors checked the border.

"Everything's fine," Shadowclaw announced, his voice gruff. "Come on, on to RiverClan."

As Dewpaw followed the patrol, her thoughts wandered back to Feathercloud and Thorntail. What did Feathercloud want to tell us that Thorntail didn't? Is he really our father? None of look at all like him! She jumped when she heard a sharp mew. Looking around, she realized that she was standing by the RiverClan border, and Shadowclaw had mewed.

Dewpaw gazed across the stream and made out the form of Swiftbird, the RiverClan medicine cat. She was with a light brown she-cat, Lilypaw, the medicine cat apprentice.

Swiftbird, a ginger and white she-cat, strolled over toward the border, but staying a distance away. Lilypaw stayed where she was. The ginger she-cat dipped her head. "Hello. I was just collecting herbs. My supply of coltsfoot is low."

The ThunderClan cats nodded respectfully. No matter of what Clan, all medicine cats were honored.

"We're just on a border patrol," Dawnheart mewed.

Swiftbird nodded. "So I can see." Then, she seemed to notice Dewpaw for the first time. A small gasp escaped her mouth, and she stared at the young apprentice.

Dewpaw looked up at Hazelstep for guidance, but her mentor wouldn't look at her. Instead, she stared at Swiftbird, almost pleadingly. Shadowclaw was looking away, and Dawnheart had the same expression on her face as that of Hazelstep.

Swiftbird finally regained her composure and coughed nervously. "I, um, my apprentice is waiting for me." She flicked her tail, motioning to Lilypaw, then took a few steps back, her green eyes still resting on Dewpaw. Finally, she turned and padded back to where Lilypaw was waiting.

After a moment of silence, Shadowclaw said quietly, "Let's head back to camp." His voice wasn't impatient, or demanding. It was a serious, sober mew.

Dewpaw's pelt prickled. Had she done something to upset them? As she padded back into the forest, away from the stream, she glanced back once and saw Swiftbird gazing at her intently. Her pelt bristled and she turned away, wondering what all that had been about.

This chapter wasn't very long, but still very meaningful. For those of you who have already read the right path 1, you can probably kind of predict what is going on. anyway, hope this is more of a cliffie. Please give me feedback! Tell me what you think, what you think will happen, anything! Maybe even who would make a cute couple! Anything!