Dovewing followed Whitewing with Ravenpaw and Hailpaw trailing excitedly behind them.

'What will we do first?' Ravenpaw asked Dovewing. 'Hunting, battle training or…cleaning out the elders den?' Ravenpaw spoke the last words with a grimace.

'Whitewing, should we start off with something easy like gathering moss?' Dovewing asked. Whitewing hesitantly nodded and Hailpaw groaned.

'Why can't we do hunting instead?' Hailpaw muttered.

'Or practise fighting?' Ravenpaw added.

'Because I want you to get used to apprentice life first.' Whitewing stated. 'And, the quicker we do the boring things like gather moss, the quicker we do fun things.'

'We only teach you how to gather moss once!' Dovewing laughed, and Ravenpaw tried to laugh too, but it turned was extremely weak.

At least he's trying to hide his disappointment.

Whitewing led the cats just outside of camp. There was a large rock with dry moss on it.

'Be careful when you pick it, as elders get very annoyed over dirt and thorns. And only use dry moss.' Whitewing instructed. Hailpaw nodded, Ravenpaw hmmed.

'How would you pick the moss?' Dovewing asked her apprentice.

'I'd bite it off.' Ravenpaw briefly explained.

'Ahah!' Whitewing interrupted explosively. 'Don't bite it off, claw it off! If you use your jaw, you could get a thorn in your chin, and it will make the moss wetter. Your mouth is less precise than your claws, so it lessens the amount of dirt in the moss.'

'Like this!' Dovewing demonstrated by extending a sharp claw, and shredding the moss off the rock slowly. 'You try it.'

Hailpaw padded up to the rock and unsheathed her claws. She scraped some moss off slowly. Eventually, some dropped off the rock and fell limply onto the ground. It was covered in debris.

'It could be cleaner…'Whitewing pointed out.

'Oh, I see,' Hailpaw replied. 'Should I nip the dirt out?'

'No, gather more moss for now.' Whitewing answered.

'You too Ravenpaw!' Dovewing prompted, flicking her tail towards the rock. 'Then we can bring it back to the elders!'

The two apprentices had gathered lots of moss.

'Brilliant! Nice and clean.' Whitewing congratulated. 'Let me show you an efficient way to carry it!'

She scooped some moss in her jaws, and then tucked some more under her chin.

'Like this.'

Ravenpaw backed away. 'I'll walk into camp and be laughed at, because I'll look too silly!' he protested.

Whitewing opened her mouth and quietly breathed:

'Two leaders before Bramblestar, there was a leader called Bluestar, who was Mistystar's mother. She was taught to carry moss like this!'

Hailpaw struggled to keep the moss under her chin, and she vaguely squealed, 'I'll be ThunderClan's best leader! When Squirrelflight becomes Squirrelstar, she'll make me her deputy!'

Ravenpaw gasped.

'No, I'll be leader!'

He immediately scooped up as much moss as possible, and he clumsily padded into the camp.

Dovewing stifled an mrrow of amusement and followed her enthusiastic apprentice into camp, followed by Hailpaw and Whitewing.

'I'm proud of you.' Whitewing praised. 'You are young, and you are a natural mentor.' She nuzzled her daughter affectionately. 'If you ever need help, you can ask me. Remember, I'm your mother! And I mentored Icecloud.'

'I know, I all will come to you for help.' Dovewing responded, but she thought that Whitewing had noticed that she was different. She felt powerful again.

'Dovewing!' Bramblestar mewed to Dovewing. 'How is your mentoring going?'

'Brilliant!' Dovewing responded, eager to show her pride. 'Ravenpaw's a fast learner, and I love mentoring him.'

'Good!' Bramblestar sighed with a relieved tone. 'I chose you because of your senses will keep Ravenpaw out of trouble. He is very adventurous, and I wouldn't be surprised if he wandered away from you.' He added in a whisper.

'My senses, they're getting stronger again!' Dovewing whispered back. 'Has the prophecy started again?'

'Jayfeather wants to see you about that.' Bramblestar explained.

'Is that a yes?'

'Just see Jayfeather.'

'Jayfeather?'

Dovewing peered through the thickets guarding the brambles, and only saw Foxleap covered in cobwebs and Millie curled up in her nest. Briarlight dragged herself past a wall in the cave.

'Did you call for Jayfeather?' she queried. 'He's out, trying to find catmint and comfrey.' She glanced nervously towards the corner of the cave. 'Your sister's back is has a minor fracture, after Hawkfrost stamped on it in the Great Battle.'

'Ivypool!' Dovewing rushed over to her sister. 'Are you okay?'

Ivypool's response was a grunt. 'Not really, my back hurts too much.'

Dovewing shuddered as she remember the Dark Forest warriors storming into the camp, crunching savagely into Ferncloud, Mousefur and Hollyleaf's neck. And then she turned to see Hawkfrost viciously stomping on top of Ivypool's spine. She had stayed there until Jayfeather dragged her into the medicine den. When she heard that Firestar was killed, she thought it was a lie, but then Brambleclaw was renamed Bramblestar.

'Can I do anything for you?' Dovewing anxiously asked, bending over to lick her sister's pelt.

'Fetch me a piece of fresh-kill please, and that will be plenty.' Ivypool replied.

'Okay!' Dovewing galloped out, and called over her shoulder. 'Don't forgot to try a have as much rest as possible!'

She dashed over to the fresh-kill pile, and met Whitewing devouring a small shrew.

'You're in a hurry!' she commented. 'What's the rush?'

'I'm fetching prey for Ivypool.' Dovewing mournfully mewed. 'The pain in her back is hindering her movement. At the moment I feel like I need to become a medicine cat so I can make her better, but no one can do better than Jayfeather.'

'That's true.' Whitewing responded. 'We'd be harming her by replacing Jayfeather.' She lowered her head. 'I desperately want her to get better as well…but Jayfeather's having trouble finding the right herbs. I really miss seeing her every day…'

Dovewing looked down at the pitiful pile of prey.

'We could do with more prey.' She sighed, and picked up a puny robin. 'We have many warriors, queens, elders and apprentices to feed, and this is all we have.'

'Quickly give that to Ivypool then, before anyone else wants it!' Whitewing forced herself to chuckle. 'I want to visit her too, and then I can maybe lead a patrol.'

How long until Ivypool can hunt, patrol, share-tongues with me and everyone else again! What if she didn't minorly fracture her spine, but fully snapped it! Dovewing thought, and added with horror. What if she has to drag herself around like Briarlight?

'Let's go then!' Whitewing broke off her thoughts. She quickly padded away, and Dovewing followed her with the robin swaying limply in her jaws. Whitewing stepped over the brambles laying on the ground and nosed into the medicine den and called out to her daughter with a very welcoming tone. 'Hello, my darling!'

Dovewing crouched into the cave. 'Here's your prey.'

Is that disappointment in her eyes? 'I'm sorry it's only a robin, but it's the biggest thing on the pile.' She placed the robin in front of Ivypool's paws.

'Thank you.' Ivypool didn't show or let her tone sound disappointed. 'Not many feathers to tear off for me, thankfully! I'm more than grateful.'

'Good…' Dovewing sighed.

'What happened in the meeting earlier?' Foxleap raised his head from deeper in the cave.

'Four new apprentices.' Briarlight mewed. Foxleap sighed. Because of his injuries, Cherrypaw wasn't Foxleap's mentor anymore. 'Ravenpaw, Beepaw, Hailpaw and Sunpaw. Dovewing is Ravenpaw's mentor, and Whitewing is Hailpaw's mentor.'

Millie shuddered and woke from her sleep, and started to violently wheeze.

'Millie?' Briarlight urgently meowed, dragging herself over to the warrior. She placed a forepaw on her forehead.

'How is she?' Leafpool nosed her way in the cave.

'She's getting more feverish!' Briarlight wailed. 'I think she's caught Greencough!'

Leafpool placed her paw on Millie.

'Greencough?' Millie writhed. 'I can't have! Briarlight, Blossomfall and Bumblestripe needs me! I won't…die will I?'

'You will be fine.' Leafpool assured the wary warrior. 'You're in the hands of Jayfeather.'

'What about me and Foxleap?' Ivypool asked. 'If Millie is in here with Greencough, what will happen to us?'

'We need to move Millie.' Leafpool firmly replied. 'We need to make sure no one else catches the illness.' Millie was about to raise her head and protest. 'If you stay here Millie, Briarlight will catch Greencough! And in her condition, she won't have a very good chance of survival!'

Millie gasped, and lowered her head. Worry glittered brightly in her eyes. 'Do you have Greencough now, Briarlight?'

Briarlight shook her head.

'I don't have any symptoms.' She responded. 'I'll be more than fine.'

'You'd better be.' Millie grimly replied.

'Where will Millie be moved?' Dovewing asked her mother, as they left the medicine den. Dovewing was worried about her sister, as she was currently sharing the same den with Millie.

'A few moons before you were born, there was a violent case of Greencough in the camp. Over half our cats were infected, so they were all moved into the abandoned Twoleg den. Neither Leafpool nor Jaypaw could go in there, so Firestar, who also had Greencough, had to look after the cats. He fed all the other cats the exact amount of catmint, but he didn't have enough himself. He lost a life in that attack.' Whitewing told her daughter. 'But it isn't likely Millie will go there. Icecloud fell into a hole after the Twoleg nest's ground fell in, so it's too dangerous to go there, I imagine. She might stay in an area behind the training hollow, where there are lots of bushes and moss. A small pond is there as well which Millie can drink from. Some other cats may go there. Whitecough and Greencough spread easily, and Millie's been infected for a few sunrises.'

'But Ivypool!' Dovewing wailed. 'She can't catch Greencough! She might…die!'

'Ivypool is strong.' Whitewing purred, which reassured Dovewing, even though there was a strong edge of worry in her purr. She then quickly changed the subject. 'What do you think of mentoring Ravenpaw, by the way?'

'It's fun!' Dovewing happily replied, however the thought of Ivypool dying hadn't left her mind. What if I never see her again? 'Among our warriors, I am the youngest, with Ivypool. So I enjoy being, well, superior to another cat.'

Whitewing purred.

'That's a relief. I wondered if you'd be offended by Ravenpaw's lack of enthusiasm to gather moss.' Whitewing explained with a satisfied sigh.'

They continued chatting about mentoring, when Bumblestripe headed towards her with a pheasant lying dead on his back. His head was held high and proud. Other cats stared at him with impressed expressions, chattering to each other with an unbelieving tone. Whitewing gasped, and hungrily lashed her tail beside her.

He can be so full of himself. Dovewing thought, thinking faintly of Tigerheart.

'Hey Dovewing!' Bumblestripe mewed importantly. 'Look at my catch!' he flung the pheasant off his back, and took a bite out of it.

He's unusually arrogant! Ugh! Dovewing thought with disgust. And now he's eating his own prey in front of me!

'Well done, Bumblestripe!' Whitewing congratulated. 'You found that type of prey in leaf-bare! It's completely unthinkable!'

Dovewing remembered stories of an apprentice called Shrewpaw who died during a leaf-bare before the Great Journey when Twolegs were destroying the forest and scaring prey away. He found a pheasant, and crept up on it. It was alarmed when Shrewpaw stepped on a thin twig and snapped it. It ran towards the Thunderpath, and Shrewpaw ran after it. Unfortunately, a monster was roaring down the Thunderpath, and it hit Shrewpaw when he was less than a mouse length away from the large bird, and he was immediately killed, and the pheasant got away.

However, Dovewing was surprised to find herself scared of the thought of the same events occurring to Bumblestripe. For a normal cat-

Normal? Isn't Bumblestripe normal to me?

Dovewing wouldn't have felt horrified if a normal cat had been hit by a monster. So why did she feel daunted by the thought of Bumblestripe being killed by a monster?

I was haunted for moons after Rippletail died. Dovewing thought, and then added with a guilty pang: But that was because I lead him to his death.

'Are you okay, Dovewing?' Bumblestripe queried, with a hint of hope. 'You look like you're in a daydream!'

'No!' Dovewing snapped. 'I'm not in a daydream!'

Bumblestripe laughed, but Dovewing could sense intense hurt coming from him. 'Oh well, it looked like it! Would you like to share this pheasant with me?'

Dovewing let out a grunt in her head.

'No thanks, I'm not hungry.' She replied, struggling to hold back a sharp retort. 'Maybe another time.'

Whitewing twitched her tail in surprise.

'If I catch another pheasant,' Bumblestripe grunted.

Dovewing stalked away and Bumblestripe sighed. Dovewing thought that he must have been hoping for a reply. Whitewing walked after her, and followed her into the warriors den.

'What's wrong?' She asked worriedly. 'Bumblestripe was only being nice! And, he really likes you.' Dovewing was about to snap. 'And, the clan needs more kits. Sorreltail, Cinderheart and Poppyfrost have left the nursery, and Daisy needs company.'

Dovewing let out her snap. 'The thing is, whenever one cat likes another, everyone automatically presumes that they will be mates!' she impatiently scraped her paws against the ground. 'I don't love Bumblestripe, okay?'

Whitewing recoiled at her intensity. 'I know that, but please, be careful with who you choose, Dovewing. You know who Mistystar's parents were.'

Dovewing fell back, stung.

Bluestar and Oakheart.

Did her mother know about Tigerheart? Didn't Whitewing think that her own daughter knew what she was doing? She didn't trust her!

She thinks we'll have kits!

'What makes you say that?' Dovewing snapped. 'Anyone would think you didn't trust me.'

Whitewing stepped forward.

'I've seen you staring and mooning over Tigerheart at Gatherings!' Whitewing responded wearily. Dovewing gasped in shock. 'Anyone could tell. I wouldn't be surprised if Bramblestar knew.'

Dovewing screeched in her mind.

No way!

Dovewing fought Mapleshade in the Dark Forest fight. She turned evil after a cat from an enemy clan stopped being her mate, and let her three kits drown.

I am not ending up like her! Dovewing vowed meaningfully. She killed Spottedleaf!

'We will not have kits,' Dovewing replied, forcing her anger to bubble down. 'I can be trusted!'

'Just be careful, I don't want kin in ShadowClan.' Whitewing replied. She immediately settled down and let her breathing turn into a deep and contented snore.

Like I'm going to have kits with Tigerheart…

Dovewing let her legs weakly collapse under her. The moss warmed under her, and it carried her into a calming sleep.

She opened her eyes high above a blazing field. She panicked for a heartbeat, but then she realised she was high above the field. Four cats stood confidently within the inferno. The first one was a brown and black tom with icy blue eyes, towering high above the others like a leader. One was tortoiseshell and white, with amber eyes which could burn through a sheet of dust like wind. The other two were a brown as the darkest, dry soil. One had green eyes and the other had unnaturally white eyes which Dovewing had never seen before. Suddenly, dozens of cats appeared in front of them, but all of them were shredded by the four powerful cats with a claw each.

These cats are evil! No cat would shred innocent cats like that!

Before she could wake by herself, a paw prodded her side and Jayfeather and Lionblaze were looming over her.

'Dovewing!' Lionblaze calmly woke her from her dream, and beckoned her outside. Jayfeather went out. 'Jayfeather has a message for us.'

'A prophecy?' Dovewing echoed her thoughts hopefully. 'I can't stand this deafness without my normal senses.'

'I don't know, but it's likely. Jayfeather's had a message from StarClan.' Lionblaze explained. 'Let's follow him outside and hear what he has to say for ourselves.'

Lionblaze trotted outside. Dovewing yawned and wearily padded after the two brothers. She nosed through the briar which dangled from above where the den entrance was. Lionblaze was impatiently waiting, while Jayfeather seemed very patient.

That's unusual. Jayfeather's not that patient!

'So,' Jayfeather started off. 'Yellowfang visited me in a dream.' However, Lionblaze impatiently cut him short and blurted out:

'Did she give you a prophecy?'

'Yes.' Jayfeather's words made Dovewing swallow her heart. My senses will be back. 'Yellowfang told me that: "Clouds will cover half the night sky, and three will once again have the powers of the stars in their paws."'

'Yes!' Dovewing whispered an exclamation. 'My senses will come back!'

'What are the clouds and the night sky about?' Lionblaze asked, unsatisfied.

'Ravenpaw and Hailpaw.'

'No way. My kits…'

A gasp sounded behind them.

'What?' Dovewing turned to see Ravenpaw and Hailpaw crouched under a bush. 'You caught us again?'

Lionblaze rushed over to them. 'Don't worry about that. Listen to Jayfeather.'

Ravenpaw followed his father with unnerve, and Hailpaw followed boldly. Jayfeather briefly explained to the littermates what a prophecy is, and the prophecy which Jayfeather was given, and that the clouds covering the sky meant Hailpaw and Ravenpaw.

'Really?' Hailpaw squealed. 'Us?'

'You.' Jayfeather repeated slightly impatiently. 'You two are in a prophecy. As surprising and shocking as it may be, it is definitely true.'

Dovewing jumped as Yellowfang appeared beside her.

'But, four can go greater than this.' She explained.

'Who are you?' Ravenpaw gasped. 'You appeared out of nowhere!'

'I am Yellowfang.' The old cat replied. 'I was the medicine cat before Jayfeather, before Leafpool and before Cinderpelt.'

'You were the one who killed the Dark Forest's leader!' Ravenpaw exclaimed. Yellowfang tensed, and so did Dovewing. But despite this, Ravenpaw continued his rant. 'I couldn't believe it when I heard about that in the nursery! How did you do it? Do you think I could?'

Yellowfang changed the subject. Dovewing guessed that she didn't like talking about killing her evil son, Brokenstar. 'We have no time for that. Just remember what I said.'

She faded away, and Ravenpaw sighed in dismay.

'Wait, what did Yellowfang mean?' Hailpaw asked anxiously. 'Does one of us have to stop being a part of the prophecy?'