"We all are living in a dream, But life ain't what it seems, Oh everything's a mess, And all these sorrows I have seen, They lead me to believe, That everything's a mess..." Dream, Imagine Dragons

Chapter Thirteen

For a moment Blazepaw wondered where he was when he opened his eyes. The cave didn't look familiar, and neither did the cats he was sleeping with. Then all at once he remembered what had happened the night before, and his heart fell.

We left them all behind, he thought bitterly. But what choice did they have? The Clans would have killed them had they stayed. Blazepaw couldn't help but flinch at the idea. He knew how much of a risk all the apprentices were taking by leaving. They were on their own now. With no support from the Clans if anything happened to them.

Blazepaw blinked when one of the other apprentice stirred. He tried to remember her name, but it was lost in the back of his mind. Everything that happened kept haunting his thoughts. He couldn't fight back the fear that was threatening to overwhelm him.

"You're scared too." Blazepaw flinched when the light gray she-cat spoke. Her blue eyes seemed to glow in the darkness, and for a moment Blazepaw was taken aback by her appearance. He'd never noticed how pretty she was on the island. "I think we all are," she added in a sigh. As she said that the others began to wake up.

"I'm not scared," Breezepaw spat. "If those foxhearted cowards think they can do this to us, they've got another thing coming to them!" Again Blazepaw couldn't help but flinch at his aggressive response. The WindClan apprentice did make a good point though.

"Calm down mousebrain," Poppypaw muttered. "You'll wake everyone around us up." Blazepaw wasted no time in joining his Clanmate. He wasn't even sure what to call her now that they weren't in the Clans. Life had already gotten confusing enough as it was.

"Look, if we're going to get through this alive, we'll need to get along," he meowed, trying to keep calm despite their situation. Almost at once Breezepaw glared at him, but Otterpaw and the two ShadowClan apprentices looked as if they agreed. "We're on our own now. And we need to work together."

Breezepaw only snorted in response, but luckily he didn't bother arguing this time. Poppypaw gave Blazepaw an approving nudge while the others kept to themselves. The fighting had ended, for now. But as Breezepaw tried waking Hazelpaw, it became apparent that he was more agitated than ever.

"Get up already!" he hissed, pushing her with his muzzle. Blazepaw resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the sight. For a while he thought Breezepaw actually cared about the apprentice. But seeing them now made him realize that wasn't true.

"Breezepaw, stop." Otterpaw's mew made the gruff tom stop in his tracks. Breezepaw looked at her in surprise before glancing down at Hazelpaw. It took Blazepaw a few heartbeats to realize that she was already awake. One eye was open, glaring angrily at Breezepaw.

"Well, now that we're all awake we should try to decide what to do next," meowed the black ShadowClan apprentice. The others nodded in agreement as Hazelpaw sat next to Otterpaw, avoiding Breezepaw's wary look.

"I'm not even sure where to begin," Otterpaw sighed. "Hailpaw's still out there doing who knows what…. Maybe we should try looking for her." Blazepaw didn't miss the guilt in her voice. Maybe she felt responsible for Hailpaw leaving the group. Truthfully though it wasn't her fault. Hailpaw had left on her own, without them pushing her away.

"No, we need to get as far away from here as possible," Blazepaw replied, shaking his head as he thought back to how determined Wolfheart had been. Knowing the ShadowClan deputy, he was still searching for them. "My best bet is going somewhere beyond the mountains, where the Clans can't reach us."

"And how do you expect us to do that?" Breezepaw demanded, pelt bristling with annoyance. For a moment Blazepaw was tempted to attack him right than and there. But he held himself back, knowing that fighting wasn't the answer. Besides, they always had Hazelpaw who could get them far away.

"We'll have to travel, mousebrain," the light gray she-cat snapped. "Or would you rather wait here for them to find you?" Breezepaw looked like he was going to say something, than thought better of it. His eyes narrowed with anger as he looked away.

Great StarClan, is he always this arrogant? Blazepaw wondered with another roll of his eyes. At this rate we won't get anywhere because of his attitude.

At last the seven apprentices had made their decision. They left later that afternoon without another word. Breezepaw continued grumbling under his breath, taking the rear of the group. Much to Blazepaw's relief, he was padding alongside the light gray she-cat.

He wished he could remember her name. The two ShadowClan cats had introduced themselves, but of course all the events from last night had left his mind reeling. Breezepaw and Hazelpaw were easy enough to remember because of how different they were. And Otterpaw was so much friendlier compared to most cats Blazepaw had gotten to know.

His mind churned with confusion as they padded on in awkward silence. There were a few Twoleg nests they had passed along the way. And a small Thunderpath that they had to cross at one point. Luckily there weren't any monsters like the ones Blazepaw had heard of in stories.

"We'll be taking the same journey the Clans did during the Great Journey," Otterpaw suddenly murmured. Blazepaw looked at her in surprise before realizing that she was right. Though he had never seen the same path the Clans took, this did seem familiar from the elders' tales.

"Don't get too excited, we still have a long way to go," he reminded her. Otterpaw gave a slight nod, looking slightly downcast when he said that. But she kept up her perky attitude, bouncing ahead every now and than. Blazepaw suddenly wished that he shared her energy.

...

I've never done anything like this before, Poppypaw admitted silently. She bounded after the other apprentices as they made their way through a busy Twolegplace. Already she could hear dogs barking in the area, making her fur stand on end.

"How much longer until we reach the mountains?" she grumbled as she caught up with the others.

"We should be able to reach the base by nightfall," meowed Nightpaw, the ShadowClan apprentice. Poppypaw resisted the urge to groan. She knew he was only trying to help, but the fact that it was taking so long only made it worse.

She was however happy to be away from the Clans. Given the fact that Grayleaf had made her become a medicine cat apprentice, Poppypaw was more than happy to spend time out of her training. She could already picture herself learning to hunt and fight out here.

But she had also noticed the auras around every apprentice. Breezepaw's was red with anger. Somehow that didn't surprise her. But Blazepaw and Nightpaw were both yellow with worry. Fadepaw's emotions were difficult to read. Otterpaw's aura was a strange blue, suggesting that she was oddly calm. Poppypaw found her the strangest of all the apprentices. Her happy carefree attitude made Poppypaw wary.

"Wait." Blazepaw stopped in his tracks, causing them all to stop shortly after. Everyone that was except for Breezepaw. Poppypaw studied her Clanmate's expression and noticed that his ears kept flicking from one side to another. "There's a dog around the corner!"

Poppypaw's eyes narrowed when Breezepaw didn't stop. Too late he reached the corner, and it wasn't long before he was yowling in terror. Poppypaw's claws unsheathed by sheer instinct as Breezepaw charged in their direction, with a large brown dog barreling after him.

"Mousebrain!" Nightpaw hissed. "Would it kill you to listen for a change?" Breezepaw was ready to argue when the dog rounded on them. Hazelpaw let out a wail of horror when it's jaws snapped too close for comfort.

"Leave us alone!" Blazepaw snarled, swiping his claws at the dog's muzzle. Poppypaw's eyes widened in amazement when she watched the dog whimper in pain. She noticed that Blazepaw's claws were burning red, as if they'd been on fire. The dog tried lunging again, and when Blazepaw lashed out once more, it ran away, yelping as if it was it really were in pain. "And don't come back, coward!"

"Your claws looked like they were on fire," Poppypaw breathed once the dog had disappeared. Blazepaw whipped his head around, eyes narrowing in confusion until she gestured to his still unsheathed claws. By now they were smoking, but she could see that her eyes weren't deceiving her.

Blazepaw followed her gaze and stared at his claws in disbelief. Hazelpaw, Fadepaw and Otterpaw were looking at the young cat in amusement. Poppypaw looked at them warily, suddenly understanding why they were staring at him.

He has powers, just like us! she realized. Which left her realizing that left Nightpaw and Breezepaw to figure out what they could do. It was obvious that the eight apprentices at the Gathering had special abilities. Poppypaw suddenly understood why the Clans were so afraid of them. Their fear made sense now.

"Come on, we should keep going," Nightpaw meowed, an awkward silence following shortly after. The others nodded in agreement as they followed him towards the base of the mountain. Everything that had happened so far was moving too quickly.

Poppypaw wanted to go back to the times when she was just a kit. She missed spending time with her sister and mother. At least Wrenpaw had always been there for her when she needed someone. Even though they didn't get along too well, Poppypaw could always depend on her.

The rest of their journey through Twolegplace had gone relatively peacefully. Poppypaw's shoulders sagged in relief when they reached the edge. Only a few Twolegs had stopped by to stare at them in confusion. Blazepaw had given another alarm once more, and it wasn't long before they hid themselves.

By the time they reached the edge, they were all exhausted. Poppypaw was ready to drop over right than and there. But they still needed to find a place to rest. That was the easy part. Out here there were trees and bushes they could sleep in. The hard part was figuring out which place to stay in without arguing over it.

"We should sleep as far away from Twolegplace as possible!" Breezepaw hissed. Hazelpaw stood further away from him, still put off by how he had treated her earlier this morning. Poppypaw didn't blame the young cat for being so nervous. She had already been through enough.

"What we need to do is go hunting," Fadepaw retorted. "Then find a place to rest."

For what felt like the umpteenth time, Breezepaw made plenty of arguments until he was left behind. Poppypaw couldn't stand the light ginger tom's snarky attitude. She was getting tired of listening to him, and it had only been a day.

Poppypaw padded alongside Hazelpaw as the two young cats were tasked with finding a den. While she didn't know Hazelpaw very well, she could see how insecure the young cat was. Poppypaw could only wonder what had made Hazelpaw become that way.

"Hazelpaw, do you know why Breezepaw is so snappy?" Poppypaw couldn't help but ask when they found a bush far enough away from Twolegplace. The silver tabby looked at Poppypaw in surprise before staring down at her paws.

"I don't know," she admitted. "He's never acted this way around me before…. It's like this journey has taken a toll on him." Her mew was quiet as she curled up on the bare ground. Poppypaw didn't miss the fact that her aura had changed from yellow to gray.

"You two were actually friends before this?" she asked in shock. She couldn't imagine Breezepaw being friends with anyone. Just by the way he'd acted around them today made her wonder how anyone could tolerate him.

"Yes," Hazelpaw replied with a nod. "Breezepaw was always like a brother to me. I guess it's because we grew up together; he was the only other kit in the nursery at the time. He protected me when everyone else looked down on me."

Poppypaw curled up next to her, wariness settling upon her shoulders. She supposed she could understand why the two were so close. But Breezepaw's sudden change in attitude didn't make any sense to her. And she could see that Hazelpaw was still confused.

"Why did everyone look down on you?" Poppypaw had never felt more curious than ever. She remembered how downcast Hazelpaw had been when they first met at the Gathering.

"I-I don't like to talk about it," she whispered. For once Poppypaw nodded in understanding. If it was something tragic than she had a feeling that Hazelpaw would never want to talk about it.

AN: Another fast update! Also, I understand that this FF isn't very popular. But it would be nice to get more than four reviews for a change. Would it be possible for any viewers to at least let me know what they think about this? Anywho, onto review replies!

Blue1272000 - I do like Hailpaw the most, I'll admit... although Hazelpaw and Fadepaw are a close second XD You shall soon find out ;)

boscyboo - I do, thanks :) And I'm glad you're enjoying it so far!

Silverbird22 - ROTFL means Roll over the floor laughing :) It's basically like SHIELD from the marvel comics (Strategic Homeland Intervention End Logistics Division). I think they do :P And XD Hailpaw really is just like them combined!