Jet black paws paced the mist-covered ground as a tomcat cursed himself. Three other cats; a dark gray, a brown, and a blue-gray cat watched the black cat as he walked. The air was thick and damp, making it a little hard to breathe.

"Nightstar?" the brown cat asked, his ears pointed up as if he heard something.

The previous leader of ShadowClan stopped and stood still, then spoke without looking back. "What Scarfoot?" His voice was raspy.

The amber-eyed warrior felt his breath clinch as he spoke. "What are we going to do now?"

It took a minute for the black cat to answer his warrior's question, then he looked back over his shoulder.

"We will continue to persuade the five Clan leaders to turn their backs on StarClan. Because of them, we were banished to this place. It's as dark as a fox's heart in here!"

"Excellent," Beetlestar, the dark gray cat, spoke up. "But there's one flaw in your plan: how will we make the leaders turn their backs on StarClan?!"

Darkstar, the blue-gray cat, rolled his green eyes.

"You forget that we can control the weather, dream walk, and possess cats," he pointed out.

Nightstar purred and gave a flick of his white-tipped tail. "Correct Darkstar. Now I want you three to go to Clan leaders. Scarfoot, you will go to RiverClan. Beetlestar, you shall go to ShadowClan. I will go to ThunderClan and Darkstar will go to WindClan. The drought already put all the Clans in a crisis, so the leaders should fall into our trap easily."

"What about SolarClan and TimberClan?" the dark gray tomcat hissed. "Who's going to take care of them?"

"I will deal with them," the copper eyed leader answered. Nightstar inhaled and let out a yowl. His partners followed his action, and after, the four cats went their separate ways.

. . .

Amberpaw yawned as she roused from her sleep. She sniffed the air. It held the damp scent of water and it told her rain was on its way.

Thank you StarClan, she thought. The yellow cat forced herself up and grabbed some fennel in her mouth.

Amberpaw made her way to the elder's den and climbed down into the dip. Rosefoot lifted her head and yawned.

"Amberpaw?" the yellow-eyed tabby asked.

The medicine cat apprentice dropped the leaves she carried in her jaws and meowed, "I brought some fennel for your aching legs." Rosefoot gave a nod of her head and Amberpaw broke the stalks of the plant. She held it above the light brown tabby and let the juice trickle into her mouth.

"Thanks, young one," Rosefoot purred. "You will make an excellent medicine cat one day."

"Thank you Rosefoot. I'll send Sunpaw or Morningpaw out hunting for you." With that, Amberpaw picked up the broken leaves and left the den. She looked to her right and saw an orange tomcat with brown eyes rush into the camp.

"WindClan is coming!" Flameblaze wailed.

Harestar padded over to her mate. "What do you mean?"

The tomcat's eyes were wide and his fur bristled. "WindClan is coming! Swallowstar had enough of the drought and is on her way!"

"She wouldn't dare!" Sunpaw spat.

The gray leader looked at her deputy. "Cobrafang, take Sageclaw, Berrytail and Dustpaw to meet Swallowstar's patrol and try to reason with her. The last thing the Clans need right now is a war!"

"Yes ma'am," the deputy meowed in dominance, and straighten up. Amberpaw felt her mentor come up to her side, their pelts brushing.

The yellow tabby swallowed. "What's going to happen Swampleaf?"

The black tabby licked Amberpaw's ear. "The warriors will take care of it. Remember, we're outside Clan rivalry."

Amberpaw flicked her tail as she went away.

"Amberpaw,"a voice called. The tabby turned her head from side to side, then her eyes finally rested on Morningpaw.

"Hi Morningpaw," she greeted the brown she-cat. "How are you and Sunpaw doing?"

The she-cat looked down at her paws, her brown ears drooping. "We miss Daypaw," she admitted.

"We all will." Amberpaw sighed as she watched Cobrafang lead the patrol out of the camp. "Also, Rosefoot needs some fresh-kill," she added, which Morningpaw nodded her head to.

The wind blew into her face and the yellow cat purred while Morningpaw shivered.

"It's cold," the apprentice held up her head. "I thought new-leaf was on its way, but now, I'm not sure."

The blue-eyed medicine cat screwed her eyes shut.

StarClan please, don't let us down.

"Amberpaw!" she heard her mentor call.

"Coming Swampleaf!" she replied, then turned to go back to the medicine cat's den. The black she-cat held a tall, bristly-stemmed plant in her jaws.

"Amberpaw," the she-cat said after she put the plant down. "I need you to go out and collect more horsetail. There's no doubt that our warriors will come back with some scratches."

"Yes Swampleaf," the apprentice told her, then took some big leaves that the black cat gave her and made her way to the bush tunnel.

"Amberpaw, wait!" Harestar meowed, beckoning Whistlelight to her from across the clearing. "Whistlelight, please escort Amberpaw to gather more herbs."

"Yes Harestar," the white she-cat replied.

She followed the yellow apprentice as she made her way to ShadowClan's territory.