(PAST)

After the apprentices had finished their successful assessments, Foxflame had taken them back to camp, forcing his troubled thoughts and worries to the back of his mind. The rest of the day went by in a sort of haze to him, the Warrior naming ceremony for Icepaw and Barkpaw, where they had been named Icemist and Barktail as the sun was setting. It was not until they started their vigil after the ceremony, that Applenose had realized her kits had somehow snuck out of camp while every cat was distracted.

Foxflame tracked their scent through camp, Lionflame, and Sootcloud had joined him as they began to search through the quickly darkening forest. The whole time he had only been half-focused, and even at that his worry for the lost kits was the only thing to keep him tied to his current actions, unable to hold back the thoughts of what Shadeheart had told him.

They had tracked the kits to the river, where the patrol was astonished to find a strange black and dark brown she-cat, who carried the scents of earth and the sharp smell of plants. The she-cat had spoken, her voice was rough and soft at the same time, eerie and as strange as what she had said before, in a swirl of motion and dust, she disappeared.

(PRESENT)

Lionflame darted forward to hurriedly sniff his kits pelts, "Are any of you hurt? Did you snag your fur? Did you step on sharp stones or pebbles?" He rambled on, Sootcloud's whiskers twitching in amusement along with Foxflame, until finally Sunkit placed both of his paws on his fathers muzzle, "We're fine dad." The warrior then proceeded sternly lecturing them on how bad it was they left camp, how they could have been killed, or gotten lost. Sootcloud looked at Foxflame, the other warriors eyes wide with fear as he said, "My mother told me stories of an ancient cat, half spirit, half cat, with fur as black as midnight, claws as sharp as ice shards, swift as a shadow, yet strong as a cat from the ancient clans, this cat is called Shadow Walker, she helps the weak and unfortunate, and murders the evil."

Foxflame didn't quite believe the other warrior, not completely and he snapped, "Well, good thing none of us are evil." The other warrior nodded, his expression unreadable as he muttered, "Yeah." Foxflame did not take any notice, still thinking about what Shadeheart had said as they herded the kits back towards camp. 'Your heart will be the death of you', 'death is the warning', 'death is the only thing that can save your precious clans', he didn't understand any of it, how could death be the warning and the thing to save the clans? Foxflame sighed inwardly, and if there is only one cat who can kill the death-bringer, then who is this cat?

He shook his head to clear it, trying to focus on something else, like how good it was they found the kits, or how Icerain and Barktail were made warriors. Once they made it back to camp, Foxflame escaped from Applenose's rushed thank you's by shoving Sootcloud forward, whispering, "Sorry!", and slipped into the warriors den, carefully stepping over the other sleeping warriors so he didn't tread on their tails or paws which strayed from their nests. Foxflame settled into his own nest with an exhausted sigh, resting his head on his paws as he waited for the dark tide of sleep to wash over him.

Foxflame's dreams were dark and disturbed, Shadeheart's warning constantly echoing in his ears as he desperately tried to run from it, wails of anguish, furious yowls, and earsplitting screeches sliced the air, as if a whole war was taking place in his dreams. Foxflame pushed his muzzle into the ground, desperately attempting to cover his ears with his paws and block out the horrible shrieks.

Suddenly it grew quiet, except for soft snores as Foxflame blinked awake in the warriors den, the sky was still dark, but as he peeked through the branches he saw the thin line of dawn. He shook his pelt, slinking out of the warriors den quietly, careful not to disturb his sleeping clanmates. The dim silhouette of Duskstar sat by the Highledge, gazing at the star with glowing orange eyes. I should tell him about what Shadeheart said, I bet he would know what to do.

Foxflame trotted over, "Mind if I join you? I wanted to speak with you about something." The leader nodded, his expression unreadable as Duskstar set his gaze on him with a small nod. He sucked in a breath and spilled out everything that Shadeheart had told him, besides the whole 'your heart will be the death of you' part.

The leaders expression darkened and he meowed, "We should keep this between us, the clan does not need more troubles then we are burdened with already." Foxflame nodded in agreement, a long silence stretching between the two cats before it was broken by Duskstar, "Crowclaw is too weak and sick to remain as deputy as ThunderClan, it was his idea to retire." Foxflame looked at him in surprise, "Is there a reason your telling me this personally?"

The ThunderClan leader looked up at the sky, "You are young, a moon and a half over a season I believe, but you are mature, and I believe you are a natural leader, not to mention Applenose's kits will be ready for apprenticeship within this moon." Foxflame stared at him in shock as the leader continued, "I want you to be my deputy Foxflame, I will give you Lilykit as an apprentice, I will be truthful when I say that I wish Shadowspirit were still here, she would have made a fine deputy, although she was also young, she was a fast learner, cunning, the best apprentice I have ever trained, but you will be the perfect deputy for ThunderClan, if you will accept my offer of course."

Foxflame gaped at him, "I-I-"............

(To be continued *evil grin face*, what do you guys think? Will Foxflame say yes? Or will he deny? Comment what you think will happen, or even better, what you WANT to happen, and I may even take your opinion to heart, hope you enjoyed! <3 Jade)