"Hey Shadowpaw, I need to tell you something!" Sonicwind called. He trotted into the apprentice den and dragged Shadowpaw out of his nest. Shadowpaw let out a groan.

"Leave me alone, Sonicwind... I'm trying to sleep...," Shadowpaw complained.

"No! I really need to tell you!" Sonicwind growled. He leaned in to whisper Shadowpaw a secret. "I heard... MoonClan made Darkwind the leader and removed Metalclaw from his position as deputy. Isn't that important?!" he whispered frantically.

Shadowpaw rolled his eyes. "I should have stayed asleep. You mouse-brain. Don't you think I already knew that?" Shadowpaw asked.

"Wha-?" Sonicwind asked. He then looked like he was struck by a lightning bolt. "You mean StarClan told you in a dream last night?!"

"Shhhhhh!! Nobody can know about my secret. No. Camoflight told me this morning," Shadowpaw snapped. Sonicwind looked slightly disappointed at the somewhat normal reaction.

Rather than getting too worked up about it, Sonicwind simply perked up and began to march Shadowpaw out of the Apprentice's den. "Well, I also came to a very good conclusion this morning. I figured that we should do some training! Then, we can have a race! It'll be great. Emeraldpaw can come too. We're going to get out of this camp and have fun!"

Fun.

Shadowpaw sighed still wanting to simply go back to his warm nest. Snow began to flutter down from the sky and he instantly wanted to sleep more. Why couldn't cats simply hibernate the entire winter? It would certainly be easier than toughing it out without much prey and no plants to hide them all out in the open. The cold didn't really bug him that much. Over the past couple of weeks, Shadowpaw's fur gradually became bigger and more cold resistant.

"What does Knucklestar have to say about our fun? Does he approve? Or should we be doing more training and less fun?" Shadowpaw questioned. He stretched a little and then stood back up again. Before a response came, however...

"Shadowpaw!" a she-cat's voice yelled excitedly as she bowled him over.

"Hi, Emeraldpaw," he simply replied to the black she-cat knocking him to the ground and pinning him down. She grinned bigger than usual.

"I heard that we're going to get to hang out today! Isn't that great, Shadowpaw?!" she demanded hopping off of Shadowpaw for a moment.

Once again returning to his paws, Shadowpaw glanced over to Doubletail. The nimble tom was nodding his approval making Shadowpaw realize that there was no way out of it. It wasn't that he didn't want to hang out with Emeraldpaw. He didn't want to hang out with Sonicwind was the problem.

"Okay then, Emeraldpaw. I guess that means we get to flee from Sonicwind. Just us talking about the world's complications. Fun, right?" Shadowpaw asked giving her a little shove.

Emeraldpaw sighed and shook her head. "I'm taking a break from all of the craziness. I want things to be like the way they were when we were confined to the camp or in the nursery. The universe just had to get itself in danger again, though! We're the only ones who can stop it. Just... not today. I need a break. I heard about Metalclaw and Darkwind. MoonClan can have a hassle about whoever they want to be the leader, but I don't want to be involved. How about, we don't do that? Why don't we... simply talk about the trees? Try to set up Sonicwind with Roseheart just to make him mad? Isn't that what you want to do?"

Shadowpaw realized how sick she was of all of the blood and death. She wanted to live a normal life like any other cat. That realization made him try to forget about the constant prophecies. Yeah. A day off from all of that.

"Well, if you two are done, I kinda want to get going," Sonicwind intervened. He shoved himself between them and began to literally shove them towards the entrance of the camp. Before Shadowpaw or Emeraldpaw could object, they smirked at each other with an idea.

"Yes, sir!" they both chirped as they launched themselves forward and out of the tunnel.

When they left from in front of him, Sonicwind let out a yell of alarm and fell forward onto the ground. Annoyed, he bounded towards the tunnel. Diving through, he looked left and right to find that the two of them had disappeared.

"Oh, come on, guys!! Don't tell me you ditched me already!" Sonicwind growled. He huffed and let his tail sag. "Well, if they want to hang out, then who knows? Maybe they'll learn more from each other than from me. I do know though, that because they're friends, they'll have way more fun than I can give them," he reminded himself. Just then, he realized that he had other friends. "Speaking of friends, I should go see Doubletail! He'll hang out with me, I'm sure!"

Racing through the trees with the wind tugging at their whiskers, Shadowpaw and Emeraldpaw ran laughing their hearts out about what just happened. Emeraldpaw's gleaming eyes darted to Shadowpaw. "Did you hear him yell out when he tripped and fell on his face?!"

"How could I not?!" Shadowpaw wondered if he was having way too much fun with that. Well, Sonicwind did say that he wanted them all to have fun!

Drawing to a stop, Emeraldpaw glanced up and saw the giant Soul Rock just before them. It had been a while since she had last been there. Looking to Shadowpaw, she hopped up on top of the rock and closed her eyes. "This is where an ancient tradition would take place. It was called a Gathering. Back in the days where MoonClan and SunClan got along with each other. Those days are long gone now. The energy coming from this rock is extremely immense... Can you feel it, Shadow?" she asked using Shadowpaw's actual name.

Hearing her call him by his old name sent a shiver through his fur. It just didn't feel... natural to him anymore. He knew she wanted to strike something in him. She wanted him to feel how it didn't feel natural. It was almost like she was saying that no one else was allowed to call him by his actual name. Many moments went by before Shadowpaw actually answered.

"I can feel it. StarClan's presence."

"It was almost like... this rock is like us! Don't you think?" she asked getting a little excited.

Shadowpaw? Like a rock? He didn't get it. Rather than simply nod and act like he understood, he gave her a curious glance. "I don't quite follow. What does that mean?"

"I mean... I've always imagined that this rock was placed here by StarClan. It's just like how StarClan placed the two of us here. Don't you think it's amazing?"

He placed a paw on the Soul Rock. It was cold, hard, and smooth. Underneath that cold, hard exterior was a story of how the first appearance was made by StarClan to select the first medicine cat. This rock brought cats and clans together. Now, it was just sitting in the forest. Despite the fact that the rock was sitting there eroding away in a forest, the value was still there. He smiled slowly and felt glad that this rock was here. "It definitely makes you think, doesn't it?"

Emeraldpaw sprang from the rock in a mighty leap. She landed gracefully onto the lush grass. Her tail was raised and swished with amusement. "Shadowpaw, why are you staring like that? Am I just that pretty or something?"

"Er- No. The sun was in my eyes," Shadowpaw quickly lied. Something in himself felt mad that he had to lie about it. What was wrong with him?!

Emeraldpaw saw through his lie anyway and swatted his ear with her paw. "A likely story! I'll bet you were thinking something like, 'Ooooh, look at Emeraldpaw! She flies like a bird in the sky along with my heart which is soaring with the eagles! If only I were actually listening to what she was rambling about rather than thinking about how pretty she is!'. There. Was that it?" she asked with a grin that he couldn't be mad at.

"Not even close," he replied shaking his head in a friendly way. A purr rose from his throat at her mocking imitation.

"Ah, I'll get you next time. I promise that! I guess it's my turn to compliment you. Hmm... Those muscles are so cool! I'll bet you could bust that boulder over there like Knucklestar or Crocscale! Care to try?" she asked when she noticed just how muscular he had become over the many moons.

Shadowpaw lowered himself to the ground as if he were waiting to pounce on his prey. Preparing himself to launch, he stopped himself when he sniffed something else just in front of it. Rabbit! A big, fat rabbit. He realized that the rabbit was way oversized compared to the other rabbits in the area. It was leaf-bare which meant that prey was scarce. Even scarcer was prey with lots of fat on them still. Grinning at his luck, he launched forward and killed the rabbit in one mighty blow. Shadowpaw hung over his kill proudly and lifted it up in his jaws.

"Shadowpaw, you didn't even hit the- Wow! That rabbit is HUGE!" Emeraldpaw exclaimed. She raced up to it and sniffed it. "I had to make sure that it was real because it's big for this time of the year... Rabbits usually only get that big during Greenleaf! Are you going to take it back to the clan? It would be against the rules for us to eat the-" Emeraldpaw was cut off when her stomach started complaining. The scent of the rabbit made her extremely hungry.

Shadowpaw knew it was against the rules, but since when did he ever follow the rules? He went to the Lake of the Lost more than any cat ever had in his clan. There was also fighting a full-fledged warrior in the middle of the camp without a good reason which he got away with without punishment. Surely that stuff was less severe than eating a rabbit. "You want it?"

"Uh... I can't! We'd get in trouble if anyone found out. Knucklestar would get mad at us and probably delay our warrior ceremonies... Not like I know when those are, but I like to think that they're going to be soon," she protested backing away from the rabbit. Her stomach betrayed her once again by rumbling desperately.

"Who said we had to follow the rules. We are completely alone out here. You know, unless if this rock counts as company. Besides, you want it so badly. Do you think I'm going to betray you and tell someone that you didn't serve the clan before your own needs?" Shadowpaw argued.

Emeraldpaw still didn't seem convinced. Rather than waiting for her to object again, he set the rabbit down and sat beside her. "We can share it. That way, if we do get caught, we get to share the guilt and the punishment. Even if you decide not to eat the rabbit, I will." He then bent down and took a bite from the rabbit. "This thing's pretty good. Also, the world didn't explode which must mean we're getting away with this."

Finally, she gave in. Next to Shadowpaw, she began to take large ravenous bites from it. Shadowpaw licked his lips to get the last bit of salty flavor from the rabbit. He let Emeraldpaw dig into the rest of it. He wasn't that hungry anyway. Once she was finished tearing away at the rabbit, she purred loudly and didn't even remember that she was concerned about getting caught.

"Shadowpaw, that was so good! Thank you for catching it for us! Sorry, I didn't leave you some, though...," Emeraldpaw told him apologetically. Her gaze went to the leafy ground.

Shadowpaw shrugged reassuringly. "It's fine. I wasn't that hungry. We should now bury the evidence that we broke the sacred code that everyone is obsessed with."

They dug a hole, shoved the rabbit carcass into it, thanked StarClan and then were on their way once again. As they walked through the trees in the frosty air, they leisurely small talked for a while. Neither of them had any idea where they would or should go. All they did was go on into the forest. Birds were chirping and squirrels were storing away their nuts for the winter to forget where they hid them all. Emeraldpaw seemed to be enjoying herself.

"So, would you call this fun?" Shadowpaw asked at one point.

"Of course! Don't you think this is fun?" she sent back.

Catching up to her slightly faster pace so that they were side-by-side, he nodded in agreement. "I like spending time with you when Sonicwind isn't around."

Emeraldpaw's gaze drifted from Shadowpaw to the sky. They had been gone for a while. Reluctantly, she stopped where she was with a distant expression. "How's Goldenheart been?"

The sudden question almost scared Shadowpaw. The quick transition was what made him concerned. He stopped as well and turned to face her. "What brought this up?"

"It's just that... I don't know what to think about the two of you... I like you, but I don't want to... not if the two of you are-"

Shadowpaw cut her off by approaching her once more. He made sure not to break eye contact. Every little cell in his body had to be sincere for her to believe him. One look away could make her suspect that he was telling her empty words without meaning. "Emeraldpaw."

The distance that was once in her eyes vanished and she looked up to Shadowpaw. Regally he stood before her. She trembled a little at how daunting he was. "I just wanted to-"

"Emeraldpaw, we've been friends since almost the first day I came to this camp. When I came here, Goldenpaw was an apprentice and I was a kit. While she did remind me of someone I once knew, you shouldn't worry about us... because I knew from the start that I would end up with you one day. You are and always will be the one who I think most fondly of. If StarClan doesn't agree with my decision, then they'll just have to taste my fury."

Her eyes shone brighter than the stars. The words she obtained were almost too much for her to take in at once. "We're only apprentices, though..."

"As stated before, who said we had to follow the rules?"

Emeraldpaw smiled shyly and didn't seem conflicted anymore. "Then... I guess it'll be official when we're warriors...," she replied. Quick and light without a second thought, she licked him on the cheek. Shadowpaw froze for a second and it took a second for his mind to realize that this was equivalent to a kiss in his world. While he was still contemplating what happened, she flicked him with her tail playfully. "I suppose that I have to thank you then, Shadow!"

"N-No really... You don't have to thank me for that. We should probably head back to the camp before any other life-changing events happen," Shadowpaw stuttered trying to settle down the butterflies in his stomach.

Emeraldpaw seemed to agree and began to race through the trees back towards the camp. Shadowpaw bolted after her before she could get too far away. "Trying to ditch me now, huh?!"

"The look on your face was just too adorable! I had to see how you would react!"

StarClan, did you intend for this to happen?

Once back at the camp, Shadowpaw found Sonicwind and Doubletail talking about Knucklestar anxiously amongst themselves. The two apprentices trotted up to their mentor.

"Oh! Emeraldpaw! Shadowpaw! Listen, we need you to find some herbs... The medicine cats went to the MoonCliff to give Creampaw her full medicine cat name and they haven't returned from their journey," Sonicwind explained urgently as if he were taking his job seriously for once.

Shadowpaw glanced over at the empty medicine den with worry. "Why? What's wrong with who?"

Doubletail looked to Sonicwind with worry. The deputy sighed to himself. "I knew it was bound to happen to someone sooner or later, but this is as bad as it gets... The both of you must understand the gravity of the situation... Knucklestar has lost a life and is still suffering... from Greenough. Yes, it's early in leaf-bare, but... Knucklestar just isn't as immune to it as he once was, I guess."

"What?! You mean Knucklestar died while we were gone?!" demanded Emeraldpaw.

"That was why I was kind of reluctant to talk about him this morning... He came down with it really bad last night. But that's not what matters at the moment! All of the other warriors are on patrol at the moment! We need you to get catmint!" the deputy told them urgently.

"Catmint?! Where do we get catmint from?!" Shadowpaw asked frantically.

"Twoleg Place is the only place where it grows. In their gardens usually," Doubletail replied.

Shadowpaw's fur bristled at the thought of the Twolegs. He knew them as humans, but his cat instincts told him that they were nothing but trouble. It wasn't like he was really a fan of them as a hedgehog either. But before he could protest, Emeraldpaw shot out of the camp without hesitation.

"Emeraldpaw, wait!" Shadowpaw shouted as he raced after her. Now that she had a reason to be fast, Shadowpaw realized that she was almost as fast as he was. He was finally able to catch up to her when they got to the edge of the territory. She didn't care that the scent markers to mark the SunClan territory were now far behind her. They both hurdled over a Twoleg fence and saw a garden. However, as Emeraldpaw searched through the plants, she found no catmint.

"Not here...," she growled with frustration.

Shadowpaw hopped up onto the fence again. He saw some of the Twolegs playing with their Twoleg kits in one of the yards, but there was no garden there. In another, there was a dog, but then he spotted it. Catmint.

"Emeraldpaw, I found some! Although, you're not going to like what's with it...," he told her.

She jumped up beside him and saw the dog. Instantly, it jumped up onto its rear legs and began barking at them like there was no tomorrow. They exchanged uneasy glances with each other. The two of them slowly made their way down the fence until they were just above the garden.

"Who's going to go down there?" asked Emeraldpaw.

"I'll distract the dog. You can get the catmint."

"Yeah... That's a great plan! Yeah! I'm scared out of my mind, but who cares?! You go first!" Emeraldpaw told him starting to shake from both exhaustion and terror of the dog.

The black apprentice hopped down into the yard and lowered his body like when he was earlier stalking the rabbit. It growled viciously at him before barreling after the helpless tom. Shadowpaw jumped over the dog and sprang off of its pelt to land on the other side of it. The dog whirled around now extremely mad and went loping after him. Shadowpaw cringed at the sight of the slobber flying everywhere and he ducked away. As he ran by, he dug his claws into the dog's leg with satisfaction. Shadowpaw's canine opponent whimpered pathetically before lashing out to bite his tail. It barely missed.

Emeraldpaw finally got the nerves to jump down and snatch some catmint. She stuffed her mouth full of green leaves. It was so tempting to eat them, but she had to remind herself what they were for. Hurriedly, she scurried for the fence again, but the dog saw her and lost interest in Shadowpaw. The black she-cat's tail fluffed up in alarm at the sudden foe that had found its next target.

Shadowpaw shook himself and saw the dog chasing Emeraldpaw. He was simply stalling with the dog before, but now he was ticked off. "That stupid, fox-brained, idiot!!" he growled jumping onto the back of the dog and raking his claws into its skin. No matter how high it jumped or snarled, it couldn't shake him off. Shadowpaw bit down hard on its ear and could feel the salty tang of blood trickle into his mouth. He spat it out and dug his claws in again.

The dog at this point was going mad. Savagely, it flung itself into the fence trying to get Shadowpaw off but with no avail. Desperately, it went to the door of the nest and started banging on the door demanding for its owner to come out and stop Shadowpaw.

Emeraldpaw had now finally made it back to the top of the fence. "Shadowpaw, fall back! Get back here!" she shouted to him through a mouthful of catmint.

"I'm not done with this yet!" Shadowpaw hissed through his mouthful of dog fur.

"We don't have time for that! Come on!"

Realizing that it wasn't worth the fight, Shadowpaw let go and sprinted for the fence. The Twoleg came storming out of the nest and snatched the dog's collar to drag it away. Smirking to himself at the dog's bad luck, he sprang up to meet Emeraldpaw. "Okay, I'm here. Let's go!"

Nodding, Emeraldpaw sprang off of the white fence with Shadowpaw beside her. Before long, they were back at the camp with the catmint. Urgently, they raced up to Sonicwind.

"We have the catmint like you asked! Don't ask what we had to do to get it...," Shadowpaw explained wearily. He was huffing and puffing, but it was all worth it, right? They were saving the leader's life!

"Indeed! I must say I'm quite impressed with you," a familiar voice told them.

A blazing red pelt leaped from the special tree and approached the two apprentices. Sonicwind proudly bowed to Knucklestar and Doubletail followed his lead.

"Wh-what's going on?!" demanded Emeraldpaw unsure of what was happening. Knucklestar was fine?!

The mighty leader snickered at their confusion. He nodded to the two warriors. "You two have done your duties. You are dismissed," he told them. Then, turning to the apprentices he shrugged. "I had to have a little bit of fun, so I apologize. However, the both of you passed my test with flying colors. I knew that the dog was there and that it would attack you. However, I had to test your strength, loyalty, and courage. You've both passed."

"Okay, is there a prize for passing your test?" Shadowpaw asked.

Knucklestar lifted his head and turned towards the apprentice den. "Dawnpaw! Come here for a moment!" he commanded.

The orange ball of fluff shot out of the apprentice's den excitedly. He launched himself towards them and was somehow able to stop once he reached them. "Hi! Roseheart said that you might talk to me at some point about something!"

"Yes, she was correct. I've delayed your warrior ceremony for a little while now and I believe that it is time for you to be a warrior. However, you won't be the only one at your warrior ceremony. You'll have two others sitting on the Skyrock with you. Shadowpaw and Emeraldpaw."

Dawnpaw looked to them with a baffled expression. "Aren't they still a little young to be warriors? Besides, shouldn't Lightpaw and Swiftpaw become warriors before them?"

"Yes, but time is of the essence. I believe that these two need to become warriors. You understand, right?" Knucklestar asked hoping not to have to explain why.

The orange tabby shrugged. "Eh, I don't care. All I'm happy about is that I'm finally going to be a warrior! Hooray! Hooray!"

"W-Warriors...?" asked Emeraldpaw unable to believe her ears.

"Indeed," Knucklestar replied.

Shadowpaw and Emeraldpaw were amazed. They hadn't even been apprentices for very long! It was still a nice feeling. The two of them were basically warriors now.

"Shadowpaw isn't it great?! We're going to soon be warriors! Aren't you excited?!" she demanded hopping around Shadowpaw excitedly.

He didn't feel nearly as excited about this as she was. Shadowpaw looked up at the sun which was now high over their heads. To not worry Emeraldpaw, he nodded. On the inside, he didn't want to become a warrior. Becoming a warrior meant that the countdown to the day when The Lake of the Lost would escape was nearer to completion.

"I wonder what brought Knucklestar to this conclusion...?"