Runningpaw rushed back into camp, plenty of prey in his jaws. The hunting was surprisingly plentiful even in the time of leaf-fall. He gingerly set it down onto the pile with the other warriors' prey.

For a few heartbeats he just stood there, admiring the amount of prey he had caught. And then he thought of the two new warriors.

It should have been me instead of them, he thought scornfully. They are just little apprentices, just turned nine moons old. Runningpaw, meanwhile, was about eight moons old, going on nine. It angered him that he had to wait so long and those two warriors were made warriors JUST because they had chased kittypets out of ThunderClan territory. What a wimpy thing to be honored for when a cat was made a warrior!

Runningpaw shook his head furiously as he took a rabbit for himself. He sadly thought of Cinnamonpaw and how he didn't get the chance to see her. But he shook the thoughts out of his head like rotten leaves. She's a medicine cat! he thought desperately. You can't possibly want to see her!

He saw Skypaw pick up a robin and gestured to the apprentice's den. Runningpaw nodded and picked up the first thing he saw. He felt guilty as he picked up a squirrel- now he'd be picking the fur out of his teeth for hours!

But that didn't matter- he followed his friend with enthusiasm, forgetting all about the new warriors and Cinnamonpaw. He brightly took a spot that was between Skypaw and Chasepaw, another apprentice. Chasepaw snorted and scooted to a different spot beside Brindlepaw. She didn't look pleased.

"She's a medicine cat, you know," Skypaw instantly mewed. "You can't fall in love or mate with her."

Runningpaw lifted his head and gave his friend a look as if Skypaw had just said that being in love with any cat was against the warrior code. "Why do you say that?" He asked, still chewing on bits of squirrel.

The light blue tom shrugged. "I dunno, I just…I saw you were looking at the thorn tunnel really anxiously. I know that it leads to the medicine cat clearing, which leads to the medicine cat den." He finished swallowing his mouthful with a huge gulp. "Besides, I've seen you- you've been trying to get hurt and trying to bring prey to the medicine cat for days now. And, Runningpaw?" Skypaw mewed anxiously.

Runningpaw looked into Skypaw's amber eyes. "What?" He asked, slowly kneading his paws nervously. He didn't want his friend to see that he was afraid of what he was going to say.

"Runningpaw, I'm sorry, but if you keep up with meeting the medicine cat, then I might have to tell Ashstar. Not just for the good of the Clan- I don't want your heart to get broken." Skypaw looked down at his paws nervously and scuffed them around in the dust, rising a few clouds.

Runningpaw said nothing. For a couple of heartbeats, Skypaw's words swirled around in his head like newleaf mist. Suddenly, he started talking after a few heartbeats. "I am not in love with Cinnamonpaw," He mewed slowly, calmly choosing the right words to end the discussion.

The light brown tom beside him nodded slowly. For a moment, Skypaw just looked into the distance, his eyes blank and expressionless. Perhaps he was wondering if Runningpaw was really telling the truth or not.

"So what about those new warriors?" Skypaw changed the subject quickly. "I can't believe that they got named warriors because they chased off some simple kittypets that were stupid enough to come into our territory! I can't believe Ashstar!" He hissed. He spat out a robin bone with defiance.

Runningpaw nodded. He was glad to have someone that would be able to share his feelings about the warriors. He didn't want to know what it would be like to be without friends. Chasepaw was lonely now because Stormfeather was his best friend, and now he couldn't share tongues or sleep in the same den together anymore. Not until Chasepaw was a warrior, that is. But even still, Chasepaw as a warrior would not be allowed to sleep where the senior warriors slept, which Stormfeather would be once Chasepaw was a warrior. The light brown tom gulped down the rest of his prey and waited for Skypaw to finish. It seemed to take cats longer to eat birds than rodents. "So how was hunting today?" Runningpaw asked his friend "We weren't put on the same patrol, I noticed.

The light brown tom shrugged. "It was fine. I caught quite a bit of prey. That squirrel you were just chowing on, mind you!" He chuckled as the light brown tom licked the last of the juices off of his muzzle.

"Oh yeah?" Runningpaw mewed, batting a paw at his friend playfully. "And I bet that you but deathberries in it! You'd do anything to poison me!"

Skypaw nodded. "Sure, you'd better go to Mossflower to see if she has any herbs to help you choke all of that back up!" He cuffed Runningpaw and they started to engage in mock-fight.

"Shut up!" Hissed Chasepaw from the corner, who was sharing tongues with Brindlepaw. "Why don't you act normal for once an actually share tongues at sundown?"

The two apprentices looked at each other quizzically at what Chasepaw had just said. They laughed quietly and started to share tongues, slowly licking each other's fur. Scents of the forest overwhelmed Runningpaw as he silently groomed his friend with slow, rhythmic laps.

…

The moonlight lit up a somehow familiar clearing. All was dark, and Runningpaw couldn't even see what the clearing looked like. He shivered as the cold breeze ruffled his fur and he desperately tried to lick it back down. But it wouldn't work, as violent wind started to get even stronger.

Runningpaw's paws clutched the earth frantically, trying to hold on. The wind was seriously so strong that it felt like it could tear the Great Oaks right out of the ground.

Suddenly, a muscular cat flew out of a tree. It seemed absurd as the wind was almost billowing the cat out. But it turned out, it was another cat, but its identity was anonymous, as the moon was turning it black and silver. The first cat spat up at the other that was in the tree.

But for some reason, Runningpaw couldn't hear. Though the wind was loud, it wasn't enough to mute a cat's mew.

The cat in the birch tree curled his lips in a hiss as he heard the other cat. It leaped out of the tree and launched itself on top of the other cat, tearing at its fur.

As they tussled, Runningpaw saw another cat slowly pad out of the surrounding undergrowth.

It seemed to have the build of a she-cat, but Runningpaw wasn't quite so sure. It mewed over the wind and the fighting cats, "Runningpaw, you must listen."

The light brown tom leaned in and looked up at the cat with his light blue eyes. He didn't dare speak with fear that he might make the surrounding cats disappear.

"You must evacuate your alliance, or you are in danger." The cat said serenely.

Runningpaw looked at the new cat quizzically. "What? What in the name of StarClan are you talking abou-"

But before he could finish his question, a huge shadow fell over the three cats and he was left alone in the darkness. Runningpaw snapped awake as he felt a paw prodding him. "Wake up, mouse-brain!" Hissed Chasepaw. "You need to go on a patrol with me and Mudpelt! Don't be late, either!" He growled, padding his way out of the apprentice's den.

The light brown tom yawned and showed his snow-white fangs. That was one weird dream- he wondered what it all meant. The two cats fighting- and such a strange ambush! Out of a birch tree. A tree! It was a fighting method that hadn't been used for seasons.

And that prophecy…Runningpaw tried to code it out as he looked over the fresh-kill pile. He recalled the cat's words with a shiver. "You must evacuate, your allegiance, or you will be in danger!"

Mudpelt stalked over to where Runningpaw sat. He looked down at the apprentice with a hard look. Runningpaw practically felt the amber glare blazing down at him and burning through his fur. He flinched as he looked up at Mudpelt and the massive warrior jerked his head.

"You can't eat until after the patrol," Mudpelt snarled. "You should wait until you catch something. Come," He mewed a bit more gently this time. He gestured for Runningpaw to follow with a swing of his huge, dark head.

The light brown tom nodded quietly. He tried to be obedient when his stomach was literally screaming for prey.

Mudpelt swung his head around with annoyance. "What is that consistent noise?" He growled. He instantly glared at Runningpaw, as if accusing him.

Runningpaw gulped. "Um, sorry sir," He whispered, kneading his paws nervously. "It- it's my stomach. It's just growling," Runningpaw murmured as Mudpelt glared claws at him.

The dark brown tom rolled his eyes. "Fine. That's not encouraging me to let you have prey before any cat else though," He hissed over his shoulder.

Runningpaw shook his head and followed the warrior out of the nursery exit, since the warriors were most likely asleep out there, watching the Clan territory with patience and virtue.

"So where do you want me to hunt today?" Runningpaw mewed. "May I go to Sunningrocks?" He whispered, looking up at the warrior with his blue eyes.

Mudpelt shook his head. "No," He hissed coldly, "I can't just let you hunt where ever you want until you are a warrior." A smirk formed on his face when he saw the look of disgust on the apprentice's face. "No, you shall hunt somewhere else…Snakerocks," He looked down at the apprentice expectantly. "Sound okay?"

The light brown tom swallowed hard. Snakerocks! That was where the adders, badgers, and even dogs hid when their sets had been chased out!

But Runningpaw just nodded. "Yeah, sounds okay." He felt fear rising up inside him, overpowering his senses. He desperately hoped that Mudpelt couldn't smell his fear scent.

Fortunately, it didn't seem that he could scent anything on the apprentice. The dark warrior nodded down at the apprentice and went off to get the other warriors.

Runningpaw shrugged. So what if he were assigned to Snakerocks? He could take it! It was hardly the cold season, when the badgers, snakes and foxes hid in the small, rocky dens where the prey lived.

It was newleaf, the time of sunshine and warmth. Runningpaw was sure that the badgers were still in their sets, and the foxes were out at Highstones getting the plentiful prey that they needed for their newly born young.

But still- the threat of adders remained. The only thing Runningpaw could do was shrug it off and keep hunting.

He trotted through the bushes that led to the sandy clearing- which was only a short walk away from Snakerocks. This was where the apprentices trained, where Runningpaw thought with a rush of anger he finished his apprentice training.

He now knew everything there was to know- all of the fighting moves, all of the hunting techniques. The deputy, Cinderhope, made sure of that. And for some reason, Cinderhope had no intention of making Runningpaw a warrior soon, which was ridiculous when Runningpaw was already eleven moons. The two new warriors, Stormfeather and Featherstream, were both nine moons. Ridiculous.

Suddenly, Runningpaw scented something absurd. What was that rank scent? It was horrible! He wrinkled his nose to the stink, as he had never smelled it before…

Suddenly, he suddenly recognized that familiar stench that had clung to Thornpaw's fur when he came in from the forest that night. It was unmistakably one of the most despised scents in the forest.

Kittypets!

oh noes! what will befall of Runningpaw and the kittypet? review! i'll give u...a Mudpelt plastic figurine! don't like that? ur dog could use a chewtoy anyway XD