Half a moon had passed, and it was the day of the medicine cats Gathering. Hawkpaw's punishment had passed by like a breeze - Dustpaw helped her with the elders and everything was alright.
Well, except RiverClan. They were laying scents on Sunningrocks now too, trying to claim the territory. Border patrols there had doubled, and battles kept breaking out.
And of course it was leaf-bare, and prey was really starting to disappear. There was already snow, though luckily the afternoon sun had melted it all before more could fall.
And Firepath still couldn't locate any Cat mint, which meant they were really going to be in trouble come leaf-bare.
But, other than that, things were perfect.
"Are you sure you'll be alright?" Hawkpaw asked Firepath. She had gone into the medicine den to grab some poppy seed for Flamedapple. One of his old wounds was giving him trouble.
"Hawkpaw, honestly, no cat in their right mind would stop a medicine cat from going to the Moonstone," Firepath told the apprentice. "I meant the RiverClan medicine cats. Moonpaw used to be a warrior, you know," Hawkpaw pointed out. Firepath quickly and lightly swiped a paw across Hawkpaw's ear. "I'm fine with the RiverClan medicine cats. There are no clan boundaries for us. We're all friends. You warriors really do hate each other," Firepath joked. "That's not true," Hawkpaw mewed defiantly. "I'm great friends with Burningp-Burningshadow," Hawkpaw pointed out. Firepath shook his head at her lightly. "Don't worry about me, Hawkpaw. I'll be fine," Firepath promised. "Besides, I have Redberry to protect me!" Firepath pointed out, nudging his silent apprentice. Redberry nodded softly, smiling a bit at Firepath. "Alright..." Hawkpaw agreed warilly. "Don't worry Hawkpaw. We'll be safe," Firepath promised the apprentice. Hawkpaw nodded, then watched as the medicine cat and his apprentice made their way out of their den and out of camp.
Hawkpaw wandered out of the medicine den after that, nearly jumping when she noticed something white flick across her face, then felt her nose becoming cold. Gazing around, Hawkpaw realized it was snowing again. Great, she thought somewhat sarcastically. Hawkpaw reached out and tried to catch the next flake before it fell. Then she tried with another. And another. Soon, Hawkpaw was jumping around camp, jumping for snowflakes. She quickly realized what she was doing and caught her composure, feeling somewhat embarrassed she had done that in the middle of camp. Warriors don't play with snowflakes, she thought, giving her silver paw a quick lick. "Hey Hawkpaw!" she heard Flamedapple call out, quickly coming to join her. "Oh great snowflake warrior," he joked, batting at her ear lightly. "Shut up, mouse brain," Hawkpaw joked, nudging her mentor lightly. "Did Firepath give me anything?" Flamedapple asked. Hawkpaw felt confused for a moment, wondering what he meant. Then she remembered why she had gone to the medicine den in the first place.
"I'm sorry!" Hawkpaw apologized quickly. "I totally forgot Flamedapple..." she murmured, sounding rather embarrassed. "It's okay," Flamedapple mewed, swipping his paw over Hawkpaw's ear. "It's not that bad," he mewed.
"Anyway, let's do some hunting, shall we?" Flamedapple suggested. The four apprentices had split up today. Each was doing private training, and likely doing some assesments. Flamedapple told Hawkpaw he planned to assess her sometime today, but she wasn't going to know when. That just meant she was going to have to work three times as hard.
Hawkpaw and here mentor made their way out of camp, Hawkpaw watching the snow float by, resisting the urge to reach out and swat it. Warriors didn't play with snowflakes, she reminded herself.
"Okay, let's split up here," Flamedapple suggested to Hawkpaw once they got far enough out of camp. "Go anywhere you'd like. Just remember I may or may not be watchign you," FLamedapple mewed before dashing off. Hawkpaw headed in the opposite direction, heading in the direction of the Treecut place and twolegplace. She paused when she reached Tallpines, beginning to sniff around for mice. The snow that was on the ground was making things difficult, but maybe she could find a mouse looking for a nut or something like that. She snuck around, catching the scent of a mouse. She dropped, hearing something moving around. Mice were so stupid, she thought, so stupid, so delicious... Hawkpaw forced herself to focus. She quietly crept forward, the mouse entering her field of vision. She jumped, catching it just barely between her claws. It tried to make an escape but she quickly caught it better in her claws and finished it off. She proudly buried it in the snow then made her way to go find more prey.
The snow was really starting to fall now, Hawkpaw thought. She could barely see a tail length in front of her. She focused on her scent, not wanting to get lost in the large amounts of snow. She could already tell this leaf-bare was going to be terrible.
Hawkpaw found that every piece of prey had gone back to their holes to hide already. She found the mouse she had burred and looked around for the tabby red pelt of Flamedapple. He wouldn't be hard to find in weather like this. She found though, that he really was. So instead she decided she could meet him back at camp. He would head back, and she knew it. She hurried back, not wanting to be out in this blizzard anymore.
She found camp was farther away than she had thought. She strayed down the wrong path a few times, finding herself as far as Fourtrees once. She easily found her way after that, having ran that path only half a moon ago. When she got back, she met the worried amber eyes of Flamedapple. "Oh thank StarClan you're back," he mewed, licking her ear softly. "We've been worried," he told her. "Really? I'm sorry. I got lost in the snow," Hawkpaw mewed, putting down her mouse to speak. "Told you!" She heard Dustpaw pipe up. "Okay you four, feed the elders and the queens then you can get to your dens, alright?" Flamedapple told them. Hawkpaw dashed off the the freshkill pile after picking up her mouse. She dropped it on the pile and grabbed a bird for the queens to share. She hurried to the nursery, feeling more warm and comfortable once she was inside. "Wow Hawkpaw!" Littlepaw squeaked. "You're all covered in snow!" Cloverkit noticed. "Is it bad out?" Hazelshine asked. Willowtail was dazing off, but she lifted her head when she heard the kits. This would be her second litter, Hawkpaw realized. She was Dustpaws mother too. Hawkpaw nodded at Hazelshine. She dropped the bird before she answered her question though. "I nearly got lost on my way back to camp. You can barely see a tail-length!" she mewed. "The kits will have plenty to play in tomorrow!" Hawkpaw mewed, flicking Jaykits ear lightly, as he was making his way over to sniff the bird. "Is this enough?" Hawkpaw asked. "It's plenty," Willowtail assured Hawkpaw. Hawkpaw nodded and made her way back into the blizzard.
Even finding her way back to the apprentices den was difficult - she nearly walked into the warriors den! She smelled her mothers familiar scent though and realized what she was doing. She found her way into the apprentices den and began to groom the snow out of her fur. "I almost tried to feed Firepath and Redberry," Rippedpaw mewed, sounding amused. "I hope they're okay," Hawkpaw mewed, lifting her head for a moment. "They will be," Dustpaw assured her. "Firepath is smart," Dustpaw told her. "Besides, I'm sure they've already made it to the Moonstone," Rippedpaw added in. Hawkpaw nodded softly, returning to grooming her brown and silver fur. "Brr!" She heard Blackpaw mew. Hawkpaw turned her green gaze towards her sister. "I got two mice - sorry guys, we'll have to share," she mewed. "That's alright," Rippedpaw mewed. Half a mouse was better than nothing after all. Hawkpaw shared with Dustpaw and her two sisters shared a mouse too. They shared tongues for a while after they had finished eating before they all curled up in their nests, cuddled close together to stay warm.
It took a while for Hawkpaw to fall asleep. Her mind was everywhere. She knew this snow wasn't likely to melt like the other snow had. So they would be stuck with it. Which would make it rather difficult for ThunderClan to keep up and stay alive. She knew RiverClan wasn't done with them, despite the snow. And she was worried about Firepath and Redberry. What if they had gotten stuck somewhere? That would be just terrible... She hoped that they had made it safely to Moonstone. Eventually Hawkpaw managed to doze off besides everything that was going on in her mind. And she slipped into a dream.

She felt herself falling, but she couldn't see anything. Everything around her was pitch black. She twisted, automatically, so she would land on her feet when she reached the bottom. But it felt like there was no bottom. She just kept falling and falling, until she saw light appear under her. She became somewhat confused, wondering what was going on. She heard coughs, and wails, coming from somewhere around her. She turned her head, but the light hadn't illuminated much. Her paws touched a surface underneath of her, but gently, instead of harshly as she would have assumed they would. She wanted to move about, but she couldn't. She was stuck there, listening to the coughing, the wailing, hissing, growling of cats all around her. The sounds echoed through her head. Oh StarClan make this stop, she thought, squeezing her green eyes shut. And as if her prayers had been answered, it had. She dared to open her green eyes to discover she was in a peaceful forest, woodland all around her. It was like ThunderClan territory, only this place was sunny and warm, unlike the snowstorm that had plagued ThunderClan territory. A silver, tabby she-cat stepped forward, stars shining in her fur. Her blue eyes landed upon Hawkpaw. "Welcome," she mewed in a gentle tone.
"Am I dead?" Was all Hawkpaw could say. She had put two and two together - this was StarClan. Hawkpaw knew this she-cat. Her name was Silverfeather, she died long ago, though. She was medicine cat before Firepath, his mentor. Firepath had told Hawkpaw several times over about Silverfeather. Hawkpaw couldn't mistake her for someone else. Silverfeather purred in amusement. "No, young one. I have news to share," with that, another cat stepped forward, one Hawkpaw knew all too well. "You," she half hissed at Cloudchaser. "You warriors really don't know how to get along..." Silverfeather purred in amusement. "I was like this once," Cloudchaser mewed thoughtfully. "I understand better now," he continued. "Twilightthorn is on a mission," Cloudchaser continued. "You think I didn't know that?" Hawkpaw pointed out, though she sounded less hostile than before. "I have tried speaking to that mousebrain but he won't give up. So I must warn you of his treachery. He plans to use th river to attack. It is frozen over now," Cloudchaser mewed. Hawkpaw was surprised at his revealing of Twilightthorns plans, but she was grateful. "I cannot let your mentor die in vain, Hawkpaw," Cloudchaser mewed as if he had read her mind, "My death honestly was an accident." With that Cloudchaser disappeared into the forest. "There is more," Silverfeather mewed, though she was already beginning to fade. "Take warning, young Hawkpaw, as your emotions are about to be tested," she mewed. "What?" Hawkpaw wondered, but the dream was gone already, Silverfeathers blue eyes disappearing into the darkness.