A/U: This is my longest chapter yet! And I got it done right before I had to start packing. I hope everyone's satisfied with it, because Copperpaw is a bit like Ujurak from the Seekers series. ( Apologies if it is spelled wrong ) Thanks WildCroconaw for reviewing!

Chapter 13

Cold leaffall air whipped past Copperpaw as she hurried after her mentor. Nearly a moon had passed since she first met Stormpaw and Flowerpaw. Now her muscles had grown, and she had become a skilled hunter. Cinderheart had been pleased with her progress. The gray tabby would always keep a keen eye on her apprentice while they were hunting or practicing fighting skills.

When Copperpaw wasn't with Cinderheart she practiced using her powers. So far she had changed into squirrels, voles, and birds. Her favorite was the squirrel. They were noisy and very competitive over which trees they could climb. Becoming a different animal was beginning to get easier for her. Now she could remember who she was as long as she repeated her name. Mentally picturing her mother or father also helped.

"Lets go to the training hollow for today," Cinderheart meowed over her shoulder.

The sounds of Pricklepaw drifted towards them. The mottled brown apprentice had gone out earlier with Graystripe, who grunted with every step he took. Copperpaw knew it wouldn't be long before he moved to the elders' den. Dustpelt had already retired a couple of days ago after Ferncloud gave birth. Her newest kit was known as Eaglekit, a brown and white tabby with light gray flecks around his legs.

Her ears pricked forward as they entered the training hollow. Pricklepaw was slumped over a tree root that jutted out of the earth. Her sides heaved with effort as she staggered to her paws. Graystripe looked worriedly at his apprentice as she struggled.

"What's wrong with her?" Cinderheart asked as she padded towards them.

"I...I'm not sure," Graystripe rasped. "One minute she was fine, and the next, this!"

Poppyfrost would be devastated if anything happened to her, Copperpaw thought with a flick of her ear. She knew from experience how protective Poppyfrost was of her kits. Once the older warrior had gotten in a scrap with a WindClan cat who had tried to hurt Molewhisker.

"It looks like she's fine now," Cinderheart pointed out.

Copperpaw was surprised to see that Cinderheart was right. Pricklepaw blinked and shook her head, as if fighting off fatigue. When the apprentice had calmed down, she stared at the other cats in confusion.

"I think she should see Jayfeather about whatever this is," Cinderheart murmured.

When Graystripe nodded in agreement, Pricklepaw looked even more confused. "Why should I see Jayfeather?" she demanded haughtily. "There's nothing wrong with me!"

"Pricklepaw, you nearly passed out," Graystripe replied.

Pricklepaw narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "I don't remember any of that happening," she muttered with a lash of her tail.

Copperpaw exchanged a shocked glance with Cinderheart. Maybe there really was something wrong with Pricklepaw. She didn't look tired as she had before, but Copperpaw could tell that Pricklepaw was fighting off wariness.

She shook her head and tried to look away as Graystripe herded a hissing Pricklepaw out of the training hollow. Copperpaw prayed silently that he would find out what was wrong with her. That he would discover something that would cure whatever was wrong with Pricklepaw.

"Maybe we should try to avoid the area," Cinderheart meowed after they had left them. "I'm sure that Bramblestar will want to see if there is something around causing what just happened," she added when Copperpaw looked at her in dismay.

And here I was looking forward to battle training, she thought angrily. Cinderheart didn't let her protest. The gray tabby led her away from the clearing, towards the border of WindClan. Their strong scent reached her nose before they reached the border.

For a moment Copperpaw wondered if she would find Rockpaw anywhere. It was her who had spoken to him the for the first time. But he backed away from her and snarled that he had no place among the Marked. Before she could ask him why, he ran away. She sighed as the memory burned through her mind. Maybe Rockpaw was just acting like a stubborn old kit. He had to feel the same tug she had felt when she met Flowerpaw at the border of ShadowClan.

"Why don't you do some hunting," Cinderheart told her as they settled down on a patch of moss. Copperpaw fought back the urge to groan. She didn't want to hunt yet again. All of her senses were warning her that she needed to learn how to fight.

The dark ginger apprentice swallowed and nodded. Anything to get away from this place.

Cats from WindClan were constantly checking this side of their border. Copperpaw wasn't sure whether or not she wanted to face an entire patrol. Her fighting skills weren't all that great, no thanks to Cinderheart.

She tried to shake the thoughts away and concentrated on the prey around her. A mouse was digging through the ground, searching for seeds. A couple of shrews were squabbling over an insect one had unearthed. Copperpaw ignored them and cast her senses further. She gasped when she heard the digging sounds of a vole scraping through the soil. Its movements were urgent, as though its life depended on making a tunnel underneath the forest.

Her heart began to beat faster as her fur began to tremble. She'd never taken on the shape of a vole before, nor was she looking forward to it.

I'm better at eating mice, she told herself. Yet however much she'd rather not change, her mind gave in. Copperpaw felt her body shift from that of a cat, into a tiny creature that could barely see. She found that her whiskers gave her better senses of touch and smell. The vole she had sensed earlier was now muttering to itself.

"Find worms," it said in a low voice. "Survive snowfall."

Copperpaw forced herself to ignore Cinderheart's orders. Curiosity had gotten the better of her, and she wanted to know what he was talking about. She used her shovel like paws to dig into the hard soil. Soon Copperpaw found herself burrowing towards the vole that had spoken.

"Why must you find worms?" she asked when she had managed to reach him.

The vole let out a startled shriek and whirled around to face her. His whiskers twitched in fear, until he realized that she was another vole.

"I don't usually let strangers in my tunnels, especially other voles," he muttered. "But...somehow you seem different." He paused to scratch his ear. "I would have thought all voles knew what their prey was," he added.

When her eyes widened in astonishment, the vole chuckled in amusement. "Ah...perhaps you live near the tallwalkers," he murmured.

He must mean Twolegs, Copperpaw thought. This was the first time she had actually spoken to another creature. Normally she would have avoided them. Most of the creatures she turned into gave her hard stares, as if they couldn't believe their eyes.

"I'm sorry for intruding on your territory," she whispered with a dip of her head.

She hoped he wouldn't attack her if she showed him respect. This vole was old for his kind. Most only lived for a few years. His muzzle was gray, and the tip of his whiskers had turned silver.

"You're welcome to explore if you want, but don't steal any of my worms," he replied cheerfully.

Copperpaw nodded in understanding. She turned to leave him, when something tugged at her tiny paws. Her eyes narrowed slightly as a swift wind pulled at her. It felt as though something was calling her.

As she burrowed her way towards the whining wind, she felt the tugging grow stronger. She huffed in annoyance when she reached what appeared to be a dead end. The ground ahead of her was raw and tough. Too stiff for her claws to scrape through. Yet the tugging only intensified.

Without thinking about it, Copperpaw closed her eyes. She felt herself changing once again, only this time into the shape of an earth worm. Their sounds were loud underground, but she ignored them. The tugging suddenly stopped when she reached a crevice of some kind. It was like a sign that had told her where she needed to go. And the sign was telling her this was it.

She ate her way through the soil, until her head poked through. Copperpaw gasped in surprise when she saw what had been tugging at her heart. She wound her way out of the tunnel, which ran into a large enough cave for several cats. The worm-Copperpaw quickly changed back into her regular form, bringing back memories of why she was here in the first place.

Copperpaw gazed at the cave in wonder. There was glittering specks everywhere she could see. Most of them were in the shapes of cats. Each image had a marking of some kind. One had a pelt that burned brighter than Firestar's pelt. Another had watery blue eyes that glowed like Starlight.

"What is this place?" she asked out loud.

"Welcome home, young one." The raspy purr of another cat nearly made her leap out of her fur.

She whirled around, only to meet the faint outline of a cat.

"For so long we have awaited your arrival," it meowed. "And now you are here, along with the others."

"What do you mean?" she demanded. Her fur began to rise as the cat rose to its paws. Its eyes gleamed with happiness as it stared into her green depths.

"The path ahead of you is a difficult one," the cat murmured softly. "StarClan will not be watching over you," it added. "Only the Marked can help each other..."

Its voice had drifted away, leaving behind the lonely whisper of rock and soil rubbing against each other. Copperpaw's ears flattened at the disturbing sight.

Was that cat from StarClan? she wondered. If so, than what happened to its fur?

She couldn't help but feel as though something terrible was coming. That the Marked were the reason behind this terrible event. That she and the others would have to stop what ever dangers lay ahead of the Clans.

A/U: What did you think? Definitely one of my better chapters. So what will happen to poor Pricklepaw...Well, you'll have to wait and see :P