Another crack of thunder boomed, Gingerpaw buried her face into Shadedpaw's thick fur. The rain fell heavily, creating little indentations in the sand, rain pooling in the center of camp. It was late evening but even then the sky was dark and the apprentices den Treepaw and Glowpaw were huddled together in the same nest like bird cicks. As Glowpaw called it, it was 'heat theft' but despite the initial fuss he kicked up, he was purring gently in his sleep.

"You improved a lot, you know' Gingerpaw told Shadedpaw in a hushed voice 'I couldn't believe how much stronger you were. No wonder you won" Shadedpaw blushed, stuttering. In her opinion he was too humble, she'd be a right show off if she won any of the competitions. "It was just luck, Glowpaw got tired out by fighting Treepaw, he probably would have won" The tom mumbled sheepishly.

"Well he didn't, you won" She yawned, feeling cozy with the extra body heat. She physically slumped down into his fur. "I'm gonna try and sleep, just shrug me off if I get annoying" She told him, nestling down, letting out a comfortable purr. She was warm and dry on what was going to be an increasingly stormy night.

…

"Gingerpaw"

She felt wet paws on her flank gently shaking her awake. The storm outside was still furiously thundering on overhead, lightning flashing frequently and illuminating the camp. "What?" She grumbled, squinting and lifting her head off Shadedpaw's side. 'Gingerpaw" Her brother Tigerpaw mewed. He sounded anxious. The lightning flashed again, light illuminating his soaking wet pelt.

"What?" She hissed through her teeth, sitting up and trying to blink the sleep from her eyes.

"Nighstar wants to speak to you. She's spoken to mum as well" Tigerpaw told her. Her brow crumpled disapprovingly. "This time of night?" Gingerpaw complained, standing up. She was feeling all warm and cozy, Shadedpaw's scent lingering on her pelt and now she was expected to get up and walk through the rain to talk to Nightstar at an ungodly hour.

"Just go, get it over and done with" Tigerpaw sneezed, pushing past her to his own nest. She sighed and wobbled on her paws. One breath. Another flash of lightning as it struck the earth. She speeded from the entrance, gritting her teeth as heavy rain soaked straight through her fur and onto her skin. The moon was just off the center of the sky, it was early in the morning.

She left a trail of pawprints behind her. Squeezing past the high boulder she skidded into the leader's den wheezing.

Through the darkness she could see the silhouette of the dark she-cat sitting calmly, watching her. "Ah thank you for coming Gingerpaw, would you like something to eat?" Nighstar purred. As her eyes adjusted she could see the leader's black fur was slick with water as well. She was halfway through a large rabbit. Gingerpaw sat down and shook her head politely.

"I'm alright, thanks for offering though" she hoped it wouldn't offend the leader, but she was tired and wanted the meeting over and done with so she could get back to sleeping. "I want to congratulate you on your performance in the competition' Nightstar began. Gingerpaw looked at her confused. "But I didn't win anything?"

The black she-cat smiled. "But you took part and showed yourself to be improving in many skills" Gingerpaw rasped her tongue across her tail to try and dry it. She didn't really think her performance was worth much note and couldn't she be told this in the morning instead? Did her beauty sleep mean nothing to Nightstar? She had to at least care a bit about the puddle of water forming around Gingerpaw's feet.

The den was lit up by another flash, Nighstar sat unflinching. "What do you know about your father?" She asked cooly, moving her paw to her tongue to clean. Gingerpaw frowned, not seeing how her father had any relevance to the conversation at hand.

"Stormeye?" She'd been told he was grey furred, a 'bit like her in so many ways' as her mother had once told her. "Well, He was loyal, brave but sorta stubborn, good friends with Silentpaw's dad. He-he died in a badger attack" She mewed a little sadly.

Everyone had always made her father sound so cool, she'd imagine he'd be a cool dad, play games with her like 'fight' in the way her mother never seemed to do. "Everyone tells me he was a good cat, a bit loud like me though" She relayed simply. Nightstar nodded and took a bite of the rabbit. It was a large rabbit, she wondered how the leader would manage to scoff it all.

"He died the day I was born in a badger attack...Silentpaw and Rabbitpaw also lost their dad" She'd always thought that maybe if Ravenfrost hadn't died, Smallscar would have looked after Silentpaw properly, he wouldn't have become ill and then he'd be able to talk. He wouldn't be called Silentpaw.

"Have you seen the ashfields?" The conversation seemed to switch quickly again, Nightstar watching her intently. Why was she awake right now to be asked if she knew about her dad and some landscape.

"Yeah, I've seen them. How come we haven't claimed them, or at least split them with Meadowclan? In a few more moons the foliage will be back and I bet prey will shelter there"

Gingerpaw proposed. Nightstar's ears scraped backwards and her eyes narrowed like she was offended.

" The ashfields were burnt down by Starclan, shortly after we were warned not to go there. The land is poisoned and any cat with anything to do with it is tainted by it" Her blazing blue eyes glared straight into Gingerpaw's own. She questioned Starclan's logic in burning down a woods for no reason and then expecting cats not to go there. She went there and came out fine. The feeling that Nightstar was vying for something, searching her was becoming ominous.

After Troutfin's punishment she thought there was a possibility the leader could be going mad. Or maybe she was sadistic all along and she was too young to realise it. A crash of thunder boomed causing the sandstone den to shudder. Gingerpaw tensed up as if the ceiling would collapse, some grains of sand cascading to the cool floor.

Nighstar didn't flinch. She had a thoughtful look on her face. "Would you consider yourself to be a cat with a fiery spirit?" The question felt loaded, as if Nightstar was relying on it for something. Gingerpaw blinked a couple of times. She wanted to leave now, she felt like she wasn't in on what Nightstar was getting at. Maybe it was a test and she'd explain.

"I guess so, I'm not a particularly angry cat though, I'd say stubborn maybe? I get called stubborn a lot" Gingerpaw moved a little closer to the exit. Nightstar smiled at her sweetly, dipping her head. "A little stubbornness can be good. You can go now, well done on the competition again"

Gingerpaw slowly edged away. "Thank you?" She was unsure and slightly angry. In her opinion the leader was going mad. She was too tired to care. She turned around, starting her mad sprint back to the den with a huff of exhaustion.

A deafening crash of thunder, another lightening strike, cold blue eyes watching her.

Reviewer responses!:

ReadingEevee: Possessed Bramblestar can come in spirit and kick Brambledip into orbit where he belongs. Hmm maybe Nighstar does have some ulterior motives...

Mintflight0245: I'm getting a lot of rage for Brambledip lol. Maybe I should get around to writing a short about him and Lizardglare.

Succulentsofa: It's time for some arguing lol. I was painful for me to write, it wasn't fun to write them falling out.

ButterScotchTape: I'll add Ruby in as a warrior then :)

OooOOOh it's getting weirder. It's fun writing Emberpaw's kin because of the amount of hidden information, it's rewarding watching people guess whats actually going on, hence why I like this chapter.

Question of the chapter: What is Nightstar looking for?