Edited ✔️

It's been moons since the last outbreak of DarkClan and MoonClan.

Icetail sighed, sitting as the night guard right outside their camp. His eyes were wide open as he listened intently on the forest he'd come to love in his long moons. His paws shuffled uncomfortably as he sat guard. Volefur sat on the other side, his tail flicking impaitently as they waited for the sun to rise.

Icetail noticed his Clanmate's head beginning to drop of exhaustion. "Volefur!" he whisper-called. "Are you okay, Volefur?"

Volefur drowsily looked up. "Yes . . . yes, I'm fine, Icetail." He gave a long, silent yawn. "I'm just tired. It's nothing."

"Just don't fall asleep," Icetail warned. Volefur rolled his eyes and returned his gaze out in the forest, but his head began to drop again. "Volefur!"

Volefur's head bobbed up. "What!"

"Don't fall asleep," Icetail reminded him. "Hey, why don't you walk around camp? We might be here for a little longer. And if you fall asleep, Brightstar won't be pleased."

Volefur gave a long sigh. "Alright, I will," he meowed, getting up from his position. He began to pad away, and disappeared at the end of the bramble thickets. But a few moments later, he did not return.

Is that lazy furball sleeping again? Icetail thought with annoyance. A few more moments, Volefur returned, with his jaws wide open in yet another yawn. Icetail sighed and returned his gaze back to the forest as Volefur gave another lap around the camp.

A cat emerged from the camp entrance. "Icetail," greeted Sparrowheart. "Your turn is over. Hey, where is Volefur?" He looked around.

"Volefur was sleepy so he began to walk around," informed Icetail.

Sparrowheart nodded. "Ah, how wise of him." He gave a little chuckle. "I see your bursting with energy, though, Icetail."

Icetail shrugged. "I had to stay in camp all day yesterday because Vinetail said so. Got a few thorns stuck in my paw. Rest was good for me." He gave a long sigh. "Sweetpaw said I was fine but Vinetail is such a cautious cat."

"Yeah," agreed Sparrowheart. "Hey, why don't you lead the night patrol? You seem rather lively and dynamic."

"Sure, Sparrowheart," mewed Icetail to his father.

Volefur emerged from the other end of the thickets once more. "I don't have to go on this patrol or anything, right?" he asked with yet another yawn.

"No, you can sleep. You had a long night," Sparrowheart said kindly. "Icetail, why don't you go ahead and choose who you want to take with you?" He motioned inside camp. "Dawnstripe and Dewfang have the next shift. Brightstar wants all the young cats on watch tonight, I suppose."

"Okay." Icetail got up from his spot, and stretched his legs. "Where is the patrol headed to?"

"Up near MarshClan." Sparrowheart then turned to Volefur. "Go on ahead to sleep."

Volefur gratefully nodded. "Thank you!" he meowed, padding into camp. Icetail followed after him, and Sparrowheart was the last to enter back into the camp. They were immediately greeted by Dawnstripe and Dewfang, but Volefur didn't bother saying hi back and headed straight for the warriors den. Icetail followed. Every cat was asleep, their chests gently rising and falling, rising and falling.

He noticed Rainwhisker stir in his nest and padded over, nudging the young tom with his nose. "Hey, Rainwhisker," Icetail said in a low voice.

Rainwhisker stirred again, and his amber eyes opened up. "Hmm?"

"Want to go on the MarshClan night patrol?" he asked.

Rainwhisker nodded and got up from his nest. "Is this one of Brightstar's extended border patrols?" he asked. Icetail nodded. "Sure then, I'll go."

"Great," Icetail meowed.

"Can I come?" asked Flameheart, getting up from his nest. He shook the moss and feathers from his pelt. "I've never been on one of those."

Rainwhisker laughed softly. "There's nothing fun about it. It's just patrolling normally at night time," he said. "And it's awfully hard since it's dark—"

Angrily, one cat stirred in his nest. "Will you three shush up?" muttered Sharpfang, cutting off Rainwhisker. "Some of us are trying to get some sleep around here." His gray fur glinted in the moonlight as he stirred.

"Sorry, Sharpfang," apologized Icetail, "but some of us have more important things to do than sleeping."

Sharpfang gave a long sigh and said nothing more. His eyes closed again, and his breathing immediately became slow once more, indicating that he was sleeping. Petalfur, who shared a nest beside him, stood up.

"I'll go," she offered. "Yesterday all I did was help Grayfur and Silverpaw collect moss. I'm bursting with energy!" Her voice was low and she looked excited.

"I don't mind," Icetail said. "I need one more cat, though."

Ashtail nosed him. "How about me?" asked the ginger tom. "Brightstar or Sparrowheart don't let me go out as often as I did, even though my wounds have mostly healed." Icetail realized that Ashtail was right. The older warrior wasn't as active as he used to be despite claiming to feel better. Although his wounds were inflicted many, many moons ago during Icetail's first fight with DarkClan as a new apprentice, deep scars still remained. It was evident that Ashtail would never be the same again.

Icetail nodded to Ashtail. "Yes, you may come. That's all I need. Now let's go before we get any one else's whiskers in a twist."

He noticed Sharpfang's ear twitch with annoyance and Shadowheart's tail flick, but he left before any of them said anything. Icetail still did not talk much to Shadowheart, but they shared only a few words when it became important. Even though Icetail convinced himself that he was over his mother's death, he also convinced himself that he was still not going to be too friendly Shadowheart any time soon.

He left the warriors den with his small patrol of four following close behind him. He immediately spotted Silverpaw as he left.

"Hey, Icetail!" she mewed eagerly, with her voice low. "Can I go on your patrol?"

Flameheart padded up from behind Icetail. "Sorry, Silverpaw," he said. "Night patrols are meant for warriors. Rules given by Sparrowheart himself."

Silverpaw nodded sadly. "Okay . . ." she murmured, and she padded off to the apprentice den, where Squirrelpaw was waiting wide awake.

Ever since they became apprentices, they'd been trying to go on every patrol, but now, Sparrowheart announced to limit the apprentice's patrol-times, especially at night, because he thought they were too eager in these dangerous times. Icetail felt that was a little mean, but of course, he did not defy his own father and deputy.

He padded out of the camp entrance, nodding politely to Dewfang and Dawnstripe before he left for the patrol. Flameheart trotted up beside Icetail with his tail low to the ground. Behind him, Ashtail, Rainwhisker and Petalfur followed silently through MoonClan's dimly-lit forests.

The moon glinted in Icetail's eyes, but it didn't hurt him. A long time ago, his eyes had already developed properly, so now he got to carry along MoonClan's special abilities of strong-sighted eyes.

"I see you've already gotten use to that," Ashtail mentioned with a purr.

Icetail nodded. "Yeah. It's uncomfortable, but I'll be used to it in enough time."

"Yep, but that's what makes MoonClan special," said Petalfur.

Rainwhisker nodded of agreement. "I remember getting accustomed to it too," he said. "Anyways, we aren't here to talk about stuff like that. That's a mentor's job to an apprentice. Let's go have a nice patrol, 'kay?"

"Sure," Icetail said.

He was careful not to step on any twigs or leaves to make any sounds. New-leaf was now in the forests once more, and the prey had started to come back already last moon. Green shoots were faintly noticable even though it was still dark, and Icetail's senses were heightened that night.

Ashtail gave his former apprentice a small nudge with his shoulder. "Okay, patrol leader, what now?" he asked.

Icetail ducked his head in embarrassment. "Really, Ashtail?" he mewed.

Flameheart padded up beside him and pointed to a faint outline of a few fallen twigs in the distance. "Look," he said. "One of us is surely going to get out paws stuck onto that. Want me to move it?"

Icetail thought for a moment, and nodded. "Yeah. Both you and Petalfur should clear the area. Looks like the rain did this." The cool air smelled faintly of fresh dew and rain that fell upon the Clans. He liked new-leaf because of the prey that submerged from the cold weather, but be hated the rain showers that the new season had to offer. Icetail disliked getting his paws wet.

"I'm on it," Petalfur meowed. "If only these dumb twigs were more sturdy on the trees." She sighed and began to tug away the soft bark with her teeth. Flameheart padded up to help.

Icetail then turned to the rest of the patrol. "MarshClan is just up ahead. Maybe we could scout the area before strengthening the borders," he decided. "The rain must've washed away a lot of our scents."

"I suppose so," said Rainwhisker as he made his way over to the territory borders. With his jaws opened, he sniffed at their side of the border before nodding his head in agreement. "You're right, Icetail!"

Ashtail padded over. "Then let's start," he said, "before some MarshClan patrol comes up. Or at least before dawn cracks."

Icetail nodded with approval and began to work his way marking the territory. A few moments later, Flameheart and Petalfur re-emerged into the clearing. "We cleared up the sticks," Petalfur explained. "But Flameheart got a bramble thorn stuck in his paw."

Flameheart lifted his paw to show Icetail. "It's fine," he said. "I already got out the thorn."

Icetail nodded. "But there's some blood trickling down," he pointed out. "Do you want to go back to camp to get it checked? Open wounds can lead to infections. We don't want another outbreak."

Flameheart shook his head and licked the blood off. "I'm fine. The sympathy the medicine cats gave me for a thorn the last time it happened was a bit aggravating." He sighed. "I won't mean to be a burden."

Icetail couldn't help but purr in amusement. "You're right. They do give lots of sympathy." He began to mark the MoonClan borders that ran along MarshClan once more. "Anyways, if your paw is okay, help me with this. We don't want any MarshClan trespassers. DarkClan is too much of a pain already."

"Yeah," murmured Flameheart glumly, beginning to help Icetail.

Oh no! thought Icetail. Maybe it was wrong that I mentioned his old Clan. Well, Flameheart's loyalty belongs to MoonClan now. Maybe there might be a battle between us the next time . . . and Flameheart will have to be involved. He has to get use to being a MoonClan warrior. He remembered when he told Flameheart about the full warrior code when they'd just became warriors. Flameheart seemed pleased! Perhaps he didn't miss DarkClan as much as Icetail feared.

Petalfur ran up beside Icetail and dropped a limp creature from her jaws. "Look!" she exclaimed.

"Good job," praised Ashtail from the distance. "We need all the food we can get to recover from leaf-bare. But let's get back to marking the borders. And be careful not to get hurt with all those twigs scattered everywhere!"

Petalfur nodded, kicking dirt over the vole to protect it from any creature that might think of stealing it away. Then, she got back to marking the borders ahead of Icetail.

"All prey is welcomed," said Rainwhisker with a dip of his head. "Especially since we need strength."

Icetail nodded with a sigh. MoonClan was still hungry. He wished that prey would come to the forests quicker, even though their conditions improved since leaf-bare. But suddenly, a yowl sounded---but it was cut short with a loud thud. Icetail raced from his spot. "What happened?" he demanded.

Flameheart's voice groaned in pain. "I tripped," came a response.

Icetail looked around, and suddenly spotted a dark hole in the ground. "Flameheart?" meowed Icetail with worry as he looked into the darkness. His pelt bristled.

"I'm down here!" Flameheart reassured. "I think I'm okay. I can get up." In an instant, the ginger tom emerged to the top and shook his pelt clean. "The ground suddenly split open and sucked me up."

Petalfur bristled. "What?"

Flameheart nodded. "The dirt . . . crumbled under my paws. Or maybe they were leaves?"

"Whatever it is, we have to report it to Brightstar," said Rainwhisker, padding up.

Ashtail held his tail up to stop Rainwhisker. "Hold on there, don't go any closer," he warned. "It could be dangerous." He looked up to Icetail. "What do we do?"

"Why ask me?" Icetail murmured.

"Because you're the patrol leader," he pointed with an obvious tone. "Patrol leaders are supposed to lead their patrols. Hence the name."

Icetail rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah." He observed the hole, and then his gaze landed on Flameheart. "You didn't hurt yourself down there, right?"

"I kind of cramped my paws," Flameheart admitted.

Icetail nodded. "Okay. I guess we should head back and tell Brightstar about this before any cat gets hurt," he decided. "And you should go check out the medicine den while you are at it."

Flameheart nodded with a sigh. "No kidding." He limped ahead, followed by Ashtail and Petalfur. Icetail went after them with Rainwhisker. He still felt unease from the incident.

This is ridiculous, but that hole was awfully dark, he thought. I wonder if the prophecy literally means that the darkness was never meant to be . . . .