-Chapter Eleven-

Today for my punishment I had to visit the kits and tell them just how sorry I am. According to my mom, they're all five-and-a-half moons old and nearly apprentices anyway. They're actually only about two moons younger than me. And Mistypaw isn't allowed to come.

Yeah, isn't allowed. Mom specifically said, "Oh Mistypaw, you're such a dear to want to share Snowypaw's guilt, but this was her fault, not yours. Now go practice hunting with Leafwillow, will you?"

She had looked at me apologetically and then darted away. She had to obey the deputy's wishes, or she'd get kicked out of the Clan.

I took a deep breath and faced the nursery entrance. The sound of squealing kits reached my ears and I sighed, my tail flicking back and forth nervously.

This was going to be really awkward.

-Chapter Twelve-

"Hello, kits," I said as I entered the den. They stopped, the three of them, and looked up at me suspiciously. One of them really made me quake in my skin. She was really, really small, with one blue eye and one green. The way she looked at me made me feel all cold inside, like I was being hollowed out with a stick.

"You're the princess, Snowypaw, right?" asked one of the other kits, a light brown tom with piercing blue eyes. One of his ears was bent. "Were you the one who took our meal from us last night?"

"Yes," I admitted, feeling my ears lower in a kind of shame. "I came to—"

"Apologize?" the undersized kit burst out, her eyes blazing with a fierceness I had never seen in the face of one so young before. I almost recoiled, but stopped myself just in time. "What are you going to apologize for? The fate of all of the Clans, or one. Measly. Skin. And. Bones. Mouse?"

I backed up. "What're you—"

"My name is Shimmerkit," the kit said to me in an icy cold voice. "I'm going to be Pinewhisker's apprentice. And I think I need to talk to you."

-Chapter Thirteen-

Shimmerkit took me outside, behind the nursery, in a tiny squished space that only she and I could fit in. I complained and hissed but she ignored my whines and flicked her tail, almost seeming like my suffering was a good thing.

"So what's all this absolute nonsense?" I grumbled to her angrily, thinking inwardly that when I was leader, kits weren't allowed to torture apprentices like this for craziness.

"This is not crazy," replied the kit in an icy calm voice. It almost scared me for a second time, but I didn't let her see it. I wouldn't give her the pleasure of seeing my displeasure at her odd wisdom.

"Then what do you want me out here for?" I asked, towering over her and glaring with what I hoped was an intimidating expression.

It didn't appear to work. Shimmerkit stared at me icily and didn't speak for several heartbeats. I started to quake and almost jumped straight up in the air when she meowed in a whispering voice that was still dead calm, "You are going to destroy us all."

I stared at her and then began to laugh. "What're you talking about, kit? Wow, I'm daft. I thought you were going to tell me something that was actually true and important." My snowy white tail flicked back and forth with each shuddering laugh I took.

"Pinewhisker can tell you what she saw," Shimmerkit whispered. "I'll take you to her, if you won't believe me." Her tiny teeth grasped my tail and began to drag me forward. I wanted to resist, but I was too curious for my own good.

Too bad that I had forgotten Mistypaw's old saying: "Curiosity killed the cat."

-Chapter Fourteen-

Pinewhisker was working on Goldenlight's broken leg when Shimmerkit led me in. She stopped applying her poultice and turned, looking at me and looking inquisitively at the kit, and then myself.

Her eyes widen, and I flinched. I had always felt like Pinewhisker secretly wanted to be rid of me. Now that feeling had just tripled.

"Shimmerkit. Snowypaw." The medicine cat's voice sounded choked as she turned completely to face us. A fake smile spread across her face. "How wonderful to see you!" Her black tail twitched slightly—the only giveaway besides her honey-sweet voice that she was not happy I had come.

"We need to talk," the little kit snaps before I have the chance to say anything. Pinewhisker blinks and pads toward us, Goldenlight forgotten.

"Yes?" she asks, leaning down to face her future apprentice and seemingly ignoring me. I have to bite my tongue to fight back an indignant hiss of anger and decide to just wait to see what Shimmerkit says.

"I told her about your prophecy," the white kit says almost lazily, with a bored tone. "She doesn't believe me."

Pinewhisker's gasps. "You did what?"

"I told her, you know, about the prophecy that she'll destroy all of the clans with her crazy choice…" Now Shimmerkit was looking uncomfortable, and she trails off. I'm feeling worried. I don't know why—maybe it's that look Pinewhisker is giving me, or Shimmerkit's obvious nervousness.

"Wait," I interrupt. Whirling around to face the medicine cat I hiss, "So it's true, then? You really had this crazy dream?"

She stares at me. No words come out of her mouth, but I can tell what the answer is by the expression on her face—hopelessly lost. The same emotion is reflected on Shimmerkit.

Without saying a word more, I turn around and dart out of the entrance, out of the clearing, out of the camp. There's only one cat besides Mistypaw who I think I can tell about this.

I have to find Navy.

-Chapter Fifteen-

It's cold again outside, and my paws keep slipping in the snow. I think I know where Navy will be, but it'll take a while to get there, and I don't have much time before I explode due to overdose of crazy information.

A branch, covered by snow and completely blended in to my surroundings, knocks my senses as I slam into it with a loud thud. Stumbling backward, I shake my head to clear the snow from my ears—I hate getting wet—when the sound of laughter fills the air.

"Ah, amusing, princess. Wonderful. Ten mice out of ten mice."

"Navy," I grumble through clenched teeth, using one paw to brush the layered snow off of my head. "Not funny."

He leaps out of the very tree that I just happened to run into and lands delicately on all four paws. I don't understand how he does it—Ashstorm and Hawkstar have always told me that cats are supposed to be able to land on all fours, but I always end up slipping and landing flat on my face—or my tail.

"Okay, why so serious?" Navy challenges, settling himself down in the snow and staring at me. "I'm all ears, Miss Mope."

For once I forget about how annoyed I am at him, shiver slightly—and not just because of the cold—and begin to tell him what happened. I'm shuddering as I talk, yet no emotion crosses Navy's face, even at the craziest parts. About halfway through I start to wonder if he believes me at all, or if he thinks that I'm just making up some crazy joke, so I stop talking.

"What?" he asks, his green eyes flaring with annoyance. "Go on."

"You don't believe me, do you?" I spit out, glaring at him, but Navy laughs, wrapping his tail around his paws and looking at me with that scary, over-intelligent look.

"Quite the opposite, actually," he says. "I already knew."