The rest of the afternoon was busy, about as busy as a Clan would normally be, but Dawn didn't mind. It helped to take her mind off things, things that were like annoying burrs in her pelt, things that she couldn't stop thinking about. Instead of going on a hunting or border patrol, she was preparing for the oncoming storm, which according to Bingo was going to fierce. She had been sent out with Cheddar to gather extra materials for bedding, which could be bracken, or ivy, or soft grass, anything that would be comfortable. They needed to get all of this before the storm came so that they would have dry nests in case the current nest got wet somehow.

It was quite pleasant hanging out with Cheddar, the ginger and white patchy tom was older than Dewpaw, probably about 10 or 11 moons old. He constantly kept cracking jokes and making Dawn laugh, which was something she hadn't done in ages. They gathered bedding in no time, and were walking back to the barn when the first crack of lightning split through the air. Both cats looked up, looked at each other before sprinting back to the barn. The burst in to the shelter just in time, rain droplets falling down gently. Inky and Angel peered out of the barn, ears pricked as they listened to the roar of thunder and eyes wide as they watched lightning streak across the sky. The rain began to pelt down stronger and faster, causing Willow to shoo her kits away from the entrance way of the barn.

Even though it was a horribly miserable evening, there was still plenty of mice hiding in the stiff yellow grass (which, according to Bandit, was called hay) and so everyone had a full stomach. When the rain poured down so hard that it was like a cloudy screen, the barn cats retreated to the top level of the barn. Up there, it was warm and cosy, with beds made from the fresh bedding that Dawn and Cheddar had gathered earlier. Despite the dreadful weather, it actually turned out to be a fun night. Cheddar told them horror stories so horrendous that Willow had to keep covering her kits ears, though that didn't stop them listening. Dawn didn't even want to know where he heard the stories.

As the night drew on, all of the barn cats curled up in their nests and fell asleep, their gentle snores barely heard in the thunder and lightning war. Dawn was the only one who stayed awake, but even if she tried, she wouldn't have been able to get to sleep. The storm was one reason, but what was going on inside of her head was another thing. She couldn't stop thinking about her Clan and her Clanmates. She knew she shouldn't be, but... she just couldn't help it! She thought about Whiskerstar, all of the time they had spent together, all the training sessions, the talks about her visions and visits from StarClan cats. He was like her second father, or an older brother, always watching her, supporting her, helping her. Dawn felt slightly guilty at how she didn't tell him where he was going, but it was for the best. She just needed to be alone.

And Flowerstem, the younger medicine cat was one of the apprentice's best friends, always there for her, all ways full of advice. How would she feel about Dawn's disappearance? Would she know why she left? And her kits as well, they would slowly be getting bigger, surely Chiveleaf would know that she was expecting kits.

Her parents, Stagleap and Moonflower, would probably be distraught, one of their kits were lost. They had probably requested several search parties, obviously with none finding her. Windpaw and Emberpaw were probably worried as well, did they think Maplestar had gotten her?

Out of all her Clanmates, she probably missed Dewpaw the most. His kind, sparking green eyes, his caring smile. He was always there for her, always supporting her, and she trusted him to keep her secrets, like the one he was keeping at the moment, the one about her current location. Would his other Clanmates suspect that he knew something about Dawn's disappearance?

Then, there was Maplestar... would he have found out about her disappearance yet? She was not sure if it would make him happy or would he still be on a rampage to try and kill the rest of her Clan? Surely he and his rogues would be planning another attack, considering they had lost the last one. But would his attacks cease now that his main target had disappeared? Would he come after her?

Dawn shook her head, shehad too many questions flying around in her head but none of them ended upbeing answered. Right now, she could really do with a visit from a creepystalker StarClan cat to help guide her, which was the first time she had everwished for her power.