Author's Note: Hello, I have figured out the plot for this book so expect the next chapters to be full of... I honestly don't know what to put there xD.

Chapter 13:

Something was prodding my ribs I woke up to see who was doing that. It was Littlepaw, he went to Birchpaw and did the same thing. I got up and looked around the den Stormpaw wasn't there.

"Where is Stormpaw?" I asked Littlepaw.

"Today while you guys were sleeping Nightfur and Flowerpaw came and picked him up. He is being treated in the medicine cat den."

"Ok, is he doing well?"

"Just as bad as yesterday, and he may be even worse." he said. He looked away at the last word. I looked out the den. The storm wasn't there. The sky was gray because of all the clouds. There wasn't that much to see except white. I could see the tree's trunks but I couldn't see most of their leaves because of the snow. The rock where the clan leader usually has his meeting is just a miniture hill of snow.

"Has any warrior woken up?" I asked.

"A patrol went out a couple of hours ago. They still haven't came back."

"Ok, I think I might ask Redstar to go on a patrol to help."

"Can I come too?" Birchpaw asked.

"Me too." Littlepaw said after her.

"Of course! Why not!" I said. We went out of the den to see most of the clan deserted. Most people must be inside the dens I thought. Whenever we walked our paws sank so deep into the snow that half of our bodys were covered in snow. We finally reached Rockstar's den and we came in. Rockstar was already awake. He was talking with Flamepelt and they both looked at us when we came in.

"Uhh, hello what brings you here so early?" Rockstar asked.

"We just wanted to see if we can go on a patrol so we can help our clan." I replied.

"Flamepelt, what do you think?"

"That would be wonderful!"

"Thank you! Who will be on the patrol?" I asked.

"The warriors are already out, even your mentors. So I guess you three would be enough. Make sure to catch some prey and don't cause trouble."

"Ok we won't." I said. We walked out and bounced excitedly. Even Littlepaw who's brother is sick is excited. We walked out and passed the tree-trunk bridge. We went into the place where Minnowtail showed me how to fish. The trees began to thin out and the river began to appear. It was all frozen with gray blue ice.

"Fish Poop! The river is frozen we can't fish!" I complained in frustration.

"I know a trick to fish in these circumstances." Birchpaw said.

"Really!"

"We can try to cut some ice off with our claws. Then some fish might want to come and see why some ice disappeared and we catch them!"

I thought about it for a little and realized how useful that might be. Wow she is so smart I thought to myself. Birchpaw was waiting expectantly then I finally broke the silence.

"That would be a great idea!" I said.

She went to the edge of the water making sure not to go on the ice and unsheathed her claws. She began to cut the ice me and Littlepaw went to help her. After a couple of minutes we cut the ice.

The ice we cut sank to the water and water replaced its place. There were dark fish shaped silhouttes on the water and we took turns catching the unlucky fish that were dumb enough to fall in our trap. In total we each cought two each which was plentiful. We couldn't carry them all to camp so we had me stay and protect the fish while Littlepaw and Birchpaw took a fish at a time to camp. On the third trip I went back with them. We walked into camp with everyone staring in amazement at our catches.

I grew hot with embarrasment, and everyone crowded us asking for how we caught the fish. Finally I spoke to answer their questions.

"Birchpaw made an amazing idea! She told us to cut the ice and then the fish would come and see what was going on and we would catch the unlucky few."

Everyone was still amazed and asked for more details. Birchpaw was looking down in embarrasment and I walked to tell Rockstar about Birchpaw's idea and how he can tell all the warriors to do it. I walked towards his den but he was already coming out of it. He walked towards me and asked about what was all the commotion. I explained everything to him.

"Wow! That was amazing of what you guys contributed to the clan." He said. Then he walked away towards of what was the Meeting Rock. He climbed towards it and jumped to the top with one graceful leap. He signaled for the clan's attention and everyone gathered around to listen.

"I am sure that most of you have heard of what Moonpaw's patrol did." his voice rang out clearly around the camp. Everyone was nodding since they had heard about it, then he continued. "I must tell you that although what they did might have provided us with prey it will not keep us full." Everyone yelled in rage thinking that their leader had gone mad. Rockstar waited till everyone was done and continued. "Leaf-bare is when we don't hunt as prey since they are all hiding. Conveniently that is when they begin to breed and produce more prey for us to eat in New-Leaf. If we killed more of them then we would have much less prey in New-Leaf and we might not have that much food." After he finished more cats began to understand what he was talking about and they quickly apologized for yelling at him.

"Therefore this technique is not to be used much in Leaf-bare. I must admit that it was pretty helpful but it will have negative consequences if we use it every day."

"What if we are extremely out of food? Won't we have to use this method?" Longfur, an elder pointed out.

"Good question, every year there is a time in Leaf-bare where the river thaws a little. We can fish at that time, if we don't have that much prey then we can use this method once per every two days." Rockstar replied. He lept of the Meeting Rock and went to Flamepelt and told him to organize patrols. Flamepelt didn't put us three in a patrol instead he told our mentors to check our skills. Minnowtail, Waterclaw, and Swiftstream walked up to us.

"Today, we will test your hunting, battle, and tracking skills." Minnowtail informed us.

"Also, if you guys haven't eaten go do so, today will be really hard." Swiftriver said. Littlepaw nodded and Birchpaw and I soon followed. We shared two fish for all three of us and we went back to our mentors waiting for us. They were chatting about where to take us for the assessment and they decided we will go to where most Riverclan apprentices train for battle with all the obstacles.

"Alright, Littlepaw you fight Birchpaw." Waterclaw said once we reached the training grounds. Littlepaw nodded and walked to the left side of the clearing and Birchpaw went to the opposite. We were in the middle and we could see both of them. There was snow on the ground and some obstacles were hidden under the snow so it would be an extremely hard environment.

"Make sure to sheath your claws we don't want someone to be injured especially in this season." Waterclaw reminded. Then he yowled for the battle to begin. They advanced slowly in the hunter's crouch their backs down and paws tucked in ready to pounce. They reached a respectable distance and Littlepaw hissed. He pretended to jump in the air but he pulled back. Birchpaw first readied herself for the jump but then when he pulled back and she realized what happened. She tried to get back into balance but she became more unbalanced and Littlepaw lunged. He landed squarely on her back and put all his weight down. Birchpaw was crushed and he went to bite her neck but he stopped.

"Do you admit defeat?" Littlepaw said just loud enough for us to hear. Birchpaw tried saying something but she couldn't breathe because of all the weight. Littlepaw moved so she could get a breath and say something. Then all things went wild. First she began to jump and twist and roll and jump and do whatever movement she can to get Littlepaw off her back. He was thrown off balance and with a split second Birchpaw had him pinned down. We all gasped in amazement for what transpired in front of our eyes.

"Ha! I don't have to keep watch tonight you do!" Swiftriver yelled in triumph at Waterclaw. Waterclaw was shaking his head clearly regretting making the deal. Then he walked up to Birchpaw and Littlepaw.

"That was a great battle you two, and Littlepaw, I hope you learned from this." Waterclaw said.

"Ok! Moonpaw you and me!" Waterclaw called out. I looked in confusion at him but he was already walking towards where Littlepaw was. I went to where I would stand so the battle would begin.

"Good Luck, Moonpaw." Birchpaw whispered when she passed me. I nodded and I kept on walking. Waterclaw yowled to signal that the battle began when I reached the spot. He ran at full speed towards me. I ran towards him at my full speed towards him. He lunged towards me and I copied him, he swiped his paw towards my head and I ducked my head forward and down.

Since I put my head forward and ducked my weight went forward and I was facing my ground and legs were facing the sky. I pushed my tail forward and I landed on my feet. Everyone that was spectating gasped, but I ignored it and twisted. Waterclaw already regained and was already running towards me in full speed. I did the same, I ran at full speed but there was a branch hidden under the snow and I tripped. I cursed quietly and Waterclaw was already on my back. I thrashed at my full power twisting churning into all directions. I pretended to lunged back and Waterclaw put his weight forward.

At the last second I lunged forward and Waterclaw was thrown off balance. Amazingly Waterclaw recovered in amazing speed not letting me catch my breath. He advanced slowly in the hunter's crouch I sat on my haunches. He looked at me confused he shook his head and lunged. I ran to get momentum and I lunged and headbutted him in his forelegs.

He landed on my back and I landed on the ground. He tried to recover but he realized he was on my back he tried to jump off but before he did so I jumped and he went in midair. Before he landed on me I quickly ducked and he landed with a grunt. I went to pin him down but he recovered and kicked me in the chest with his forelegs. I lost my breath and he pinned me down.

"I won." he managed to say. I was aching everywhere. He left and I got up I couldn't even speak. My legs and arms were hurting and my ribs felt like they were broken. I went to the side and I threw up. Waterclaw was probably the best and most skilled cat in fighting in our clan. I looked back and he was already recovered and ready to fight again. Everyone was watching me worried but I shrugged and said that I was fine.

All our mentors showed us more skills and we fought again. I won against Birchpaw and Littlepaw but it was a close match. I tried fighting Minnowtail but Minnowtail said I wasn't ready. Finally after our mentors had showed us the last move and had us practice they said it is time to hunt.

"Since the river is frozen we might have to rely on other prey or use the technique." Swiftriver said. "Anyway, we only eat mice or birds if the river is out of fish or we can't cut the ice out." Swiftriver continued.

"So are we fishing or hunting mice or birds?" Birchpaw asked.

"Ok here is the assessment, we have already assessed you battle skills now is hunting. The hunting also includes tracking since you have to track prey. You guys will start here, and you have to catch as much prey as you can. Then you bring the prey back here." Minnowtail said. I nodded and thought about where all three of us can go to find prey then Waterclaw interrupted my thoughts.

"Also it is an individual test, you guys can't team up. Each of us will go to which one we have been teaching for three months. So basically you guys will be watched by your mentors. Ok, ready, set, and begin!" Waterclaw said. I decided to go back to the camp and fish where the tree-trunk bridge is. I walked slowly but I began to go at a respectable pace. After a couple of minutes I reached the bridge. Flametail, Graystream, Acorpelt, and Coldtail were already crossing the bridge from their patrol.

I decided it was too noisy so I went with the river. Eventually I reached the spot where Claw was swept down the river. It brought me sad memories but I kept on going. The river wasn't too frozen so I kicked it and eventually some ice cracked and there was some water. I backed up to make sure that my shadow wasn't on the river.

After a while I saw a small fish. With quick reflexes I scooped the fish up into the air. It was too slippery so I had to bite it out of midair and I dropped it behind me. I waited until I found another fish I did the same thing and I dropped it to my side. I waited until a couple of minutes. I decided to go hunt prey instead of fish since I scared them off.

I closed my eyes and let the scents drift into my mouth. I smelled something quiete familiar but I couldn't place my paws on it. I smelled a mice and I tracked it's direction it was in a bush digging something. I went into a hunter's crouch and advanced slowly. I decided to circle the bush and go behind the mouse because if I jump over the bush and try to get the mouse it would probably run off. I circled the bush and went behind the mouse.

It wasn't too big nor too small I could already see it was just feeling the effects of Leaf-bare since a barely noticeable outline on its chest was showing. It was most likely its ribs. I went into hunter's crouch and I unsheathed my claws and scratched its neck. I darted and bit it and went back to my pile of prey. Sure it was plentiful but this was on the edge of the clan's territory and there was tons of prey here.

I decided not to catch more prey since I couldn't carry them all by myself. I yowled for Minnowtail to help me carry them back but he didn't come out. I decided to carry the mice and then take the two fish. I carried the mice halfway to where we would all meet back. Then I did the same for the second fish. I went back for the third fish but it wasn't there anymore. The scent that was kind of familiar to me was stornger now and my brain hurt from trying to remember it. I went back and carried the prey and I stayed at the meeting place. Finally everyone showed up except Minnowtail.

"Where is Minnowtail?" Swiftriver asked.

"I called for him to help me carry the prey back but he wasn't there." I replied.

"That is weird, we helped our apprentices carry the prey back." Swiftriver said confused. Everyone had two pieces of prey they were all skinny and scrawny not enough to feed the kits and most importantly the whole clan. We made it back to the camp and we dropped off our prey. The fresh-kill pile had been refilled it was plentiful for everyone. The clan was resting and sharing tounges. Me and Birchpaw ate fish together and we shared tounges.

"What place did you go to, to hunt?" she asked.

"Well it was a place on the edge of Riverclan's territory, it was also the place where I first met Riverclan cats."

"Cool, was there tons of prey? Because where I went it was in the center of territory and it barely had anything I had to move somewhere else just to catch another fish."

"Yea, I originally caught two fish and a mouse but when I got back on fish was gone."

"Yea right." Birchpaw said unbelievingly.

"I am not lying,"

"No, he's not." Minnowtail said behind us.

"Minnowtail! You're back!" I exclaimed.

"Yes, there is something I had to investigate and I need you to come with me." Minnowtail said. I looked at him confused but he beckoned me with his tail and he walked towards Rockstar's den. I followed him scared. Did I do something wrong? Is it because I broke the ice to catch fish? I thought to myself. He entered Rockstar's den and I followed scared.

"Rockstar! I have figured out something and you need to hear it!" Minnowtail said immediatly. Rockstar was napping and was clearly not happy to be woken up. He got up and sat on his haunches.

"Minnowtail, what is it?" he said after fully woken up.

"In the hunting assessment for Moonpaw he caught three prey two fish and a mouse." Minnowtail said.

"Ok? It is not that important." Rockstar said.

"Well, it is, whenever he caught the prey I knew he couldn't carry them all back so I didn't help him." Minnowtail said.

"What that is a dumb reason, everyone else got help except me." I complained. Minnowtail shot me an eye and I looked down.

"The reason is because I smelled cats and I needed to be sure if they were actually there. When you left with the first fish I stayed there and I saw a cat. The cat was exactly identical to you. The cat took a fish and ran away." Minnowtail finished.

"That was Claw! That must be the scent I smelled!" I yelled in triumph. He was truly alive! I must go and see him and my parents!

"Claw, I assume is your littermate." Rockstar said. I nodded and he continued. "He is also the one that was probably stealing prey from Thunderclan's territory," Rockstar said. It makes sense now, that must be why they accused me. I have to find Claw, Red, and Fang.