The dead trees covered the sky, making it impossible to see Silverpelt. Though there didn't seem to be any stars in the Dark Forest. Wolfpaw sat among the other cats who chose to come and be trained by Wolfblood. The silver warrior sat on an ugly tree stump, covered in burnt moss and decaying holes.

Wolfpaw was surprised to see who had shown up. Mimi was sitting close to Snarlpaw while Sharpfang sat a tail length away. Loosepaw sat next to Acepaw and a she-cat that looked too young to be an apprentice. Bravepaw was sitting next to Ziggypaw and another she-cat that looked like a kit. Silverpaw sat next to Wolfpaw while Applepaw, Antpaw, and another apprentice Wolfpaw didn't know sat a few fox lengths away. Sparrowwing sat alone and looked up happily to Wolfblood.

"Hello, future leaders and legendary warriors!" Wolfblood addressed the cats around him. "You all have a destiny that surpasses all your Clanmates!"

Wolfpaw lowered his ears. Not all these cats could become leaders. One from each Clan maybe, but some might be too old when their leaders loose their last life and the deputy would take over.

"You have been brought here, because you have been training like weaklings!" Wolfblood went on. "But, don't worry, with my help, you will be strong! Now, to start off, I want you to run from here to that oak ten fox lengths away from here." Wolfpaw looked back and saw a dead oak tree far off in the distance.

"That's easy!" Acepaw called out, his chest puffed up proudly.

"Easy for you to say," Sparrowwing grumbled, "you're a WindClan cat!"

"Is that a problem?" Acepaw hissed, unsheathing his claws and baring his teeth.

"Of course not!" Wolfblood purred from his stump. "We're all friends here!"

Getting himself ready, Wolfpaw kept an eye on Wolfblood. He wasn't going to trust this warrior, no matter what the others said. I shouldn't be here, he sighed, I should be training in StarClan...

They all then bolted off toward the tree, Wolfpaw running ahead. He felt the excited looks of Acepaw, Sparrowwing, and Silverpaw, but he couldn't feel the same excitement as them.

When they finished running, Wolfblood set the apprentices in groups of two for battle training. Wolfpaw was put with Bravepaw, much to Wolfpaw's dismay. Sparrowwing with Sharpfang. Snarlpaw with Acepaw. Mimi with Ziggypaw. And the others with cats Wolfpaw didn't know the names to.

Wolfblood ordered the cats to use their claws. Bravepaw kept hitting Wolfpaw in the face, making the silver apprentice fall over. Wolfpaw kept jumping back up to his paws and lashed at Bravepaw again. The two tustled around, trying to bite and claw at one another. Blood splattered the ground. The sound of painful yowls pierced Wolfpaw's ears.

Finally, he shoved Bravepaw off him and staggered on his paws.

"What's wrong?" Wolfblood walked up in displeasure.

"I think we should sheath our claws," Bravepaw breathed, "Wolfpaw and I are losing too much blood..."

"You'll sheath your claws, when I say you sheath your claws!" Wolfblood snapped at the SkyClan apprentice.

Wolfpaw growled under his throat. He looked around and saw all the others were getting hurt. Mimi had fallen to her paws and lowered her head, shaking as blood ran down her cheek. Ziggypaw lowered her ears and backed away. Snarlpaw kicked at Acepaw and got his paws, looking to Mimi sadly.

That's when they both looked up and around as if they had heard something, the vanished. Ziggypaw and Acepaw looked around for their training partners, but both ShadowClan cats were nowhere to be found.

"Fox dung!" Wolfblood hissed. "It must have been that Marshstar!" Sharpfang looked up to the sound of his leader's name. "He's gone soft ever since that she-cat and his son were brought to ShadowClan!"

Sharpfang narrowed his eyes at the silver warrior. Then vanished, making Wolfblood even angrier.

Wolfpaw looked down and tried thinking of a way to get out of the starless forest.

That's when his fur raised in alarm. In the shadows, just in sight of where a mysterious light shone, was the white fur of Halfmoon. Her light blue eyes glowering. Making sure Wolfblood didn't see him, Wolfpaw sneaked over to where Halfmoon was.

"Halfmoon!" he whispered. "What are you doing here?"

"Shut up," Halfmoon growled, "follow me, this instant!"

She lead him away from the training grounds and through the Dark Forest. They passed open wooden areas, sneaked past other Dark Forest warriors, and familiar looking trees.

Wolfpaw then recognized the border between the Dark Forest and StarClan. Excitement welled up in Wolfpaw's heart, he was leaving the Place Of No Stars with his old medicine cat.

Unfortunately, a reddish brown tom jumped out from the trees, his dark amber eyes glowering. He had black paws and a brown muzzle, and black spots ran down his back. Halfmoon stood in front of Wolfpaw, keeping him away from the warrior.

"Where do you think you're going with him?" the tom snarled.

"He doesn't belong here, Jackelheart," Halfmoon flicked her tail irritably, "I'm taking him to StarClan."

"Wolfblood won't be pleased to hear you took one of his apprentices!" The tom named Jackelheart hissed.

"Glaregaze is is only mentor!" Halfmoon snapped back. "Dawn and StarClan are the only ones allowed to train him when Glaregaze doesn't!"

"Don't act like your loyalty isn't only with ThunderClan!" Jackelheart spat.

"Move!" Halfmoon snarled, lashing Jackelheart in the face, making blood splatter the ground. The tom staggered over in shock. Halfmoon looked at Wolfpaw and made her way through the border. Wolfpaw quickly followed, looking back before continuing on.

"Who was that?" Wolfpaw asked, catching up to walk beside Halfmoon.

"That was the father of Marshstar and Adderstar." Halfmoon answered flatly.

"That was your mate?" Wolfpaw's eyes widened in shock.

"Define mate, Wolfpaw," Halfmoon spoke, "you were Goosetail's son and Hazelnose recognized him as a mate, but did he act like one is supposed to? Just because he's the father of my kits, doesn't make him my mate, I thought we were when I gave birth, but then he turned his back on me..."

Wolfpaw looked down. Was she telling him this because she expected him to have a mate and kits? Who was Wolfpaw supposed to fall in love with? Meadowpaw? She was nothing what Wolfpaw wanted. She left him because he was destined to be leader. He wanted someone who didn't care if he was destined to rule the entire lake. He wanted someone who didn't care if he was destined to be a regular warrior.

He then froze. A scent caught his scenes. Wolfpaw turned his head and saw a star brighter than the others just above the hunting grounds. A vision of a she-cat running with three kits appeared before him. The she-cat turned back to look at him with a loving look. One of the kits, a she-kit, looked back and her eyes Shine bright to where Wolfpaw had look away.

When he looked back the she-kit and her sister stood in the distance. They looked at him for a moment then turned and walked away.

"Wait!" Wolfpaw cried out for them, beginning to run after them. "Wait! What about your mother? You're too young to leave without her! Wait!"

"Would you shut up!" Wolfpaw jolted awake to see Meadowpaw put her paws over her ears. "I don't know what you're crying about now, but don't make the rest of us feel bad!"

"I'm sorry..." Wolfpaw apologized. He ran out the apprentice's den and looked around. The sun was close to rising, but all the stars in Silverpelt were still clearly seen in the sky. He could still see the bright one look down at him from the hunting grounds of StarClan.

The silver apprentice's heart began to ach in his chest. Why had he felt so lost when the she-kits ran away? He also longed to see the she-cat again. Her sweet scent still in his mouth.

That's when he remembered Harmonypaw. He had the same feelings for her, but she was taken away. What if this happened to the she-cat too? What if she was from a different Clan too?

Wolfpaw shook his head and made his way out camp. He passed Dustytail, who was guarding the camp entrance and ran to the lake.

He looked at himself in the water and saw a silver tom with green eyes look back at him. He wouldn't go back to the Dark Forest. He'd try to be more compassionate about warriors who broke the code. And he'd do his best to move on from Harmonypaw, no matter how much it hurt.