"To where it bent in the undergrowth;"

AMBER

The wind howled in her ears as she tore through the forest, a blurred streak of emotion.

"You need to think for more than just yourself."

Her paws drummed the earth, tears flowing freely down her face in hot streams of frustration. Anger drove her limbs to move, but her leader's voice still needled her at the back of her head.

"With every decision you make, think about how the consequences of your actions impact your Clanmates."

Amberpaw found herself screeching to a halt at the lakeshore. She breathed heavily, her paws sinking into the sand, and gazed at the surface of the water resentfully. Her anger and furious burst of energy were receding but she wasn't ready to go back yet.

"You know better, Amberpaw. Use your head."

Drawing a resolving breath, Amberpaw impulsively plunged into the depths of the lake. The shock of the cold water ignited her furious energy once more. With every wave that threatened to push her back, anger surged through the golden apprentice and she pushed forward, steadfast and irate. The clouds opened up and rain drummed her head from above, whipping up the waves long after she crossed into the deeper part of the lake.

At the back of her den, atop a bed of peaty moss sat the regal figure of the RiverClan leader. She sat tall with her tail curled neatly around her paws, the ancient splash of gray on her muzzle the only thing that betrayed her age.

"You wanted to see me?" Amberpaw said in a small voice.

The RiverClan warrior eyed her critically. "Sedgecreek informed me that you were caught by a ShadowClan patrol this morning."

Amberpaw blinked indignantly. "But I wasn't trespassing!"

Morningstar narrowed her eyes. "Why were you even that close to the border?"
"I was training!"

"By yourself?"

"I like to get in a little extra practice," Amberpaw said innocently.

"And it was necessary to get in this extra training so near enemy borders?" Morningstar shook her head, disapprovingly. "What were you thinking, Amberpaw?"

Amberpaw flinched. "I-I didn't mean… I mean, I didn't intend to veer so close to the border. I was just running and I got caught up––"

"Honestly, Amberpaw," the RiverClan leader chastised. "Use your head. What would we have done if you had been attacked? The dawn patrol had already made its rounds. There would have been no one around to come rescue you."

"I don't think they would have attacked me…" Amberpaw mumbled hotly, studying her paws.

"I'm sorry?"

Amberpaw winced at the coldness in her leader's voice. "I just–– I mean… ShadowClan are still honorable warriors. They would never gang up on me like that."

"Never make such assumptions, Amberpaw. We're in a war. Such notions could cost you your life."

"I don't believe they would kill me," Amberpaw said with a frown.

Morningstar narrowed her eyes. "Maybe not," she said grimly. "But they could hold you hostage for ransom. And then what? You leave your Clanmates vulnerable. And this isn't the first time I've caught news of your nose in other Clan affairs. You and Stormpaw were found on WindClan territory just a few sunrises ago!"

Amberpaw's gaze dropped, unable to meet her leader's eyes. Her cheeks flushed and burned with humiliation. She wanted nothing more than to shrink into the ground and disappear. "I'm sorry," Amberpaw said in a small voice, willing the patronizing to end.

"Don't be sorry," Morningstar said sharply. "Be cognizant of your actions."

Amberpaw gazed despondently at her leader, trying to catch her eye and demonstrate her remorse, but Morningstar stared brazenly back. Her expression spoke volumes. Amberpaw dipped her head and ducked out of the den. Her heart hammered in her chest as she scrabbled down the Great Willow, her face hot, throat tight. Her eyes stung, threatening tears. A fierce desire to flee struck her; she hit the ground and her paws found momentum, beelining toward the entrance to the camp.

"Hey!" a voice cried. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

Amberpaw pushed past a startled Stormpaw, ducking her head so he couldn't see her face. She slipped through the gorse undergrowth and took off.

Thunder growled low in the mountains nearby. A thrill of fear struck through her chest and her surge of frustration and self-loathing tapered away. Raindrops rhythmically drummed against her pelt as she swam; she could feel herself relaxing, a sense of calm settling within her even as the water grew tumultuous around her.

Why is she always so hard on me? Amberpaw thought bitterly.

Morningstar had always been particularly stern with her and Amberpaw could never understand why. She was a strict, unyielding leader, her austere ways reinforced by seasons of governance. The RiverClan leader was extremely well-respected by all of the Clans, despite her reputation for not always being agreeable. She was fiercely loyal to her Clan and notorious for having a sharp tongue. Even the most rebellious of apprentices gradually developed deep loyalty to the RiverClan leader.

Morningstar kept a very close eye on Amberpaw and she was never able to get away with anything. She rarely articulated it, except occasionally to Stormpaw, but Morningstar seemed to hold Amberpaw to a much higher standard than her Clanmates. It seemed as though she could never do anything right and it frustrated her to no end.

Amberpaw was loyal and eager-to-please. To say it was disheartening to constantly let down your leader was an understatement. She strived for perfectionism and was sensitive to criticism. Morningstar's lack of positive reinforcement took its toll on the RiverClan apprentice. And so she ferreted away her spare time to hone her skills.

While her mentor favored the afternoons for training, Amberpaw came alive in the early dawn mornings, just as the first rays of the sun peeked over the mountaintops. She slipped out of the camp, usually alone. Be it solitary hunts, an exhilarating run, a daybreak swim… Amberpaw lived for these moments of solitude to challenge herself. Every so often, Stormpaw would accompany her, but for the most part, the lazy furball preferred to sleep in.

A loud cry split the air. Amberpaw was startled out of her thoughts. She paused, treading water, pricking her ears toward the sound. Did she imagine it? A strange sense of foreboding brewed in her stomach.

Up ahead, a large mass of land split the water. The Island – had she really swum that far? The fallen oak, mighty as it was, stretched from one bank to the other. Amberpaw squinted through the rain. Teetering on the edge of the trunk were two small shapes, a lean gray figure shadowing them closely behind.

Kits, Amberpaw thought. But what are they doing all the way out here?

She narrowed her eyes to identify the figures as she padded steadily toward them. Through the clapping of the rain, she could hear the high-pitched cries of the kits. Their voices were filled with glee – they were laughing, taunting the warrior who stalked carefully to them. Amberpaw watched uneasily. Were they being pursued by an enemy warrior? She still couldn't make out which Clan they were from, but their lean frames suggested they were WindClan.

Amberpaw's heart gave a lurch of horror. As she watched, one of the kits lost its grip on the slippery bark and dropped like a heavy stone into the churning waters. Its littermate let out a squeal of terror. Amberpaw watched as the WindClan warrior hesitated, his muscles taut with horror as he steeled himself. Then he launched himself into the swells to pursue the kit. He thrashed wildly in the water, clearly not a RiverClan warrior. Amberpaw whipped her head wildly around to see if she could spot the kit. A high-pitched gargle sounded nearby her. Amberpaw spotted a tiny, dark package bobbing on the surface of the water beside her, a blackberry-sized paw lashing out from the foam.

She was almost certain that she could retrieve the kit, despite the worsening conditions of the water. She scanned the sky for signs of lightning in her proximity, then dove beneath the surface of the water. For just a few beats, Amberpaw's heartrate evened out in the stillness beneath the surface of the water. She could feel herself drifting away as she always did when swimming; the rest of the world suddenly seemed to disappear. Through stinging eyes, she could just make out the rapidly sinking shape of the kit. Its limbs flailed wildly – the kit was still conscious. With ferocious pulls of her limbs, she paddled down to the kit and firmly clamped her jaws around its tiny scruff, surging toward the surface.

The world burst back with jarring chaos when she resurfaced, the sounds rushing her ears. Water streamed down her throat; she coughed through the kit's scruff.

The stranger nearby noticed her and let out a shocked cry.

"Get away, he's not yours!"

Amberpaw scowled. That was not the reaction she was expecting. She strained her neck, unable to hold the kit above water. It gasped wildly as she lowered it back into the water and released her grip. Her tail snagged its body so it stayed close to her.

"Climb onto my back," she instructed.

Terrified, the kit hooked its claws into her pelt. They stung like tiny thorns as it weakly clambered onto her. Amberpaw felt the small weight bear down on her, but the distribution was much easier. She bobbed on the surface, waiting patiently as the kit scrambled between her shoulder blades and held on for dear life.

"All good?"

"Y-yes," the kit stammered.

"Okay, here we go."

Straining her muscles, she twisted and swam toward the Island, her body bobbing and floating with the waves. Her back legs paddled fiercely to keep her upper body afloat. Her paws churned the writhing waves powerfully. Thunder purred quietly above them as they clambered onto the shore. Amberpaw barely had time to catch her breath before she was arrested by a pair of wild viridian eyes. Before her stood the lanky, long-limbed warrior from the WindClan border patrol just a few sunrises ago. Her breath caught in her throat; she was once again taken aback by the intensity of the tom's gaze. They were calculating and unyielding; unfriendly but not hostile, fierce yet protective. They seemed to penetrate Amberpaw to her very core, stripping her down and exposing every vulnerability.

"Stealthkit!" a voice cried.

Behind him, a fluffy gray she-kit peered, her bright blue eyes wide with wonder and terror. "You stupid mouse-brain, I told you not to lean over so far!" she chirped wildly, hopping toward them on tiny feet. "Are you okay? Did you drown? Did you see StarClan? Are you –"

"Frostkit," the tom growled quietly. "Give him a minute to recover."

Amberpaw tensed as the tabby warrior approached, though he simply stretched his neck to carefully remove the kit from between her shoulder blades. The kit, however, leaned away from his touch and clung on for dear life.

"Stealthkit, it's okay. You're safe now, come down."

The kit shook his head emphatically, his claws digging deep into Amberpaw's pelt. The tom nudged him with his nose, but there was no prying him off of her. The half-drowned tomkit shivered violently, his eyes wide with shock.

The WindClan warrior sighed. "Are you hurt?" he demanded, though his tone was gentle.

Stealthkit said nothing, his tiny frame trembling beneath his soaked pelt.

"I think he's just in shock," Amberpaw mewed. "He should be fine so long as he's warm and dry in his nest as soon as possible."

"How would you know?" the warrior snapped. "Are you a medicine cat?"

Amberpaw flinched, but felt her temper up. "No, but RiverClan deal with this kind of thing all the time," she snapped. "Kind of an occupational hazard."

The tom scowled at her guardedly. Amberpaw forced the fur along her spine to flatten.

"He's fully alert and conscious," she went on, glancing back at Stealthkit. "He's shivering, but his lips aren't blue. He's cold, exhausted, and freaked out. But he shouldn't be in any real danger so long as you get him home as soon as possible."

"Hear that, Stealthkit?" the tom said. "Let's get you home to Brindlepool."

The kit shook his head again. Frostkit let out a frustrated whine. "I'm cold!"

"I'm happy to escort you all back to your territory," Amberpaw offered lightly.

The WindClan warrior bristled at this suggestion. "We don't need escorting! I can take them home myself." He stretched his neck forward to grab Stealthkit but the tomkit continued to resist fiercely. "Mouse-dung!" he hissed under his breath in frustration.

His piercing viridian gaze blazed from across the clearing at the Gathering, filled with a hatred she could not comprehend.

Amberpaw glanced around the Island clearing, ominously empty without the large throng of cats to occupy it. Less than a moon ago, this same tomcat had directed furious energy toward her. Here they were, still as much strangers as they were before, yet Amberpaw still detected overwhelming hostility toward her.

"Look, let me just help take them home. They need to be in their nest as soon as possible, so quit wasting time trying to salvage your stupid pride."

Anger flashed in his eyes. His lips curled with disgust. "Fine," he spat, his voice tight. "But the second his claws are pried from your pelt, I want you off our territory."

Fantastic, she thought to herself. Amberpaw felt a rush of anger. "You're welcome," she growled under her breath.

The gray tabby narrowed his eyes. "I would've gotten him myself."

"Please," Amberpaw snorted. "You're lucky I didn't have to save your sorry tail along with him."

The lean warrior's whiskers twitched; a ghost of amusement crossed his face, but just for a second. He rolled his eyes. "RiverClan warriors think they're so superior the second anything gets a little damp."

"Well, WindClan warriors think they're superior when it comes to everything."

The tom let out a sneering huff, then scooped up Frostkit and positioned her between his own shoulders. He carefully ensured she was settled before stalking toward the tree bridge and crossing cautiously. Once they reached the other side, they moved swiftly toward WindClan territory. He hastened his speed, as though eager to shake her off, but Amberpaw was determined to match his pace.

"Jaytalon," Frostkit whined in a trembling voice. "I'm cold."

"We'll be home soon enough," the warrior assured her in a gentle tone, but loud enough to be heard over the storm.

Amberpaw snorted, finding it somehow funny that the tom could so suddenly flip a switch from hostile to brooding. Suddenly, she hesitated. They had reached the marshy boundary that scored the border between RiverClan and WindClan territory. Ahead the trees thinned out, the earth rising up into rolling, unblemished hillsides. Amberpaw felt a thrill of fear and excitement as she stepped forward, crossing into the unfamiliar land, the unknown.

The sky exploded in electrifying light, so close that even Amberpaw's soaking wet fur stood on end. Out here, she felt exposed. Every fiber of her being screamed for her to flee back toward her own territory, in the safety and seclusion of the trees. Yet she did not want to show fear in front of this obnoxious warrior, who had not so much as glanced back at her once since they entered his territory.

"Jaytalon," a voice cried. "You found them?"

A very thin, long-limbed queen raced toward them, followed closely by a small white apprentice and a brown tabby tom. They skidded to a halt, their eyes wide with shock as they realized Amberpaw was there. The slender queen recomposed herself the quickest. She swept her gaze over the length of Amberpaw's body critically. With a skip of her heart, Amberpaw recognized the WindClan deputy.

"You're not alone," Deerspring said with a frown.

"Stealthkit fell in the lake," Jaytalon explained in a low voice.

"The lake?" Deerspring echoed, whipping around to face him. Her eyes darted analytically around Jaytalon's wet frame, before narrowing thoughtfully as she peered closely into his face. "Did you go after him?"

"She got to him first," he growled tensely.

Amberpaw flushed under the gazes of the WindClan warriors. "I just happened to be swimming nearby," she said.

"What do you mean, you just happened to be –"

"Gorsefire," Deerspring silenced the brown warrior, studying Amberpaw carefully. "What is your name?"

"Amberpaw,"

"Amberpaw…" Deerspring echoed thoughtfully. "You saved our kit?"

"The warrior code says no warrior should neglect a kit in pain or danger, no matter which Clan they come from," Amberpaw said quietly.

To her surprise, Jaytalon flinched at her words, a rush of emotions crackling like lightning. She glanced at him curiously – out of all the laws of the lake, Amberpaw found this one to be most pertinent. It highlighted the importance of valuing another's life, despite what blood ran through their veins or values they practiced. They may live separate lives on another land, but the innocence of youth should underscore the similarities beneath the surface of them all… right?

"Thank you, Amberpaw," Deerspring said in a slightly gentler tone. "We appreciate you holding up your end of the bargain in observing the warrior code. And," she swept her tail comfortingly around Stealthkit's trembling body. "for bringing him home safely. Not many warriors these days remember just how valuable every life is."

Amberpaw felt the WindClan tomkit's body relax at Deerspring's touch and his weight lifted as the deputy carefully plucked him off her shoulders. "He should see Thrushpelt right away."

"Thanks for your help," Jaytalon said, his voice noticeably less hostile.

Amberpaw blinked curiously at him. The gray warrior didn't meet her eyes, his shoulders sunken discontentedly, but he did not have the same edge as before. Where there once was deep resentment, now seemed to be replaced by exhaustion and almost confusion.

"And per the warrior code," Deerspring went on. "Feel free to help yourself to hunt for one piece of fresh-kill on our land before you return back to your territory."

A low growl bubbled in Goresfire's throat. Despite the thrill of excitement that coursed through her, Amberpaw could not banish Morningstar's disapproving expression from her mind. "Thank you," she said with a small smile. "But I really should be heading home now. My Clan will begin to wonder where I am."

The briefest glow of respect flashed in the enemy warriors' eyes. Deerspring dipped her head appreciatively. "Very well," she said. "WindClan is indebted to you, young warrior. Do you need one of us to escort you home?"

"I'll be alright," Amberpaw said. "Thank you."

"May StarClan light your path."

The young golden she-cat stood and watched as the WindClan patrol blinked gratefully to her and turned and melted into the heart of the moorlands. At the last moment, Jaytalon glanced back and struck her with those electric blue eyes.

With a deep breath of resolve, the young apprentice stepped forward and followed the slender warriors into the heart of the moorlands.

The sky above purred quietly, low and deep in its throat.