Goldenshine's POV

My eyes opened slowly to see that it was nearly dawn. I lashed my tail, stretched, and let out a huge yawn. I turned my head down to my empty nest, and remembered that Swiftkit had not slept next to me, for he was still in the medicine den. I hated not having Swiftkit sleeping next to me in the nursery, but Jayfeather had insisted that I give him some space while he rests instead of being in hysterics in front of him constantly.

It's crazy, I thought, I was never such an anxious cat until I had a kit!

I let out another yawn before leaving the nursery, deciding that I may as well go outside and watch the patrols be assigned. Brambleclaw was already under the Highledge, directing cats as they approached him. He gave me a quick nod in greeting as I settled down near where he was.

"Miss patrolling?" he asked me as soon as he had sent out the dawn patrol. "I could send you on a hunting patrol if you want to get out for a little bit?"

I smiled at Brambleclaw, appreciating the kind offer, but I had to decline. "Thank you, Brambleclaw, but I think I should stay in camp while Swiftkit is recovering."

There is no way in StarClan that I am going to leave him while he's in there, in pain.

Brambleclaw blinked at me in understanding and then continued on with his duties. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Pippy and Dusty emerging from the apprentices' den, where they had been sleeping since they had arrived in the Clan. I turned my head to them and gave them a smile.

"Hello!" Pippy exclaimed, running up to me, touching her nose to mine. Dusty looked down at his paws and then up at me, then saying shyly but kindly, "Hi, Goldenshine." I nodded to him as he walked up to join Pippy and me.

"How did you all sleep?" I asked them, genuinely curious.

Pippy stretched out and then answered, "Wonderfully! I never would've imagined that sleeping under the stars would be so nice!"

I tilted my head at her. "Nicer than sleeping in a Twoleg bed?" I asked, narrowing my eyes and smirking.

Pippy then hesitated. "Well, I don't know about that yet!"

Dusty rolled his eyes at her and puffed out his chest. "Last night was probably the best sleep I've ever had!" he answered.

Pippy nudged her brother. "Huh, really? That's funny." Then she spoke to him in a quieter voice that I think only Dusty was supposed to hear, but I did anyway, "You seemed to spend half the night talking about how awesome Goldenshine is!"

I froze as I overheard this, trying to hide my smile. Dusty talks about me?

Dusty's eyes widened and he batted his sister over the face with a sheathed paw. "Hush!" he hissed quietly. Then he spoke in a louder voice. I could tell he was trying very hard to think of a way to explain himself. "Honestly, who knows what I was talking about? Pippy barely listens to me half of the time."

"Hey!" Pippy exclaimed, nudging her brother again.

I shook my head slowly at them and let out a purr of amusement. I was still in shock at what Pippy had said though, and my heart was beating so loudly I thought for sure the two kittypets would hear. My stomach felt as if it was full of butterflies.

I was brought out of my thoughts though when I saw Firestar emerge from his den, with Sandstorm close behind. His ears perked up as soon as he saw Pippy and Dusty. "You two! Just who I was coming out to find!" Firestar leaped off of the Highledge and walked up to the three of us.

"I have been meaning to check in with you two to see where you stand with ThunderClan," he began. He then nodded to Dusty. "I know you seemed pretty intent on staying. Is this still what you want?"

My stomach almost seemed to flip upside down, for some reason, as Firestar had asked Dusty the question. Maybe I was worried that for some reason he would say no.

I'd actually be really, really sad if Dusty were to go back, I realized. He's such a great cat, and even though we haven't known each other long, we've had so much fun together.

I shook my head quickly and watched as Dusty looked around the ThunderClan camp and all of the cats in it. His eyes seemed to rest a little longer on me, but then he finally turned his gaze back to Firestar. "Yes, this is what I want."

Firestar dipped his head at Dusty. "Then ThunderClan will welcome you."

Hopefully, I thought to myself. I knew that cats like Thornclaw or Dustpelt wouldn't be too happy.

Firestar then turned to look at Pippy. "Now you, I know were unsure. You almost returned with Smudge, but then decided to stay!" he recalled. "You've had a few sunrises, how do you feel now?"

I turned to see Pippy nodding slowly as she stared at the ground. After a few heartbeats, she sighed and then she looked at me. "Should I stay?" she asked me.

I was appalled, but also honored that she wanted my opinion. There's nothing I can do for her, though. "It's completely your choice, Pippy," I answered her. But I know that she would love it here. She's already fitting in so well! She definitely has the spirit that I had as I grew up in ThunderClan.

Coming to this conclusion, I gave Dusty a smirk and then looked back to Pippy. Teasingly, I said, "I have to say though, your brother isn't making a bad choice at all!" Then I winked at her.

Pippy smiled at me and then looked back to the ground, seemingly returning to her thoughts. Even though her head was to the ground, I could barely see a smile forming on her face. She finally looked back up to Firestar, her eyes sparkling. "I would be glad to join ThunderClan. Thank you so much for having me!"

Firestar nodded to her. "Of course. ThunderClan could use some high-spirited cats like you two. We'll be glad to have you!"  Then he seemed to be pulled into his thoughts. "You both have already been exposed to what could be seen as some training..." he said, half to himself, "But giving you each a mentor and training officially as apprentices might be more beneficial to you."

Pippy and Dusty looked at each other, their eyes glittering with excitement. Firestar nodded to the two of them and then leaped up onto the Highledge. "All cats old enough to catch their own prey, gather beneath the Highledge for a Clan meeting!"

Quickly, cats began to emerge from their dens. Though most of the warriors had already been up and getting to work, the last of them left the den at Firestar's words, yawning and stretching. Mousefur emerged from the elders den, and Poppyfrost came out of the nursery with Cherrykit, Molekit and Snowkit close behind. Lilypetal settled herself next to me, touching her nose to my ear. I nuzzled my nose into her neck briefly.

As soon as every cat was settled, Firestar began speaking again. "As I am sure you all are aware of by now, two kittypets have been staying in our Clan. They originally came to visit, but have now decided that they want to join the Clan."

Surprisingly, there was very little protest, of course there were the usually grunts from cats such as Dustpelt or Spiderleg, but neither of them said a word.

Firestar continued. "They will be training as apprentices would." He then looked down to the now former-kittypets. "Step forward, you two."

Pippy and Dusty let out little mrrows of excitement before doing as Firestar had told them. Once they had settled under the Highledge, Firestar leaped down to meet them.

"You two are now officially ThunderClan apprentices!" Firestar stated. "Dusty," he meowed, turning to the gray tom, "Your mentor will be Mousewhisker."

Mousewhisker's eyes widened, but then he smiled and walked up to Dusty, touching his nose to his.

Firestar then turned to Pippy. "Your mentor will be Hazeltail."

Hazeltail immediately lightened up as she heard her own name. She trotted up excitedly to Pippy and then touched her nose to hers.

Those were great choices, I realized. Mousewhisker and Hazeltail both came from the horseplace and weren't clanborn either. They'll have a lot of patience with them!

Before the Clan could even cheer for Pippy and Dusty, Jayfeather's hiss carried all the way from the medicine den. As if he could see, Jayfeather burst out of the medicine den and stood before ThunderClan.

"Swiftkit is gone!" he exclaimed. "I just woke up, and his scent was stale, and his nest was empty."

My heart felt as if it had dropped to the core of the earth. I didn't even know what to think. I tried my best to stay calm, even at the prospect at my son possibly being missing.

Still though, I wasn't completely thinking straight, and asked Jayfeather, "Well, you can't even see, so are you sure he's not lingering in there somewhere?"

Jayfeather barred his teeth and hissed, "Sometimes you forget that I have other senses, Goldenshine. Those senses are telling me that that dark-gray furball is not in the medicine den!"

Firestar looked out to his Clan. "Has anyone else seen Swiftkit since moonhigh?"

Cats either shrugged or shook their heads. My claws dug into the earth. I was growing more and more anxious with every heartbeat that passed by.

Firestar nodded and then meowed, "Then we must set up a search at once!" Firestar glanced over all of the cats and then began to list off some, "Goldenshine, Lilypetal, Mousewhisker and Dusty. Go out into ThunderClan territory and see if you can catch Swiftkit's scent."

I nodded as the other cats that Firestar had called emerged behind me. Without any more words, we all bolted out into the forest, our mouths gaping to try and catch a scent.

Great StarClan, please let us find him! I was trying very hard to push back images of either a dead Swiftkit, or possibly no images of Swiftkit to be seen again.

I attempted to focus on just catching his scent. Being the one who was with him the most, I caught it easily. My ears perked up in the air. "I've got it!" I exclaimed, breathlessly.

I took the lead as I began to follow my son's scent. Behind me, the rest of the patrol was scanning our surroundings. After following the scent a bit more, I found that it took me to the dirtplace.

I tilted my head. Possibly he came to make dirt and got a little distracted? That would have been the best possible scenario for me to think about.

"It looks like he may have snuck out through the dirtplace tunnel," Mousewhisker meowed, sniffing around closer to where ThunderClan camp was.

"I agree," I said to Mousewhisker, nodding to him. "Let's see where he went from here."

I began to follow Swiftkit's scent beyond the dirtplace, going deeper into the forest.

"This is all my fault," Lilypetal suddenly said. "I am so sorry, Goldenshine. I was on guard last night. I should have seen him escape."

I lifted my head from where I had been sniffing, Though I was extremely worried and upset that Swiftkit had managed to get away, I knew that blaming others, let alone my own mother, wouldn't solve things. I put my tail on Lilypetal's shoulder. "It's okay. And it's not your fault."

"Swiftkit clearly was very methodical in his escape, and thought very hard about how he was going to get out of camp without being seen," Dusty agreed. I smiled at him in gratitude. I was impressed at how he already seemed to be thinking like a Clan cat.

I continued to follow Swiftkit's scent, my hopes rising as I realized that his scent was getting stronger and stronger. Lilypetal, Mousewhisker and Dusty seemed to realize this too, and begin sniffing around in the area.

As I was sniffing around in some shrubs, I felt a light tap on my shoulder, and I turned around to see Dusty next to me. Before I could say anything, he put his tail back on my shoulder and looked at me with a tender gaze that made my heart skip a beat.

"Don't worry, Goldenshine. We'll find Swifkit," he meowed to me softly. I smiled at him and touched my nose to his, drinking in his comforting scent before returning to my search. My heart become incredibly uneasy again as I caught another strong scent that was mingled with Swiftkit's.

Fox.

A small shudder ran down my spine, and my heart seemed to beat at double the speed. I couldn't bear to imagine finding Swiftkit's little dead body at the feet of a ferocious fox.

Lashing my tail with anxiety, I sniffed around some more. I think that the rest of the patrol had caught the fox scent as well, because all of their fur seemed to slowly begin to bristle and rise.

Just as his scent seemed stronger than ever, I heard Lilypetal let out a gasp. My ears flicked up and I bolted to stand by her side.

I could barely process the scene that was in front of me.

There was Swiftkit, cringing back up against a large oak tree. His flank wound was reopened, but he also had a couple of new injuries along his fur.

In front of him was a large, tawny-colored fox.