Promisepaw dropped down from the fence. She padded up to Trickster. The kittypet gave her fur a sniff, his eyes closing with the blissful scents of forest. The shiny bell on his kittypet collar jingled softly as he moved. "Trickster? Is that who you are?"

"Yes. And are you Promisepaw?"

"Yes, I am." Promisepaw's tail twitched. "Why? How do you know me?"

"I had a dream about you," meowed Trickster. "I dreamed I was out in my housefolk's gardens in the nighttime. I was prowling around, not really hunting." He paused, then added, "You know, I almost caught this sparrow once, and I'm an expert mouser. Although my housefolk don't seem to like the mice I catch for them. You know, I was wondering if maybe you could—"

"Your dream, Trickster?" Promisepaw pressed. Trickster blinked.

"Oh, yeah. My dream! Well, I was prowling around, you know, like I like to do when I'm bored. Anyways, all of a sudden, from the forest, there's this huge flash of light. I'm just standing there, mouth open. And...then you come out of the forest, all glowy and bright. 'Who are you?' I ask. 'My name is Promisepaw,' you say, in this same voice you have now. And then you're like, 'StarClan has chosen you.' 'StarClan? Who's StarClan and what are they choosing me for?'"

Promisepaw waited while Trickster took care of an itch behind his ear. The ginger kittypet continued, "Well, you look at me funny, kind of like you're doing now. 'StarClan are everything,' you say. 'They're the cry of a newborn kit, the unity of a Clan, the bond between mentor and apprentice. StarClan are the frost on the ground, the leaves on the trees, the air we breathe. And they have called you to follow their will, Trickpaw.'"

"Wait, wait," Promisepaw mewed, waving her tail to stop Trickster's speech. "I called you Trickpaw? Trickpaw?"

"Yeah. Why? Is there something I don't get here?"

Promisepaw started to pace anxiously. "This is so cool! I mean, StarClan called a...I mean they actually wanted a...to..." She looked up at the confused kittypet. "Let me explain. In the Clans, we name young cats after an attribute, such as their black tail. While they are still in the nursery, we refer to them by that attribute, and the title of 'kit,' like Blackkit. Then, when they're six moons old, they are apprenticed to a warrior, and the kit becomes 'paw.' Now our apprentice's name is Blackpaw. Am I going too fast for you?"

"No, I get it. What else?"

"Well, when the cat completes their warrior training, they take on a warrior name that best suits them or their attribute. Blackpaw's name would likely become Blacktail. Let's say Blacktail becomes deputy of ExampleClan, and his Clan leader dies. Then Blacktail would share dreams with StarClan, be granted nine lives, and take on the name of Blackstar."

Trickster's eyes widened. "So wait...you're saying that this StarClan wants me to change my name...?"

"And join a Clan. Yes, that's exactly what I think they want from you." Promisepaw laid her tail on his flank. "In fact, I think you should come with me, Trickster. StarClan has chosen the two of us for greatness."

Trickster looked uncertain. "But wait...you never told me how you knew my name."

Promisepaw told him everything about her dream. The kittypet listened in wide-eyed awe. His fur rose, his eyes blazed hungrily at the description of the dream, almost as if he wanted to hear more, to see more, to be in the dream himself. When the white she-cat stopped, he was speechless. "By the way," Promisepaw mewed. "Before I woke up, you said something about pellets. What was that all about?"

Trickster laughed. "Oh, that. Yeah, it's funny, really. See, I woke up from my dream because my housefolk were filling my bowl with more pellets. They do it every morning."

"How many moons are you?" Promisepaw asked curiously.

"Me? Just over eight moons, you?"

"Eight moons tomorrow, or so Riverstar says." Promisepaw looked around. "Will you do it? Will you leave behind the life of a kittypet and return to the wild?"

Trickster looked around as if expecting to see a chorus of ghostly cats urging him to leave his housefolk behind. He shivered excitedly. This was the chance he had been waiting for his whole life, a chance to break away from his mundane life and start a new one, filled with danger. He opened his mouth to say yes, there was nothing more he wanted when suddenly—

Promisepaw let out a screech of terror as a hefty weight crashed into her back. She whirled around to see a bulky brown cat staring her down. He raised a paw, claws extended, to swipe at her. Promisepaw was afraid, then she noticed the speed he was coming at her. Slow kittypet, she thought, ducking under the blow as easily as if he had been standing still. With a twist of her thin body, she landed on his back and dug her claws and fangs into his fur. The kittypet yowled.

"Cocoa! No! She's not—!" Trickster shouted. "Promisepaw, don't hurt—!" The two cats kept squalling, Promisepaw always coming out on top of her soft, fat opponent. Trickster threw back his head and wailed angrily. The fight stopped. "Cocoa, off of her; Promisepaw, leave him alone."

Trickster waited until Cocoa and Promisepaw had separated. "What're you thinkin', Trick?" Cocoa mewed disbelievingly. "That's a forest cat! Ya can't trust 'em as far as ya can throw 'em!" Promisepaw raised her hackles and spat. "Look at him! I bet he was gonna lure ya into one of them false senses of security, then grab ya and eat ya!"

"For starters, that's a she-cat," Trickster meowed. "Her name is Promisepaw and she's—"

"Promisepaw? Hah! Leave it to them stupid savage cats to think up dumb names like that! See, now you and me, Trickster and Cocoa, easy to pronounce. Ya don't get lost in the sybalulls...er, byllasuls...uh...symbalills..."

Promisepaw gave a series of coughs that sounded remarkably like "Syllables, you stupid furball!" Trickster gave her an angry glare, but the forest cat ignored him, wrapping her tail smugly over her paws.

"Listen, Cocoa, these forest cats are a lot smarter than us kittypets, and—"

"Kittypets? Where'd ya get a word like than?"

"It's the forest cats' word. Anyways, they have ghosts that watch over them and give them weird messages to figure out. Well, I'm a part of one of those messages. Promisepaw says I have to go with her and live in the forest."

"NO!" there was a yowl from the other fence. Trickster, Cocoa, and Promisepaw turned to see a she-cat running towards them. Her fur reminded Promisepaw of Sunface's. She wore a white collar around her neck. She pushed her muzzle into Trickster's fur. "I won't let you leave."

"Sweetheart..." Trickster muttered, his whiskers twitching with embarrassment. Promisepaw felt a twinge of jealousy; she wouldn't mind pushing her nose into Trickster's pelt. But then she remembered her duty to StarClan: medicine cats were forbidden to have kits. No matter what happened, she and Trickster would never be mates.

"Listen, Sweetheart, I have to leave. This whole GhostClan thing says I have to. And they're everything, like the fur on our tails...or the fruit on the trees...or the sound of our housefolk's voice...or something like that..." The kittypet tom shook his head, looking bewildered. "Look, I have to go. There's nothing I can do about it. I'll come back and visit you, though!"

Promisepaw kept her mouth shut. She wasn't about to tell him that the warrior code forbade mingling with Twolegs or kittypets. Ah, but you sent him to me in a dream, she thought to her warrior ancestors. So technically, I'm not breaking the warrior code here. You led me to Trickster. You even sent him a dream!

Sweetheart whimpered softly and nuzzled even closer to Trickster. The tom rolled his eyes. Cocoa gave his old friend a rough nudge. Promisepaw studied Trickster carefully, then meowed, "Have your Twolegs taken you to the Cutter yet?"

"The Cutter? Who's that?"

"Have they taken you to..." Promisepaw tried to remember what her mentor had told her about kittypets. Their Twoleg owners took them to a Twoleg called the Cutter, who took away their tomhood or queenhood. The kittypets then became lazy and complacent, not even caring to continue the future of their ancestors. But there had been a description...Seedgrowth had once spoken with a kittypet who had been there. "...a place that smells of Twolegs and dogs? And something more...something foul? Filled with bright lights and cold surfaces?"

Trickster thought, then nodded. "Oh, you must mean the vet. Yeah, I've been there a few times. Why?"

"Have they...taken your..." Promisepaw tried to make motions for him to understand. Trickster looked confused, thoroughly lost. "Did they cut..."

Cocoa, surprisingly, caught right on. "She wants to know if they have fixed you," he meowed. Trickster shook his head.

"No, not yet. Although, my housefolk keep talking about the day I'm getting it done. It's sometime next moon." He closed his eyes and purred happily. "And then I'll be just like all the other toms around here. I'll finally belong."

Promisepaw almost bristled with horror. "They'll take away your tomhood!" she hissed.

"So? Then I can choose any she-cat I want to mate with, and neither of us has to worry about taking care of the kittens." Trickster put his head to the side. "You make it sound like losing that is a bad thing."

"You'll get lazy!"

"I'll be more at peace with the world."

"You'll never have little kits running around and calling you Father!"

"Who wants that? I never want to grow up! This way, I'll stay young forever!"

Promisepaw opened her mouth to protest. Then she realized that no matter what she said, Trickster would counter it. She thought hard. There had to be something...Of course! Pointing to the plump kittypet called Cocoa, she mewed, "If you let them Cut you, you'll wind up like him."

"So? Cocoa's a nice cat."

"No. You'll get all fat and—"

"HEY!" Cocoa yowled. Promisepaw ignored him cooly.

"—and you'll never be able to hunt again. You'll lose all of your will to stalk prey. Ask Cocoa." She turned to the tabby. "Do you like to hunt?" she asked. Cocoa shook his head violently.

"No way! All that gross blood and stuff! Besides, stuff moves too fast. I don't care anymore. I mean, it used to be fun and all, but now it's just stupid..."

Trickster looked horrified. Promisepaw turned to Sweetheart. "Yes, I've been fixed," she meowed, answering the apprentice's unspoken question.

"And what about toms?" Promisepaw asked. "What do they mean to you now? How do you see them? What do you think about kittens?"

"Kittens are nice and all," Sweetheart admitted. "I mean, I really do like you, Trick. It's just...I don't love you. I used to but ever since my operation...I don't know. I can't love anymore. At least, not toms. And I never get those urges to roam at night and yowl for toms to come and play with me." She shook her head. "Now it seems so...like Cocoa said...stupid."

Trickster's eyes were wide with shock. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Cocoa though hunting was stupid. Sweetheart didn't love toms anymore. Everything he had known was shattered by this tiny, white wildcat. Nothing was the same. Housefolk were Twolegs. They didn't take care of him, they controlled his future. He was their kittypet puppet. He turned to Promisepaw, mouth agape. "They're...not being serious...are you?" He turned back to his friends.

"Totally truthful," Cocoa confirmed.

"Well...yes," Sweetheart mewed, looking at her paws.

Promisepaw licked Trickster's flank gently. "Look, if you don't want to come, I understand. I'll leave out of your life if you want me to."

"No," the kittypet croaked. "No. I'm...coming with you. Just...I need some time to...think about everything. Can you...come back...tomorrow?"

"I'll be here at sunhigh," Promisepaw mewed. "On the fence. I'll wait for you, Trickster. But at sundown, I'm going back to my Clan, all right? After that, I won't come back here. If you decide to join, it will be up to you to find my Clan." She waited until he nodded his assent. Then, dipping her head to Cocoa and Sweetheart, she added, "Nice to meet you," and leapt on top of the fence. She glanced over her shoulder one last time at Trickster, who was being comforted by his two kittypet friends.

Promisepaw's tail twitched slightly. Trickster saw the gesture. She's...she's asking me to join her! She's beckoning for me...He felt as though a piece of his heart was walking away from him as Promisepaw gathered herself up and jumped over the edge of the fence, back into the forest where she belonged.