"Loudpaw! Loudpaw, get up, we don't have all day." Swanfeather shook awake her apprentice. 

The seven-moon apprentice groaned and turned away in his nest of moss. Swanfeather sighed and picked up the kitten by the scruff. 

That got his attention.

"Hey! Hey, put me down!" he squirmed. His mentor dropped him gently to the ground. 

"What is it?" he asked. Swanfeather flicked her tail. 

"There's going to be a warrior ceremony today. It's for one of the TreeClan cats." she said, licking down the fur between Loudpaw's ears.

  As if on cue, a voice rang out. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather around the Highrock for a Clan Gathering!"

Swanfeather led her apprentice under the high rock that towered above the camp. Turtlestar, Reedstar, the two deputies, Wildheart and a white she-cat were all gathered on the rock. 

"We are gathered here today to celebrate the passing of an apprentice becoming a warrior." Turtlestar called. "Sweetpaw, please approach me."

The apprentice, Sweetpaw, padded softly towards her leader.

"Sweetpaw, you have helped our journey in so many ways only StarClan can count them all. That is why I name you Sweetpollen, honoring your courage and persistence. Thank you."

Sweetpollen bowed her head and licked Turtlestar's shoulder. She twined her tail with Wildheart- for some reason, sending a pang of jealousy through Swanfeather- and padded down the ledge. 

There was a yowling cry. "Sweetpollen! Sweetpollen!" The Clans chanted her name for a few moments. 

Swanfeather felt Loudpaw wriggle into her fur. She knew this apprentice was dying for his chance to be a warrior. She knew it wouldn't be much longer.

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Elsewhere...

Snowface licked her paws and tried to keep her cool. Reedstar was a weak little mousebrain that would surely die soon. The whole... TreeClan event was a setback, to say the least, but Turtlestar and Ashenface were quite bendable in their current state. 

The tweedy little WindClan leader lay curled up on moss, breathing heavily. Turtlestar and Ashenface were close by. 

Snowface took a deep breath and lifted her chin. "I'm going to go hunting. I'll be back in a little while."

She took off without an answer. She slowly padded through camp. Once she reached the boundaries of it, she took off through the reedy plains and bounded like a rabbit, not so much running but flying. The grass blurred underfoot. 

She ran and ran and ran and finally reached the edge of a forest. Quite close to the Moonpool, in fact.

There, a black, wispy cat awaited. He waved his tail back and forth. Silver glimmered around his paws and gleamed in his eyes. 

"Tombfoot," Snowface snarled. The tom grinned smugly. 

"Snowface! So glad to have you." he purred. Snowface rolled her eyes. 

"Don't stave, where is Whitestreak?" she asked. Tombfoot chuckled. 

"Don't throw yourself to the dogs, she's over here." he said . His tail flicked to gesture to a dark brown she-cat with a white stripe running down her back and a shock of white fur on her belly. 

"Snowface," Whitestreak murmured, "You've come now. Why?"

The WindClan deputy snorted. "There's a new Clan in the territories. Will this interfere with my plans?"

Whitestreak flicked her tail. "Of course not, mouse brain. You think Maplestar is going to let some straggle of run-down cats ruin her plan? You are a valuable asset here, and you will stay that way."

Snowface nodded. "Of course. If Mapleshade-"

"Maplestar," Tombfoot cut through.  Snowface angrily inhaled, then bowed her head. Her ears flicked up and down.

"Maplestar. If Maplestar has communicated this clearly to me, then I won't let anything cut in my way." She murmured. 

The two cats, Whitestreak and Tombfoot growled in a submissive way. They rubbed their flanks, black on white on brown, and they blended together, smoke flaring up around their paws. 

Snowface stepped back in awe. The new cat they were being merged into was flaming red and lightning-white. Snowface shuddered.

"Maplestar..." she whispered. The cat nodded, smoke wisping up and out. 

"Correct." she said, flicking her tail. The cat stalked over to a clump of grass and pounced on a vole burrow. "It's been a while since I've seen you."

Snowface nodded. "Several moons, I would think."

Maplestar purred. "It will be soon, I see that now. But one of my cats have reported to me that a prophecy has hailed from StarClan. Within the next moon, it should have gotten across to RiverClan. Don't let it stop you."

The cat smoked and flamed and spun, and Whitestreak and Tombfoot appeared side-by-side. They groaned.

"I forgot she does that. She never does that!" Tombfoot whined. Whitestreak lashed her tail. She looked at Snowface with anger on her face. The deputy stepped back, intimidated by the spirit cats.

"Well, scram!" Whitestreak hissed, "The Dark Forest has...things! And reconvene-ment! Leave!"

The Dark Forest cats arched their backs at Snowface and disappeared into thin air. 

The WindClan deputy stepped back and then took off, reaching the camp boundary at sun-down. The warriors and apprentices had filed into their caves, except for the patrol, who had just departed. Snowface dragged something from the fresh-kill pile to the deputy cave and ate a bit of it. She pushed the rest aside for the morning, and curled up in her nest. When she closed her eyes, Maplestar's  voice echoed in her ears.
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