Beepaw woke up to the sound of rustling in the nearby bushes. She crouched, her fur bristling in fear. She hoped they couldn't smell or see her through the bush she was hiding in. After some time, two cats appeared from around the corner. One was a young, orange and white tabby she, and the other was a fierce-looking black tom who was probably the younger one's mentor. With them being so close to the border, Beepaw decided that the tom was probably taking his apprentice out on a tour of the territory.

    Suddenly, the orange and white apprentice froze.

    "What is it?" the older one asked.

    "I smell something... like another cat, but different from our Clan," the apprentice replied.

    The black tom looked around before he finally—to Beepaw's horror— came heading straight towards where she was hidden. Beepaw practically flew out of the bush, fur completely fluffed out.

    "What is an apprentice like you doing here?! Return back to your territory!" the tom hissed.

    "I don't have a territory, or a clan!" Beepaw protested. It wasn't exactly a lie.

    "Really? Then why do you smell like WingedClan?" the orange and white apprentice asked, magically appearing from behind her mentor.

"Because... I-uh..." Beepaw was lost for words. She couldn't tell them she ran away, then they would just return her back to her clan! "They kicked me out! WingedClan is... um... really mean to some apprentices! They think I'm dead, so if I showed up they would certainly kill me!"

"Really? Then why have I not seen or scented any stray apprentices running about?" the tom asked with a sarcastic look in his eye.

"Because they kill them and then eat them..." Beepaw paused. That was such a stupid thing to say? Cannibalism? Really?  "And no one knows that they ever existed, and the apprentice's parents are forced to keep quiet, or else they get killed to! I was only lucky."

"We must speak about this at the gathering later this evening!" the orange and white apprentice exclaimed.

"No! It will bring war against your clan! It will put all your apprentices in danger!" guilt filled her gut. She hated lying, but it had to be done.

The tom sighed, "Well, I guess we can't let this apprentice be on her own, what is your name?"

Beepaw couldn't tell them her real identity, as they probably already knew her from the gathering. So she blurted out, "Tuffypaw!"

    "Well, Tuffypaw, I'm Darkstorm, and this is Goldpaw. Since your clan is apparently is ever so insane, why don't you stay with us for a while?"

    Well, that was easier than I thought it'd be, "Sure," Beepaw replied.

...

    Beepaw gazed in awe at the sight of the camp. It was so much more different than WingedClan camp. In fact, it was practically the exact opposite. Crows flew overhead, landing on trees that were pretty much dead. There wasn't much greenery here, and if there, it was dark and dull. Cats traveled back and forth between different dens, carrying twigs and small branches around.

     "Why are those cats carrying branches?" Beepaw asked.

    "Though WaterClan has the most amount of water in its territory, the stream passes right next to our camp. But usually, those furry, brown things use wood to block it off from our territory. But, this year, they left, and we were left with a flooded camp. So we've been trying to block off water from flooding our dens," Darkstorm explained.

    Beepaw noticed the thin layer of water covering the base of the camp. She realized that the flood must've really been deep. She had no clue how these cats even managed to stop most of the camp from flooding.

    "I know, it's pretty bad. We lost several cats during the flood, really young ones too..." Goldpaw trailed off, clearly seeming to want to change the topic.

    "Thanks for letting me stay here. I was worried you would chase me away... or make me go back to my clan," Beepaw quickly meowed.

    "It's no problem, Tuffypaw. The apprentice den is mostly dry, but the moss may be a little soaked," Darkstorm said, "go and get some rest."

    Beepaw nodded and headed down into the camp and into the direction Darkstorm had pointed her to. There were a few other apprentices curled up in their nests, but they immediately woke up to her arrival.

    "What is a WingedClan apprentice doing here?!" one hissed.

    "Intruder! Intruder!" another yowled.

    "I'm not a WingedClan apprentice anymore!" Beepaw exclaimed.

    "Why?"

    After a few moments of being suffocated by questions, Beepaw was finally able to speak, "I was exiled, that's all you need to know. And with the apprentices finally quiet, Beepaw fell asleep.

...

    Blood was pouring from the sky. The sound of cats screaming for help, yowling their battle cries, hissing in rage exploded in her ears, sending them ringing. Dead cats were everywhere, cats were fighting all around her, kits were running for their lives. That's when she saw Duskpaw battling with a dark gray tom. "Duskpaw!" Beepaw shouted. She tried to go and help him, but she was blocked off by a swarm of fighting cats, and when they finally were cleared, she watched in horror as the dark gray warrior charged away at another cat, leaving the dead body of Duskpaw lying there, torn and bloodied, "NO!"

    Suddenly, Twigheart appeared out of nowhere, "You didn't do it... this is your fault!"

"Wha-" suddenly, a cat barreled into her, pushing her to the ground. She watched as the world got farther and farther away as she sank into the never-ending pool of blood...

...

"NO!" Beepaw leaped to her feet.

"Ugh, shut up. You woke me out of my sleep," an apprentice hissed, turning away from her.

That... that was just a dream? It was, but if she didn't do something about it, it would become true...