Shade settled into his new nest in the protector's den, the nest still stiff as it had just been constructed that day. He had finally passed his test and progressed from being a trainee to being a protector, and he was quite happy and proud at his accomplishments, but something was nagging him. Something in the back of his mind just wouldn't let him feel fully content, he felt like he was missing something.

He sunk into his new nest, exhausted. He looked around the den, his ears pricking at the sounds of his new denmates snoring softly. He tried to settle into his nest but it was stiff and the feathers at the bottom kept poking his belly. He huffed softly, making sure to be quiet enough as to not wake anyone with the sudden noise. He didn't want everyone to hate him for waking them up on his first night.

He turned a bit and got into a slightly more comfortable position before laying down and resting his tail over his nose. He felt lonely, practically every other tom was sharing a nest with their mates, curling around them protectively. He knew that he would be getting a mate soon, Mud and Mouse's kits were just about old enough, but he didn't want them. He only thought of one she-cat in particular as a potential mate, but she had already been taken.

Shade had always liked Little Hawk, it had only been recently, though, when he realized that he loved her. He loved her passionate spirit, the way her eyes lit up when she talked about something she loved, the way her pelt fluffed up in the wind, he loved to gaze her when she watched the sunrise and sunset every day and he loved seeing her eyes light up at every one. He loved everything about her, but it broke him to realize he couldn't possible have her. She was taken, and by his best friend too.

He had been happy for his friend, Breeze had always said he found Little Hawk pretty and would stare at her sometimes, but Shade never liked how Breeze treated her. Breeze had said he liked her but treated her like dirt. She didn't quite understand why he did that, but he felt bad for Little Hawk. He couldn't really do anything except try to talk to Breeze about it but every time he tried it never really helped. But today, when he saw the two cats come back he knew that something had happened, they weren't as physically uncomfortable near each other. And at this point Shade realized something, he was jealous. He knew could treat her better, he would love her forever, he would give her everything she needed and wanted, he just wanted to see her smile because of him.

He started crying silently, he was in love with her. So helplessly in love. But he didn't think that he could break Breeze and Little Hawk apart now. He cried harder, sobbing as quietly as he could, trying to make sure no cat could hear him. Eventually he drifted into sleep, one last tear dripping down his muzzle.

Shade felt himself falling, he opened his eyes to see stars all around him. He looked around frantically but he saw no ground, just an endless amount of stars, like he was falling through the night sky. Soon he felt himself stop, and he turned himself over so that he was in a standing position. He suddenly felt something solid beneath his paws, but when he looked down he saw nothing.

Shade was awfully confused, he knew he was dreaming, but he had never recognized the fact that he was dreaming when he normally did, something was very different. He felt like someone was watching him.

The pitch black tom whipped around to see a dark ginger tom with darker flecks and amber eyes come up to him, his long fur swishing when he walked. He then saw a white she-cat come up behind the ginger cat, walking around the tom till she stood next to him. She had deep grey eyes and medium length pure white fur. Then a third cat came up to stand on the opposite side of the original ginger tom, this new cat a brown tabby tom with sky blue eyes. They all stood together and Shade stared at them confused.

Suddenly, he saw flashes of what he believed were memories from the cats in front of him. He saw a huge group of cats fighting in a large cave behind a waterfall, the three cats standing in front of a cat who seemed to be a leader sending away the cats in front of him along with some others, he then saw the group hunting and sleeping and walking on what seemed to be a journey. He saw them trekking across lots mountains until they came to a valley. With a sharp intake of breath, Shade realized it was his valley. He saw the group living happily until he didn't see the original three cats in front of him, but the group seemed to live on, the only thing strange was he got the sense that the cats were different from the group he lived in now, the cats way of life was different yet he couldn't quite place what was different...

Then he gasped as he felt himself come back to facing the cats that stood in front of him. Then the ginger tom started to speak,

"What you just saw was how it was meant to be for this tribe till the end of time, but as you can tell, that is not how it ended up," The ginger tom said, his gaze still on Shade. The black tom was still quite clearly baffled at what was happening, he looked at the cats with confusion evident in his gaze.

"What are you talking about? What's going on? Where am I?!" Shade said, starting to panic. The white she-cat stepped forward looking at him with her deep stormy eyes,

"You are very special Shade, we are here to start you on your journey. You and some others you know are very special, and we recognize that. We need you and your group to help fix the Tribe of the Valley so that moons from now what we built will still exist," the white she-cat said, her voice quiet and calming, even though Shade was panicking.

"I have no idea what you're even talking about! I think you have the wrong cat… I don't know what's going on! Please if I'm so important tell me what I have to do!" Shade pleaded.

Suddenly, the three cats started to fade, the stars starting to show through their figures.

"No! No, please don't go! What are you even talking about? Please?!" Shade said, frantically running trying to reach the fading cats. The brown tabby tom spoke suddenly,

"You will save us. Journey to the rushing water and you will learn what you need to do," the tabby said as the cats that had just stood facing him faded into nothingness as soon as Shade had reached where they stood. He looked around, scared as the stars started to fade around him. He woke up suddenly, dawn light streaming through the den. He was panting, shivering even. He was so confused. What had that meant? It couldn't have been just a dream, it had felt all too real. Shade got up slowly, padding out of the den, still shaking. Not one bit rested.