Everyone was sleeping, and several stirred.

Four were in the same dream.

One was being watched.

The StarClan cats stood together to deliver a prophecy, one to which every cat must listen.

"What's going on?" called Lakekit.

"Lakekit!?" called Thrushpaw.

"I must be dreaming!" Lakekit muttered.

"That's what I was thinking!" Shiverpaw.

Wrenpaw looked warily around. "If it was a dream, Snowpaw would be here. And we'd all be doing some kit thing. Or at least in my case. It might be a dream- we're all having."

"Prophetic?" one asked.

"A figment of my imagination, I would think!" meowed Shiverpaw.

Wrenpaw mewed, "Err, you three, look up!"

A dark gray tom emerged from the clouds, it's green eyes eerie in their blank dream.

"The attack has begun. Wake up or DIE."

But the foursome couldn't wake up. They didn't want to, because it was great to even SEE each other, but also, they couldn't.

"GO!" screamed the gray cat.

"We can't!" mewed Shiverpaw.

Then, Shiverpaw disappeared in front of them.

"WHERE IS SHE!?" cried Thrushpaw.

"You don't need to know, but she didn't just wake up on her own. Something evil is approaching."

"But we're right next to each other!" Thrushpaw called incredulously.

"The ambush is happening NOW! StarClan is under assault. Wake them all up! The world is ending!" cried the dark gray tom in front of them."

"StarClan is what-" called Lakekit.

Then she disappeared.

Wrenpaw was freaking out. Whether or not this dream was real, it was for sure a sign from StarClan. Everyone's going to disappear.

And then, it hit her.

"What do you know about the alpine destiny!?" she yelled as loud as she could.

Thrushpaw disappeared.

"The alpine destiny haunts you. It is the bane of your existense, the wrath of the future. You may try to run away, but one reason or another, you will go."

Shiverpaw woke up in panic. The apprentices den was being invaded, she quickly realised. Who's in here? She thought.

She was pretty sure she could recognise the smell. WindClan.

She lowered the sound of her breathing to that of a sleeping cat. When they exit, I'll be safe.

She stayed where she was, feeling as if days were passing. She got hungry. Soon she wondered what the dream was about. It had ended quickly for her, but maybe the others got more of it.

As the time passed, she soon realised that the cats in here were probably not going to leave until we made them.

Quietly, she whispered, "Are you awake?"

"Yes." whispered Thrushpaw and Wrenpaw.

"What happened?"

"I asked about the alpine destiny, but that can wait. But right now, he says an evil is haunting us."

"Apparently so. WindClan is in here."
"I didn't think WindClan attacked unprovoked. They are actually a kind of weak Clan. So this is not normal."

"Maybe they're under the influence of the dark forest."

"But that would be weird, because there haven't been any tyrants who would GO to the dark forest since the last attack thirteen years ago, and we killed all of them at that point."

"Guys, shh. One just pricked their ears up."

Shiverpaw waited in the eerie darkness. She laid down, eyes closed.

"Hello…"called the WindClan warrior.

"Who are you! Why are you here!?" cried Snowpaw, waking up and instantly going on attack mode.

"Snowpaw don't there's too man-" Wrenpaw called, then realised she was speaking loudly.

Now Wrenpaw went into attack mode. A yowl burst through the den, and chaos erupted.

Shiverpaw leaped out of her nest and begun to fight.

Thrushpaw freaked out. Now he was thrust into the battle. He had briefly contemplated just pretending to stay asleep, but quickly decided against it.

He opened his eyes and ran straight into the chaos, and immediately dived in to protect Wrenpaw, who was cowering in the corner, realising she had no idea how to fight. Thrushpaw slashed a WindClan cat's face and raced toward her, pouncing on a cat approaching his near sister. Despite the dire situation, he couldn't help but think Well, you aren't going to baby me now are you Wrenpaw?

Then, right out of the blue, Jaypaw yelled, "HEY! THIS IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS, YOU FOUR! GO BACK TO BED IN THE KIT DEN WHERE YOU BELONG, WITH YOUR MOTHER AND CRY! GO AWAY! THIS DOES NOT CONCERN YOU!

The battle stopped, everyone nervously looking around.

Jaypaw muttered, "And you four are not going to say a word about our involvement."

Then, Robinstar and a whole lot of warriors ran into the apprentices den, yelling, "WindClan invasion. ShadowClan, attack!"

"Apprentices, outside, this is no fight for you!" called Emerald from somewhere off to the side.

Happily obliging, Thrushpaw ran outside into the camp's darkness, happy to see all of his friends out safely.

"What happened?" Emerald asked from behind them.

"I had a weird dream… and then I woke up to WindClan attacking," meowed a startled Wrenpaw.

"Same!" mewed Thrushpaw.

"Exactly!" Shiverpaw meowed.

"I don't know. I woke up to my sister in trouble and immediately saved her. WindClan was no match for me! Although, didn't have any dreams," Snowpaw meowed loudly and courteously.

"LIAR!" Thrushpaw called out, glowering at Snowpaw. He'd woken up and ruined everything. And he didn't do any good fighting.

"Actually, you're the liar." Thrushpaw and his comrades turned around to the three older apprentices standing alertly.

"We woke up to WindClan here. Wrenpaw had the idiocy to yell aloud, and then we were thrust into battle. Luckily for them, we saved the younger apprentices, besides Snowpaw, who did a good job himself." mewed Redpaw.

"Alright, well, they are younger and still learning." Emerald mewed.

"You believe THEM!?" mewed Shiverpaw incredulously.

"You're barely apprentices and we've had them lie to feel less ashamed before. But don't worry, it wasn't your fault."

"Plus, they told the truth,"meowed Snowpaw.

"Yes" meowed Emerald "but you must come with me you need to tell me about this dream"

"You believe about this dream? Especially when three of us had it?"

"It's a dream. So yeah, it's pretty important by my watch."

"Well it's… a long story."

"So you had a dream about a gray cat telling you that you were being haunted by a future?" Emerald summarized.

"Uh- huh." Shiverpaw meowed.

"That's StarClan for you. Whatever happens to dead cats no-nonsense policies?"

"They got eaten by the monster called death."

"Well, either way, this is over now, and we certainly have something to say at the gathering tonight." Robinstar concluded.

"Wait, you mean we can come!?" meowed Thrushpaw happily.

"Okay. But only if you be on BEST BEHAVIOR."

Wrenpaw sulked around the rest of the day, very much hurt. Her brother was gone, she reflected, but now he was cool by the older apprentices standards? What happened to the fun loving kit she had grown up with?

She tried to be as excited as the other apprentices about the gathering, but she couldn't. She imagined they were also probably wearing masks. No cat could be happy about their brother turning into claws and thoughts, but no sound.

She was so off-put, in fact, that she felt sick.

"Just a tummyache."

"Try some cobwebs." Emerald responded distractedly, which for a second confused Wrenpaw because Emerald had meowed the wrong thing. Cobweb wasn't even an herb.

"I KNOW! But I don't want any. It's… emotional."

"Yes."

"I DIDN'T EVEN ASK A QUESTION!" screamed Wrenpaw.

"Uh- huh."

Wrenpaw rolled her eyes. Emerald was lost in the world of HERBS. Wrenpaw hoped she wouldn't be like that in the future.

The day ended and the Clan began to assemble to leave for the gathering, Wrenpaw finally got excited. Her first gathering, and she was barely old enough to be an apprentice!

"You two, come over here!" called Thrushpaw.

Wrenpaw and Shiverpaw walked over, both of them cheery, and both noticing that Thrushpaw had mewed two.

"You excited!? I am! We're going to confront WindClan."

"Will the other Clans believe us? Or even care!? I mean, nowadays, it seems everyone hates ShadowClan!" Shiverpaw asked alarmedly.

"Maybe not, but it doesn't hurt to try!" he mewed.

Wrenpaw doubtfully looked at the dirt beneath her paws. "Yeah. Sure." she heard herself say uninterestedly.

"Wrenpaw, are you okay?" Shiverpaw asked, concerned.

"I'm just sad. I miss the old Snowpaw. Now he's just… a jerk. And the fact that he sided with the older apprentices… that in itself was creepy."

"Well- at least he's working hard for the good of the Clan."

"But so are we!" yowled Wrenpaw.

"Good point…" whispered Shiverpaw.

"Well, we won't know. But in the meantime, I want to know what the older apprentices, specifically Jaypaw, are up to. Because… them siding with Snowpaw- now that is bizarre." Thrushpaw meowed decisively, "Yet anyway- do you guys want to DO something? Now that we have a day off- we're kind of just here."

"We could discuss the dream-" Wrenpaw begun.

"Weird that we all had it, huh?" Thrushpaw excitedly interrupted.

"I stayed in the longest- and I asked about the alpine destiny. What he meowed was chilling. And I don't really understand it."

"None of us do. But hey- we saw Lakekit!"

"If she's still alive, she probably assumes that it was just a nightmare or something." Wrenpaw mewed doubtfully.

"Well- I think it's more. StarClan being cryptic again."

"I don't know what I think-"

Wrenpaw stopped listening. She knew from experience the siblings would begin to bicker now. So- she was lost in thought again. You know- I should go and at least try to talk to my brother.

Yeah. If I don't do anything, nothing is going to happen. And so she took a deep breath and mewed, "Bye, guys."

Then, she padded over to the clearing where Snowpaw was talking to some of the warriors about hunting strategy.

"You know, I think voles are actually easier to catch if you chase them instead of stalk them. They're really slow!"

"I haven't found a slow one in my whole life!"

She held her head up high and meowed, "Snowpaw. What is going on with you!"

Snowpaw looked at her confusedly.

"You never talk to me and Thrushpaw and Shiverpaw! You aren't really friends with anyone! Name the last time we did something fun as a foursome."

"Er- we all battled together in the apprentices den."

"YOU CALL THAT FUN?!" shrieked Wrenpaw, steam billowing from her ears. "OUR LIVES WERE IN DANGER! DO YOU EVEN CARE WHO LED THOSE CATS TO HERE, OR DO YOU JUST WANT TO BE KNOWN AS A GOOD WARRIOR!? I'M TIRED OF THIS!"

By now cats were gathering around the clearing in the center of the camp, wondering who Wrenpaw was shouting at.

"When we were in the battle in the apprentices den, all I wanted was to protect you. You are smaller than me, and you're not even training for battle. And that's what I did. And those two- well, they weren't being very helpful." Snowpaw mewed calmly.

"I'd rather you be a friend than you help me! It would be worth more."

And Wrenpaw stormed off.

"We have to go to the gathering, Wrenpaw!" Shiverpaw yowled.

"Tell the warriors that I am NOT COMING." Wrenpaw mewed gravely.

"But you're our friends!" Thrushpaw yelled from beside Shiverpaw.

Something about this triggered Wrenpaw, and she walked outside.

"I'll go."

Shiverpaw felt her heart skip a beat. Even though Wrenpaw was depressed, she was still happy she would come.

"I'll be your brother now." Thrushpaw mewed. Oh, that's a pretty witty one! I should have meowed that! Shiverpaw thought, her mind racing with random thoughts.

"Thanks, you two." Wrenpaw mewed slowly.

"Okay, let's go!" Shiverpaw mewed, then mewled with laughter.

Thrushpaw and (hesitantly) Wrenpaw both also laughed.

At the gathering, the apprentices of all Clans assembled.

"Hey, Pikepaw, look! There's ShadowClan apprentices here!" A WindClan apprentice mewed.

"Jaypaw! Been a long time!" shouted Pikepaw, a RiverClan apprentice.

Okay, yep, I'm listening to THAT conversation for sure thought Shiverpaw.

"Sorrelpaw, come over here!" shouted Jaypaw.

"This is not good." muttered Thrushpaw under his breath.

"Why are four apprentices from different Clans acting like best friends?" Wrenpaw muttered back.

"Shh." Shiverpaw shushed.

"So- our meeting place after this-" Jaypaw mewed, then whispered something, "Keep it secret."

Then, the four dispersed as if nothing had happened.

"So we know the names-"

"Of most of them, but not the WindClan one."

"This is like a real investigation!"

Then, the gathering begun for real. "Let all cats assemble for the gathering," mewed the WindClan leader, Snowstar.

He began his report. "WindClan is fine. We have two new apprentices, Stonepaw and Fernpaw. We also have a new warrior; Robinfeather. We do have something to say, our Clan has been attacked by RiverClan."
The uproar began. "WE WERE TOLD BY STARCLAN IT WAS THE ONLY THING TO DO! IT WAS AN OMEN!" screamed Berrywing of RiverClan.

"WELL YOU ATTACKED US!" screeched Lizardtail of ShadowClan to the WindClan leader.

"It was our only course of action," meowed Snowstar, trying to keep his cool.

Shiverpaw looked over at ThunderClan, who were standing idly, confused.

Thrushpaw was filled with excitement. There was a mystery to solve here, and he knew it. The four apprentices, the Clans attacking each other-

-It seemed kind of weird.

For the rest of the gathering, he kept his eye on Jaypaw. When it ended, he whispered to the other two apprentices, "Follow me."

"Okay," mewed Wrenpaw.

They sneaked after Jaypaw, wondering what would happen. As they journeyed through the forest, they finally came across a clearing.

The four apprentices were there.

"We've got WindClan to turn against ShadowClan, and RiverClan against WindClan. Sorrelpaw and Jaypaw, you need to start working!" said an unrecognizable voice.

"On it!" Sorrelpaw mewed, "ThunderClan plans to attack RiverClan tomorrow!" she added cheerily.

"I can't get my leader to listen to me! He's always worrying about the prophecy!"

"That Alpine Destiny thing is just a bunch of mouse-dung!" Sorrelpaw said supportively.

"He doesn't think so!" Jaypaw retorted, her voice filled with poison.

Shiverpaw breathed in heavily, alerting the cats of our existence.

"KILL THEM!" cried the unnamed voice.

Jaypaw, Sorrelpaw, Pikepaw, and the WindClan one raced toward the that bushes they were hiding in so fast that the three apprentices couldn't escape. They were surrounded.

"I thought I told you three to stay out of the way!" Jaypaw hollered.

And then claws slashed into his throat and there was darkness.

Shiverpaw, seeing her brother fall down, attacked the older apprentices, hoping to possibly send them away.

She was determined to win. Wrenpaw also tried to help fight, but she only knew basic defense, as she was a medicine cat.

But it was no use, and the apprentices kept attacking. Thrushpaw hazily woke up.

"RUN!" called Wrenpaw.

The three retreated.

Lakekit woke up from the strange dream knowing something was wrong. She found the courage to pad forward, toward the calm and compassionate voice.

'Why are you here, little kit?'

'I don't know!'

Lakekit looked up at the source of the voice.

A majestic bird with flaming wings and eyes of sapphire warbled a singsongy lullaby 'If you are still waiting, you will be found, nothing dies forever now, but for the meantime don't go slow, catch me if you can!'

This was not the same voice as earlier. This was playful, and reminded her a lot of Thrushkit, wherever he was.

Slowly she caught glimpses of the firebird, it's flaming wind melting the snow. 'Haha! You're going to love it here!'

She ran forward after the firebird, as it led her to an ice covered lake.

'Or at least, until the demons come!'

The ice cracked and Lakekit fell in. She plunged far into the icy water, her heart beating extremely fast.

But then, another bird swooped in and pulled her out.

'It's dangerous for kittens here!' a voice above her said, 'Even the most friendly looking things might be trying to eat you. You'll need to learn that.'

The firebird chased after them, 'stop it! You're taking my food! The last meal before the winter!' it said, barreling into them.

The bird above her nearly dropped the girl as it spiraled toward the firebird, whom Lakekit discovered wasn't fire after all as it barged into her, pummelled into the bird and suddenly, she was falling through thin air.