DOVESONG CURLED UP in her nest and tucked her nose under her tail. That day, Gorseberry reluctantly decided he couldn't be a mentor anymore. Frozenfang took his place and was now mentoring Icepaw instead. She had promised she would do her very best. She was also really excited to finally be trusted enough to be a mentor.

But that seemed like the happiest part of the day. Not that anything was particularly happy about the day. Dovesong couldn't stop thinking about the sudden change of events with Gorseberry. It was bad enough that she had to live with the knowledge that Shadowheart had died. But now Gorseberry couldn't do something as simple as talking, and Dovesong was devastated, just as a lot of the cats in her Clan were.

When Dovesong finally slid into sleep after what seemed like moons of just laying there, wide awake, she found herself in StarClan's forest. Her heart leaped with joy.

Dovesong turned around when she heard someone come into the clearing. It was Shadowheart. "You're here! You made it to StarClan." She breathed a sigh of relief. She couldn't bear knowing that Shadowheart was somewhere besides StarClan, but now she knew he wasn't.

Shadowheart dipped his head in thanks. "I did. It's much more peaceful here," he added with a humorous twitch of his whiskers. "I got to see Tawnyflight again."

"How is she?" Dovesong asked, her heart bursting with joy for the older tom. He had been longing to see Tawnyflight again. She knew because of the wistful glimmer in his eyes that he had whenever he talked about Tawnyflight.

"She's doing well. She was impressed I made it this far," he added.

Dovesong purred with amusement. "That's good. I'm sorry I couldn't save you. I . . . I told your kits. So they know. But it hurt so much to tell them. To see the grief in their eyes."

Shadowheart's gaze darkened. "Well, at least they know. Be sure to tell them where I am next time you see them. I thought all MoonClan cats didn't go to StarClan, and I'm sure they believe it too."

Dovesong nodded. "I'll be sure to."

"Thank you." Shadowheart dipped his head again. Then he looked at Dovesong with such an intense look that she shuffled her paws nervously. "Dovesong, time is running out for you to go."

"Go where?" Dovesong was pretty sure she knew where, but she wanted to be assured that she was going the right way.

"Trust yourself," was all Shadowheart responded with. And with that, he disappeared.

***

"We have to go," Spottedsong heard Dovesong tell Badgertooth quickly. The two medicine cats were in the back of the medicine den, while Spottedsong visited Gorseberry in the front. "Now."

Badgertooth's tone was surprised. "Why now? Who's going to take care of Gorseberry?"

"One of us can go, one of us can stay," Dovesong replied.

"And how do you know we have to go now?" Badgertooth asked.

"I saw Shadowheart last night, in my dreams. He told me that time is running out. We have to go on this journey before we find out what is coming," Dovesong explained.

A journey? Spottedsong thought. It sounds like they were already planning to go. Where are they going? She looked at Gorseberry again. He was watching the spot where the two medicine cats were talking with wide eyes. "Have they mentioned anything about this before?"

Gorseberry shook his head.

"Do you know if it's new? Or if they've talked about it a while?" Spottedsong pressed. Gorseberry had to know something.

Again, Gorseberry shook his head.

Spottedsong opened her mouth to tell him to elaborate, then remembered he couldn't. "Okay. Right. You've only been here a full day. How can I expect such dire things from you?"

Gorseberry narrowed his eyes at her.

Spottedsong knew perfectly well what he would say then. "Okay, fine. It's not that urgent. I'm just exaggerating. Should we investigate?"

Gorseberry shrugged, but he had a suspicious look in his eyes that also told Spottedsong that he disapproved of the idea.

"Just because you can't talk doesn't mean you can't object. You don't have to come if you don't want to. But I will," Spottedsong told him firmly.

Gorseberry shook his head quickly as if to say That's a terrible idea.

Spottedsong sighed. "Fine. I don't have to go if you don't want me to. It's probably not that important."

Gorseberry looked unconvinced.

"Okay, so if you think that it is important, but you don't think it's important enough to investigate, then how important do you think it is?" Spottedsong demanded.

Gorseberry rolled his eyes, then gave her a look. Spottedsong imagined him saying Important enough.

"Okay. Fair. Well, Owlheart wanted me on patrol, so I guess I have to go. I was in here way longer than I was supposed to be." Spottedsong touched her nose to his ear and turned to leave the den. "See you later."

"Quite done?" Hollyfern asked when she joined them.

"I was saying hi to Gorseberry," Spottedsong replied. "You know how hard it is to stop talking to him and go."

"It was hard. When he could talk," Hollyfern added grimly. "Come on, let's go."

Owlheart was leading the patrol. Acornshade, Flypaw, and Cloudsky were also on the patrol.

When they made their way around the corner of the camp, Spottedsong saw the den that was supposedly still holding Dawnsplash. She felt a pang of guilt for not coming back to check on her. Apparently Lynxstar still didn't trust her enough. Lynxstar has real trust issues, Spottedsong thought despondently. She looked at the rest of the patrol. The rest of the cats weren't watching, so she slipped away and went to the den. "Dawnsplash?"

Blizzardpelt was guarding the entrance. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I wanted to check on her," Spottedsong replied calmly.

Blizzardpelt glanced over his shoulder and then back at Spottedsong. "Fine. But if she tries to escape, I'm blaming it on you."

Spottedsong nodded and walked into the den when he moved out of the way. Dawnsplash looked up at her immediately. Spottedsong expected her to be more kempt, but the ginger-and-white cat's fur looked like it hadn't had a proper cleaning in a few days' time. Her eyes betrayed the fact that she was desperate, hungry, and sleep-deprived. Dawnsplash had been pacing, too. A lot, apparently. Spottedsong could tell because of the pits in the ground where Dawnsplash's paws had been too many times to count.

Oh, Dawnsplash . . . Spottedsong thought,

"Oh, now you decide to turn up?" Dawnsplash growled. "And you're perfectly fine. I guess Lynxstar had a change of heart?"

"I'm sorry, but I can't do anything about it," Spottedsong told her.

"I haven't heard anything from Moonclaw since forever! There's no way I'm going to turn on anyone now. Just get me out of here!" Dawnsplash begged, a hint of a snarl in her once sweet voice.

"I-I can't. But I can talk to Lynxstar about it . . ." Spottedsong realized how desperate Dawnsplash really was when she looked into the white-and-ginger she-cat's eyes.

"Please do."

"Okay. I'll do that. I promise you'll be out of here in no time," Spottedsong promised. She eyed Dawnsplash warily, suddenly aware of how willing Dawnsplash was to do anything it took to get herself out, even if it meant drawing blood to do it. She knew this because of the way Dawnsplash had her claws unsheathed, her eyes were wild, and a hint of venom was in her voice. She's going crazy, Spottedsong thought, fear making her fur tingle. "I'll be back soon. Hopefully." She left the den and ran off before Blizzardpelt could tell or warn her of anything.

Instead of going back to camp, Spottedsong sprinted to catch up with the patrol. She could talk to Lynxstar later. She was numb with fear and deep thoughtfulness. Where was all of this going to end up? She knew for sure that if Dawnsplash didn't get out of there soon, she would actually go crazy. Spottedsong knew how much the experience with Moonclaw messed her up, at least temporarily. She guessed it would stay with Dawnsplash, especially since she was stuck in that den for nearly a moon. A shiver passed through her. All of her Clanmates were suffering! She couldn't stand it.

When Spottedsong caught up with the patrol, Cloudsky was the first to notice. "Where were you?" he asked.

Spottedsong paused, trying to catch her breath. "Personal business," she told him.

"Seriously," Cloudsky persisted.

Spottedsong gave him an exasperated look. "Personal business," she reminded him sternly.

Cloudsky sighed and gave up. "Fine."

The rest of the trip went well, and there was no trouble. They successfully remarked their borders with ThunderClan and WindClan.

When they were back at the camp, Spottedsong immediately made her way to Lynxstar's den. She peeked inside and asked, "Can I come in?"

"Oh, yes, come in," Lynxstar replied.

Spottedsong came in and immediately addressed the problem. "I checked on Dawnsplash. She wanted me to tell you that she's no threat anymore, and she wants to be let go."

Lynxstar gave it a lot of thought before she responded, "I have to talk to her before I make the final decision. I could be risking the lives of my warriors."

"But Moonclaw is gone! She doesn't pose a threat anymore. Have I hurt anyone yet?" Spottedsong asked desperately.

"Yet," Lynxstar echoed. "I have to talk to Dawnsplash."

Spottedsong let out a disappointed sigh. "Fine. Okay. Thank you." Then she whisked out of the den, unease worming in her belly. She just knew that someone was going to get hurt.