"I think I hurt his feelings. It was important and I think he knew I forgot" Gingerpaw whispered to Shadedpaw as she lay in her nest. It was early in the morning but the sky remained overcast and it felt colder than usual. A light mist meandered across the dunes. Luckily the apprentice dens sandstone walls trapped in body heat. The good weather of the past three days was over at least for now. Her head was resting on her paws, her ears drooping. "Apologise and do something nice. That seems to work. I'm sure he's not that offended" Shadedpaw reassured her. "Even if he's not that upset I still feel bad, Medicine cat trips like that are important" She sighed, rolling over onto her side to face him. Shadedpaw grunted as he stretched, arching his back as he stood. "I'm hungry, wanna come eat with me?"

"Why not?" Yawning she too stretched and followed Shadedpaw out into the clearing. The camp was dead apart from Greywing who sat outside the nursery. The poor tom looked like he could fall asleep in his paws at any given moment. He would occasionally begin to lean before jolting upwards again. Shadedpaw settled down by the kill pile and patted the sand next to him for Gingerpaw to sit. "Wanna share a rabbit?" He asked, plucking a small brown mammal from the pile. Gingerpaw's face lit up. "I can get Silentpaw some prey! Apology breakfast" for something so simple she sounded awfully proud of herself. Scanning the pile for something particularly plump. She picked out a particularly plump roach, a common fish with good meat.

"Wait!" Just as she was about to leave Shadedpaw shot his paw out, clamping it down on her tail. "It's a great idea-" His eyes darted left and right as if he was thinking. "But maybe later?" She raised an eyebrow and put the fish down. "Why?" she rebuked a confused frown on her face. Shadedpaw removed his paw and seemed to calm down. "He's probably still asleep. The journey there is quite far, apparently you've got to go up the cliffs. I'd be exhausted"

Gingerpaw put the roach back and seated herself again. "Guess your right". As she took a bite of the rabbit, Lizardglare emerged from the warriors den, later followed by oddeye and Hedgefoot. Nighstar perched on the bank above her den, licking a paw and running it over her smooth fur. Gingerpaw kept glancing back at the medicine cat den for movement but the only cat that left was Crabfang, limping on his way to dirtplace. Between them the rabbit was demolished. Oddeye approached the apprentices from the camp entrance where he and a group of warriors had been speaking to Lizardglare.

"Good news you two! You're both coming on this morning's patrol. If you've finished eating Brambledip wants you at camp entrance ASAP" Gingerpaw nodded, not sure who he was looking at. He had light pink eyes and the pupils met in the middle. She often wondered how his vision was but her mother had scolded her as a kit for attempting to ask him. Shadedpaw took the lead and they trotted over to the patrol. Hedgefoot stood next to her father, her eyes glinting as she smiled. Brambledip's eyes were half-lidded like he couldn't be bothered. "Good, we've got everyone. We're still looking out for Leopardheart so be cautious. Don't try anything stupid" There was emphasis on the last part as he glared at the two apprentices. "Lets go"

Brambledip was leading the patrol with his head level with his shoulders. "Looks like he's hunting" Shadedpaw whispered to her. "Hunting for a will to live by the looks of things" Gingerpaw titered. Hedgefoot was talking to her father, he made no attempt to converse with her. Her spirit seemed to dampen and she gave up, dropping back to talk to Oddeye. Ever so often they'd stop to scent mark the odd clump of grass, a rock or two. The patrol broke through a wall of grass and stepped out onto a wide dirt track. "This is where Duneclan territory ends. Don't cross it and we'll have no problems". Gingerpaw stretched her neck to try and peer over the three cats walking in front of her.

She could see the stumps of ashen wood in the distance. Some form of wooden platform seemed to connect the river banks together, the path continuing through the ashfields. "Why are they there?" Brambledip stopped the group. Amongst the grass on the verge sat three cats. She couldn't make out their features, but there was a white tom, a black she-cat and a black and white. "Looks like they were expecting us?" Hedgefoot commented with a whisper. Cautiously they approached the cats. The strange cat's eyes seemed to fixate on them white tom dipped his head at Brambledip.

"Froststar, Moondusk, Badgersting why are you here?" Brambledip asked pointedly. The white tom spoke, up close Gingerpaw could see he was covered in speckles of grey. "I need to speak to Nightstar. It's about Leopardheart" The tom's eyes flickered to the apprentices. "It's of sensitive nature so I think it's best your apprentices go home. No offense to you two" The apprentices glanced at each other nervously. "Shadedpaw, Gingerpaw, go back to camp and get Nightstar" Brambledip growled, not taking his eyes off the severe faces of the Meadowclan cats. Gingerpaw open her mouth to protest but clamped it shut as Shadedpaw shook his frantically.

Wordlessly they slipped into the grass and ran. Gingerpaw slowed to a walk when she felt there was enough space between them and the track. "Those were Meadowclan cats' ' She exclaimed "Not just any Meadowclan cats, but I'm pretty sure that spotted tom was Froststar" Shadedpaw bit his lip. He seemed on edge. "What do you think has happened to Leopardheart?" She looked thoughtful as she considered an answer to his question. "Maybe..Maybe she's gone to live with them?" Shadedpaw laughed but there was no humour in it. "I think she's gone mad and killed some cat. If she attacked Crabfang, she's crazy enough to do it again to someone else"

They didn't speak for the rest of the journey after that. Gingerpaw felt anxious, what had happened to Leopardheart? What if Shadedpaw was correct?" The pair of them entered camp with haste. "Gingerpaw why are you bac-" Her mother began as they passed the warriors den. "No time to speak mum! I'll tell you later okay!?" She yelled back. Nightstar was startled as the pair invaded her den without warning. "What on earth!" The leader hissed with annoyance.

"Froststar, Badgersting and Moondusk are waiting at the border-" Gingerpaw began, heaving for air. "They want to talk to you, they have news about Leopardheart" Shadedpaw added on. Nightstar's expression became less scolding and more calm and serious. "I'll go now" The small she-cat dipped her head and stepped forward to leave. "What do we do whilst our mentors are gone?" Gingerpaw butted in, causing Nighstar to frown and look back at them. "Have a free morning" She told them and left without saying anything further.

"Soooo. Now what?' Gingerpaw asked her friend as they rested outside the apprentices den. 'I'm out of ideas, Can't really play mossball with two cats' ' They sat in silence for a little while. "A walk? On the beach?" Shadedpaw suggested "Or I could teach you to swim?" He grinned as she grimaced. "Eww water- Guess I need to learn eventually, otherwise Brambledip will forever judge me" Shadedpaw laughed at her and began to walk away. "Come on then slug-slow, let's get you swimming"

Gingerpaw sloshed around in the rockpool looking similar to a spider on ice, limbs were being flinged about. Shadedpaw had already done two laps. "Kick directly behind you and keep your paws out in front" He laughed. Gingerpaw smacked an arm on the surface of the water, splashing him, before sinking again. She resurfaced in the shallow end looking back at him smugly. "See that swimming there? Top notch. I am the queen of swimming now" She announced. Shadedpaw paddled to the shallow end. "How many times do I have to tell you that holding your breath and walking across the bottom of the pool isn't swimming?" chuckling he sprayed a pawful of water at her. "Oh we're having a water fight now? You've messed with the wrong cat" And with that she threw herself at him, knocking him into the pool with gargled yelp. With a grin on his face his head emerged from the water. "You're SO dead"

Silentpaw yawned, reclining on his back. He'd just woken up but wasn't quite ready to go about his day. Maybe he could try to go back to sleep again. The den was empty, Cloudfang's feather filled nest vacant. He could however hear Cloudfang faintly in the main chamber of the den. It sounded like he was talking. "I don't know why she would rather admit that to Meadowclan" His tone of voice was hushed. "I don't know either, sounded like she was delirious. I'm not sure if I believe what she had to say '' Silentpaw recognised Nighstar's voice as she whispered. "If the father really is Nightclan we have a serious problem. Last night Starclan had a message for me" A pause. "It was a simple message and I think the meaning is evident: Beware those who have fire in their spirit and needles in their blood. A clan's silence will no longer shelter them" The leader seemed to scoff. "What does it mean?"

"It means that the vow of silence we took has been broken. Cats involved were supposed to take that vow to the grave. A younger cat is aware. Or Leopardheart wasn't lying about her kits". Nightstar hissed with frustration. "I'd prefer it were the kits. They're easier to deal with than a self aware younger cat" He heard his mentor inhale as if he were in shock. "I disagree. I don't want anything happening to those kits, it's not their fault-"

"You'd rather spare the lives of some kits over the wellbeing of your clan!? I've spent the past 6 moons trying to protect Duneclan. Starclan told me, Starclan told me that the only way to stop repercussions was to be quiet, to let it fade out of conscience and protect our young! Our entire clan and Meadowclan took an oath for survival!" She spoke quickly and with dampened rage. "I'm not throwing that away" She finished with a frustrated huff. "I'm going to meet with Froststar at moonhigh to let him know my decision on Leopartheart. A decision on the kits is imminent whether you like it or not"

The sound of pawsteps faded as one of the cats left. Silentpaw stood in the dim light of the nesting chamber aghast. He was scared of the information he'd just received. He was unnerved. Stepping lightly he headed back to his nest, lay down and pretended to be asleep.

Review responses!

Succulentsofa: Hmmmmm PeRHaPS

Stormshadow: I'm glad you enjoyed it! Silentpaw is probably my favourite too

Question of the chapter: What is Nightstar and Cloudfang hiding?