The dawn patrol stirred in their nests, and Emberpaw watched them go. First came Lightningclaw, then Thymetail close behind her, then Marigoldclaw, and finally Brokentail. Leopardstar must be really worried about RiverClan still, he thought, for the patrol consisted of two of the finest fighters in ThunderClan. Brokentail appeared to be the patrol's leader, with Marigoldclaw as his support. "We'll check Sunningrocks twice on this patrol," he was saying to the patrol. "RiverClan's been silent and I don't like it. We need to be more vigilant."

"I can scout ahead if you'd like," Thymetail offered, but Brokentail shook his head.

"No, we need the three of you. If we get attacked, you need to be the one to run back to camp. Our runners are tired from patrolling all day yesterday, and you're the swiftest of the four of us, and the least likely to trip. You'll be our messenger if you smell trouble, got it?"

Thymetail nodded, and Emberpaw thought he saw Lightningclaw twine her tail with his.

"Are we ready to go?" Marigoldclaw pestered the silver tabby. "We're wasting daylight."

Brokentail nodded. "Let's move." As the patrol turned to leave, he finally took notice of Emberpaw. "Oh, there you are, Emberpaw. Good to see you up early."

Emberpaw nodded. "Can I help with anything?"

"Have you checked on Nightface and the elders?"

"Yes, I did. Whitewhisker needed a mouse, but everyone else was fine."

"Good boy." He nodded appreciatively, and a glow of pride filled Emberpaw's tiny chest. "Go see if Beechfur and Goosepaw need any herbs. Take Goosepaw with you if they do, we're still doing things in pairs until this trouble with RiverClan is officially over."

Emberpaw's tail swished proudly, and he twitched his ears. "Yes, I understand. I'll go right now."

"Good job. When I come back, we'll practice the hunter's crouch again today. Have you been working on it outside of our lessons?"

Emberpaw nodded enthusiastically. "I'm trying my best to get it, I really am."

"I know you are." He swished his crooked tail nervously, letting it hit his hind legs. "I apologize for how rude I've been to you about it. I hope we can work past that."

Emberpaw's yellow eyes glowed and widened with joy. "Yes, we can!" He coughed and smoothed his chest fur. "I-I mean, yes, we can."

Brokentail twitched his whiskers. "Good. I've got to get going. I'll see you later."

"Yep! I'm looking forward to it!" Emberpaw watched Brokentail slipped through the gorse tunnel and pratically danced on the tips of his toes. Maybe Brokentail didn't hate him, after all! He cast a look over to the elders' den and caught Whitewhisker giving him a knowing smirk. He dipped his head happily at her, then turned to the medicine cat den. It was a lovely shrub with blue berries growing off it, and had been supported by thorns and bracken so there were walls to keep out the chill - and, more importantly, to keep enemies from raiding the den of its precious herbs.

Emberpaw slipped through the entrance, bowing his head. "Beechfur? Goosepaw? It's me, Emberpaw."

Beechfur was sleeping in the middle of the den, a few large, oily-looking leaves on top of his head. He jerked up at the sound of Emberpaw's voice and blearily looked to the entrance of the den. "Hm? Oh, oh, Emberpaw, hello." He shook the leaves off his head and stretched his whole spine, clawing at the earth as he heaved his hindquarters into the air. "What can I do for you?"

"Brokentail sent me. I was wondering if you needed any more herbs in your store? I can help you collect them, if you like."

"Just a minute, let me check." He picked up the leaves and put them in a small crevice in the thorny walls. He beckoned with his tail as he looked at a wide array of berries, blossoms, and herbs. "Come in, make yourself at home."

Emberpaw took a tentative step inside, looking around. He hadn't been inside this den since Duckkit went to StarClan, and it still gave him the chills. As he looked to his right, Goosepaw was snoozing peacefully in a grassy nest in the corner of the den.

"Hmm, hmm, hmmm," Beechfur was musing as he pawed through their stores. "Well, we could always use some more cobwebs, and a little tansy wouldn't hurt. A pinch or two of wild garlic might be good to have around, too. Oh, and feverfew, but hm, it's still blooming, so that might be unwise to pick now..."

"If we don't have at least some feverfew now, we won't be prepared for an outbreak," Goosepaw yawned, shaking her long fur out as she sat up and started to groom herself. "We don't have to pick all the feverfew in the forest, you know. Just enough to have for an emergency."

Beechfur shot her a downright nasty look, and Emberpaw raised a paw nervously. "Well, if you're so in tune with the forest, why don't you tell me exactly when it will bloom so we don't kill any of our future blossoms?"

"We're killing them whether or not we pick them at all, mousebrain."

"Mousebrain, I've told you this hundreds of times - the blossoms need to bloom properly so their seeds spread and there can be more next year. If we pick them now, while they're still blooming, they won't spread their seeds!"

"And we don't have any feverfew in our store right now!" Goosepaw protested, getting her back up. "It's better to have a few buds in our den than to have none!"

Beechfur snarled, and Emberpaw crouched to the ground as the two siblings got nose to nose. "You idiot, you never think ahead! You've got to think about what happens in future seasons!"

"And you never think in the present!" Goosepaw growled, lashing her tail furiously. "You're so far in the future that you forget that there could be an emergency now! I'm not saying we shouldn't think about our future plant stores, but I am saying that we need to be prepared for what can happen at any second!"

Beechfur growled, narrowing his green eyes, so like Goosepaw's. His white tailtip twitched irately. "If you want to handle your medicine cat den like that, be my guest, but it won't happen 'til after I'm long dead!"

"You mean like how I still haven't gotten my medicine cat name?!" Goosepaw caterwauled. "There have been warriors made and killed before I've been named, Beechfur! I'm older than some of the warriors we have now, and you still won't even consider naming me! I've earned it by now, I deserve to have my full name!"

"You'll get your name when I think you've earned it, not when you do! You're not ready!"

"Why? Because I'm your baby sister and you have to 'protect' me? Sky flash, Beechfur: I am a grown adult! I can take care of myself! I'm just as capable as you are! Even Leopardstar says that I deserve my warrior name! I can't believe you're still being like this!"

"Maybe if you weren't such an idiot that needed such constant coddling, this wouldn't be happening in the first place!"

"Coddling?!" Goosepaw hissed, lashing out with a paw at Beechfur, striking him just across the nose. Emberpaw scooted out of the den in reverse, looking just as shocked and horrified as Beechfur did as he collected the crimson drops of blood on his paw pad. "That's it. I'm done. I'm going to take Emberpaw with me to get feverfew and den grass. You take care of your medicine cat den without me."

The gray-brown tabby stamped out the den, practically knocking Emberpaw off his feet as she left. "Come on, let's go," she mewed gruffly, slipping through the gorse tunnel before the tortoiseshell apprentice had any time to think. He blinked slowly, staring in shock at her. Did Goosepaw really just strike her mentor, her brother, hard enough to draw blood? It seemed impossible, but there it was. He had witnessed the whole thing.

He cast a nervous glance at Beechfur, staring glassy-eyed at the empty space that Goosepaw had occupied. He whispered something too quiet for Emberpaw to hear, especially with the blood pounding in his ears, and turned to his stores, tending to his minor wound in silence.

"Emberpaw, come on," he heard the medicine cat apprentice call from outside camp, and he bolted out through the gorse tunnel. What a day this was turning out to be, and it had barely even started!