Shadowpaw was the first awake. The dark queen padded to the edge of the makeshift den and poked her muzzle out into the chilly air. The snow had stopped falling for now, but the sound of the howling wind remained as it scoured the moor. She snorted softly. "This is not good. How will we even know if we're on the right path?" She shook her head. "We won't be able to follow our pawsteps back to the barn."

"Could be worse," Sunpaw murmured. "We could be too late."

"How do you know we aren't?" Shadowpaw turned back to gaze at the cat as he awoke.

"I don't know...I just have this mean feeling we'll make it in time." The gold-striped tomcat padded up and pushed his muzzle against hers. Shadowpaw felt a happy purr rumble in her chest. As long as he was here...everything would be all right.

"What should we do today?" she asked. "I mean, we're going to freeze if we try going out in that. Literally. That's why SwampClan rarely leaves...left their camp in leaf-bare. If you're wet, you're dead."

"But at the same time, we should try to get there as soon as possible."

Shadowpaw glanced back at the sleeping forms of the other cats. "In the end, it's Promisepaw's decision," she meowed. "After all, it was her dream that led us out here in the first place. She's the one who will have the final say."

Sunpaw sighed softly and stretched out beside Shadowpaw. The dark she-cat curled her body next to his. "I'm glad you're here with me, Shadowpaw," he mewed. "I'm also really glad that there's a she-cat on this journey who I can fall in love with."

"Is that all you ever talk about, you stupid furball? Love?" Shadowpaw teased. Sunpaw purred.

"I'm a tomcat. It's what we do."

"Sorry to break up the little circle of love," the voice of Wavepaw meowed, "but some of us like to sleep!"

"Go stalk a fox, Wavepaw!" Promisepaw growled. Trickpaw grunted angrily and flopped over onto his other side. Shadowpaw let a mrrow of laughter escape her. They were all old enough to be warriors, but they all insisted on acting like apprentices.

"Promisepaw, are we going out at all today?"

"Whatever you want, Shadowpaw. You're by the entrance. You can tell better than I can."

"Looks cold and nasty."

"Then we're staying in."

"I'm hungry."

"Then go out and hunt, Wavepaw. I'm not your mentor."

Shadowpaw curled up closer against Sunpaw's warm flank and closed her eyes. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad...spending a day of sleeping...all cuddled up with Sunpaw...

.-''-.-''-.-''-.

"Shadowpaw!"

"I'm..." Shadowpaw rolled over onto her side, blinking in the darkness of the cave where she and the others had sheltered. Her whiskers gave the ripple of a rat creeping through swampgrass. "...yeah, I'm...whatever..."

"Come on, wake up, already! Everyone else is already outside! The wind stopped, let's go! Come on!"

"Wavepaw, if you poke me one more time, I'll feed your paw to the badgers!"

The silver cat who had awoken her was clearly ready to set off; he was skipping and dancing in front of her, green eyes glimmering. Shadowpaw gave a bad-tempered growl and shoved him out of her way. She squinted in the icy glare that met her eyes.

"Glad to see you're awake, Shadowpaw," meowed Sunpaw. He stood tall and sleek, nose pointing into the occasional wind that scattered the powdery surface snow. "We've got a big day ahead of us."

"Great StarClan, was that why Wavepaw was acting like a rabbit with birth pains?"

Promisepaw purred. "No. We told him to wake you up at all costs," she replied. "Needless to say, he accepted without hesitation."

"If it gave him the chance to annoy me, I suppose he would have."

Shadowpaw shivered, fluffing out her dark gray fur to keep the chill out. She padded up beside Trickpaw for a change of pace. The tom was alternately shooting Promisepaw looks of pure sorrow, and giving Wavepaw glares so fiery Shadowpaw wondered if they would melt the snow around the cats. She had no time to wonder any more. Promisepaw flung her tail into the air, the agreed signal for "Follow me."

As she pushed through the heavy drifts, Shadowpaw glanced over at Trickpaw. "What's up with you?" she asked under her breath.

"Wavepaw thinks he can take Promisepaw while she's turned away from me," the tom growled. "But he's wrong!"

"Trickpaw, why do you even care? Yes, Promisepaw is a nice cat, and I admit she is very beautiful, but she's out of your reach. Wavepaw can't 'take' her from you because it's against the warrior code for you to even 'have' her in the first place."

"I don't care." Trickpaw snorted snow from his nostrils angrily. "I love her!"

"Have you been listening to anything we've said to you? You can't love her!"

"Go pad after Sunpaw, Shadowpaw!" Trickpaw snapped. "Don't tell me how to live my life!"

Shadowpaw stopped in her tracks. Her amber eyes hardened. "Fine. I will. I just hope you remember that there are plenty of she-cats in PromiseClan for you to fall in love with, who are willing to fall in love with you. You're a sweet-natured, handsome tomcat. Don't come meowing to me when Riverstar breaks you and Promisepaw up."

She slunk back to the end of the group, tail bristling, ears flat to her skull. Why had she even bothered? Trickpaw was impossible! She barely felt Sunpaw twining his tail with hers. Her eyes narrowed. A word surfaced in her mind as she glared and the ginger cat. "Sorrowheart!" she yowled at his back. For an instant, she saw a flicker of black fur padding beside Trickpaw. Then it was gone. She shook her head rapidly. All the others were staring at her.

"Sorrowheart?" Promisepaw repeated, turning to look at her curiously. Shadowpaw shook her whole body this time, blinking hard.

"Er...sorry. Don't know where that came from..."

"Yeah..." Wavepaw shivered, his thick pelt fluffing out around him. "Keep your random outbursts to yourself, Shadowpaw."

Shadowpaw, for the first time in her life, was embarrassed. She felt her fur flush hot with shame. Then she slumped back into her former, angry state. But confusion was mingled with her fury. Sorrowheart sounds like it could be a warrior name...a very unfortunate one, though. What queen would call their kit Sorrowkit? It doesn't make any sense! And yet...I swear by the stars of Silverpelt that there was another cat walking beside Trickpaw. Was it...a sign?

.-''-.-''-.-''-.

The going was rough that day. Many times cats pleaded to be allowed a few minutes' rest. Shadowpaw was on pins and needles, fear and anxiety pricking her pawpads like tiny insect claws. The more she thought about it, the more she believed she had seen some ghastly premonition from StarClan...one that warned of the broken future for Trickpaw and Promisepaw.

.-''-.-''-.-''-.

"Slip past the Twoleg and enter the lairs," murmured Sunpaw. Shadowpaw nodded, wincing as a sharp branch poked her in the side. The group was crouched in a cluster of leafless bushes outside a large Twoleg wall.

"I don't see a Twoleg anywhere," she muttered. Sunpaw shrugged.

"In this weather? They wouldn't dare go out in this cold."

Shadowpaw shivered lightly, and Sunpaw draped his thick tail over her shoulders to warm her up. The dark queen purred, feeling warmth spread through her, not only from the furry tail.

"What's next?" Promisepaw asked.

"Past Bearplace and Houndplace, don't give up hope," Sunpaw hissed. "Well, since we're not in any danger of being seen by a Twoleg, let's find Moonchild."

Promisepaw gave the tail-signal, and padded from the bushes. She was followed by Wavepaw, then Sunpaw and Shadowpaw, with Trickpaw taking up the rear. Shadowpaw looked from side to side, hoping to see a friendly face peering out from behind the silver branches that made up shiny dens. She saw nothing, and kept walking.

.-''-.-''-.-''-.

Starchild nuzzled the cool, white shape of her mother sadly. The chubby fox kit sighed to herself, then turned her eyes up at the wall. She spotted her mother's entries to the astral charts. Placing her plump paw on the delicately carved runes, she read, "When the river rises to meet the sun...That's older than I am. That can't be useful." She ran her foot down further. "Hope, Shadows, Fire, and Water...Still not recent enough. This. Here we are."

Starchild squinted closer at her mother's final carving. "What? This one is not a prophecy...it's an actual account...My dearest child...The star-cats have called me. I can only leave you this one final message...Go with the living cats. The Men will take my body when they awaken. Take my wisdom quickly...Aid the living cats...remember that unless they are brave, they will not survive..." The milky gray fox burst into a wail of anguish. "Motherrrr!"

.-''-.-''-.-''-.

"What a shame. Arabella is dead." Jim's voice carried undertones of sorrow. "I really liked that old fox. She was smart, whatever anyone else said. I swear I saw her writing on the walls of her cave."

"Well, we all knew that day was going to come," Amy soothed. "I'm just grateful that we were able to wean the cub before she went. Take the body and put it in the freezer."

"Why?"

"Someone's coming to cure her pelt. We're going to display it in the arctic exhibit along with the little igloo and penguin toys. Maybe display it so people can touch it. She was a soft thing."

Jim carefully lifted the Arctic fox's body from the back of the den. He carried it close to his chest and buried his nose in the long, snowy fur. Amy gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "It's gonna be okay," she murmured. "Don't worry. She's in a better place now."

The young man sighed. "Well, at least we won't be without a fox," he said, trying to sound optimistic. "What did the little kids call her? That kindergarten group we had come through when she was born?"

"They wanted her name to be Eskimo. We let them have their way while they were in earshot, but eventually we decided that was her name. Kinda cute, I think."

Jim nodded and let Arabella's body come to rest in a small box in the freezer. Taking out a Sharpie, he wrote 'Arctic Fox—corpse' in bold letters. Then he let the door fall shut and walked away, grieving for his lost fox.

.-''-.-''-.-''-.

"Here's the place," Promisepaw panted. "Here's where we meet Moonchild."

"How do you know?" Shadowpaw asked curiously.

"It's just a feeling I have...hard to explain, really."

"Soon you will find her, but wait until night...When the silver moon shines down, howl at her cave," Sunpaw recited. "It should be getting to be time soon."

Shadowpaw cast the skies a swift glance. "But there's all those clouds. What if there's no moon? Should we howl anyways?"

"Why not?" Wavepaw came up behind his companions and shrugged. "It's the only way, right?" He turned to Trickpaw, a question in his gaze. Trickpaw turned his head away.

"Sure." He reminded Shadowpaw of a cornered muskrat spitting between its front teeth.

The shivering cats sat down to wait for any signs of thinning clouds. Promisepaw offered they howl at even the slightest clearing of sky. Wavepaw suggested that they howl now and get it over with. Sunpaw said that if Wavepaw didn't stop trying to rush this mission, he—Sunpaw—would feed him to a bear...whatever a bear was. Shadowpaw did not say anything, but noted Trickpaw's pricked ears. She listened in as well, and heard the sound of soft, sleepy breathing.

"Wait until night means wait until night," she whispered. "Because Moonchild and Starchild are asleep right now."

Just then, a ray of pure light cut through the dim darkness that surrounded the apprentices. Shadowpaw stood up and tipped her head back. She felt every hardship she had faced alone built up in her throat: Thornheart's betrayal, running from SwampClan, watching Breezepaw and Sixclaw be driven from their birth Clan. They manifested themselves into a sound unlike that of any cat. A chilling, frozen howl. All around her, she heard the sounds of her companions give voice to a howl of their own.

She could hear Wavepaw yowling words: Ripplepaw, Snailpaw. Sunpaw gave voice to a cry of longing for warm, lush meadows. Trickpaw's howl was filled with anger at forbidden love. Promisepaw's howl nearly tore her heart. Shadowpaw could hear broken dreams, shattered love, and uncertainty of future. From the shadows behind the wall in front of the cats came another howl. It was high and cold, and spoke of frozen grief, icy loneliness, and snowy disbelief.

It is strange how much can be heard in the voices of friends, if only one takes the time to listen closely.

The cries, rather than jangle ears and ring discordantly, harmonized perfectly, rising and falling in a song of mixed birth and true unity. Shadowpaw closed her eyes and felt all her soul go into that single howl. Emotion flooded from her paws through her body, and out her open muzzle. She never wanted this moment to end. It was as though everything she had kept hidden was being brought to light, and everyone present understood her inner feelings.

Slowly, steadily, Shadowpaw felt the rush slip from her grasp. Her voice became softer, as did the howls of those around her. Even the frost-tinged voice of the stranger faded into silence. As one, and in perfect time with each other, every creature stopped. Silence fell, but it was a calm, welcome silence. It felt purifying for the dark she-cat.

The silver light flooded the frosty stretch of ground, blazing brightly. Shadowpaw blinked up at the figure of the creamy gray creature that stood at the top of the wall. "Welcome," the arctic-voiced animal barked. "Please, come inside my den and rest. I've been waiting for you all to arrive."