Sparkface trudged towards the elders' den miserably with bedding held beneath her chin. As punishment for disrupting the Gathering, Gorsestar had given her apprentice duties for another moon. She dropped the bedding by the elders' den, which was currently empty of all elders except Rabbitrun.

She cleared the old bedding out of his nest and carefully arranged the new bedding, checking it thoroughly for any thorns. Once she had finished, the elder settled back into his nest, only to hiss in displeasure.

"Sparkface, hasn't anyone told you to put dry bedding in a nest?"

Sparkface gasped. "I'm so sorry, I forgot to dry it! Let me go get some dry bedding. I'll be right back!"

Sparkface rushed out of the den, intent on finding some soft grass or bracken that would already be dry. Before she could make it out of camp, the medicine cat, Hawkfeather, stopped her.

"Spottedclaw has a tick that needs to be taken care of. I believe she's taking a walk around the camp." The medicine cat gave her some moss soaked in mouse bile, and Sparkface wrinkled her nose at the smell, picking it up reluctantly and hurrying out of camp to find Spottedclaw.

After she had taken care of Spottedclaw's tick, she was sent to help mend a hole in the wall of the nursery, and after that she was sent to collect some bracken so that the nursery could be further secured. By the time she was done collecting the bracken, the moon had risen and she was exhausted.

Sparkface flopped down in her nest and fell asleep immediately, for once satisfied that she hadn't messed anything up that day.

She was awoken by Gorsestar prodding her sharply in the back. She looked up to see him glaring down at her. "Up. Now," was all he said.

What did I do now? Sparkface wondered. She stood and followed him past the sleeping cats, the morning sky barely lit with streaks of sunlight; it was so early, the patrol had not yet left camp.

Her curiosity grew as Gorsestar led her not to his den, but to the medicine cat den. She heard a raspy cough issue from inside, and flattened her ears against the harsh sound, hoping that it wasn't greencough.

"Hello, Sparkface," Hawkfeather greeted her in an ice-cold tone. Tail flicking in anger, she led her to a dark corner of the den. Rabbitrun lay there in a warm nest, blinking in pain. A cough shook his body every so often.

"Why. . . why am I here?" Sparkface hesitated on her words, knowing from the three cats' accusatory glanced that she should already have figured it out.

"Rabbitrun," Gorsestar began angrily, "appears to have come down with whitecough during the night. Do you have any idea how this could have happened?"

"I-I-no," Sparkface answered, bewildered. How could I have caused this?

"Bedding," Hawkfeather hissed at her. "Wet. Bedding."

Sparkface gasped. "I forgot to get dry bedding!" she exclaimed. "I'm so sorry, I-"

"That's what you said the last time," Rabbitrun snapped. "Sorry catches no prey. Then again, you never could catch prey in the first place, could you? That's why they sent you to care for me. Then you couldn't care for me, so now they're sending you to Hawkfeather. Tread carefully, dearie, because it seems to me like they'll soon run out of places to send you."

Sparkface lowered her head in shame. Why couldn't she do anything right?

"I want you to help Hawkfeather collect herbs, until I tell you otherwise; and please. . ." Gorsestar hesitated, closing his eyes briefly, seeming to contemplate his next words. "Just try not to destroy anything, would you?" With that heavy burden slamming down onto Sparkface's shoulders, Gorsestar stalked out of the den.

"Well, come along then," Hawkfeather ordered briskly, and Sparkface padded dejectedly out of the den after her. They padded across WindClan territory, Hawkfeather occasionally stopping to sniff out an herb patch. She picked a few green stalks, their pungent scent tickling Sparkface's nose. The warrior let out a humongous sneeze and scattered the stalks everywhere. Embarrased, Sparkface hurried around and picked them up. Hawkfeather snorted in frustration, but let it pass.

"Feverfew," she muttered to Sparkface through her mouth full of herbs Sparkface had just picked up. "This will be useful in case Rabbitrun starts developing a fever. Carry these." The medicine cat shoved the herbs at Sparkface, who picked them up carefully in her mouth, determined not to sneeze again. They padded across the territory, towards Fourtrees, and Hawkfeather kept up a one-sided conversation with Sparkface the whole way.

"What we need for whitecough is catmint, which doesn't grow on our territory— or any territory, for that matter. It grows in the gardens of Twolegs, therefore we have to get it from either of the two Clans who have borders near the Twolegplace, ThunderClan and ShadowClan. Ordinarily, we'd go to ShadowClan, seeing as they're closer, but thanks to your little incident at the last Gathering, I doubt that ShadowClan would give us so much as a dried deathberry. Due to their current hostility, I will be crossing through Fourtrees and going on to the ThunderClan camp. You will be staying on the WindClan side of Fourtrees, trying not to start any wars. Understand?" Sparkface nodded mutely, hoping that this trip would go smoothly after her one mistake earlier.

They reached the leafy trees that signaled their approach to Fourtrees, and Hawkfeather stopped. "You will stay right here, making sure to avoid both of the borders and guarding the herbs. Wait here for me to come back with the catmint." Again, Sparkface nodded mutely.

Hawkfeather headed off to ThunderClan and Sparkface set the herbs down near her paws, enjoying the feeling of the early-morning breeze blow across her fur. She flopped onto her side, feeling somewhat more at ease now that there were no cats around to tell her that she was constantly doing something wrong.

She closed her eyes and enjoyed feeling of the wind dancing through her fur until she heard footsteps, no doubt Hawkfeather's. She sat up suddenly, giving her fur a quick shake, and turned her head in time to see Hawkfeather coming across the clearing with herbs in her mouth, her eyes narrowed. Once she was closer, she set down the herbs and glowered.

"What, may I ask, happened in my absent that warranted laying on the herbs?!" With dread, Sparkface remembered the feverfew she had put near her paws and glanced down; bits and pieces of the flower-looking plant were entwined in her fur, and the rest was flattened on the ground where she had lain.

"I'm-" she began.

"Sorry?" Hawkfeather said. "'Sorry' catches no rabbits! As Rabbitrun said, sooner or later we will run out of places to put you, and when that time comes, I hope you finally realize what a worthless, pitiful excuse for a cat you are! You should never have left the nursery, let alone the apprentices' den!"

Hawkfeather's angry words only echoed what Sparkface already told herself every day. I'm worthless, I'm worthless, I'm worthless! She had no argument against the medicine cat's harsh accusations, so she said the only words that she could think of.

"I know."

This was written by le Amazing Annco, and this will be the last chapter that I write for CatsofScience. Due to school starting this month and my role in CloudtailGrandmas, I just don't think that I will be able to handle being a part of a second joint account. I've really enjoyed my time here and hope that you, the readers, have enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed creating it!