Echopaw streaked through the forest, keeping her eye's on the white rabbit's tail. Leaves pressed against her face, and twigs and thorns caught on her fur, making the new apprentice yowl in frustration. She dodged a large rock jutting out of the ground and jumped over a small bush.

The rabbit slipped through two rocks and disappeared. Echopaw mewed at her failure to catch prey for RiverClan and headed back toward the camp, embarrassed that she would turn up empty-pawed.

When she reached the river, Echopaw shouted in alarm, her fur rising on ends, as she saw that the river was completely black. More black than anything she had ever seen, and it felt as if Echopaw would be sucked into it at any moment.

She paced up and down the bank, and saw cats drowning in the black water, and some sprawled around the bank, clearly dead. She spotted Mothwing lying out across the rock, hyperventilating, and Wavepaw beside her. The apprentice's back leg was submerged in the black water, and she was trying to get out to make her way over to Mothwing and help her.

She turned and saw a brown cat, watching her with calm eyes, sitting under the shade of a small tree. He was flicking his tail in interest but avoided the view of the helpless cat's around them.

"Do something!" She shouted. "We need to help them!"

The cat moved into the light, and Echopaw had to regain her balance before she toppled in surprise into the black water. She unsheathed her claws just in time and buried them into the soil, looking back up at the cat.

It was Mudfur.

"Echopaw!"

She opened her eyes in alarm and jumped up, her fur raised and her teeth bared before she returned to reality and realized who had said her name. She lowered her arched back and bowed her head submissively.

"Sorry," Echopaw said to Waterpaw. "I just had a nightmare."

Waterpaw nodded. "I figured. You've been murmuring in your sleep for the past half hour."

Echopaw bowed her head, embarrassed, and settled in her nest at the back of the Apprentice's Den. She started to share tongues with Waterpaw, still shaken from her dream.

Why was the river completely black? Echopaw thought worriedly, picking off a tick from Waterpaw's tail. The river isn't that black, is it? I haven't seen it since I hit my head.  

She thought of Mohwing and Wavepaw, and all the other cats that were being drowned in the black water. Why was Mudfur there? Was it a message from StarClan?

But StarClan only shared dreams with the leader and Medicine cats, so it had to be a regular dream right? Echopaw wasn't convinced.

She didn't think she was important enough to be noticed by StarClan, in fact, she didn't think she was good enough to be seen by any cat.

"How was your first time in the Apprentice's Den?" Wavepaw asked as they walked out of the den. The sun was hidden from dark grey clouds, and the blue sky was nowhere to be seen. 

More than half of RiverClan was already out of the Dens. She saw Reedwhisker organizing the dawn patrol, and Mistystar, Splashpaw, and Stormfur carrying Mudfur's body out of the camp.

A few cats had already left to go hunt, and Echopaw could see Blackclaw and a dark brown tabby walking out of the west entrance, but stopping to talk.

"That's Swallowtail if your wondering," Waterpaw said, following her gaze and not waiting for an answer. "Everyone knows that when Reedwhisker becomes leader, Swallowtail will become his deputy, if she survives that long at least."

Waterpaw flicked his tail, brushing it against Echopaw's fur, and she felt that it was an uneasy thing to say. But Echopaw knew what he was thinking of, if they would survive another moon.

Echopaw thought of her dream again, and she shivered in fear.

Hawkfrost walked up to Waterpaw and said, "Come on. Reedwhisker's picked us for the dawn patrol."

Waterpaw blinked a goodbye to Echopaw and bounded after Hawkfrost, which left Echopaw standing there. She felt out of place, and for the first time, Echopaw wondered if she should have picked to be with her Birth Clan.

She saw Swallowtail break away from Blackclaw and head towards Splashpaw. Swallowtail's movements were sleek and quick, and Echopaw could tell that Swallowtail was a good warrior.

Reedwhisker walked over to her, his ears flat and eyes narrowed. He eyed Echopaw warily and mewed a greeting.

"What's wrong?" Echopaw asked, wrapping her tail around her paws nervously. Reedwhisker looked at her, and his eyes and ears relaxed. 

"Nothing that you need to be concerned about," Reedwhisker said. "Come on, we're joining Swallowtail and Splashpaw in a hunting patrol."

Echopaw trotted next to her mentor towards the two other cats. "Why am I so concerned then?" She asked.

Reedwhisker stopped and looked down at her, frowning. "A good apprentice knows her place, Echopaw."

She bowed her head apologetically and mewed a friendly greeting to Splashpaw and Swallowtail. Splashpaw licked his paw and ran it over his ear, and Swallowtail stood up straight and tall, while her apprentice tried to mimic her.

"We should hunt in the river today," Reedwhisker suggested to Swallowtail, brushing his flank against hers. Echopaw's eyes widened and she took a small step back.

She hadn't been to the river since she fell, and Echopaw wasn't sure if she was ready to go back there. And adding to it, her nightmare wasn't helping with the fear of the river.

Splashpaw glanced at Echopaw's flattened ears and said, "Can we hunt near the forest? There isn't a lot of fish in the river now that the river is contaminated. Also, if anyone eats a fish we could get sick."

Swallowtail exchanged a look with Reedwhisker, and the deputy nodded briskly.  

"You have very good logic, Splashpaw." Swallowtail touched her apprentice's nose with her tail lightly, and Splashpaw raised his tail proudly.

The four cats walked out of the camp, and Echopaw realized with dismay that they had to wade through water to get to the forest. She realized that a large body of water surrounded the whole camp, and Echopaw thought that was a good way to protect themselves from enemies.

The two apprentices walked behind the warriors as they traveled through the grassy plain, with only a few trees for shelter and bushes all around them. Echopaw felt a little exposed after being enclosed in the RiverClan camp for a while.

Swallowtail jumped onto a rock and sniffed the air. Echopaw noticed that she avoided touching any of the small puddles around them, and she kept passing the direction of the river hard looks.

Splashpaw noticed her gaze and said, "Swallowtail isn't very fond of the water now, since it took her mate." He looked at her. "Have you heard about that? Waterpaw got sick from the black water and he gained green cough, then he died soon after."

Echopaw felt a pang of grief shoot through her, and she wished she was in RiverClan when that happened, so she could have offered her comfort to Waterpaw and Wavepaw.

"I didn't know Swallowtail was their mother." She said aloud. Reedwhisker suddenly stopped, crouched low to the ground, and stepped closer to a large bush. He pounced and came out with a rabbit in his jaws.

Reedwhisker dropped it, covered it in the dirt, and moved on so he could come back to it later. 

"Swallowtail seems so together," Echopaw said vaguely. "I would have lost my mind if I lost my mate.

Splashpaw nodded. "Not many cats can see her struggle. It's just Reedwhisker and Mistystar that mostly see it." Splashpaw looked at her, almost ran into a tree, and had to maneuver around it in an undignified way.

Echopaw tried and failed to hide her smile, so instead, she said, "How come it's just Reedwhisker and Mistystar?"

But Splashpaw didn't answer. He was listening to the two cats in front of them who were arguing.

"You do realize you have a new apprentice who needs to learn right?" Swallowtail hissed, sniffing the air again and mewing, "This is pointless. There's barely any prey out here."

"Then why did I catch a rabbit?" Reedwhisker asked hauntingly. Swallowtail whirled around and advanced on him, baring her teeth.

"Enough!" Splashpaw shouted. "You guys are quarreling like kits. Have a little decency.

Both cats turned away, embarrassed that an apprentice had given them good advice and that they had been acting like kits.

"Splashpaw." Swallowtail turned to him. "What do you smell?"

The apprentice lifted his head and smelled, then said, "Nothing. Just stale squirrel. Wait."

Splashpaw crouched down slowly walking on light paws, but Swallowtail held out her tail and gave her a significant look. 

Splashpaw nodded and stepped back, passing Echopaw a look that said, "Go for it!"

Echopaw crouched down, aware that all three cats were watching her. Reedwhisker stepped forward, whispering instructions in her ear.

"Light paw steps." He said. "Stay downwind."

Echopaw listened and spotted a vole chewing on grass. She kept her paws light, waited till the perfect moment, then pounced on it. She squeezed the vole tightly until it stopped moving.

The three cats cheered for her and she smiled, proud that she had learned so quickly.

When they were done with their hunting patrol, each cat caught two prey. Once they stopped bickering with each other, it was easy to find prey and catch them. They made their way to the fresh-kill pile and Mistystar came over.

"Wow." She said. "Look's like you had a very successful hunt." Echopaw flicked her tail proudly at the leader's praise. "You can take those straight to the Elder's den. And while you're there, you can replace the bedding too. Splashpaw will show you what to do."

Echopaw and Splashpaw obeyed and headed toward the Elder's den, and for the first time, she felt like she belonged here.