"Shadowpaw."

Tornwhisker was standing at the entrance to their newest camp, staring at Shadowpaw, "Come with me."

Almost evry cat was asleep. Nettleclaw, Peakrise, Cloudfrost, and Roguepaw were passed out. Stormpaw was sleeping, his day old wound finnally still. Redpaw, who was watching over her patient, was out  beside him. Or so it seemed- Shadowpaw could tell the was wide awake. Most likely she had pretended to sleep when she'd heard Tornwhisker. With a gulp and a pang of anxiety, Shadowpaw followed Tornwhisker outside. He stopped at a tree- litterally, he walked into it.

"Can you climb this tree?" He asked.

"RiverClan cats don't climb trees."

"That doesn't mean you can't."

"Fine." Shadowpaw scrambled into the tree, her claws finding spots where they could, until she clumsily stood on a branch.

"Now, show me where a green leaf is."

"Sure." Shadowpaw bunched her hind legs to leap down, but Tornwhisker shook his head.

"Look. From there." Okay, now Shadowpaw was SURE Tornwhisker had gone crazy. But he was a warrior, and she didn't want the eight cats to fight amongst themselves. From where she was perched, Shadowpaw could see a couple green leaves scattered on the ground- the tree was bare. With leaf-fall setting in, green leaves were rare. She pointed with her tail to the closest one.

"There's one."

Tornwhisker squinted at it, then shook his head, "Show me." Shadowpaw leapt from the tree and led Tornwhisker to the leaf. What was his obbsession with leaves? Did he want Shadowpaw to find him a collection? Why did Shadowpaw have to find them for him?

Tornwhisker stared at the leaf hard for a moment, before inhaling sharply and beckoning for Shadowpaw to come closer. Cautiously, she padded forth, wary of his claws- they were sheathed. Good.

"How can you see so well at night?" Tornwhisker asked her. She shrugged.

"How can Redpaw hear so well? I don't know. It doesn't make me special or something. You can see just as well, can't you?" But when Shadowpaw looked up at Tornwhisker, he was shaking his head.

"No, Shadowpaw, I can't. I don't know why you can. But I have a guess. One night, when I was on guard at the ShadowClan camp, a strange rogue came to me. I was about to chase him off, but he said he needed to speak to a WindClan cat. I lied, and told him I was. He recited these exact words:

After shadow is lost to the stars,

An ally will remain.

Four has become five,

And stone thrives once again.

An enemy looms in the distance,

Threatening death and war.

A bloodied star will bring peace,

Before the ranks of star gains one more.

Could you be Shadow?"

This was one question Shadowpaw could not answer. How many prophecies were there? How could a bloody star bring peace? Who was the ally that remained?

"Maybe," she whispered, "Maybe I am Shadow."

---

"Wake up, Shadowpaw."

Grunt.

"We have to move on! I think we can make it to the twolegplace today."

GRUNT.

"WE'RE LEAVING. GOODBYE SHADOWPAW."

"Bye." 

"Hey look! The lump can talk! I wonder what else she can do? Hmmm..... maybe...... GET UP?"

"Alright, alright, I'm coming, keep your claws sheathed."

Shadowpaw followed the rest of the cats outside, "Shadowpaw!" Shadowpaw turned to see Redpaw beckoning at her with her tail, "Help me support Stormpaw!"

"I can walk on my own! It's a headwound, not a broken leg."

"There aren't any real medicine cats here!"

Stormpaw broke away and raced ahead, "See? I can walk!"

"Come back!" Redpaw called, but she raced after the ThunderClan apprentice. Shadowpaw smiled. No prophecy concerned them. She hoped that was true about her. Maybe shadow was ShadowClan? Maybe she had imagined that whole prophecy thing back in RiverClan territory? But something told her she was important. There was a reason she'd been chosen.

Tornwhisker had been right. When sunhigh came around, Shadowpaw found herself in front of the twolegplace. Cloudfrost leapt onto a strange red wall that seemed to be surrounding the mess of noises and colors, "Follow me!" He called, Stormpaw right behind him as they jumped into the twolegplace. Peakrise caught up with Shadowpaw.

"Kittypet friends," he muttered to her, "they probably do this all the time." Shadowpaw nodded.

"No, they don't!" Shadowpaw turned to see Redpaw glaring at her, "Stormpaw would never become a kittypet!" Redpaw leapt onto the wall, before following her ThunderClan companions into the twolegplace. Shadowpaw sighed, then followed them. What was so good about Stormpaw? He was a nice cat, sure, but Shadowpaw had heard of plenty of nice kittypets.

Tornwhisker pressed his muzzle to the ground, "There's a stail scent trail. It leds to that lump of dirt with the fake grass." He pointed his tail at a flat lump of dirt and fake grass, some of which was white. A couple twoleg kits were kicking a weird, spotted ball around.

"We'll have to go around," Nettleclaw decided. He led them arount the fake field, until about halfway through, near an alley.

"Where's Roguepaw?" Tornwhisker asked, "He was just here." Shadowpaw picked up his scent leading into the alley.

"He went in there," she pointed with her tail. Nettleclaw led the way into the alley. It turned into a dead end, where Roguepaw sat, shivering.

"What's wrong?" Cloudfrost asked.

"Dog," Roguepaw shuttered, "Huge, vicious dog."

"It's safe now," Shadowpaw said, "We can't see it."

Shakily, Roguepaw rose to his feet, and let Nettleclaw lead him out of the alleyway. Shadowpaw blinked away the bright sunhigh sunlight, and walked quietly at the back of the group. She heard pawsteps beside her- Redpaw.

"Something weird happened last night, while I was asleep. There was this black and white spotted tome with a really long tail. He smelled like WindClan, but I'd never seen him before. And then he recited these exact words;" Redpaw was interrupted by a low growling just behind her. All eight cats turned.

A huge dog, with a strange layered face, stood behind them. He was thrice the size of Peakrise, easily bigger than the stocky Cloudfrost. A low growled rumbled in his throught yet again.

The eight cats ran, clumping together. Shadowpaw could hear the great dog running after them, until they sprinted into an alleyway- a dead end. Shadowpaw turned, and saw the dog standing in the way.

They were trapped.