A/N: I'm updating from my uncle's laptop in NJ. Fun, right? At least I'm updating!!! Enjoy.

Cherrypaw flicked open her eyes to see the soft rise and fall of Skyfeather's chest. She yawned deeply and stretched the sleep out of her limbs. She knew it would take some time to get used to sleeping in the nursery, but it was worthwhile.

Stomach growling with hunger, Cherrypaw stepped out into the bright sunlight, only to be greeted by the warm scents of the fresh-kill pile. Wow, Skyfeather, she thought. You have it good! The fresh-kill pile is right next to the nursery! Eagerly, Cherrypaw trotted over to the pile and picked out a chaffinch. She brought it over to the apprentices' den and settled down next to Icepaw.

"How's Leafstripe treating you?" Cherrypaw mewed before digging in to her fresh-kill.

Icepaw sighed. "He's getting all worked up about the half-moon meeting at the Moonstone," he replied before tearing a chunk off of his sparrow. "Apparently, Amberleaf's apprentice, Mosspaw, hissed something rude to an EmberClan warrior. Amberleaf threatened to not take him to the meeting, which is against StarClan."

Cherrypaw nodded. She wasn't too much into the sacred meetings of the medicine cats, but she did share Icepaw's worry. After all, he was her brother.

"Cherrypaw!" The ginger apprentice heard her name called from the warriors' den. She turned around to see Snowstorm padding toward the two. "Cherrypaw, where were you last night?"

Cherrypaw gulped down some chaffinch. "I was in the nursery with Skyfeather," she answered. "Stormstar said I could, since we were both lonely at night."

"You have Icepaw," Snowstorm insisted.

"I stay in the medicine cat's den with Leafstripe," Icepaw mewed in defense. "I wouldn't be surprised if Cherrypaw got lonely at night."

Snowstorm looked down and sighed. "RainClan has been suffering in that department lately, hasn't it?"

Cherrypaw nodded. "We need more apprentices."

Frostfur padded up to the group. "Well, that could all change," she mewed cheerily. "Tawnyspot's pregnant!"

Cherrypaw spat out the piece of fresh-kill in her mouth. "What?" she choked. "Who's the father?"

Frostfur looked disconcerted. "That's the thing," she meowed. "She refuses to tell me who."

Cherrypaw shook her head and picked up the piece of chaffinch she spat out, chewing thoughtfully.

"Anyway," Frostfur went on, "Skyfeather wants to see you two in the nursery after your training."

Icepaw looked up. "Why not me?" he asked.

"I don't know," Frostfur replied. "You can ask her that yourself."

Icepaw shrugged and went back to eating before Leafstripe called him back into the medicine cat's den.

As Frostfur padded away, Snowstorm sat down beside her apprentice. "Hurry up," she meowed. "You want to get some extra time for mouse-hunting in today, don't you?"

Cherrypaw nodded and quickly finished off the last of her chaffinch. When she was finished, she gave her ears a quick wash and headed out through the fern tunnel to the side of the sugar river.

"You know," Cherrypaw started, settling down in the dusty sand beside the river, "we should have a special name for this place. It's where all the apprentices and mentors go to train. Maybe we could steal LightClan's idea and call it the training hollow, or something."

Snowstorm rolled her eyes. "First of all, it wasn't LightClan's idea," she meowed. "It was ThunderClan's. Second of all, you shouldn't be worrying about names for places, Cherrypaw. Today, we're going to learn how to catch birds."

"Yes!" Cherrypaw leaped into the air, performing a horrible excuse for trying to catch a bird.

Snowstorm purred in laughter. "What was that, some type of dance?"

Cherrypaw nodded. "Yup!"

Snowstorm laughed lightly before sighing and regaining her composure. "Okay, come on," she mewed. "Let's go find a low branch and wait for a bird to land there. I'll teach you how to catch it."

Cherrypaw nodded and followed Snowstorm through the underbrush and under a low oak tree.

Training went well that day, except for the extra time they had to catch mice. Snowstorm caught about six mice for the pile, continuously showing Cherrypaw how it was done. But no matter how she tried, Cherrypaw couldn't shift all her weight to her haunches.

"We'll have to try harder some other time," Snowstorm meowed, sitting down with some struggle. "I need to rest."

Cherrypaw felt like she should've laughed at the statement, but she was too upset to do so. She wanted nothing more but to make her mentor proud by catching a mouse.

"Let's go and talk to Skyfeather," Snowstorm suggested. "We still have to see what she wants."

Cherrypaw nodded blankly and followed her mentor back through the undergrowth and to the camp.

When they got there, Snowstorm quickly deposited her fresh-kill onto the pile and the two made their way over to the nursery. Skyfeather was lying down on her side, her belly bulging slightly. Tawnyspot was in there with her, washing her pelt. Cherrypaw was also surprised to see Frostfur, Gingerfoot, and Dustcloud in there as well.

"Oh, hello, girls," Skyfeather mewed warmly. "I have some news for you. I've already told Frostfur, Gingerfoot, and Dustcloud, and they've all agreed."

Snowstorm sat down patiently. "Well?" she asked. "What is it?"

Skyfeather took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly. "Cherrypaw, you might want to sit down for this."

Cherrypaw looked around in puzzlement, but sat down.

"You see, StarClan sent me many dreams over the last few moons," Skyfeather started.

Snowstorm interrupted her. "StarClan?" she mewed in disbelief. "But only medicine cats and Clan leaders receive dreams from StarClan!"

Skyfeather nodded. "Yes, I know, Snowstorm," she murmured calmly. "But Firestar has come to me in my dreams. He's told me about a certain cat, a cat with a black ending that would help save the forest. Then, in another dream, Firestar came to me again in a clearing similar to Fourtrees. Except, there were three great pines instead of four oaks. He told me to send loved ones, and one enemy here to find this cat. I've decided that this enemy is Whitepaw."

Cherrypaw cocked her head. "Whitepaw? What do you have against Whitepaw?"

Snowstorm chuckled. "It's a long story, Cherrypaw," she replied. "I'll tell you later."

Cherrypaw nodded and listened again.

"I was going to send Tawnyspot here along with you, but she has kits to bear now. I think that's a sign from StarClan saying that she shouldn't go."

Snowstorm nodded.

"At the next Gathering, I'm going to tell Whitepaw where to meet you four," Skyfeather continued. "It's probably going to be at Fourtrees, at the quarter-moon."

Cherrypaw stood up. "Just wait a minute," she began. "Who said we wanted to do this?"

Gingerfoot nodded. "Yeah, actually, Skyfeather, I'm not quite sure I want to do this."

Skyfeather shrugged awkwardly. "That's fine. I just need some cats to go."

Snowstorm stood up. "I'll go, and Cherrypaw here will too."

Cherrypaw nodded reluctantly. She didn't want to go anywhere.

Frostfur and Dustcloud stood up, too. "We're going," they chorused.

Skyfeather nodded. "Then it's settled. Why don't you four meet Whitepaw at Fourtrees a quarter-moon from the Gathering?"

Snowstorm nodded. "We'll be there."

Cherrypaw left the nursery with a sense of bewilderment. She was going on a mission, and she wasn't even a warrior! What would Stormstar think?

The stars shined brightly in the sky when Cherrypaw left the medicine cat's den. She was in there, talking with Icepaw. She thought twice about telling her brother about Skyfeather's mission, but she didn't know if she was supposed to keep it a secret or not.

She also wondered if Skyfeather would need company anymore. What if she was perfectly content on having Tawnyspot as a companion in the nursery, and didn't need Cherrypaw anymore? But that wouldn't be fair to Cherrypaw, and Skyfeather wasn't the type to throw her out.

Drowsy and heavy-lidded, Cherrypaw crawled back to the nursery and poked her head through the brambles, ruffling her fur.

"Skyfeather, can I stay with you again?" she mewed pleadingly.

Skyfeather chuckled. "Of course you can, love."

Tawnyspot purred in laughter. "You don't know how much you're turning into Goldenheart."

Skyfeather shrugged. "I spend a lot of time with her in the elders' den."

Tawnyspot nodded. "I know."

Cherrypaw padded through the narrow brambles and clawed some more moss together. She circled around three times before finally settling down in the dry and comfortable nest.

"Skyfeather," Cherrypaw started, "I was just wondering. Are we supposed to keep this a secret?"

Skyfeather didn't need more details to understand what Cherrypaw was talking about. "Yes," she answered through a mumble. "That's what Firestar told me."

Cherrypaw nodded. "Skyfeather?"

"Yes, dear?"

"Who's Firestar?"

Skyfeather laughed, annoying Tawnyspot who was trying to get a wink of sleep. "I'll explain everything later, Cherrypaw," she purred. "For now, get some sleep."

Cherrypaw nodded unenthusiastically and rested her head on her paws. It was long before she eventually closed her eyes and drifted into a dreamless sleep.