Hello, reader-chan! :3 I shall resort myself to updating faster for the sake of my typing skills. Thank you s much for the reviews and comments. Let us commence to answering them! Well, I answer your reviews, and... *insert awkward cough here* Um, let's start! ^_^'

Birdflame: I'm sorry if this offended you, WindClan is my second favorite clan, next to ShadowClan. I know Icepaw seems Mary Sue-ish, but I won't make WindClan suffer much more, hopefully. Thanks for the review! :D

Paper'Scars: Thank chu~! I think everyone has a soft spot for those kitties. :) I agree; I like the idea of the Dark Forest. Hmm, I have a new story coming up...

Shiverdream of Windclan: Thank you! Time will tell, I actually don't know myself. :D

Embermist's Tales: Yush, chappies will be chappies... Sorry, I have to say this: Embermist is a really good name! I stared at it for a full minute. XD

Wood Cats: Thank you, my second guest reviewer! I hope this chapter is good!

Thank you all who dropped a comment! I won't keep you waiting any longer. Enjoy!

Something rustled. The wind buffed my fur and a stray leaf tickled my nose. I opened my eyes. Where was I? All around were tall, dense trees, and the grass underneath me felt cool and soft to the touch. I padded up to a towering oak tree. There weren't any trees like this in ShadowClan. I reached out my right paw and tapped it in wonder. Why was this wood easier to sharpen claws on than pine trees?

A high-pitched shriek sounded from not too far away. Twigs snapped as the thundering sound of footsteps headed towards my left. I pulled my ears back and snarled in defiance, getting into a fighting stance. I parted my mouth open slightly. The sharp, metallic tang of fresh blood washed over my scent glands.

"Who's there?" I demanded, lashing my tail. The scent of blood grew thicker and my lips peeled back defensively. No one replied. If they were dead, they must have recently been killed. The blood scent was heavy and new. I padded forward cautiously, narrowing my eyes. Reeling back, I stopped abruptly. The grass gave way to a gravelly, uneven substance. A sharp rock had embedded itself in my paw pad.

I ignored the rock and studied the dark gray surface, immediately recoiling in disgust. It smelled like the Thunderpath, which served as the border for ShadowClan and ThunderClan territory. The acrid scent mixed in with the scent of blood, and yet when I looked, there was no sign of the red liquid anywhere. The only thing out of place was a large shard of ice, laying on the Thunderpath.

Soon, the ground began to tremble. I clung to it and spread my paws out to keep myself from falling. What was that weird sound? I was rumbling and loud, and it made the ground shake! My eyes widened as a huge monster sped into view as it ran toward me. I growled and began to run from where I came as fast as I could. The monster came closer.

I screeched as one of its paws ran over my tail and over the ice, shattering it into millions of pieces. Pain spiked up my spine and my legs gave out. Horror began to course through me as the frozen liquid exploded into a bright, slippery puddle of blood.

"Ice isn't safe from danger." a small, scared voice whispered in my ear. I whipped my head around as blood began to drip and pool around my feet. There wasn't any one behind me. What was wrong with me? The place where my tail was supposed to be hurt really bad, and everything was becoming blurry.

"Icepaw, get up!" Who was that?

I clumsily began to get up and took a shaky step forward, and landed face first into the Thunderpath, grit filling my mouth. Another roar made me raise my hackles as another monster rolled towards me.

"Icepaw!" Jaggedtooth's irritated growl awoke me from my slumber. I shot up and whipped around to look at my tail. Nothing. It didn't hurt. What was that dream? "Icepaw!" I turned back and came face-to-face with the angry amber eyes of my mentor.

"Hurry up, we have a Gathering today, mousebrain!" The ginger tabby stalked out of the den. I narrowed my eyes and padded after him. Why would I forget? He's the mousebrain.

The tip of my tail twitched as the cats who were going along stared at me with slight contempt. Brokenstar nodded once as a signal and ShadowClan began to move out. I begrudgingly fell into step with the other apprentices who were going: Whitepaw, Littlepaw, and Spiderpaw. I ignored the she-cat as she stared at me in hostility. I held my tail high and lead them confidently, dismissing the fact that I was the last to get ready. Littlepaw looked mildly excited, Spiderpaw was still glaring at me, and Whitepaw walked with his head low.

"It's an honor to be able to go to the Gathering, especially at our age," I meowed flatly to him.

"Petalpaw and Grasspaw should be with us," Whitepaw sighed.

I scoffed in my head. "It's life. Death is a natural part of it. Be more flexible and try to accept things as they are."

"Well, maybe you should learn to have more compassion for your clanmates!" The tom pushed his muzzle so close that I could her him breathing. I blinked in surprise as he bounded to catch up to his mentor, not looking back.

I swallowed as a chill ran up my spine. My throat felt dry and my paws itched. It was mainly my fault that the two apprentices had died. No! I shook my head vigorously. Emotion is weakness. Weakness is not tolerated in a great Clan like mine. Enemies will use emotions against you, and lure you into a trap. They make you soft, cowardly, and blind your senses.

Despite this, my chest area began to ache. Was I sick? Maybe I should let Runningnose check up on me. The scene of Petalpaw's and Grasspaw's death replayed in my mind. Grasspaw wailing at the loss of his sister, and Whitepaw's head hanging low. He shouldn't miss them. It was weakness. But they were fighting for the Clan, even though they couldn't do much... Something was tugging at my heart. Stop! Thinking about this will make you as soft as a kittypet!

I focused my mind on the cats before me as ShadowClan poured down the side of the hollow that marked Fourtrees. The fishy scent of RiverClan was the only one I smelled; we were second to arrive. The foul-smelling cats turned to greet us.

"Icepaw," Jaggedtooth slowed down so that he padded next to me. "I'm going to introduce you to some RiverClan cats."

I nodded quickly and followed him as he stopped in front of a stocky, blue-gray tom and a younger tom, probably his apprentice.

"Greetings, Stonefur," Jaggedtooth nodded respectfully to the gray tom.

"Hello, Jaggedtooth," Stonefur asked, staring at me with a friendly gleam in his blue eyes. I immediately liked him.

"Yes, this is Icepaw."

I dipped my head.

My mentor gazed at the brown-ginger tom. "And this is Hazelpaw, I presume?"

Stonefur nodded. "Hazelpaw, why don't you show Icepaw around, since this is her first time at Fourtrees?"

Hazelpaw nodded. "Come with me." He turned around and beckoned me with his tail. I groaned inwardly. I didn't need showing around! I sniffed indignantly and padded after him.

"You don't need to show me anything," I hissed, stalking after the male. He didn't turn around, but snorted.

"Aren't you a ball of sunshine? I'm only doing this because Stonefur asked me to."

"You're letting your mentor push you around?" I asked slyly. "That seems weak."

"You'd know about weakness, being from ShadowClan," I didn't even blink at the insult. "and I want to be a warrior, so I listen to my mentor," he added.

"I doubt earning the respect of the senior warriors is called weakness," I retorted.

"Show off."

"Your opinion."

"Whatever. ThunderClan's just arrived, now we just have to wait for WindClan." Hazelpaw raised his tail in greeting to a cat from ThunderClan, but I was too busy mrrowing in amusement to notice. Wait for them all you want, but they aren't coming.