Wolfpaw felt a sudden prod of a paw hit his side, waking him from nightmares of Goosetail and Flitfoot walking away with two of Wolfpaw's half-siblings. He looked up, blinking to see Glaregaze looking down at him, amber eyes blazing.

"Get up!" The old warrior demanded.

Wolfpaw struggled to stand, still too shocked at the realization that Goosetail really had betrayed ThunderClan and Hazelnose.

"Get up!" Glaregaze hissed, nudging Wolfpaw up with his muzzle. "You think I let my parents passing destroy me? You're growing up Wolfpaw, start acting like it!"

"How do expect me to react after last night?" Wolfpaw stood, unsheathing his claws and baring his teeth. "Goosetail lied to me, to you, to Hazelnose, to all of ThunderClan, even Foxkit! I'm nothing but the son of a cowardly traitor!"

"If you say you are then, yes, you are!" Glaregaze retorted. "You're really going to let that traitor get to you? You need to learn fast, Wolfpaw, just because your father is fool doesn't mean you are! You're supposed to be our leader? Start acting like it!" Glaregaze's eyes softened as he saw Wolfpaw lower his head. "Let's get back to camp, Adderstar wants to speak to you."

Wolfpaw followed his mentor out the tunnels, his tail dragging. He knew he was going to have to forget about Goosetail. But what about Hazelnose? She was mates with the sandy tom and he just left without saying anything about her.

"Then he never had anything in ThunderClan." The words echoed in Wolfpaw's head and he realized Goosetail had meant Foxkit and Hazelnose were nobody. Anger was piercing through Wolfpaw, remembering the days he spent with Foxkit in the medicine den and outside with Hazelnose. He had everything, but now it was gone. No mother, sister, or father. Wolfpaw felt terribly lonely. He wanted kin in his Clan. There didn't seem to be any cat in ThunderClan that shared his blood.

When they arrived in to camp, Featherkit, Frostkit, and Snowkit got up to run over to greet the silver apprentice, but Poppystream wrapped her tail around them and spoke in a voice too low for Wolfpaw to hear.

Halfmoon ducked in to her den, hiding the look of sympathy from Wolfpaw as he passed. The other cats did the same, not meet his green gaze. Wolfpaw was beginning to get irritated with these cats feeling Oh-so sorry for him. He wanted to be leader for his loyalty and strength, not this stupid sense of pity.

Glaregaze pushed his way in to the leader's den and Wolfpaw could hear him speaking to Adderstar. The dark gray tom came out and flicked his tail for Wolfpaw to go in. Lowering his head, Wolfpaw stepped in to see a big enough den for five cats with a bed of moss in the middle. Adderstar was on the farthest side of the den looking at the wall and not turning to look at Wolfpaw.

"Wolfpaw," Adderstar began, "I know what it's like, to feel shut out from the rest of the Clan, to feel like there's no way out from this destiny of leadership. But, we all have to be strong. Goosetail was never loyal to ThunderClan and he made Hazelnose's job as a queen hard."

Wolfpaw lowered his head and nodded. He still couldn't understand why Goosetail lied to Hazelnose and had kits with her.

"Stay here," Adderstar stood, "we need to discuss your training." the reddish brown leader walked out the den, leaving Wolfpaw alone. When the leader returned he'd have to tell Adderstar about Dawn. Telling him about the Dark Forest was out of the question. Wolfpaw would feel terrible seeing the look on his leader's face if he knew he was accepting training from the Dark Forest warriors.

Adderstar, Glaregaze, and Halfmoon entered the den soon after. Halfmoon looked darkly at Wolfpaw, while Glaregaze sat next to him.

"Glaregaze, you're doing acceptional work with Wolfpaw," Adderstar began, "but, he needs much more than normal warrior training. Me and Halfmoon think, every night, after training with you, that he should go to the Moonpool and train with StarClan."

"There is also a wolf who'll teach him how to understand other Clans," Halfmoon spoke, "in case a battle happens to where Wolfpaw will have to take care of as leader."

"I suppose..." Glaregaze flicked his tail. "But don't you think this is is a little overwhelming? He's still young and he barely knows most of the basic fighting moves."

"He will be allowed to rest, you can rest easy about that," Adderstar nodded, "but, I'm afraid, Wolfpaw will not allowed to go to anymore Gatherings until he becomes a warrior."

Wolfpaw lowered his ears. After what happened last night, the apprentice was willing to accept that. He was going to miss seeing Acepaw, but, it was a price he was willing to pay for his Clan.

"Let's go now, Wolfpaw," Halfmoon stood, "we should let StarClan know what our plans are."

"We'll work on some fighting moves when you return." Glaregaze nodded before walking out the leader's den.

"After that, I want you to go see that wolf." Adderstar turned his back.

Wolfpaw let out a sigh before following the medicine cat out the den. He already felt tired at the thought of all the training he'd have to go through for the good of his Clan.

He had to resist the urge to join Sparrowwing, Bramblestripe, and Hazeleyes in eating with them. His stomach longed for the plump squirrel looking straight at him.

The two made their way out the thorn tunnel and began heading to the ancient pool. Wolfpaw tried to keep himself from shaking as they went toward the border between ThunderClan and SkyClan. He looked back and wondered if he'd be back in time to speak to Dawn. He'd have to go to the Dark Forest after. He already felt tired. It seemed a little much to become a great leader paw picked by StarClan.

When they arrived, Wolfpaw walked up to the pool. He looked down at his reflection and saw a silver tom with green eyes. He thanked StarClan that he looked more like his mother than he did Goosetail. He then shoved Goosetail out of his head. As far as he and the Clans were concerned, Goosetail was dead.

Lowering himself down, Wolfpaw lapped the cold water once and closed his eyes. Upon opening them again, Wolfpaw found himself in the beautiful hunting grounds. Star studded cats chased prey, kits play fought near she-cats, and cats of different Clan scents filled the air. If this was life was like, maybe Wolfpaw could've worked with Harmonypaw. The silver tom shook his head violently. It was never going to happen. She was RiverClan and a medicine cat, he was ThunderClan and a warrior. He'd find someone in ThunderClan, even if it wasn't Meadowpaw.

"Wolfpaw," He turned to see a golden brown tom with green blue eyes walking up to him.

"Who are you?" Wolfpaw asked.

"My name is Falconfeather," the tom answered, dipping his head, "I was a ShadowClan cat and my mother was Mousepelt, I knew Amberheart well."

"Do you know why I'm here?" Wolfpaw asked.

With a nod Falconfeather turned. "Come, the others are waiting, we'll have to run."

Wolfpaw dragged his paws as he followed Halfmoon back to camp. He and Falconfeather had run for fox lengths before meeting up with every cat else. Foxkit taught him how to squeeze through tight spaces. Hazelnose showed him how to climb a tree faster than a squirrel. And Berrybush taught him a new battle move. Trying to stay strong, Wolfpaw looked up to see the sun was very close to the trees. Glaregaze would probably take him hunting. Would the apprentice have time to see Dawn?

"Hey, Wolfpaw," Bramblestripe called out, standing next to Sparrowwing.

"How was the StarClan training?" Sparrowwing asked her tail high.

Not wanting to talk about training, Wolfpaw went to let Glaregaze know he had returned. The warrior was tossing a ball of moss around for his kits. Poppystream watched pleasantly as her mate and kits played.

"Wolfpaw,"  Russetclaw stepped up with Poundpaw close behind, "Glaregaze is going to spend time with his kits, he wants me to take you hunting."

Wolfpaw nodded and followed the cats out the through the thorn tunnel. His pads suddenly stung him. He had been running and fighting all over the place, he didn't have time to look after himself. He then realized his stomach was growling. He hadn't eaten anything since yesterday.

The silver apprentice then spotted a squirrel bolting from behind a tree. He ran quickly after it, ignoring the pain that stabbed his pads. He and the Clan needed food if they were going to survive the upcoming leaf-bare.

The squirrel slipped down in to a tunnel and Wolfpaw followed after. His legs hurt as he tried dodging every rock and through the darkness.

Finally, entering the cave, Wolfpaw pounced and caught the squirrel with a swipe of his paw. As the squirrel flew in to the air, Wolfpaw jumped and caught it in his mouth, snapping it's head and killing it immediately.

"Nice catch young one," A voice made Wolfpaw spin and look up to see the she- wolf, Dawn.

"Dawn!" Wolfpaw dropped his catch. "I want you to know I've decided to take training from you."

"Really? I was about to give up and leave, but if you want-" Dawn barked.

"Yes," Wolfpaw spoke, "this is what I really want."

After eating a nice plump vole and receiving care for his pads from Lightpelt, Wolfpaw went to his nest and curled up in to a ball.

Okay... Concentrate... Wolfpaw thought hard. All I have to do is go to sleep...

When Wolfpaw opened his eyes, he found himself in the dark hunting grounds of the Dark Forest. The trees high and dark, no stars shining in, what may have been, the sky.

"Well now," Wolfpaw spun and cake face to face with the silver warrior, Wolfblood.

"I... I came... To-" Wolfpaw tried to hide his fear.

"I know why you're here," Wolfblood purred, "and I'm glad you chose to come, now let's begin."