Morning sunrise came. Lilypaw yawned as she crawled out of the messenger den. Her paws aching from the training from the day before. As a messenger she needed to be fast and be able to dodge obstacles. So that's what she and Sagepetal had worked on all day, the day prior.

The Dawn patrol was leaving when Lilypaw made it out of the den. Snakekit was already out. Lilypaw walked up to the kit. "Hey Snakekit" she purred. The kit looked up at the older cat.

"Hi!" Snakekit replied enthusiastically.

"Does Kestrelflight know you're out here?" asked Lilypaw. The kit stood there for a moment thinking, before shaking her head.

"She was up all night with Beekit," replied Snakekit. "So I let her sleep"

"Well it's still really early," Lilypaw said.

"I like being up early," Snakekit replied. Lilypaw let out a purr of amusement. You won't when you're an apprentice.

"Yes I will." Snakekit replied. Rustling came from beside them. Lilypaw saw Kestrelwing walk out of the den.

"Snakekit dear, there you are," Kestrelwing purred. Snakekit ran to her mother. Lilypaw watched the kit and mother. Would I ever want to have kits? She wondered, as long as Sagepetal didn't retire then probably.

That plagued another issue. Sagepetal talked about retiring right after Lilypaw earned her full name. Lilypaw's apprentice ceremony passed only a few sunrises ago, and already she was dreading the day she earned her full name. The Clan will be depending on me.

She walked away from the mother and kit duo, and towards the fresh-kill. Olivepaw and Vulturepaw sat there sharing prey. Lilypaw picked up a rabbit and walked away.

"You don't plan on eating all of that, do you?" Sagepetal asked. Lilypaw shook her head.

"Go put it back, grab something smaller. We have a lot of work ahead of us, Russetstar wants to send you on your first solo mission."

Lilypaw nodded. She put the rabbit back and opted for a smaller piece of prey. She ate it quickly and headed back over to her mentor. Sagepetal looked at her.

"You look so much like your mother," she muttered. Lilypaw looked at the ground. Her mother Poppyspark had died when Lilypaw was only a few moons old. Sagepetal, Poppyspark's sister, had been too distraught to be around Lilypaw during her kithood. She went to Russetstar right before Lilypaw's apprenticeship and had asked for Lilypaw to become her apprentice.

Lilypaw had wanted to be a warrior, but here she was. A messenger. Vulturepaw, her foster brother, hadn't really liked that she was given the role he wanted.

Lilypaw had begged Lavenderspite to try and get Russetstar to change her mind, but she stated that Vulutrepaw would do much more serving his clan as a warrior.

"Go to Russetstar, she'll give you the message" Sagepetal informed her.

"Aren't you coming?" asked Lilypaw.

"Lilypaw, I'm old..my paws are weak. You can do this on your own" Sagepetal informed her. Aren't mentors supposed to assist their apprentices? Wondered Lilypaw, but she didn't question it. Instead she headed inside the leader's den. There Russetstar sat with Vixenwing.

"Lilypaw, are you ready for your first solo mission?" asked Russetstar. The apprentice nodded.
"Go to MeadowClan, tell them that DawnClan is in need of supplies. Ask that they send over a patrol later with them" Russetstar told her.

"We need stuff for the medicine den according to Freckledawn." explained Vixenwing, "They have a great load of herbs, we could also use some moss. And possibly if they can spare it, prey"

Lilypaw nodded, "Anything else?" she asked. Russetstar shook his head.

"That's all," he said. Again Lilypaw nodded and headed out of the leader's den. She headed towards the exit, her mind wandering.

It landed on the dream from the night before, how had she forgotten? The dream. Who were those cats? Were they cats? Were they from StarClan?

Lilypaw shook her head. They didn't have clan names, and besides, she wasn't a medicine cat. No way she'd get a prophecy from StarClan.

Lilypaw walked down the path from the mountain. She would have to head through some trees to get into the MeadowClan territory without crossing through RippleClan. She didn't want to make enemies with that clan.

Not that she wanted enemies in any clan, but RippleClan was the largest of the three clans. The forest did unnerve Lilypaw, but here she was walking through it on her own. She heard the sound of birds, the scampering of squirrels, then she heard paw steps. Lilypaw stopped walking and looked around.

"Hello?" she called out. She heard the crackling of leaves and turned to face the noise. There stood a black figure that looked in her direction. The cat's amber eyes almost seemed to glow. They stared at each other for just a few moments before the cat scampered off.

Lilypaw stared in the direction of the cat, before running as fast she could towards MeadowClan.

Only one thought crossed her mind. Rogues