A soft tail-tip stroked Poolpelt's cheek.
"Time to wake up." Goldenfur's whisper stirred her ear fur.

Poolpelt blinked open her eyes and stretched, the leaves of their nest rustling beneath her.
It was still dark in the hollow, but above the trees the sky was turning milky with predawn light.
She sat up, heart racing.
She had to get home.

Goldenfur was looking at her, his eyes glowing like the Moonstone. "I don't want to leave you."
"But we must." She pressed his muzzle to his.

They padded to the edge of the clearing and paused, twining tails.
Their time together was over.

"I'll look out for you on the riverbank," Goldenfur promised.
Poolpelt pressed against him. "I'll look out for you, too." Her voice came out as a whisper.
She knew the river would always divide them.

"I might even climb a few trees to keep in practice," he joked.
"Yes." She felt weary with sadness.
Why was he so cheerful?
Didn't he realize they would never be together like this again?
She gazed into his eyes and knew that he did.
Behind the brightness she recognized grief, raw as her own.

"Goodbye, my dearest love..." she whispered, and headed up the slope.

She glanced back again and again until the pain of seeing him standing beneath the oak trees was too much to bear.
Then she fixed her gaze firmly ahead and bounded up to the top of the hollow.
But as she crested the rise, she felt Goldenfur's gaze still scorching her pelt.

I must be as strong as fire!

The woods were full of shadows, and it took her a while to adjust to the dark as she wove around the brambles and squeezed through the clumps of fern.

Her heart quickened as she felt snow crunch beneath her paw-pads again; a Clanmate might be roaming the snowy forest.
Not this early, she told herself.
But she still tensed at every rustle and scent drifting on the air.

She slid down the ravine, holding her breath as her paws sent a shower of grit tumbling down below.

To her relief, Briarfang was nowhere to be seen.
The camp entrance was unguarded.

She slunk inside and headed straight for the warriors's den, her gaze flitting nervously around the silent snowy clearing.
Yellow light was rolling across the sky, reaching down to pierce the shadows beneath the snowy trees.
The dawn patrol would be gathering soon.

Poolpelt padded up and into the stone den, tense as a hunted mouse, and tiptoed to her nest.
Thornwing grumbled as she brushed past his nest, but no one stirred.
Curling down into her nest, Poolpelt closed her eyes.

She didn't want to sleep; she wanted to remember, to relive the moments she'd spent with Goldenfur.
She had only spent one night with him, and she loved him more deeply than she had thought was possible.
How could she live, never talking to him again?
Worse than that—how could she see him at Gatherings or on the shore and pretend they were enemies?

But there was no choice.
She was a IceClan warrior, loyal to the warrior code.
And that meant she couldn't be mates with a cat from another Clan.
No matter how much he filled her thoughts.

Poolpelt's head was fuzzy with tiredness when she joined her Clanmates to wait for orders about the day's patrols.

Thornwing couldn't wait to get started. "I've been stuck in camp all morning," he complained.
"Someone had to fix that hole in the camp wall," Briarfang told him.
"And you did a good job, too," Ravenbird added. "It's stronger than ever."

Braveheart hurried over, licking his lips. "Sorry I'm late," he apologized. "I was starving. Had to eat."
Springleaf shook her head. "You'd have made Stormclaw proud," she teased, reminding them all of the greedy old elder.

Icestar was pacing around them.
Rainpelt was with Flowertail, complaining of sickness, so the IceClan leader was in charge of organizing the patrols again.

"Briarfang, take Thornwing, Featherfall, Blackfrost, and Shadowfoot," Icestar ordered. "Re-mark the new DawnClan borders. But be careful. They might be planning an ambush."
She paused, as though wondering whether to send more warriors.
"We'll check the area thoroughly before we climb the rocks," Briarfang reassured her.

Icestar nodded. "Good. Springleaf, you can take Ravenbird, Braveheart and Poolpelt to check the Twoleg border."

The tortoiseshell she-cat dipped her head, then turned to the members of her patrol. "Come on," she called. "Let's go scare a few kittypets!" Her tone was light and amused, to Poolpelt's relief.
Poolpelt hadn't forgotten Blackfrost's treatment of the black kit—and right now, she didn't think she could scare a mouse.

"We'll split into pairs," Springleaf told them as they reached Tallpines. "I'll check near the treecutplace with Ravenbird. You two, check the Twoleg border." She nodded to Poolpelt and Braveheart.

She hardly heard her. In her mind, she was sitting in the Great Oak beneath the stars, with Goldenfur beside her.
"Are you coming?" Braveheart's mew was muffled by the frozen bramble he was holding back in his jaws. He used his tail to beckon Poolpelt through the gap he had made.
"Thanks," she murmured, padding past him.

"It's a shame we're not hunting today. I'd love to pick up some tips from you." Braveheart hurried after her. "You have a great nose." He hesitated. "I mean, you can detect the slightest scent."
"Oh...er...thanks," Poolpelt stammered.

He stopped to re-scent a marker as they reached the border.
Poolpelt turned away.

She stared at the Twoleg fence rising ahead of them.
This was where she'd seen Silverstar hunt.
As if he knew what she was thinking, Braveheart sighed. "I wonder if Silverstar watches Twolegplace even in StarClan?"
Poolpelt flicked her tail. "She didn't mean to hunt in Twolegplace and act like a kittypet."

Braveheart turned to her with his eyes stretched wide. "How can a Clan cat become a kittypet? I'd rather be DawnClan first—and that would be bad enough."
Poolpelt looked at the fence and said nothing.
If I were DawnClan, everything would be so much easier.

By the the time they reached camp again, Poolpelt was too tired to feel anything.
She headed for her nest, padding up and trotting forward into the stone den.

Rainpelt was curled in her own nest, fast asleep, huddled tight as though she was bone-cold.
But IceClan cats can withstand subzero temperatures.

As Poolpelt padded past her, her pelt pricked.
A sharp, sour scent was drifting from her: the stench of illness, so strong that it turned her black paws cold.
She suddenly noticed how her bones jutted through her scrawny pelt.
Rainpelt was really sick.
IceClan might need a new deputy any moment.

Poolpelt hurried out of the den.
Was Rainpelt going to die?
I'll ask Flowertail. Please let her make sense this time!
She had to know.
It was too soon.
How could she possibly become deputy when she hadn't even finished training her first apprentice?

When she reached the medicine cat den, the medicine cat was already surrounded by her Clanmates at the entrance.

Springleaf was shaking her head. "I haven't had a decent night's sleep in days, with her coming and going in the night."
Ravenbird agreed. "The only exercise she does is padding back and forth to the dirtplace."
"Will she recover in time?" Featherfall asked.

Poolpelt pushed in beside the pale white tabby warrior. "Are you talking about Rainpelt?" she whispered.
Featherfall nodded.

"She does seem even sicker than usual," Thornwing put in.
Flowertail's gaze was heavy with worry. "We've tried everything, but nothing helps."

Poolpelt flicked her tail. What was Flowertail trying to tell them? "She recovered last time," she pointed out.
"She wasn't this sick last time," Flowertail countered. "Icestar will have to start thinking about appointing a new deputy before long."

She stared at Poolpelt, her gaze suddenly sharp and excited as a kit's.
Poolpelt stiffened. Was this her chance?

A voice behind her murmured, "Oh, yes, it's time for me to take Rainpelt's place."
Poolpelt spun around.
Blackfrost stood behind her, where Flowertail could see him, too.
The black tom's eyes were glowing, his tail high, his well-muscled shoulders sleek in the sunshine.

Icestar wants a cat with youth and energy to serve beside her.
Poolpelt remembered Flowertail's words with a shiver.
Right now, Blackfrost seemed to be the strongest, most promising cat in the Clan.

Would Icestar choose him to be the next deputy instead?