Nightcloud followed Crowfeather through the tall grass unnoticed. She watched as he neared the ThunderClan border.

        "Psst. Leafpool," Nightcloud sunk lower into the brush, watching Crowfeather calling out towards the trees.

        A tabby she-cat emerged from the thick forest. Crowfeather purred in greeting.

        Nightcloud's heart dropped as she recognized the cat to be Leafpool, one of ThunderClan's medicine cats.

        Leafpool's eyes glowed with affection when she saw Crowfeather.

        He ran to her, purring loudly.

        "I was worried that you weren't coming," Leafpool mewed.

        "I thought that you weren't," Crowfeather teased.

         The two cats nuzzled, unaware of Nightcloud, who was hidden only fox-lengths away.

        Slowly, Nightcloud backed away from the border. It felt like her heart was shattering into hundreds of pieces.

        She had thought that Crowfeather cared for her; they had been close friends since they were apprentices. She had hoped that they were more than just friends.

        Now, Nightcloud realized that she was less than even that.

        She felt like crying out in despair for what she had discovered, but silenced the urge. A plan hatched within her torrential mind. She would show Crowfeather that she was meant to be his mate, not Leafpool.

        Nightcloud ran back to the false security of the WindClan camp.