"SparrowPaw! SparrowPaw! SparrowPaw!" 

SparrowPaw opened his eyes to feel a huge amount of pressure land on his side. He sleepily lifted his head to see AshPaw lying on top of him and kicking at him playfully with his paws. "What?" He groaned slowly.

"Wake up Dormouse, we're getting assessed today!"

"That's today?"

"Yes, coming on." AshPaw dug his head into SparrowPaw's side and finally, he flipped over. 

"Alright, alright I'm coming." Five moons had passed since SwiftGaze's unfortunate death and the two of them had been assigned DarkStripe as their new mentor. He was okay, with a bit of a short temper and very little patience. "Hurry up!" Came a short growl and the two scrambled out of the den. SparrowPaw slid in front of his mentor only to have AshPaw collide into him making them both topple over. The two laughed but their laughter died out with a single glare from DarkStripe.

"Once you two have stopped tripping over your own paws, I'd like to get this over and done with." He was already halfway out of camp.

"Let's go." AshPaw smiled and nudged his shoulder picking himself up and dashing after the black tom. He followed his den mate until they reached the Training Hollow and blinked the last shreds of sleep from his eyes. "Alright," DarkStripe began, "today you two are going out hunting while I assess you. I want you back here by Sunhigh at the latest."

The two exchange equally excited looks. "AshPaw you'll go to the Great Sycamore while SparrowPaw heads toward SunningRocks." AshPaw seemed to open his mouth to speak but DarkStripe interrupted him. "Is there a problem AshPaw?"

"N-no, nothing's wrong." He ducked his head and the warrior darted off silently into the bushes.

"AshPaw I know you aren't a big fan of SunningRocks after Bloodclans attack but, that was five moons ago and we haven't seen Bloodclan since. I'll be fine." SparrowPaw reassured him.

"I'm sure you will be but, I don't know the place gives me the creeps just by thinking about it." SparrowPaw licked his friend on the cheek before walking a few pawsteps in the direction of SunningRocks.

"We'd better get going if we ever want to become warriors."

"Alright, see ya when you get back."

"Will do." He yelled over his shoulder before walking into the bushes. After wandering in the direction of SunningRocks for a good minute or so, he got his first sniff of prey. "Quail." He huffed to himself. He had always hated any type of birds, the feathers always got stuck in his teeth. The tom almost thought of ignoring it but then sighed. The clan needed to be fed and he was probably being watched right now.

He bent down into a familiar crouch, stepping lightly, his tail and left ear flicking ever so slightly. The quail was pecking at the ground, unaware that he had company until it was too late. SparrowPaw dug up a small hole near the roots of a large tree and placed the quail in it before covering it with dirt and leaves.

Once he had reached SunningRocks the rest of his hunt was easy and by the end, he had caught two mice and another quail. Snap! His head flicked at the sound of movement, too big to be a mouse or a vole. He sniffed the air but unfortunately it was going down wind, from him towards the noise. Crouching down, he silently watched for any more movement and flinched when the bushes parted a she-cat walked through into the small clearing around SunningRocks.

He paused, preparing for the perfect chance to attack came. He crouched there watched in awe. She was long and sleek and only slightly smaller than himself. She had bright orange fur that glowed in the warm sunlight with vibrant dark stripes going down her back, four white paws, underbelly and strong amber eyes. The wind had changed direction and he caught the strong smell of fish, damp soil and water. Riverclan. It would explain why her fur was slightly wet, probably from swimming across the border.

The stunning she-cat climbed up to the top of the mountain of rocks taking in the scent of prey before calling out. "I know you're there. I smelt you earlier." Her voice was kind, yet had a strong, independent tone to it.

Giving up he marched out of his hiding place, though his toughness and territorial attitude evaporated as he came closer to her. "Um... I... uh..." He choked on his words and the she-cat lifted an eyebrow, a small smile tickled at her lips. "I need to ask you to leave." He finally got out though his words out, though they were anything but cold.

"Is that so?" She said jumping down and landing softly on the soft ground. "Actually I have a message, for OakStar, from CopperStar." SparrowPaw swallowed, his paws and forehead felt sweating.

"Um... s-sure. T-this way." He stuttered leading the way back to his camp.

"Don't forget your kill." She reminded him, making him wonder how long she had been in their territory. 

"Right." SparrowPaw ran back to where he had hidden his prey. "Let's go." He blushed, leading them to camp where they were both greeted with angry and surprised growling.

"I thought I sent you to hunt prey, not cats." DarkStripe's fierce voice bellowed from behind them.

"She has a message... for OakStar." The black tom showed no sign of understanding.

"Yes I heard." The apprentice blushed even further.

"Well, well. What do we have here?" OakStar walked out of his den, HareFoot following behind.

"It appears we have a visitor. Why has the daughter of CopperStar graced us with her presence?"

Daughter of CopperStar! SparrowPaw looked at her and admired how she never broke confidence despite being glared at by everyone, except for AshPaw, who was also looking at her in awe. "My father requests that we are allowed to hunt on SunningRocks." She spoke clearly.

HareFoot gave an outraged yowl. "So, he's given up taking SunningRocks by force huh? You can't possibly think we'll say yes to this!"

"We only ask that we hunt there for a short bit every now and then," DawnPaw spoke up. "Our rivers are becoming more poisoned each day and fish are becoming scarce." There was a pin dropping silence.

"DawnPaw, we will think about your offer and will answer it at the Gathering in two days time," OakStar answered flicking his tail, "SparrowPaw, seeing as you brought her here you may show her the way back to her territory." He straightened quickly, snapping from his trance and nodding.

"Right this way." SparrowPaw said while showing her the way out of camp. DawnPaw didn't seem to notice him and instead began walking ahead, obviously not wanting to stay longer than necessary.

"OakStar-" HareFoot began but didn't finish instead the two went back into the leader's den.

Once they had reached the border he watched as she slowly moved to the water's edge. "I guess I'll see you soon." He smiled.

"Why would I come to see you?" She turned around her golden eyes met his slightly pailer ones.

"Oh! I met, like at the Gathering." He mumbled ducking his head slightly in embarassment. 

"Yeah. Sure." And with that she swam to the other side quicker and quieter than he thought possible. He watched as she easily shook the water from her fur and padded deeper into her territory without glancing back.