Deep shadows from the setting sun cast themselves over the lake. The blackened water rippled and churned but not one wave washed across the pebbled shore. It was New-leaf, and already, even in the first few warming days of the season, green buds could be seen birthing on the old browned trees near the ThunderClan camp.

A delicate, half-hearted breeze swam its way from the lake and into the forest. Maplegleam sat at the edge of the bank. The water's brim threatened to snag her front paws with a chilling bite. But as much as it may have looked like the water would consume her, it never did. Each minuscule crest was just out of reach.

Maplegleam twitched her tail and flicked one ear. A rustling could be heard from behind her. Just a mere three tail-lengths to the cat's right, was the border between ThunderClan and ShadowClan. "You'll scare my Clan's prey with that entrance, Mumblewater." Maplegleam purred.

"All the worse," Said a light brown tom who had emerged from a part of the tree line which rested ShadowClan's territory. "I seem to be scaring off our own just as much." He spoke as he loudly approached the tortoiseshell and white she-cat on the ThunderClan side of the border.

The tom sat beside her but did not cross the boundary between them. "How is ShadowClan?" Maplegleam asked.

Mumblewater's whiskers squirmed and his tail tip fluttered, "As well as we are able I suppose."

"You look tired."

The medicine cat's orange eyes gazed into Maplegleam's, "Without my apprentice, things have been more busy."

Maplegleam said nothing. She knew as a medicine cat herself, that Mumblewater's apprentice had been killed by a bout of terrible greencough, which had swept throughout the ShadowClan camp nearly a moon ago. There was barely enough catmint left in the storage when the young cat fell ill while tending to his clanmates. There was not much Mumblewater could have done to help.

"I assume that most are recovering then?" the tortoishell she-cat asked.

"Yes, all the other cats who were infected have started to finish their recovery. Soon, the Clan will be strong again." Maplegleam could hear a defiance in the tom's raspy voice but she also detected sorrow. He was still in mourning for his lost apprentice. "Have you heard from them?"

Maplegleam looked over at Mumblewater. His sight was focused above their heads and up into the dimming sky. Only a few stray stars started to shine as she looked up with the other medicine cat. "No, not for some time now. Have you?"

Mumblewater shook his head, "Our ancestors have been as silent as their stars."

The once warm breeze ruffled Maplegleam's pelt and her spine shivered, "Perhaps I will take a trip to the Moonpool soon."

"Send word to me when you do. I'd like to go there myself as well."

"I will."

Mumblewater nodded and stood, "I'll see you soon then." Without another word, the brown tom spun on his haunches and trotted back into the thicket of the tall pines.

Maplegleam did not watch him go. Instead, her gaze was fixed across the vast expanse of the murky water. It had been moons since StarClan had shared anything with any of the medicine cats. Did StarClan abandon the Clans?

Maplegleam sat outside the medicine cat's den.  The warm sun bore down onto the ThunderClan camp.  Elders were sprawled over the hot stones, sunning themselves. 
           Across the camp, three young kits played outside the nursery.  Moonfur had just kitted them nearly four days earlier.  Already, the kits showed great promise and strength. 
           When Silverstar emerged from her den, Maplegleam stood and tottered over to the ThunderClan leader. 
          Maplegleam dipped her head in greeting to the silver tabby she-cat, "Good morning Silverstar.  May I have a word with you?"
          Silverstar nodded for the medicine cat to follow her back up into her den on the Highledge.  "What is it Maplegleam?"  Silverstar sat down on her old haunches and wrapped her tail around her paws as she looked expectantly at Maplegleam.
          "I have heard from StarClan."  Silverstar's eyes widened at the news.  Maplegleam had traveled to the moonstone soon after her meeting with Mumblewater along the boarders. 
          "And?  Have our ancestors given any guidance?"  Silverstar asked.
          "They have shown me a gifted cat in our Clan.  It is unlike anything the four Clans have seen in a long time."  Maplegleam reported.
          Silverstar flicked an ear back, "Does this cat have knowledge of their destiny?"
          Maplegleam shook her head, "She has no idea what her destiny is.  But, she will soon learn."  Maplegleam padded to the front of the den with Silverstar following.  The medicine cat flicked her tail toward the three kits playing in the hollow, "Before the Lily blooms, she will know."
          Silverstar nodded once.  Has StarClan chosen her to be our next medicine cat?"
          "No, they have not revealed her path but they have warned me to not choose her as my apprentice because it is another cat's destiny."
          "Very well Maplegleam.  We shall watch her and pair her with the best warrior possible."  Silverstar closed her eyes in thought, "Before the Lily Blooms."
          Maplegleam thought back to her day on the Lake's shore.  She remembered the lily drifting in the breeze on the water.  Lilykit will learn her destiny, one way or another.