A/N: Hi, don't hate me. lol. That's really all I have to say. And once the story picks up, I swear I will be much more diligent with writing! Thank you thank you SO MUCH for sticking by this story, and I hope you like it!

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Chapter 2

"Despite the recent drought, SunClan is strong, and this is shown by appointing new apprentices," Ripplestar announced to the clan. Sunstream sat off to the side, listening but glancing at Minnowfin every few seconds.

"Hawkkit," their leader began again, beckoning to the small brown tabby tom who jumped forward eagerly, "until you are a warrior, you will be known as Hawkpaw. Minnowfin, you are young but strong, and I hope you pass all you learned from Birchwind to Hawkpaw." Minnowfin purred, dipping his nose down to touch Hawkpaw's, murmuring something that Sunstream couldn't hear.

Why aren't I excited for him? She asked herself. If it had been me and not him, he would've been ecstatic for me. As the ceremony continued, with Morningdew becoming Swallowpaw's mentor, her thoughts drifted back to the dream. The voice had said "soon," but she wondered when soon really was. Did it have to do with the prophecy?

"Hawkpaw, Swallowpaw, Jaypaw!" Sunstream glanced up in surprise as she realized that she completely zoned out during the final part of the ceremony. She squinted to see who Jaypaw's mentor was, before finally making out Stormhawk's menacing outline.

She was about to head back to the warriors den, but before she could, Seastone was already calling her over. Sunstream purred a greeting to her friend, who stood near the entrance with Birchwind and Blackfox.

"Wanna go on a night patrol with us?" the gray she-cat asked.

Secretly, Sunstream felt like sleeping and taking a break from her Clanmates, but she exclaimed, "Sure!"

"Go get Minnowfin, then, okay? I'm sure he won't be taking Hawkpaw out yet, so it's his last night of freedom." Before waiting for Sunstream to agree, though, the rest of the patrol was already starting to move out of camp.

In the distance, she heard Blackfox complain, "Why does he have to come with us? He's a cocky mousebrain anyway," and Sunstream had to agree. Minnowfin wasn't cocky, but she didn't feel like being with him at the moment.

At the sight of his silver fur, for once her heart didn't beat faster. Instead, she walked over to him coolly, not looking at him in the eye as she said, "Seastone wants you to join our night patrol."

"Okay," he agreed with a flick of his tail, rubbing it quickly across her pelt. She didn't react with a purr like she normally did, though, making him cock his head.

"I- I'll go tell Hawkpaw to rest for tonight," he stuttered. "I'll be right there."

With a nod, Sunstream padded back to where the patrol waited, digging her claws absently into the ground. Across the camp, Cinderpaw glanced at her curiously, but otherwise did nothing to alert her of his presence.

***

"Congratulations on your first apprentice," Birchwind purred. "I knew my mentoring would pay off."

"Thanks," was Minnowfin's warm reply, but he sounded distracted. "I don't know how I'll be as good as you, though."

Seastone twitched her whiskers in amusement. "No need to flatter him, Minnowfin. You're not his apprentice anymore; he can't send you to help the elders if you misbehave."

Birchwind pawed Seastone in the ears, meowing in good nature, "Hey, I'm the senior warrior, I can send him to the elders if I want to!"

Blackfox muttered something about acting like kits, but otherwise the patrol remained lighthearted. As they approached the CloudClan border, Sunstream automatically thought of the faceless cat. Her paw-steps faltered, stopping her in her tracks. Minnowfin ran into her from behind, making them both fall to the ground. At that exact moment, a monster flew across the Thunderpath, which made them both jump in shock.

"Sorry!" the silver tom yelped. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she snapped. "I'm not a little kit." She wasn't going to announce anytime soon how scared she was by a dream.

Minnowfin glanced down at his paws, murmuring, "I never said you were . . ." Otherwise, though, he stopped talking. And it was a good thing, too, because they wouldn't have heard the coming CloudClan patrol if he had been.

"Stand your ground," Seastone meowed through gritted teeth. Next to her, Blackfox flexed his claws, while Birchwind hissed. Minnowfin and Sunstream ran forward to join their patrol, each baring their own teeth to match the threatening hisses from CloudClan.

There were three of them, Sunstream noticed as she glanced at each of them. They were outnumbered, but then again, you never knew where those shadowy cats could be hiding. The leader was Rippedwhisker, a dark gray tom she'd seen at Gatherings before. Next to him was a small muddy brown tom, who must've been a new apprentice. And next to him stood a broad-shouldered very pale gray tom, with sharp amber eyes.

Sunstream took a sharp breath as she recognized those eyes. They were like hers, but harder and narrower. Of course, they were probably narrower because he was angry, but that was beside the point. The point was . . . she had seen this cat before.

As the CloudClan tom glared at them all, he didn't seem to notice Sunstream specifically; maybe he was just a regular warrior after all, not anyone special. But, after staring at Sunstream for a moment, his eyes became wider and more focused. They stared at each other in recognition, each remembering their shared dream, because it must have been just that . . .

"You weren't planning on coming onto our territory, were you?" Rippedwhisker hissed.

"Look who's talking!" Blackfox retorted, ignoring Seastone's signal to keep quiet. "We've scented CloudClan in our territory, and don't deny it!"

"How can you prove it, mouse-breath?" the little apprentice squeaked.

The CloudClan warrior finally snapped out of his trance, turning sharply to the apprentice and growling, "Frogpaw, if you can't say anything productive, keep your mouth shut." Frogpaw rolled his eyes but eventually did as he was told. As all this occurred, Sunstream kept staring at the cat, completely confused. What did this mean?

As she watched them, Seastone, the only calm one in the group, spoke up. "Listen, it's not our place to accuse each other if no one will admit anything. We will go back to Ripplestar to report this, as you most likely will to Shadowstar, and they will decide what to do." And with a short nod, the gray she-cat led the patrol away, with Sunstream having to tear her gaze away from the CloudClan gray tom.

When she knew they were far from the CloudClan border, Sunstream casually approached Seastone. The warrior purred a greeting, but the hard look in her eyes showed she was more upset about the confrontation than she let on.

"Do you know who the younger gray tom was? I recognized Rippedwhisker and the apprentice, but not him."

Seastone eyed Sunstream curiously but replied, "That's Cloudwhisker, a warrior probably around your age. I heard he's a pretty good fighter, but I haven't met him in battle yet. Why do you want to know?"

"Oh, nothing, I just want to get to know all the cats in the forest," she mewed innocently.

Suddenly spotting an oblivious mouse eating something, she found an excuse to leave the group. After swiftly killing it and thanking StarClan, she joined Seastone, Birchwind, Blackfox, and Minnowfin again, but her mind was still occupied by Cloudwhisker. Even when she got back to camp and was greeted by a shy Swallowpaw, Sunstream couldn't focus.

Maybe I'll get another dream sometime soon, she hoped. So I can figure out what I'm supposed to do now.

Days passed though, with no dreams, and Sunstream was getting a little despondent. This Cloudwhisker was important, but how should she know if she didn't receive any more dreams!? As she basked in the sun, lazily licking some of her fun down, her thoughts slowly trailed off. Newleaf was a great season, especially for second chances and new life. Second chances . . .

A shadow loomed over Sunstream's head suddenly, interrupting her from her thoughts. As she glanced up, squinting her amber eyes, she found Cinderpaw staring down at her. His face was grim, although she didn't know why.

She cocked her curiously. "Do you need me for something?"

He shook his head, though, only meowing seriously, "Come with me."

Okay . . .? But she followed her friend slowly, who seemed to be walking on a random path. It wasn't where they usually hunted, and it wasn't close to the borders; in fact, it was close to Twolegplace . . . the last time she had been there was her wonderful adventure as a kit. They weren't supposed to be there, so she was pretty confused on why Cinderpaw was taking there. He usually followed rules.

"Cinderpaw . . . any reason why we're out here? What about your mentor, does Deersprint know you're out here?"

Cinderpaw snorted, telling her, "Deersprint is out hunting with Stormhawk. They're always talking, it's like they don't have any apprentices. I mean, I feel bad for Jaypaw, since Stormhawk barely takes her out." His tail flicked to end, realizing that he had begun to ramble. Sunstream purred, but he only rolled his eyes, continuing on the trail.

"You never answered my question," she pointed out. "Where are we going?"

"You've been different lately," he responded, glancing at her with genuine sympathy. "We don't know what's wrong, but we want to make you better!"

We, who's "we"? she wondered. But she didn't ask any more questions, deciding that it was better to just wait and see. Plus, it didn't seem like she was getting anything out of Cinderpaw.

When it seemed like they would be walking forever, Cinderpaw finally stopped. He stood next to a giant boulder, which was above a small creek. Sunstream assumed it eventually led to the MoonClan river, but because of the drought there was barely any water in it. Only a small trickle proved it wasn't completely dried up.

"What are we doing here—mrroww!"

A large brown cat leaped from behind the rock, landing on Sunstream as he caught her off-guard. At first she hissed and tried to claw the cat off of her, but when she saw Cinderpaw's happy face and smelled another familiar scent, her limbs relaxed and let herself go limp. The cat on top of her purred before hopping off, his tail hitting her shoulder.

"You give up so easily!" Acornpaw complained. "I wanted to beat you."

"Well, I'm just a little confused on what you and Cinderpaw are doing here," Sunstream retorted, "and maybe I don't feel like fighting!"

Acornpaw huffed. "Cinderpaw was right. You aren't like your old self."

She was about to ask what that was supposed to mean, but her ears pricked up at a sound from the other side of the border. A twig had snapped, and it was either prey or another cat. Dropping down into a hunter's crouch, she snuck up to whatever was over there. She was about to pounce too, but then she spotted a pelt of silver that stuck out in the brown and green underbrush.

"Minnowfin?" she asked confusedly. "You're here, too?" The silver tom glanced down at his paws, nodding cautiously.

Staring at the three toms, she asked, "What's going on here?" They glanced at her innocently, before finally Cinderpaw broke out into a purr.

"We're ambushing you," he meowed.

"Good ambush." But despite her dry answer, she was amused by what was happening.

Cinderpaw led the group to a path that led deeper into the forest, flicking his tail in a general direction. "The three of us are taking you on a hunting party to cheer you up, and there is nothing you can do to stop us."

What? But her brother and friends were already leading her down the trail, not even bothering to ask her what she thought about their "scheme." Cinderpaw led them in the front, his dark tail high and swaying, while Acornpaw—who was older than Cinderpaw by a moon—was jumping around like a kit. She knew he was excited about being fully healed, and she wondered just how close he was to being named a warrior. Staying next to Sunstream, but not touching her, was Minnowfin. His silver paws brushed against spare leaves, but she tried to keep her focus off of him.

I don't know how this is supposed to help me. They don't know why I'm mad; I don't even know why I'm mad! When she snapped out of her thoughts, she realized that her paws had been landing heavily on the ground, and all eyes were on her.

Acornpaw glanced at her with twitching whiskers, purring, "Way to scare all the prey, Sunstream. Whoever made you a warrior before me must have been crazy."

Rolling her eyes, Sunstream flicked Acornpaw's nose with her tail. "Tell that to Ripplestar."

A scurrying in the shrubs alerted the patrol to prey, and Sunstream immediately dropped into a hunters crouch before the others realized something was even there. Being careful not to brush against anything, she quickly glanced at where the squirrel was before leaping and landing on it perfectly. She quickly killed it before turning around to see the others congratulating her; they were probably just trying to put her in a better mood, sucking up to her, but she had to admit . . . it was kind of working.

Not that they'll ever know that.

Spending the rest of the day hunting, Sunstream and friends had found enough prey to feed the whole Clan. They had multiple spots where the prey was buried, and soon they would have to go fetch everything to bring it back to camp. Currently, they were relaxing close to camp, near the MoonClan river. Sunstream only hoped that Stormhawk wouldn't come and criticize them for not being "productive."

"Okay, let's play a game," Sunstream announced to the toms. They all glanced at her curiously, surprised at her sudden positivity. She was surprised herself, but the newleaf air seemed to be cleansing her mind.

Cinderpaw cocked his head. "What kind of game? If we get too crazy, someone might hear us."

"Well, I don't know, really . . . but I just feel like doing something before we have to head back." She flicked her ears as they began to suggest a million ideas at once, until Acornpaw stood up. His eyes flickered mischeavously as he glanced vaguely into the distance.

"How about," he began slowly, narrowing his eyes, "we have a race? We have to each run to a Twoleg nest—different ones, not the same one—and bring back . . . bring back . . ."

"Catmint, growing in the bushes!" Cinderpaw meowed. "Then, no one can scold us because we'll be bringing back herbs that will help the Clan."

Sunstream purred, because she knew her brother wouldn't love the idea of helping when he's playing, but he went along with it anyway. Soon, the four cats were stationed next to the river. Acornpaw scraped his claws against the ground, while Cinderpaw was arching his back in a long stretch. Sunstream saw Minnowfin, and she pointedly ignored his gaze. She squinted her eyes, lowered into a crouch, and waited until Acornpaw spoke again.

"One, two, three . . . GO!" he exclaimed, hurtling himself in front of everyone. "First place doesn't do chores tomorrow!"

Sunstream pelted through the trees, hopping over bushes and sticks that were strewn on the ground. She had gone a different, and hopefully shorter, than the toms, and already she spotted the looming Twoleg nests up ahead. In a few short seconds she spotted a bush full of catmint, but no one, human or cat, was around. She breathed deeply as her sides heaved before pulling off a few stems. The aroma filled her lungs, but she was careful not to destroy anything.

Maybe I should head back now, in case they come . . . But an overwhelming urge to sleep had come over her, and she wasn't really sure why. She huddled in a ball next to the bush and closed her eyes . . .

In her dream, Sunstream didn't feel like she normally did. She felt like there was a presence in the darkness she stood in, but she couldn't see anything. She could have been standing for seconds or days, and the presence remained.

Her mouth opened wide as if to speak, but she then realized that nothing came out. Hello? She called with her thoughts. Maybe, they would hear her. Is someone here?

Cloud, Sky, Moon, and Sun.

Oh no, not the prophecy again! Sunstream whined. Can't I ever get a peaceful sleep? The presence spoke again, though, ignoring what she thought.

On the eve before a gathering night, the four will meet, late at night.

A shiver went down Sunstream's yellow spine. Was this telling her something? And why was it rhyming? She knew she should have asked a more serious question, but not much was making sense at the moment.

And if they don't . . . havoc will ensue.

Well, there goes the rhyming. However, she was more bothered by the fact that the ending had seemed so serious they didn't want any rhyming. Havoc would ensue . . . Really?

When her mind cleared, and her amber eyes blinked blearily back to the present, she found three pairs of eyes on her. She pushed herself to her paws as Acornpaw meowed something. "I can't believe you fell asleep!" he said indignantly. "You're the one who suggested playing a game in the first place! And now, because of you, Minnowfin won."

"Thanks, Acornpaw," Minnowfin replied dryly. He turned his attention back to Sunstream, eyeing her with worry written on his face, but she passed them all, carrying her catmint back to camp. She had to think about what just happened, and she was only coming up with one option. She was going to meet these cats and figure out what was going on.