Greysight awoke to feel a cold chill running down her spine, it had happened again, the dream. It was the same every time; the blood seeping up from the ground around her, rising until it consumed her and drowned her beneath it. It was...disturbing to say the least. She had much preferred it when Mosspelt would visit her in her sleep.

What ever happened to the former medicine cat anyway? Her visits had stopped so abruptly, and nothing the she-cat said before ever seemed to make sense to Greysight. Despite this, Mosspelt's words always seemed to make her feel a great sense of foreboding.

'I can't tell anyone about the dreams...' Greysight reminded herself, it would no doubt only send their clan into a deeper sense of paranoia. The dreams could be dealt with later, right now all they needed to focus on was Willowstar.

With a small huff, Greysight pulled herself up from her nest, stretching her forelegs out in front of her. She could hear the sound of the other warriors breathing, and could feel the presence of their bodies around her. 'Good.'

She was actually up early for a change. The thought left Greysight with a wry sort of grin. Perhaps it had been because of her impatience to begin training an apprentice of her own...or had it been the nightmare?

The blind she-cat shook the thought from her mind and padded out of the warriors den, noticing the humidity in the air that morning. She wanted to make sure to get a meal of her own before taking her apprentice out. Apprentice. The word sounded so strange to her, it seemed like it was only yesterday that the black she-cat herself had been named an apprentice.

'And just look at me now.' She was a strong and feared warrior throughout all four- three...clans. If only the cats from her childhood could see her now, a full blind warrior, the best in her clan; and now, a mentor to her very own apprentice despite being at a young age herself.

Greysight's stomach growled in hunger as she picked out a blackbird she had left in the clan's prey storage. She would make sure to be the best mentor she could be, both for herself, for Warpaw, for DarkClan...and for Cherrynose.

Greysight smiled as she ate as thoughts of her mentor came to her mind. Cherrynose was a hero, and she always would be. Greysight would make sure that every future DarkClan cat would know the story of the spunky warrior who had, with her own paws, stopped TreeClan in their invasion of DarkClan territory.

Cherrynose had always been kind to her, and unlike the other cats, she supported Greysight's goals and wasn't deterred by her blindness. 'It must have been difficult...' Greysight mused, thinking back. Training a blind cat couldn't have been an easy task, but Cherrynose had done it, for her.

The she-cat had trained her to be the best she could be, and now, Greysight would make sure to do the same for Warpaw; Moonfur's son. She was his mentor, the one who would guide him in life, his very life could depend on her training.

"This is the Dead Oak." Raggedear meowed as he and Amberpaw stopped to take a break in front of the large, bare tree. A couple of crows were seated in it's branches, but they didn't seem to pay the two cats any mind.

"Wow." Amberpaw meowed, looking up into the dark, twisting branches. "Its huge, has anyone ever tried to climb it?"

Raggedear followed her gaze at the question, the oak was indeed huge, he would even go as far to say as it rivaled Fourtrees. "I'm not sure." he replied. "I didn't grow up in this forest; Thistleprick and I, and your mother, we all grew up in other places."

Amberpaw nodded at his words, but Raggedear could still see a mischievous glint to her eyes. "Don't go thinking about climbing it, it isn't safe. That tree looks like it could have been dead for centuries."

They had already made a full circle around the territory, but rather than hunt just now, Raggedear thought it might be a good idea to get some training in. It was just like everyone said; there was no telling when TreeClan would attack, the sooner the apprentices were prepared, the better.

"We'll go to the training hollow and see if we can get some training in for today, Sunstar doesn't want any apprentices training after dark." Raggedear meowed thoughtfully.

"Okay." Amberpaw meowed, her tail twitching in excitement. She couldn't wait to begin training, she couldn't let her brothers pass her by.

The walk to the training hollow was a short one, and as they got closer, Amberpaw and Raggedear could hear the sound of cats sparring in the clearing. Raggedear pushed through the brush with Amberpaw close to his side. The first thing he saw upon entering the clearing was Branchpaw being tossed in front of him.

The young tom scrabbled to his paws quickly in surprise at seeing the mottled warrior and his sister. Darkpelt looked up from where he stood across the clearing as well. "Raggedear." he meowed. "Are you here to train?"

Raggedear blinked for a moment, distracted by Branchpaw's heavy breathing. However, the apprentice didn't seem to have any physical wounds. "Yes, but if you two are busy we can begin our lessons tomorrow."

Branchpaw suddenly looked worried and shook his head. "I'm fine. I can go on!" he breathed. "A warrior must always push themselves and use every drop of strength in their body to continue on."

Darkpelt relaxed his shoulders and padded towards the group. "We're finished for today," he meowed, fixing Branchpaw with a stern look. The apprentice nodded sharply and stood up straighter, "Yes sir!"

With one final glance at Raggedear, Darkpelt padded out of the clearing with Branchpaw trailing close behind. Raggedear frowned a bit, but said nothing, instead choosing to lead Amberpaw into the sandy hollow. Once they had reached the center, he turned toward the young she-cat expectantly, only to be surprised by the troubled look on her face.

"What's wrong?" Raggedear asked, confused by her sudden change in demeanor. Amberpaw looked up at the tom hesitantly, shuffling her paws. "We don't have to go that far do we?"

After seeing how tired and uncomfortable Branchpaw looked, Amberpaw began to feel worried. She wanted to train, but that didn't look like fun... It looked like it hurt.

"No, of course not." Raggedear meowed, looking down into Amberpaw's troubled gaze. "We go at our own pace, just you and me okay?"

"Okay." Amberpaw meowed, a small smile now on her face. It made Raggedear feel relieved, but it also reminded him of his own fears. "We'll do things together, our way."

The training itself had gone better than expected, Raggedear had taught Amberpaw the basic moves and positions, and the apprentice seemed to catch on quickly. He let out a tired breath and padded closer to Amberpaw who was now resting against the hollow log. Her eyes perked up on his approach and watched as he sat beside her.

"You did a good job today." Raggedear meowed, albeit a bit awkwardly; still not exactly sure on how to communicate with other cats, let alone young ones.

"You did good too." Amberpaw meowed. "I'm glad you're my mentor." At first, she had been a bit wary of Raggedear because the tom had always been a bit scary looking, but he was nice.

"Yeah, me too."

Lostheart picked up her pace as she moved through the brown grasses of the field; she had already caught a rabbit, but that wouldn't be enough. The clan needed even more fresh kill than normal now that the apprentices had grown.

She stopped for a moment to taste the air, sighing inwardly when she could detect nothing. The black she-cat had already begun to feel hungry herself, and her throat felt dry with thirst. The stream bubbled only a few tail-lengths away; and Lostheart, giving in to her thirst, padded up to the water to take a drink.

She was further down than usual, and the water here ran more rapidly here due to it's proximity to the waterfall and trench. It was a good place to watch where you placed your paws, even for a cat who knew how to swim. The water itself was refreshing, and she immediately felt like she had more energy. Now all she had to do was find some more prey.

Lostheart's ear twitched as she caught the soft sound of approaching pawsteps from across the stream, she immediately looked up and took a few pawsteps back, watching for the approaching cat.

Pineneedle suddenly appeared from the grass on the TreeClan side of the field, surprising Lostheart slightly, although her expression on the outside remained unchanged. The dark tabby met her eyes with a condescending smirk, his own green eyes flashing in a way that resembled his father's.

"Well, well. What do we have here?" he meowed. "I thought I smelled something foul." Lostheart said nothing, not wanting to rise to the tom's baiting. She was on her side of the territory and he was on his. However, her eyes drifted to the small shape standing behind TreeClan's deputy.

To her surprise, a small kit padded up beside Pineneedle's side and gazed at her in both fear and awe.

"If it isn't Lostheart, the demon cat of DarkClan." Pineneedle sneered, using her so-called title amongst the clans.

"What do you want?" Lostheart meowed, her eyes falling on the spotted kit. Pineneedle noticed her gaze and grinned down at the kit, "I was just helping Flowertail take her kits out for a stroll, and as luck would have it, I've come across you. How convenient..."

Lostheart's eyes narrowed slightly at the tone of his voice, and she prepared to turn away, but a shrill cry caught her attention. She looked back in shock to see Pineneedle push the kit into the stream, it's head swiftly disappearing under the surface as it was swept rapidly downstream.

For a second, Lostheart was frozen, eyes locked onto Pineneedle as he watched her with a satisfied smirk. He pushed the kit, one of his own clan, a kit into the river, 'What do I do?!' Lostheart thought frantically, she couldn't do nothing. Lostheart's gaze returned toward the water rushing ahead of her, she was already taking way too long! It was a TreeClan cat- but it was just a kit! How could Pineneedle- and to his own clan?!

'Move!' Without even a glance at Pineneedle, the she-cat was off, running by the side of the flowing water. 'Where is he?!' Lostheart's eyes scanned frantically over the water until she caught sight of a small bobbing shape before it was pulled under the current once more.

Lostheart gritted her teeth and gave another dash of energy, her heart already pounding rapidly in her chest. If it was any other cat, it might have been impossible for them to catch up to the water's speed, but running had always been Lostheart's specialty. All those laps she ran as an apprentice weren't in vain.

'Now!' Lostheart leapt off the side of the bank, plunging headfirst into the rushing water. Her eyes snapped open, and through her blurred vision, she make out the shape of the small sinking kit. Using all her strength, Lostheart pressed her feet off a rock and propelled herself forward. Once she had the kit firmly between her teeth, she swam upwards, fighting the current that tried to suck her back down.

'Almost...' The light of the surface was right above them, just visible beyond the watery depths. She could already feel her throat beginning to tighten and her lungs begging for air. 'Please be okay...'

Lostheart broke through the surface with an audible splash as she paddled forward against the current, holding her head up high to keep the kit's head above the water. Her legs already felt as heavy as led from all her running and swimming, it felt almost as if they would explode should she continue. If this kept up, they would both be swept away, and the waterfall wasn't far.

'No. I won't...let...that happen!' With a mighty heave Lostheart pulled herself toward the bank, scrabbling to get a firm hold with her claws. Slowly and painfully, Lostheart pulled herself from the bank, sides heaving. She immediately placed the kit on the ground as she caught her breath, and pressed against it's side in an urgent manner.

The kit wasn't breathing. 'Come on...' Lostheart begged, shaking her head to get rid of the beads of water dripping into her eyes. After a few more pushes, Lostheart finally stopped and removed her paws, staring down at the kit with a somber expression. It was no use, the kit was gone.

Lostheart stared at the tiny drowned body in front of her. 'I couldn't save him...' It was just like Ivyfoot and the bird. 'I took too long...I failed. This kit is dead, and it's all my fault.' Her eyes widened slightly at the realization.

A loud wail made her head snap up, causing a few droplets of water to fly off her fur. A cream colored she-cat stood a few tail-lengths away from her with Pineneedle by her side. The she-cat let out another wail, one full of sorrow and rage. Her eyes locked with Lostheart's and Lostheart could see the small traces of fear lingering in her eyes.

"My baby!" she cried. Beside her, Pineneedle stepped forward, his face contorted in anger. "How dare you!" he screeched. The she-cat beside him began to shake with tears, the kits standing behind her looked up at their mother in confusion, not understanding what was happening. "I'm sorry," Pineneedle muttered to her, "This is all my fault. I couldn't stop her, when I wasn't looking she grabbed Maplekit and..."

Flowertail looked up at Lostheart with eyes full of hatred. "Why?! Why would you do this?! You monster, get away from him! TreeClan doesn't want the likes of a demon like interfering with our lives, I know the things what you've done! Everyone knows! Does it amuse you, to destroy the lives of others?!" She cried, tears raging down her face.

Lostheart blinked, her mouth open slightly from trying to catch her breath. She wanted to say something, to tell the she-cat that she hadn't done anything...but she would never believe her. Not over the word of TreeClan's beloved deputy.

"Willowstar will hear about this, he'll make sure you pay!" Flowertail yowled. "You'll pay for taking away the life of my kit!"

"Get off our territory DarkClan filth!" Pineneedle hissed, a smirk hidden behind his words. Lostheart met his eyes evenly, and she could see the look of contentment in his eyes, the look of satisfaction.

It disgusted her.

Slowly, Lostheart rose to her full height, looking down at the kit remorsefully. 'I'm sorry...' Without so much as another word, she leapt across the stream and back onto DarkClan territory, racing off into the familiar darkness of the dying trees.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

I'm unhappy this came out sounding rushed, when it really wasn't; it actually took quite some time. :/ I forgot what I was going to say here...

Lost