Thank you to World of Make Believe, Ashoken Farewell & Indigo Jewel for reviewing!

I've suddenly realised that the story summary isn't as appropriate for the story as it originally was. Nevertheless, I'm going to keep it like that until I get near to finishing this story. Why? The wheels in my head start continuously turning once I start a story, so I often end up with a completely different plot to what I started out with. Haha... you should've seen my starting plot for Thunder From Afar. It was really different from what the story ended up like.

I know it has taken me ages to update, but I have just finished writing chapter 13! I didn't have internet connection for a little while, so apologies.

On the bright side, I'm going to upload two or three chapters today!

The Only One

Whitepaw opened his eyes sleepily the next morning, and immediately noticed one thing: he was the only one in the apprentices' den. Which was extremely unusual, as he was normally the first to rise out of all the apprentices. He felt a slight prickle of anxiety as he sniffed the nest next to him, Harepaw's nest. The smell was quite a few hours old. Harepaw must have woken up in the middle of the night and not gone back to sleep. Not gone back to sleep here, at any rate.

He hurried outside the den, and was met with a small gathering of cats murmuring anxiously about something or other. Whitepaw's heart sank as he neared them, realising what they were so worried about. He heard a distinctive wail from Stonebrook, and padded faster towards the group of cats.

"... could they have gone to? Sparrowpaw wouldn't do this without a good reason! My kits are gone!" Stonebrook wailed loudly, almost hysterical with fear. Daisyheart, the mother of the five remaining kits in the nursery, tried her best to comfort the grey she-cat, without much success.

"I'm sure they're not far, Stonebrook. They're only apprentices, and I'm sure each and every one of them has enough sense to not wander too far from SkyClan's territory," Daisyheart said soothingly, although her eyes betrayed her own anxiety.

"Sense! Kestrelpaw doesn't have sense! She doesn't know the meaning of the word! What if she's done something reckless?" Stonebrook's face was a picture of distress. Whitepaw could only imagine how the she-cat was feeling. He didn't know what it was like to wake up one morning and find your kits gone, but he imagined it was terrifying.

"She's not as bad as that," Blacktail, Squirrelpaw's mentor, said without much conviction. His voice was unusually filled with emotion, and Whitepaw looked at his father in sympathy. Blacktail didn't deserve to have one of his sons disappear like this. None of the cats did. Whitepaw wished that he knew where his brother was so that he could drag him back and give him a good yelling for worrying their parents so much. Speaking of which...

"How could Harepaw do this to me? How could he?" Willowfur howled, grief-stricken. Whitepaw rubbed his head against his mother's shoulder, and sighed. He was angry at his brother. Furious. Harepaw may have been an amazingly ignorant cat, extremely unaware of other cats' feelings, but surely he must have considered how upset Willowfur would be when he disappeared without a word of goodbye?

"What's wrong? What happened here?" Greenstar and Spottedfur padded over the ever enlargening group of SkyClan cats. One look at the devastated faces of Willowfur and Stonebrook confirmed his fears that something terrible had happened.

"Sparrowpaw and Kestrelpaw left! They didn't even say goodbye!" Stonebrook said, her voice pained. Thornheart, in an uncharacteristic show of concern for his mate, rubbed his cheek against the she-cat's.

"H-H-Harepaw left as well...," Willowfur gulped, trying to get control of herself. She wasn't one who liked to show how deep her emotions really ran, as she considered it weakness. But this had been the last straw for the she-cat.

Spottedfur's face took on a terrified look, and she whispered. "Did any other cats go missing?"

"I'm sorry, Spottedfur. Squirrelpaw... disappeared, too," Daisyheart murmured to the deputy, and Whitepaw shot the distressed she-cat a sympathetic glance. That was all he could really do. Most of his mind was concentrating on trying to stop his mother from going wild with worry and grief.

The deputy's face froze when she heard her daughter's name spoken. Her usually calm exterior broke, and her face crumpled like she had been hit hard by one of those Two-leg monsters. Whitepaw shot a panicked glance at Greenstar, uncertain about how they would manage to comfort three mothers. One was enough. But three?

"Silence!" Greenstar said strongly, although he too looked uneasy. Whitepaw didn't blame him. Four apprentices had gone missing overnight. If Whitepaw had been leader, he would have been scared witless. "Who was the last to see them? When was the last time any of you saw them?"

There was a long silence. None of the cats said anything, and the silence began to get rather panicky after the first few silent minutes. Eventually, Whitepaw heard Redstripe speak up, and all cats' eyes snapped towards the direction of the black tom in hope.

"I... I saw... or rather heard Harepaw arguing with someone near moon-high last night. I... I didn't think anything of it, as I assumed he was arguing with Kestrelpaw. You know those two... they don't stop arguing from the moment they wake up to the moment they go to sleep," Redstripe began, glancing at the mothers of the two cats concerned, trying to guess whether they would take offence at his speaking about their kits' flaws. "The noise faded away, and I just assumed that the argument was over. I'm sorry. If I had known... then I would have investigated."

"You should have, crowfood!" Willowfur hissed at the black tom, causing the latter to flinch at the accusation in the she-cat's tone. "My son has disappeared! You could have stopped him from leaving me!"

"Mother, quiet," Whitepaw murmured, and Willowfur looked at her other son in surprise, falling silent when she realised that he was right. Shouting wasn't going to get her anywhere.

"Thank you, Redstripe... anyone else?" Greenstar asked quietly, his voice nevertheless easy to hear over the silence of SkyClan's camp.

Encouraged by Redstripe's outspokenness, Runningfoot piped up. "I saw Squirrelpaw going outside the apprentices' den. She was following Kestrelpaw. I was going to follow them... but I was required elsewhere. I thought Squirrelpaw was sensible enough not to wander outside camp in the middle of the night. Clearly I was mistaken."

Spottedfur glared at the tom, furious that he had just insulted her only daughter. She opened her mouth to say something cutting, but Greenstar stopped her with a stern look. Whitepaw looked at the deputy in surprise. He had never seen her so angry. Spottedfur usually gave off a calm, soothing aura that immediately made other cats feel at ease. He, being her apprentice, knew that better than almost any of the other cats in the Clan.

"Spottedfur, you can lead a search for the missing cats. Take two others with you, and see if you can pick up any scent of the apprentices. Thornheart, you can lead another search. Take two cats with you as well, and search any areas that Spottedfur isn't searching. If you haven't discovered anything by sun-high, come back to the camp and we will discuss this further," Greenstar said authoritatively, and Whitepaw watched silently as Spottedfur picked Redstripe and Willowfur to go with her on the search. Thornheart picked Runningfoot and Dustclaw, and followed Spottedfur's patrol out of the camp.

"Why did they leave?" Blacktail asked the question that had been on everybody's mind since they had first discovered that the four apprentices had gone missing.

"It must have been for something important. Sparrowpaw would never have left without explanation if it wasn't urgent," Daisyheart said thoughtfully, and the rest of the cats nodded in agreement. That was one thing that they could all agree on, at least. Sparrowpaw's sense. Then again, it had never been a subject that had received much attention because of the unarguable-ness of it.

"How can we be sure they all left together? What if it was by coincidence that they all departed the same night?" Birdheart asked, a brooding expression on his face. This idea was met with litte enthusiasm. It would only be worse if the four apprentices weren't together. If they were together, then at least they could all look after one another... although Whitepaw seriously doubted that Harepaw would do any looking after anyone.

"I hope not. I'd rather my kits be together than not," Stonebrook said in a subdued voice. She had come to terms with the idea of her kits leaving her much more quickly than either Spottedfur or Willowfur had. Maybe it was because Stonebrook was closer to her kits than the other two, and therefore understood what motivated them. Or maybe it was the opposite. Maybe Stonebrook wasn't as close to her kits as the other two were. Whitepaw couldn't quite understand it, and decided to let it rest for the moment.

The discussion went on, the sun beaming down on them all angrily, like it too was anxious and angry at the four apprentices for disappearing without saying a word. There wasn't a breath of wind to be found, and Whitepaw found his pelt prickling with discomfort. He hated green-leaf. It was far too warm for his liking.


In the mean time...

"I'm bored. Let's play a game. Any ideas?" Kestrelpaw said brightly, unaware of the havoc she and her fellow apprentices had caused back in SkyClan.

"Yeah. How about 'shut up for StarClan's sake'?" Harepaw said bitterly, regretting going on this journey already. He especially wasn't enjoying a certain brown apprentice's company.

"I don't know of that game. How do you play it?" Kestrelpaw chirped cheerily, much to Harepaw's annoyance, seemingly oblivious to his bitterness. Or, rather, she was just having such a good time annoying him that she chose to ignore it.

"Kestrelpaw," Sparrowpaw said warningly, causing his sister to send him a disgruntled look that clearly said 'spoilsport'.

"You're about as much fun as a dead sparrow," Kestrelpaw said petulantly, glaring at her brother.

"He's only trying to stop you two from fighting," Squirrelpaw pointed out sensibly, and received a dark look from both Harepaw and Kestrelpaw. An idea occurred to the tortoiseshell she-cat, and she snickered. "You two are dreadfully alike, you know."

The horrified looks that Harepaw and Kestrelpaw sent her made her roar with laughter. Sparrowpaw chuckled softly, too. As did the squirrel and the sparrow. The hare and the kestrel pointedly ignored the laughing she-cat and tom.

"Oh my! Did you see the looks on your faces! Anyone would've thought that Firestar himself had appeared in front of you and announced that he was going to reincarnate himself as one of your kits!" Squirrelpaw howled with laughter. Interestingly enough, so did the squirrel, which caused Kestrelpaw to forget her horror. A thought occurred to the brown apprentice as she watched the squirrel and her friend laughing. Then, purring she turned to the object of her annoyance.

"Hey, I have an idea! Why don't we play... 'who can annoy Harepaw the most'? He looks like he needs it," Kestrelpaw said cheerfully, and Harepaw rewarded her with a very aggravated look. As did the hare, although the hare gave off a more dignified air whilst doing so. Delighted with the experiment, she squealed joyously. To her utmost surprise, the kestrel squeaked in a similar kind of excitement. Later on, she didn't understand why she had felt so surprised, as she had already realised that each animal was linked to one of the four emotionally.

The others looked from her to the kestrel and back again, realisation dawning on the three apprentices as well. Squirrelpaw's laughing fit over, the she-cat now look thoughtful. "How interesting. But... if they feel the same emotions as us... why don't they talk at exactly the same time as us?"

"Too bothersome," the squirrel answered the tortoiseshell she-cat's question. "I only laughed because your emotion was very strong. I wouldn't usually have done it. We only do the same things as you if your emotion is very strong. For example, Kestrelpaw was very happy to have annoyed the poor tom over there. So my friend the kestrel felt the same happiness."

"Does that mean... that the hare and the kestrel don't like each other?" Sparrowpaw enquired interestedly, looking at the two animals mentioned with curiosity.

"Yes, quite so," the sparrow replied, fluttering over to Sparrowpaw and perching on the cat's back. "Oh... and another thing you might want to know... we only usually talk to the one we are linked to. Like I will normally only talk to you, and nobody else. Unless it is necessary. Like the kestrel explained the journey because we didn't know how to explain it very well. Not that she did an excellent job..."

"I heard that!" the kestrel called, still flying ahead of them. Harepaw sniggered, and Kestrelpaw, predictably, glared at him. Really, those two are so predictable sometimes, Squirrelpaw thought with exasperation.

"When are we going to stop?" Harepaw asked after a long pause, during which he exchanged hate-filled glances with the brown apprentice. Squirrelpaw and Sparrowpaw shared an irritated look. They both found the other two cats rather trying at times, because they just refused to get on well. It was very hard traveling with two cats who didn't get on well with each other.

"Shut up," Kestrelpaw said automatically.

"We're stopping just over there," the hare pointed its nose in the direction of a towering green tree whose trunk must have been as wide as five cats lying sidewise, at the very least. The hare hopped next to Harepaw in an amiable manner. "Don't worry, it'll only be another few minutes."

"Thank StarClan for that," all four SkyClan apprentices said at the same time. For once, Kestrelpaw and Harepaw didn't seem to mind that they had just said the same thing at the same time. They were too happy to know that they were going to stop soon to notice it.

The first thing Kestrelpaw noticed when she arrived at the tree was that there was a burrow right under it, perfect for a shelter. Big enough for everyone, too. She poked her head into the burrow cautiously, sniffing it to make sure that no unpleasant creature still inhabited it. Much to her relief, the scent was stale. The last occupants had been here well over eight moons ago. Maybe even more than that. She was surprised that she could even smell anything, and then congratulated herself on her good sense of smell.

"Is it safe to stay in there?" Sparrowpaw asked the sparrow, far more cautious than his sister had been. When the sparrow nodded, Sparrowpaw wasted no time in crawling into the burrow and flopping down on the ground, more exhausted than he had first thought he was. The rest of the apprentices followed, and they quickly fell asleep. No matter that they hadn't yet caught any prey. That could wait until they had woken up. For now, everyone was just content to sleep, sleep, sleep.

=yawn= Well... that chapter was fun to write. The only trouble was I had to keep looking up different words for 'grief' in my thesaurus, as it got tiresome to use the same word. I also frequently used the thesaurus for words that meant the same as 'annoying'. I feel that I've used that word far too much in this story.

And, yes, I'll admit it. The 'connected' animals are rather like Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials daemon idea. I didn't intend it to be that way, but it just turned out like that. There, I've admitted it! So nobody can accuse me of plagiarism because I fully acknowledge that I was inspired by His Dark Materials.