Everyone loved Hailstar. The elders croakily proclaimed him as the most courageous and noble leader that FernClan had ever had, and every cat, from the tiniest kit to the strongest warrior, looked up at him with a warm glow of awe in their eyes. As far as they were concerned, Hailstar could do no wrong.

But I knew different.

My name is Frostpaw, and I am an apprentice of FernClan. My warrior blood is as pure as can be, and my warrior's heritage can be traced back for generations of the finest warriors known to the forest. I am proud to call myself a true apprentice of FernClan, and I know that the day I receive my warrior name will be the proudest day of my life.

But until that day, I can only live in fear, darkness and a despised form of the worst sort of pleasure.

It was the day of my nine-moon assessment. My mentor, Cedarflash, gave me a quick smile as three other apprentices and I padded nervously into the forest, with the warriors following close behind us.

As we gathered in the sandy training hollow to await our tasks, a rustle in the bushes made us turn around in surprise, and the sunhigh border patrol trotted into the clearing: the young she-cat Birchfrost, her mate, Herontail, a senior warrior called Aspenheart and Hailstar himself.

"Hailstar!"

My mentor's voice was warm with welcome as he greeted his leader with a dip of his head, and the rest of us followed suit obediently. Hailstar cast a benevolent eye around us, his tail twitching as he sat down.

"Are you assessing these apprentices, Cedarflash?" he asked, his voice rich and deep as always.

Cedarflash nodded his assent, his gaze resting on me as I sat up a little taller, pleased at the attention from the leader himself. Hailstar smiled.

"Would you mind if I watched? It's been many a moon since I was at one of these myself!"

Cedarflash and the other warriors laughed and meowed their agreement, and I exchanged a thrilled glance with my friend Redpaw next to me. Hailstar himself wanted to watch us! We both tried to look as responsible as possible, and I could hardly hear Cedarflash's calm instructions for our tasks in my excitement.

Cedarflash had barely finished speaking when we four apprentices, eyes shining with excitement, turned tail and dashed into the forest, each as eager as the rest to perform to the top standard – today of all days!

My task was to hunt near the stream, a small, fast-flowing creek that rushed through our territory and was dotted with hollow, echoing caves along the bank. It was one of my favourite spots to hunt, and I breathed in a deep sigh of contentment as the cold air from the water washed over me. A tiny movement in the reeds ahead of me brought my haunches down in my painstakingly practiced movement, and I drew myself paw over paw towards my prey.

Several hours later, with the sun sinking ever lower in the sky, I sat down in the cool of one of the caves, surveying my pile of fresh-kill proudly. Two mice, one fish and a watervole – no one could say that wasn't a good effort!

I glanced out of the cave, noting the increasing length of the shadows on the opposite bank, and decided to start heading home. My mouth watered as I picked up my bumper catch, but I knew the warrior code too well to take a bite. Tail high, I padded up the bank into the setting sun towards the camp.

A flash of grey nearby brought my head snapping up in alarm, and the prey tumbled from my mouth as I opened it to drink in the scent of my follower. In an instant I recognised it, and he emerged slowly from the reeds as I dipped my head, mewing in surprise, "Hailstar!"

The grey tom smiled at me, with my prey scattered at my paws, and I felt my fur grow hot at his cool-eyed surveyance of my clumsiness. I hurried to correct my image.

"I, um, didn't recognise you just then and I – I just dropped my prey to scent you, but I'm sure it'll be OK, it wasn't on the ground for that long, it won't really be very dirty…" I was rambling, I knew, but his sudden appearance and expressionless features had thrown me off guard, and I hurried to collect my fallen catches.

As I looked up, I saw his countenance had changed: now he smiled warmly at me, his eyes dancing in a way I didn't understand.

"Never mind," he meowed, "Happens to the best of them, I know! Here, let me help you…"

He bent his head to retrieve my watervole as I stammered my thanks and made to go back to the camp. To my surprise, however, he turned the other way and started back down the bank I had just left, going towards the cave I had used to store my prey. I paused, confused.

"Uh, Hailstar? Aren't we supposed to go this way?"

Hailstar turned and smiled again.

"Yes, we are, but I left a piece of prey here myself a few hours ago and I want to pick it up. We won't be a minute."

I frowned to myself as I hurried after him, for I couldn't remember scenting any prey besides my own in the cave… I shrugged as I followed him into the cool darkness.