Ivypaw found herself traversing through dark, gloomy trees. She was dreaming. Blood-red eyes stared at her from the shadows, whispers echoing about. She kept pace, though, hissing at whoever was there.

"Ivypaw," she heard behind her.

Ivypaw began to tremble as she turned around to face a cat outlined in red, scars all over her body. "Who are you?" Ivypaw managed to ask, as confidently as she could muster.

"Ah, that information is irrelevant. Welcome to TornClan." The cat flicked her tail toward the staring eyes.

"How do you know my name?" Ivypaw was terrified. What is TornClan? She shivered.

"I've been watching you, Ivypaw." The cat began to circle her. "I saw you speak to Squirrelpaw." The TornClan warrior stopped in front of Ivypaw, nose to nose with her. Her breath was sickening, and Ivypaw had to stop herself from gagging. "I know that she's wrong, and you're right." Her voice was ominous.

"How can I trust you?" Ivypaw mewed, stuttering.

"My, dearie, we do have similar opinions. I'd say you trust your friends, no?" The cat smiled. Ivypaw couldn't tell if it was friendly or something else.

"I guess so," Ivypaw nodded. "Okay."

"I heard the dream she had." The cat meowed. "I saw it myself. I know the true meaning.

"You must lead CharmClan. Squirrelpaw will come for you, but you must defeat her before your Clan falls into ruin." The cat was hissing, as though giving orders. "Squirrelpaw is wrong. FallenClan cannot be trusted," she growled.

Ivypaw watched as other cats began climbing from behind the trees. They were all outlined like the first cat, with red eyes and deep scars over their pelt.

"You're right." Ivypaw meowed. "FallenClan must be defeated."

"Yes." The cat drew out the word like a snake hissing, searching for prey.

All too soon, everything around the cats started fading.

"TornClan will join you in the final battle." The cat meowed. "And about my name? My name is Rose."

~×~•~×~

Ivypaw awoke to the sounds of birds chirping their morning song. The sun was peeking through the brambles that created her den. She yawned, shaking the moss of her pelt. She felt tired, as though she had never slept in the first place. The other apprentice, Thunderpaw, had already left the den. She curled up, trying to fall back asleep, but found she could not.

Ivypaw began to remember the dream she had of the she-cat, Rose, in the gloomy forest. She remembered the eyes that stared at her. But most of all, she remembered what Rose had said; 'You must lead CharmClan.' She shuddered.

"Ivypaw?" She saw LeapordRain peek her head into the den. "Time for hunting." And with that, Ivypaw was left alone.

Ivypaw hauled herself from her nest and padded out of her den. Her fur was matted and unwashed, but she was too tired to care. Sleepily she found Leaporadrain near the entrance to camp, along with Lightningpaw and his mentor, Skywhisker.

"Let's go," Skywhisker meowed. Lightningpaw bounded after her with Leapordrain and Ivypaw behind them. The forest swallowed the patrol, blocking the sharp sunlight. Ivypaw felt herself begin to wake up, and with that, more memories of her dream flooded her mind.

After walking for a little while, the trio found themselves near the FallenClan border. Soon, they had crossed. Ivypaw shuddered. Do we really just disregard the borders?

"Today, we learn to hunt in the open," Leapordrain meowed, keeping a steady pace until the trees thinned and opened into moorland. Rabbits were hopping around further out. "This used to be MoorClan's territory," She added. "They hunted rabbits."

"Hunting?" Ivypaw exclaimed. "But this isn't our territory!"

Leapordrain sighed. "I've already told you, Ivypaw. Only FallenClan have to worry about our borders."

Ivypaw nodded. That seems fair, I guess, she decided. They are below us.

Leapordrain dropped into a different crouch, spreading her paws out and keeping her pelt as low as she could. From a rabbit's level, you wouldn't see a thing. "Try," she instructed the apprentices.

Ivypaw dropped into a normal hunting crouch, then she shuffled her paws outward. With a thump, she splattered onto the grassy dirt.

Skywhisker padded up to her now. "Try again," she meowed. When Ivypaw had crouched again, she spoke. "Hindquarters lower. Front paws further out. No, not forward, out. Hind legs further apart." She spoke in a calm voice, contrasting to Leapordrain's harsh tone. She suddenly wished Skywhisker was her mentor as she shuffled her back paws. "Good. Now leap." Ivypaw focused on a daisy that was a few tail-lengths in front of her and leapt.

"I did it!" Ivypaw meowed, the daisy petals in her jaws.

"Again." Skywhisker ordered.

Eventually the sun began setting over the horizon. Ivypaw strutted proudly, two plump squirrels balancing in her jaws. Her mouth watered at the scent and the fresh blood that entered her mouth. Ivypaw began to think about her dream that she had crammed into the back of her mind like fresh-kill being stored in leaf-bare moons.

After heading to the apprentices' den, Ivypaw remembered the death of a young queen when she first got to this Clan. "Remember that queen?" She asked, turning to Lightningpaw with the question.

"Poppyleaf?" He tipped her head to the side.

"Was she the queen who died when you got here?" Ivypaw meowed.

"Er, yeah. Do you want to know why she died?" Lightningpaw murmured, looking at his paws.

Ivypaw thought for a moment. She wondered what that cat had done wrong. "Sure." She finally mewed.

"Ok. She, uh, she had kits." Lightningpaw whispered.

". . .And?"

"And, er, she had a mate, I guess?" Lightningpaw cocked his head.

"What's wrong with that?" Ivypaw asked, confused. She died for. . . Loving?

Just then, Whiskerstar must have heard their conversation, because she entered the den, fur fluffed out in anger. Ivypaw shivered.

"I told you not to speak of this, Lightningpaw." Whiskerstar snarled. Lightningpaw hung his head in shame. Turning to Ivypaw, she continued; "Love is a crime. It makes us less than what we could be if we care about others. Do not speak of-" She coughed the last word out- "Poppyleaf." She padded out of the den, tail lashing.

"Is love really that-"

"Shush!" Lighningpaw whispered, glancing at the entrance, but Whiskerstar did not come back. "Didn't you hear her? Never speak of. . . of Poppyleaf again."

~×~•~×~

Woah woah. Woah. Woah.

TornClan? Poppyleaf? So much information?

Hmm. Is TornClan a good influence on Ivypaw?

Sorry for taking a bit longer than usual on this update. Having trouble sleeping, and I went trick-or-treating last night, so. . . Zzz.

Next update might take a little longer, Thursday perhaps?

See ya!

-Bramble