KESTRELPAW PADDED BACK into the ShadowClan camp, shaking her head to clear her mind of the insistent ringing that followed the scream of the sparrow now dead in Ashclaw's jaws.

Cindercrow had given her a strange look a few moments following the swift execution, but the young apprentice had insisted she was fine and continued on in following the big gray tomcat.

Upon re-entering the camp, Kestrelpaw released a relieved sigh, eager to find a nest and collapse into it for the day. She had no idea that the ShadowClan territory was so big compared to their tiny camp, and her ears were still filled with the chatter of the critters they'd passed on the tour. A beautiful beginning to her apprenticeship, but she needed time to process it all before she needed to go do other tasks.

So as Nightpaw pranced away, elegant as ever, toward her brother to possibly brag about seeing the territory, Kestrelpaw herself made her way toward the prey pile, her stomach yearning for food. As she walked, she caught sight of another, slightly older, apprentice who was already nosing through the fresh kill to see what there was to offer.

A slender snow bengal spotted she-cat by the name of Blueberrypaw, who looked up immediately when she heard the soft pawsteps of the approaching dilute tortoiseshell.

"Hi, Kestrelpaw," the other she-cat meowed with a dip of her head. "How was your first day in the territory?"

She laughed. "I feel like my paws are going to fall off."

Blueberrypaw snorted once, flicking her tail. "A completely reasonable response." Her gaze softened. "Care to share a squirrel with me?"

Kestrelpaw blinked, then nodded. "Sure."

The spotted apprentice grabbed a plump gray squirrel from the prey pile and gestured for her to follow, before striding over to the apprentice den and dropping it on the ground. She laid down beside it, and Kestrelpaw settled close by, smiling as the older apprentice bit into the prey.

Now, the silvery-white dilute tortoiseshell apprentice had no problem eating prey that was already dead. She hadn't been the one to take its life, so it didn't bother her. There was no final breath, no plea for mercy, no desperate will to survive. Just prey.

And it smelled divine.

She was just now realizing how hungry she was as she settled down to share the dead squirrel with the other apprentice. Her body, aching with exhaustion from the trek across the territory, demanded something to consume immediately, and she fought a giggle as her stomach rumbled loudly.

Blueberrypaw leaned over and took another bite, and after she had done so, Kestrelpaw sank her teeth into the warm prey, relishing the taste of the trees and forest air which peppered the meat.

"Do you have a nest in the apprentice den yet?" The snow bengal asked her, glancing sideways so they could make eye contact while talking.

"Not yet." Kestrelpaw admitted. "Has anyone else picked their spots yet?"

Blueberrypaw nodded. "Falconpaw and Thrushpaw have. Not sure if Nightingalepaw has or not. Darkpaw hasn't." Her expression brightened. "Maybe I could help you pick a spot?"

The dilute tortoiseshell she-cat tilted her head. "Yeah, sure, that sounds fun!" And relaxing.

She got up after finishing off a few more bites of the squirrel, licking her lips and feeling satisfied with how full she was. The older apprentice also got up, finishing off the squirrel and flicking her tail in a gesture for Kestrelpaw to follow her into the den.

It was a rather spacious den, with soft pine-needle nests scattered in an unorganized fashion around. There were nests closer to the walls of the den, as well as some which were clustered near the center.

Blueberrypaw pranced over toward a nest, which was nestled closer to the edge of the den, rather than at the center. She hopped in, smiling brightly and waving her tail. "This one's mine. I've had it since I became an apprentice." Her gaze flashed around. "Brackenpaw, my sister, sleeps in the medicine cat den, since she's training under Pigeonflower. Branchpaw, our brother, sleeps in the very center, since he's always got to be in the middle of everything." She rolled her eyes with a grin.

"Where are Falconpaw and Thrushpaw sleeping?" The tortoiseshell asked, tilting her head.

The older cat pointed with a paw. "Thrushpaw took the center, and is sleeping next to Branchpaw. Falconpaw chose to sleep against the wall."

"She has always liked to brace against something in her sleep." Kestrelpaw told her, nodding once. She walked around Blueberrypaw's nest and found an open space behind it, with the nests of her littermates circling on the other side. "I think I'll make my nest here, so I can have my siblings around me, but still be close to my friends. Swanpaw and Darkpaw are probably going to sleep close together, unless she decides he's annoying, then she'll move to the other side specifically to be petty."

Blueberrypaw giggled, curling her tail over her paws. "There's nest-making material in the corner over there. Pine needles, moss, wool, feathers, bracken, and ferns. I suggest not making it too big, and definitely packing moss into the bedding so it can seal warmth inside. When leafbare comes, you'll be glad you did."

"Noted." Kestrelpaw snorted, moving toward where her friend had directed, grabbing a mouthful of soft gray moss. She slowly began to spread it along the den floor, arranging it into a wide enough nest for her to lay in comfortably. Once the moss was packed together tightly, she grabbed some ferns to insulate it. Weaving them in, she patched any cracks and holes in the moss shed already packed together.

She looked over at the other nests, seeing the pine needles were used to line the bottoms to provide comfort other than the earthen ground. Kestrelpaw flicked her tail and began to spread them evenly along the bottom of the nest she was making for herself, before deciding it was soft enough and beginning to weave small amounts of wool into the edges for more insulation. Finally, she decided to take some downy bird feathers for maximum comfort, remembering Wanderwing's words about the breast feathers being the softest. Then, she grabbed some longer, more colorful feathers, to like the outer wall of her sleeping area to give it some character.

The new apprentice sat back proudly and examined her new nest, determining that it was fine for sleeping before she turned and headed out to the clearing once again. Blueberrypaw had left, and her scent lingered in camp even though it was growing stale, so Kestrelpaw assumed she had gone out on the evening patrol with her mentor. So she made her way toward the nursery, slipping toward the hidden clearing behind the den where her anthill friends were lurking.

When she approached, however, she was surprised and horrified to find that the mound of grainy sand had been completely trampled, and was scattered around in a large uneven pile. There were no ants in sight.

StarClan . . . no! She rushed forward, pressing her muzzle to the dirt and sniffing around for any of her friends, in vain. The destroyed nest was completely abandoned.

"It was the cat-chicks."

Kestrelpaw snapped her head up toward the low-hanging tree branches to find the familiar form of Wanderwing perched there, staring down at her with that soul-piercing amber gaze. "W-What?"

"Cat-chicks." It repeated in its rasping caw. "Little ones."

Emberkit and Amberkit, the apprentice realized with a sinking feeling. "They destroyed the anthill?"

"The ants scattered and moved into the underbrush," the raven replied, in a tone that held a note of ominous gloom. "To escape the tragedy."

There was a lump in the back of her throat. "Are they all alive?"

Wanderwing stared at her, its eyes sparkling with a shadow which Kestrelpaw had not seen before. It spread its wings wide, not breaking her stare. "The ants are not the last to suffer a scattering." It told her calmly, though the note to its tone was unsettling. "There is darkness around this land, and it is closing in more quickly than I first imagined."

The apprentice opened her mouth to speak, but the large bird cut her off.

"Be on guard, my friend. The stars are not on your side." It swooped down out of the tree after those final words left its beak, grazing the top of Kestrelpaw's head before vanishing into the darkening forest.

She watched it go, the sense of dread overcoming her body. She remembered the elders telling stories about ravens and crows being omens of death, though she had never believed them because of Wanderwing. Now, however, it seemed as though the bird had given her a warning of sorts — and what did it mean by the stars not being on their side?

StarClan had always supported the Clans!

Kestrelpaw shook her head slowly, trying to shake the ominous warning from her mind. She gently scraped together the remains of the ant mound, and then uttered a word of sorrow for the friends she'd lost to those kits, before she turned and walked back into the camp clearing, ears twitching slowly.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Ploverstar slinking from her den, and watched as the ShadowClan leader jumped up onto the pinebranch. "All cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath the Pinebranch for a Clan meeting!"

The apprentice flicked her gaze up toward her leader before she walked slowly to sit beside Nightpaw, who had just finished grooming her silky white coat and now sat just out of the shadows to watch the meeting.

When she saw Kestrelpaw approaching her, she dipped her head in greeting. "Hey Kestrelpaw."

"Hi, Nightpaw." The tortoiseshell nodded back in return. "Where's Darkpaw?"

"Right behind you."

Kestrelpaw yelped and spun around, smacking the speaker who was hidden in the shadows across the face with a soft paw. "Darkpaw!"

The muscular black apprentice emerged, giving her a long, unimpressed look. "Ow."

She bristled. "Don't creep up on me!"

He shrugged almost nonchalantly and took a seat on her other side, tilting his head up to watch Ploverstar. Kestrelpaw did the same after she managed to smooth her fur down.

The soft-furred gray tabby swished her tail once the Clan had gathered, silencing any murmuring which occurred. Once the entire camp was silent, she spoke.

"It is time to choose which cats will be going to the gathering tonight." Ploverstar meowed. "As many of you know, our ties to WindClan have been strained as of late. There are whispers in the air that they may be planning something. As per request of our medicine cat and deputy, I have decided to wait until next moon before we bring along our newest apprentices."

Kestrelpaw's ear twitched back as she heard Darkpaw make a noise of dismay, though he didn't speak his words aloud.

"I will be taking Volewhisker, Pigeonflower, Ashclaw, Cindercrow, Jackdawblossom, Condorwing, Hazelhawk, Hailscar, Branchpaw, and Brackenpaw." She allowed for the names to settle in before dipping her head. "Those who are coming along, make sure to eat now so we can head to the island early enough to pick our spot. The rest of you, place a guard on the camp - Cedartail, you will take charge while we are gone. Get some rest, but keep your eyes open." Her voice darkened. "I wouldn't put it past WindClan to ambush us on the night of a full moon."

Cedartail dipped his head, swishing his tail back and forth. "I will do my best." He promised his leader, before getting to his paws to organize a guard for the camp.

Ploverstar dipped her head and jumped down from the Pinebranch, slipping toward the freshkill pile to grab a small mouse. "Jackdawblossom!" She called her littermate, who looked up. "Come share a meal with me."

Kestrelpaw's mother nodded and picked up a vole, following Ploverstar into the leader's den silently.

"Ugh," Nightpaw groaned. "Why can't we go to the gathering?"

Blueberrypaw, who was now padding toward them calmly, halted a few paces away. "The gatherings have been tense for the last few moons." She told them. "WindClan's leader is edging toward a war last I heard. The other Clans are standing up to him, but Ploverstar said that he's young and inexperienced. She's worried he might break the warrior code."

"Maybe she's just being paranoid?" Nightpaw suggested, though the spotted tabby was shaking her head before she even finished speaking.

"I've seen what she's seen. There's something off about Fieldstar — and the other leaders can feel it, too. Ploverstar wants to protect us."

Kestrelpaw glanced toward her. "You weren't chosen for the gathering." She commented.

Blueberrypaw snorted. "I didn't really want to go, anyway. Brackenpaw goes as a medicine cat, and Branchpaw is the deputy's apprentice. They both get special privileges." His eyes lit up. "But that's alright. That means I can sleep!"

The four apprentices all giggled at those words, though Kestrelpaw still felt a twisted sense of dread in the pit of her stomach. She couldn't seem to get that ominous warning out of her head . . . what if Wanderwing sensed something coming?

Would StarClan really abandon ShadowClan?