Nightshadow crept into the brambles,  her eyes targeting her prey: a fat squirrel. It would be too fat for it to escape her fast movements. She lunged, bunching her muscles and leaping, she landed squarely on the squirrel. The squirrel dropped its nut and squeaked in alarm, and it fell limp in Nightshadow's paws.

"Nice catch, Nightshadow!" Haredash congratulated her. At his feet, there was a big rabbit and some tiny mice. 

Sootfur padded into the clearing, holding a starling and two shrews. "We've got a lot of prey today! Let's tell Flamestar the great news!" He mewed, his voice muffled around the prey he was holding. 

The three cats dragged their prey into the camp. Many cats ran over and also congratulated them. 

Flamestar looked happy, but also looked a bit sad. 

"What's wrong, Flamestar?" Nightshadow asked. 

Flamestar looked into her eyes, and for the first time, Nightshadow noticed that he looked a bit tired. 

"I'm just tired, that's all. Great job on hunting, though." Flamestar sighed, and he padded into his den. Other cats looked at him and returned to chatting. 

Nightshadow saw Otterpaw talking to Cracklepaw and Treepaw. Stretching her ears, she heard what Otterpaw was saying.

"Have you realized, guys, that Flamestar is getting dopey?  He hissed at me like he wanted me to get out of camp! Flamestar's a weenie!" Otterpaw declared.

Cracklepaw gasped. "How dare he! But Flamestar is a great leader!"

Treepaw lashed his tail. "You have been acting strange lately! Otterpaw, Flamestar probably knows why you are crazy now!" 

Otterpaw shoved his face against Treepaw's. "I am not crazy. You have not tasted how it feels like to be hissed at by your clan's leader." 

Treepaw looked away angrily. "Because you're misbehaving. I'm not your friend anymore, Otterpaw." He stood up.

Otterpaw was fuming. He slammed a paw into Treepaw's tail, and with a shriek of pain, Treepaw leaped up into the air.

Cracklepaw gasped and pushed Otterpaw into the ground and quickly jumped next to Treepaw. "Yeah, we're not your friends anymore! We are going to find Nettlepaw to play with!" Cracklepaw snarled. The two bristling apprentices stalked away from Otterpaw. 

Nightshadow jumped in front of Cracklepaw and Treepaw. "I heard that Otterpaw is misbehaving lately. Isn't that right? 

Treepaw grunted. "Yes, he is. He called Flamestar a weenie! Imagine that! He would be grounded in a day."

Nightshadow sighed and said, "I'm going to visit Flamestar and let him know. Then he will be more aware of Otterpaw." She glanced at the apprentices' worried expressions, and said, "Don't worry. Flamestar is a great leader." 

She padded over to the leader's den and mewed loudly, "Flamestar?"

Flamestar's hoarse voice responded to her. "Yes? Is that you, Nightshadow? What do you want?"

Nightshadow sighed and pushed her way through the ferns. "I have something to report." She saw her leader lying on his nest, looking scared and tired. "What happened?" 

Flamestar sighed and muttered, "Berrylight knows. Okay, what is the report?" With a grunt, he heaved himself to his paws.

Nightshadow murmured, "Otterpaw has been misbehaving, everyone knows that. But what I just heard what he said was about you. He said you are..." She glanced at Flamestar's patient face. "a weenie." 

Flamestar didn't twitch a single muscle. "I heard, what do you think I should do?" He looked at her with tiresome eyes. 

"Let Stormeye scold him? No prey for a day?" Nightshadow suggested. 

"No, pluck the ticks off the elder's backs." Ashstorm poked his head into the den. Flamestar nodded in approval.

Nightshadow made her way out of the den and found Otterpaw sulking by himself in the camp. She meowed sharply, jolting Otterpaw. "Otterpaw. Flamestar wants to speak with you." Otterpaw's brown fur stood on end. 

"Did Cracklepaw and Treepaw report me? Tattletales!" He lashed his tail, hissing at the two apprentices who were in the medicine cat's den.

"Go. Now." Nightshadow grabbed Otterpaw's scruff and dragged him all the way to the leader's den.

Ashstorm and Flamestar were glaring down at Otterpaw. "What - Am I in trouble?" His fur spiked up, and he shrunk to the floor. 

"Yes, I'm afraid that you're in trouble." Flamestar mewed softly, his dull amber eyes looking lifelessly at Otterpaw. "I heard that you called me a weenie?" 

Otterpaw snarled. "Because you hissed at me!"

Flamestar sighed and turned to Ashstorm. "Please leave, this is a private discussion. But you, Nightshadow, please stay in here." The ash-colored cat nodded and padded out of the den. Nightshadow looked uncertainly at Flamestar. 

"Otterpaw. You are training in the Dark Forest." Flamestar muttered. Otterpaw jolted and his pupils dilated. 

Nightshadow knew he was training in the Dark Forest right away.

"Your pupils dilated. I saw him in the Dark Forest in a dream." Flamestar mewed, his face calm and his voice steady.

Otterpaw bristled. "You never ever met Mapleshade! She is nice to me and praises me for my work! I am working to help my clan!" Otterpaw snapped.  

Nightshadow meowed, "Our clan's ancestors have found out that the Dark Forest is recruiting warriors from the clans, training them in their dreams, and turning their intentions around! They turn the clan's strongest warriors into the strongest killers. Seriously, they force the clan cats to attack their own clan!" She shivered at the thought of Otterpaw teaming up with the Dark Forest.

"Never! Mapleshade would never do that!" Otterpaw gasped. "I also had some close friends there, like Icechill, Dogclaw, and Mudsplash-"

"What?" Did I just hear Icechill, Dogclaw, and Mudsplash?" Flamestar interrupted. "My ancestors said to me that the Dark Forest is where the darkest of the darkest cats join. They trick cats from all clans and put them together, and fight as if it is a war! A real war! That's why every night you wake up with several injuries!"

Otterpaw snapped, "But isn't having friends in other clans nice?"

Nightshadow hissed in his face, "Look, Otterpaw. The great clans have been attacked before. There were heavy losses, and you would be blood-thirsty, and you will hurt the clans,"

Otterpaw shook his head. "Never." He snarled.

Nightshadow hissed, "If you want to leave, once you are in the Dark Forest, they will never let you out. For example, one of the great clans, RiverClan, had an unlucky warrior who wanted to leave the Dark Forest. That was Beetlewhisker, who got killed by the now-forever-dead Tigerstar. If you want to leave the Dark Forest, you will get killed. The only way you can serve your clan loyally is by spying in the Dark Forest. Just pretend that you are just coming to train, but report what their plan is back to us. we are counting on you." 

Otterpaw dipped his head. "I will do my best."

"We are counting on you, Otterpaw. The destiny of the clans is on your shoulders." Flamestar nodded. 

As Nightshadow padded outside, she felt a breeze of fresh air. It seemed like... it was speaking to her! "Nightshadow... The future of the clans is not the Dark Forest... But there will be more sadness and blood than you've ever seen... You will have to move... FlameClan is not destined to live..." 

Nightshadow's blood froze. She mewed out loud, "No. FlameClan will live. We will do what we have to do in order to survive."

The wind whispered to her again, "You're not giving up... Your clan will choose its own destiny..." The breeze faded away, leaving Nightshadow on her own.