Fine, I cave in. I was eager to post this and I couldn't wait any longer. This is my favorite out of all the chapters I've done. This one builds more interest and suspense. Sorry if you don't like it, I just haven't been getting any supporrt. I need encouragement, constructive criticism, suggestions, and some support to help me improve on my stories. I'm going to continue on with the story and chapters, but they might take longer until I get reviews. x.x; Please R&R! Thanks, and I hope you enjoy! This was the most thrilling chapter to write yet! ;D

Approximate words in Chapter 4: (2,301)

Chapter 4

Dawnpaw and Jadepaw swung up their noses to smell the air. It had been a day after their apprentice ceremony and Snowtail and Pinestripe brought them out to learn about the borders and other Clan scent.

"Well," Snowtail mewed to Dawnpaw, "what do you smell?"

Dawnpaw turned to look at his mentor and answered proudly. "I smell mouse, vole, and- and," he had smelt a scent he'd never smelt before.

'That's fox," Snowtail answered. "Fresh or stale?"

Dawnpaw smelt the air again. "Stale," he replied.

Snowtail nodded. "Right, it must have left a while ago," she mewed. "Let's go catch up with Pinestripe and Jadepaw."

Dawnpaw looked around to notice that Jadepaw and his mentor had gone ahead. "Alright," Dawnpaw agreed.

Snowtail and Dawnpaw padded up toward them. Dawnpaw fell into place beside Jadepaw while Snowtail filed beside Pinestripe; Dawnpaw bent down to murmur something into Jadepaw's ear. "Do you know where were going next?"

"Dunno," Jadepaw admitted, "Pinestripe said we were going to see the 'Thunderpath,' but I don't have a clue what that is..."

Dawnpaw sighed. The word 'Thunderpath' was familiar. We'll just go wherever our paws take us then, he thought. As they padded behind their mentors, their noses started to flood with foul fumes.

"Yuck!" he heard Jadepaw complain. "What is that?"

"That's the stench of the Thunderpath," Pinestripe replied, "it's what Twoleg monsters travel on."

"Twoleg monsters?" Dawnpaw echoed curiously.

"Yes," Pinestripe answered, "Twoleg monsters carry Twolegs in their bellies and release them in far away locations. Lucky for us, they only travel on the Thunderpath; so don't set paws on it unless strongly necessary."

As soon as he had stopped speaking, they emerged from the trees and gazed upon the Thunderpath. Memory flooded through Dawnpaw's head. This place seems familiar, Dawnpaw thought. Then the painful memories swung back to pound him. I traveled along this path as a loner! Pictures began to flood his mind like a tsunami consuming the forest. Dawnpaw began to feel nostalgic to return back to camp. He shook his thoughts away, as hard as it was, when he realized that he wasn't listening to his mentor's words.

"Across the Thunderpath is ShadowClan territory," he explained quietly. "Recognize their scent while you can," he muttered, "the next time you might smell their scent may be in battle."

Dawnpaw and Jadepaw lifted their heads up to sniff the air slowly with their nostrils, taking in the ShadowClan scent carefully. ShadowClan's scent wasn't pleasant to smell, but I guess it has to be useful if we're required to take in this horrible stench, he thought while he drew back his head when he'd taken in their scent.

When Snowtail and Pinestripe had instructed them to follow them, Dawnpaw kept thinking about the horrible past that had been set down behind him bitterly. That was about two moons ago! He thought, encouraged to influence his mind to stop displaying his past. Then the prophecy flashed in his mind like dynamite exploding in his head. Bluefeather's words recited in his head, making sounds from reality destroyed. Sun and daylight will rise and moon and dawn will never set.

Dawnpaw's memories began to overwhelm him. His vision began to blur like mist covering the whole forest. Dawnpaw's thoughts vanished when he heard Jadepaw calling for him in the distance. Dawnpaw gave himself a little shake, and began to follow Jadepaw. His paws seemed to be like weights tied down onto his body as they heaved.

Snowtail turned to Dawnpaw and told them where they were heading. "Were going to the RiverClan border," she explained, "so you two can memorize their scent."

Dawnpaw and Jadepaw tuned to each other with an eager glance. They followed their mentors, following their every step. It was silent on the way to RiverClan's border, allowing Dawnpaw's thoughts consume him with no disruptive noises from reality. Agh, why? Why have they come back to knock me down? Dawnpaw forced the thoughts out of his mind, and allowed his eagerness to overwhelm his thoughts of darkness. Dawnpaw looked up from his paws to observe his surroundings. In the distance, he could hear water flowing. Dawnpaw guessed they were drawing nearer to the RiverClan border.

Snowtail and Pinestripe came to a stop. "This is the RiverClan border," Snowtail explained. "Take in their scent and we'll continue to the WindClan border."

Dawnpaw and Jadepaw repeated what they had done at the ShadowClan border. Snowtail and Pinestripe padded away, motioning with their tail for the apprentices to follow them. Dawnpaw sighed, suddenly disappointed. He wanted to learn how to fight, not to go to borders and breathe in the other clan's horrible stench.

When they repeated the same thing at the WindClan border, Snowtail turned her gaze on the two apprentices. "Jadepaw, go with Pinestripe. I've decided to teach Dawnpaw how to catch his own prey. Pinestripe will teach you the same."

Jadepaw nodded obediently and followed behind Pinestripe. Dawnpaw watched as they padded away, then he turned his gaze to Snowtail. Snowtail was grooming herself as they left, then she returned Dawnpaw's gaze.

"Alright," she meowed looking up, "let's start."

Finally something fun, he thought stubbornly. Dawnpaw followed Snowtail to a place what she called "Sunningrocks."

Dawnpaw listened carefully to Snowtail's instructions. "Crouch and press your body to the ground," she explained, "the prey won't notice or smell you before it's too late."

Dawnpaw nodded as she was explaining. He was eager to try this out himself.

"Here, I'll demonstrate," she finished. She swung her head up to bring in the fresh aromas of delicious prey. When she was finished, she brought her head down slowly and began pressing her body against the ground in a crouch. Dawnpaw noticed she had spotted a squirrel nibbling on an acorn. She scurried across the undergrowth, placing herself in a bush to hide her presence from the squirrel. She put all her weight in her back legs, getting ready to leap at the helpless prey. She pounced and managed to get the squirrel under her paws. She picked it up and slammed it into a tree nearby before it could let out a yowl.

"That's how it's done!" Snowtail meowed with pride.

"That was amazing! I want to be able to hunt like that!" Dawnpaw meowed with jealousy.

Snowtail turned to him and looked down upon the small apprentice. "I'll make sure I'll teach you everything I know," she promised. "Now you practice your crouch. Don't try to catch anything just yet; master your hunting crouch first."

Dawnpaw nodded, remembering how she said to do it. He pressed his scrawny body to the soft grass below him. Dawnpaw flattened his body and started to scurry around the undergrowth.

Snowtail observed, instructing and fixing every mistake that was in his crouch. Snowtail seemed to make sure Dawnpaw did absolutely perfect on everything she taught him.

After a while, which seemed like a moon to Dawnpaw, Snowtail started to pad toward Dawnpaw and give him a lick on the ear. "You learn quite fast," she praised, "I think you're ready to catch your first prey."

Dawnpaw beamed up at this. "Okay," he answered joyfully. Snowtail signaled with her tail to begin. Dawnpaw sniffed the air for the scent of satisfying prey. He scented vole and chaffinch. Dawnpaw decided by decree to go after the vole.

Dawnpaw dropped down into a crouch position and scurried toward where the scent trail was laid. Dawnpaw spotted the vole and pushed himself more closely to his prey. When he was finally close enough to leap at his victim, he put all his weight in his back legs and sprang at the defenseless vole.

The vole let out a loud wail before Dawnpaw silenced it by swiping his claws across it's bulging belly. Got it! He thought in triumph, almost saying the words out loud.

Snowtail padded toward the apprentice and his first caught prey. "Well done!" she meowed, "but you need to work on your speed. That vole's screech must have scared away all the prey in the forest!" she simpered.

Dawnpaw didn't care. All that mattered to him was that he caught his very first prey! His mind raced back to Jadepaw. I wonder if he caught prey, like me, He wondered.

Snowtail's mew sounded over his dissipate thoughts. "Come on," she commanded, "it's getting late. We should head back to camp. Don't forget to pick up the prey you caught and bring it with us."

Dawnpaw grasped the dead prey in his jaws and followed Snowtail back to camp. Dawnpaw kept smelling the sweet aroma of sapid prey as they followed their way back to the camp. Even if Dawnpaw couldn't hunt all that well, he still wanted to just break away from Snowtail and go hunt.

The tempting thoughts faded as they arrived at the gorse tunnel that leads into the camp. Dawnpaw started to sprint ahead of his mentor so he could boast about his catch sooner. When he arrived to the camp, it wasn't the way he had recognized it before. Was it blood he smelt?

Snowtail had a horrified look on her face as she began to sprint over toward a motionless dark-brown shape on the ground. Fear struck through him as he recognized who it was.

Dustheart.

Dawnpaw felt his heart lurch. Dawnpaw ran over to the Dustheart's motionless body and began to nudge him. "Oh, StarClan! No, no, no! Please don't die, Dustheart!"

A blue gray she-cat was sprinting across the clearing with herbs clutched tight in her jaws. One glance at her told Dawnpaw she was the medicine cat. Without a word, the medicine cat pressed cobwebs against his open wounds. After a while, she drew back slowly with her head tilted down. She turned to glance at Dawnpaw.

Dawnpaw guessed what she was going to say. His eyes were clouded with horror and sadness. Most of the cats in the clan were out on the night patrol, leaving the camp vulnerable to attack.

The apprentices' were out with their mentors. Snowtail and Dawnpaw were early coming back. Where was Ashstar? He thought, still lingering with sadness.

The medicine cat still kept her gaze on Dawnpaw, then she opened her mouth to murmur words. "I'm sorry, Dawnpaw. He's on his way to StarClan now..." she muttered with sadness.

That was it. The cat he had grown to like had vanished. Dawnpaw kept his gaze on the dark-brown body that laid on the ground. Dawnpaw broke out into tears. He was looking forward to showing him his catch. Dawnpaw dragged his body closer to Dustheart's, to press his fur against his and share tongues with him for the last time.

Snowtail watched quietly with sympathy, then she shot up with a worried expression. "The kits!" she meowed with exasperation. Snowtail sprinted across the clearing to the nursery. As she reached the nursery, she shot a deafening look inside the nursery she yowled, "Dear StarClan!"

Dawnpaw stopped sharing tongues with the dead warrior after Snowtail let out her wail. He shot across the clearing to the nursery to see what Snowtail was mourning about. They better not have hurt them like they did to Dustheart, he thought with anger. When he arrived at the nursery, he gazed into the nursery. Who could have done this! He thought with anger overflowing him.

The kits were laying motionless on the ground, fresh blood leaking out of their wounds. They were slaughtered; brutally murdered for the taste of their blood, He thought painfully with bereave.

Snowtail was cuddled near Willowkit's and Brightkit's motionless bodies, crying with grief.

Whoever done this, he thought bitterly, they're going to pay!

I absolutely almost broke out crying writing the ending. I feel sorry for the kits... and Dawnpaw. The warrior who helped bring him into the clan got assassinated. =O; And his adopted kin murdered as well. *cries* I hope you enjoyed reading! I'd absolutely LOOOOVE for you gentlemen/ladies out there to review! Thanks for reading! :P