Welcome back! Congratuulations to BladeofMoonlight for the new name! My post-exam marathon is officially a fail. Maybe at the end of the summer exams I can do a succesful one.

Hollyleaf: Everything you do is a fail.

AR: Thank you Hollyleaf. You're really great, did you know that?

Hollyleaf: Was that sarcasm?

Blackstar: I believe so.

AR: *Groans* Anyway, sorry this took so long. But between Drama Club and homework, I've been too busy to write.

Hollyleaf: NO EXCUSES!

Blackstar: Hey, lay off her. She's awesome!

Hollyleaf: No, that would be me!

AR: No, Hollyleaf, you are conceited, self-centered, annoying, irritating, agravating, infuriating... Hey! Those last four come from the list of adjectives I use to describe a certain annoying person in Drama Club who will remain un-named. Partially because I don't think they deserve a name. Just kidding! But seriously. Said idiot is beyond annoying.

Blackstar: That's how I feel about Hollyleaf!

Hollyleaf: *knocks Blackstar on the head with a shovel*

Blackstar: Ughh... *collapses*

AR: Oh good grief.

Chapter 13

WindClan

Echopaw of WindClan lay in the apprentices den. Her mind replayed the day of training. She was, apparently, one of the best future warriors in WindClan. And she was proud to be. She was especially proud that her achievements came from her own hard work, and not the fact that she was Onestar's daughter.

It wasn't long before she finally drifted into a deep sleep as the exhaustion of the day came over her. Her mind went blank and all around her was black and silent before she began to dream.

Bright, silvery tendrils of mist surrounded her as she walked through a pale forest. Every tree and flower was illuminated with a bright light. She wandered through the forest, sniffing at the plants. They had the sweetest scent, and each petal on the flowers was the brightest colour she'd ever seen.

Suddenly, light turned to dark. All around her was shadows. The trees began to bleed, their sap turning to blood. All was a sea of blood. She tried to run, but her paws were becoming sticky with blood. She ran faster, the scent of blood fresh in her nose and the taste on her tongue. She screeched in terror. She was surrounded by blood. It was everywhere, rising higher, reaching her belly-fur. It was too deep to run. She tried to swim, but she wasn't RiverClan, and had difficulty. The blood clung to her fur.

She heard a voice in her head suddenly, and she saw StarClan cats watching her. She realised that she was dying.

"Help me! Please!" she cried out.

"This is what will come to pass in the future. We are not sure when, but it will be soon. Your kits will drown in a sea of blood unless the darkness is stopped," meowed one of the WindClan cats.

"My-my kits?" What kits? She was an apprentice. Then she remembered it would be sometime in the future.

The StarClan cats nodded, then walked away. The blood continued to rise higher and higher, until she was completely submerged. She opened her eyes, and was back in her nest in the WindClan apprentices den. It had been nothing but a dream. But she was still shaking, and the scent of blood was still fresh in her mind.

It was only a dream, she reminded herself. Nothing more.

But why had StarClan come to her with their dark message? She shook her head and stood. She carefully crept from the den. It was still rather dark out, it wouldn't be dawn for a few more hours. She heded for the camp entrance. There were no guards at the moment, as there had been no fighting in such a long time. These were moons of peace, and there was no tension. The biggest threat was DarkClan, who hadn't been seen since that night of the gathering when they attacked SkyClan. Besides, several warriors slept out in the open to be closer to their ancestors, so if an intruder came, they would be easily allerted.

She stepped out of the camp and into the territory. Everything was peaceful, beautiful. It was truly her home.

She felt the urge to run, to be free. A bird flew overhead, soaring freely. A hawk. She ran, racing it across the hills under the starry sky.

She longed to be as free as the bird, to soar across the open sky, unchallenged,unthreatened. Nothing but true freedom, with nothing tying her down to the ground and no limitations. Then there'd be no fear, no dark dreams or omens to confuse and frighten her.

But she'd also be lonely, without her friends and family. No clan to care for or to be cared for by. Clan life came with a price, which she knew well. She knew, deep in her heart, that she would always truly belong in WindClan. She stopped, and watched as the hawk soared overhead gracefully in the dark, early morning. The sky was beginning to pale. First light. Another couple hours, and the sun would have risen. The dawn patrol would be out by then. She turned and began to return to camp.

She contemplated telling her father and the medicine cat. They would probably want to know about the dark dream StarClan had sent her. She decided that she would tell them as soon as the sun was up. It was the best idea.

"Echopaw?" She froze. That voice, she knew it!

"Thunderpaw?"

"No, that's not my name anymore. It's Lightning now."

"Why? What happened? Tell me everything."

Lightning immediately began his story of how he had been exiled, and how his sister Shadowpaw had brought him to a group of rogues that had banded together with her to bring down Ivytalon.

Echopaw's eyes were wide by the time he'd finished. "So you're a rogue now?"

He nodded. "Yup. I'm all on my own now. I should probably get going, though. See you later, Echopaw. And, be careful. Ivytalon's really dangerous. I don't want to see you get hurt."

"Alright, bye Lightning."

She padded way from him. She realised that she felt sad to see him go. Was she falling in love with the handsom tom? No, she couldn't be! She was a clan cat, a WindClan cat. She could only fall in love with another WindClan some former DarkClan cat who was now a rogue.

She began to run again, and it wasn't long before she was back in the WindClan camp and returning to the apprentices den. No one else was awake yet, but it wouldn't be long before the cats on the dawn patrol were awake. She curled up again and fell asleep.

Thanks again to BladeofMoonlight for Lightning's new name! And thank you to everyone who gave me ideas! It was truly difficult to choose. *Coughs* *groan* The bad news about posting this chapter is, right at this very moment, I should be having fun with my friends at the benches in the music wing at my highschool and eating lunch. But no, instead I am home sick. Really sore throat to top it off, couldn't talk at all from the pain when I woke up this morning.

Hollyleaf: Poor you. And poor us! Watching her cough stuff up is not fun!

AR: Hey! At least you aren't in excruciating pain when you cough!

Hollyleaf: What cough? I'm not coughing at all! ... Are you ok? It looked like you were about to choke to death just now when you coughed!

AR: I've been better. This is the problem with me: I rarely get sick, but when I do, not fun. At all. Because I get really sick. Anyway, since I'm home sick with nothing to do, chances are there'll be another chapter up by tomorrow. Oh, and as music is my inspiration, I credit the romance between Echopaw and Lightning to the love theme from Pirates of the Carribean 3, by Hans Zimmer. Check it out, it's a beautiful piece of music.