Cherrypaw had waked before her leader, Thunderstar. She was glad, today was her first assessment. She had been training non stop for these for the past quarter moon, and she still had to do more training for the next part.

The apprentice stepped out into the fresh, cool air of her camp. It was about to be the start of New-leaf, so the prey was coming back, and it would get more warm, and more sunny.

I cannot believe that it has been five moons since I have been an apprentice... It seems so much shorter. Everything is so much fun around here. I have the best friends that I could ever have, if only my family could come and join me... She thought.

The brown she-cat sat down, and remembered the few days before she had joined ThunderClan.

The kitten laid down on the white floor, watching some of her siblings play with a few bits of dust that they found in the corner of the kitchen.

"Chea, why don't you play?" A cat that looked almost exactly like her asked.

That was Chealynn's brother, Cookie. He was a big goofball, but was very nice, and most importantly, caring. He would care for every single cat before himself.

Cookie's opponent was Bri. Bri was a slick black she-cat with a white underbelly, paws, and tailtip. She had hated Chealynn more than she hated anyone else, because she was so optimistic all the time, that it made her so annoyed. She thought most of her siblings were stupid anyways, except for Cookie and Fyre, but she hated her sisters for some reason.

Chealynn had a big family. She was born in a litter with Cookie and Fyre, while Bri was in a litter with her two sisters, Shanna and Destri. Shanna was more soft, she didn't want to play much, and she was always sleeping, but when she wasn't, she'd just talk to her siblings. Shanna was pure white, with yellow eyes.

Destri was a loveable chocolate brown she-cat. She was a little tough sometimes, but she loved every cat that she was friends with. She'd always participate in whatever she could, and made sure every cat was happy.

"Chealynn cannot play. She'll mess the whole game up, and there isn't enough dust to even play with!" Bri hissed.

"Oh, it's okay." She said with a quiet voice. Lately, Chealynn had wanted to have more freedom. She lived in a big barn, and there was plenty of room, but her owners almost never let her out of the house with them knowing.

The she-cat got up and started to head into the living room that was next to the kitchen.

"Don't bother," Bri said, not looking at her sister.

The she-cat turned around, facing Bri. "Why?"

"Fyre and Shanna are sleeping." The she-cat said in her mysterious voice as always as she passed the dust over to her brother.

I'm surprised she said that Shanna was too. She doesn't even talk to Shanna at all... The brown kitten thought to herself. "What about Destri?"

"Don't know, don't care."

Cookie grabbed the piece of dust and rolled it back into the corner. "This is so boring. Why did you make this stupid game? Also, don't be rude to Destri! She's very nice." Cookie told the suspicious she-cat.

"If you say so," She purred elegantly, but gave Chealynn a rude stare and an evil grin that Cookie couldn't see.

Chealynn got up and started to go for the living room. Once she did, she jumped up onto the couch, but couldn't go to sleep. She felt a breeze on her, then smiled as she opened her eyes. She quickly ran up to the window and saw it was wide open. She jumped out into the yard and ran out. She was careful not to come in view with any human, horse, or any other animal.

She ran through the backyard, going as quick as a cheetah, before nearby chicken raced after her and caused a lot of noise. She ran into the neighborhood and crossed the street. She went into her friend, Pumpkin's yard, seeing Destri and Pumpkin in the front yard, chasing after a mouse.

"Hey guys!" She said. The mouse started to run up to Chealynn. She caught it in her paws and held it up to her friends. They watched as it squirmed around.

"Can I let it go?" She asked.

Destri and Pumpkin shook their heads. "We've been working all morning to catch it. We want to taste it. Kill it!" They shouted.

Poor mouse, I am sorry. She thought to herself. "What do I do?"

"Snap it's neck!" Pumpkin shouted.

Destri added, "Make it be scared as ever!"

Chealynn sadly nodded as she took one paw off of it and bended its neck back. It quickly fell limp in her very paws. She strangely liked the feeling, though.

The two kittens ran up to Chealynn as she dropped it on the grass. "Everyone, take a bite out of it, I guess?" She said. They nodded.

Pumpkin went first. She took a small bite. She chewed it slowly, and swallowed it slowly as well. "I can live with it. It was okay, good."

Destri went next. She took her small bite and gulped it down quickly. "I feel weird eating it, but it's good!"

Chealynn looked at the she-cat's, then took a bite. The taste was so sweet and so juicy. She felt the warmth and tender of it, since it was just killed. She felt as if the blood was layering on her teeth. She didn't wanna say it, but it was the best thing she ever tasted.

"So?" Pumpkin asked.

Her sister asked, "Do you like it?"

Chealynn gulped, and nodded. "It was the best thing I ever ate."

"I know, right!" Her sister said with a big smile, and came up to lick the brown she-cat's cheek for excitement. "All the cats on the street will be scared of us, now. We are so cool, we ate a mouse!"

"Haha, yeah!" Chealynn said. For the rest of the day, until night had struck themselves and disrupted their playtime, they managed to kill several mice. They also ran around, play-attacked each other, played other games, and talked. It was the best time Chealynn had had, surely more fun then playing pass the dust with Cookie and Bri.

Chealynn and Destri had quickly came into their home and laid on the couch in the living room. Bri had noticed they came back. She felt their quiet footsteps vibrate through the floor. She jumped up next to them. "Where were you?" She asked in her mysterious voice as always.

Chealynn rolled her eyes. "None of your business."

The chocolate brown she-cat smiled. "Just tell her, Chea."

Bri smiled, looking at both of the two's blood-covered teeth. "Sure, tell me."

"We went to Pumpkin's house."

The slick she-cat smiled and chuckled with an evil look. "Oh, how delightful. Did both of you end up killing the poor, defenseless kitten?"

"What are you saying! We didn't do anything!" Destri quietly hissed.

"Then what's with the blood on your teeth?" Bri asked.

Chealynn was done with Bri being so mysterious, hateful, and annoying. She was just about to get up and leave. "We killed a mouse."

"How fascinating." Bri said with no emotion on her face.

"Get down and leave us alone!" Destri hissed.

The black and white she-cat grinned. "Have it your way." And leaped back down onto the ground and cuddled back with Fyre.

After that, Chealynn decided to go out into the forest every day. She wouldn't tell anyone, until the second day, when Destri asked where she was.

"The forest. It's really cool. I think I'm gonna stay there." Chealynn smiled. "There are piles of prey, waiting for you to eat them!"

Destri gasped. "You can't leave!"

"I don't know." Chealynn smiled. "It's pretty fun."

The chocolate brown couldn't believe it.

"You know, I think I will." The kittypet decided, and bit off her noisy collar. "It has way more freedom, and I don't have to get yelled at for making to much noise, or get pestered by Bri."

Destri shook her head. "No, no, no!"

"I'm sorry Destri." Chealynn felt bad, but it was how it had to work out. "I'll see you one day." And with that, she ran off.

Cherrypaw smiled. She missed Pumpkin, Destri, Fyre, Cookie, and Shanna. But, she loved her life now, and she was sure that they still had a fun time without her. She did realize, she did miss Bri, a lot. She always loved having an opponent. Really, she loved Bri, as a sister, and a friend.

The apprentice walked across the clearing to the Highrock. There was a big builder that had always been there, and to the side of it, was an awkward building of stones.

"Thunderstar, I didn't find any prey, but I did find these weird things. They're cold, gross, and hard." Cherrypaw said. She laid them down in front of the tom.

"These are stones, Cherrypaw. Rocks. You can't eat them, but we can play with them." The gray tom smiled. They started to put them on one another, and tried to put them back in place if they fell down the pile. They tried to make it look like a bird, but it didn't work out so well, so they called it a tree.

The apprentice was curious to see what they tasted like, still but she knew that it wasn't good for her teeth. She smiled as she walked away from the stone and over to a tree that was just outside of camp.

"Okay Cherrypaw, we're gonna learn how to climb a tree." Thunderstar told her. The apprentice was ready to learn how to catch birds and squirrels, so she was ready to go and climb the tree.

She unsheathed her claws, knowing that for the first step. The gray tom smiled. "Good. Now, do what I do. Cling to the sides of the tree and hold on." He demonstrated. "Now, you try." He said, getting down.

The apprentice jumped up and clung to the tree. She dragged herself up the tree. She was careful as she went up. When she was around half way up, Thunderstar smiled. "Now, try to go onto a branch."

Cherrypaw had saw above her that the branch had a bird's nest. She started to quietly go up. Once she got up, she moved one paw and quickly moved the other one, then moved her feet off the main part. She jumped up onto it and started to go over to it. She then slashed at it, but there was nobody in it. She hit the branch hard, and the tip of the branch broke. It started to shake, as parts of the branch kept on falling down.

"Cherrypaw!" The leader cried, running up to her.

The apprentice had hung from one paw. The loose branch had quickly fell after it. The apprentice screamed as she rapidly fell to the earth ground.

Before she could do so, Thunderstar leaped up to her and broke her fall. She had landed on top of the tom. "Thunderstar..." She whispered.

The tom didn't move, or breathe, as she stood up.

"Thunderstar..."

Thunderstar did not respond.

She stuttered, and poked his shoulder with her paw."Thunderstar!"

The foolish apprentice was the reason why he lost a life.

He cared about me so much... I've only known him for a half moon. Maybe more. I...I don't know. He is so nice, and will be the perfect mate one day, but that is only my secret. Shadowstar won't be able to stop me. She may be a close friend to both Thunderstar and I, but she can't steal him from me. Or at least, I don't think. Feelings like these don't change often.

She laid down next to him for the night, waiting for him to awake. The next morning, he had shifted his head and saw the tired apprentice next to him. She did not sleep for a second. "Cherrypaw, you are okay!" He purred.

"Because of you, Thunderstar!" She grinned.

I cannot believe I wanted to come in between Thunderstar and Shadowstar's relationship back then, but they weren't that close. It was kind of awkward, too. Additionally, he just saved my life, so I'm okay with knowing that I used to like him, but not anymore. I like... She blushed, trying not to think of his name. It wouldn't be right, though she wanted to so badly.

She walked a little further to a scratch in the ground.

The chipmunk had looked around, ready to dash into the bushes. Unlucky for the chipmunk, Cherrypaw was stalking him from behind, Thunderstar to the side, blending in with his surroundings. Just as the chipmunk was about to dash, Cherrypaw jumped up from behind and scratched the chipmunk's eyes, making it blind. She then snapped it's neck.

"My first kill!" She said to herself. It wasn't really, but it was her first in the Clans. She was excited and dug a scratch into the ground to represent the most awesome moment of her life.

The apprentice had loved her marvelous life as an apprentice, and she also loved her friends. While remembering all of these great moments, she had not realized that the sun had rose upon the Clans.

"Cherrypaw!" A voice shouted.

The apprentice turned around, and saw her best friend, Thunderstar. She ran up to him and smiled. "Hey Thunderstar!" She purred.

The gray tom smiled and licked the apprentice's forehead. "I am glad to see you out early. The only thing is that I hope you weren't cheating for your first assessment, or losing all of your energy." He glanced at her and saw only a pure smile as always.

"Of course I wouldn't, Thunderstar! You should know that I know better." She smiled.

The leader licked her forehead. "Good." He chuckled. "Now, let's head back to camp. You can eat if you haven't already, and then we'll get started."