"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather benath the Highrock for a Clan meeting!" Firestar's yowl brought cats crawling from their dens the next morning. Ruthen joined them, her dreams of that dark place and the prophecy still on her mind. Something special was going to happen, and while she didn't know when, she knew they were definitely running out of time.

"We'll start the day with one of my favorite parts of being leader." The orange tom admitted, flicking his tail to the crowd."Dovekit and Ivykit have reached their sixth moon and must now be made apprentices in accordance to the warrior code. Dovekit, step forward."

She recognized the little grey she-kit to be from one of the younger queens, Cloudtail's daughter's, if she recalled right. She knew because he'd been teaching her how to adapt to life in the forest along with Brightheart, whose golden-dappled pelt made her all but an expert on the subject of blending in. Upon seeing her out in the forest the day before, Brambleclaw reminisced about his sister, who was also a tortoseshell. She had left for ShadowClan, according to him, and he missed her dearly. She had no clue what she would do if Fallen just left her all on her own. Sure, she had gone off with Demon and had her kits, but even then she had a family, someone to look out for and someone who looked out for her.

The cheering that erupted jerked Ruthen out of her thoughts and she glanced at the Highrock to find that Dovekit, now Dovepaw, had been apprenticed to Lionblaze while Ivykit (paw! Ivypaw!) was apprenticed to Cinderheart. She snickered when a thought came to her. The sisters had whined not moments ago, as siblings do, that they would do everything together. What with them being warriors in training and Lionblaze padding after Cinderheart, there would be no problem granting their wishes.

She shared her thoughts with the cat beside her, a young tom named Breezepelt who came from WindClan, and he snickered alongside her.

"Better hope those kits don't start spouting all their secrets, nosy little furballs."

"Oh, I doubt you'll be saying that when you and your mate have kits of your own. Heathertail, is it?"
"Yes." Breezepelt blinked, surprised. "I didn't think anyone cared." He admitted. "Except for Hollyleaf, but she's my best friend."
"She seems like she'd make a good friend." Ruthen offered. Truthfully, the tortoiseshell was glad that her brother was no longer alone and that Hollyleaf treated him right. She had long since hoped that Fallen would find the love that she and Demon had shared.

"Ruthen!" She nodded to Breezepelt and made her way over to Jayfeather, who stood by the pile of rocks that led to the Highledge. Breezepelt followed her, strangely enough, and it was only when the three of them entered the den that she knew why. Hollyleaf, Ashfur, Thornclaw, Fallen, Lionblaze, Brambleclaw, Sandstorm and Firestar waited for them in the leader's den.

"Tell them what you told me and Brambleclaw, about both dreams." Jayfeather insisted.

So she did. She described the Dark Forest (which, was exactly what it was called, much to her surprise) and the cats in it, their plans for revolt. She also described the dream with Demon and Redtail, again leaving out her moments of self-doubt. Those were hers and hers alone.

"We're running out of time." Ashfur growled, echoing her thoughts.

"The Dark Forest is rising quicker than we thought and we hardly know who the cats of the prophecies are, any of them!"
"We know who two of the Three are." Hollyleaf offered. "So the third cat must be either Dovepaw or Ivypaw."

"Why not you?" Sandstorm wondered.

"It was never my destiny, and I've accepted that."

"But you have a power." Fallen insisted. "I saw you! You knew exactly how to kill that dog. And didn't you say you took on a fox and barely got a scratch? You must have known where to hit it in order to avoid getting hurt."

"Yes, and that is a talent of mine, but it's not a power, Fallen. Helpful or not, I'm not one of the Three."

"Well it's still something we can use against the Dark Forest." Ashfur offered.

"Lionblaze, you and Cinderheart need to start training your apprentices to hone their powers. If one shows more promise than the other, report back to us but don't treat them any less different. Treating cats like they're special is how the Dark Forest was able to gain so much power in the first place. Brambleclaw, you should let Squirrelflight know when she's back from her patrol. StarClan knows she'll use your fur to line her nest if you don't."

"If it's alright with you all, I think I should take Dovepaw out before she comes up and starts whining." Lionblaze snorted. Firestar nodded and the golden tabby trotted out of the den.

"Does anyone else have something to add?" The ginger leade asked.

No one spoke for a few moments and Firestar nodded to the group.

"Dismissed, then, and we'll pass on information as needed." He said.

"Yes, Firestar." The group chorused.

Ruthen followed Jayfeather back to the medicine den. She had a hunting patrol later on and she wanted to make sure everything was in order for the medicine den before she days, medicine den felt more like home than the warriors den did. She found that while she could fight like a warrior as needed, healing was where her heart lay and she would give anything to be able to see Demon and help ThunderClan through whatever storm lay ahead.

Running out of time...

Indeed.