I could smell RiverClan's fishy scent. Even if I hadn't been able to tell the difference between it from WindClan and ShadowClan, I would have been able to find their territory. It was strongly scented, reminding me of the stream between WindClan and ThunderClan, but worse. We finally ducked back into the light cover of trees. I was relieved to flatten out my ruffled pelt and give myself a quick wash. By now, the sun was almost going down.

"Excuse me? What are you doing on our territory?" A voice hissed from some nearby bracken. I jumped a bit as the gray she-cat slipped out from the brush, followed by a warrior and an apprentice. The apprentice looked me over, his eyes blazing.

"The silver cat is RiverClan's leader, Mistystar." Jayfeather whispered in my ear. I could feel my pelt ruffling under the tom's angry gaze. Jayfeather seemed a bit uncomfortable himself as he bowed his head to Mistystar and spoke more loudly, so she could hear. "Jayfeather, ThunderClan's medicine cat. This is my new apprentice, Beechpaw. We wish to speak to Willowshine." Mistystar an the warrior accepted that we were medicine cats and their angry eyes turned more soft.

"Alright. We will bring you to our camp. Willowshine and Echopaw should be there." Mistystar mewed, turning and bounding away. The apprentice waited until we followed.

"Can't you move any faster?" He hissed. I shook my head bitterly and moved my leg a bit to show him. He blinked in surprise and slowed his own pace.

By the time we reached camp, I was panting harder then the rest. It was hard work moving so fast with my leg unable to hold weight. Mistystar dismissed her warrior and noticed it for the first time. By now, other cats were staring at us.

"What happened to your leg?" She asked as we padded across the clearing.

"Fox attack. Almost died." Jayfeather answered for me. I ruffled my pelt and would have attacked him, had the whole of RiverClan not been watching. I could answer for myself, that blind hedgehog!

"This is the medicine den." She mewed. Her eyes didn't leave me, full of sympathy and pity. I narrowed my eyes and followed Jayfeather inside. A tiny mew of surprise came from a tiny calico, who darted into another part of the den.

"What is it Echopaw?" A voice asked. The tiny apprentice came out, followed by a larger gray she-cat. "Morning Jayfeather. What is it?" She asked.

"Hello Willowshine. Our supply of catmint froze last Leafbare. Kestrelwing and Littlecloud have been given special orders not to give us anything. It is so annoying, our Clans at war." Jayfeather sighed.

"Well, we have plenty, but I'm afraid it will take all day to get to our supply and back. It wouldn't be safe to send you home at night." She pointed out.

"Maybe we could spend the night here? I'm sure Hollystar won't mind."

"That sounds like a good idea. Who is this, by the way?" For the first time Willowshine acknowledged my presence.

"My new apprentice, Beechpaw." He mewed.

"Good. I'm not the only medicine cat with a new apprentice anymore, though Flamesong is still pretty young." Willowshine purred, looking me over. Was that a RiverClan custom or something? Her apprentice bounced around me, full of energy. She paused at my leg.

"What happened?" She squeaked.

"Fox attack when I was little." I replied before Jayfeather could. I glanced at him. It seemed like he thought I didn't know what had happened. I rolled my eyes at his reaction.

"Cool. How old are you?" She asked. Jayfeather flicked his tail across my flank.

"We'll be back shortly. No use bringing all of us." Willowshine pointed out to use. We both nodded as our mentors disappeared.

"Seven moons around the next gathering." I replied.

"I'm nine moons. Who is your mother?"

"Cinderheart. She died trying to save me from the fox." I mewed. I noticed something in her eyes. She didn't think my mother did very good keeping me safe! "It was my fault, actually. I wandered out of camp with my sisters, but we got separated. My calling for help to nothing at first, but the stupid fox found me instead of a patrol. Next thing I know, I' thrown against a tree. I passed but as my mother shot out of the bushes. When I woke up, I was in Jayfeather's den with Leafpool and him, and they told me she had died, as well as the fox, and my leg was broken. They said it would never heal completely after I was stuck in the medicine den for three moons." I explained the story. Echopaw finally seemed to understand.

"Was that when you decided to be a medicine cat?" She asked. I snorted.

"I never wanted to be a medicine cat, and I still don't care. I tried to be a warrior apprentice for about half a moon, but I failed miserably." I snorted again. Echopaw acted like it was a catastrophe that I didn't want to be a medicine cat.

"Willowshine said she always wanted to be a medicine cat, just like I did. I guess I didn't realize some cats were forced into it." She apologized.

"I'm the third I've heard about. My mentor is one of them." I mewed. Echopaw tilted her head. She must not have noticed he was blind.

"Why is that?" She asked.

"You didn't know Jayfeather was blind?" Echopaw shook her head.

We were both asleep by the time our mentors returned. It was dark out already, and I had been helping Echopaw sort the rest of the marigold while we were waiting for them to return. Between the journey to RiverClan and sorting herbs all day, I had gotten completely wiped out. I could feel Echopaw wake up, which caused me to wake up.

"Morning you two." Jayfeather purred. Both of us shot up, ready to help.

"You can go back to sleep. This catmint won't need to be sorted." Willowshine meowed, purring in amusement. We settled back down and curled up again, quickly being overcome by sleep.