Less than a moon after the secret meeting, Willowpaw found herself sitting with Pondpaw and Frostpaw, discussing the Gathering.

"Every Clan looked half-starved." Pondpaw continued.

Frostpaw and Willowpaw pricked their ears. "So it's not just us." Frostpaw murmured.

Pondpaw shook her head.

"And the other Clans' trouble with traps is fading too. I think within the next moon, they should be gone."

Relieved sighs from Frostpaw and Willowpaw. "Thank StarClan." The gray apprentice muttered.

The three she-cats turned to watch as the dawn patrol returned, wearing content expressions. One of whom was Brightblossom.

The pretty warrior padded up to Willowpaw, mismatched eyes glowing.

"Hello, Brightblossom!" The apprentice blinked warmly.

Her mentor dipped her head in greeting to the three she-cats.

"We didn't see a single trap this morning!" Brightblossom announced.

The apprentices meowed happily.

"Oh and Willowpaw, Frostpaw, your assessment is coming up soon. Would you like to go training for a little bit?" Brightblossom angled her head, whiskers twitching.

Willowpaw nodded eagerly. She still wanted to work on her battle skills.

To her surprise, Frostpaw shook her head softly. "Thank you, but I'd like to spend some time with my sister." Pondpaw blinked in astonishment and purred.

Brightblossom dipped her head. "I understand." She waved her tail for her apprentice to follow as she turned and padded toward the camp exit.

Willowpaw trotted up beside her mentor. It dawned on her that they were nearly the same height. Only a mousetail separated the two she-cats. She guessed her stature had changed as well; no longer was she a chubby kit, soft with downy fur. Her legs had lengthened, face elongated. She was sure she had at least some muscle, rippling underneath her fur with each stride.

Beside her, her mentor sighed. "I'm proud of you, Willowpaw."

Willowpaw flicked her ears in amusement. "I'm not a warrior quite yet."

Brightblossom snorted. "No, but you're soon to be. Not to mention how much you have improved since we first trained together."

"Thank you." And she meant it.

Brightblossom continued to lead Willowpaw to their familiar training hollow. On the way, there was not a bird to be found amongst the trees' branches. The air was quiet and numbing. Willowpaw wondered how the forest could be so silent.

The two went over hunting, offensive skills and defensive, and the warrior code.

"...and each Clan must help each other so that no other Clan falls." Willowpaw finished. She waited for her mentor's reaction.

Brightblossom gave a single nod. "Brilliant job, Willowpaw. I see you making a fine warrior."

Willowpaw padded up to Brightblossom and nuzzled her warmly. Brightblossom purred. "Now, let's put those skills to the test and see if we can't bring back some prey."

And try as they might, the only fresh-kill they brought back was a small cardinal.

"Take it to Shimmerpelt and Raggedclaw." Brightblossom had ordered.

While setting it down in front of the elders, Willowpaw caught a snippet of their conversation.

"I don't remember a winter so dry." Raggedclaw observed, cloudy eyes staring at his paws.

"But I'm telling you, I feel rain coming!" Shimmerpelt protested. She lowered her head to take a bite from the bird.

Willowpaw dipped her head and slowly made for the exit.

"It's leafbare, mousebrain. Snow." Raggedclaw muttered.

Shimmerpelt hissed. "End of leafbare. I know rain when I feel it."

Willowpaw felt her blood run cold. Rain. Storm. The prophecy. It left her with a heavy ominous feeling.

The sight of Sunstrike and Woodclaw entering camp, tails drooping, did nothing to abate her gloom.

Since the night of the secret meeting, Willowpaw had made an effort to avoid the red tom. She always felt her ear tips burn when around him. But I don't know why.

Pawsteps grew louder and Willowpaw looked up to see the one cat she didn't want to talk to. "Hey Willowpaw." His eyes were warm.

"Hey." She looked down at her paws. I still don't know what to say to him.

"How's your training going?" He sat beside her and gazed out over the camp.

Willowpaw nodded. "Good."

The new warrior turned to meet Willowpaw's eyes. "Can we talk about the badger in the camp?"

She started, then realized he was referring to their awkward encounter. "Right. Sure." She gave her pelt a shake.

"I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I shouldn't have said that." He paused and took a deep breath. "But I really do enjoy being around you." He twitched his whiskers.

Willowpaw felt her pelt warm, and stuttered, "I- I mean you're a good friend too. I just don't like the awkwardness between us since the meeting." She was aware of the drop in Sunstrike's expression.

"Yeah. Me too. You know what? How about we just forget it ever happened. Everything's back to normal now." He straightened up, almost as if he were shaking away his feelings.

Willowpaw gave a sigh of relief. "Good. Now I'm going to see Frostpaw. I'll catch you later." She waved her tail and padded to the center of camp, searching for her best friend.

The ginger and white she-cat was lying in a patch of sunlight across from the apprentices' den. She flicked her tail lazily upon seeing Willowpaw.

She made her way over, glancing at the fresh-kill pile on her way. It sat empty, the only indicator it ever existed being the shallow dip in the ground. And to her embarrassment, her stomach gave a loud rumble at the sight. Her gaze darted to see if anyone had heard. Thankfully most of the cats were still out on patrol.

As she neared Frostpaw, she gave a friendly mew. Her friend returned it. Together they lay in the sun's weak light and talked. Willowpaw stretched each limb, feeling her muscles extend. They joked about Greeneyes and gossiped about the Clan's latest mates, Ashpelt and Fadedleaf.

Frostpaw nudged Willowpaw, pointing her ears to Birdeye. The she-cat had just emerged from the warriors' den and was walking toward Sunstrike. The apprentices called out a greeting and received a small dip of Birdeye's head.

They watched as she chatted animatedly to Sunstrike.

"Who knew she had so much to say." Frostpaw snorted.

They continued to laze about until patrols returned and the moon began to rise. By then, the two she-cats had exhausted almost every topic of conversation.

Including Sunstrike.

"I knew he fancied you!" Frostpaw had exclaimed. She rolled onto her back.

"He never said that. And besides, he's just my friend. Truly, I don't feel anything but that. I've got more important things to worry about." Willowpaw had rolled her eyes. She flexed her claws, admiring the needle-sharp tip.

Frostpaw huffed. "Yeah, like the fact the two of you are in a prophecy together." She yawned. "If it helps, you'd be cute together."

Willowpaw swatted Frostpaw on the head. "Great StarClan, of course it doesn't help! Seriously, that is the last thing on my mind." The statement was mostly true.