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The leaf mulch on the ground was slippery after the recent rain. The mountain the trail wasn't very steep, but steep enough. The whole world seemed to shine after the rain, the ground slippery like ice. It glittered in the dawn light as a sudden flash of brown ripped unexpectedly across it. Not quietly, of course. The young tomcat was yowling.

"Help me!" he cried as he sailed down the path to the bottom of the mountain. His claws were clogged with mud, and he tried to regain his footing but just slipped more. Paws pounded behind him. A bengal she-cat streaked across the dry side of the path, her eyes exasperated, her claws out to steady her.

"Dry and dig your claws into the ground, Bearpaw!" she called to the now mud-soaked brown tom, who was not stopping. His fur was bushed up and his deep green eyes were wide with fear. He tried, but it felt like his claws were about to snap off, so he stopped trying.

Sablepaw skidded to a halt - which she could do now that they were approaching the smaller mountain's base - followed by her mentor, Fawnpath, and Bearpaw's mentor, Doetrail. The warrior sisters panted.

"I'm fine!" Bearpaw called from ahead. He tried to stand up, but his paws slipped on the peaty ground. With a start, a rushing sound made him glance around. The river was rushing near were he had stopped. He stumbled over the little pebbles on the shore and fell, headfirst, into the water.

Sputtering, his head bobbed in the quick current. He yelped in pain and fear as a pointed rock scraped his hind paw, leaving him flailing around pointlessly. With no hesitation, Fawnpath raced ahead, and taking a deep breath, dove into the water, swimming haphazardly but somehow grasping Bearpaw's scruff in her jaws. She dragged him onto the shore, licking at his eyelids so that he would prove that he was okay.

The tomcat coughed water up, shivering despite the warm morning air.

"What did I say before we went up the mountain?" Doetrail hissed, stepping forward rather menacingly. Sablepaw crept towards her brother. She licked his ear tentatively, the fresh water taste bathing her tongue.

Bearpaw struggled to his paws, then gazed shamefully down at the mud-caked appendages. "You said to be careful on the slope because we didn't want to fall down the mountain."

Doetrail frowned. "Well, yes, but what did you do?" her voice raised piercingly and the blush hardly noticeable beneath her fur deepened on the short-pelted calico's face like a geyser building up, ready to blow. She glared at him, and Fawnpath, her sharper calico markings thrown into relief by shadows that were cast on here by her sister, cleared her throat.

"He won't be doing it again, won't he?" Fawnpath meowed pointedly. "I think almost drowning and falling down a mountain is enough. I'm just surprised he didn't break anything."

Bearpaw jerked his head. "The mud was soft-ish," he muttered, flexing his muddy claws and suddenly getting annoyed. He was the one to fall into the dreadful river. He was the one to slide down a mountain and get mud all over him.

Sablepaw seemed to read his thoughts. "Well at least the river cleaned off most of the mud," she pointed out evenly, nodding at his damp pelt. "And it's already getting hot because it's a clear day. You'll be dry in no time at all."

"Just leave me alone, Sablepaw!" Bearpaw meowed sharply. Sablepaw looked stung, but she raised her chin defiantly and stalked away, mewing coolly as she went, "Maybe you should be better to your only friend."

With a short growl, Bearpaw hung his head and walked solemnly after Doetrail while she and Fawnpath chatted.

Back at camp, Sablepaw was over by the fresh-kill hollow, picking out a morsel of prey from yesterday's hunting. Nearby, Ashenpoppy was conversing in low tones with the two apprentice's father, Acornrustle. He's also the Clan deputy, Bearpaw thought smugly, puffing up his chest proudly.

But he almost instantly deflated. It wasn't like there was much competition. There weren't much cats in the Clan. They had been strays before, though luckily he and Sablepaw had been born at the ValleyClan camp.

Quickly suppressing a yawn - he had been up since dawn going around the territory for their second day of training - Bearpaw started forward to the fresh-kill hollow, only to hesitate a little bit. His mother was there and he wanted to see her, then there was Sablepaw. He furrowed his brow. He hadn't seen his mother all day yet. . . . But he didn't want to be near Sablepaw. Giving his head a vigorous shake, he padded up to Doetrail, who was talking to Bunnyear, the long-furred cream and ginger elder.

"Can I wash my claws and maybe take a nap?" he asked his mentor swiftly. Mind as well make it quick -

"Fine." Doetrail narrowed her eyes, then glanced at Bunnyear. "Bearpaw here had quite a tumble not so much then a few moments ago." Bearpaw meekly shuffled his paws and scampered off, hunching his back and feeling himself grow warm with embarrassment.

He hurried into the apprentices den. It was hastily built, because when the camp was first designed, there were no apprentices, and there was no need to make a perfect den for cats that didn't even exist yet. Spiny branches were woven around each other to create a pretty nice roof, but there was no padding or leaves to keep rain out. The ground dipped slightly in a paw-dug hollow, which held two nests.

They both looked the same, with cotton and ferns, soft moss, and little leaves and pieces of dried bracken mixed with tiny pieces of fur - all evidence of grooming. From the scent of the right nest, it was Sablepaw's, so Bearpaw settled into the left one, tucking his paws in and wrapping his tail around his body. He forgot about his muddy claws as sleep tugged away his exhausted consciousness.

♛ - ♛ - ♛

Screeches sounded from somewhere distant, echoing eerily. Bearpaw sat bolt upright. He was still in his nest, but this wasn't the apprentices' den. There were looming hills all around. It was grassy, but the grass was spiky, poking relentlessly at his tender pads.

"Where am I?" Bearpaw yowled as shouts echoed off of the territory.

"Where you need to be." The answer was quick, snippy. Bearpaw spun around on his hind paw, tripping over his own legs in his haste. He tumbled to the ground, while the voice commented, "Not the most agile of them, are you?"

Bearpaw glared up. There was a purring note in the voice, as if it was teasing him. A shock greeted him. It was a bengal that looked exactly like Sablepaw, just with smaller, drooping ears - but with the same fiery glow in her eyes.

"Who are you?" the brown tomcat whispered, taking in her appearance like he had never seen a she-cat in his life.

"My name isn't important." The she-cat flicked her black tail-tip in a slight irritation. Her tone was sharp, and not by much, but Bearpaw could hear it. He winced.

The she-cat grimaced. "I apologize," she meowed, "I just have mixed feelings about everything."

"Are you StarClan?" Bearpaw yelped, and for the first time he noticed a slight glowing haze surrounding the she-cat's lithe form. He took a step backward. Not even a quarter-moon ago, Valleystar had banned StarClan. Would Bearpaw get exiled for dreaming about StarClan? He shuddered as the possibility confronted him. "Am I dead?!" he added hastily as an afterthought.

The cat was quiet while Bearpaw's thought jumbled together in a fearful, doubtful, and mostly confused mass. His paws moved unconsciously back another mouse-length, and the cat spoke up finally.

"I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Martineye." Martineye sighed. She clenched her jaws together, her claws sliding out and gripping the grass. "I was a coward. I went on the streets away from my Clan because I was scared." Her words were spontaneous, and she looked surprised to hear them.

This new piece of information made Bearpaw's mind feel weak. "But they didn't mention you in ValleyClan. I-I would've remembered, wouldn't I?" His voice trembled.

"Did you really ever think there was only one Clan?" Martineye asked plainly, her eyes like those of dying embers boring into Bearpaw's own forestry green pair. It was a very still moment, like time had paused.

"Well, I never have given it any thought," Bearpaw muttered.

"Maybe next time you should."

"Next time?!" Bearpaw meowed confusedly. He jerked his head up, feeling it almost twang. "What do you mean next time?"

Again, Martineye stared into the tomcat's eyes, but this time they were moving hungrily over the gaze, searching for something. "I thought I caught a glimpse of Valleystar saying we abandoned ValleyClan - before, of course, I could see no more." She licked her paw and drew it over her ear, rubbing fiercely as if she could channel her anger and frustration away.

"You can't see us anymore?" Bearpaw wailed. "Then it's true! You did leave us!" He gulped, though emotion made it hard to do so.

Martineye shook her head sadly. "When Valleystar forced the Clan - Bristleburn had to obey as well - to accept StarClan was gone, then why should we see them? Bristleburn is strong with StarClan, and she wants to believe in us, but she's being pitted against StarClan, and she can't go on by herself."

"Sablepaw thought StarClan wasn't gone," Bearpaw recalled softly, a pang of grief hitting his heart when he thought of her amber glare, oh-so-similar to that of Martineye. He wondered if she would ever forgive him.

"Then Sablepaw is a smart cat," the StarClan warrior meowed firmly.

"I need to tell my leader of this!" Bearpaw rose to his paws and looked down in surprise; he hadn't even realized he had dropped into a sitting position as each piece of news hit him. A creeping feeling of hopelessness crept through him. "Maybe they won't believe me."

He shook out his pelt. Of course they would!

"Don't - !" the bengal she-cat warned, but Bearpaw cut her off.

"I have to tell them! Don't you want to have the faith in StarClan restored?" He stared at Martineye. How could the she-cat even start to protest against him helping her?! He would bring back the faith.

"Please, Bearpaw, please. Talk to Sablepaw. Talk to my kin, as of course we are!"

"No! Sablepaw probably hates me now. If she even wanted - !"

"If is a word that will make you hurt forever!" Martineye's face contorted with wistfulness and rage. "If is a word that makes you question everything! You can't get wrapped up in 'if this' or 'if that!' It will haunt you, and it will terrorize you. I would know!" Her breathing was shallow, and her eyes were wild.

"I didn't know," Bearpaw meowed stiffly, and he knew his was expression colder than he would liked. "I want to go back. Please."

Martineye gave a sharp, humourless laugh. "This ends when it needs to end. Besides, I wouldn't want you running off and telling Valleystar. I want StarClan back as much as you."

"You liar!" Bearpaw hissed. His normal calm and slightly goofy self was gone. His face was hard. "I want to help StarClan come back, but you are trying to stop me! What kind of StarClan warrior are you? Are you even a StarClan warrior?! I bet you're a Dark Forest cat, that just wants to make StarClan go away, and that wants to also ruin my life! I hate you! If you were my real relative you wouldn't try and punish me for helping!"

Martineye collapsed on the ground, sobbing. Bearpaw felt like the endless hills had disappeared and it was just him and the StarClan cat. Even the distant sounds of a battle faded away. He didn't mean to. I'm not a bad cat, I'm really not, he thought to himself, panic welling up through his body and threatening to spill straight of of his heart.

Panic rose in his body as Martineye's outburst became more frantic.

Then the scene was gone. Misted over. Bearpaw started as he realized he was in his nest, staring at the thorny walls of the den. He shifted uncomfortably in his nest, sure there must be a thorn. Or your conscience, because you're a bad cat, a little voice echoed around his mind. He ignored it.

Sablepaw breathed gently in her nest next to his, fast asleep. Whilst he had woken up abruptly, with his fur damp with sweat, she was curled in a ball, looking pleasantly comfortable.

Bearpaw stared at the sky from his nest, craning back his head so he could watch as yellow and orange blended together in the sky, joined by indigo, as if some of the receding darkness had clung on.

As if some of the receding darkness had clung on. . . .

The tufty brown tomcat closed his eyes but daren't let himself slip into unconsciousness. Who knew what was laying in wait for him there?