A/N: Here we are. I'm back with a brand new compy!!!!!!!! Well, it's really my laptop. But whatever. Enjoy chappie 9!

Cherrypaw flew alongside the sugar river, in search of Snowstorm. She could just make out her mentor's scent among the EmberClan border markers that were thick in her nose. Once she made it past the border, the scents grew stronger, and Cherrypaw knew that Snowstorm, Dustcloud, Frostfur, and Whitepaw were close by, probably still in EmberClan territory, waiting for her.

Thank you for waiting, Snowstorm, Cherrypaw thought silently. Swiftly, she plunged through the undergrowth, keeping her nose open for stronger RainClan scents.

"Well, hello," a cultivating meow called from somewhere behind Cherrypaw. Stunned, Cherrypaw halted and spun around to face the supposed EmberClan cat, for her pelt was thick with the scent.

"What would a young RainClan apprentice be doing in EmberClan's new territory?" asked the she-cat. Her coat was thick and sandy-coloured, and she had piercing green eyes. When Cherrypaw looked more, a dark brown tom padded out from behind her.

"Who is it, Sandstorm?" the tom asked. His green eyes darted from the she-cat to Cherrypaw and back again.

Sandstorm sighed. "One of RainClan's apprentices, Mudface," she mewed. "What's your name, young one?"

"Cherrypaw," Cherrypaw replied confidently. She was annoyed at being stopped during her journey, but she didn't want Sandstorm and Mudface to grow suspicious.

"Ah," Sandstorm purred. "Skyfeather has spoken of you."

Cherrypaw's eyes widened. "When have you talked to Skyfeather?" she asked.

"At Gatherings," Sandstorm replied. "We're good friends."

"Sandstorm, we really should get going," Mudface suggested. "Streamstar still has a bellyache, and we're all out of juniper berries."

Sandstorm shot Mudface an irritated glance, as if he weren't supposed to share Streamstar's weakness in front of Cherrypaw. Cherrypaw only hid her head from Mudface's view.

"Be patient," Sandstorm purred. "The juniper berries are over there, in case you want to get them yourself." She lifted her tail and pointed to a small stash of berries and leaves near a giant tree. "Let me speak to Cherrypaw here alone."

Mudface nodded and trotted over to the bush while Sandstorm brought Cherrypaw further into the wood.

"Did Skyfeather send you?" Sandstorm asked Cherrypaw in a whisper.

Cherrypaw faltered slightly. How did this obvious medicine cat know about Cherrypaw's quest, and Skyfeather's prophecy? "Um, y-yes she did," she stammered.

Sandstorm nodded. "It's okay, Cherrypaw," she comforted. "Skyfeather told me about her mission to help save the Clans and the forest. I know all about her dreams. Besides, a medicine cat can tell what's on any cat's mind that she knows well."

Cherrypaw nodded. Sandstorm was obviously a very good friend with Skyfeather, which automatically made her a good friend of Cherrypaw. "Did she tell you that I'm lost?"

Sandstorm cocked her head slightly. "You're lost?" she echoed. "How are you lost?"

Cherrypaw sighed shamefully. "Well, after the Gathering," she explained, "Skyfeather sent us out immediately. We were eating our strengthening herbs for the trip when a fox came. I ran into LightClan territory by accident, and a patrol caught me. When they escorted me back to the sugar river, I realized that Snowstorm, Dustcloud, Frostfur, and Whitepaw were ahead of me, and I couldn't find them. I didn't want to go into EmberClan territory, even though I knew they were there. I went to Skyfeather and asked her what to do, but she didn't tell me much except the obvious: to find the others. Now I'm here."

Sandstorm nodded silently. She thought for a moment before meowing, "I'll cover for you, okay? Go and find the others. I'll be right here, hiding your scent for the afternoon patrol."

Cherrypaw blinked gratefully. "Much appreciated," she mewed cheerily. "Thanks, Sandstorm!"

Sandstorm nodded her good-bye as Cherrypaw slipped away through the dense undergrowth. No wonder Skyfeather is friends with her, she thought to herself. She's rather nice for an enemy Clan cat.

She travelled until the sun began to set over the trees, and down the mountains on the horizon. Cherrypaw began to doubt whether she'd actually find the others when she heard a rustling in the ferns beside her.

She'd stopped running, since she was growing tired and couldn't use up all her energy for something she didn't necessarily have to do.

A white nose poked out of the ferns. "Cherrypaw, you mouse-brained furball!" the nose cried. "If you don't come to me with fresh-kill in your mouth, I will claw your fur out!"

Cherrypaw couldn't stifle the loud purr growing in her throat at the sound of Snowstorm's voice. Quickly, she pounced on a shrew and stepped through the ferns and into a muddy clearing. Snowstorm instantly snatched the shrew from her jaws and placed it on the small stash near the edge of the clearing. After that, she pounced on her apprentice and licked her until Cherrypaw felt like her fur would fall out.

"Cherrypaw!" Cherrypaw opened her eyes to see Frostfur trotting toward her. "Where were you? Did LightClan catch you? Did EmberClan catch you?"

Cherrypaw laughed softly when Snowstorm let go of her. "LightClan did catch me," she began and told everyone the tale of how she got lost. "Now I'm here, with you guys," she finished up.

Dustcloud nuzzled the ginger apprentice deeply. "I was worried about you. I bet Skyfeather was as surprised as a squirrel when she saw you."

"She was," Cherrypaw remarked. "I'm glad I found you guys."

Whitepaw snorted. "More like we found you. If Snowstorm didn't poke her nose out of the ferns, you would've walked right past us."

"That's because you have your scent hidden so well!" Cherrypaw defended. "I couldn't smell any trace of RainClan or LightClan."

Snowstorm nodded. "Good," she meowed. "Then we did it right. But the problem is that EmberClan will be able to scent you out. Go through that bramble thicket. There's a patch of muddy peat right next to this small clearing. Roll in it. I'm sure it will disguise your scent well enough. You haven't been in RainClan's territory for a while now."

Cherrypaw nodded and padded through the bramble thicket on the other side of the small clearing. Sure enough, a patch of peaty earth was right there, with markings showing that other cats had rolled in it. Quickly, Cherrypaw flopped into the mud and rolled around until her entire pelt was covered in the greenish-brown earth. Only her pink nose was showing.

"You might want to wash your fur," Dustcloud suggested. "Don't worry; the peat doesn't taste too bad."

Cherrypaw sat down beside Frostfur and began washing herself thoroughly. After a few moments, Frostfur crouched down and helped her, rasping her tongue gently over Cherrypaw's fur. Snowstorm and Whitepaw went over to the small pile of fresh-kill and chose some pieces while Dustcloud practiced her fighting techniques in case an EmberClan patrol found them.

When Cherrypaw's fur was cleaned and slicked back smoothly, she padded over to the few pieces of fresh-kill and picked out her shrew. She trotted over to Whitepaw, who was napping in the fading sunlight. "Do you miss LightClan?" she asked.

Whitepaw opened his eyes slightly. "I wasn't there for too long," he replied. "If anything, I miss RainClan more."

Cherrypaw blinked at him. "RainClan? When were you in RainClan?"

Whitepaw chuckled. "Skyfeather and Stormstar found me as a loner in this forest, living off of nothing, since I couldn't hunt," he explained. "I went by the name of Lucifer then, and I kept that name while Stormstar taught me how to catch different types of prey. Eventually, I was assessed by Skyfeather when she was deputy, and…well, I guess I was rather hungry and ate before I fed the Clan."

Cherrypaw gasped. "But it's the warrior code!" she mewed, gnawing off a bit of bone from her shrew.

"I wasn't too keen on the warrior code then," Whitepaw responded. "Skyfeather chased me out of RainClan in anger, and I went to LightClan. When Longstar welcomed me into the Clan and gave me a true Clan name, I felt wanted. I'm not saying that I didn't like RainClan or Skyfeather anymore. I still respect them. But the one I missed most of all was Frostfur."

Cherrypaw noted the sudden lowering of Whitepaw's voice when he mewed Frostfur's name. When he said those words, Cherrypaw recalled Skyfeather's words on the warrior code. She knew now what she had meant about cats falling in love with warriors from another Clan. It was happening more and more often now.

Cherrypaw turned around when she saw Whitepaw's widened eyes. Frostfur was standing there, purring, with a smug expression on her face. "Cherrypaw," she mewed, setting down her piece of fresh-kill, "would you mind giving Whitepaw and me some time alone for a second?"

Cherrypaw shook her head. "Not at all." Bringing her half-eaten shrew with her, she trotted over to Snowstorm.

"I think we'll hold another training session tomorrow morning," Snowstorm meowed when she was finished burying the bones and fur of the finch she'd been eating. "Should Frostfur take over Whitepaw's mentoring until he goes back to LightClan?"

Cherrypaw chuckled to herself, wondering how well that would go, since the two loved each other. "I think that'd be a good idea."

Snowstorm nodded, and then shook her head vigorously. "Why did I just ask my apprentice for advice?"

Cherrypaw chuckled again and finished off her shrew with a couple hungry gulps. When she was finished, she swiped her tongue over her muzzle and padded over to where Whitepaw and Frostfur were snoozing underneath a few low-hanging ferns. She curled up beside the two and wrapped her tail over her muzzle, closing her eyes. She wanted as much energy as she could possibly contain in her four paws for the trip ahead of them.