A mixture of hurt and anger shone in Pondpaw's copper eyes. They glistened, making the apprentice blink and turn her head. "I'm your sister!" She was referring to Frostpaw.

The white and ginger cat ducked her head. "I'm sorry, it's just-"

"—no! You've treated me like crowfood for so long! Since our training began, I can count on one paw the number of times we've talked. The only time we held conversation was when you were confined to the medicine den! And now you blatantly exclude me from everything you do." Pondpaw's ears were flat against her head as she trembled.

"I feel like I don't have a sister. No, you've got Willowpaw for that. And a prophecy! I'm trained to interpret messages! You..." She hung her head low, unable to continue.

Sunstrike and Woodclaw exchanged a wide-eyed glance.

The air was tight with tension. Frostpaw didn't dare look at her sister. Her voice came out as a whisper. "I'm sorry."

Willowpaw saw the glistening of her friend's eyes.

Pondpaw shook her head. She sniffled.

Fur swished and Frostpaw pressed herself against Pondpaw. "I really am. I guess I just overlooked you since you've become a medicine cat." She still kept her face pointed downward.

Pondpaw took a deep breath. "Yeah."

A lull in the conversation.

Willowpaw felt the need to speak up. "I'm sorry too, Pondpaw. I know Frostpaw isn't entirely to blame." She shuffled her paws. "Do you want to stick around with us?"

Sunstrike looked as if he wanted to protest, but the gray apprentice silenced him with a glare.

Pondpaw raised her head, blinking. "Of course I do."

"Great. I'm sure you overheard the prophecy, so do you have any ideas?" Willowpaw studied the group's thoughtful expression. Surely with this many cats, they would be able to put together a reasonable theory?

Pondpaw looked off into the distance, head tilted to the side. "Well I remember Fawndapple mentioning 'a weeping tree' before. It was a willow."

Shock flashed through the expressions of all the cats except Willowpaw. I kind of assumed it was about me. But this reaffirms it. She nodded slowly.

"What makes you so special?" Woodclaw asked, not unkindly. The glare from Frostpaw and Sunstrike made him add, "No offense or anything. I'm just asking a valid question."

Willowpaw shrugged. "I often wonder too. But that's not the point right now. What do you think the rest means?"

The cats became quiet except for Sunstrike, who whispered the words to himself. "...stricken flower...stricken...strike." He looked up sharply at the realization. He was met with the surprised faces of his friends.

"You're part of it too." Woodclaw murmured.

Sunstrike was more than elated with his discovery.

Willowpaw blinked. Why didn't I guess that sooner?

"Wait a moment." Woodclaw's face lit up. "Tree! Wood! If you take out the 'weeping' part, 'tree' could refer to me!" He bounced on his paws.

Sunstrike nodded enthusiastically.

But Willowpaw wasn't convinced. She was about to say something when a thought crossed her mind. Maybe Woodclaw isn't involved at all. She could imagine Woodclaw's disappointment. Best to leave sleeping cats lie.

She mewed an agreement.

Meanwhile, Frostpaw remained unusually silent. "What do you think?" Willowpaw offered her friend.

The white and ginger apprentice raised her head for the first time since Pondpaw joined. "I don't know."

Pondpaw blinked thoughtfully. "The storm will twist the weeping tree. How will a storm twist Willowpaw?"

Woodclaw gasped. He flattened his ears against his skull. "It doesn't mean Willowpaw will die does it?" He turned to Willowpaw.

A sinking feeling lowered itself over Willowpaw. Could that really be the meaning? She met Woodclaw's yellow eyes with her own somber green ones. "Do you really think that?" She whispered.

Woodclaw glanced over at Pondpaw, who shrugged. "I- I mean, nothing is clear right now. Anything is possible." He flinched as Willowpaw shrunk lower to the ground.

"Enough of this, what about the part about the forest prevailing?" Sunstrike loudly changed the topic. Woodclaw eagerly thought about it.

The cats continued to toss ideas around. Some had substance but many were wild conjectures. Woodclaw even suggested that a storm of badgers would rain over the forest and only if the Clans hid in the trees would they be safe.

"That's even stupider than I expected." Frostpaw had grumbled.

The lowering of the moon brought an end to the secret meeting. Willowpaw tried to review the few facts they'd established. Both Sunstrike and Willowpaw were involved. Woodclaw was unofficially in, and Frostpaw and Pondpaw were nowhere to be mentioned.

"Those were the first things we came up with." Sunstrike said. He rasped at the fur on his chest.

Frostpaw rose to her paws. Her fur was slightly spiked and her mouth twitched downward into a frown. "Can we go back to camp now? I'm exhausted."

The other cats nodded and began to stretch out their stiff limbs. A deep cold had set into the night and Willowpaw wanted to do nothing more than curl up in her warm nest. Frostpaw took the lead back, tail dragging behind her. Pondpaw trotted to catch up while Willowpaw and the toms lingered.

Woodclaw finished extending his legs and sighed. "Now that you mention it, I'm tired too." He caught up to the sisters.

Willowpaw waited for Sunstrike, who was in the middle of a great yawn. He stood to his full height, several mouse lengths taller than Willowpaw, and the two followed the rest.

"I wouldn't be worried about what Woodclaw said." Sunstrike murmured to Willowpaw, lowering his head.

"I'm not worried!" She protested. But upon saying so, she felt a claw of doubt wedge its way into her thoughts.

The red tom sniffed.

She sighed. "I mean, I guess I am. Just a little bit. I don't want to die. And we didn't get very much done tonight." She hopped over a jutting tree root.

"Well I'm happy." Sunstrike meowed. He easily stepped over the same root.

"Oh? And why is that?" Willowpaw could see the entrance to camp approaching. Her thoughts wandered to her training session later that morning. It won't be easy.

"Because I was able to spend time with you."

The she-cat almost tripped over her own paws. She snapped her head to Sunstrike. His ice-blue eyes focused on his paws but she still saw them twinkling. Her head buzzed. What do I say?!

"Uh, thanks." She felt her ear tips burn with embarrassment.

The group of cats slid into camp, careful not to wake their Clanmates. Pondpaw nuzzled her sister before heading to the medicine den.

"Goodnight." Sunstrike whispered. He and Woodclaw padded to the warriors' den.

Willowpaw barely had a chance to respond. For after her mind cleared enough to speak, the brothers had already disappeared. She turned to Frostpaw, but she too had already vanished in her den.