The sparrow hopped from branch to branch on the bush, ruffling its feathers. Moonpaw prowled around the shrub, unsure how to approach it. Her assessment was nearly done, and she had only caught two other pieces of fresh-kill. Moonpaw recalled Wingfoot telling her that one cat could scare an animal out of a bush while another waited for it to emerge, but of course Moonpaw was hunting alone. Maybe she could lure it out. She stalked away until she found a nut under a tree root. Then she placed it by the sparrow's bush and hid in a patch of thick grass. The cool stalks pressed uncomfortably on her sides, but after a while her body warmed them, and the grass became a shelter from the bitter cold. Moonpaw's heart soared as the bird fluttered down to the food, but then it crashed when she realized that the sparrow was facing her. She could reach it in a single bound, however, it was so small that Moonpaw wasn't sure she could snatch it if it flew away. She flexed her claws angerly. Her tail flicked with impatience until she remembered that Crimsonpelt had reminded her just yesterday not to do that when hunting. Finally the bird circled around the nut, pecking at it. It had its back turned just enough. Moonpaw pounced. The grass was relatively noiseless as she sprang, but the sparrow jerked up anyway. It was just starting to take flight when the tabby hooked it with her claws. She forced it to the ground with such force that its spine broke- a clean kill. Moonpaw anxiously gazed at the sky. Twilight! She hurried back to camp.

"Not bad for your first assessment," Crimsonpelt purred. "But you were a little late in coming back."

"Sorry," Moonpaw grumbled. She didn't think it was such a big deal.

"But I did a little bit of hunting, so this should be enough to feed the elders."

"Did I pass?" Moonpaw asked.

Crimsonpelt smiled. "Yes. You did great, actually. Your technique when you caught the blackbird was flawless."

Moonpaw glowed. "Can I go to the next Gathering?"

"The next Gathering- that's a while from now! You went to your first only half a moon ago- and you've only been training for just over two moons. Brackenstar will choose who goes. I'm going to report your progress to Brackenstar. You go take food to the elders."

Moonpaw scooped up two of her catches into her jaws and held the other one under her chin, like Crimsonpelt taught her.

"Hello!" Scareye said, poking his neck out of the elder's den. "Is that a sparrow?"

Moonpaw dropped it by his feet. "Here you go!" She pushed it towards him.

Scareye sniffed it and glanced at the other elders. "There won't be enough for all of us if I eat it all myself."

"Oh," Moonpaw said. "Crimsonpelt caught some prey too. I'll fetch it."

When she returned, the cats eagerly divided the prey up among themselves.

"Burnclaw can have this blackbird." Mothstep pushed it aside.

"Where is Burnclaw?" Moonpaw asked. The red-brown tom was too old to go on walks very often.

Mothstep looked confused.

"She's been away for her assessment all day, she wouldn't know," Logtail pointed out. He turned to Moonpaw. "Burnclaw has whitecough. He's with Twigpelt."

"Briarkit and Thrushkit have it too," said Tansywhisker.

Moonpaw's eyes widened. "I'll take him the blackbird right away!"

The elders always sheltered under a bush, but one of the walls of their den was a stone with a huge crack in one side. Twigpelt kept his nest and herbs there, so it only took Moonpaw a moment to bring the prey there.

"Silver," Twigpelt murmured. "What do you want?"

"You came to see us!" Brairkit said. She coughed. "How was your assessment? Did you catch that crow?"

Moonpaw set the fresh-kill down. "I did catch it, but it's a blackbird. No cat can catch a crow, they're too clever. And I brought it for Burnclaw."

"Thank-" Burnclaw broke off into coughing.

"How much fresh-kill did you get when you were hunting?" Briarkit mewled.

"Quiet!" Twigpelt hissed. "Thrushkit is sleeping."

Moonpaw gazed down at the pitiful bundle of tortoiseshell fur. "How is he?"

Twigpelt sighed. "He'll be alright, I think." He turned to Briarkit. "You, however, won't get better unless you get some rest."

Briarkit flopped on her nest, but hardly relaxed. "Please tell me what happened, Moonpaw."

"If you're very, very quiet and you go to sleep after I'm done," Moonpaw said. Briarkit nodded. "Good. I caught three pieces of prey. A sparrow, that blackbird, and a shrew. Crimsonpelt said I passed the test, and he's telling Brackenstar how I did."

The ill kit smiled. "How long till you become a warrior?"

Moonpaw sighed. "Pretty long. About four moons."

"I'll be an apprentice in two."

"Yes." Moonpaw paused. "It's late. I better go."

Moonpaw stretched her forepaw. Just a little bit farther. She snagged the branch and pulled herself up. She looked down at Crimsonpelt, panting.

"Good work," he said. "That's enough climbing practice for today." The silver apprentice worked her way down the chestnut tree. Only a few more fox-lengths to the ground. She leapt onto the next limb. She thought it was sturdy, but it wildly swayed and sagged under her weight. She hastily jumped off before she could lose her balance, but misjudged her leap and awkwardly landed on the next branch. The tabby lost her grip and plummeted to the earth. There was no time to turn so that she landed on her paws. She crashed against a branch and flopped to the ground. Crimsonpelt raced to her side."Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah," Moonpaw panted. She tried to get to her feet. "Ow!" Her hind leg felt like a thorn was driven into it.

"You're bleeding!"

"I must have hit that branch too hard."

Crimsonpelt licked the wound. "You can almost see camp from here. Lean on me, you can make it."

Moonpaw staggered back to camp, but her scrape was bleeding heavily. "Come on," Crimsonpelt urged. They walked to the medicine cat's den.

"Then I told Mallowtail, 'ThunderClan will never have SkyClan's land!' He hissed at me and lunged-"

"What are you doing here, Jumpfoot?" Crimsonpelt meowed.

"Just telling my daughter some stories." His gaze landed on Moonpaw's cut. "StarClan! What happened?"

"I was just climbing-"

"Oh, dear. What was I thinking, you're here to see Twigpelt, not chat. Twigpelt!"

The brown-furred tom emerged from the back of the den. He didn't look happy. "You don't need to yowl. How was I supposed to treat Burnclaw with you screeching like I'm all the way at Highstones?" He pulled some marigold leaves off a stone ledge and began chewing them into a pulp.

"Don't I need cobwebs first?" Moonpaw said.

Twigpelt spat the salve onto an oak leaf. "Of course you do! I didn't have any cobwebs since Lightningfur chased that rogue off the territory."

"But you treated him four days ago!" Crimsonpelt lashed his tail.

"And Burnclaw and the kits have been sick for seven. And now that Gingertail and Tansywhisker have colds, I've been too busy even with Jumpfoot's help."

Jumpfoot never seemed like the medicine type to Moonpaw. "He's been helping?"

Jumpfoot licked Thrushkit's ear. "Only today. I told Berrydapple that I would visit the kits, so she could go hunt with a friend. I've been fetching some things, as I'm here and all. In fact, why don't I gather some cobwebs?"

"Jumpfoot!"

"I'll finish the story later, Briarkit. Anyways, Berrydapple should almost be done hunting with Mistblossom. She'll drop by to see you."

Twigpelt sniffed the air. "Here they come now."

"Bad news!" Berrydapple panted. "The river is completely frozen! RiverClan won't be able to fish."

Twigpelt hissed and unsheathed his claws. "Wonderful. Let's hope that they don't realize how weak we are right now."

Crimsonpelt rose to his paws. "I'd better go hunting before those fish-faces get to it first."

"Can I come with?" Moonpaw asked.

Twigpelt shook his head. "Not with that scratch."

"I'm going to tell Brackenstar the news." Berrydapple licked her kits farewell and followed Crimsonpelt out of the den.

Jumpfoot trailed after her. "We're going to need cobwebs more than ever if there's going to be a battle."

Mistblossom lashed her tail. "RiverClan better mind the border."

Great, thought Moonpaw, the Clan needs me more than ever now. Of all the times to get a scratch!

Yay, another chapter done. Secrets to be revealed (well, actually, hinted at) next time! Remember to reveiw!