Flickerpaw woke up at the crack of dawn, his mentor said that he needed to start waking up early, which didn't really seem that big considering he already did. Flickerpaw didn't know what to think of Newtfur, he seemed okay and the fact that he was trained by Smallrapid made him feel better. Newtfur did seem to share his enthusiasm for oddities.

"Hey Doveclaw can I leave to explore the territory?"

The she-cat got up and looked at him with fury.

"If you wake me up again this early I will line my nest with your teeth."

"You shouldn't threaten the cats who hunt for you."

"I'm the one who decides what herbs you eat so you might want to shut up unless you want to eat deathberries."

Flickerpaw took that as a sign to leave before she decided to change her mind over him being allowed to leave camp. He walked over to the entrance and waited for Newtfur.

The sun was rising when Newtfur finally walked up with Gorsestar and a tired looking Mumblepaw and Lionpaw.

Gorsestar fluffed out his fur and spoke. "We'll use this as an opportunity to patrol the borders for any signs of an attack."

Flickerpaw felt that it was unnecessary to patrol the border considering the dawn patrol already returned but that was for the leader to decide.

"We'll go north and patrol the border with Thunderclan and you and Flickerpaw should head south, got It Newtfur?"

Newtfur nodded. As they walked south Newtfur pointed out several notable landmarks such as several dents in the land caused by collapsing tunnels or a singular tall tree growing on the moor.

"There's an old legend Smallrapid told me about that tree."

Flickerpaw looked up to Newtfur. "Really what is it?"

Neetfur walked towards the tree and began talking. "There's an old cat named Forestsight, He did several deeds in his life some good and some bad. He died in a battle that could've been avoided, now normally these cats would go to Starclan, but Forestsight refused seeing Starclan as corrupt and a waste of time. However he refused to join the Dark forest as well due to obvious reasons, Forestsight decided to stay where he died for as long as he could in defiance of death. They say his life force eventually produced a sapling where he died and it grew into this tree you see right here, standing in defiance of the wind and storms."

"Wow, that's uh quite the story."

"Thanks!"

Flickerpaw flicked his ear in thought.

"I wonder if his spirit is still there?"

"I guess it would have to be, kind of curious whether it was a real story or not."

"If it was then I might consider that third option of just standing around forever."

"Very interesting."

"Thanks!"

They continue walking, seeing the lake shore and the gathering island, and eventually arrive at the old twoleg barn.

"Two legs used to live here along with weird four legged creatures named horses until they left this territory."

"Wait left completely?"

"Yep, the only person I've known who's seen a twoleg is Moorstar's father."

"Wonder why they left?"

"If I knew why I would go find them."

Flickerpaw stared at the barn where Smallrapid said a battle had started beginning Windclan's dominance, he narrowed his eyes to see if he could see any remnants of a battle, he squinted trying to glimpse as much as he could. He didn't see much but he did see red stains, but he couldn't tell if it were blood or the old faded color of the barn. Suddenly he saw a flick of a black tail in the barn window before vanishing.

He moved to head towards it before Newtfur called for him.

"Flickerpaw what are you doing we need to meet up with Gorsestar and Mumblepaw.

He wanted to keep exploring but he had to listen to Newtfur. While he's awake that is.

—

Mumblepaw trotted along side Gorsestar as they chatted.

"I'm excited to have you as an apprentice Mumblepaw."

"Really why?"

Mumblekit was surprised, most of the time the only cats that were excited to see him were Smallrapid and sometimes Flickerpaw. One time he came to greet his mother only for her to ignore him. In fact his mother had refused to talk to him for the past few days no matter how hard he tried.

"You seem troubled, Mumblepaw, and I want to help you. While most people doubt you I can see that you have promised to be one of the greatest warriors possible.

"You shouldn't get your hopes up."

Gorsestar stared at him sadly before turning away. "I promise it'll get better."

"Do you really believe in me?"

Gorsestar placed his tail on Mumblepaw's shoulder "I promise."

—

Dandelionpaw felt someone grab them by the scruff and pull her out of the nest. She quickly turned to claw whoever dared to wake her only to see Sunleaf.

"If you're planning on being better than your brothers then you need to get up early."

"I don't see why I'm already better than them."

Sunleaf hissed and cuffed her ear.

"We don't speak of clanmates that way, now get up we're patrolling the entire territory and then we're helping the elders."

By the time they got back and deticked and ran to fetch moss for the elders, she felt like she would die and her legs felt like they would snap in the wind.

Sunleaf looked at her with a fierce look in her eyes.

"C'mon you need to get back to the camp to report the patrol to Hawkfeather."

Dandelionpaw felt tired and really didn't want to report it back, she didn't see why Sunleaf insisted on putting her through this."

Sunleaf glare softened, as she spoke.

"Dandelionpaw your a good cat but I'm going to be honest, your full of yourself. You need to learn respect for your clanmates, but it won't be enough for you to be a better cat they'll expect you to work harder for your previous behavior."

Dandelionpaw clawed the earth.

"I haven't done anything wrong, I am better than Mumblepaw, I'm destined for greatness I know it."

Sunleaf just sighed, it appeared that Dandelionpaw would be more difficult than most apprentices.