Back at camp, as Cherrypaw chowed down her squirrel, Thunderstar explained the directions of the assessment.

"You will hunt around the territory until mid-day. No slacking. Keep on hunting and bring back as much as you could bring back." He told her.

The tom had spoken to Silverpelt in his dreams last night, talking about everything needed for the assessment, and how Thunderstar can't tell Cherrypaw that he'd be following her.

"I won't let you down, Thunderstar!" The she-cat purred.

Thunderstar grinned a little as the apprentice dashed into the territory, but his grin slowly faded as he silently ran behind her.

The apprentice was very focused. She would not let any distractions get to her, only the fact that she had to find a lot of prey distracted her, but that was what she was focusing on, so it was no biggie.

Sure, she got a few misses, but there was a lot of prey out, which meant that she'd do good. This was a good day for hunting!

Cherrypaw went a little near ShadowClan, chasing after a squirrel. The apprentice stopped as the prey went out of view, and started to run back to where she was hunting for mice before.

"Cherrypaw?" A some-what far away voice called out.

The she-cat turned around, and saw her ShadowClan friend, Blueberry. "Hey, Blueberry!"

"What's up?" The white tom asked her.

"I'm kind of busy, I'm in the middle of my first warrior assessment!" The brown she-cat mewed to the white tom.

Blueberry blushed. "So sorry to interrupt you, Cherrypaw. Good luck, I know you'll ace it!"

The apprentice giggled. "No biggie!" Actually, it is some pretty bad news. I don't have time for talking and hanging out, I only have till mid-day to catch as much prey as I can! I have two mice and one bird, but I need more! It's really important!

The ShadowClan tom smiled. He wanted to help, but it was probably against the rules to do so. "Hey, Cherrypaw, before you go back to hunting, uhm," He quickly walked up to her and whispered in her ear, "Wanna meet up tonight? Near the border?"

The whisper sent a shiver of delight through her body. She felt pretty cool for getting whispered to, but he just asked her if they wanted to meet up... That was very special. She looked up at the tom's big eyes and nodded. "See you then."

They exchanged a glance for several moments, until Blueberry heard his name being shouted by Shadowstar. He waved his tail and swiftly ran off.

Cherrypaw stood, staring at her paws. That rush of excitement was to shocking for her to move, but then she remembered the conversation she had with Thunderstar about the directions. Oh no! What if he was watching me! She rapidly turned her head to check around for the tom, then ran off to collect more prey.

Cherrypaw looked up and saw a big, fat squirrel in a tree. She licked her lips, knowing how proud Thunderstar will be of her.

Cherrypaw softly climbed the tree, and stopped as she got to the branch. She jumped onto the part of the tree, and stalked the squirrel, in ready position.

She counted in her head, Three, two, one, go! The she-cat dove at the squirrel, unintentionally pushing the rodent off the branch. "Noo!" Cherrypaw shrieked.

The apprentice slid down the tree and sprinted towards where the squirrel had fallen. All she saw was the print that it had made in the dirt. Cherrypaw gulped as she looked around.

The ThunderClan cat spotted the animal going as quick as it could behind a bush, but she noticed that one of his legs looked broken. He was using his paws and other leg, but it was still hard for it to go fast.

There was no escaping now. Cherrypaw extended her claws as much as she could as she unleashed herself once again at the prey. It tried to escape, but Cherrypaw dug her claws into its back as she bit the squirrel's neck to break it. She licked the crimson blood off of her teeth as she watched the prey slowly become lifeless. Soon, its heartbeat stopped. Cherrypaw thanked StarClan for her prey as she picked it up and brought it over to her prey pile. "Cherrypaw, times up!" Thunderstar called as she reached her pile.

Cherrypaw gave out a quiet gasp. Did she get enough prey? Did he see Blueberry? The she-cat collected her prey as she ran towards Thunderstar. She dropped the prey at his paws. "I hope I got enough, there was a lot out..."

Thunderstar smiled. "Great job, Cherrypaw. You did excellent." He said, and pushed the fresh prey over to the prey-pile, except for the two mice. He pawed one over to her, and had the other one for himself.

They ate in silence until Thunderstar looked over at his apprentice. "Cherrypaw?"

She looked up, and swallowed her small bite of the mouse. "Hmm?"

"Did anything...distract you? Did you stop at anytime?"

Cherrypaw felt her heart drop to her paws and shatter into a thousand pieces. He found out. "Thunderstar, I am so sorry, it will never happen again, I tried to get him away, I-I..." She stuttered out.

The gray tom looked at her. "Cherrypaw, I understand. But, what did he say? Why did you two look at each other? And why did you freeze for a few long moments after he left? Cherrypaw, if that happened in a colder season, or in a time where the Clan needed prey, you could have lost a lot of opportunities to catch prey. I am amazed at your catch, but, well, you understand what I am saying, correct?"

Cherrypaw nodded. "Yeah, I understand." She said, faintly looking up at him, wondering if she should lie for her answers. Lying to this gentle tom would be terrible, but she knew she had to. He lied to her before.

"He said good luck to me, and that I was the best hunter that he ever knew, and that I was better then him. You saw us smiling, didn't you? Well, if you didn't, we were, because I was so pleased, and so was he. I was shocked when he left because he was such a great hunter, but anyways, I am so sorry Thunderstar..." She said, and felt like whispering after that, for lying.

Thunderstar smiled. "It's okay. He's right, you are a brilliant hunter. In a little bit, we will test your fighting skills, then, you may be able to become a warrior at sun-high tomorrow. I can bring along Shadowstar and Blueberry tomorrow, if you want me to."

The apprentice nodded her head rapidly. Becoming a warrior she couldn't dream of it! Do I really deserve it?

"Now, rest up. Your fighting assessment will be soon." He told her.

The she-cat nodded and ran to her den.

As she lay in her nest, cuddled in her moss, she imagined what her warrior name would be, and better yet, how tonight would be at the border! The last time that she remembered that Blueberry and her were alone was when that they found out that Thunderstar and Shadowstar were mates, and that was very fun for her, and hopefully very fun for him. She closed her eyes, and drifted off for a nap.

After a bit, she felt a paw on her shoulder. It was a little before dusk. "Come on, let's go," Thunderstar told her.

The apprentice yawned and nodded. She stretched in her nest, ready for the assessment. The two padded over to an open area.

"Are you ready, Cherrypaw?" He asked.

The apprentice nodded. "Indeed!"

The gray tom darted at Cherrypaw. The she-cat quickly rolled to the side, and charged into his side, bringing him down. She started to paw at his back, signaling that this meant that she was scratching him. He kicked her out of the way as he stood up and went on top of her. He went for her neck, but she she-cat rolled her head under him and flipped over, kicking his belly as she flipped. She got up fast and twisted his front paws as she leaped on top of him, making him fall to the ground once again. She put his paws down over to his face, but he rolled over, crushing her as he rolled. She growled as she charged back over to him, but he dodged. He was looking the other way for several moments, which gave Cherrypaw the chance to jump onto a tree. She climbed up the tree and stood on the branch, watching as he looked around.

The two heard a rustle in one of the bushes. Thunderstar darted near the bushes, thinking it was her. He then looked under, swearing he could see a cat, but looked around once more before going into the bush. Cherrypaw jumped down the low branch onto Thunderstar's back. "Haha!" She mewed.

He rolled from under her, dizzy of what just happened. "You have to 'kill' me to win." He playfully growled.

Cherrypaw quickly dashed up the tree again as he started to run towards her. This time, she decided to go higher. Thunderstar growled as he started to go up the tree.

In panic, the she-cat jumped down, but realized, it was a little to high. She yelled as she fell down the tree in rapid speed.

It was all a blur as she heard Thunderstar jump down from climbing and sprinted over to her. She remembered her crash to the ground, and a yowl of pain from Thunderstar before she got knocked out cold.