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Amberpaw's first day as an apprentice was exhausting. She lay at the side of the camp, recalling what had happened that day. They had gone on a tour of the whole territory. I didn't know the forest was so big! They shared a border with ShadowClan and ThunderClan. WindClan was on the other border of ThunderClan, and RiverClan was on the other border of ShadowClan.

Spottedmist had told her about the other clans, too. ThunderClan was always sticking their noses in the other clans' business, even though it was their old leader, Firestar, who had saved SkyClan when they fell apart. ShadowClan was stealthy and couldn't be trusted. WindClan were fast and chased rabbits on the moor. And last but not least, RiverClan could swim and they hunt fish in the lake.

Amberpaw felt like that was all pretty easy to remember. Being an apprentice is pretty easy so far, she thought.

She padded over to the fresh-kill pile and chose a shrew. She finished in a few quick bites.

"Amberpaw?" Spottedmist called.

Amberpaw looked at her mentor. "Yes, Spottedmist?"

"What did you think of your first day as an apprentice?" she asked

"It was great!" exclaimed Amberpaw. "I didn't know the forest was so big!"

"It's even bigger than that," responded Spottedmist. "The forest goes on for longer than we can count. There's also the sun-drowned place. The water there goes longer than we can see."

"Wow," she said. "I guess we can never know the territory outside the clans."

"And there was another forest, where Firestar lived when he came to save SkyClan," she said.

"How far away was it?" asked Amberpaw.

"Do you remember those mountains we saw when we were at the lake?"

"Yes," Amberpaw recalled the distant mountains she had seen. It seemed like it would take moons to get there.

"The forest was past those mountains."

"What! That's impossible!"

"It's not."

"The Tribe of Rushing Water lives in the mountains."

"I've heard about them," Amberpaw remembered the elder's tales of cats that lived behind a waterfall.

Spottedmist looked up at the sky. "It's getting late," she said. "You should go get settled in the apprentices' den."

"Okay." Amberpaw padded to the apprentice's den. Brakenpaw and Sprucepaw had already made her and her siblings a nest. She felt a rush of appreciation for the two toms. Rosepaw and Eaglepaw were in their nests. Rosepaw was sleeping, but Eaglepaw gave her a friendly flick of her tail. Amberpaw settled into her nest. It did not take long before she fell into a deep sleep.

"Amberpaw, wake up," her mentor's voice sounded at the entrance of the den.

"What's happening?" she asked. "Is ShadowClan attacking?!"

"No, we're going on the dawn patrol."

Amberpaw scrambled out of her nest to give her fur a quick grooming. Then she padded over to where Hazelslip and Rosepaw were sitting along with Honeyfur, the patrol's leader, Spottedwisker, and Emberleap.

"Ok," said Honeyfur. "Let's go."

They went outside camp and into the forest, the lush undergrowth and the towering trees made her feel so nice. The cool wind around was soothing.

She loved hearing the animals chirping and scampering around.

They were at the ShadowClan border now, and the stink of their scent made her gag.

"Why does ShadowClan's scent have to smell like fox dung!?" she asked.

"They probably think we smell like fox dung," replied Honeyfur.

But before she could say any more, a voice sounded behind her. "What's this I hear about ShadowClan smelling like fox dung?" A ShadowClan warrior stepped into view on the other side of the border. "Not some SkyClan apprentices, I hope." Four more cats emerged from the bushes behind him. Two of them looked to be older apprentices. If it came to a fight, they would have the upper hand.

Amberpaw opened her mouth to reply, but Spottedmist spoke before she had the chance. "It's only her second time near the border, Ashwing."

"I don't care if it's her first time or her tenth," he replied. Amberpaw could sense the anger in his voice. "You should teach your apprentices to have more respect." Amberpaw glanced over at her sister. Rosepaw was as terrified as she was of the ShadowClan cats. She wanted to move closer to her, but she was stiff with fear.

"You have no right to tell us what to do with our apprentices!" yowled Emberleap.

"I'll do whatever I want," he replied.

Emberleap took a step toward the border, growling at Ashwing.

Honeyfur leaned over and whispered something to Emberleap that made her come back. "Come on," she said to the rest of the patrol. "It's not worth a fight."

"Running away, SkyClan," taunted Ashwing. "Not so tough now."

Despite his mocking tone, Honeyfur led the patrol back to camp. The walk back was silent except for the crunching of the ground underneath their paws. When they reached camp, their clanmates looked at them. She could sense that they could tell something was wrong. Honeypaw started to go to the Pinestar's den underneath the old cedar tree. Eaglepaw bound over to Amberpaw and Rosepaw.

"How come you two look so scared?" she asked.

"ShadowClan," she replied.

Honeyfur came out of the leader's den. Amberpaw heard her ask, "Will you make an announcement?"

"No," replied Pinestar from inside his den. "It's not serious enough yet."

Amberpaw felt sick. If she hadn't been talking about ShadowClan's scent, there wouldn't have been any trouble. If it came to a battle, it would be her fault. Have I led my clan into destruction?