Three Moons Later...

"Come on Cedarpaw, what're you waiting for?!" Dustpaw yelled to his littermate for what must've been the fourth time as he pranced around the bottom of the pine tree.

Cedarpaw looked back briefly, but continued standing at the other end of the clearing, her ears tilted towards something in the distance. Her cream and brown pelt ruffled in the strong breeze but she remained unbothered by it.

"This was your idea! Don't you want to win?" Dustpaw insisted again, hoping his sister's hatred of failure would spark something within. What had caught her attention anyway?

"Alright, alright." Cedarpaw responded, slight disdain colouring her tone. She took one more solemn look before bounding over to him.

"What bramble got your fur in a tangle?"

"It's nothing." She insisted, the fur on her back spiking up in defence.

"Well if it's nothing, we can have our usual tree climbing competition. Nothing has ever stopped you before."

"I know." Cedarpaw gave him a slight smile. "I was just...thinking."

"Stop thinking, get climbing!" Dustpaw yowled in delight, unsheathing his claws as he grappled at the bark.

"Hey! No fair!" Came his sister's whine followed by a desperate scrabbling.

Dustpaw clambered up the tree, the bark brushing his fur as he looked down, noticing the forest floor getting further away. Wind bristled his pelt the higher he got. Due to being scrawny, he was nimble footed, whereas Cedarpaw lagged behind slightly. Albeit, her eyes glimmered competitively.

Looking up, the apprentice noticed the forsaken branch, a tiny twig with a few leaves sprouting on it. The finish line.

"No!" Cedarpaw's playful shout yelled as he surged forward, white-dipped paws clasping the leaves and ripping them clean off.

"Victory! I got the pine leaves!" Dustpaw teased, sticking out his tongue as he stepped onto a stable branch. Cedarpaw was a fair distance below, her eyes narrowed in mock anger. The tom crouched, leaves still in paw, shoving his victory in Cedarpaw's face.

"Of course you'd win, you started before me!" Cedarpaw stated, unhooking her claws from the bark and beginning to sliver down the tree.

"It's called technique." The brown tom quipped back, swinging his tail as he stared down at her. "Maybe one day you'll beat me."

Instead of the usual mischievous comeback, Cedarpaw just flattened her ears, looking back in the direction she had before.

"One day..." the cream she-cat swallowed, her eyes losing their glimmer.

Dustpaw sobered up instantly.

Something is really wrong with her. He frowned, feeling the worry begin to seep in his chest. It couldn't be anything romantic, Cedarpaw wasn't involved in the usual apprentice gossip. He didn't think their parents, Embershine or Stalkstar had told her off or been particularly strict. Elmflower, her mentor, was normal.

Cedarpaw hadn't got into trouble. Infact, the past few sunrises she'd been behaving like a StarClan spirit. No usual pranks or straying from apprentice duties or quippy good-spirited remarks.

So what was it?

"Tell me." Dustpaw stated, surprising himself with the brazenness.

"What?" Cedarpaw flinched, taking a step back, as if she hadn't expected him to be so direct either.

"Something's clearly going on with you." He meowed as he jumped down from the tree, landing a few foxlengths away. "You were distracted from the tree climbing. You've made no snippy remarks at all. StarClan, you willingly cleaned the elder's nests and ticks! Which is always left down to me."

"Okay. What if something is?" Cedarpaw replied, tilting her head as she looked in the direction of wherever again.

I'll have to see where she's looking at. Dustpaw thought.

"What do you mean 'what if something is?' I'm your brother! I want to help you."

"I was just..." she trailed off as if deliberating what to say. "I was wondering what it'd be like to live outside of the Clans."

"What?!" Dustpaw's tail fluffed up in shocked. Whatever he's expected, it wasn't that. "Why on StarClan would you even think about that?"

BirchClan was their Clan. Their home. Where all their family and friends were. Where they had grown up and would, in a few moons all become warriors.

Dustpaw, Cedarpaw, Rockpaw.

It was where they'd patrol, hunt, fight, form friendships. And one day, eventually join StarClan. Why would Cedarpaw want to throw that away?

Their mother Stalkstar had told many tales of her close friend Almond, who lived outside the Clans.
Constantly having to move territory in fear of intruding, scarce fresh kill, a lack of herbs. It was no good life. It drove cats to desperation.

"I...it was just a quick thought." Cedarpaw shrugged, seeming to shrink in to herself. "Forget about it."

"Fine." Dustpaw huffed, still mentally reeling from his sister's random thought. Why? He began to head in the direction of camp, the rustle of Cedarpaw's pawsteps the only indication that she still followed.

Of course she'll follow you Dustpaw. She's you're sister, you'll always have eachother.

So why, deep down, was there a tiny seed of doubt beginning to bloom in his chest, that Cedarpaw was saying less than she was letting on?

He twisted his head to look back at her for a brief second. The woeful expression echoed everything his sister was thinking.

That the possibility of leaving BircClan was anything but a hasty thought.

It'd been something she'd dwelled on.

Of course she wouldn't. Dustpaw shook his head, and continued towards the camp, Cedarpaw following behind.

Him and her. As it always would be.

—
The Next Day

As soon as Dustpaw awoke, he could sense something was off. The moss of his nest prickled his fur as he rolled onto his back, stretching out his legs tiredly.  His green eyes scanned the sleeping figures in their nests.

Harepaw was soundly curled in her nest, with thankfully no sign of Applepaw nearby. It wouldn't be long until the siblings were both made warriors and Dustpaw wouldn't be tormented by Applepaw putting brambles in his nest each night. Rubblepaw and Cherrypaw had been apprenticed a few moons ago, the littermates snuggled together.

Yet, no Cedarpaw. Her nest next to his was empty, he observed. Even the feathers had been stripped out of it, leaving only the basic foundations of twigs and moss. She was always the one to wake him up, so her absence was striking.

Perhaps it had something to do with them playing in the woods? He didn't know.

Careful not to disturb the other sleeping apprentices, Dustpaw trotted into the clearing. A group of cats were perched at the bottom of Moss Rock. His parents, Rockpaw, Mistflower, Elmflower and Brightfoot. Still no Cedarpaw.

"Maybe it's just some horrible joke." His father, Embershine stated, brown ears flattening. Dustpaw paused. What did he mean?

"Seemed like she meant it." Rockpaw shrugged, his eyes widening when he noticed Dustpaw.

Dustpaw trailed forward, hesitance even clear in his steps. He didn't know what was going on. Looking towards his mother, he noticed her eyes were distanced, gazing out into the forest, strikingly similar to Cedarpaw.

"I—I tried to warn her." His mother lisped, so unlike the resilient leader he knew, "—all the stories about Almond."

"I don't know what she saw in the place. But she was insistent." Elmflower piped up, her fluffy tail swishing in agitation as she gazed at her former mate Brightfoot slumped beside her. "Just like how you got with a kittypet behind my back, and she bore you a kit!"

Dustpaw paused, his family's confusing behaviour diverted by Brightfoot and Elmflower. He didn't know much of what had happened between them, only that Brightfoot had betrayed Elmflower, tearing their family apart.

No wonder Rowanpaw acts as bitter as she does with parents like that.

"I told you. I haven't seen her since!" Brightfoot snapped.

"Would you have told me if I hadn't found out?" Elmflower lashed, "If I hadn't dragged myself through a snowstorm to find you, worried to high StarClan? And then I find you all snuggled up with that kittypet, the little vermin squealing by her side. Meanwhile, Raspberrypaw and Dillstalk—our kits— were perishing from the cold."

"Elmflower." Stalkstar suddenly snapped, her green eyes sharp again. "I understand your quarrel with Brightfoot is a painful one. StarClan, I almost demoted him as deputy for that stunt. But right now, I've called you here because you're both Cedarpaw's mentor and my deputy, respectfully. Cats who I expect to be able to discuss Cedarpaw's disappearance with appropriately. But if neither of you can contribute with clear thoughts, I suggest you leave."

Cedarpaw's disappearance? She's gone?

What?! No.

It couldn't be true. Dustpaw shook his head. He refused to believe it.

"What do you mean, Cedarpaw's disappeared?" The brown apprentice trembled, his voice rising with each word. It was then that everyone par Rockpaw seemed to notice him, eyes blown wide.

"Dustpaw—" Mistflower began, the curly furred she-cat approached him from beside Embershine.

"No." Dustpaw retracted from her, eyes narrowing. "I don't want comfort. I want answers. Someone tell me what's going on!"

His parents only blinked, bewildered. Embershine's claws dug into the ground and Stalkstar's green eyes stared into his soul.

"Tell me!"

"She's..." Stalkstar trembled as she hunched over, "...she's gone. Left."

"No." His heart plummeted to his chest. "She—she wouldn't do that! She wouldn't leave me—us behind."

"Cedarpaw is gone." Embershine shook his head, his voice firm as he looked out into the woods. "The TwolegPlace border."

"You're lying!" A growl caught in the back of his throat as he surged towards Embershine, tail puffed up. Betrayal and disbelief felt thick in his heart.

"If she'd have left...she would've told me."

Yesterday. Yesterday showed all the signals.

He recalled her pitiful looks into the forest, the good behaviour, the reluctance to play games.

Cedarpaw had given him all the hints, but no reason.

Without hesitation, Dustpaw turned tail and began to run in the direction of the border. The trees were mere blurs as his paws pounded against the ground, tail streaming behind him.

"Cedarpaw!" His voice tore through the trees as he noticed his sister balanced on the top of a fence, mid-crouch.

"Dustpaw?" Cedarpaw's voice wavered as she twisted around.

"What in StarClan are you doing?!" Dustpaw yowled, coming to an abrupt halt at the fence, "BirchClan is your home!"

A few heartbeats passed as Cedarpaw grimaced, before jumping down from the fence to face him. His heart pounded in his chest. Maybe she'd have a change of heart?

"Dustpaw, look. The Clanlife isn't for me. You know that, right?"

"W—What? But it's your home! I don't mind picking the ticks out of the elder's fur if you won't."

"Flaky." Dustpaw winced at the nickname as his sister spoke. "I don't want to be stuck hunting and patrolling and picking elders ticks all my life in this stupid birch forest. I want the freedom."

"But you belong here! You promised we'd always have eachothers side."

"I don't belong here!" His sister snapped, the sudden malice in her voice making Dustpaw shrink back. Her peach-coloured eyes flared at him as she continued. "I can make my own decisions. I don't need you dictating me on where I belong."

"Cedarpaw!" He shouted again. Why couldn't she just listen?

"No!"

Cedarpaw lunged forward.

Her claws were unsheathed, a growl on her face as if she was aiming for battle. A battle against him.

Agony erupted in his ear as her claws tore the flesh, but he didn't know if it was from the pain or the betrayal that was embedded within. Dustpaw could feel the trickle of something damp down the side of his face.

"You..." he stammered, barely able to shove the words through.

"I—Dustpaw I—I didn't mean it." Cedarpaw recoiled, ears plastered to her head as she stared in horror at the wound she'd inflicted.

The metallic tang of blood was apparent as something switched within him. A grim acceptance, perhaps? No, betrayal.

She'd wounded him. There was no going back from that. She was meant to be his sister, they were meant to stick by one another. And yet—she was abandoning him.

Dustpaw didn't even register his own claws unsheathing as he lifted a paw and struck it fiercely over Cedarpaw's ear. A loud yowl echoed the forest as she scurried back, peach eyes glimmering with horror.

"You told me you'd be there. And you broke that...you broke that trust." He spat out the blood that'd accumulated in his mouth, dappling the soil red. "If I can't trust you, then I can't trust anyone."

Cedarpaw didn't respond, she only blinked at him, her ear now ragged and bleeding. With a final pitiful glance, she turned and slunk over the fence.

Heartbeats passed as Dustpaw stood, focused like a hawk on the spot where Cedarpaw had once been. Waiting for anything. Maybe he'd wake up. It was all just a horrific nightmare.

Cedarpaw would hop back over the fence and they'd go back to their pine tree clearing, skipping apprentice duties all the while.

As he averted his gaze, he caught his reflection in a nearby puddle.

A chunk of his ear was torn out, roiling the uncertainty to confirmation. Confirmation that this was real. It had happened.

Cedarpaw had taken a chunk out of his ear and now the blood was beginning to dry down his fur. Dustpaw averted his gaze to the floor where he'd spat out the blood. She'd gotten angry enough to wound him.

And yet, he looked down at his own paws. White now dappled with red, claws still digging into the soil.

He'd done just the same.

Cedarpaw had gone, and the chunk of his ear and bloodied paws was the proof.

She's never coming back.

His chest felt heavy as the realisation and grief all torrented at once, barely able to hold back a hiccuping intake of breath. Grief for the abandonment, the injury, the betrayal, everything.

Dustpaw collapsed into the blood spattered soil and cried.