Shadekit POV

"ShadowClan needs any allies we can get against this mad tyrant," Rowanstar's voice rang throughout the camp. "Bumblestar has gone completely insane and will stop at nothing until he gets what he wants-which is to kill everyone other than those who will follow him blindly. We can no longer treat ThunderClan as warriors; they must be treated as rogues because they are ruled by one. ShadowClan desperately needs new warriors, which is why I've decided to allow Shadekit and Fawnkit to become apprentices. I acknowledge that it is a risk, and they could very well be spies from Bumblestar, but it is a risk that we must take. These are desperate times that call for desperate measures."

Fawnkit and I had stumbled across the returning ShadowClan battle patrol. They had glared at us suspiciously and had probably only not attacked us because we were kits. I begged Rowanstar to take us to the camp and then told him the whole story in front of all of ShadowClan. How Bumblestar was planning to kill us, how we had only escaped because of Foxleap, and how we were hoping we could take refuge in ShadowClan. Thankfully, most of the cats seemed to believe my narrative. It was the honest truth, except for where I lied about my age, claiming that we were both six moons old. For Fawnkit, that was a true statement, but I had only just reached five moons of age. I didn't want to deceive Rowanstar; honesty is the key to trust after all, but I wanted to join the fight against Bumblestar as soon as possible. The end justifies the means. Bumblestar needed to be overthrown for the forest to know peace, and anything that I did to accomplish that was justified in my opinion.

This wasn't quite how I'd imagined my apprentice ceremony when I dreamed about it as a kit. I had pictured myself standing before the Highledge with my brother at my side. I had always thought it would be my mother reciting the words of this ceremony. Never had I thought that I would be encircled by pines instead of stone walls, that ShadowClan would be the one chanting my apprentice name instead of ThunderClan, or that my brother would not be with me. Yet here I was.

"Fawnkit, from this moment on, you will be know as Fawnpaw. Your mentor will be Spikefur. Spikefur, this will be your first apprentice. You learned much from Ferretclaw, and I expect you to pass on these things to Fawnpaw," Rowanstar said.

I half-expected Spikefur to look at Fawnpaw distastefully, but the dark brown tom's amber eyes were warm as he touched noses with her. I trembled with anticipation of receiving my apprentice name, sinking my claws into the soggy ground nervously.

Rowanstar's gaze swept over to me and he gave me a slight nod. "Shadekit, from this moment on, you will be known as Shadepaw. Your mentor will be Tawnypelt. Tawnypelt, you of all cats certainly understand how it feels to switch Clans and spend your life proving your loyalty to your new Clan. I trust that you will teach Shadepaw all that you know."

I shuffled my paws awkwardly and then shot a hesitant glance at my mentor. I expected to see scorn or distrust in her green eyes. Instead, Tawnypelt's eyes were filled with sympathy, and she gave me an encouraging nod. Breathing a sigh of relief, I padded over to my mentor and touched noses with her.

There was a bit of hesitation, but then one cat at the back of the crowd called out our names. The rest of the Clan quickly joined in, except for a few warriors who stared at us with suspicion lingering in their eyes. I ignored them and puffed out my chest with pride. I didn't care what any cat thought; I would prove my loyalty and defeat Bumblestar.

Spikefur padded over to Tawnypelt. The two had a quick, hushed conversation before turning to me and Fawnpaw. "The two of you don't need to separate yet. We're going to explore the territory together. C'mon, follow me," Tawnypelt meowed, walking towards the camp entrance.

I glanced at Fawnpaw. Her beautiful light brown fur was slightly ruffled by the wind. It looked so soft, and I wanted nothing more than to bury my head in that fur and forget that this nightmare known as my life had happened. Her sky blue eyes met mine.

"Fawnpaw, I just want you to know that I could never do this without you," I whispered.

"I couldn't do this without you either, Shadepaw," she purred. "C'mon, let's go. Our mentors are waiting."

I hurried after Spikefur and Tawnypelt, but as we had just exited into the forest, we collided with a ShadowClan warrior who was dashing madly back towards the camp. There was a frantic look in his eyes, which were abnormally wide.

"Crowfrost? What's wrong?" Tawnypelt demanded.

"It's ThunderClan," Crowfrost panted. "They claimed all of the land almost all the way back to our camp. I fear they will come to our camp after they finish marking what they decided were the new borders."

Spikefur and Tawnypelt exchanged worried looks. "We must get back to camp and tell Rowanstar," Spikefur decided. "Sorry, Fawnpaw. We're going to have to tour the territory later. This is urgent and must be dealt with now."

What if Bumblestar had somehow found out that Fawnpaw and I were in ShadowClan? Was he coming here to accomplish his mission of killing us? Or was he planning something much worse than simply hunting two kits?

Fawnpaw's blue eyes were troubled. "Whatever Bumblestar is planning, it will almost certainly have horrible consequences for all the Clans. Wherever Bumblestar goes, death follows."

The five of us raced back into the camp. "Rowanstar! ThunderClan claimed all of the land extending almost all of the way up to our camp! They might be coming here next!"

Just as Rowanstar emerged from his den, a patrol of WindClan warriors, led by Ashstar herself, poured into the camp.

A/N: I am so so so so SO sorry for such a long wait. Thank you for your patience, I promise I will update at least every other day or so now.

But...

I'M ALIVE! I JUST GOT OUT OF SCHOOL! That means I'm back from my one month hiatus that I used to focus on school because I was spending so much time on here that my grades were suffering. You can expect tons of updates for summer! :) Love you guys, thanks for sticking with me! Hope you enjoyed the newest chapter, what do you think Bumblestar is planning? Or was Bumblestar involved in this plan at all?