"Brightblossom," Willowpaw whispered, gently nudging her sleeping mentor. A tremor of apprehension ran through her. How far was she willing to lie in order to devise a good excuse?

The white she-cat cracked open a brilliant green eye. "Mphh?"

Willowpaw shifted her paws. "Ah, my belly doesn't feel good. Can we skip training?" Her voice raised a pitch.

Brightblossom didn't seem to notice. She only nodded and promptly fell back asleep.

That was easy! Willowpaw was relieved. She reentered the clearing.

I'm good at scenting, right? I'll just keep my distance... and stay downwind. Willowpaw reasoned. She waited until the camp returned to its previous undisturbed state before following them out.

Volefur remained asleep at his post. Willowpaw crept carefully around him, watching him all the while.

Good thing there's not some sneak attack patrol tonight. We would have all been dead, she thought with a snort.

Once she had entered the woods, she easily found the scent trail of the apprentices. They had made no effort to disguise it.

Somewhere in the treetops an owl screeched. It sent a jolt through Willowpaw. She realized just how stupid of a plan this was. Staying far enough away from them to remain undetected? Alone? Mousebrained. A hasty decision made in the heat of the moment.

Going off into the woods without Frostpaw – without anybody felt wrong. Especially with the continued prevalence of traps.

Her paws slowed until she came to a halt. Looking around, her gaze found only darkened trees and flitting shadows. She had a vague idea of where she was, but the forest looked vastly different at night. Once familiar landmarks where unintelligible.

The night had warped the landscape into something she didn't recognize.

Her all-to-acquainted friend, fear, joined her side.

Who knows what are in these trees at moonhigh? She fretted.

But Birdpaw's words echoed in her mind.

"Scared of everything..."

"She would never..."

Willowpaw bit her whiskers. She forced the tide of cold claws to recede. She steeled her gaze onto one point and focused all her mind on that object. Any other thoughts were shoved aside.

Placing one paw forward, she copied the motion with the next, and the next. Suddenly she was walking again.

Continuing to focus directly ahead of her, Willowpaw picked up the trail again.

The owl cried once more, echoing through the branches of bare trees. This time she did not dwell on what lay beyond the edge of her vision. All that mattered was moving forward. Not back. Besides, she could easily smell if a badger or fox were around.

Of course, fear did not take a complete absence. It was still there, pacing in the back of her mind. And Willowpaw used every scrap of willpower to direct her thoughts on the current task.

As she kept practicing her technique, the scents grew fresher. She was catching up.

Without realizing, Willowpaw had made her way towards the ShadowClan border.

Breathing in a deep lungful of air, she found that the path veered a sharp North as it neared the border. But, Willowpaw noticed, they skirted dangerously close.

She felt a surge of curiosity and excitement. This was really happening! Her own adventure! Frostpaw would be so happy to hear of this. And perhaps a tad envious.

Remembering to stay out of range of detection, Willowpaw sped her pace. She didn't even need to stick around. She just wanted to catch a glimpse of what the apprentices were doing. Just enough to know.

Yet strangely she was led on for what felt like forever. Willowpaw quickly realized that they were at the very Northern edge of the ThunderClan border. It was rarely patrolled, therefore blurring the exact location of the scent marks; she had never been to this part of the territory. In fact, she doubted any of the warriors have. It was just so... obscure.

Willowpaw was so caught up in her head that she almost did not notice the trail pool up ahead. Fortunately she had time to dive into the dense undergrowth before being detected.

Only several fox-lengths ahead, the pelts of her denmates could be spotted. They had stopped and were talking rather loudly.

"So where do you want to go this time?" Woodpaw asked. He seemed to crouch down and examine something before rising again.

"I don't think we've taken the left branch," Sunpaw said.

"That's a bad idea. Chances are it leads straight into ShadowClan territory. Do you know how much trouble we'd get into if Frogstar found us on his land? We would never be allowed out of camp again." Birdpaw pointed out.

The toms sighed.

"But we always take the right branch," Woodpaw complained.

"Would you rather go back to camp and do nothing?" Birdpaw hissed.

The brown apprentice shook his head.

"That's what I thought." Birdpaw muttered.

Sunpaw cleared his throat. "So. Um, we are just going to take the right tunnel and do the same old thing?" He received a glare from Birdpaw and added, "which I don't have a problem with. Just sayin'."

"Toms,"

Willowpaw watched as, one by one, the cats lowered themselves to the ground and...disappeared. Their place was filled only by silence.

Great StarClan, where did they go?

She slunk forward until she was positive she wouldn't be seen, then rose. Gone. The cats had simply vanished into thin air.

But that's not possible, is it?

Willowpaw sniffed the spot where they had been standing. The smell was still strong; and little scuffles in the dirt showed where their steps had fallen. All signs led towards a clump of dried bramble bushes.

Her previous plan of 'just looking' was out the window. Now she had to know what was going on here.

The thick thorns of the plant scraped her face and tugged at her fur, but Willowpaw ignored the discomfort. She trudged through the heavy branches and almost tripped over a hole in the ground.

No, it was bigger than just a hole. A tunnel.

Willowpaw stared dumbly at the gaping jaw in the ground. Faint memories of kit stories told her that tunnels had long been covered up. The danger they posed was too real for the Clans to handle. But according to what she just discovered, they missed one.

Where could this tunnel lead? It could take her to another Clan's territory. It could even lead her far outside Clan borders. Undiscovered land. New opportunities. Limitless adventure.

Without a moment's hesitation, she dove in - which may not have been the best idea.

The tunnel proved to be cramped, even for a cat her size. She had to flatten her fur as best she could and bunch her limbs tight against her body. And going backwards was not an option.

StarClan, what am I doing? I can't see my own whiskers!

It was true. If outside had been dark, it was sunny compared to the blackness permeating the air. Breathing became a chore, as did keeping panic at bay.

Willowpaw couldn't help but worry about becoming stuck. If she did get jammed, her only hope was the apprentices. But that would mean getting caught. And true adventurers didn't get caught. They were always one step ahead of their target.

Which Willowpaw obviously was not.

If Woodpaw and Sunpaw could fit, then so can I. No doubt, she told herself.

Like she did earlier, Willowpaw started by putting one paw in front of the other and continued from there. She couldn't fail now. Not when she had come all this way.

Closing her eyes helped tremendously. Even though she was not able to see either way, it was more reassuring to be the one not allowing it rather than the tunnel. Crawling through reminded her of kit games. And as long as she kept that mentality, that's all it was. Kit games.

Even when the tunnel split into two branches, she knew which to take. According to Sunpaw, they'd be using the 'right branch' and doing 'the same old thing'.

Easy enough to remember.

Willowpaw breathed a sigh of relief as the tunnel began to widen. It extended for another tree-length before gently sloping upward and lightening.

Moonlight! Willowpaw relished being able to breathe fresh air rather than this stifling one. Her only thought now was where she had ended up. The tunnel had probably led her far from ThunderClan territory. Uncharted land.

Still crouched, she scurried to the exit and burst out, gasping in cold air. Catching her breath, she looked around.

No longer was the forest floor covered in dense grasses and shrubs. The trees here were larger and more spread apart; the ground consisted of spiky dead grass and fallen leaves. Even the scents were altered into something different.

"What the foxdung?! Willowpaw?!"

The gray tabby whirled around to find the source of the voice.

Sunpaw stood, pelt raised, behind her. "What are you doing here? Were... were you following us?!" His eyes were the size of the moon.

"Langauge," Woodpaw snorted and padded up, landing a swipe on his brother's ear. His gaze caught on Willowpaw. "What in the name of StarClan!!"

Willowpaw was frozen to her spot, tail bushed out. She began to tremble. No, No! It was not supposed to end like this! Stupid! I should have been more careful! Rushing out of the tunnel like that....

Sunpaw was first to regain his composure. "Why... in the name of everything that is holy.... Were you following us?" Clearly he was still frazzled.

Willowpaw opened her mouth to speak. But what would she say? Oh, sorry. You know, I just felt like going for a middle-of-the-night stroll... behind you...and without your knowledge.

Instead she sat on her haunches and tried to make herself look like less of a fool. "I was just walking around."

Woodpaw rolled his eyes. "Sure."

Sunpaw glanced around before lowering his voice. "If Birdpaw finds you, she's gonna ensure that Badgerstar knows you were poking around the tunnels. I don't know why but it seems like she has a bone to pick with you."

Willowpaw nodded, suddenly paranoid.

"Hey, where's Frostpaw?" Woodpaw asked, peering around Willowpaw.

She felt her fur heat up. "She's asleep. Back at camp."

The toms exchanged a surprised glance before continuing.

"Listen if you want to know so bad what we're doing, you could have asked. Not stalked us!" Sunpaw hissed.

"And you would have told me!" Willowpaw retorted. She knew just how secretive they were.

The toms became lost for words. "Well..." Woodpaw began, then trailed off.

The cats stared blankly at each other for a heartbeat before Willowpaw spoke up.

"Okay.... If you just tell me what you're up to, I'll go back to ThunderClan, no problem." She chose her words carefully.

"And if we don't?" Sunpaw narrowed his eyes.

Willowpaw swallowed. She assumed her offer would be gobbled up. Her mind spun, trying to come up with something.

"Then you're going down with me." The sentence left her mouth before she could comprehend. Nice.

Sunpaw threw his head back in exasperation. "Fine! You want to know so bad, then I'll tell you. I was poking around the edge of ThunderClan territory when I found this tunnel, so I got Birdpaw and my brother and we've been exploring this land." He glared at Woodpaw. "But it isn't easy when someone is as noisy as a badger every time we sneak out!"

Woodpaw's eyes widened in indignation. "Says the one who can't keep his mouth shut!"

There was a rustle from just beyond the three and a call, "Woodpaw! Sunpaw! I found a really cool stream!"

The brothers quit their bickering and spun to face Willowpaw.

"What do I do?!" She whispered.

"Hide!" They said in unison.

Wow I'm so happy with myself. This past Spring Break week, I've already written chapters 11-15. Currently I'm working on 16. If I keep this up, I'll be able to finish the book before summer is over XD