Chapter IV

Dawn broke, flooding the apprentices' den with soft light flowing through the bracken. Cherrypaw blinked sleepily. Her friends were still asleep. She stood up, shaking the moss from her pelt, and prodded Stonepaw gently. Neither of her other friends would wake up at all.

Stonepaw glanced up at her. She was a very light sleeper and tonight she had obviously been staying up late thinking about the quest. The hoped it would be Comet-tail. She deserved something to earn herself respect.

Icepaw grunted in her sleep. She sniffed the air hopefully, and Stonepaw held her breath. Icepaw was a notorious sleepwalker. Icepaw stood up, stumbling clumsily around, and sniffed her way over to the wall. Scratching frantically, She purred and returned to her nest, tripped over a rock and hit her head, returning to a peaceful slumber. Then she opened her eyes. "Oops."

Cherrypaw yawned, making the other two cats as well. Larchtail, the youngest warrior, peeked in and said, "Dawn patrol, Icepaw." Icepaw clumsily got to her feet and bounded out of the den, tripping again. Larchtail flashed the others an exasperated look and followed the amazingly pain tolerant apprentice.

Cherrypaw yawned again. So did Stonepaw. They exited the den, and, picking a juicy vole out of the fresh-kill pile, they found themselves padding toward the Clanstream. As they found a good spot, they noticed a lot of other cats had, too. Gingerstripe, a very ginger tom, snoozed in the morning sun. Comet-tail, Spottedmask and Frost-tail sleepily shared tongues with their tails splashing the edge of the pool. An adventurous kit had escaped her mother and was now swimming laps around the circular stream. And Adderstrike was poised at the first stepping stone out to the middle, like a gargoyle. His face was expressionless except for his whiskers pulled back, like he was about to bite. Some passing cats eyed him warily.

Cherrypaw bit the vole. She was getting used to the plentiful prey that newleaf brought. It was a relief after leaf-bare's empty forests. Stonepaw twitched her whiskers. "Everyone's waiting. I hope Bluetail has a dream tonight."

Cherrypaw looked at her with her head cocked. "What if it's about chasing butterflies? Does that count?"

Stonepaw gave her an amused look. "Then they'd choose Butterflyclaw for the champion."

"Who's Butterflyclaw?"

"Who knows?"

The two apprentices were taken for a double cat hunting practice. They decided to hunt together for better luck. It did work; they caught a couple more mice that usual. They brought a couple of mice dangling by their tails back, as well as a squirrel and a blackbird. They enjoyed the early evening sun, dipping their paws in the pool and rubbing some cool water on their heads. Icepaw came out of the Apprentices' den, since she had been napping since the Dawn patrol. Stonepaw caught a glimpse of Bluetail weaving through the crowd, giving them an odd look, which Stonepaw had interpreted as horror. "What's up with her?" she flicked her tail towards the medicine cat.

Cherrypaw stared after her retreating tail. "Did she look scared to you?"

Icepaw looked up. "All I see is her behind."

The two others ignored her. Cherrypaw looked behind them. "Maybe it was behind us?"

Stonepaw shrugged. "I guess." But she didn't believe that. She had locked gazes with Bluetail, she was sure it had been directed at them. But she didn't say anything. Nobody ever does when it's important.

Just then, Falconstar swooped in front of them. They realized he was leaping towards the Clanstream again, and waited expectantly for his report. Bluetail was staring again. Stonepaw made a horrible realization.

"Guys..." she started. Icepaw shushed her. But it's important... she thought.

Falconstar glanced their way, too. "Bluetail received word from StarClan the previous night. She has connected the red sky with an object in her dream." he paused, motioning Bluetail over. The medicine cat joined him in the center rock. She waited for his signal, then spoke. "I have dreamed of the Clanstream. This rock," she indicated the stepping stone she was standing on, "was twice it's size. The sky flashed red, and the stream froze." she closed her eyes, and they noticed she was shivering a bit. "I call forth the champions of StarClan; Stonepaw, Cherrypaw and Icepaw."