Snowpaw had turned ten moons today, receiving a copious amount of training from the two StarClan she-cats.

            Snowpaw hadn't even known how she had worked this hard. Her warrior ceremony would be in nearly two moons and she knew she would be prepared.

            Snowpaw still thought back to her family, wondering if they missed her as much as she missed them. She wondered if Wavekit and Oceankit had gotten to SnowClan safely.

            Snowpaw awoke in the night in her log, yawning. She had been dreaming about having a mate and kits lately, something that had just recently crossed her mind.

            What would happen after she became a warrior? She would find a clan certainly. Maybe then she would have a mate and kits. She knew that hoping for her family to return was hopeless, but hoping for a mate and kits, not really.

            Snowpaw sat, not able to fall asleep with these thoughts circling her head wildly like a cat chasing a mouse.

            But soon enough, her eyes drooped, and she fell back asleep, lost in her dreams.

            Snowpaw awoke to see that no snow had fallen. In fact, leaf-bare was beginning to end. It would be over fairly soon, and then new-leaf would come, bringing much prey to all.

            Snowpaw yawned, getting out of her log and stretching, letting out a purr. It seemed as if her depression stage was beginning to end, though sometimes she still sat in the forest at night, longingly whispering her mother's name, calling for her siblings that most likely had new names by now, her father too. Was he leader?

            "Good morning, Snowpaw," Stonecloud said, smiling at the she-cat.

            "Good morning," Snowpaw replied. "I'm going to catch my own food today."

            "Suit yourself," Stonecloud said, the StarClan she-cat drifting around the camp.

            Snowpaw nodded, padding into the forest, pricking her ears for any sound of prey passing by.

            She glanced around, padding through the small layer of snow. As she walked, she stopped, nearly gasping at what she saw.

            She looked, seeing a small plant sprouting from the fragile ground. A small flower- not bloomed yet- hung from it.

            "The first sign of new-leaf," Snowpaw breathed, quickly turning around and running back to her camp.

            "STONECLOUD! STONECLOUD!"

            Stonecloud stood up, glancing around. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

            Snowpaw laughed and shook her head. "New-leaf is here! I saw a plant sprouting from the ground moments ago!"

            Stonecloud laughed. "Your first new-leaf," she purred. "I remembered mine, seeing that first sign of life be known to the cats. That must mean the prey is returning. Go catch some food. I bet you'll find more than usual."

            Snowpaw nodded, padding back into the forest, passing by the small plant again. She didn't know why, but she thought of it as her mission to make sure this plant lived. Snowpaw glanced around, then carefully pushed the snow away from it, leaving a nice amount of space around the fragile flower.

            Snowpaw smiled, then headed back to looking for prey. Almost instantly, she noticed the tail of a squirrel zipping by and racing up a tree.

            Snowpaw had practiced tree climbing before in leaf-bare, nearly falling a few times, but the climbing the icy trees in leaf-bare would definitely make it easier in new-leaf.

            Snowpaw slowly climbed up the tree, eyeing the squirrel that rested on a branch. Suddenly, she leapt onto the branch, grasping the squirrel in her paws. She suddenly slipped, letting the squirrel go. The squirrel fell down the large tree and Snowpaw looked away. She balanced once more, then headed back down.

            Snowpaw arrived back on the ground, a pile of blood laying around the dead squirrel. For some reason, Snowpaw wanted to cry for the squirrel. It was an unfair kill, just like that rabbit had been. She didn't deserve to waste its life like that. But her growling stomach reminded her of how hungry she was, so she took the squirrel, heading farther into the forest to eat it.

            After eating the squirrel, Snowpaw stopped for a drink at the river. The river seemed to have melted some, a little bit of water lightly flowing. Snowpaw dipped her head in and drank the ice cold water.

            She headed back to camp, ready to learn more lessons. Silverwhisker was there now, beginning to pace back and forth.

            "What's the matter?" Snowpaw asked.

            "Something isn't right," Silverwhisker said. "I know it isn't...Something is going to challenge you, Snowpaw. Trust cats wisely..."

            Snowpaw gave an odd look. "What do you mean, Silverwhisker? I've already been challenged."

            "I think what Silverwhisker means is--" Stonecloud slapped Silverwhisker with her tail to stop her from pacing. "There will be more challengs on the way. Um, herbs. What did I teach you yesterday, Snowpaw?"

            "Burdock root for rat bites. Cobwebs for bleeding. Marigold for infection," Snowpaw said.

            "Good," Stonecloud replied. "A good review. How was your hunt?"

            "Well, I caught a squirrel in a tree," Snowpaw said, though guilt filled her. She hadn't really caught the squirrel in the tree. She had nearly killed it when it had fallen.

            "Excellent," Stonecloud said. "Your tree-climbing lessons have payed off some. There is a slight flow in the river again. Silverwhisker, why don't you show her some fishing skills?"

            The shaking Silverwhisker nodded, leading Snowpaw away from Stonecloud.

            "Are you sure you'll alright, Silverwhisker?" Snowpaw asked.

            "I'm fine," Silverwhisker spoke. A sudden flash shone in her eyes and she screeched.

            "What's wrong?!" Snowpaw gasped.

            "Large paws with large claws. A thick brown pelt. A growling roar," she spoke.

            "What are you talking about?" Snowpaw asked.

            "It's coming...it's coming for you," Silverwhisker said.

            "What-what's coming for me?"

            "A monster," Silverwhisker replied, shivering.

            "C-can we please just learn how to fish now?" Snowpaw asked, nearly beginning to shake too. What did she mean by a monster? Snowpaw didn't understand. She did know one thing...StarClan cats were never wrong.

            Snowpaw sat by the river with Silverwhisker, who had surprisingly begun to act normal again. She explain scooping up the fish when the river was still partly frozen. She taught her some good lessons, but Snowpaw could not forget the words that Silverwhisker had said.

            Large paws with large claws? A thick brown pelt? A growling roar? What sort of monster is this?

            Snowpaw kept missing the fish, her thought wrapped around what Silverwhisker's words had been.

            "Focus," Silverwhisker instructed.

            "I-I can't," Snowpaw said. "Maybe we should just end this lesson."

            "If that's what you want to do, then fine," Silverwhisker said, rising from the ground.

            Snowpaw slowly got up, following Silverwhisker. Her tail drooped and she looked down, ashamed her lesson had not gone well.

            It wasn't entirely her fault though. Silverwhisker had been the one to say those mysterious words to her. Suddenly, Snowpaw stopped. What if that was all staged so she could learn to focus through stuff like that?

            "Why did you stop?" Silverwhisker asked.

            "No reason," Snowpaw said, following after her again. Maybe Silverwhisker's words weren't right. Maybe it was all fake.

            As they walked, Snowpaw suddenly realized she was by the plant again. She looked ahead, seeing Silverwhisker nearly ready to step on it by accident.

            "NO!" Snowpaw screeched, knocking the she-cat away.

            "What was that about?!" Silverwhisker hissed.

            Snowpaw pointed her tail to the unharmed plant. "This plant is the first sign of new-leaf. It needs to survive."

            "But there will be more plants, Snowpaw. Some animal will probably end up eating or stepping on it anyway," Silverwhisker said.

            But Snowpaw did not want this plant to be harmed. She wanted it to grow into a lovely bush, one she could look at every day. One that she could go to when she was troubled. She wanted the plant to grow.

            Or more importantly, Snowpaw wanted to grow away from the roots that held her to the ground.