Chapter One

Ashpaw stood at the base of Big Rock, the name given to a giant boulder that sat towards the end of Grassclan's territory. It was located at the foot of a cluster of large rocks, all growing in size until the Big Rock appeared, larger than the rest. He was craning his neck back to look up at his mentor, Flowerheart. She was standing on the Big Rock, looking back down at him.

"Okay Ashpaw, I want you to go to the base of the rock cluster and make your way up here. You've been an apprentice for a moon, so I think you'll be able to do it. Just make sure you follow the claw marks of your clanmates; they will lead you all the way to the Big Rock.

Ashpaw nodded and raced around to the foot of the boulders. He glanced up, suddenly nervous. He wasn't all that worried when he first saw the Big Rock, but now that he had to actually climb to it, a lump was growing in his belly.

"Okay, here goes nothing" He mentally prepared himself for a moment, and then bunched his back legs and sprang. The feeling of gliding through the air was exhilarating, as if he was flying like a blue jay. Surprisingly, he landed on the base of the first rock, and took a moment to catch his breath, which was gone due to adrenaline.

Flowerheart looked down at him. "That's it. Take it one pawstep at a time. There is no rush."

Her words of encouragement helped Ashpaw relax, and he faced the side of the next rock. This one was odd shaped, and he noticed that the right side of it was shorter than the left. He slowly approached it, and that's when his eyes caught a glimpse of the tiny scratch marks on the side of it, towards the top. Bunching his legs again, Ashpaw locked his eyes on the top of the next rock, and jumped. This time, he couldn't quite reach the top in one leap, but he was close enough to grab on and scrabble the rest of the way up. Without hesitating, he approached the third rock and, just like the last one, he located the scratch marks and used them to climb up onto the rock.

After doing this a few more times, he was finally at the last boulder. The Big Rock.

"This one is going to be a little more difficult." Flowerheart said as she sat looking down at Ashpaw, tailed wrapped around her paws. "You aren't going to be able to make this jump with one leap. Not even the biggest warrior can. It's going to take a few hops to reach the top." She used her tail to point at several notches and grooves in the giant boulder's side, which were covered in more cat claw marks. "Just follow the score marks like before, and once you start the climb up, you can't stop. You'll end up tumbling down immediately, and we can't afford to have a cat injured, not with Leaf-bare coming up."

Nodding in response, Ashpaw took a few more moments to take in the path he would use to travel to the top of Big Rock. This was probably the most challenging thing he's had to do since being apprenticed. At nine moons old, he was about halfway through his training, and he knew eventually he would have to make this climb. All apprentices did. Nonetheless though, he was vastly nervous. What if he couldn't make it up? What if he wasn't strong enough? Or worse yet, what if he fell and rolled off of the boulders and plummeted to the ground? He pushed the thoughts away, aware that he was daydreaming and wasting time. He glanced up. Flowerheart was still staring down at him, patiently waiting for him to start the ascent up.

Without overthinking, Ashpaw took off as fast as he could, and took a massive leap up to the first crevice built into the Big Rock. As soon as he connected with the gritty surface, he wasted no time in springing up to the next notch, his eyes already locked onto the spot. His heart was racing, adrenaline pumping hard. As he hit the second notch, which was slightly smaller than the previous one, he felt his paws slipping. He unsheathed his claws as he hit, and launched off again to the next spot. This landing was even more squirrely than the last, but he managed to keep focused and concentrated, and after two more hairy notches, he was finally to the top. Breathing in heavy, short spurts, he collapsed onto his flask, exhausted. Flowerheart was watching him, clearly amused.

"You did it, Ashpaw! I'm proud of you. Don't worry, as you grow bigger and more experienced, the climb will get easier. Soon you'll be doing it with your eyes closed."

"I hope you're right. That was difficult." He managed to reply between breaths.

"Usually, if the border patrol is out this direction, they will come here to get an overview of the territory. You can see around us for a long distance." Flowerheart meowed. Once Ashpaw had mostly caught his breath, he padded over to where Flowerheart was standing. Together they looked out over the territory, and beyond. "This is one thing that is great about being part of Grassclan. We get to use Big Rock to keep an eye on everything and also relax in the sunshine."

Ashpaw took in the view. He had never seen so much at one time. The sun was making it's fall through the sky, casting golden rays out towards the foliage around him. "Wow. The world really is big, huh?"

Flowerheart purred. "Oh, it's much bigger than what we can see from on top of here. But this is our home. It always will be."

"What's that over there?" Ashpaw was looking at a tiny piece of land located between the break in the stream. The stream ran through the Clan's territories, separating Grassclan and Seedclan from Waterclan. A line of massive boulders formed a natural border between Grassclan and Seedclan.

"That would be the Gathering Island." Every full moon, each clan's leader, deputy, and medicine cat would meet at the Gathering Island to discuss and share news. The clan's were peaceful with each other, and have been for many moons, so the news was easier to share without having to worry about a certain cat or clan getting upset. "If you look past it, you can see the giant cliffs on the backside of Waterclan's territory."

Ashpaw was amazed. He could very faintly make out a towering piece of earth, as high as he could see. If only he could see them up close, without having to go through Waterclan's territory, which was against the Warrior Code.

Flowerheart continued. "If you look off to the right, in between the Gathering Island and the cliffs, you can see two ponds. In between those ponds is Waterclan's camp, hidden in the middle of reeds and cattails."

Ashpaw made a funny noise. "I wouldn't want to live that close to water. It would get wet too fast."

"That is true," Flowerheart remarked, "but that is the way Waterclan likes to live. Just like how we like to live in the open, or dry land." She turned her head to look to the left. "If you look to the left of the Gathering Island and the stream, there is a large wall of boulders. Beyond that lies Seedclan. They live in the open too, but instead of being surrounded by tall grass and flowers, they live in a sunken part of the ground. You can't see the camp until you are right up on it."

Ashpaw kept turning his head to the left. "Flowerheart, have you ever been into the forest?"

Flowerheart's mood darkened, following Ashpaw's gaze. On the outskirts of Grassclan's and Seedclan's territories loomed a massive forest, so thick you could not see inside of it without entering. Just before the forest ran a tiny stream. No cat was permitted to cross this stream. The forest was deemed too dangerous. "I have not, but I have heard several stories. Giant raccoons, savage foxes, and rogue cats everywhere you look, just for starters. There isn't a single reason why any clan cat would want to enter that evil place."

"I overheard some warriors talking about it before. Do you believe all of the things you hear about it?"

Flowerheart pondered for a few moments. "Whether they are true or not doesn't matter. There are bad things in this world, Ashpaw. You learn as you get older that not everything is as true as it seems."

"What do you mean?" Ashpaw asked, curious.

"My mother, Brighthope, was betrayed by her mate, Croakskin. I won't claim him as my father anymore." She looked out in the distance, as if she could see Brighthope overtop of the forest. "When I was still a young apprentice, many moons ago, Croakskin decided to abandon the clan, leaving Brighthope and I without even saying goodbye. It turned out he was spending a lot of time with a Seedclan warrior. I forget her name, but they ran away together." Ashpaw thought he saw a tear rolling down her cheek. "After several moons passed, long after my warrior ceremony, he returned. He tried to act as if nothing happened, and he wanted to join back in the clan. It was both hard and easy to reject him. I was so mad."

"I'm so sorry, Flowerheart…"

She flicked her tail. "My point is, Ashpaw, that no matter how good and peaceful life is going now, you have to be ready for the bad parts. They will come, whether you are ready for them or not. It's my job as a mentor to not only train you in hunting and fighting, but also in preparing you for the hard parts of life."

Ashpaw purred. He was glad Moosestar had chosen Flowerheart to be her mentor. Deep down, he had always hoped that maybe his mother, Skyleaf, would train him. That could never happen though. She was taking over the motherhood role for Sunkit and Floatkit, staying in the nursery as a queen. Sunkit and Floatkit's mother had been sick for many moons now, never getting better, nor worse. Grassclan's medicine cat, Stemtail, had tried everything to make her better. Nothing was working though. Time would tell if she got better or not.

Flowerheart continued, still gazing over the top of the forest. "We should probably head back soon. Ratface said earlier that Moosestar was planning on having a clan meeting today." Ratface was a very respected deputy, not only in his own clan, but among the others as well. Ashpaw was very proud that he was his father, as was his brother, Oakpaw. Once a deputy was promoted to a leader, they would drink a special brew that only a medicine cat knew how to create. That night, in their dreams, Starclan would visit them and grant them three lives.

"Did he say what it's about?"

Shrugging, Flowerheart replied, "Only Moosestar himself knows. Everything has been relatively peaceful lately, so it's hard to say." She turned and looked back towards the camp. "We can hunt a little on the way back. It's a good day for it. Soon we will be stocking up for Leaf-bare, which is only a few sunrises away."

Ashpaw nodded, still admiring the view. He never imagined the world could be so big. Maybe there were cat clan's that lived all over the world? What other kinds of animals and prey were there? He was used to the typical field mice and voles that Grassclan caught everyday, but surely there were all kinds of creatures that existed outside of where the Clans lived.

Flowerheart and Ashpaw made their descent down from the Big Rock, with Flowerheart reaching the bottom before Ashpaw, and heading into the tall grass to hunt. By the time they neared the camp, they had each caught two mice.

"That was a good hunting session," Flowerheart mumbled through a mouthful of prey. "We should have time to deposit these on the fresh-kill pile and meander around for a bit before Moosestar is ready for the clan meeting."

Ashpaw just flicked his ear in response. They plodded on, following the wide trail made by many moons of pawsteps. The ground was still moderately warm compared to the air, which was rapidly cooling as the afternoon turned to evening. It felt good on his arching paws, and soothed them. If this is what being a clan warrior is like, I can't wait, He thought to himself. He would do anything to contribute to his clan.

They reached the camp entrance, which was just an opening between two woven grass walls. The camp didn't have a real barrier around it, as the clan didn't face much danger. Instead, they remained on the advantage of not being seen. All around the camp, the tall grasses were woven into bundles, which blocked any other cat or creature from seeing directly into the camp. The different dens throughout the camp were made of the same type of material, just woven into a dome shape instead.

Flowerheart padded through the entrance first, followed closely by Ashpaw. They headed directly to the fresh-kill pile and dropped their prey off. Ashpaw looked around the camp, where most cats were relaxing after a hard day of hunting, training, or patrolling. If they didn't work much throughout the day, they were resting and preparing for either the dusk patrol or guard duty for the night.

Rosepelt passed by Ashpaw, nodding in greeting. He nodded back. Across the camp, in front of the nursery, Floatkit of Sunkit played with each other. Beside the nursery, Oldeye emerged from the elders den, arching his back in a long stretch. Ashpaw swiveled his gaze to the medicine cat's den, where Stemtail was speaking to Hedgestripe, most likely about Dovecloud's condition. Ashpaw hoped she would recover soon. As his gaze kept traveling across the camp, he spotted his father, Ratface, speaking with Branchfoot and Fallowberry.

He's probably assigning them as the dusk patrol, Ashpaw thought.

A commotion brought his attention back to the nursery, where Skyleaf had come out and was now trying to correct the two tussling kits.

"Sunkit! Get off of your sister's back! You're going to hurt her!"

"But Skyleaf! We are just messing around. We have to train hard if we are going to become strong warriors!" Sunkit's yellow eyes blazed with playfulness and excitement.

His sister sprang up and knocked him to the ground as he was distracted. "Don't worry! I can fight back, you know. I'm just letting him win."

"That's not true!" Sunkit cried out, before flying back into Floatkit.

Skyleaf just rolled her eyes. Oldeye had made his way over to the nursery, and was now standing by Skyleaf.

"Let them play, dear. You should know as well as any other mother that kits need to wrestle a little bit to build up those strong muscles." He glanced over at Ashpaw as he said this, amusement glowing in his sole eye.

"I suppose you're right, Oldeye. Your wisdom never fails."

Flowerheart moved in front of Ashpaw, breaking his view with the camp. "I see Graytail and Oakpaw over by the warrior's den. Let's go see how their day was."

The two padded across the camp, and greeted their clanmates. Almost immediately, Ashpaw started telling Oakpaw about how he finally got to climb the Big Rock.

"Wow! That's so awesome! Graytail took me to the fallen oak tree near the backside of the territory. It was full of voles!" Oakpaw looked up at Graytail. "When can we go to the Big Rock?!"

Graytail purred. "Soon, young one. Hunting throughout the day helps the clan more than you realize. You will get your chance to climb soon enough."

Flowerheart looked away for a moment. "Look, Moosestar is out of his den now."

Ashpaw turned and looked towards where the leader slept. It was a smaller den than most of the others, but it was flanked by a large, dark colored boulder, overgrown with moss and ferns. This was where the Grassclan leader addressed the clan.

The two older warriors padded towards the leader's den just as Moosestar jumped up onto the boulder, his long brown hair blowing in the breeze. Ashpaw and Oakpaw quickly followed.

Moosestar raised his head to the sky, the fading sunlight casting balls of light on his thick fur. "Let all cats old enough to hunt gather here for a clan meeting!"

All of the clan cats huddled in a tight semi-circle around the front of the leader's den. Ratface and Stemtail sat next to the den, one of each side.

"As you all may know, we have had a very successful season, as we have in the past." At this, the clan joined in unison for a single loud yowl. As they quieted down, Moosestar continued. "We have run into a slight issue, though. Ratface here has some news to share." He nodded down at his deputy.

"On my patrol with Fallowberry and Branchfoot earlier, we detected a slight patch of Waterclan scent on our side of the stream. This could be nothing, or it could be something to worry about. Any patrols that go towards that side of the territory should keep their eyes and nose sharp, and freshen the border markings every time they pass by."

Murmuring began to spread throughout the clan, gossip about what this could mean. Ah, so that's what they were chatting about earlier, Ashpaw thought.

"There has been a peace for so long between the clans, could this be a change?" Skyleaf was the first to voice her worry.

Darkthroat growled. "We should prepare for the worst. I'd say we have to increase our border patrols."

"Or increase the number of cats in each patrol." Hardfoot agreed, his claws sinking into the soft ground below his paws.

"What happens to the patrols will be decided by Ratface, and Ratface alone." Moosestar bellowed from atop the moss covered boulder. The clan quieted down. "Like I mentioned, this could be nothing, or it could be something."

Ratface spoke again. "There was one other thing.."

"Which is?" Moosestar inquired.

"I thought I smelled Grassclan mixed in with it, although I'm sure it was just a previous patrol."

"Meeting dismissed." Moosestar leaped down from the boulder, and padded away with Ratface. The clan was left chatting amongst themselves again.

Oakpaw leaned over to Ashpaw. "Do you think cats from different clans are meeting?"

Ashpaw just shrugged. No Grassclan cat was disloyal, right?