Sunpaw twitched as his name was whispered. Without opening his eyes, he gunted, "Just great, Trickpaw. I was having this awesome dream about hunting with Shadowpaw and..." His eyes opened. "And our mentors were so proud of all they prey we'd caught." He blinked. Where am I? Then he remembered. The prophecy. He had gone out with the others to fulfill it. But hadn't they left Trickpaw at camp?

The golden tomcat stepped into the small cave. He looked around at all of them. "Hey, I thought you guys were going to take me with you," he mewed angrily. Promisepaw licked his ear.

"We were...but then I had another dream from StarClan. One that we felt was too urgent to wait." She sighed. "We were going to take you with us, but things got too important to delay any longer. But now that you're here, you can come with us."

"Right back to camp," Shadowpaw growled. "We found out more about the first prophecy, and now it's even clearer that you shouldn't be involved."

"Shadowpaw," Sunpaw murmured into her dark ear. Shadowpaw turned to him with a look of pity. Self-pity. Sunpaw blinked, not sure what to make of the look on the she-cat's face. He turned back to Trickpaw. "Well, it's too far back to camp, and if we go back, the warriors won't let us leave a second time."

"Looks like we're stuck with you, Trickpaw," Wavepaw meowed, batting the other apprentice's ear playfully. "Welcome to the Prophecy Fulfillers." He looked around at the annoyed faces. "What? That's what I've decided to call us."

Sunpaw rolled his eyes. "Look, Wavepaw, why don't you just spoil the mood and start telling us jokes? You know, particularly the one you always try to tell about Birdflight when she's not around?"

Wavepaw brightened up considerably. "Sure thing. So, Birdflight goes out on the moonhigh patrol, right? And while she's out there, she smells a rabbit. 'Funny,' she thinks, 'what's a rabbit doing out so late?' So she's stalking through the forest, and all of a sudden—"

The silver tom broke off as Promisepaw shoved his muzzle into the moss that was everywhere in the tunnel. "To make a long joke short," she concluded, "The rabbit is actually a sparrow whose cousin is a hawk." Trickpaw stared. "It's more funny when Birdflight is around."

"Her reaction makes the joke funny," Sunpaw explained. "Wavepaw's jokes are pretty terrible."

"Not th' one 'bout the kittypet an' th' warrior of PlagueClan!" Wavepaw muttered. Promisepaw released his muzzle. "All right, so there's this kittypet. And one day, he meets a warrior of PlagueClan. Now, since he doesn't know of PlagueClan, he thinks the warrior is a—" Again, Promisepaw pushed him down.

"That one's not funny either," she growled.

"Firebelly likes it!"

"Firebelly is almost completely deaf."

"She purrs every time I tell it."

"Because it sounds like your saying a warrior of PreyClan."

"Wavepaw, enough with the corny jokes," Shadowpaw snarled. She turned to Trickpaw. Sunpaw could see a glint of mistrust in her tawny eyes, but her voice was civil. "I say we let Trickpaw come along. Sunpaw is right. We'd never get to leave again, and PromiseClan couldn't be saved."

There was a stunned silence. Trickpaw purred. "Thanks, Shadowpaw," he mewed. Shadowpaw shrugged.

"All right. So Trickpaw is coming with us," Promisepaw reported. "Trickpaw, the new prophecy is Seek the child of stars and moon. Can you guess what it means?"

"I think..." Trickpaw's face screwed up with thought. "I mean...it sounds like something I've heard before...something my mother used to sing to me...I know it's there...But I just can't place it."

"Have you eaten yet?" Sunpaw offered. "I always think better with a full stomach."

"I had a mouse last night while I was trying to track down you guys. But, aside from that, no. I'm pretty hungry. Do you have any fresh-kill?"

"Sorry," Promisepaw mewed.

"Outta luck," Wavepaw added.

"We didn't save any of our catches," Shadowpaw said with a shrug. Trickpaw sighed and padded back out the tunnel.

"I'm going to go hunt. Let me know if I should bring something back."

"I'll come." Sunpaw stood to his paws. Shadowpaw followed him. Soon the other two were hot on Trickpaw's tail.

"We'll split up in pairs," Trickpaw mewed.

"No fair. That means someone's gonna be alone!" Wavepaw protested. "And it'll be me, I just know it."

"You're a big tom. You can take care of yourself." Sunpaw gave Wavepaw a rough nudge, amusement glinting in both cats' eyes. "I'll go with Shadowpaw. Promisepaw can go with Trickpaw. Wavepaw, you're the odd cat out."

Wavepaw spat, his whiskers twitching with amusement. He padded off. "Dibs on the brook!" he mewed over his shoulder.

"We'll take the forest," Promisepaw added. "Which leaves you and Shadowpaw the little field over there." She flicked her tail. "We'll learn the skills of the other Clans that way."

Sunpaw nodded and watched the other cats go off to hunt. He turned to Shadowpaw. "Well, I guess it's you and me," he meowed. "I'll have you hunting like a MeadowClan cat in not time at all!" He bounded off towards the small field. As he ran, he gazed over at Shadowpaw.

Her pelt was dark as a raven's wing, sleek and shiny as one as well. As she ran, her thin body bunched and stretched in fluid leaps, paws extended to grip the soil. Her toes were indeed widely spaced, but they charmed Sunpaw. It made her seem special. Like no cat he had ever seen before. She turned to face him, and Sunpaw noted the glint in her warm amber eyes. He purred as he ran along.

"So, how does MeadowClan hunt?" Shadowpaw asked when they had reached the field. Sunpaw studied the patch of grass carefully. He nodded.

"Well, it might be a little difficult for you. Your paws are much smaller than mine, and that will make it harder for you to dig for your prey." He pointed with his tail to a long bump of earth. "That's a tunnel." He sniffed it. "A gopher tunnel. They're a bit big for an apprentice to tackle alone, but there's two of us. "Now, press your paw on the bump."

Shadowpaw did so, and the roof of the tunnel collapsed, sending a whiff of prey-scent out. "Good. That's the first step: open up the passage. Now, listen. Can you hear that scrabbling? That's the gopher trying to dig its way away from us. Which way is it coming from?"

Shadowpaw flicked her tail behind them. Sunpaw shook his head. "Well, yes and no. The gopher is digging that way, but look behind you. See how the tunnel is moving to the side? It's going that way. Go a few tail-lengths away from where the tunnel is and start to dig. Dig a hole about two paws deep...actually, make it six paws deep."

Sunpaw busied himself with digging a similar hole on the other end of the tunnel. His work complete, he stopped to watch Shadowpaw. The dark apprentice was busily digging her own hole. Sunpaw wondered if perhaps he should tell her that it was hard to dig too deep. She stopped suddenly and crouched in front of the hole. "The gopher will likely have smelled you now. It'll try to run to my end of the tunnel. I'll scare it back to you, and you scare it back to me. We'll do this for a while until it gets worn out." Shadowpaw nodded. Sunpaw waited. Sure enough, the dug portion of the tunnel heaved as the creature within made its way back to the other end.

Sunpaw stuck his paw down the hole and swiped at the gopher. He heard the creature squeak and hurry back to the other end. A few heartbeats later, Shadowpaw swiped at the rodent. Back and forth they went until Sunpaw lost count. Finally, he'd had enough. When the gopher came back to him, he extended his claws and snagged it. Lifting his paw from the tunnel, he displayed the creature proudly. "A good fat one!" he crowed. He tossed it against the ground to stun it and went in for the killing bite.

Shadowpaw crouched beside him, her eyes shining. "That was incredible!" she mewed. Sunpaw nodded proudly.

"Couldn't have done it without your help," he meowed. "You'd make a fine MeadowClan cat, Shadowpaw." Shadowpaw's face shone with pleasure, which was not an expression usually used for such a dark-furred cat. "This great hairball will feed at least two of us. We'll be so fat we won't be able to fight."

Together, the two apprentices padded back to the meeting place, the wet tunnel. Wavepaw was already waiting, a small pile of fish beside him. His green eyes widened when he saw the gopher. "Great StarClan! You brought back a badger cub!"

"I wish," Sunpaw muttered around a mouthful of fur. "I hear DuskClan eats young badgers sometimes."

"I heard it's only during times of little prey," Shadowpaw pointed out. "Which makes more sense. I think badger cub is more of a rarity for them than a gourmet meal."

Trickpaw and Promisepaw appeared a few minutes later with two mice and a swallow. They dropped their catches among the rest of the fresh-kill. Promisepaw studied the other apprentices. "I think we're lucky," she meowed. "Leaf-fall is coming up quickly, and we've caught so much fresh-kill." As if to accent her remark, a vivid red leaf landed on her nose. She shook it off with a snort and a purr.

Gathered around as one group, the apprentices feasted. But, as Promisepaw commanded them to do, they left the mice and bird for later. "They're easier to carry. We should leave tomorrow."

Sunpaw said nothing during his meal. He was too busy enjoying the gopher with Shadowpaw. Their gazes never wavered, and Sunpaw was sure that deep inside...beyond all of her sharp remarks and shyness...he could see a flicker of the loving, playful she-cat that lived inside his friend.