Dewfrost (the apprentice's father above! :) I love his pelt markings and coloring!

Amberpaw buried her nose in a clump of mallow and nipped a few stems off. She backed out of the bramble bush the plant was under and turned to Fidgetfoot. "Got some!"

"Thanks, Amberpaw." He said taking the stems from her.

She ducked back under the brambles and searched for bigger stems. Suddenly, she heard snarling and, surprised, she sprang up, bumping her head against a branch. "Ow!" Amberpaw mewed in pain. She backed out of the bush and followed her mentor who was heading toward the screeching noises. Amberpaw wondered, That sounded like...outsiders. She followed Fidgetfoot towards the snarling. As she got closer, overpowering blood scent started to block her senses, even though she smelled of mallow. Right as she came out from behind the bushes two cats pounced on top of them knocking both Fidgetfoot and herself off their paws. She shrieked in surprise, blood roaring in her ears. She leaped back to her paws, protecting herself with unsheathed claws.

* * *

Fernpaw stumbled backwards noticing it was just the two medicine cats.

"It's ok, Fernpaw and Prinklepaw, its only Fidgetfoot and Amberpaw," Blazestar mewed gently.

"What was that all about Blazestar? I thought I would have been going home with a scratch from these here two apprentices," Fidgetfoot mewed jokingly.

Amberpaw widened her eyes as she gazed at her clanmates with blood trickling off their pelts down to their paws. "Fidgetfoot, we should get back to camp. By the looks of it, they picked up a nasty fight." Amberpaw mewed, flicking her tail towards her clanmates.

Fidgetfoot replied, "Okay, lets all get back to camp before they get infections from those their wounds." Turning to Blazestar, he mewed, "So, what happened here, Blazestar? We were just getting some mallow when we heard ear-deafening screeching and-"

Blazestar interrupted him sharply, "We were attacked...by rogues..."

"Oh," Fidgetfoot replied, numbly

"I guess more trouble for Skyclan." Mistfeather put in.

"Yes....but we are Warriors. Stronger than any rogue!" Blazestar spat, "Those rogues won't know what hit them!"

"Alright." Fidgetfoot mewed.

Fernpaw was watching Blazestar and Fidgetfoot go back and forth, mewing loudly to each other. She stumbled and her paws trembled from the attack as the patrol padded back towards camp. Dry blood was starting to crust into scabs as she wearily walked.

All the sudden, she started to see bright amber flames dancing around, engulfing her with smoke in every direction with no way out. She panicked, searching for her clanmates. She saw a flicker of white fur before the flames vanished. Fernpaw trembled as she returned to the woods with the patrol walking in front. She realized only a heartbeat or two passed. What was that? She wondered with fear and curiosity. I felt as if I was in...fire. But I'm not. I'm here with the Blazestar, Skyheart, Amberpaw, Prinklepaw, and Mistfeather, so what just happened? Hoping that Blazestar or her sister smelled her fear scent, She glanced over her shoulder and saw that Amberpaw's bright green gaze staring straight at her. Uh, why is she looking at me like that?

* * *

Amberpaw was suddenly engulfed in dancing flames that surrounded her. She searched around for the patrol but only saw Fernpaw. Fernpaw was looking around wildly, her leaf-green eyes wide with fear. She didn't seem to see Amberpaw. Right as Fernpaw looked toward Amberpaw, the vision disappeared and Amberpaw was back with with the tall trees and the thick undergrowth. She saw Fernpaw tense with her eyes still wide with fear. Suddenly, Fernpaw relaxed, but Amberpaw could smell fear scent rolling off her in waves. Fernpaw turned her gaze toward Amberpaw and she returned it with her own.

Back at camp, Amberpaw helped Fidgetfoot patch up the patrol's injuries.

"Amberpaw!"

"Yes?"

"I'm going to quiz you while we work." Fidgetfoot mewed.

"Okay..."

"Now, what should I use to heal this scratch?" He asked, pointing his paw toward a shallow scratch on Prinklepaw's shoulder.

"Um, well, first, marigold." Amberpaw answered.

"No." Fidgetfoot snapped. "I should use oak leaves."

"B-but I thought marigold was good in case there's an infection."

"You're right about that," he admitted. "But, oak leaves stops any unseen bleeding and prevents infection."

"Oh, ok." Amberpaw mumbled. Once the whole patrol had been patched up and sent to their nest, Amberpaw padded wearily to her nest and slumped down into the soft bedding, closing her eyes.

* * *

"Wake up, lazy bones!" Fidgetfoot mewed with a purr.

Amberpaw opened her eyes to see Fidgetfoot standing over her, "Wha-?"

"It's full moon, or did you forget?"

Amberpaw sprang to her paws. Her first gathering! It had already been almost three moons since the battle with the rogues and Amberpaw had always been ordered to stay in camp.

Since they were the only clan around this area, the cats picked to attend the gathering were alone in the grassy clearing. Amberpaw bounced around, excited.

Once every cat was settled, Blazestar spoke, "Welcome, Skyclan, to the full moon gathering. I have a big announcement tonight: Finpaw, Reedpaw, and Parsleypaw have completed their final assessment and are ready to become warriors underneath the full moon!"

Skyclan cheered around her and Blazestar waited until they calmed down before he continued.

"I, Blazestar, leader of Skyclan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on these three apprentices. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code and I commend them to you as warriors in their turn."

The three apprentices' eyes glowed as Blazestar spoke the familiar warrior ceremony words.

"Finpaw, Reedpaw, Parsleypaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and protect and defend this clan, even at the cost of your life?"

"I do!"

"I do!"

"I do!"

Each apprentice's voice rang clearly through the clearing.

"Then by the powers of Starclan, I give you your warrior name, Finpaw, from this moment on, you will be known as Finspash. Starclan honors your hunting skill and enthusiasm and I welcome you as a new warrior of Skyclan!"

"Finsplash, Finsplash, Finsplash!"

"Reedpaw, from this moment on, you will be known as Reedthicket. Starclan honors your loyalty and bravery and I welcome you as a new warrior of Skyclan." Blazestar continued.

"Reedthicket, Reedthicket." Amberpaw heard her sister's voice ring out as one of the loudest. She looked at Reedthicket and noticed his gaze was on her sister. He blinked warmly and proudly at her. When did they get so close? Amberpaw thought as her gaze flicked between the warrior and apprentice.

"-Will be known as Parsleyseed." Amberpaw realized she had missed Blazestar speak while she was watching Fernpaw.

"Parsleyseed, Parsleyseed!" This time, Amberpaw called as loud as she could. But when she looked over at Parsleyseed, he was glaring at her. Who put thorns in his bedding?

After everyone went to their dens, Amberpaw padded up to Parsleyseed. "What are you so mad about?"

He sighed, "It's just that, right as I was starting to imagine a life with you, you chose to become a Medicine Cat." With that, he stalked away toward the warriors den.

Parsleyseed wanted to be my mate? A sudden jolt of electricity shot through her like lightning as she watched him pad away.