Blackfrost and Stormstar sat in stunned silence. What could this strange omen possibly mean? And why had it been sent to a Windclan medicine cat rather than Birdflight?

"So...what does it mean?" Stormstar asked, breaking the silence.

Wildbreeze gazed into the clan leader's eyes. "I have no idea, Stormstar. But you better get your clan ready for anything; we have no idea what might be on its way to us right now."

Blackfrost felt a cold breeze ripple her fur and shivered. What could this omen possibly mean? Was something awful going to happen to Windclan and Shadowclan?

"Well, thank you for bringing this message to us. I'll be sure to tell my medicine cat and we'll try and work out what this is about." Stormstar nodded to the Windclan warrior with respect.

"Yes, that's a wonderful idea. And I'll be sure to let Shadowclan know if we should find anything else out about this." Wildbreeze promised.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Blackfrost blinked the sleep from her eyes. It was a cold leaf-bare morning, and she was leading a hunting patrol. The pines were covered in layers of icy frost that twinkled in the early sunlight.

For a moment, she felt as though everything were perfect, and not a paw was out of place. But then, she remembered the horrible warning from Windclan, and sank back down into worry's sharp claws.

What if Shadowclan is not prepared for what's coming? What if this is a lie from Windclan so that they can invade us?

The questions were endless, but Blackfrost could answer none. She shook her head to clear her thoughts.

This is a hunting patrol, not a clan meeting. my thoughts can wait.

She signaled with her tail for the patrol to split up and look for prey scattered about.

Almost at once, Blackfrost caught sight of something moving in a clump of reeds. She had chosen the wettest part of their marsh territory, in hopes of finding a lizard or two.

To her surprise, it wasn't a lizard; it was a frog.

Yuck! Well, prey is prey. I'll just have to deal with it.

Blackfrost distinctly remembered that an elder, Mapletail, happened to favor the taste of frogs.

She crouched low, making sure the wind was blowing in her favor, so she could smell the frog and know exactly where it was. Then, she pounced, landing directly on top of the slimy creature.

After delivering the kill blow, she padded back to her patrol to see what they'd caught.

Rainfall had caught a thrush, and even though it was scrawny, Blackfrost was glad the silver she-cat was able to return to warrior duties without a problem after being in the nursery for so long.

Gorsetail and Firepelt hadn't caught anything.

Well, I can't really blame them. It is leaf-bare after all.

Blackfrost congratulated them for trying anyway, and the patrol headed back to camp.

When they arrived, Birdflight and Stormstar were going into the leader's den, deep in conversation.

They must be talking about the Windclan omen.

As Blackfrost padded over to the elder's den to deliver her frog, Silverpaw bounded up to her, her eyes wide with concern.

"Blackfrost! Heatherpaw is in the medicine den doing something and I'm not really sure why she would be in there..." The young apprentice was obviously very worried.

"Alright, I'll go check it out." Blackfrost padded into the medicine den, keeping her paw steps light in case Heatherpaw was doing something bad.

As she watched, the black apprentice was reaching into the herb store and pulling out strange-looking berries.

What are they? Oh, how I wish Birdflight wasn't all the way in the leader's den!

Heatherpaw wrapped the berries up in a big leaf and began to walk out of the den, only to be stopped in her tracks by Blackfrost.

"And what do you think you're doing?" Blackfrost narrowed her eyes at the troublesome apprentice.

Heatherpaw's green eyes grew wide, then she calmed down. "Oh, Blackfrost! It's only you! I thought you were some crazy cat coming to attack me!" She laughed, the bundle of berries sitting at her paws.

"Did you not hear me? What are you doing with those berries?" Blackfrost glared at her.

"These?" Heatherpaw laughed again. "Birdflight asked me to give these to Brownpaw because he was complaining of a stomachache." The she-cat paused for a moment. When Blackfrost was silent, she added, "she's busy right now. If you were wondering why she would ask me to do that."

"Yes, I understand." Growled Blackfrost, a little disappointed that she wasn't getting the pesky she-cat in trouble for this. "Go ahead."

Heatherpaw padded out of the den, holding the leaf bundle in her jaws.

Birdflight walked into the den soon after Heatherpaw had left. "Hey, what was Heatherpaw doing in here? Was she hurt?"

Blackfrost laughed. "No, of course not! She was getting the berries you asked her to give to Brownpaw."

Birdflight's eyes narrowed. "I didn't tell her anything like that. I haven't even spoken to her today."

Blackfrost's heart sped up as she realized that Heatherpaw must have lied for some reason.

But why?

"Show me the berries she took!" Birdflight hastily added.

Blackfrost reached her paw into the herb store and pulled out the strange berries from before.

Then Birdflight gasped. "Deathberries! Blackfrost, go find Brownpaw and bring him to me right away!"

Blackfrost dashed off. She knew what Deathberries were! The clan had decided to keep them in camp after her mother got bitten by the snake that killed her.

Oh no! What have I just let Heatherpaw get away with? Murder?

Finally, she found Heatherpaw's trail into the forest and spotted the two apprentices in a small clearing; Brownpaw was laying ominously still.

"Heatherpaw! What have you done?" She yowled at the black she-cat.

"Nothing." Heatherpaw shrugged her shoulders. "I found him like this."

Blackfrost struggled not to slit the cocky apprentice's throat, and grabbed Brownpaw by the scruff and dragged him to camp. He was Silverpaw's brother, and was recently made a warrior so he was still quite light.

The young apprentice was having trouble breathing, and it was getting progressively worse.

Finally, they arrived in the medicine den and Blackfrost laid him down on the ground.

Birdflight rushed up with some herbs in her jaws, that she immediately forced into Brownpaw's jaws.

"Come on, Brownpaw! Chew them and swallow them!" She told the brown tom.

He finally swallowed after what seemed like moons of waiting, and then immediately started to gag.

"Is that supposed to happen?" Blackfrost asked worriedly.

"Yes. I gave him yarrow to make him get sick to get rid of the berries." Her sister replied, not removing her eyes from the small cat's body.

Suddenly, Brownpaw got sick and Blackfrost could spot some berries in his vomit.

"Do you remember how many Heatherpaw stole?" Birdflight asked urgently.

Blackfrost thought for a moment, then remembered. "I think about four..." she replied.

Birdflight counted the berries that Brownpaw had thrown up. "Yes, four. That's it! He'll be fine."

Blackfrost felt a huge weight being lifted from her shoulders.

Now to deal with Heatherpaw.