Dapplestream sat in RiverClan's camp early the morning after she and her comrades had arrived in the forest territories. How strange, she thought, to be sitting there. These cats were her ancestors and yet she was sitting among them.

It had been rather simple for Dapplestream to be accepted into RiverClan, surprising her. She had traveled along the river's edge as she left Fourtrees looking for any sign of a patrol. Instead she found a couple of warriors playing in a shallow part of the water.

Instead of attacking her, the sleek RiverClan cats simply took her back to camp where she was invited to join by the Clan's leader, Brookstar. The tabby leader explained that there was a great sickness that had killed many cats. They were always looking for new blood to join the Clan. Brookstar even asked her what she wanted her name to be! And she 'settled' on Dapplestream. How easy was that?

Dapplestream then spent the rest of yesterday introducing herself to the Clan and familiarizing herself with the territory close to camp before it had gotten dark.

Now, the dappled warrior had woken up early to see if she would be chosen to go on the dawn patrol. Might as well make myself useful, she had thought. However, the deputy – Troutwhisper – had gone with his apprentice and another warrior instead. Instead, he was leaving one of the cats who found her to show her around the territory today.

She had decided to eat before her activities today, but only after she had seen an apprentice take prey to the elders and queens. Even after that were was still plenty of fish left on the pile. Prey was so plentiful here! Dapplestream purred. She supposed that was the effect of Greenleaf.

Dapplestream was half-way into the fat fish she had chosen off the pile when unfamiliar scents entered her nose. She jumped to her paws in alert and turned her attention to the camp's entrance to see two cats pad through.

WindClan! Was an enemy Clan already about to attack her camp? However, Dapplestream noticed none of the rest of the Clan showed any concern. And she noticed with surprise that one of the cats was young Fawnpaw!

"Marshstrike!" One of the clan's queens ran out of the nursery. The gray she-cat purred as she bumped heads with the tom.

"Mossgaze," the Windclan tom purred. "How are you? And how are the kits?"

"I am fine, the kits are a pawful as always," chirped the gray queen. At this moment Fawnpaw caught Dapplestream's eye but neither cat made motion to move towards one another. The warrior thought it was critical that the Clans didn't know they knew each other. "What are you doing here?" Mossgaze asked Marshstrike.

"StarClan has graced WindClan with a new medicine cat," Marshstrike bolstered. "I'm leaving Fawn here to learn from Pebblesong and go with her to Highstones tonight; it is a half-moon after all."

"Of course!" Mossgaze meowed. "Well, I'll let you be on your way. I think I hear my kits calling anyway." The queen padded off to return to the nursery as the two WindClan cats headed towards the medicine cat's den.

"Ready to go?" a voice behind her made Dapplestream jump and when she turned Fishclaw was there behind her. He was one of the warriors who had found her yesterday.

"Yes," she meowed and quickly gulped down her last few pieces of prey. "Fishclaw, why was the Clan so welcoming to those two WindClanners?" She nodded towards the medicine cat den where the cats were disappearing into. She had overheard the entire conversation but she didn't understand why Mossgaze had been so friendly towards the WindClan warrior, Marshstrike.

Fishclaw let out a slight chuckle. "The dark tabby is Mossgaze's brother," he explained. "She came to the Clan a few moons ago to have my kits," he purred and then flicked his tail. "Come on, the territory awaits!" Dapplestream blinked before bounding after the tom out of camp. No one back home would have been so nonchalant about half-clan kits! And about switching Clans; that type of thing was almost unheard of.

The she-cat made sure to keep her paws dry as she hopped from stepping stone to stepping stone as they exited camp. She wondered how this RiverClan's territory would differ from hers back home. So far, it looked similar with the same marshy fields and streams.

"Fishclaw!" The two warriors stopped padding when they heard a squeal behind them. A black she-cat popped out from the reeds. "You left without me!"

"Shallowpaw," the tom sighed. "You were supposed to be cleaning Hailstorm's den."

"I did!" the apprentice exclaimed. Fishclaw raised an eyebrow at his apprentice. "Okay...I cleared out his dirty bedding. But Longpaw's going to get fresh bedding for him! He's already getting some for the nursery."

The dark brown warrior sighed. "Well, come on then, we've got a long day ahead of us showing Dapplestream here around."

Shallowpaw exclaimed with glee and bounded over to them. "Have you've seen beech copse yet? It's where Fishclaw takes me training!" she purred to Dapplestream. The sleek she-cat shook her head. They were still close to camp, near the river.

Fishclaw led the way following the riverbed as they trudged further into RiverClan territory. He explained that ThunderClan's territory lay beyond the river. Dapplestream found this a little odd as back home RiverClan bordered WindClan and ShadowClan. ThunderClan was on the far side of the lake from them. She realized with disappointment that this territory did not border ShadowClan, which lay beyond Fourtrees. There would be no chance meetings at the border for her and Jaggedscar.

"And that-" Fishclaw was pointing across the river. "Is Sunningrocks." Large stones protruded from the ground, the morning sun already starting to shine on them. Her paws itched just thinking about sunning on the warm rocks.

"That's my favorite place!" Shallowpaw beamed. "ThunderClan used to fight with us for it but now we share it!"

"Share?" Dapplestream didn't realized she had wondered out loud. It seemed so odd to her that Clans could actually share any territory without fighting over it.

"We don't need unnecessary bloodshed right now," Fishclaw said. "Brookstar and ThunderClan's leader, Willowstar, came to the truce over the land a few moons ago. ThunderClan barely uses it anyway; with their thick coats it must seem like they're boiling in the sun." The warrior flicked his tail and the small patrol set off again down the river.

Soon, Dapplestream began to recognize the area around her. It was near Fourtrees! She had found Fishclaw and Snowfur playing in the river nearby. She shivered as she thought of the water.

"Over there is Fourtrees," the RiverClan tom explained.

"It's where we have gatherings!" Shallowpaw jumped ahead. "We have them every full moon and its awesome cause you get to meet all sorts of different cats from all the Clans! Can we go there now, Fishclaw?"

"No," the mentor answered his apprentice. "Dapplestream will see when there's a gathering. Besides, its already sunhigh and we have the whole of the WindClan border to see. If we want to be back before dark we'll have to pick up the pace, anyway."

The three cats padded off, slightly quicker now. And soon Dapplestream smelled the same scent as earlier when Fawnpaw and Marshstrike entered camp: WindClan scent. They took time to refresh the scent markers and she wondered if it was even necessary. The Clans seemed to be so amiable with one another.

Fishclaw stopped as they heard the sounds of cats heading towards them. From the bushes out came two cats and Dapplestream resisted an urge to meow hello to one. It was Fawnpaw and RiverClan's medicine cat, Pebblesong.

"Off to the Moonstone?" Fishclaw asked his fellow RiverClanner as she waved her tail in hello.

"Yes!" The pretty silver cat exclaimed. "And with any luck Fawn here will have received her name by night's end!" She purred. Dapplestream noticed Fawnpaw barely paying any attention. Was something the matter?

Fishclaw dipped his head. "Safe travels then, may StarClan light your path." Pebblesong mewed goodbyes as she and Fawnpaw headed off across the WindClan border. Dapplestream supposed that was the direction the Moonstone must've been in.

"The Moonstone is where we communicate with our ancestors!" Shallowpaw exclaimed. "See those mountains over there? That's Highstones and inside is a cavern called Mothermouth where the Moonstone is."

"You describe it as if you've seen it," Fishclaw mused at his apprentice as they began padding along away from the direction the medicine cats left in.

"I've listened to stories from Hailstorm! He used to visit every half-moon when he was the medicine cat!" Shallopaw pointed out. "He's blind as a badger now, though. And cranky. He's always complaining about his bedding and moss-"

"Respect your elders, Shallowpaw." Fishclaw lashed his tail at her. The apprentice flattened her ears but stayed quiet.

Dapplestream looked up into the sky as something hit her head. She realized the dark clouds that had appeared in the sky. They were sparse, the blue still shining behind them, but it was enough for a light greenleaf shower to begin.

Still, the cats trudged forward. They were RiverClan cats, after all. A little water didn't scare them. As if to prove her point, the rain slid easily off Dapplestream's sleek pelt.

Soon, they came to a clearing surrounded by beech trees. Shallowpaw mewed as she launched herself into it. Dapplestream figured that this was beech copse, where mentors trained their apprentices. They paused for a minute, Shallowpaw cantering around the clearing showing off battle moves, and Fishclaw shaking the water out of his pelt.

Fishclaw called for his apprentice and the three cats began heading back to RiverClan camp. Dapplestream looked above as it seemed the clouds were beginning to clear. The shower had been short. She supposed that was for the best. RiverClan's camp lay on an island. She didn't even want to think about what would happen if it flooded.

It wasn't long before the sun was dipping in the sky and the three weary RiverClanners approached the island camp. Fishclaw and Shallowpaw walked forward, towards the camp's entrance but Dapplestream stopped short, suddenly.

The stepping stones were gone! The afternoon rain had caused the water's level to rise, covering the path she had used to and from the camp. This didn't seem to bother the mentor and apprentice, however, as they plunged into the water and swam the small distance to RiverClan's camp.

Panic struck Dapplestream as she stared into the dark abyss of the water. Memories began to surface of swimming in a peaceful river when suddenly the current turned rapid and her brown form was crushed against rocks and the bottom of the river. She had cried out to no avail, water filling her lungs.

"Dapplestream?" Shallowpaw called from the camp's entrance shaking her out of her thoughts. "Are you coming?"

"I-In a minute," she said to the apprentice, trying to keep her voice steady. "I got a thorn in my pad."

The black-pelted apprentice shook the water out of her fur. "Don't be long or all the fresh-kill will be gone!" She mewed and then disappeared.

Dapplestream tried to urge herself forward but her paws were frozen on the solid ground. What if the current took her again? Her eyes gazed the camp's edge looking for something else she could cross with. And there! She found it: a somewhat unsteady looking fallen branch.

The brown warrior launched herself onto the branch and the second she was on it she felt it crack beneath her. Panic flowing through her, Dapplestream quickly leapt across it until her paws hit the ground on the other side. Looking behind she noticed the branch had broke and was now being carried down the river.

Dapplestream only hoped that the stepping stones would be uncovered tomorrow. Otherwise she didn't know how she would get out of camp.