WindClan

The birds twittered softly as they perched on the tree branches in the early morning sunlight, the rustling of leaves and creaking of branches occasionally swallowing up the sound. Waves lapped at the lake shore, drawing tide lines in the muddy sand.

A dark gray apprentice frowned at the distant Horseplace, taking in the sight with a slight trepidation. Beside him, WindClan's deputy crouched in the grass, patiently waiting.

"I smell some kind of animal," Stonepaw slowly said, his real attention on the corner of his eye. "I think it's a horse." The deputy didn't comment, watching the dark gray apprentice silently. Stonepaw tried again. "I smell mice, and I think a cat."

The deputy gave a nod, his own eyes scoring their surroundings and, absentmindedly, Stonepaw did the same. Open moorlands stretched in every direction as far as the eye could see, the tall grasses making the deputy's tabby coat disappear. Stonepaw envied it, his own solid gray coat sticking out among the light brown stalks. I'm lucky if prey think I'm just a boulder. He always held himself very still, even before his apprentice ceremony, not even allowing his tail to twitch out of worry that prey would notice he wasn't a boulder and run away. He had wanted to be in the habit when he was young so he would be that much closer to being a warrior.

His first day as an apprentice could have gone better. Swiftstrike had him running drills and learning basic fighting techniques which, though Stonepaw had been excited for, he had found to be far more difficult than he imagined. The WindClan deputy was strict and firm when it came to making sure his apprentice was more than ready to survive a fox, if it really came down to it. When other apprentices went out for their first patrol and practiced their hunting, Stonepaw was learning how to leap onto the back of his mentor and pin him to the ground.

Even though all the other apprentices were openly admiring him for being the apprentice of the deputy, Stonepaw couldn't bring himself to think of himself as deputy's apprentice material. All the training was tough, and he didn't look much like a deputy's apprentice either, and if he groomed himself to give himself that sleek warrior look he found himself looking more like a RiverClan cat than a WindClan apprentice. It unsettled him.

Today, his fifth day as an apprentice, was border patrol day. Stonepaw's paws ached from running up and down the moors, and muscles he hadn't even known about ached from pushing aside the grass and forcing himself to remain as low to ground as possible. But it could have been worse. He had heard that Whiskerpaw had fallen into a mouse hole on her first trip out, and Cloudpaw had made so much noise going through a thicket that she had scared away all the prey for whole cat-lengths! Stonepaw was being extra careful on his first patrol, dodging around every suspicious looking shallow area and too think area of grass. Once, when he did run into a thicket, he pushed silently as possible underneath it and through it. The huge success made his fur glow with pride and when he looked at his mentor, he was embarrassed to find amusement there. Of course the warrior would find his efforts so amusing! It was probably ridiculous to him, since he was so skilled.

The deputy flicked an ear. "Is that everything?" he asked neutrally.

Stonepaw nodded respectfully, mindful of the silence.

Swiftstrike was pleased. "Good," he said, slinking through the grass until he almost disappeared. Alarmed that he might not be able to track his mentor just yet, especially since he had no hunting training, Stonepaw padded quickly after him.

Tracking prey and enemies by scent had been the first thing every apprentice was taught, Stonepaw doubly so. With all the new scents of heather and dandelion, Stonepaw didn't think his nose could penetrate the smells and find his mentor's scent amongst the territory. He hoped it would get better the more his training progressed; everything little sound was making him twitchy, and suppressing the urge to jump was getting harder and harder to do.

Opening his jaws slightly and curling his nose at the overpowering smells, he attempted to track Swiftstrike's scent. While his instincts wanted him to follow the rippling waves of grass with his eyes, training kept his nose to the grass and body low as he pushed through. The disorienting smells and sights made him forget what his mentor had tried to teach him for the last five days. Around any bush or thicket there could be some strange animal he had only heard of before, and kept forgetting to try and find landmarks amongst the tall grass.

Walls of green grass and the purple-flowered heather parted before him before rustling slightly back into place. Stonepaw crept silently through the moorlands, listening to the chirping frogs that hid beneath the grasses and the tall-tale rustle of a fieldmouse poking through the leaves for its evening meal. Stonepaw felt a rush of pride as he passed silently beyond the mouse's hiding place, never once disturbing the creature.

He was at the base of the hill when he finally caught up to Swiftstrike, who was already the border near the Horseplace. Stonepaw stuck his nose out of the grass to sniff, catching a sharp wiff of the breeze and more smells, but he realized he was already starting to get used to them. He looked expectantly at his mentor, who merely gestured with his tail for the smaller tom to follow as they headed up the border back to the lake.

"If the Horseplace wasn't here, I'd show you what a RiverClan cat smelled like," Swiftstrike said. "But fortunately – or unfortunately depending on who you ask – Horseplace is the border between us and RiverClan. It's as much protection as it is a threat to us. Horses can be dangerous if they escape. One kick could send a cat flying, and that's one fall you won't be able to land on your feet from. You'd be dead before we even dragged your body back to camp."

Stonepaw glanced back over his shoulder at the distant creatures, imagining himself standing right next to one and then shuddered. He hoped foxes and badgers weren't that big. "Are they really that dangerous?" he asked.

Swiftstrike snorted, amused. "Only when startled. Otherwise, they'll just eat us out of grass and heather."

Stonepaw purred in amusement, growing silent as they passed the twoleg house. It was empty of twolegs, but Stonepaw caught the distinct smell of cat. "Who are they?" he asked, the moment they got in sight of the house's entrance. It was very far away, too far away from anyone inside to see the two Clan cats stalking through the grass towards the Lake.

"Kittypets," Swiftstrike said with a sniff of derision, before amending, "or loners. Either way, if they don't bother us, then we don't bother them."

He quickened his pace and Stonepaw hurried up, wondering for a brief moment if Swiftstrike wanted to get away from the loners as soon as possible. He caste a quick glance towards the barn. A flash of black fur disappeared into the barn, and he wondered if it was a cat or something else. He looked back towards his mentor only to realize he'd fallen a bit behind. He raced to catch up, and was panting slightly when he finally made it to the edge of lake shore. They stopped to mark the borders, and Stonepaw made a face as a stale foresty smell hit his nose.

"Who is that?" Stonepaw wondered, looking over towards the source of the smell in disdain. He could barely see the mouth of the stream which marked the border between WindClan and ThunderClan, with trees stretching high over head on one side and a few patches of trees on the other. He looked over at his mentor, who had started to lap up the water by the lake's edge. Realizing that the deputy hadn't heard him, he padded up to stand beside the tom. "Is that smell ThunderClan?"

The tabby lifted his head and sniffed the wind, giving a short nod. "Correct. Though it's a bit stronger than it should be," he said, mostly to himself. "A cat must have passed by in the last day or so."

"Should we be worried?" Stonepaw wondered, looking back up the border towards where he thought RiverClan lay. "They might be making an alliance with RiverClan."

Swiftstrike wondered about that for a moment, before finally shaking his head. "We shouldn't worry. ThunderClan has always been more generous in helping the other Clans. It might have been a Medicine Cat, and even if that's not the case, it will be RiverClan's responsibility to drive them away."

"Then we could stage an ambush here for when the cat returns," Stonepaw pointed out, excitement tingling his paws as he glanced around for the perfect spot to create an ambush. "We could hide in the heather and no cat would be any wiser."

"No," Swiftstrike said firmly, stepping away from the water and slinking across the WindClan border. His tail twitched in a silent command for Stonepaw to follow, and they both returned to navigating the border as Swiftstrike continued. "A Medicine Cat's business is not a Clan's business. While warriors must take care of their own Clan, a Medicine Cat must remain outside of normal Clan rivalries and help all cats in need of their aid. They are protected by StarClan on whatever journey they might be on, and we must respect that of them."

Stonepaw gave a solemn nod, cursing himself for forgetting that. "So, we should never attack a Medicine Cat?" he asked.

"Avoid it unless absolutely necessary," Swiftstrike amended. "In a fight, some Medicine Cats might very well try to defend their clan like a warrior would. In this case, we must defend ourselves and sometimes that means the loss of a Medicine Cat's life." He sighed, adding thoughtfully. "It's strange. Some Medicine Cats give up the life of a warrior to save lives instead of hurt them."

Stonepaw nodded, looking back over WindClan territory. "Are we ever going to explore the territory?" he asked.

"When I begin training you to hunt and not a moment sooner," the deputy assured him with a smile. "Have patience, Stonepaw. A warrior must master patience if he's ever to become a good fighter or even a good hunter."

Stonepaw nodded enthusiastically. "I will, I will!" he meowed, bouncing on his paws slightly before remembering that he was in dangerous territory. Swiftstrike's whiskers twitched in amusement.

They made it back to camp around sunset, and Swiftstike immediately gestured Stonepaw to the fresh-kill pile. Tired but not bone-weary, Stonepaw picked up a rabbit and headed over to the center of camp, unafraid of the hot dry sun beating down on his fur.

He was soon joined by Cloudpaw and Whiskerpaw, both looking tired after their first day of battle practice. Stonepaw couldn't help the smug look that spread over his face as he looked one bone-weary apprentice up and the other down. At least he wasn't the only one who had difficulty with their first battle practice. "Need a rabbit," he purred, showing off his barely touched meal. Rabbits were too big for one apprentice to have by themselves, and that was doubly so for the smaller WindClan cats.

His sister gave an amused rumble as she mock-temperedly grabbed the rabbit and began to chew it up. Cloudpaw took a more dainty approach, settling down beside her best friend to pick at her half of the rabbit. Pretty soon, they had finished it off, leaving Stonepaw to crunch up the bones and slurp out the marrow.

"So," Whiskerpaw began, stretching her limbs and laying out on the dusty ground. "How was border patrol?"

"Exhausting," Stonepaw deadpanned, earning an amused paw swipe from his sister. "How was battle practice?"

"Tiring," Whiskerpaw huffed, earning a rumbling purr from Cloudpaw. "Blazeflash pushed us so hard it felt like my paws were gonna fall off!" She licked a paw delicately to demonstrate, dramatically letting it sag and putting on a horrified expression.

Stonepaw chuckled quietly, turning to Cloudpaw. "How did you like it, Cloudpaw?"

Cloudpaw looked momentarily startled, shifting uncomfortably on her paws as both cats looked at her. "Uhm, I did okay," she meowed, embarrassed.

"I can't wait to go up against you," Whiskerpaw exclaimed to Stonepaw, rumbling in a purr. "I'll show you just how tough I am in a fight!"

Stonepaw grinned, his body tensing in preparation for a play fight. "You're on, sister! Raawwr!"

Stonepaw gave a mock lunge, paws splayed and arms extended as he fell towards her. Knowing she had plenty of time to roll away, Whiskerpaw tensed and jumped back, landing perfectly balanced on her haunches with her back straight and paws extended.

"Rawr! I'mma bear!" she rumbled in her mock grr face, then darted off as Stonepaw finished his long drawn out fall and darted for her. They happily shot around the Tallrock, chasing after each other until finally Whiskerpaw stopped and whipped around, catching Stonepaw by surprise and causing him to bowl into her. They struck the gorse bush, earning a deep rumble from within as the medicine cat showed his disapproval.

"Hey!" the old tom snarled. "Don't try and uproot my den!"

"Sorry, Featherbreeze!" they coursed, before darting away in case he changed his mind.

The rabbit carcass had already disappeared when they got back, where Cloudpaw had been delicately licking her paws before she heard Featherbreeze's reprimand. She gave her two friends a light glare, though both siblings knew she was laughing on the inside.

"And what," she mock scolded, "have I told you two apprentices about bothering the medicine cat?"

Whiskerpaw laughed as Stonepaw made a sharp bow, face aghast as he pretended to quote Cloudpaw. "Don't every bother the old cat or else we'll have our tails chopped off and fed to the frogs!"

Cloudpaw gave a very serious and exaggerated nod, fluffing out her chest and commanding in a very good impression of Breezestar's voice. "Then, for your crimes, you must therefore be punished." She made a chopping motion with her paw and mock-glared at Stonepaw's tail, as if she could chop it off from will alone. Whiskerpaw burst into fits and giggles, while Stonepaw gave a mock-moan.

"Alas, my tail!" he cried, rolling on his back. "I submit, oh, Cloudstar! Have mercy on your warriors!" he cried.

Cloudpaw burst into laughter, which vainly tried to stifle. Whiskerpaw didn't even try, laughing her tail off as Stonepaw grinned lopsidedly on his back in the goofiest position they'd ever seen.

When the laughter finally died down, the sun had set and tiredness had seeped into the three young cat's bones, even though their minds were still very much wide awake. A few warriors had already retired, and their sleeping forms breathed softly in the center of the clearing, watching by the moon and the whole of Silverpelt. After his stressful first day on the border patrol, Stonepaw felt the peaceful atmosphere start to drag at his eyelids but a probing paw in his side made his glare mutely at his sister.

"Well," Whiskerpaw started, amused, "how was patrol?"

Stonepaw rolled his eyes as he settled down, wrapping his tail around his paws and hoping it made him look more experienced and sophisticated as he thought about what to say. Whiskerpaw had a tendency to ask the same question over and over again and she was never satisfied until it was thoroughly answered. Stonepaw always preferred to think about what to say before saying it, deliberating over his words in hopes that it would make him sound like a senior warrior. "Well, while we were at the southern border, I smelled ThunderClan on the neutral territory."

"What? Really?" the grey she-cat asked, ears perking up. "How many? Did you see them?"

He shook his head. "It was an old and stale scent, and there was only one as far as Swiftstrike and I could tell." He paused, watching the disappointment fall over his friend's faces. "But I did see one of the loners in the Horseplace."

Whiskerpaw immediately perked up. "How big was he? Was he covered in scars? What color was his pelt?"

Cloudpaw's ear flicked. "It could have been a she," she murmured, startling Stonepaw.

The grey she-cat rolled her eyes. "Okay, how big was she?"

Stonepaw rumbled in amusement. "I only saw a flash of its pelt as it moved inside the Twoleg nest. It was black and sleek looking, well-fed from my guess."

Whiskerpaw snorted. "No surprise there. They get plenty of twoleg slop from those stupid bowls Twolegs give them. Once a kittypet, always a kittypet."

Stonepaw flicked an ear at his sister in agreement, while Cloudpaw said. "There haven't been twolegs up there in forever, so they can't be kittypets. They have to be loners."

"Yes, but they once were kittypets."

"You don't know that."

Stonepaw interjected. "Didn't Rainstorm say that twolegs hadn't been there for generations?"

Cloudpaw gave a nod while Whiskerpaw sputtered. "Yeah, well."

"So they have to be loners," Stonepaw decided matter-of-fact. "With kittypet blood."

"Right," Whiskerpaw agreed. Cloudpaw nodded in acceptance of the fact.

"That can hunt prey," Stonepaw pointed out with a cheeky grin, earning an annoyed ear-flick from his sister.

"Fine, whatever," Whiskerpaw admitted. "I still say, Once a Kittypet, Always a Kittypet."

"Everyone says that."

Cloudpaw frowned. "Just because everyone says it doesn't make it true."

Whiskerpaw made a feint swipe at Cloudpaw's ear, rolling her eyes in exasperation. "Fine, fine."

The three apprentices were growing more and more tired. Cloudpaw was crouched down with her tail curled up, seated in the moss covered center of the camp where WindClan usually slept together. While elders and the Medicine Cat usually had their own dens, the rest of the Clan slept beneath the Tallrock in the center of the clearing.

Whiskerpaw curled up beside Cloudpaw while Stonepaw curled up on his sister's side. Whiskerpaw looked at her brother when he shifted a bit too much on the moss, and he returned her look with a playful wink as he wrapped his tail around her body, the tip brushing against Cloudpaw's fur. His face wrinkled in a grin. "I has trapped you, har har."

His sister rolled her eyes and settled back down to sleep, ignoring Stonepaw's and closing her eyes. Stonepaw did the same in hopes of drifting off to sleep.

Sleep was not always forthcoming to Stonepaw, not since had first became an apprentice one week ago. It would be two more weeks until the next gathering and, while Stonepaw hoped that he'd be picked for it, he worried he wouldn't be good enough for anything. Even though they were the only three apprentices in the whole of WindClan, he knew that there was a slight possibility that one of them might get left behind and he prayed to StarClan that that cat wasn't going to be him, even if it meant Cloudpaw or Whiskerpaw had to stay behind.

His heart ached every time he thought about going when they had to stay. It didn't seem fair for one to stay and two to go when they had all gotten to know each other so well. Then again, Cloudpaw was a moon older than Stonepaw and it was more than likely that Stonepaw's position as deputy's apprentice would garrantee he would be coming. But the deputy's strange training method had his head swimming in doubt. It didn't make sense that he should go to the gathering when he wasn't getting trained properly. Sure, Swiftstrike was a great mentor and a great warrior, but what in StarClan's name was he thinking?

Then again, the whole Clan trusted the deputy and never once questioned his teaching methods. So, Stonepaw had been trained to fight first and then hunt for the Clan. Whatever. The better protected the Clan was, and in the middle of leaf-green it seemed less damaging to the Clan.

What did Breezestar think of this? It didn't matter what the Clan thought, if Breezestar didn't see that Stonepaw was fit to go to the Gathering, then he wouldn't be going to the Gathering. Period.

Stonepaw knew that the only reason he was doubting himself was because he was worried he'd be going for every other reason except because he had earned it. Stonepaw prayed to StarClan that he was ready, and finally found the peace of mind to slip off into his dreams. He was standing on the edge of the moorland, looking out over the stretch of land between him and the twoleg nest. Black shadows crawled in past the doorway, and red eyes gleaming out from a pure sleek black pelt. The sharp sound of the wind over the grass made him look back over his shoulder towards ThunderClan territory. He blinked in horror as he looked up into the sky, his mouth agape.

All of Silverpelt had gone dark.

Stonepaw shuddered, feeling whiskers touch his cheek but unable to turn his head and see who was standing next to him. A brief imagine of the black cat with the amber eyes flashed through his mind.

"Shadows will restore the light."