Blizzardleaf's eyes sparkled sympathetically. Echopaw blinked, then glanced at Rushingriver. He was back to sorting herbs and didn't seem to even notice Blizzardleaf was there.

"Why are you here?" Echopaw asked quietly, so that Rushingriver wouldn't think he was talking to himself. "I'm doing what you said. I've become his apprentice." Blizzardleaf nodded.

"That you did," she remarked. "You know, to be honest, I didn't really know if you would listen to me." Echopaw felt a little hurt by her words, though he hardly knew the StarClan cat. "But I'm very happy that you did," she continued. "I trust Rushingriver will teach you many things. And even though he seems a little secretive now, I'm sure he will open up in time."

"Why do you keep visiting me?" Echopaw asked. "I'm nobody special, just another medicine cat. No offense," he added hastily, realizing who he was speaking to. But Blizzardleaf didn't look offended. In fact, she let out a mrrow of amusement.

"Actually, it's the opposite of what you think. Just because I'm a StarClan cat doesn't make me important," she meowed. "I'm the one who's 'just another medicine cat,' and you, although you won't accept it yet, are going to prove very special."

Echopaw still wasn't sure he trusted what Blizzardleaf was saying, but he decided not to argue. "Okay," he mumbled. "I should probably see if Rushingriver needs any help…"

Blizzardleaf dipped her head in farewell and began to fade.

Echopaw padded over to Rushingriver and cleared his throat. "Um… do you need help?" he asked awkwardly. Rushingriver looked happy to see him.

"I'd be very grateful if you could finish sorting the herbs I gathered yesterday," he meowed. "I think I'll ask Frecklestar if I can go on a hunting patrol."

Echopaw's ears pricked. "Wait, medicine cats can go on hunting patrols?" he exclaimed.

"Sure," Rushingriver replied. "We can go hunting together later if you'd like. You might already know everything there is to know about herbs, but I can probably teach you a thing or two about hunting and fighting. Medicine cats still need to eat and protect themselves." Echopaw grinned.

"That'd be great! Thanks, Rushingriver."

Rushingriver flicked his tail and padded out of the medicine den, leaving Echopaw to sort the pile of herbs by himself. He worked for a while and finished quickly. Well, what do I do now? Echopaw wondered. What do medicine cats do when there are no sick or injured cats?

He padded into the clearing, hoping one of his denmates was at camp and not out with their mentors, though he doubted it. If they're not here, then I can just go explore. It will be my first time exploring ThunderClan territory, too.

Echopaw looked around the camp. The only cats in the clearing were Meadowmoon, his mate Birdstripe, and Thistlewhisker, ThunderClan's deputy. Meadowmoon and Birdstripe were sharing a squirrel by the elders' den. They had moved there a quarter moon ago, about the time Echopaw wandered into the medicine den and changed his fate. Thistlewhisker was sitting by Frecklestar's den and looking bored. I suppose he has nothing to do, either.

Echopaw decided not to check the apprentices' den. Mousepounce, Lightdawn, and Parsleyshine weren't in camp, so Echopaw's friends likely weren't either.

He padded over to the deputy. "Hi, Thistlewhisker!" he mewed cheerfully. "What are you doing?"

Thistlewhisker grunted. "Nothing much," he replied. "Frecklestar's out hunting and she told me to guard the camp." He sneered. "'Guard the camp.' Who does she think she's kidding? Nobody's going to attack." He blinked and looked down at Echopaw. "Sorry," he muttered. "How's being an apprentice?"

Echopaw hesitated. "It's… interesting." Thistlewhisker purred.

"I remember when I first became an apprentice," he meowed. "I was so excited to hunt and fight for my Clan—" Then he seemed to realize he was talking to the medicine apprentice and dipped his head apologetically. "Of course, you might do some of that stuff, but you'll probably be super busy with, like, healing cats."

"Yeah…," Echopaw mumbled.

Thistlewhisker realized he had said the wrong thing and quickly tried to correct himself. "Um, what I meant to say was—"

"No, no, it's fine, Thistlewhisker," Echopaw interrupted. "I'm sure I'll love being a medicine apprentice once I get used to it." Thistlewhisker seemed sincerely sorry. "I think I'll go see if I can find Rushingriver."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Thistlewhisker called concernedly after Echopaw as the apprentice started padding to the gorse tunnel to leave. "It'll be your first time out of camp."

"I'll be okay, thanks!" Echopaw replied over his shoulder. "After all, you have a camp to guard." His whiskers twitched with amusement as he heard Thistlewhisker grumbling about how unfair being deputy was.