A/N: Yay here's Chapter 3, how are you guys likin this story so far? Well yesterday was certainly fun, I got a whole story dedicated to me! Supposedly I'm a stalker, well thats news to me! But i'm just going to let this go, and move on to the good stuff! I got BP and it was great, though I have a question, was Mosskit a tom or a she-cat? Because I think the Erin's messed up his/hers gender again. Anyway, I'm publishing a story for Akari-Miniwara because she cant access her account. Please check it out and review, it would mean alot to her. Thanks, should update soon.

~Leo~

CHAPTER 3

A light breeze drifted through the forest, as Ember lay next to his mother and sister. The comforting warmth of Terra's fur was enough to make the young tom feel totally safe, without a care in the world.

Honey slept peacefully next to him, her light brown pelt heaving slightly as she breathed.

He could feel Terra nuzzling his scruff, "Wake up" she meowed quietly, "Wake up!".

But Ember didn't want to wake up! He wanted to stay like this forever, but something was dragging him back, a voice.

"Hey are you okay? Wake up!"

The loners amber eyes flashed open in shock, as he coughed up cold water onto the grass. What happened to me? The last thing he remembered was trying to cross the stones into RiverClan camp, he must have slipped into the water.

A husky gray tom stood over the loner, looking at him inquisitively.

"You see Troutstream!" he called out, "I won after all, he's still alive!".

What were these cats betting on if he would live or die? This was going to be fun living in RiverClan. Raising his gray head, Emberpaw looked around groggily. A wall of earth surrounded him, was he underground?

"Don't move" a voice meowed, coming from a brown and white tom that stood over him.

The tom smelled of tangy herbs that Ember had never smelled before, was he a Medicine Cat? Terra had told him of all the positions in a clan, a Medicine cat took care of sick and injured warriors and all other cats.

"You fell into the water during the storm" the tom meowed, "But luckily Foxscar and Aquashine found you, the bump you got on the head caused you to go unconscious."

Ember nodded at the Medicine Cat's recollection of what happened, but he was still confused.

"Who are you?" he asked the tom, "And who is that?" Ember flicked his tail to the gray tom that stood at the entrance.

"My name's Berryshade, I'm Medicine Cat of RiverClan. And that useless lump over there is Wolftail, a supposed warrior."

Wolftail turned with a surprised look on his face, "Hey I'm a good warrio...".

Berryshade cut him off with a harsh glance, "Go do something useful and tell Sandpaw to get back in here. Leopardspots isn't going to give birth for another moon, she shouldn't be hovering around her like a queen."

Wolftail looked as if he were about to object, but the look coming from his Medicine Cat was enough to send him running out the entrance.

"I swear" Berryshade hissed, turning back to Ember, "It's like their all kits and I'm supposed to take care of them. If I would have known it would be this hard when I was an apprentice, perhaps I would have been a warrior instead."

The old Medicine Cat continued to ramble on, but paused as a light ginger and white she-cat burst through the lichen.

"StarClan forbid you slow down" Berryshade shook his head, "Sandpaw grab me some poppy and thyme now, this young cat needs to be treated."

The apprentice dipped her head and went to the back to rummage through what only could be herbs.

Sandpaw!? This was his sister, he and her looked nothing alike!

"So what's you name?" Berryshade meowed while he sorted through herbs.

He looked up, "My name's Ember" he didn't want to give anything else away.

"Well You're obviously not a clan cat, but your to skinny to be a Kittypet. I can only assume that you're a rogue."

Ember perked his ears, this cat was smart. He nodded, "I lived outside ShadowClan territory with my mother and sister, they died last month from an adder. I've been trying to find food ever since."

Berryshade heightened his gaze, "I'm sorry, I know what it's like to lose kin. My sister Swanmist died last season of Green-Cough, she was expecting kits."

Ember lowered his gaze, how terrible, and the kits died to!

"Why were you drowning yourself then?" the sweet voice of Sandpaw drifted across to him, as she came out of the storage den.

"I was...Just looking for some food in the stream, I'm sorry. I didn't know I was on RiverClan territory." So it wasn't the complete truth, they wouldn't know the difference! Anyway he had more important things to worry about, what if this Fernstar sent him away!?

Sandpaw moved forward and dropped a tiny seed in front of him. "Eat this poppy, It'll make you feel better and you'll sleep" she meowed gently, nosing it forward.

Ember thanked her with a dip of the head, and lapped up the seed. He lay there for a moment as Berryshade and Sandpaw argued over spilled mouse-bile, and before Ember knew it, his eyelids were becoming heavy.

That stuff works fast, he yawned, nosing his paw over his eyes, as sleep overwhelmed him.

Dawn light flooded through the muddy opening, as rays of light illuminated Ember's gray pelt. Was it really morning already? He had slept the rest of the night and through part of the day!

"Well it looks like someone's awake" he noticed Sandpaw sitting at the entrance, sunning her ginger pelt. "Berryshade went to get you a piece of fresh-kill, he wanted you to be strong when Fernstar holds the meeting."

Ember perked his ears, "Meeting? Meeting for what?".

Was Fernstar going to exile him or have his death ordered by one of her warriors?

"To decide if you should stay in the clan" Sandpaw yawned, "Personally I think you should, you'll die if you last one more moon out there. It's no way for a cat to live."

What the apprentice said was true, Ember would most likely die out in the wild. After all, Leaf-fall was rapidly approaching, after that the dreaded Leaf-Bare. He had never experienced one, but he was born right after it.

Sandpaw moved back, as her mentor nosed through the den, and dropped a Magpie at Ember's paws.

"I had to steel it from Hawkdawn" he meowed grouchily, "Fernstar hasn't ordered a patrol yet."

Sandpaw gasped, "You can't steel fresh-kill from a queen, she has to feed Torchkit and Shellkit!".

Berryshade snorted, "If you ask me those kits are getting to fat, Torchkit can barely walk he's so pudgy. And the only reason Shellkit isn't, is because she wanders the territory searching for anything shiny."

At least I know why she's named Shellkit, he smiled. It was interesting how clan cats named their kits, probably after appearances or traits. As the two Medicine Cats argued on and on, Ember devoured the Magpie in second, he was hungrier than he thought.

Suddenly the den trembled, as a large cat entered the lichen.

"Father!" Sandpaw exclaimed, looking shocked to see her father.

Ember looked up, and stepped back in horror. That cat standing before him, was Lightningcloud, his father.