Starlight glimmers against the surface of a perfectly still pool of water. The pale, starlit grass stretched for as long as my eyes could see, vanishing into the silver-flecked black sky. I looked around, realizing that I didn't know where I was.

Like any other cat, I've had my share of dreams and nightmares, but I've never dreamed my way into another place, a place unfamiliar to me. I pressed myself against the grass, rolling onto my back to look at the stars. It all felt real, and yet surreal. The stars seemed so close that I almost felt I could touch them, move them with the tip of my tail.

A sudden glow illuminated the clearing for a heartbeat, and Leafpool appeared, her amber eyes glittering. I stood up and shook out my long grey coat, preparing to rush over to the medicine cat, but another two flashes of light stopped me in my tracks. A pretty young tortoiseshell and broad-faced grey elder appeared. Leafpool murmured something too softly for me to hear. I wriggled closer, afraid of attracting attention.

"Leafpool." The dark grey she-cat purred. "You've been doing well with your apprentice, I see."

Great, I thought, licking my tail. Even in dream worlds, all cats can ever talk about is O Mighty Jaypaw? Give me a break.

The tortoiseshell cat flicked her ears at her two companions. "As well as you should be," she said briskly, "But there is something else we must warn you of."

I could feel my heart begin to race in my chest as I crept a little closer, painfully aware of the grasses I was rustling. Thornclaw'd sure be mad at me if he saw me creeping along like this. He'd say I'm a three-legged badger! I thought, forcing down a purr.

"What is it?" Leafpool pressed, her amber eyes sparkling.

The broad grey elder shook her head, and her tail swished in the cold night air. "Not even StarClan can prophesize the danger coming to the forest," she murmured sadly. "Not just ThunderClan, but the fate of the forest is in the balance." She swished her tail, glancing deep into Leafpool's eyes.

Leafpool looked as startled and confused as I was. Danger? I woundered. Sure, it's leaf-bare, but that's not danger. We get through it every year. "Wh-why are you telling me this, Yellowfang?" she asked at last, with an uneasy flick of her brown tabby ears.

The tortoiseshell spoke up, her voice like a gentle melody compared to the wheezing of the dark grey cat. "We know that danger is coming, Leafpool," she mewed. "In the near future."

Leafpool looked frightened. "Why can't—won't you tell me anymore?" she persisted. I could see the fear glowing in her eyes and bristling in her pelt, and her tone of voice told me she was more concerned than even I could see. I had never seen Leafpool raise her voice before.

"We don't know anymore," the tortoiseshell said softly. "I would tell you if I knew. StarClan would never let the Clans suffer."

"When we know more, we'll send a dream," wheezed the dark grey cat. "Farewell, Leafpool."

Leafpool stood up. "Farewell, Yellowfang. Farewell, Spottedleaf," she murmured. "I will do my best to protect my Clan."

"We would expect no less from you, Leafpool," the dark cat mewed, vanishing along with her tortoiseshell companion. Leafpool glanced around, her eyes surveying the clearing. For a moment, my heart stopped in my throat as I thought that she had found me, but she, too, disappeared. I closed my eyes, feeling a rush of warmth and amber light pressing in on me. I opened my eyes and realized that I had been dreaming.

"Hey, Lilypaw!" I recognized Hollypaw's dark fur and green eyes. "I just spoke to Thornclaw. He's going out hunting with Brightheart and Brackenfur, and he told you to make yourself useful around the camp 'till sunhigh."

I looked up groggily. "Thanks, Hollypaw," I groaned, sitting up and shaking scraps of moss out of my fur. "I'll do that." I squeezed out of the gap between the bramble walls of the den, sitting in a clump of heather near the camp entrance, watching Clan life begin to stir around me.

My heart almost skipped a beat as Leafpool emerged from Firestar's den, her fur glowing with the early-morning sunlight. Was she telling Firestar about those two cats in that dream?

Mousebrain! I thought suddenly, my tail slapping against my cheek. What would make you think that she even had that dream? I mean, it was my dream… I watched as she glanced around the camp and, to my surprise, headed towards me.

"Lilypaw!" she mewed softly, flicking her tail for me to join her. Hesitantly, I got up, padding over. My mind traced back to the mallow I helped Jaypaw sort through the previous day. Maybe I accidentally put in some frostbitten herbs? I wondered, bowing quickly in greeting.

"H-hi, Leafpool," I mewed quickly, remembering the shocked expression she had worn last night in the dream. "What do you need?"

Leafpool's amber eyes gazed deep into mine. "I wanted you to help me collect catnip," she said at last. "Near the Twolegplace. We'd have to cross the Thunderpath. Think you're up for it?"

She didn't know that I was there! I thought, taking a few steps through the snow. The constant padding of pawsteps had hardened the snow into a slick, slippery coating of ice, and we skidded past the guards, Berrynose and Dustpelt, watching the camp entrance.

We walked for a little while in silence, the only sound being the crunching of our paws against the snow. My dream kept rushing back to my mind, however often I kept telling myself, you mouse-brain! Leafpool really wasn't there!

My curiosity, however, got the best of me. I felt unusually subdued and quiet as I mewed: "Hey, Leafpool? Did you have a dream last night?"

Leafpool did a double-take, her tail lashing. "Wh-why?" she asked.

"With a tortoiseshell queen and an old grey elder?" I pressed, feeling anticipation rising in my stomach like bile.

"How did you know?"

I paused, looking for the right words. "I…I was there." I confessed at last, feeling the knot in my stomach tighten further. Leafpool looked neither shocked nor angry, just purely confused and…could it be? Amazed?

"You saw Yellowfang and Spottedleaf?" she asked after what felt like nine lifetimes of silence. "You heard what they told me?"

I considered my answer carefully. "You mean, about how there's danger coming to the forest, only StarClan can't tell what?" I blurted out bluntly, leaping over a log. I knew I sounded stupid, but Leafpool's whiskers were quivering with what looked like pure surprise.

"And you saw this? What do you think?"

"I think? I saw two dead cats?" I suggested, picking my way through a clump of tall, dead reeds.

Leafpool looked surprised. "Not just dead cats!" she insisted. "They were medicine cats of ThunderClan before me! They're warriors of StarClan! And…it wasn't your dream!"

I flinched. "So you're mad at me?" I snapped. "Mad at me for falling asleep?"

"Not mad!" Leafpool mewed. "I'm surprised! I never knew that there'd be…another cat that could do that!" she looked around awkwardly. The stench of Thunderpath fumes were rising, and I realized that we'd walked all the way to the Thunderpath.

Leafpool didn't look like she had any intention of crossing, though. "I thought only…only…"

I thought about what Leafpool had said. "You knever knew there'd be another cat?" I asked. "Another cat to do what? Who has before?"

Amber eyes burned into mine, and I shifted uncomfortably under her fierce gaze. "Lilypaw, it's a wonderful gift," she mewed, in a state of clear preamble. "Do you realize what this means?"

"I can see dead cats without them walking into my dreams?" I guessed. Seriously, it sounded stupid, but that was really what I thought. I mean, who cares?

Leafpool stared at me like I was crazy. "Think about it, Lilypaw. You could go places that StarClan didn't know you were. Could learn secrets of the other Clans…"

"You want me to be a spy for ThunderClan?" I asked incredulously. I mean, I always thought that it would be against the Warrior Code to use your powers for evil…

"No, Lilypaw, but think." She paused, looking thoughtfully. "Do you know how we were able to save WindClan from the dog attack a few moons back?"

I shrugged. "No. Not really." I thought carefully. "Was it…the other cat who can walk in other's dreams?"

Dipping her head, Leafpool added, "Don't you get what you can do?"

It hit me like a wave. I could save the forest, or I could turn the Clans against each other with this power. I could learn things about the Clans and I could find out what's going on. Maybe why Blackstar was acting like such a lump of fox dung… "Who was the other that could walk in other cat's dreams?" I asked. "I mean, that cat could be a hero." I thought back to the dream, and somehow I already knew.

"Not…" I whispered softly, "Jaypaw?"

Slightly rushed chapter, I know, but leading up to something good, I promise! Also, if you are reading this, I'd be thrilled if you could review with whatever you think, even if it's, 'you idiot! Your writing is awful!' …constructive criticism is always good.

Apolo