"Okay. Its a long shot, but its the only thing I can think of..." Swiftpaw took a deep breath. Emberpaw pricked his ears. "We wait until she comes with her piece of fresh-kill, or until someone brings it for her. I'm sure we can find some poppy seeds around here..."

"Poppy seeds?" Emberpaw asked, frowning.

"Fernshade used them on me when I twisted my paw during battle training. It puts you to sleep." She explained, her eyes now shining with excitement.

"What does that have to do with us escaping?" He couldn't follow her train of thought.

"One of us has to distract her, and the other one needs to put the poppy seeds in her fresh-kill." She talked faster. "That's the part of the plan that's the long shot- getting her complete attention away long enough so that she leaves her fresh-kill unattended. The cat putting it in her fresh-kill has to make sure to poke the seeds in with with a claw, to guaruntee that Softpetal will eat it. I think it'll just take four seeds to put her to sleep- Fernshade used only two on me, and she's a full-grown cat."

Emberpaw frowned. "But how does drugging the medicine cat get us out?"

"Both of us will 'wake up' during moonhigh, 'find' the medicine cat, and 'realize' that she won't wake up. We run out frantically up to the guard and talk over each other in a panic, saying that something is wrong with her. While the guard goes to check on her, we escape."

Emberpaw blinked, thoroughly impressed. "That's...wow."

"Do you think it'll work?" Swiftpaw's voice suddenly gained a shy note, and she looked at her paws.

Emberpaw shrugged. "Who knows? But its worth a shot," he added.

Swiftpaw purred. "Great. So, the only question left is, who will do what?"

Emberpaw flexed his remaining claws, and winced. "Ill do the distraction," he offered, though it made his heart pound. "I know just the way to do it, too."

"Alright." Swiftpaw quickly stood up. "Lets hurry up and find those poppy seeds."

It only took the apprentices a few moments to find them, and Swiftpaw held them by licking her paw pad and getting the seeds to stick. They were small and round, so it was unlikely that any cat would find them in a piece of prey, especially if they weren't looking for it. They sat back down in Swiftpaw's nest just in time for Softpetal to come back, muttering angry words under her breath. "Elders...think they know better than a medicine cat..." She glanced at the two apprentices, but said nothing about them sharing a nest.

The medicine cat disappeared down a small tunnel that branched off from the main den, which Emberpaw assumed was where she slept.

"When do you think she'll go and grab food?" He whispered, barely making a sound.

Swiftpaw shrugged, being careful not to move her paw which held the seeds. "It's only sunhigh," she murmured, glancing up at the light filtering through the small cracks. The medicine den clearly needed to be reinforced, but neither apprentice decided it was important enough to bring up. "So she'll probably wait until later."

The two apprentices settled into an uneasy silence, both getting more anxious as the time passed. Emberpaw wondered what Nettlestem would think about their plan. Then he wondered what Nettlestem was thinking in general, with him being held captive in ShadowClan. Then his thoughts drifted to Mistlekit and Mockingkit. They would think that this was the coolest, most daring adventure ever. It lifted his spirits imagining their wide eyes and gasps as he told them all about what he went through.

Then he thought about Aspenleaf. His mentor had to feel horrible about his idea that led to two apprentices almost dying. Not only was it going to effect his status as a warrior, but also as deputy. Emberpaw felt guilty at the anger he had felt towards his mentor before. It almost seemed like it had come out of nowhere, making him unreasonable.

"I'm glad I at least have someone with me for this," Swiftpaw mewed suddenly, snapping Emberpaw out of his thoughts. "It would have been awful to deal with this alone."

He shook his head. "I'm the reason we're here in the first place. If I could've just climbed the stupid tree, none of this would have happened."

She shrugged. "You never know. If we had been up in that tree, the dog could have turned towards the camp. It would have been a disaster if that happened."

Emberkit thought of Mistlekit and Mockingkit facing the dog's wrath, and his fur bushed out. They would have been a play-thing for the dog, and one of them could easily fit inside the thing's enormous mouth. "Do dogs eat cats?" He wondered aloud. Could we have become a meal, like prey is to us?

The other apprentice shrugged again. "I've never heard stories of it happened, but that doesn't mean it hadn't happened before..." They both shivered.

It weirdly put things into perspective for Emberpaw. There were things bigger and strongest than the best warrior. Even a cat like Blazestar would have been no match on his own. Cats aren't invincible, and we aren't the most dangerous thing out there. No matter how strong or fast a thing is, there will always be something else stronger and faster.