A/N: This is the longest chapter so far... :D Also one of my favorites. This takes place 3 moons after the end of Chapter 4, by the way. Badgerpaw also goes to his first Gathering too! Yey, me!! :DDD

Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors. Period.

CHAPTER 5

Badgerpaw smiled. A happy new Greenleaf day this was! The sun was rising, and the sky above glittered like dew, pink like cherry blossoms; no windblown puff-ball clouds were to be seen this morning. It was incredibly warm, even this early in the dawn. It will turn about to be way hotter around sun-high, Badgerpaw predicted. Casually sidling up to a patch of grass near the elders' den where Yawnfoot and Thumptail were still sleeping, he licked up a few dewdrops from the night before.

It had barely been three moons since Ashclaw had been made deputy, and Badgerpaw had passed out from exhaustion. He also remembered that his punishments were now over. Just a moon ago, he was able to go to Gatherings; it wasn't like he had been to any yet, though. And, if Tabbystar decided to make him a warrior right now, that could happen. He had also gotten stronger from training with Lightstep. He could hunt better too, and not like a lop-sided badger, which was still good progress. Although, he still had to master the bird crouch; he just couldn't get the jump right. Luckily, Lightstep was one of the most patient cats in the world.

"Badgerpaw!" His head turned and he saw Spottedpaw running over. "Badgerpaw, guess what?" The brown-flecked tom's green eyes were blazing with excitement.

"Yes?" Badgerpaw felt like Spottedpaw's excitement was contagious.

"Today is my warrior ceremony! During the moon-high patrol, I caught an owl, and my mentor said I was ready to become a warrior!"

Badgerpaw's paws pricked with unease. There was something he couldn't remember- what was it? Still, he forced away his discomfort, and tried to act pleased. "That's great! I hope you get to go to the Gathering tomorrow, too."

At that, Spottedpaw danced in happiness. "I know, I know, isn't it awesome?"

"Quiet!" Badgerpaw suddenly hissed at his friend. "It's good that you're so excited and happy and all, but you don't have to announce it to the entire Clan before they're even awake yet!"

Spottedpaw nodded, and lowered his voice to an excited murmur, "Sorry. I just can't help it."

Just then, Lilyflower came out of the Nursery. She saw Spottedpaw and padded over to him. "Hi," she mewed warmly.

"Hello, Lilyflower. Today's my warrior ceremony!" he happily chortled.

"That's very nice," she nuzzled his cheek. "I hope you get a good name."

Badgerpaw smiled again. He could tell that Lilyflower was Spottedpaw's mother. He also noticed that the sun was climbing higher into the sky. "Is your ceremony at sun-high?" he asked.

Spottedpaw turned from his mother and nodded, "Yes. I hope all the cats wake up soon."

As if answering his wish, Leopardstorm and Frogpond came out of the warriors' den, their fur ruffled. Brightpaw, Owlpaw, and Jollypaw came bounding out of the apprentices' den and over to the Fresh-Kill Pile. Lightstep, Creamtail, Tabbystar, and Ashclaw came back from the dawn patrol, and Badgerpaw could hear kits mewling in the Nursery. Thumptail and Yawnfoot limped out of the elders' den, blinking sleepily at the sun rising above. Whistlepaw crept out of the medicine den, got a mouse from the Fresh-Kill Pile, and crept back to the den. Heartbeats later, the camp became noisy from the conversations of cats, and from the munching of fresh-kill.

Tabbystar was talking with Creamtail and Ashclaw. The two nodded and ran off to the medicine den. After that, Tabbystar strolled to the High-Branch. He scrambled up the tree trunk and sat himself in the middle of the bough. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the High-Branch!" he yowled.

Almost instantaneously, cats looked up from what they were doing, and trotted to form a half-circle beneath Tabbystar. Spottedpaw bounded over excitedly with Lilyflower and Badgerpaw following. Spottedpaw padded to the middle of the half-circle, and Grayfoot proudly stepped forward.

"Spottedpaw," Tabbystar began. "Your training has now ended. It is time for you to become a warrior." He dipped his head and went on, "I, Tabbystar, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. He has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend him to you as a warrior in his turn." His head lifted and he stared at Spottedpaw. "Spottedpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

"I do," Spottedpaw squeaked.

"Then by the powers of StarClan I give you your warrior name: Spottedpaw, from this moment you will be known as Spottedclaw. StarClan honors your cunning and skill, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ForestClan." Tabbystar stepped forward and rested his muzzle on top of Spottedclaw's head. He bent to give the leader's shoulder a respectful lick. Then the new warrior stepped back to join the crowd of ForestClanners.

The cats cheered for Spottedclaw, as it is in the traditions: "Spottedclaw! Spottedclaw! Spottedclaw!"

Spottedclaw puffed out his chest proudly, and swept his forest-green gaze across the crowd, searching for one cat in particular. Badgerpaw craned his neck to see in the instant the two pairs of eyes locked. He spotted a wisp of darkness that slowly faded away, but he saw that the eyes were icy blue.

"Brightpaw, you can go on a hunting patrol with Spottedclaw and Badgerpaw," Ashclaw ordered. Brightpaw nodded and bounded over to Badgerpaw, eyes shining.

Darkshadow slunk to the Fresh-Kill Pile, muttering darkly. Leopardstorm went to comfort him, while Frogpond's eyes glittered angrily; he looked about ready to explode.

Spottedclaw eyed Darkshadow and Leopardstorm as he padded over to the two apprentices. "What's up with them?" he asked Badgerpaw.

Badgerpaw shrugged. He didn't care much for other cats' love affairs, but he liked the couple Leopardstorm and Frogpond much better than Leopardstorm and Darkshadow.

It was the day after Spottedclaw's ceremony, and many things had happened since then. Leopardstorm became pregnant, so she and Frogpond got into a fight for some reason. Since Leopardstorm was a queen now, her apprentice, Brightpaw, had been assigned a new mentor: Shadowtracker. Brightpaw was Shadowtracker's second apprentice, since Lightstep was his first. Earlier that morning, Darkshadow had accidentally been knocked into a thorn bush, but he was pretending it was on purpose, since it was the doing of Frogpond. He had to go to the medicine den to get thorns pulled out of his pelt: 3 out of his back, 2 out of his right fore-paw, and 4 out of the base of his tail. The morning had definitely gotten off to a bad start.

Badgerpaw sighed. Even though the morning wasn't too pleasurable, he was quite sure that tonight would be. He was very excited, to tell the truth; he was going to his first Gathering! Spottedclaw swished his tail for him and Brightpaw to follow. They padded out the entrance of the camp, and into the fresh breezes of the forest.

Badgerpaw wondered how Quickpaw would react when she saw him again. Would she be there? He would find out, and he really hoped she wouldn't be. It would be awkward if they saw each other after 3 moons of being separated. He didn't want to hurt her feelings if she saw Brightpaw with him, especially since the two had become very close friends.

"Badgerpaw, quit dawdling," Spottedclaw ordered. He sounded like a senior warrior already, though he was only a moon and a half older than Badgerpaw.

"I'm coming," he snapped, irritated.

Brightpaw touched his shoulder with her tail-tip, soothing him. "Try to save your energy for the Gathering," she murmured into his ear. "Just be quiet."

Badgerpaw nodded to her, and Spottedclaw sent them in different directions to hunt. Badgerpaw was sent in the direction of the Birch Path, whereas Brightpaw was sent near the Abandoned Twoleg Nest. Spottedclaw announced that he would hunt at the Pebble Path. He told them to meet at the Training Hollow when the sun started to set. Then they would start back to the camp from there.

As Badgerpaw crept along the Birch Path, scenting for prey, he heard a faint rustle. He silently whipped around. A robin was tugging at a worm deep beneath the earth. He advanced on it, striped tail twitching. This is easy prey, he thought, smirking. When he came within a tail-length, he paused. The bird was still tugging at the worm. Suddenly, Badgerpaw leaped high over the bird to stop it from flying away, and landed awkwardly on top of the unsuspecting bit of prey; it didn't even flutter or squawk an alarm. He scraped black earth over his kill so he could get it later.

He crept on, and when he had reached the Sunningrocks he had caught two mice, a vole, a squirrel, and a starling. Badgerpaw felt proud of himself. When he padded into the clearing, he thought he saw a blue-ish shimmer like a cat, laying on a Sunningrock. As soon as he saw it, it turned its head. "Blizzard and russet are coming," it silently breathed.

"What? Who are you?" Badgerpaw asked it, confused.

"I am Moonwind." The shimmer suddenly turned into a blue-gray she-cat with warm forest-green eyes.

"Moonwind?" Badgerpaw echoed. "Blizzard and russet are- oh no, don't tell me you mean Russetpaw and Blizzardpaw? Those two are such trouble-makers!"

Moonwind nodded to his question. "Yes. And I am a Thund-"

Loud squeals and the pitter-pattering of tiny paws upon ground broke her off. Her gray eyes became wide.

Badgerpaw turned around as the two mischief-making apprentices burst through the bushes. "We found you!" they laughed, tumbling over onto Badgerpaw. He batted them both away and they squealed again.

Blizzardpaw and Russetpaw had become apprentices a quarter moon after Badgerpaw's punishment had been issued for falsely sounding the enemy alarm.

"Don't your mentors have something to do with you? Like, hunting or training your fighting skills?" Badgerpaw hissed furiously at them.

"Well, today is our hunting assessment," Russetpaw explained. "Foxpelt wanted me to hunt by the Training Hollow."

"Darkshadow too!" Blizzardpaw piped up happily. Darkshadow was her mentor.

"So, anyways," Russetpaw went on, with a quick glance at his sister, "we found your scent and decided to follow it!! So now here we are!! Yay, let's play!!"

Badgerpaw rolled his eyes. Then, he remembered Moonwind. But when he looked back at the Sunningrock she had been laying on, he saw only the last of a shimmer. Then even that disappeared altogether.

Badgerpaw glared angrily at the two siblings, who had rushed to the pond to chase frogs. "You better catch some of those frogs!" he yowled at them.

"We will!" Blizzardpaw pounced on a rather large bullfrog.

Badgerpaw rolled his eyes again, and went to collect his prey, then he returned to the Training Hollow.

When he got there, his jaws laden with prey, he put them in a pile. He saw that Owlpaw and Frogpond were there, practicing battle skills. Brightpaw was watching from the top of the shadowy ridge, softly cheering her brother on.

Badgerpaw skimmed the edge of the hollow over to Brightpaw. "Hi, how long have you been here for?"

"Not long at all!" she mewed, turning to look at him.

She turned back to watch Owlpaw in the hollow below her. He had just finished a great badger attack move on Frogpond, who looked very pleased. The gray-white tom stared up at Badgerpaw and Brightpaw. "Care to join us?" he called.

The two exchanged glances. "Of course!" Badgerpaw was the one to speak. They slid down the soft, yet steep side of the wide hollow. Owlpaw didn't meet Badgerpaw's eyes, he just ignored him. "What will you teach me now?" he meowed casually to Frogpond.

"Why don't you take a break? You've been working really hard, Owlpaw," Frogpond said without looking at him.

Owlpaw's eyes glittered with jealousy as his mentor taught the other two apprentices. Badgerpaw performed an outstanding 'high-jump-claw', and Brightpaw performed the most amazing backwards somersault, ending with claws raking the enemy's face. Soon after, when dusk had set, Spottedclaw arrived, panting. His jaws were laden with mice. All he had caught were mice in that long period of time. "All right, let's go!" he called when he put his mice down. He picked them up again, and watched as Brightpaw and Badgerpaw scrambled up the rocky ledges of the Training Hollow.

"We're coming back to camp with you," Frogpond calmly mewed. He helped Owlpaw up the ledges, and Bightpaw and Badgerpaw picked up their prey, and they went back to camp.

When they entered through the bramble-filled entrance, Leopardstorm shuffled up to them. "You're back! We've been waiting for you!" Careful to avoid Frogpond, she helped the hunting patrol put their prey in the Fresh-Kill Pile.

Badgerpaw and Brightpaw dipped their heads in thanks. Spottedclaw also did, but reluctantly, to accept another cat's help.

Tabbystar padded from his den and signaled with his tail for his warriors to come. Badgerpaw and Brightpaw stood side-by-side at the end of the patrol. They were going to the Gathering!

The only cats staying behind were: Jollypaw, Spottedclaw, Shadowtracker, and Lightstep. The queens, elders, and kits stayed behind as well. Badgerpaw could hear one of the kits, a cream-colored she-cat, complaining, "But, Mother, I wanna go to the Gathering too!"

"Not tonight," he heard the queen warmly purr. "Maybe when you're an apprentice you can, besides, you have just one more moon in the Nursery!"

"I guess I'll wait," the kit sighed, forlornly.

Badgerpaw's whiskers twitched with amusement. He remembered complaining just like that when he was 5 moons old. This was his chance, though. Finally!

Badgerpaw's paws itched to be leaving. Checking behind him, Tabbystar- at last!-gave the signal, and the patrol shot off like a rocket through the leafy camp entrance Badgerpaw could feel the fast-paced adrenaline surging through his veins. It felt as if only a few heartbeats or a hundred seasons passed before they reached the tree-bridge that led across the deep fresh water to the Stone-Hollow on the Island. They were dreadfully near the DarkClan border, but Badgerpaw was sure the birch-tree forest would protect them.

The moon was high in the sky by now, and he could hear a faint murmur. Cats? He could have been mistaken for hearing the slight sound of waves lapping on the sandy shore. When it was his turn, he climbed onto the large fallen tree. It was a little slippery, as the log was half-submerged in water. He almost slipped once or twice on the long journey from mainland to island. He didn't fall though, as Ashclaw steadied him from behind. Brightpaw had gone just before Badgerpaw, and she was now waiting for him by an apple tree. He jumped down from the log and onto the sandy bank littered with random tussocks of grass.

"Come on, Badgerpaw!" Brightpaw exclaimed, flicking his nose with her brown tail-tip.

Badgerpaw enthusiastically raced her through the apple orchard that surrounded the Stone Hollow. "Whee, isn't this so exciting!" Brightpaw gasped. "Our first Gathering!"

Badgerpaw nodded, and his ears could make out cats talking to each other from nearby. An impatient yowl sounded, and it appeared to echo loudly, making the insides of his ears ring. He padded along behind Ashclaw with Brightpaw shuddering with excitement by his side. They finally broke through the trees, and halted. The edge of a cliff lay right before him; if he had fell… well, he would have fell a long way down, enough to break his neck.

Badgerpaw edged forward cautiously and looked down into the Stone Hollow. Many cats from the other 3 Clans were impatiently twitching their tails, and a few glanced up at the moon anxiously. In the center of the Hollow, Badgerpaw could see a single gray stone standing all alone. The three Clan leaders: Froststar, Icestar, and Nightstar, were seated on the flat top. They were exchanging nervous glances, and were mewing to each other. Their deputies were on the ground, leaning against the rock, bored, or checking their claws to make sure they were sharp.

Badgerpaw recognized Molefoot, the MoorClan deputy, and he recognized Pineheart as well; his lip curled in disgust at the thought of her. The other deputy, supposedly of StreamClan, was a pretty silver tabby with a blank, yet mysterious expression on her face. He didn't recognize her.

Tabbystar waited until the last cat had gotten to the cliff, before signaling the patrol to go down. He leapt down the rocky ledges that led to the bottom. A cat yowled, "ForestClan has come!"

Angry and relieved voices shouted at the patrol, telling them off for being so late, because the moon had already started to set. The ForestClan cats obviously didn't take too well to all the noise. Badgerpaw laid his ears back, hoping to drown out the noise by humming incessantly. That annoyed Brightpaw a lot, so she smacked him on the nose with her paw.

Tabbystar bounded across the smooth rock floor, and cats parted to let him and his deputy through. When they reached the center, Tabbystar scrabbled up the high weathered rocky stone, and sat himself near the edge behind Nightstar, who flicked his tail at his nose. And Ashclaw seated himself with the other deputies, who either hissed with annoyance, or shared sympathizing words.

Badgerpaw reached the bottom of the Hollow and Brightpaw sat, washing her paws. "Hey, why don't we go see what those cats are talking about?" she meowed between licks, pointing to a group of snobby-looking StreamClan apprentices.

"I wouldn't go there if I were you," murmured a low voice, just behind them.

The two apprentices looked around in surprise. A dark gray tom was crouching with a slightly smaller version of him sitting at his side. "Those apprentices are very rude, and would take the skin off your back when you weren't looking, those foxdung-heads," he hissed.

The other cat, a she-cat by the looks of it, cuffed him on the ear. "You're just as bad as them if you go around swearing about the backstabbers!" she snarled.

"Sorry," the tom mewed helplessly, shrugging his shoulders. He flicked his tail at her and turned back to the two bewildered ForestClan apprentices. "Anyways, I haven't introduced you yet. My name is Pantherpaw, and this," he flicked his tail at her, "is my bossy know-it-all sister, Troutpaw."

"Nice to meet you," the lighter-gray she-cat meowed politely, her past menace gone.

Pantherpaw leaned forward and whispered, "She tortures me all the time like that. It's enough to make a guy sick!"

He was dragged back by his tail, and Troutpaw was on him mercilessly, cuffing his nose, his ears, his forehead, his tail even. "Erm," Badgerpaw mewed a little nervously. "Would you like our names though?"

Immediately Troutpaw stopped and turned to them. "Why, of course!" she purred, an innocent sweet look on her face. She smiled even wider, showing sharp white teeth.

"My name is Badgerpaw," he started, whiskers twitching with worry, "and she's my ma- I mean, really good friend, Brightpaw," he finished quickly.

Troutpaw noticed the mistake, not to Badgerpaw's delight. "So…" She sidled up to him, a sly look glinting in her eyes. "You like this Brightpaw, don't you?" she whispered in his ear-fur, shifting her gaze to the mottled brown she-cat who had a curious probing look that seemed to want answers to what was going on between Badgerpaw and Troutpaw.

"Well, I- er, that is, um," he stammered, trying to back away. But Troutpaw matched him step for step, as he tried to get away from her.

"It's okay, just say so. I won't tell anyone, not even my brother. Your secret will be safe with me." A wink. Badgerpaw thought he was going to be sick.

Brightpaw noticed her friend going off-color. She knew that Troutpaw was up to something no good, and she felt a sudden boldness, stepping in between the two. "Hey, leave him alone, Troutpaw. Can't you see he doesn't want you prying into his business?" she meowed so loudly and suddenly, that cats from other Clan around them looked up in surprise. A few MoorClan apprentices giggled at the embarrassed Troutpaw who stepped away abruptly.

"Well, that is quite rude," she sniffed haughtily, giving Brightpaw a glare that told she really hated her for interrupting like that. If looks could kill, Badgerpaw was sure that Brightpaw would already be in her grave by now. Troutpaw turned back to her dazed brother. "Come on, let's leave," she nearly howled at him, trying to pick up the heavy Pantherpaw. He got up groggily and stared at her as she led them over to the StreamClan apprentices who were still snickering at the slightly embarrassed dark silver she-cat.

Badgerpaw turned to Brightpaw. "Well, thanks for saving me like that. It was really brave. I thought Troutpaw was really intimidating, and I couldn't think what she was going to try to do to me!"

"Oh, she was just flirting, I think," Brightpaw purred. "She was doing a rather bad job of it, though. But, I think she kinda wants you…" At that, her ears drooped a little; not even too noticeably from far away.

Badgerpaw was close to her. He noticed. "Hey, what's up?" he meowed, looking really concerned.

Brightpaw was surprised. Since when did Badgerpaw care so much? Maybe he really did like her. A lot. She had heard what Troutpaw was "whispering", anyways. She had been sitting too close to her friend to not hear what she had asked. "It's nothing. I, just, um-" At that, she was cut off by a yowl, "Let us gather here beneath the full moon commanded by the truce!"

Badgerpaw suddenly remembered something. His eyes searched the crowd of cats before him, and he sought out one cat in particular: Breezepaw. He found the black cat, and softly called out to him. "Breezepaw! Hey, come here!"

Breezepaw heard, and padded over. "Yeah?" he mewed, a lazy look in his eyes.

"Do you, um, know if Quickpaw came to the Gathering tonight?" Badgerpaw asked, eyes shifting nervously.

Breezepaw looked confused. "No… she had to stay back at camp, because she got a thorn in her paw. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, uh, just wondering. I was sorta hoping she wouldn't come," he meowed back.

"But, why?" the black apprentice pried.

"It's none of your business, Breezepaw!" Badgerpaw hissed in annoyance. "Thanks for telling me, anyways!"

"Well, you're welcome!" Breezepaw snarled. "I've never heard anyone say 'thank you' with so much venom!" At that, he turned and stalked back to his apprentice friends from DarkClan.

All through the short conversation, Icestar of StreamClan, and Froststar of MoorClan had reported. "What did they say, Brightpaw?" Badgerpaw asked her.

She turned her head. "Cheetahspots in StreamClan became a warrior, and Slackfoot died," she mewed dryly. "I'm sure if you hadn't been talking with that mouse-brain, Breezepaw, you would have heard."

"Well, I had to find out whether Quickpaw was here or not!" Badgerpaw mewed, unaccusingly.

"Well, excuse me!" Brightpaw rolled her eyes, but then she gave a mew of laughter and nudged her friend. "Hey, it's not like I'm mad at you or anything," she told the drooping Badgerpaw. "We should listen to the leaders anyways. It's only polite."

"Ah, you're right, I suppose," he muttered, still drooping. But, he still raised his eyes to watch the leaders give their reports.

Nightstar had nothing to report, and Tabbystar announced that Spottedclaw had become a new warrior. Almost every cat from every Clan watched him puff out his chest proudly, sweeping a hardened icy gaze across the cats' heads. He smiled a little.

Tabbystar stepped back, now that his turn was over, and so was the Gathering. Nightstar, Icestar, and Froststar flicked their tails to their own Clans: it was time to leave.

The cats of the different Clans gathered into their own Clans and streamed up the rocky ledges, disappearing into the apple orchard. Tabbystar flicked his tail to his own Clan as he jumped down, and ForestClan came together; they climbed back up the rocky ledges.

"Wasn't that… interesting?" Brightpaw commented to Badgerpaw, once they were walking through the orchard.

Badgerpaw nodded. "Yes, I agree. I don't think I'll ever go near Troutpaw again," he joked. "She's too dramatic for me, and I seriously wouldn't hesitate if I had to meet her in battle!"

"Yeah, same here. I had a feeling that that Troutpaw was bad news… and Pantherpaw looked pretty strong, I guess," she remarked.

"Probably from being hardened by Troutpaw's smacks!" Badgerpaw cracked another joke. This time Brightpaw smiled, and giggled a little.

Hey, I made Brightpaw laugh! Badgerpaw thought in wonder. Well, of course, I can make her laugh any time I'd want, but…

By now they had made it to the log, and were now climbing over. Darkshadow- that mean piece of fox-dung, Badgerpaw thought- was right behind them. He smirked. "You better stay loyal to your Clan if you keep on making new "friends" like that, Badgerpaw," he sneered. "Wouldn't want you to get mistaken for a MoorClan apprentice, since you're hanging around them so much."

Badgerpaw winced. "Friends"? Since when did he and Brightpaw become friends with Troutpaw and Pantherpaw, the two creeps?! He would rather die than become friends with them! Well, Pantherpaw: maybe, but Troutpaw… Just, no!

"We only talked to those two flea-bags for a few minutes!" Brightpaw defended her friend.

"Oh, I'm sorry, do you like to hang out with Pantherpaw? Rather cute, isn't he?" Darkshadow snarled at her.

"Darkshadow, Brightpaw, Badgerpaw, move on! " Ashclaw hissed. "ForestClan needs to go home. We're all tired."

The two apprentices flattened their ears to the sides of their heads. "We're sorry," they murmured, bowing their heads for a second, then bounding off across the log one after another. "See, you should be as quick as Badgerpaw and Brightpaw to obey orders from the deputy, Darkshadow," Badgerpaw heard Ashclaw sternly meow.

Darkshadow mewed something back in response, but Badgerpaw was now too far away to hear. Heartbeats later, he jumped to the soft, sandy ground again. Darkshadow had given up on arguing, so he was swiftly belly-crawling across the log. A moment later, he made it to the edge, and sneered at Badgerpaw as he jumped off.

He's very rude, Badgerpaw thought, wrinkling his nose in distaste.

As soon as the last cat had jumped down, Tabbystar flicked his tail for them to move on. Badgerpaw ran as fast as he could, trying to keep up with Leopardstorm, who was the fastest cat in the Clan. His tail streamed behind him, and Brightpaw caught up. She gave him a fleeting adoring look that Badgerpaw thought it was just his imagination. He looked away, gritting his teeth, and pushing his legs to go faster. His muscles were screaming at him to go slower, though.

No! Badgerpaw screamed back at them, and furiously worked them even harder.

"What's wrong?" Brightpaw gasped, trying to keep up with him.

"Tell… at camp," he panted.

"Oh. Uh, okay," Brightpaw nodded. "I-I understand."

When they reached the camp, the moon had already set, and dusk was dawning. "Oh, I'm exhausted," Badgerpaw whispered to Brightpaw.

She quietly nodded, her whiskers and ears quivering. Her tail dragged through the grass as she led the way to the apprentices' den.

Badgerpaw felt as tired as he ever could be. He just wanted to sleep for a moon or two. When they dragged themselves inside, Jollypaw instantly became alert. She sat up in her nest, whiskers twitching. "Tell me what happened!" she mewed excitedly.

"Too tired," Badgerpaw mewed in a hoarse tone of voice. "Maybe Owlpaw will."

"Okay." She got up, gave her paws a quick wash, and bounded out, calling for the mottled brown tom.

Badgerpaw scowled as he settled into his nest. He wished for some warm comfort right now, but Owlpaw still hadn't forgiven him yet, and there was an empty nest sitting on the opposite side of him. As he drifted in and out of slumber, he thought he could feel the soft soothing fur of Brightpaw in the empty nest.

Badgerpaw blinked open his eyes. He was in a mysterious foggy forest. All around him was some sort of thick mist; tiny drops of dew clung to his fur and weighed his pelt down with water. He could barely see a mouse-length in front of his nose. Suddenly, he thought he could see a shimmer of light shaped like a cat a fox-length ahead. The cat's tail flicked, beckoning him forward.

He stepped a few feet, but he couldn't get any closer. "Moonwind?" he called. He recognized the bulky shimmer of light, but was this really Moonwind? He remembered from the day before that Moonwind's shimmer was light blue-gray… No, this shimmer was black.

The cat's tail flicked one more time, then it turned around and bounded away. "Wait! Come back!" Badgerpaw yowled. He ran, trying to catch up with it. He followed its sparkling scent; he was surprised the cold glitters even had one.

Soon, the fog started to clear away, and now there was just a spooky green haze. Badgerpaw's paws pricked with unease, but he gulped it down, and forced his feet to move the right way. When the cat-shimmer finally stopped, he could see that the trees here were more spread apart. He looked for the shimmer: it was sitting beside a black pool of water. He padded over to sit beside it. Surprisingly, it felt warm, and the shimmer turned into a real cat, with flesh and fur.

The cat was a long-haired black tom, with dazzling amber eyes. "Who are you?" Badgerpaw asked him.

The cat stared at him with large, sad eyes. "I am Tanglefur," he replied.

"Tanglefur? Do you know a she-cat called Moonwind?" Badgerpaw asked, choosing his words carefully.

"Yes, I am her brother," Tanglefur mewed. "Now, look at the water below us. What do you see?"

Badgerpaw looked down. He gasped in surprise. "Why, it- it has gone up a mouse-length since I sat here!"

"Exactly. What do you think that means, if it does mean anything?"

"Water…going up- it's going to flood?" Badgerpaw gasped in horror. "But, but it's already Greenleaf! How could this-"

"Look closer," Tanglefur urged.

Badgerpaw did. He saw a piece of Twoleg rubbish floating on the pool's surface. Ah, now he understood. The streams were going to flood, but it would be the doings of Twolegs.

As if reading Badgerpaw's thoughts, Tanglefur mewed, "Yes, the fault is of Twolegs. I've given you this bit of information, now you may leave." Then, just as suddenly, the warm furry pelt became cold glittering shimmers, and then it vanished altogether.

Soon, he could hear a faint calling. "Badgerpaw! Badgerpaw, wake up!" somebody shook him. He jolted awake.

"What?" he meowed sleepily.

Brightpaw was crouched over him. "You were muttering something about Twoleg rubbish and floods in your sleep." Her brilliant hazel eyes glittered with worry. "Is everything okay?"

Badgerpaw got up and sat, crouching. "Yes, I mean, no. Everything is not okay."

"Was it from last night-" Brightpaw was broken off by Badgerpaw.

"Come on, we must tell Tabbystar!" He rushed past Owlpaw's nest, where the brown apprentice was still sleeping.

They burst out of the small tree-cave and into the sunlight. It was a bit past sun-high. Ashclaw was busy in the middle of the clearing organizing patrols for the next day, while Frogpond, Darkshadow, and Shadowtracker came back from the sun-high patrol. Jollypaw looked up from the Fresh-Kill Pile. "Hey, what's up?" she meowed, picking out a plump chaffinch.

"Something," Badgerpaw replied, looking around frantically.

"Yeah, Badgerpaw, what is up?" Brightpaw meowed suspiciously.

"You'll find out."

The two scrambled up the tree with Tabbystar's den. Badgerpaw hauled himself onto the High Branch, and shuffled over to the entrance. He called out a greeting, and heard Tabbystar say, "Come in, come in."

Badgerpaw beckoned to Brightpaw with his tail. They padded through the lichen, Brightpaw still looking suspicious, and came face-to-face with Tabbystar. He was picking at a thrush. "Yes? What is it?" he asked, slightly annoyed.

Badgerpaw nervously washed his paws. "Well," he said between licks. "I had a dream. The streams are going to flood. We must do something!"

"Hold on, hold on," Tabbystar calmly mewed. "How do you know this?"

"Well, a cat came to me, and told me that the streams would flood." It wasn't exactly a lie, but he felt he shouldn't give Moonwind and Tanglefur's names away.

"I believe him," Brightpaw chipped in. "I heard him talking about floods in his sleep."

Tabbystar acted like he hadn't heard her. "Hmm… What did the cat look like?" he asked.

"Erm, well…" He didn't like lying to his leader, but he had to. For the cat-shimmers' sakes. "The cat had ginger-colored fur and green eyes."

"Ah… I see now. Did you catch the cat's name? Was it a she-cat or a tom?

Badgerpaw felt uneasy at his leader's such intense interest. He would just say the opposite of what he knew. "It was a she-cat, and her name was… was…"

"Well?" Tabbystar crossed his paws, and leaned forward, amber eyes shining unnaturally.

"Well, her name was, eh, Rockheart?"

Tabbystar closed his eyes; it was as if his interest had just been, well, imagined. The scent of disappointment reached Badgerpaw's scent glands. He and Brightpaw exchanged confused glances.

"Very well then, you are dismissed," the ForestClan leader sighed. His disappointment was as clear as the sunny Greenleaf day outside.

As Badgerpaw and Brightpaw turned to leave, Darkshadow burst in, his fur bristling in fear. "Tabbystar! Tabbystar!" he yowled.

Tabbystar instantly became alert again, ears pricked forward, tail twitching in surprise. "What is it? I'm listening!"

Badgerpaw and Brightpaw watched as Darkshadow reported that the sun-high patrol had been to the MoorClan border, and the stream was a fox-length higher than it normally was! He also fearfully reported that they saw a bunch of huge Twoleg monsters digging up the sides of the banks and throwing the dirt into the water, and the water was turning black. There were bits of Twoleg rubbish floating around.

Now do you believe me?! Badgerpaw wanted to yowl at Tabbystar, but he held his tongue. Tabbystar looked at Badgerpaw. "Well then, how did you know that the streams were going to flood?" he asked again, suddenly as interested as before.

"I already told you," he gulped. "Rockheart told me, remember?"

"Ah, Rockheart. Yes. Yes, I do remember, Badgerpaw. Thank you for reminding me." He nodded in dismissal.

The two apprentices backed out of the den, and when they reached the ground, Brightpaw turned to Badgerpaw. "Why did Tabbystar show so much interest in who it was that told you about the streams?" she asked him.

Badgerpaw shrugged, his gray tail flicking. It chilled his fur when he remembered Tabbystar gazing at him as intently as if he were catching a robin. If Badgerpaw was right, there was some kind of mystery to all this, and he was going to solve it.