As the three cats walked toward the Training ground, it began to snow.

It was a light snow, the first of the season, and it melted as soon as it hit the warm ground.

But it was still snow.

Robinpaw fluffed out her fur to guard against the chill while staring at the snow in wonder. It wasn't like she hadn't seen snow before-- she had, as a kit (or was it testee? She couldn't remember) but that was so long ago. It felt like so long ago.

Leopardpaw, on the other paw, had barely seen snow in his life.

He wrinkled his nose as a snowflake landed on it, then sneezed loudly and purred. He puffed out his fur and shivered as the snow landed on it, but his excitement was evident.

The golden tom pranced around like a kit, only subsiding when Foxtail whacked him lightly with her tail. Even then, though, he looked around with excitement.

He was entranced.

And why wouldn't he be? It was snow.

The first snow.

It shouldn't have surprised her, really. The water had been freezing cold-- even though it wasn't frozer, it was close to it.

Foxtail almost looked tempted to call the training off, but she only sighed and kept walking. Robinpaw noted, however, that there was an almost imperceptible bounce in her step.

It was leaf-bare.

However, that suddenly reminded Robinpaw of how much harder it would be to find prey. No wonder Leopardpaw had been made a Hunter, despite his lack of a mentor. They'd starve without him.

"Foxtail," she called, walking up beside her mentor. "Are we going to be able to catch enough?"

Foxtail shook her head. "Actually, the Servants come and help us this time of year. The good ones, anyway."

Robinpaw's ears pricked. "Really?" Would Greypaw come?

Foxtail nodded. "Yep."

They walked in silence for a moment, and Robinpaw shivered as a gust of wind blew through her fur. It was cold.

Of course, she thought. It's snowing!

They were at the Training ground now, and Robinpaw hadn't even noticed them pass the Testing place. How strange. And how strangely nice.

I hope you're proud of me, Tankit.

She shook her head sharply. What was she thinking? Her ancestors couldn't see her!

Moonblaze's stories flashed in her memory.

"Every cat comes from either the Sun or the Moon," mewed the Healer as Robinpaw and her four siblings sat quietly. "The cats of the Sun are the ones in positions of Leadership, and the Moon are the ones who follow them."

Silverkit nodded, looking up at the moon outside. I wonder what it's like up there...

Greykit spoke up suddenly. "What happens when we die?"

"When we die, we join with the Sun or the Moon, happy and complete at last."

Creamkit stretched as Moonblaze exited the nursery. "I'm going to be with the Sun."

Brownkit rolled her eyes. "Suuuure."

Tankit purred and hit Silverkit with his tail. "As long as I'm with my favorite littermate, I don't care."

Robinpaw choked back a sob. Why had she thought he could see her?

"Robinpaw?"

Robinpaw jolted. "R-right. Sorry." I can't even think about my kithood without tearing up! she thought angrily.

Foxtail purred. "It's fine. I'd like you to critique Leopardpaw's hunting stalk."

Leopardpaw turned to face Foxtail, indignant. "I'm an excellent hunter!"

"And how many pieces of prey have you brought back?" she replied sardonically.

He ducked his head, muttering none under his breath.

"What was that?" Robinpaw asked, purring under her breath.

"None," he hissed.

"That's what I thought," mewed Foxtail cheerfully. "Now, your stalk, please."

This time, Leopardpaw didn't protest as he sunk down into position. He began creeping quietly forward, and Robinpaw noted three things wrong with his stance.

Three. Not bad.

"Your paws are a little too close together," she told him. "It's pretty easy to lose balance that way. You're also stepping a little too hard on the ground-- mice and rabbits would feel you coming for sure."

Leopardpaw nodded and began again, taking great care to step lightly. "Better?"

Robinpaw nodded. "Yep. Your tail is moving, though. You'll probably hit some sort of branch if you don't stop."

Foxtail purred. "And with snow, that'll be a disaster."

Robinpaw looked at her strangely, but didn't comment.

Leopardpaw straightened his tail and began stalking imaginary prey. His stance was practically perfect now-- probably better than Robinpaw's own-- but he was almost concentrating too hard.

Sometimes, instinct was better than instruction.

"It's a little stiff," she informed him. He hissed in frustration and tried to drop naturally into it, and the process repeated again.

"Paws farther apart...step lightly...stop moving your tail!"

He tried again and again, but every time he was met with failure.

Finally, Foxtail sighed.

"Robinpaw, you demonstrate the proper stance."

The silver trainee got into position, her muscles straining as she held steady. She turned her head slightly to see Leopardpaw imitating her. He looked like he was at the point of exhaustion, which wasn't surprising, considering how much they'd done today.

"Would you like to actually hunt?" asked Foxtail suddenly. "It'll be good practice. You haven't hunted in the snow before, right?"

Snow? Sure enough, the snow had finally started to stick.

Robinpaw frowned, trying to remember. She had only the vaguest memories of those times-- it was as if she'd purposefully tried to block them out. "I'm not sure. It would've been very early in my Testing, though."

Foxtail nodded. "Well, I think you should go. Just be back here in a bit."

Robinpaw and Leopardpaw nodded and walked out into the forest.

~----------------------------------------------~

Robinpaw still hadn't caught anything.

It was remarkably difficult to stalk anything in the snow.

It also didn't help that most of the animals weren't awake in leaf-fall anyway. She'd only seen one mouse who must've been taken by surprise of this sudden snow. After that, nothing.

But there! A flicker of movement, a flash of brown.

A mouse!

She couldn't afford to lose this one, too.

She made sure that her tail didn't brush the snow like it had last time and walked as lightly as she could, stalking closer, closer...

She pounced, and landed square on the creature.

Ha!

Deciding it had probably been long enough, she began walking back to the clearing, seeing with sudden amusement her haphazardly tracks through the snow.

Then she sighed. She'd have to follow these back. Her scent had long faded, masked by the fast-falling snow.

She looked at the trees, now covered with snow, and curiously hit it with her tail, remembering Foxtail's warning. The snow fell off the tree with a woomf, and she shivered as it squashed her to the ground. She burst out, gasping. So that's why she warned Leopardpaw!

She purred, shook off her fur and kept walking.

Soon, she entered the clearing, where her companions were waiting with their prey. Foxtail somehow held a bird in her jaws, while Leopardpaw held a squirrel.

A squirrel.

Suddenly, her mouse felt insignificant as it fell from her mouth.

Leopardpaw dropped his squirrel and lay down on the snow-covered ground. Robinpaw purred, suddenly forgetting about her mouse and joining him. The snow felt nice under her fur.

It was beautiful.

Robinpaw burrowed a bit into the snow. She was remarkably hot from the hunt, and the snow cooled her off immensely.

Suddenly, footsteps.

A quiet mew.

"I think we're good for today."

The two trainees purred gratefully.

She was so relieved, Robinpaw didn't notice that someone else was with them, looking grim. It didn't seem to occur to Leopardpaw either. They were blissfully ignorant.

It registered with Robinpaw a moment later, though. "Foxtail? What's wrong?" She paused. "Who's that?"

Foxtail hesitated. "That's Orangepaw."

The orange servant trainee dipped her head, ears dropped back in respect.

"But what's wrong?" insisted Robinpaw.

Foxtail flicked her tail uncertainly. "There's been a meeting." The orange she-cat beside her flicked her tail, uneasy.

"Whatever for?" asked Leopardpaw.

Foxtail swallowed. "There's been a rebellion."

Silence.

The snow still fell on Robinpaw's fur, but she no longer felt joyful or happy.

Instead, it filled her with dread.

Well! That escalated quickly!

Just a couple questions: What did you think of this chapter? The rebellion? FloraClan's religion?

I hope you enjoyed this! Until next chapter!

Dedicated to SandstormM30w for being such a great supporter of this book!