Nightpaw opened his eyes. He was running through a forest in the middle of newleaf. The undergrowth felt soft and familiar beneath his paws, but he couldn't remember ever being here before. He thought he caught snatches of familiar scent, but as soon as he tried to consider them, they vanished. Up ahead, he could see a huge tree. Its top branches weren't even visible through the thick cloud that swirled around its trunk. Nightpaw slowed, and looked over his shoulder, confused. The sky behind him was as blue as a jay's feathers.
He stared up at the forbidding tree, watching the clouds grow darker and darker until they were almost black. Suddenly a voice spoke, rattling the trees and shaking the earth. "A time of great change is upon us. Darkness will deceive the narrow-minded, but the night shall speak the truth. The dawn will only come when shadows find their place, and stars return from the sky."
Nightpaw woke with a start. Dawn light was just seeping through the branches of the apprentice den. "Nightpaw," Rosepaw whispered. "Tawnyleaf told me to tell you that she wants you to come on the dawn patrol with us."
Nightpaw sat up and stretched. "Okay. I'm just coming." He gave himself a quick wash and stepped out into the weak early morning sunshine. His mentor, Tawnyleaf, was pacing around the entrance to the camp, her tortoiseshell pelt shining in the sunlight. Beside her sat Tigerflower. The dark tabby warrior was known for being sharp and hot-headed. He quickened his pace as he padded across the still-sleeping camp. He didn't want to give her an excuse to start telling him off for something. "Finally," she sighed, jumping to her feet. "Let's go." She bolted out of the camp, Rosepaw hot on her heels.
Once they were far enough from the camp, they slowed their pace until it was a comfortable trot. "I thought we would check the ShadowClan border, and then stop by the old birch for a spot of hunting," Tawnyleaf meowed. They changed direction so that they were heading for ShadowClan territory. "Keep your wits about you."
As soon as they reached the border, the sharp tang of ShadowClan filled Nightpaw's nostrils. He wrinkled his nose, trying to wash the scent out. A patrol had passed this way recently. Nightpaw heard a growl rumble low in Tigerflower's throat. "Better mark the border again," she said. "We don't want to give them an excuse to attack."
Suddenly, a bush quivered, and the ShadowClan apprentice Larkpaw dashed into the open, his eyes fixed on the squirrel he was chasing. "He's going to cross the border," Rosepaw gasped. The dark brown apprentice hadn't noticed the border approaching fast. He leapt forward, grabbed the squirrel and rolled with it across the border. Tigerflower snarled in anger and flung herself on top of the unsuspecting apprentice. He squealed in shock and tried to wriggle free of Tigerflower's grip, but she was too strong for him. "Stealing prey from ThunderClan, you mangy ShadowClan piece of fox dung?" she growled.
Suddenly, a large brown shape burst out of the bushes and crashed into Tigerflower, knocking her clean off of Larkpaw. Rosepaw dashed forward to swipe at Larkpaw, spitting and hissing. The ShadowClan warriors Rippleshadow and Owlfang emerged from the bracken on the ShadowClan side. Nightpaw jumped forward to fight, but Tawnyleaf grabbed his tail. "Stop!" she yowled. Rosepaw backed off, still snarling, but Tigerflower was still wrestling with Shadowclaw. Tawnyleaf darted forward, and pushed Shadowclaw back over the border. Tigerflower sat down, and began to smooth her fur.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize ShadowClan weren't allowed to hunt their own prey on their own territory without ThunderClan sticking their grimy noses in!" spat Shadowclaw.
"Larkpaw crossed the border," hissed Tawnyleaf defiantly. "That was ThunderClan prey."
"It was in ShadowClan territory when he killed it. He didn't cross intentionally, it was an accident! ShadowClan will not be blamed if ThunderClan does not have enough warriors to mark its borders properly!"
Tigerflower snarled and spat on the ground. "Why don't you come over here and say that, you mouse-brained coward? We just marked the border! Maybe your medicine cat should check your noses are working properly!"
Shadowclaw took a step forward, but then thought better of it. Rippleshadow padded up to his side, his tail lashing, and his dark brown eyes narrowed. "Come on," he meowed. "They're not worth it." The four cats back away slowly, and disappeared into the bracken.
"ShadowClan scum," Tawnyleaf hissed. "We'd better get back to camp and report to Icestar. I'll take you out hunting later, Nightpaw." Tawnyleaf turned and streaked away through the forest.
Nightpaw followed behind Rosepaw. He was disappointed not to be able to get in on the action. It was the first exciting thing that had happened in ages. As he bolted through the forest, the memory of his dream came flooding back to him. What could it mean? Was a dark time really coming to the peaceful forest? And was ShadowClan the root of it?
***
By the time Tawnyleaf and Nightpaw arrived back at the camp, it was almost sunset. He had managed to catch two mice and a young rabbit. Tawnyleaf said the rabbit counted for two pieces of fresh-kill. He dragged the rabbit and a mouse over to the nursery with some difficulty. He peered into the gloomy den, and saw Moonflower and Firebird sharing tongues while their kits played in the centre of the den. Rainstorm, a pretty brown and white queen, was nursing her brand new kits in the most sheltered corner of the nursery.
"Nightpaw," she mewed softly, sounding tired. "Have you brought some prey for us?"
"Yes. I've got a rabbit and a mouse," he replied.
"Perfect!" meowed Moonflower. "And about time too."
Moonflower and Firebird shared the rabbit, while Nightpaw offered Rainstorm the mouse. "Your kits are beautiful," he mewed gently, admiring the tiny bundles of fur.
"Thank you," she smiled. "The white one is Frostkit, the light brown one with the white chest is Poppykit, and I haven't named the dark brown one yet," she said fondly, laying her tail tip gently on each of the kits as she named them.
"Why haven't you named him yet?" Nightpaw asked, slightly confused.
"No inspiration, I guess. He's my only tom," Rainstorm replied, frowning slightly. "You haven't got any ideas, have you?"
Nightpaw looked closely at the tiny brown kit. "Hawkkit?" he asked tentatively. "He looks the same colour."
Rainstorm's face lit up. "Yes! Perfect. Hawkkit," she mewed fondly, gazing at the fluffy brown kit.
"Well, I had better go and see if I'm needed," Nightpaw sighed, and dipped his head respectfully.
"Goodbye," called Moonflower as he stepped into the gradually darkening clearing.
Out of nowhere, a sharp breeze ruffled his pelt. It reminded him of darkness and shadows. He got a strong feeling that there was something ominous on the horizon, something lurking, just waiting to pounce, like a hunter stalking its prey. Somewhere deep in his ear, he heard a dark voice whispering, "A time of great change is upon us. Darkness will deceive the narrow-minded, but the night shall speak the truth. The dawn will only come when shadows find their place, and stars return from the sky..."
Nightpaw woke the next morning, feeling well rested. His dreams hadn't been plagued by threatening prophecies that night. As he stretched, he noticed Nettlepaw stirring in the nest next to him. He opened his yellow eyes sleepily and saw Nightpaw watching him. "Morning," he meowed, sitting up. "Shall we go and get some fresh-kill then?"
He followed Nettlepaw out into the camp, and towards the fresh-kill pile. Nettlepaw bounded over to his mentor, Whiterock. Nightpaw liked Whiterock. He was a huge white tom with light grey patches and enormous paws. Whiterock turned away from Harewhisker and Snowpetal, and touched noses with Nettlepaw.
"What do you think about some hunting today, Nettlepaw?" he asked, his yellow eyes gleaming. "And then I think it's your turn to change the elders' bedding."
Nettlepaw turned to Nightpaw. "Maybe you could come hunting with us, Nightpaw?" he asked.
"I'm sure Tawnyleaf would let me," Nightpaw replied. "Maybe we could invite Silverpaw too?"
Whiterock purred in amusement. He turned back to Harewhisker and Snowpetal, and they resumed their conversation. The two apprentices trotted over to the fresh-kill pile. Nightpaw suddenly found himself to be starving. He chose a plump squirrel, while Nettlepaw selected a thrush. They carried their fresh-kill over to where Whiterock was still talking with Harewhisker and Snowpetal. Nightpaw began to eat, as he listened to the warriors' conversation.
"I think we should act now," Harewhisker meowed urgently. "Before the situation gets any worse!"
"You must calm down, Harewhisker!" Snowpetal encouraged, gently. "If we attack we will be shedding blood for no reason. It was only one apprentice that crossed the border, not the whole of ShadowClan! And you know Icestar, she'll want to work out an entire battle strategy before we do anything!"
"True, but we don't want to seem weak," Whiterock mewed, thoughtfully. The rest of his sentence was interrupted by a call from the Highledge. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here below the Highledge for a clan meeting!"
Icestar's familiar yowl echoed around the hollow. The three warriors heaved themselves to their feet, and padded over towards the Highledge. Nightpaw took a few quick bites of his squirrel, before going to find a place near the other apprentices. He sat down next to Rosepaw. Her light brown fur was brushing the pale grey fur of Skypaw, her best friend. The two apprentices turned to look at him. Rosepaw's amber eyes were full of warmth, but Skypaw looked irritated. Her blue eyes reminded him of chips of ice.
Warriors were beginning to emerge from all over the hollow. Sparrowtail and Tigerflower padded over from were they had been eating. Bluefire and Woodstripe stepped out from the warriors den, followed by Tawnyleaf. Moonflower and Firebird pushed their way out of the nursery. Rainstorm stayed with her kits, as they were too young for her to leave. Finally, Darkfoot strode into the hollow, his huge jet black paws making no sound on the floor. Behind him came Shadowstripe, a dark grey tom with black stripes. They sat together, a little apart from the rest of the clan. Goldmist, the medicine cat, and Foxtail the deputy scrambled down from Highledge, where they had obviously been talking with Icestar. Foxtail sat underneath the protruding rock, while Goldmist settled in front of her den.
Icestar waited for the clan to settle. Once she had their attention, she began to speak.
"I'm sure many of you have heard about the little incident with ShadowClan at our border yesterday," she meowed. There was some muttering at these words. Every cat in the clan knew what had happened. "I want to assure you all that we will not attack ShadowClan. We must show them that ThunderClan is not afraid of smells! However, we will be posting twice the number of patrols along that border. And, believe me, if they put one toe across our border again, be it accidental or not, we will show them that ThunderClan has more than enough warriors to protect itself!"
At these words, there were numerous yowls of agreement. Once the noise had died down, Bluefire spoke up. "It is very possible that ShadowClan will attack us first," he pointed out, his voice full of concern. "I think we should have at least two cats on watch at all times, and leave a sufficient number of warriors in camp."
"That is true, Bluefire. However with all the extra patrols and leaving warriors in camp, hunting parties will have to be organised very carefully," Icestar replied. "I will leave that up to Foxtail." Foxtail nodded. "Well, if that's all," she meowed, and disappeared back inside her den.
Tawnyleaf padded up to Nightpaw. "You can stay in camp until sunhigh," she mewed. "After that, there's a patrol going out along the ShadowClan border, and then we can do some battle training in the hollow with Skypaw and Barkpaw."
"I was going to go hunting with Nettlepaw," he mewed hesitantly. "I could do that before sunhigh instead?"
"Okay, but you're going to be tired! You don't want to too exhausted for the Gathering!" she replied.
"I'm going?" he asked, feeling excitement sweep through his body.
"If you want," Tawnyleaf meowed, looking amused.
"Of course I do!" Nightpaw meowed eagerly. He trotted over towards where Nettlepaw was waiting with Whiterock and the brown tabby warrior Sparrowtail. The four cats streaked into the forest. Nightpaw felt his paws tingling with anticipation. He couldn't wait until that evening!