A/N: Wow. Sorry I haven't updated in some time. I just watched "Doomsday", a Doctor Who epidsode, and it's REALLY sad, so I'm kind of teary-eyed. Anywayz, chapter 13!

Cherrypaw awoke to the sound of prey scuffling among the reeds. She instantly jolted to her paws and crouched down, eager for a chance to eat something.

"Someone's hungry," she heard Dustcloud mew beside her. The white-and-grey warrior was giving herself a bath in a warm patch of sunlight. "Catch something for me too, will you?"

Cherrypaw nodded. She looked around her surroundings. Water voles wove through the reeds beside the sugar river, but all other scents were blocked out by the sweet scent the rushing water produced. "Why do you think the river smells sweet?" she asked suddenly.

Dustcloud shrugged. "I have absolutely no idea," she replied with a slight giggle.

Cherrypaw nodded and shrugged the question off. Stealthily, she stalked down a couple of water voles and brought them back to Dustcloud.

Dustcloud dug into the fresh-kill hungrily while Cherrypaw sat down, looking around her. She was hungry, but she couldn't see where Snowstorm, Frostfur, and Whitepaw were sleeping. Were they already awake and hunting?

"Aren't you hungry?" Dustcloud asked through a mouthful of water vole.

Cherrypaw nodded and tucked into her food. She finished it in a few famished gulps and swiped her tongue over her muzzle. "Where're the others then?" she questioned curiously.

Dustcloud swallowed some fresh-kill. "They're still sleeping, I think. Snowstorm's in that clump of bracken over there, in case you were wondering."

"Where're Frostfur and Whitepaw?"

"Who knows?"

Cherrypaw couldn't stifle the giggle. Dustcloud had a point. Burying the bones and fur of the remnants of her food, Cherrypaw dashed off into the trees. When she found a clump of bracken with a lump of white, grey-flecked fur nesting in it, she pounced playfully.

"What in the name of StarClan—" Snowstorm yowled when Cherrypaw landed on top of her. "Cherrypaw, you mouse-brained furball, get off of me!"

Cherrypaw purred in laughter as she stepped off of her mentor. "I couldn't help it," she mewed.

Snowstorm stood and brushed off her pelt with a few brisk licks. "Don't ever surprise-attack me again," she purred. "But it was a good tactic. I wonder why no Clans have ever thought to attack during the night stealthily."

Cherrypaw nodded in agreement.

"Well, what do you say?" Frostfur meowed, approaching from the ferns beside the two RainClan cats. Whitepaw was padding by her side. "Should we hunt and get a move on?"

"I've already hunted with Dustcloud," Cherrypaw boasted. "We're ready to move!"

Snowstorm purred praise. "Very good, Cherrypaw. Why don't you practice more hunting for the rest of us? Go on, then. Get moving!"

Cherrypaw slipped through the bracken and ferns to see Dustcloud polishing up a blue jay she'd caught.

"You were hungry, weren't you?" she teased.

"Maybe," Dustcloud mumbled. "But it's not my fault! In the camp, we never get to eat more than a small piece of fresh-kill."

"Well, don't get used to it," Snowstorm advised, padding into the clearing with Frostfur and Whitepaw at her side. "When we get back, it'll be straight to Clan life again."

Dustcloud rolled her eyes and stood up. "Shall we get a move on?"

"Well, hold up!" Whitepaw meowed. "We haven't eaten yet."

Dustcloud nodded. "Right. I knew that."

Cherrypaw caught some fresh-kill for Snowstorm, and settled down with Dustcloud to watch the three cats eat. Once they were finished, they stood up.

"Right," Whitepaw began. "Shall we get going?"

Frostfur nodded. "We don't want to waste any time today. I say we should make our goal to find the edge of the forest," she suggested. "We passed up EmberClan's territory a long time ago. The forest can't possibly go on forever!"

Snowstorm nodded in agreement. "Frostfur's right. We have to make some progress today."

Cherrypaw followed the other four cats through the trees. They continued to follow the sugar river, since none of them wanted to risk the prophecy by leaving it.

Cherrypaw flicked the last of dead leaves out of her path. She lifted her nose and looked around, taking in all of the sights and smells around her. A soft breeze was chilling her pelt, but Snowstorm refused to stop for a break.

The small group of cats had travelled until sunhigh now, and so far the forest seemed incessant. The trees never thinned out, and when Cherrypaw glanced upward, all she saw was the bright green leaves of the lofty trees.

"Snowstorm, I'm hungry," she growled at her mentor. "You know just as well as I do that we're not going to find the edge of the forest today. Why don't we just stop?"

Snowstorm suddenly halted and looked down with a sigh. "I'm afraid Cherrypaw might be right," she meowed breathlessly. "I can't even begin to scent out what might lay beyond the forest."

Frostfur nodded, although not persuaded. Cherrypaw knew that she'd be determined to find the edge of the forest no matter what. It was uncharacteristic for her not to be.

Whitepaw immediately leaped into a clump of ferns. When Cherrypaw tasted the air, she could smell prey-scent too. It was strong in this part of the forest. She even detected a trace of wood mouse.

"Snowstorm, could we possibly train?" she asked optimistically.

"No," Snowstorm replied serenely. "After we eat, we're going to carry on travelling. Try and catch that mouse of you can, but if not, just leave it, will you?"

Cherrypaw nodded, crestfallen. But that disconsolation promptly evaporated and was substituted by determination. She wanted to catch the mouse and show it to Snowstorm. Maybe even taste wood mouse for the first time.

Slowly and stealthily, she dropped to a crouch and crept forward. She sniffed the air and pinpointed the mouse's position. Remembering Snowstorm's words, she tried to shift all her weight to her haunches as she prodded forward and pounced on the speedy creature.

"I caught it!" she called into the still, afternoon air. Birds scattered from branches, chirping wildly.

"Nice job, Cherrypaw," Dustcloud mewed in sarcasm. "Only, you've scared off all the prey in the forest!"

Cherrypaw looked down, the mouse dangling by its tail from her muzzle. But she had caught it! She had caught her very first mouse.

Snowstorm came trotting to the scene. "What in StarClan's name is going on?" she demanded.

"Cherrypaw caught a mouse," Dustcloud explained. "When she did, she screamed it out and scared all the prey away."

Snowstorm shot a stern look at Cherrypaw, but it was quickly replaced with that of a proud one. "Good job, Cherrypaw," she meowed.

Cherrypaw beamed up at her mentor. "May I eat it?" she asked tentatively.

"Of course you can," she replied with a soft chuckle. "It's your first mouse. You have the right to eat it."

Cherrypaw dropped the wood creature on the earthy ground and crouched down beside it. She took a bite of the fresh-kill, savouring the wonderful scents and tastes.

"It's amazing!" she exclaimed. "I've never tasted anything better!"

"Besides, maybe, rabbit," Dustcloud put in. "That's my favourite type of fresh-kill."

Cherrypaw shrugged. "I think mouse is the best."

Snowstorm twitched her whiskers in amusement and sat down. "I don't know. I really like sparrow."

The three cats purred in laughter for a moment when Frostfur and Whitepaw emerged from a bramble thicket. They each held two pieces of fresh-kill.

When the cats were finished eating, Cherrypaw was the first up and ready to go. "Come on, guys!" she mewed excitedly. "I'm feeling really confident about finding the edge of the forest now!"

Snowstorm nodded. "Patience, Cherrypaw," she meowed. "What makes you so sure?"

Cherrypaw opened her jaw and tasted the air. "The sugar river's scent sort of…fades. Maybe there will be some Twoleg farmland there."

Dustcloud nodded. "I smell that too," she agreed. "I'm beginning to scent some Twolegs. Maybe there's a Twolegplace there, too."

Frostfur got to her paws. "I knew we'd find the edge today!"

The patrol set off again, padding silently along the riverside. The silence was broken only once by a sneeze from Whitepaw, who had remained silent the whole time.

Suddenly, a new scent that she hadn't smelled in some time caught Cherrypaw's attention. She lifted her muzzle curiously. "What's that?"

Snowstorm sniffed the air. "Well, Cherrypaw, you've smelled this before, just not in a long time. What do you think it is?"

Cherrypaw leaped forward and inhaled deeply, determined to make out the scent. Suddenly, the smell hit her like she was just hit by a Twoleg monster.

"Thunderpath!"

A/N: Yay for Cherrypaw. Reviews! Make me feel better!!!! xD