Chapter Two

The forest was now pale with soft oranges and hues of crimson. A black cat crouched in the undergrowth with her tail straight behind her. It had been approximately three moons since she had began her training as a warrior in WillowClan. he autumn breeze was cool and soothing when the intensity of the sun was beating on her midnight pelt. iThis is it, my first assessment, and his final, /i she thought, feeling a hint of sadness when she realized what she was thinking. iWe will no longer share the same den. /i Her ears flattened when she saw her prey shift before her. Its long ears and short fluffy white tail blew in the wind as it scraped its teeth on the nuts from the above tree.

"You're mine," she thought with satisfaction when the wind changed in her favor.

The she-cat tensed her muscles as she sprung forward with her teeth bared. The rabbit instantly leaped out of her way and toward its burrow just beyond some berry bushed just tail lengths away. iYes!/i her brain screamed. Her eyes lit up with horror as the rabbit took a sudden jolt to the left. She followed quickly behind it as she shouted, "Foxpaw!"

Soon, a fiery red tom was tailing not far behind her. His long limbs allowing him to catch up to her with ease. He pushed forward at his full speed and got ahead of her, but just as he did, the rabbit delved into a burrow between two roots of a willow tree. "Badger dung!" the tom cursed as his chest pulsed with exhausted breaths.

The black she-cat panted along with him but crouched before him apologetically. "I'm so sorry! I've ruined it!" she exclaimed with sadness drenching her meow.

iHe's going to hate me forever!/i "Don't worry about it, we still have time," he stated plainly as he finally caught his breath.

Her ears flattened against her head as a sigh escaped her jaws. iOnly until the sun is swallowed by the willows./i As she looked into the sky she could see the sun grazing the tops of the trees on the horizon. "Let's try by the SeaClan border, theres probably a frog or a water vole nearby," he stated, but his gaze never landed on hers.

iI was right, he hates me. I could have possibly just ruined his only chance to become a warrior./i "Fox dung! Why do I stink at hunting?" she wailed quietly as she followed after him.

"Nightpaw, you are still somewhat new at this. Your skills will develop when you get older," he meowed in response with his nose to the air and his ears angling around.

iSo he thinks of me just as a kit/i, she frowned as the thought crossed her mind. Over the past three moons, the two had practically trained together everyday. They had noticed Willowstar and Greytail would often slink off to be alone, which made Nightpaw believe her mentor and leader would soon announce the arrival of kits within the next couple of moons. Because of this one-on-one training with the ginger tom, she had developed quite intense feelings. Not only was he brave and strong, but he was level-headed and very smart. iThe perfect leader./i

As they approached Goosepaw's burial sight, Foxpaw stopped to pay his respects. Nightpaw let him to so as she sniffed around the area. Her fur was fluffed up as she frantically searched for any sort of scent of prey, but then a thought crossed her mind. iFish!/i

She padded toward the river cautiously and noticed the slippery mud that began to cling to her paws. She made a sour face and decided she had better be careful to not fall into the river. As she peered over the edge, she could see the tiny, silver scales reflect against the sunlight. "Perfect!" she meowed as she licked her jaws.

She lifted a paw and slowly placed it over the water. Her crimson eyes danced and darted from side to side, following the tiny fish. iNow/i she decided as she launched her paw into the water. As she scooped with all her might, the fish came flying out of the water, but with it her paws slipped forward, causing her body to crash against the cold surface of flowing water.. The black cat gave an abrupt shriek as the cold water drenched her body. The current was extremely strong, which caused her head to go under immediately. "Nightpaw!" A cry sounded from the shore.

Her paws churned endless in the deep depths of the river and panic seared through her as she used all her strength to go toward the surface. As her head broke through, water filled her nose and mouth as she cried to the ginger figure racing along the shore. "Nightpaw, hold on!" Foxpaw shouted as his eyes grew wild with worry.

A wave crashed over her head, causing her to go under once more. She tried to force her body to move, but from all her effort before, she had become exhausted. She could feel pressure forcing her limbs to stiffen. She opened her eyes to see endless blue with filtered light shining through from the surface. I'm going to die/i, she thought as darkness began to cloud her vision, but just before she could no longer see, she spotted a glowing face staring at her from within the blue depths, it's icy blue eyes intense, but emotionless. She gaped her mouth open to scream, but nothing came. As the figure opened its mouth, words began to flow from it. She clenched her eyes shut as a voice met her ears, "Not yet."

The voice was thick with age and wisdom; it sent chills down Nightpaw's spine. She didn't have too long to think about it before she felt something tug hard on her scruff. When she was pulled away, the figure vanished into the water, as if it was never there. Within moments, her head broke free from the water and a big gulp of air entered her lungs. She weakly looked toward her savior and saw a handsome brown pelt she didn't recognize. "Where's Foxpaw?" She whimpered, but darkness soon filled her gaze once more, and before she knew it, she was on the SeaClan border with enemy warriors.

"Nightpaw?"

"Let her go!"

"Or what, mange pelt?" Came a different sneer. "She was hunting on our territory! We should take her to Seastar."

Nightpaw's eyes snapped open to see blurry figures standing above her. She looked to her left to see Foxpaw standing on a stone in the middle of the river with his hackles risen and fur bristling. On her other side stood two cats, a handsome dark brown tom with green eyes and a ragged cream she-cat. She tried to move, but her muscles screamed their objections by not allowing her to move without difficulty. She shot Foxpaw a pleading, pathetic glance. Foxpaw twitched his ears and forced his fur to lay flat. His emerald eyes still blazed with hot intensity. "Look, she is just an apprentice. One who is very reckless and one who has only started her training a few moons ago. She didn't mean ant harm, the fish is dead, but I can go retrieve it and give it to you. I am very sorry," Foxpaw offered, his voice steady but pleading.

"Bearclaw, don't give these kits the time of day! It's almost sundown and we need to hunt! Let's take this weasel back to camp!" The she-cat sneered with a flick of her tail.

"That one is hardly a kit, however, this one," the tom meowed with a long look at Nightpaw before he looked at his clanmate. "She seems to be quite young. I don't want to cause too much trouble with WillowClan, Jadeheart," he mumbled to the hasty she-cat as he shot a glimmering glance down to Nightpaw.

She could feel her fur grow hot under his intense stare, but fear still clawed its way at her beating heart. The tom known as Bearclaw leaned down and lifted her by her scruff. Despite the clear objections from his clanmate, he continued forward. She didn't realize how much bigger the tom was compared to her until he lifted her with ease. Panic seared through her as he wadded into the water, her claws extended, but she could not move. Within moments, the tom hauled her onto WillowClan's side of the shore, and dropped Nightpaw onto the grass. "Next time, stay off our territory, Nightpaw," Bearclaw teased with a flick of his tail over her ears.

Nightpaw swallowed hard as Foxpaw darted before her and slapped the SeaClan's warriors tail away. "Leave our territory. I already gave the she-cat the prey," the ginger tom hissed.

The dark brown tom gave a dip of his head and mumbled before he leaped back into the water, "Next time, keep your paws off, unless you want to lose one."

The black apprentice look in shock at the tom, thinking he was talking to her, but in fact, he was directing his comment to Foxpaw, who watched through a narrow emerald gaze. Nightpaw watched the tom swim onto the bank of his border, but Foxpaw blocked her vision further. "Nightpaw, are you okay? You're not hurt are you?" Foxpaw meowed franticly.

The little black she-cat shook her head, "No, but thank you for saving me."

Foxpaw leaned down to her and briefly touched his nose to hers. "Don't ever do something so reckless again. I thought I lost you," he whispered.

Instantly heat consumed her, her eyes grew wide as his warm nose grazed hers. She drew away and cleared her throat, "I did it again. I ruined your chance to become a warrior."

"Actually, no you didn't," a new voice spoke from behind Foxpaw.

The two apprentices turned to see Willowstar and Greytail standing side by side. "Although you didn't complete the task at hand, you did show courage and were very wise when dealing with those SeaClan cats. WillowClan would be very honored to have a warrior like you, Foxpaw," Willowstar meowed with a glance at the grey tom beside her, who nodded approvingly. "Lets get back to camp, we have a ceremony to preform."

Nightpaw watched as Foxpaw's ears perked up. As if he forgot she was even there, he padded past her to head toward camp. "As for you," Willowstar began with a snarl. "You still do not think before you act. Why in the name of StarClan would you hunt for a fish when you have never even been shown how to? Even worse, you have no idea how to swim and you know damn well that is SeaClan's territory."

Nightpaw cowered under her mentor's fierce gaze. "I am happy you are safe, Nightpaw, but as punishment, you will have to take care of the elders, perhaps that will teach you." Willowstar decided with a flick of her tail.

Shakily, Nightpaw stood and shook out her damp pelt. With a sigh, she followed after the patrol with her tail dragging in the dirt. iWhy did I do that? I could have really cost Foxpaw his warriorship, or worse he could have died. Dark Forest, I could have died. /i she cursed at her self as she padded on ward. Suddenly, images from her time in the water flashed before her eyes. That glowing white pelt and harsh blue gaze. "Not yet?" Nightpaw mumbled to herself. "What could that mean?"

She thought about it for a little while before she shook her head. iI was probably just hallucinating from being deprived of air./i She forced herself to push that experience toward the back of her mind, but for some reason, she could not shake the image of that face from her mind. Where had she seen that before?

"From this day forward, Foxpaw, you shall be known as Foxtail. WillowClan honors your bravery and wisdom, and we welcome you as a full member of WillowClan! Congratulations!" Willowstar howled into the crowd of cats just before she placed her nose on his forehead.

In turn, Foxtail licked her shoulder and joined the new warriors, Tigerjaw and Wildfur. Nightpaw scowled as Wildfur curled her tail around Foxtail's. "Foxtail! Foxtail!" the Clan chanted, Nightpaw joining in slightly later.

iNow that he's a warrior, we will never spend time together. What will I do now? Train with Ravenpaw?/i she scowled as she looked at her brother who stood beside his mentor, Lionfang with his tail up high arrogantly. iStupid toms/i

"Nightpaw," a purr entered her thoughts.

Nightpaw turned to see Foxtail's bright ginger fur before her. She flattened her ears when she saw the tom look at her with pride and joy. "Do you like my new name?" he asked her gently.

Nightpaw flicked her ears forward. "Of course, but it doesn't matter what I think. I'm just an apprentice, Foxtail," she meowed with slight sadness edging her meow.

Foxtail flicked his tail as sympathy filled his gaze. "Don't worry, you'll be joining me soon enough," he purred as he flicked his long tail across her nose, causing her to sneeze almost instantly.

She was about to say something, but Willowstar's call sounded, "Nightpaw go on a night patrol with Redrose and Tigerjaw. Foxtail has to stand vigil, ialone/i."

The black pelted apprentice flattened her ears, but was surprised when Foxtail brushed his nose against her cheek. "We can go on patrol tomorrow or something, I'll see you later," he whispered just before he turned and padded away with his long tail flowing behind him.

Nightpaw could feel her fur growing hot, iPatrol? With Foxtail? Alone?/i her toes tingled with excitement so badly that she had to give herself a rough shake before turning to pad to the WillowClan Deputy. "About time you showed up," Redrose scolded with a disdainful flick of her tail.

Nightpaw screwed up her face mockingly when the pale brown she-cat turned around. The deputy was Willowstar's best friend, and they certainly did have a lot in common. The black cat trotted after the small patrol, and was stunned when Tigerjaw padded slower to walk next to her. Nightpaw gave him a wary side glance as the tom strode on. He had made fun of her right up to the point he earned his warrior name just a moon ago, did he suddenly think they could become friends? "So Ravenpaw seems to think you don't believe in StarClan. Is that true?" he asked bluntly, not looking at her for even a moment.

Nightpaw fluffed up her fur. iWhy is that ratbreath spreading roomers about me?/i "So what if I don't?" she stated boldly as she casted him a scornful glance.

She was surprised when the tom looked at her with a shocked expression. "Well, that will get you no where. StarClan exists," he stated with a positive tone.

"And how do you know for sure?"

"Well I was there when Seedpelt got his medicine cat name, don't you remember?" He stated then paused with thought. "I remember him fidgeting in his sleep and feeling as if someone was watching me closely. There was no doubt about it that they exist, Nightpaw. You'd be wise to think about your beliefs, otherwise you might end up in the Dark Forest."

Nightpaw visibly rolled her eyes as she lifted her lip to reveal a clean ivory tooth. "Don't push your beliefs on me. You're not only wasting your time, but mine as well," she sneered at him with a harsh flick of her tail. "I don't think StarClan would even allow such a birdbrained cat who teases others because of their imperatives to live among them."

At her statment, horror appeared across Tigerjaw's face. He was about to snap at her, but Redrose turned with her fur on end. "Will the two of you, please, shut up? In case you hadn't noticed, we are by enemy territory," the she-cat hissed with her eyes wild with frustration.

Nightpaw bowed her head in response and Tigerjaw did as well. "How embarrassing," she mumbled with regret flooding her heart.

The pale deputy turned and ordered, "Nightpaw, go toward the west and check the far end of the markers. Tigerjaw, you remain close by in case she runs into trouble. Ill check the east."

Nightpaw gave a curt nod as she headed off toward the west. She followed the border and paused as the territory grew unfamiliar. iI haven't been this far into the territory yet. Willowstar said they don't allow new apprentices to go into this part of the willow forest. I wonder why?/i Curiosity pricked at her brain, but she thought better of it for once, and kept heading east until a soft roar entered her ears. iWhat is that?/i She thought as she kept padding toward the sound, and with each step, the sound grew louder and louder, to the point where Nightpaw had to crouch and place her paws carefully over her ears. iWhy is it so loud? What is that?/i

A faint noise sounded in the distance, but Nightpaw could barely hear it. It was different from the roar, almost like a voice, but the loud roar had drowned it out. She began to shake as fear overcame her. iI-I can't move!/i

Within moments of her frozen fear, some one gave her a rough shove. As she landed on the ground, shock enveloped her, causing her to look around wildly. Her gave finally landed on Tigerjaw, who stood before her and was screaming her name, but she did not hear him. He kept making motions with his head and his eyes were wide with mixed emotion. Finally, his voice entered her ears, "Nightpaw! Snap out of it, its just the roaring of monsters on the Thunderpath."

"M-m-monsters?" she stammered with her eyes wide in horror.

Tigerjaw rolled his eyes, "Not this again."

Nightpaw narrowed her gaze then forced herself to her paws. "Then you scent the border, mouse heart!" she shouted before she turned to run back into the direction she came.

"Nightpaw, wait!" Tigerjaw shouted behind her, but she ignored him.

iWhat in the world is a monster, and why have I never heard of such a creature?/i she thought with frustration as she finally caught up to Redrose, who was waiting in the post the patrol had dispersed. "About damn time!" she growled.

Nightpaw rolled her eyes when Tigerjaw finally caught up to them. iMonsters? Mysterious white figures in the river? I must have bees in my brain./i