Sorry for the long wait! I made an extra-long chapter in hopes that it will appease you. The action is starting to happen, and the kit filler chapters are done now. This chapter does have a bit more explanation, just as the next one most likely will, but it is a necessary evil. Well, until next time.
Enjoy!

Chapter 3:

The she-cat dashed frantically through the trees. The lukewarm afternoon with its crisp winds seemed like nothing as she ran. Light dappled through the trees, marking the path and exposing roots for the gray cat to avoid. Dirt flew up from under her paws as she rushed forward.

She was desperately confused. There had been no warning scent, no prey carcasses, no droppings, nothing to foretell the arrival of such a beast. And what a beast it was. It had only taken one glance backwards to motivate her to keep running rather than climb a tree. The huge, hairy mass of a dog was easily tall enough to reach up after her.

It’s long shaggy white fur was what made her notice it in the first place. She had been trying to hunt near the Twoleg place when it began barking and chasing after with an unnerving insistence. The frightened she cat had no idea what to do.

All she knew was that she was tiring.

“Aaah!” She cried out as she lost her footing and stumbled head first down a small rocky cliff. She slammed face first into the ground. She blinked as she tried to shake off her disorientation, feeling the ground shake beneath her as the lug finally caught up to her.

Scrambling to her paws, she scooted backwards until she was pressed into a tree trunk. It bounded forward, barking loudly with its tongue hanging out of its mouth. It went right up to her, jaws opening with saliva dripping down to land heavily on the mossy floor. She gulped as she felt its hot breath on her pelt.

Unsheathing her claws, she bunched her muscles in preparation for the fight for her survival.

The last thing she remembered was the dogs’ sharp teeth snapping at her neck.

Amberkit skunk through the grass, ears pricked and body low to the floor. She scented the air, pausing as she saw the long brown shape slithering through the grass. Her prey was awaiting her. Bunching her legs, she paused for just a moment, pinpointing her slippery snake.  She jumped with a loud yowl into the air and landed on top of the snake.

"Hey watch the claws!" Hollowstorm said with amusement. Amberkit let out a squeaky roar and pinned his tail to the floor with her body. She playfully wrestled with it, delivering the "killing bite" to the tip.

"I killed it! Hey mom did you see me kill that snake?" Lilyfire nodded at Amberkit's enthusiasm.

"That was very good. Why don't you leave Hollowstorm alone now and come with your den-mates to eat." Amberkit considered saying no until her stomach rumbled. She shook the moss off of her pelt, said goodbye to the elders, and walked towards the fresh-kill pile. There Emberkit and Birdkit were already engaged in nibbling at a gray mouse.

"Oh good, I love mice." Amberkit eagerly bent down to eat. As she sunk her teeth into the warm, juicy meat, a vision passed to the front of her mind. A loud, panicked scream and large teeth dripping with saliva, followed by blood splatter filled her sight. She shivered and gasped, cringing away from her food.

"Amberkit? Are you ok?" She shook her head uneasily, the vision passing. She shook her head for a second, body unharmed and mind calming. What was that?

"Yeah, I'm fine." Lilyfire licked her on the head.

"I hope you aren't sick on such an important day." Amberkit's brows furrowed in confusion.

"What's today? None of the apprentices had their assessments yet, so no one is becoming a warrior." Emberkit batted her on the head.

"It's our apprentice ceremony, silly! Lilyfire told us about it days ago!" Amberkit blinked in shock.

"I don't remember that being a topic of conversation." Emberkit rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, that's because you were sleeping. All you do is sleep." Amberkit nodded in lighthearted agreement, chewing her food faster. Sleep is fun. She mused. Wait- I’m having an apprentice ceremony today! Oh StarClan!  She looked casually down at her pelt and did a double take. Amberkit squeaked at the state of her pelt. She looked ridiculous with half her body covered in dust and moss, clumps of her fur covered in dirt and sticking out randomly from  her pelt.

"Mom!" She yelped, swallowing her last bite and quickly burying the corpse. "Help me clean my pelt!" She dashed over to her mother, pausing every few seconds to frantically lick at her chest. I’m small enough as it is, I need to be seen as something beyond my stature! Being clean will definitely help make people respect me, however.

"I've never seen you so eager for a grooming." Lilyfire mewed in amusement.

"I look so silly! No one will want to mentor a kit that looks like all they do is play all day! I need to look respectable!" Lilyfire shook her head but began grooming her. Emberkit bounded besides her, getting dirt in her ever-fluffy dark gray fur.

"Do you have any idea who is mentoring  us?" Lilyfire refused to answer, tongue rasping soothingly over Amberkit's back. Emberkit finally sat down, patting at a clump of moss that had fallen off of Amberkit's back.

"Birdkit is getting her ceremony today with us too. We all know who her mentor is going to be." Amberkit snorted in amusement. With the amount of time her nest mate spent in the medicine cat den, it was easy to figure that Darkwhisper was finally going to take on an apprentice.

Amberkit sighed in relief when her mother finally released her. Now she could actually see her golden pelt, and all the weight of the dirt was off of her body. Now all she had to do was avoid brushing against Emberkit's fur and she'd be- Amberkit let out an annoyed mew as her sister tumbled into her and caked dust on her pelt.

"Emberkit!" She yelped, frantically licking it down. Emberkit apologized with a grin.

"This is why I love my dark colored pelt. I can get dirt on it and you can't tell. Meanwhile, your bright pelt..." She trailed off and patted Amberkit's arm with her paw. It left a clear imprint. Amberkit frantically licked it off as Emberkit burst into peals of laughter. Emberkit enjoyed rolling in the mud, and had no qualms about being dirty or being seen with a dirty pelt.

Her laughter turned into annoyed mews as Lilyfire pulled her in and licked her pelt clean.  She was released, to Amberkit’s amusement, with her fur fluffed out, but for once dry and clean.

"All cats old enough to hunt come join beneath the Highbranch for a Clan meeting." Amberkit's world narrowed, and she could feel her panic rising. It's only an apprentice ceremony. How bad can it be?

Taking a deep breath, she squared her shoulders and padded nervously to the center of the crowd. The Clan always gathered under what was ironically the lowest but strongest branch in the clearing. Their redwood trees generally didn’t have many low-lying branches, and anything further up would prevent many of the cats from seeing their leader comfortably. It was as if StarClan themselves had given them the branch for their Clan meetings.

Amberkit relaxed slightly when she felt Birdkit and Emberkit at her sides. I’m not alone here. She reassured herself. Their golden-brown tabby she-cat leader Leafstar cleared her throat.

“I am pleased to announce that our Clan has been living through many moons of prosperity and peace. Prey has been running high and we haven’t had as much as a border skirmish to deal with. The worst injury we’ve had recently was a thorn in someone’s’ paw.” The Clan tittered as Granitepaw ducked his gray head in embarrassment. He had made a lot of noise over one tiny thorn.

“I gathered you all here today for a ceremony. The number of kits we have in our Clan is high and will be increasing very soon.” Every cat paused to look at Petalnose, whose tail was wrapped around her mate Volefoot.

“We have many apprentices, and they are strong and smart, and soon will all be warriors.” The group of apprentices preened under Leafstar’s praise. “It is high time that I turn my attention to  many of our kits, who have turned 6 moons of age.” She jumped down from the Highbranch and approached the three kits.

“Birdkit, please step forward.” The ginger- and –white she-cat padded forward, looking up at her leader. “Birdkit, you have been of age for a long time, and I am sorry to not have made you an apprentice sooner. I thought you wouldn’t want to be alone in your ceremony. I have decided that you are-"

“Leafstar I want to be a medicine cat!” Birdkit interrupted. Amberkit was surprised that the normally quiet, passive she-cat had spoken up so suddenly. Birdkit’s passion was very obvious.

“If you had let me finish my sentence, Birdkit, I was going to say that after observing your interest in the medicine cat den, I asked Darkwhisper if she wanted an apprentice, and she agreed.” Birdkit nodded, but refused to feel embarrassed, holding her head high with a small smile. She had wanted to be sure of her position in the Clan. Darkwhisper stepped up from her spot next to the apprentices.

“Birdkit, I can see that you want to become a medicine cat apprentice. You are aware that you cannot take a mate as per the warrior code.” Birdkit nodded. “The true naming ceremony must occur at the moonpool, where StarClan can approve my choice. You will, however, be known from this moment on as Birdpaw. At the halfmoon, we will properly complete your ceremony.” Birdpaw touched noses with Darkwhisper, then walked with her off to the side where they sat together with the Clan. Leafstar took their place.

“Emberkit, please step forward.” The puffy gray she-cat bounded forward, nearly slamming into Leafstar. She held her head high and shrugged unconcerned as the Clan giggled. “From this moment on, until this she-cat has earned her warrior name, she will be known as Emberpaw. Dragonsong, I believe that you are ready for your first apprentice. I ask you now to be the mentor of Emberpaw. I know you will pass on your bravery and strength to Emberpaw and teach her the skills she needs to become a warrior of TreeClan.”

Dragonsong stepped forward, her black and white pelt shining in the evening sun. Emberpaw reached forward and licked her shoulder respectively. Amberkit gulped as the attention of the Clan turned to her.

“Amberkit, I can see your valor and intelligence and I know that you are ready to become an apprentice. From this day forth you shall be known as Amberpaw. Oakbreeze, we have seen your success training other apprentices, and I know that you will be able to pass on your loyalty and honesty to Amberpaw.  Teach her to become a strong TreeClan warrior.”

Oakbreeze shouldered his way through the crowd, his yellow eyes boring into hers. Nervously, she hesitated before touching her nose to his. He licked her on the shoulder in effort to comfort her.

“Don’t be afraid. I don’t bite.” She looked up in shock to see his smirk. That was when the buzzing in her ears stopped to be replaced by the cheers of the Clan.

“Birdpaw! Emberpaw! Amberpaw! Birdpaw! Emberpaw! Amberpaw!” Amberpaw calmed, letting her Clan’s happiness wash over her.

“Amberpaw, come here.” Oakbreeze’s deep voice permeated through her haze, and she shook her head before trotting after him. He led her to a quieter corner of the camp and sat down.

“I want you to know that I will not go easy on you. I need you to listen to me, and just try your best at whatever you do.” Amberpaw nodded, opening her mouth to respond but Oakbreeze was already speaking.

“Today I am going to take you on a tour of the territory. Tomorrow I’m going to teach you the tasks of apprentices, and if you are good we might even get a start on your hunting and fighting training.” Amberpaw let out a little kitten squee before blushing and hunching her head. Oakbreeze’s amused huff did little to calm her. I’m an apprentice now, I can’t act like a kit! She told herself.

Oakbreeze gestured with his tail and led her to the camp’s entrance. It was a tunnel, naturally eroded from the elements, under large, thick tree roots. Much like the rest of the camp, it was reinforced by vines and brambles that formed a surprisingly dry covering during the rain.

Amberpaw looked back for a moment, making eye contact with Emberpaw, who was heading towards the elders den with moss in her jaws. The ever-happy Emberpaw didn’t care that she wasn’t leaving the camp yet, and she waved her tail at Amberpaw before disappearing inside the tree trunk.

“Are you coming or would you like to help your sister with cleaning out the elders den?” Amberpaw jumped, nervously shaking her head. Oakbreeze’s eyes softened for a moment. “You’ll see her later, don’t worry.” He considered her for a moment, taking in her stiff muscles and harshly alert eyes.

“Calm down Amberpaw. Look at me.” He forced her to make eye contact. “I want you to relax. We’re going to be together for a very long time, and I want you to be comfortable. If you ever have something to tell me, tell it to me.” Amberpaw nodded and tried to relax. She loosened her muscles and dropped her fur.

“Ok.” Amberpaw spoke. Oakbreeze snorted at her.

“That is the first word you’ve said to me all day.” Amberpaw shrugged, following him out to the forest. Amberpaw stopped and stared in awe.

Amberpaw had seen the darkish tinge of the forest outside the camp many times through the dirtplace back-entrance. She had known that the tall trees with their canopy would obscure the sun and allow little light to come in. Right then, the sun was dappling on the forest floor from the evening light. Compared the the bright camp clearing, it was dark as night to her.

Amberpaw followed behind Oakbreeze slowly, taking it all in. There was so much to see, so much life and beauty that she could never get from the camp alone. Even now, just a few feet from the camp entrance, she could see little birds flitting between the trees, the wind rustling leaves and bracken, and see bugs and small creatures leaping from stem to stem. As the two cats passed many creatures disappeared into the undergrowth, leaving the forest empty, but still full of sound.

“So we are looking at the territory?” Amberpaw questioned, unable to keep her eyes off of her surroundings. She wanted to learn the territory quickly, to know all about her home.

“I’m going to take you to the borders and show you around a little bit.” Oakbreeze replied, facing straight ahead. He led her through the trees and over a large fallen log. The ground was carpeted with a blanket of dead leaves and as they crunched through the forest, a light breeze wafted through the trees, ruffling their fur.

They finally stopped at a clearing a few minutes later. Oakbreeze gestured to the sandy hollow between the trees. There were many pawsteps and scuffle-marks, indicating that it was a well used area. The trees in this area were thinned out, smaller than the ones nearest to the camp.

“This is the training hollow. I will be taking you here often to teach you how to fight and defend the Clan and your Clanmates.” Amberpaw nodded, stepping closer to the hollow to examine it more. When she turned back around, Oakbreeze was further up ahead, having left to continue the tour. Their next stop was further down, in front of a well-trodden path.

“This is a Twoleg path. Scent the air. Has a Twoleg been by recently?” Oakbreeze gestured with his tail for her to proceed. Amberpaw stepped forward and tentatively sniffed the air. She was immediately bombarded with many unfamiliar scents, and she was forced to pause and smell again.

She could make out the scent of a squirrel and some mice; smells that she knew from her prey. There was a thick, heady scent that was unfamiliar to her, and a must tang that had her wrinkling her nose. Another sniff revealed to her that the scents were all old, with fresher forest scents on top.

“None of the scents here are fresh.” Amberpaw commented. Oakbreeze nodded approvingly.

“That thick scent is the odor of a Twoleg. The musty smell is a dog. Twolegs usually go down this path with their pets, but since it is the end of greenleaf they don’t do it as often.” Oakbreeze led her over the path and further away from the camp. The trees were thinning out even more, the large redwoods being replaced with ash, pines, and birch trees. Beyond, Amberpaw could see endless rocks and mountainous terrain.

“Can you tell me which Clan’s territory we are heading towards?” Oakbreeze asked Amberpaw.

“It must be RussetClan. They live in the pine area, and Thunderstrike told me that those mountains beyond them are where StoneClan lives. Also the moonstone is there.” Amberpaw scented the air, wrinkling her nose and the musky scent.

“You are right. RussetClan and StoneClan are on this side, and on the other side of the territory where I will lead you next is where MarshClan is. Memorize that scent. At the next gathering, I’ll show you StoneClan’s scent.” Amberpaw took in a deep breath, committing all the scents to memory. Then she bounded after Oakbreeze.

“You are doing very well. You are not falling behind yet, while most other apprentices get very tired very easily their first few weeks out of camp.” Amberpaw tried not to let it show just how much her legs were burning. She had never run so much in her life. But if there was one thing she did have, it was determination.

She was definitely not going to respond though, for fear of losing what little energy she had left.

“Notice how the land is turning marshy and wet. This is the cusps of our territory, into MarshClan land.” Amberpaw felt her paws squelching on the ground, her tiny body slowly being sucked into the damp dirt.

“Is it like this all the time? Why would any cat want to have their feet wet all day. Oh eew, what is the prey like?” Amberpaw looked out onto the territory as if she would magically notice a piece of prey moving around. Only the trees stirred as the long limbs of the willows were buffeted by the wind. Oakbreeze nudged her to continue her movement.

“None of the rest of us know why they like their marshy territory. That’s their problem. You however, should know what prey MarshClan has.  These are things you learned in your lessons. Tell me what each Clan’s prey is.”

“Uhm… StoneClan eats mice, rabbits, hawks, eagles and other birds of prey, and whatever else they can get their paws on. RussetClan eat pretty much what we do- mice, voles, shrews, rabbits, and whatever their territory has. MarshClan eats… fish? Fish and frogs, yeah.” Amberpaw shot Oakbreeze a look. “I was wondering if their prey got soggy, not what prey they had. But I guess if their prey lives in water it wouldn’t make much of a difference.” Oakbreeze let out a little murrow of amusement.

“I’m going to show you how to mark our territory. Do you smell the scent markers? You and your patrols will take turns spraying each one. For now, we will just mark two.” Oakbreeze demonstrated on a small rock, and waited for Amberpaw to replicate it on a patch of ferns.

“Oakbreeze, well met! Who is this? New apprentice, finally?” Amberpaw startled at the unfamiliar voice. She looked up to see a patrol of three MarshClan cats strolling towards them, approaching from the shadows of a large willow. The one in the lead, a golden brown tabby tom, nodded his head warmly to Oakbreeze. Next to him, a tortoiseshell she-cat, did the same. The small gray tom with them said nothing.

“Fishnose, it is good to see you. Yes, this is Amberpaw. She and her sisters were just apprenticed this morning. Mossystrike, I see you also have a new apprentice.” Oakbreeze calmly spoke to them, tail hoovering just over Amberpaw’s back. She could feel that though he appeared to be relaxed, his body was tensed. Tense for what? It was only three cats.

“Yes Oakbreeze, I also received a new apprentice recently. This is Brackenpaw. Don’t mind him, it’s his first time on patrol.” Brackenpaw huffed, flattening his ears at his mentor’s words. Amberpaw was just confused. Wasn’t saying nothing better than antagonizing people?

“I wanted to thank you once again for your help last leaf-fall. Without your thinking, we might have starved to death.” Fishnose addressed Oakbreeze respectfully. Amberpaw’s eyes widened as she remembered the story the elders told her.

Last leaf-fall twolegs had been creeping about all over MarshClan and TreeClan territory, and their stomping and nonsense scared a lot of the prey away. Oakbreeze had suggested avoiding hunting anywhere near the borders until they left, proposing instead for the Clans to hunt beyond their territory. He had also organized many attacks against the twolegs, minor things that chased them out of the territory faster. Her mentor was a smart and very respected cat.

Oakbreeze took the praise in stride, waving it off with a flick of his tail. “It was nothing special. Both of our Clans contributed to the efforts. I only hope that our alliance can last longer. Our Clans can prosper if we continue to help one another.” Amberpaw pressed nervously to Oakbreeze’s side, realizing that something important was happening. IT was obvious from the start that Oakbreeze had not expected to run into this patrol, but whatever he was doing had been something pre-planned.

Fishnose nodded his head once again, a smile gracing his lips. “I believe that our Clans will benefit greatly from further alliance. Send our regards to StoneClan, will you?” He looked up for a brief moment, pointing out the orangey sunset.

“It is late. I’m afraid that we must return home, to get Brackenpaw to the camp. I suggest you do the same. What is your name again, dear?” Amberpaw shrank back as all the attention was suddenly on her.

“Amberpaw.” She spoke without hesitation but the slight tremble of her body gave away her nerves. “Have a safe trip home.” She dared, peeking up to meet Oakbreeze’s eyes for approval. They said their farewells, both groups dispersing quickly from the border.

“Oakbreeze, what was-”

“I need you to be quiet and attentive. You did well back there, but I need you to be a little more patient and follow my lead. I am going to show you the rest of the border. Don’t mention that conflict at all. I’ll tell you about it later. Right now however, there might be cats watching. RussetClan isn’t the only Clan that can sneak about.” Oakbreeze whispered in her ear while gesturing to the next scent marker.

“Mark this one as well, and I’ll take you through the rest of the territory.” Oakbreeze said at a normal tone, gesturing to the rest of the ground they hadn’t covered. Amberpaw was confused, tired, and hungry, and though she really wanted to explore the rest of the territory, she was not feeling up to it. She trudged along behind Oakbreeze, commenting at the right moments and asking simple questions. Eventually they circled away from the MarshClan-TreeClan border and moved deeper into the territory, away from any possible listeners.

“Oakbreeze, what was-” Amberpaw was cut off again as he stuffed his tail inside her mouth.

“Not until we get to camp.” Amberpaw nodded, not satisfied with the answer, but much too exhausted to argue. She trudged alongside him, tongue lolling and tail drooping.

“I’m sorry, Amberpaw. This took a lot longer than I thought it would. You should have been home a long time ago.” Amberpaw’s eyes narrowed slightly as she noticed that he hadn’t mentioned how tired she looked. Every new apprentice she spoke to told her that they only ever did one half of the territory at a time, especially on their first trip out of camp.

“As long as you tell me what that was all about, I don’t really mind.” Amberpaw said truthfully. If it had to do with bettering the Clan, it was worth it.

They slipped through the opening, and Amberpaw had never been so happy then in that moment to look at her camp. The second they reached the center of the clearing, Oakbreeze left her, darting to the leaders den, tail high and body tense. Amberpaw followed slowly after him, slinking under the natural root-made entrance of the den.

“They spoke to you? I need you to tell me exactly what they said.” Leafstar was speaking to Oakbreeze, both cats sitting in moss nests, tails curled around their paws in thought. Oakbreeze was about to speak when Leafstar noticed Amberpaw.

“Amberpaw was with me throughout the whole meeting. I think she should be a part of this conversation.” Oakbreeze told Leafstar. Leafstar spent a moment considering Amberpaw, who had bowed her head respectfully in greeting but now couldn’t seem to get out of the curled position.

“I think you should get some rest.” Leafstar said gently. She raised a tail to silence Amberpaw’s immediate protest. “Rest assured that we will tell you what is happening. Each apprentice will know eventually. Right now you are tired and not alert, and I think it will be best if we speak to you tomorrow.” Oakbreeze exchanged a glance with Leafstar before sighing and nodding. He turned to Amberpaw.

“Sleep as long as you want tonight. Have a piece of prey and rest. You’ll be in the camp tomorrow anyway, so relax.” He shot her a rare smile. “You’ve earned it.” Amberpaw nodded at the two of them and slowly hobbled out of the den. She made it just outside the apprentices den before just sitting on the floor to rest. Would she have to make a nest for herself?

Dizzy and tired, she couldn’t remember much of what happened next. Emberpaw helped her into the den, where they curled up together in two new mossy nests. Exhausted, Amberpaw fell into a deep sleep.