When Snowpool went to sleep that evening, he hadn't expected to wake and find himself in the spirit realm.

"Well this hasn't happened in a while." he thought, watching as stardust swirled around his paws.

"Greetings, Snowpool."

The tom glanced up and found a cat approaching him, faint bursts of light flashing beneath her paws as she crossed the void.

"Rowanstar." he dipped his head respectfully. "I must admit, I am surprised. I was expecting our next encounter to be in StarClan."

The she-cat grimaced, coming to a stop a few paces away.

"Actaully, about that..."

"Dont tell me you've come to collect me?"

"No no, not yet." she replied, quickly flicking her tail as if waving away the thought. "I have been given permission to tell you that your time will end soon. I know this is a lot to take in, I'm sorry..."

Snowpool shrugged. "Honestly, I've been expecting it for a while now. But, why are you telling me this?"

"StarClan has one final task for you. I apologize for asking so much of you, but it is necessary for the survival of the clans."

"It always is." the tom sighed. "So, what's the plan?"

》

Snowpool groaned as he awoke, squeezing his eyes shut against the light now pouring into the den, and wriggled deeper into his nest in an attempt to block out the leaf-bare chill.

"Good morning, Snowpool." Daisyfur mewed politely.

Her voice vaguely reminded him of icicles clinking together.

"Mornin'." he mumbled back.

At times like these he missed the old territory by the lake, where leafbare didn't come early and greenleaf was long.

Finally accepting that he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep, the tom rose from his nest and yawned loudly.

He paused at the den entrance and glanced over his shoulder. "Would you like something?"

"Yes, please."

Snowpool stepped outside, giving a soft hiss of disgust as his paws sank in the freshly fallen flakes.

After making the agonizing journey across camp, he examined the fresh-kill pile.

There wasn't much with it being the middle of leafbare. He eventually settled on a scrawny mouse, leaving the plump-looking robin for Laurelbloon, and began making his way back to the elder's den.

At that moment, a small group of cats entered camp, the two apprentices---Sootpaw and Thistlepaw---, struggling through the deep snowdrifts.

Thistlepaw sported a rather tasty-looking rabbit and Sootpaw a squirrel.

Ebonystar had raised two fine hunters, there was no doubt about it.

"Snowpool!" Sootpaw mumbled around the mouse, nearly tripping on his catch and falling over as he stumbled towards him.

"Couf ou gif iff ooh-"

Snowpool reached over and gently took the squirrel from him. "Okay, now talk."

The apprentice flattened his ears sheepishly and continued. "Could you give this squirrel to Daisyfur for me? I know they're her favorite, so I caught it just for her."

The elder smiled warmly at the young tom. "I would be happy to."

As long as there were thoughtful cats like Sootpaw, ShadowClan would surely prosper.

Snowpool's smile faded as his dream and its ominous warning flickered through his mind.

"If ShadowClan survives that is..."

"Is something wrong?" Sootpaw asked, noticing his expression.

"Yeah, my neck's feelin' a bit sore, that's all." he replied, taking the squirrel and hurrying away before Sootpaw could ask more questions.

After delivering the fresh-kill to the elder's den, Snowpool began making his way to the leader's den.

"Its always 'Snowpool, the clans are in danger!' Why can't it ever be 'Snowpool, the clans will have a long greenleaf with bountiful prey and lots of kits?' Or 'Snowpool there are just way too many sparrows, we need you to eat them all!'." the tom thought with annoyance, clambering up the steep rock pile to the stump located on top.

The leader's den was by far the worse den in camp.

It was an old stump covered in lichen and mushrooms that sat on top of a pile of rocks, it's roots jutting out and tripping any cat who wasn't careful. Not to mention, the inside was small and cramped.

Snowpool was pretty sure Batstar had chosen it just so that no one else would be stuck with it.

"Batstar..."

He hadn't thought about the fallen leader in a while.

There weren't many cats around that remembered him, the tom now existed solely within his memories.

"Ebonystar?" he called, pausing just outside the den entrance.

The clan leader raised his head, the fur on the left side of his face sticking up at odd angles.

"Snowpool?" he yawned, blinking the sleep from his eyes. "What is it?"

"I wanted to talk to you about something, but I can come back later-"

"No no." the tom quickly got to his paws, bits of moss clinging to his pelt. "Now is fine. What can I do for you?"

The elder had to suppress a laugh at his leader's disheveled appearance and spoke, "I had a dream last night, I wanted to discuss it with you."

The tom's gaze grew serious.

"Perhaps we should discuss this with Lightstep."

Snowpool bowed his head and made room for him to exit, nearly falling backwards when some pebbles skitted out from under his hind paws.

The medicine den was located in a dense thicket at the edge of camp, Lightstep opting to store his herbs in an abandoned fox den next to it.

The medicine cat didn't notice the two at first, he was busy lecturing his apprentice--- Molepaw, who looked just as thrilled to be there as his patients.

"What'd he do this time?" Snowpool whispered to Ivyscar, who had injured her paw after slipping on a patch of ice.

"He mixed up some herbs again."

"Let me guess, he was distracted by Hazelpaw again?"

It was no secret that Molepaw was crushing on Hazelpaw. Pretty much all the young toms were, despite the fact that the she-cat was yet to realize she was the center of their affections.

"Yep." Ivycscar sighed, turning her attention back to the scene.

Ebonystar cleared his throat. "Um, Lightstep?"

The golden-brown tom's ears flicked up in surprise and he whirled around to face the clan leader.

"Ebonystar!" he exclaimed. "Sorry, I didn't hear you come in."

Seeing that his mentor was busy, Molepaw took the opportunity to discretely slip out of the den.

"I can see that." Ebonystar replied, his eyes shining with amusement.

Realizing this was starting to take longer than intended, Snowpool stepped forward. "I had a dream last night."

The medicine cat blinked, his amber gaze flicking to Ivyscar and Owlfall, who were watching them curiously.

"Perhaps we should have this conversation someplace else."

》

Snowpool gave an irritated sigh and fluffed out his fur against the cold.

Dark clouds had gathered in the sky, large wet snowflakes beginning to fall.

Instead of having this conversation in camp, Lightstep and Ebonystar had insisted on having it in the middle of the forest.

The cold and snowy forest.

"Okay, so." he began, cutting to the chase. "Rowanstar spoke with me last night and warned that a war is coming."

He decided to leave out the part where he was going to die soon.

Ebonystar leaned forward, his eyes wide. "Is ShadowClan in imminent danger?"

"No, they just wanted to tell us so we could wave it over ThunderClan's head that we got a prophecy before them." he wanted to snark. Instead, he bit his tongue and reminded himself that Ebonystar was just concerned for his clanmates.

"Yes."

"Who?" the leader asked, narrowing his eyes. "Is it SkyClan? They're never happy with the border arrangements."

It was actually ThunderClan who would be starting this war, but Snowpool wasn't about to tell him that.

"No, Rowanstar just said to start preparing, the outcome of the war is still uncertain."

Rowanstar nodded his head. "I'll have Gorsepelt and Wolfblaze advance Thistlepaw and Sootpaw's battle training. Maybe I'll have Laurelbloom's kits apprentice ceremonies early as well, they're going to be six moons soon, anyway."

"Is there any way to prevent this war?" Lightstep asked, looking hesitant about the whole thing.

Snowpool couldn't blame him, leaf-bare was the worst time for conflict.

"I'm not sure..." he admitted. "Rowanstar just showed me a vision of cats invading."

"Rogues, perhaps?" Ebonystar suggested.

"No...In my vision, I knew they were clan cats."

Rowanstar leaned forward, gently touching noses with him.

In an instant, the spirit realm vanished and Snowpool found himself standing in a forest.

It was dark, the snowy silhouettes of trees barely visible in the moonlight.

Then suddenly, a gust of wind blew, causing the clouds to shift.

For a moment, the world sparkled coldly around him, his hackles lifting as he caught sight of the transgressors.

Brightstar stood, his fur almost blending in with his surroundings.

Behind him was what looked like the whole of ThunderClan, all baring their teeth, their gazes murderous.

Snowpool blinked, not realizing that Ebonystar was talking.

"-you at the Gathering. Maybe someone there will be familiar from your dream."

Snowpool dipped his head. "Of course, Ebonystar."

》

True to his words, Ebonystar had the apprentice ceremonies early, Snowpool just wasn't expecting it to be the same day.

The tom sat beside Daisyfur, his fur fluffed out against the cold, annoyed that he had to sit in the snow for the second time that morning.

The kits stood before the clan, their eyes bright and pelts spiked with excitement.

"Petalkit, please step forward."

The she-kit padded over to her leader, her head held high.

Nearby, her parent's---Laurelbloom and Wolfblaze, watched with proud expressions.

"Petalkit, you shall now be known as Petalpaw. You will be mentored by Mintfrost. May she pass on her skills and wisdom."

The two touched noses then stepped to the side.

"Applekit," the tom straightened up. "You shall now be known as Applepaw, you will be mentored by Vineclaw. May he pass on his skills and wisdom."

Finally, it was Briarpaw's turn.

The she-kit stumbled a bit, her tail drooping with embarrassment, as she approached the clan leader.

Ebonystar's whiskers twitched with amusement as he continued. "Briarkit you shall now be known as Briarpaw, you will be mentored by Tawnyfoot. May she pass on her skills and wisdom."

The clearing erupted into yowls of applause a chant slowly rising.

"Petalpaw! Applepaw! Briarpaw!"

Unable to help himself, Snowpool joined in.