Poppypaw turned over in her nest, eyes blearily opening to the sun filtering through the brambles. The warmth bathed her fur and she purred contentedly, closing her eyes, ready for another hour or two of sleep.

Unfortunately, that was not in the stars. A mere few moments later, Fawnheart appeared outside the den. Rustling the branches to the entrance, she stuck her head in and called cheerfully, "Up and at 'em, Poppypaw! We're going to take the territory tour today. Aren't you excited?"

The small apprentice opened one eye, squinting at her mentor, "Already?"

"It's an hour past sun up!" Fawnheart bounced on her paws, "Can't sleep away all the sunlight, can we? Briarpaw's all ready to go. We're waiting on you."

Poppypaw scrambled up, shook the moss from her pelt and brushed past Fawnheart. Of course Briarpaw was up! He would call her a lazy kit when he saw her. Why didn't any cat wake her? Her ears flattened in embarrassment. This was not how she wanted to start her first day as an apprentice.

"Don't be so down on yourself, you're not that late," Fawnheart mewed behind her. Poppypaw turned to meet her amber gaze, "On my first day out, I fell into the stream and flailed around like a dying trout. I thought I was drowning!" Her tail twitched as she recalled, "My mentor- Hawkclaw- couldn't stop laughing long enough to help me. That's when I knew I was an Oakclan cat through and through. I don't get how Creekclan can stand the water."

Poppypaw laughed with her mentor. She could almost picture a smaller, fuzzier Fawnheart floundering in a few inches of water, "Was he mad?"

"Not really. Ravenwing wasn't though. He stomped by a few seconds later saying I scared every bit of prey from the stream to the pine forest. I got a real earful."

"Well, hopefully we won't fall into any streams today," Poppypaw's nose wrinkled, "I don't want my paws wet."

The pair trotted toward the center of camp where situated at the freshkill pile sat Briarpaw, Stonestep and Thistlepaw. Poppypaw's eyes lit up happily as she rushed forward and pressed her muzzle against Thistlepaw's in greeting, "What are you doing here? Didn't Badgerclaw take you out this morning? You're back awful early."

Thistlepaw purred, nudging Poppypaw away, "I'm trying to eat! If you must know, Badgerclaw chased a squirrel into a pricker-bush. He looked like a giant hedgehog when he managed to get out. Now he's got to spend the morning in Sparrowfoot's den, getting thorns plucked from his beh-"

Poppypaw began to twitch her whiskers wildly, hoping to distract Thistlepaw as her den mate explained. From the medicine den, Badgerclaw had emerge and was swiftly approaching. It was too late.

"Ahem."

Thistlepaw froze, eyes widening. Slowly, she turned to face her mentor. The large black and white tom stood swathed comically in cobwebs. They drooped over his ears and nose and down his neck. His yellow eyes were narrowed in what appeared to be anger, but Poppypaw could see amusement twinkling there.

"Plucking thorns from my what?"

Thistleclaw gulped, grinning up at Badgerclaw winningly, "Um…mouse?" She offered the remains her mostly eaten breakfast.

Badgerclaw snorted, rooting around the freshkill pile, "No thanks. Sparrowfoot wants to share a rabbit." He pushed aside a pigeon to claim his prize, "And since you're not doing anything, why don't you go with the new apprentices to check out the territory? It's always good to get a lay of the land more than once. If that's alright with you two?" He nodded toward Fawnheart and Stonestep.

"I've got no problem with it." Stonestep said, eyeing his daughter, "Fawnheart?"

"The more the merrier!" The she-cat chirped happily. Poppypaw nodded in agreement, ecstatic that her friend was being allowed along.

Briarpaw didn't look so sure. He harrumphed crossly, rolling a pebble beneath his paw. He looked positively bored, "So long as we get going soon…"

Badgerclaw nodded, picking up the rabbit in his jaws. He turned around, mumbling through his prey's fur, "If you don't mind, this hedgehog needs to have his quills trimmed."

Thistlepaw bit back a snicker as the tom waggled his rump, a few thorns still snared in his fur. He retreated once again to the medicine cat's den.

"You're lucky Badgerclaw has a good sense of humor," Stonestep said, his tail twitching with amusement, "Hasn't your mother taught you about not teasing other cats?"

Thistlepaw's ears drooped as she nibbled on the last of her mouse, "I was only having a bit of fun. I wasn't doing it to be mean."

"Don't get your whiskers in a knot," Stonestep purred, "To be honest," He lowered his voice, looking around, "He did look a bit like a hedgehog."

"Are we going to sit around and gossip like elders all day?" Briarpaw snapped, kicking his pebble away, "I wanna go!"

Stretching languidly, Stonestep surveyed his charge, "Apprentices should be patient. A temper is a dangerous thing on the battle field. You want to remain calculated."

Briarpaw looked stricken at the reprimand. He shifted his gaze away and mumbled an apology.

"Don't be so hard on him," Fawnheart soothed, "He's excited, is all."

"Dunno, he's always a grump," Poppypaw muttered to Thistlepaw, "He just wants to impress Stonestep."

"Well, he's not doing a good job of it," Thistlepaw replied, flicking her tail across Poppypaw's nose, "We better get moving, they're already ahead of us."

The forest around them hummed with activity, even in the early morning light. Lazily, honey bees flitted from flower to flower, dusting themselves with the pale yellow pollen of one plant and bringing it to another. Bird song echoed through the branches and Poppypaw's ears twitched with the sweet sound of it. Where there was bird song, there was prey. She could almost imagine her first catch- perhaps a robin, or a black bird? Something tasty, she hoped.

The five cats marched on in silence, Fawnheart and Stonestep in the lead with Thistlepaw not far behind. Though she had been an apprentice for just two moons, she knew the lay of land better than most. She had a keen eye and a knack for remembering land marks. Badgerclaw had boasted of her tracking abilities, telling his fellow warriors she'd be the greatest the clan had seen since Hawkeye, the fabled warrior of old who had once tracked down three missing kits from Creekclan who had been missing for nearly half a moon.

Finally, Stonestep broke the silence, "All of you, stop. I want you to scent the air and tell me what you smell."

Briarpaw and Poppypaw exchanged looks, before both cats tilted their muzzles to the sky. Poppypaw opened her mouth, letting the warm air bathe the roof of her mouth. She tried to pull scents apart, but most of them seemed a jumbled mess.

Briarpaw spoke first, "Cats. From Birchclan," He breathed again, eyes scrunching up, "Hawkclaw, Redwhisker…" He trailed off, "And a few others."

Stonestep nodded, clearly impressed, "Good job. It's not often new apprentices can tell separate cat's scents. The morning patrol was out a few hours ago."

Brairpaw fizzled with pride, his narrow chest swelling. Poppypaw purred softly. Though he annoyed her, Briarpaw was still her brother and she was proud of him as well.

"Poppypaw?" Fawnheart asked, "What about you?"

"Um…I smell mostly prey. There's some mice around here," She breathed deeply again, closing her eyes, "A rabbit den. And water?"

"Good!" Fawnheart said, tail twitching, "Yes, we're close to the stream that runs through our territory and eventually connects to Creekclan."

"Let's show them the border," Stonestep said, nodding his head toward the east, "They can get a smell of Creekclan."

Thistlepaw wrinkled her nose, "You'll definitely know it when you smell it. Their scent is like old fish and scummy water."

Poppypaw padded after her mentor, her ears twitching with alertness. Briarpaw was pressed close to Stonestep, his eyes sparking with excitement. He was itching for a fight, Poppypaw knew, just hoping there'd be some apprentices crossed over the border between the clans. She watched him as his claws sheathed and unsheathed, tearing at the grass beneath his paws. When had her brother become so hot-blooded?

The border between Oakclan and Creekclan was just at the edge of a babbling stream. Clear, cool water ran swiftly over a motley assortment of stones and pebbles. Poppypaw could see a few small fish swimming through the bulrushes and she wondered if this is what Creekclan ate. The stream spanned for miles east and west down the territories, sometimes tapering off into smaller bodies of water. The water's route ended near the middle of Duneclan territory, flowing into a shallow pond which was the only place the plains cats could get their water.

"Is this where Creekclan hunts?" Poppypaw asked, studying the ebb and flow of water from the side of the stream.

"No," Fawnheart said with a purr, "This stream feeds into a larger creek somewhere in their territory. There's much bigger fish than these," She gestured to the small fish in the stream, "Or so I've been told by other warriors at the Gatherings."

"Speaking of Creekclan, can you scent them now?" Stonestep asked, nodding toward the creek, "It may be hard to smell over the water at first."

Poppypaw concentrated, eyes narrowed as she sought the scent of the opposing clan. Finally, it hit her, "Phew! That reeks!"

Brairpaw swiped a paw over his nose, "You're right, Thistlepaw. How do they stand it?"

Thistlepaw laughed, "Told you so!"

Stonestep let out an amused purr, "Oh, it's not so bad. They're worse in person! That water they swim in must seep into their skin because no matter how much they claim to bathe, they always smell like it!"

"They're not all bad!" Fawnheart said, "I mean, Cranetail seems nice, and Otterstar is a fair leader. She's never done us wrong."

"You just have a crush on Cranetail," Stonestep said, eyes narrowed in amusement as Fawnheart stammered a quick, "No I don't!"

"But you're right. Otterstar is a good leader and she's on good terms with Lithestar. We rarely have any problems with them. Duneclan on the other paw…"

Thistlepaw bristled, the fur on her neck spiking, "If I ever see Crowpaw again, I'm gunna flay his fur off."

There had always been animosity between Duneclan and Oakclan. The sandy territory of their rival clan was near the southern border. Here, the lush green grass and plants of Oakclan grew less dense until there was nothing but rock, tall stalks of golden grass and shifting expanses of sand. There were so many different shades of the forest, from the dark of the fir trees to the golden and yellow of the leaves in leaf-fall. The amber of Duneclan was flat, an endless ocean of yellow as far as the eye could see. Poppypaw did not envy the cats that lived there, it seemed harsh and unforgiving.

"Are we going to see the border?" Briarpaw asked, dancing from paw to paw, eyes lit up.

Stonestep exchanged a glance with Fawnheart and then shrugged, "So long as we stay a few mouse lengths from the border, it should be fine. Viperstar rewards his cats for their animosity. We don't want to give them reason to attack."

As the small band of cats neared Duneclan's territory, Poppypaw felt a shift in soil beneath her. It was loose, grainy and hard to grip with her claws. She struggled to keep up with the larger cats, though she noted both Thistlepaw and Briarpaw were having an equally hard time.

"No wonder nothing grows here," Poppypaw meowed, shaking her back paw off behind her in disgust, "The dirt's dead and dry."

"What do they even eat?" Briarpaw asked, "There's no trees for birds or mice to hide in. And no water to fish."

Stonestep sat, wrapping his tail around his paws, "Mostly lizards and snakes. There are some rabbits out there as well."

"Snakes?" Poppypaw gasped with disbelief, "Isn't that dangerous?"

"Oh, yes," Fawnheart agreed gravely, "Oakclan doesn't mess around with them but Viperstar has a taste for snake flesh. There are some snakes in the sand that have fangs three times as long as our own, tails that rattle to warn cats off, and worst of all, in their teeth is a poison that can kill a cat in a few heartbeats."

Poppypaw's eyes grew wide with horror and awe- poison fangs? What kind of place was this?

"I've heard from the elders that there are huge bugs in there too with great big stingers on their tails…" Thistlepaw said in a hushed tone, thrashing her tail for emphasis, "They say that Duneclan kits train on them even before they become apprentices."

With a snort, Briarpaw's eyes narrowed, "We could still beat them in a fight. I hear they're cowards. They like to hide out in their grass and attack patrols but before the real fight gets started, they run off."

"Cowards they may be, but you never want to fight them on their own land," Stonestep meowed, "You three now know how hard it is to walk on the sand- can you imagine fighting in it? Duneclan is lean and agile- it's much easier for them to cross the sands then it is for us heavier forest cats."

"Maybe it's because we don't grow fat on prey that practically runs into your claws," A snide growl sounded from thick patch of plains grass. A snubbed nose appeared through the golden stalks first, followed by a fair of smoldering blue eyes. A long-legged golden tom-cat, battle scarred and lean stood a few fox lengths from the small band of cats.

"So as you were saying?" the tom asked, eyes narrowed to slits, "Cowards are we?"

Poppypaw's tail fluffed up in fear as she took a pace back. It was her first venture from home and already she was faced with an enemy from Duneclan! She wasn't ready for a fight. Her heart pounded in her ears as she pressed close to Fawnheart.

Her eye caught the tom's and he grinned at her, "Looks like you've got a coward here yourself. What's wrong, little rabbit?"

Poppypaw closed her eyes tightly, thrusting her muzzle into her mentor's fur. She refused to answer him, to give him the satisfaction of hearing the fear that would no doubt cause her voice to tremble.

Thistlepaw snarled, placing herself in front of Poppypaw, "Call her a coward again and I'll send you home with a few new scars!"

"Thistlepaw!" Stonestep's voice rang out across the clearing, "You will do no such thing."

Thistlepaw stared in disbelief at her father, "He called Poppypaw-"

"I don't care what he called her," He answered coolly, "It would be wise to not take his bait. Warriors are patient."

Thistleclaw's tail drooped but her fur remained spiked in anger. She stalked backwards, letting her tail rest against Poppypaw's. The small gesture brought her comfort.

Briarpaw, who was silent up to this point studying the tom in front of him, finally spoke, "You're Sandstripe, aren't you? The deputy of Duneclan?"

The tom's chest puffed out with pride, "I see my reputation reaches past clan borders. Yes, that's my name."

"Why are you so close to Oakclan's borders?" Stonestep asked, his gaze sweeping the grasses for other signs of movement. He found none.

"I could ask the same of you," Sandstripe said, lazily strolling closer, "We all know Oakclan hates the sand between their toes. Why don't you run home, back to your trees and mouse-brained prey?"

Stonestep's mouth was set in a frown, "We'll take our leave when we're ready to go. We're not breaking any laws by being here."

"I suppose not," Sandstripe mewed, eyes still locked on the apprentices, "But if even one of your apprentices set a whisker over the boundary, I'll tear then apart 'till there's nothing left but fur and bones. Is that understood?"

Without answering, Stonestep swung around, "Let's go. We've overstayed our welcome."

Poppypaw obediently followed, Briarpaw and Thistlepaw both close to her on either side. The only sound was the crunch of leaves beneath their paws. It unnerved her how calm Briarpaw had been during the whole ordeal. Perhaps she was a coward. Her trail drooped, dragging in the leaves as they beat a hasty retreat deep into Oakclan territory.