It had been quite a while since Echo had sent Ravenpaw into the past, so it took him a moment to remember the tree that Bat and the others were sheltered under. Smoke and Flint were in the small clearing in front of the makeshift den, sharing a large fish, while Creek watched Bat and Sage from nearby.

Sage looked wary and was looking fiercely around the clearing before looking back at her kits, then back out again. Ravenpaw had seen their kitting a little over a quarter moon before, and now the four were maybe a moon old. She had four—the largest was Alder, a broad-shouldered gray-black tabby; near his size but with a slimmer build, Crow looked just like his father Bat; after that was Ash, a pretty silver-gray tabby with white unders; lastly was Echo, with fluffy silver fur and thick jagged black stripes.

While her littermates had since opened their eyes, she seemed to be less developed and they still stayed closed, so she lay at Bat's paws, trying to get to her paws blindly. Though her eyelids had begun to open, and Sage had finally agreed to let the kits venture outside to see the real world. Bat was hoping it would push little Echo to open her eyes. Ravenpaw was watching next to the older Echo, her transparent fur giving off a misty feel when it brushed against Ravenpaw's. Though he had just gotten here, Echo had explained Bat and Sage's thinking.

"Sage, I think she's opening her eyes," Bat said suddenly, and Ravenpaw looked forward with interest, eyes sparkling.

Quickly, Sage moved next to her mate, staring intently at her daughter as her face flicked and curled as she tried to move her eyelids. Then, they did, and her eyes opened wide for all to see. Ravenpaw felt chilled to his core—kit-Echo's eyes were a bright, cloudy white-gray color, not a soft blue like other kits.

"You... You were blind?" Ravenpaw asked softly, his spine fur on edge. When she didn't answer, Ravenpaw looked over into her bright, glowing green eyes, now with sight in their depths. She had a far off look in her eye.

She meowed suddenly but softly, "it seems we are being cut short.  Goodbye, Ravenpaw." He opened his jaws in denial, wanting to know why she had never told him she was blind, but the scene around him was whipped away suddenly.

"Mossrain!" the call cut through Ravenpaw's sleep, and he raised his head, worried about the fear in the meow but also annoyed he had just learned the first leader of his Clan was blind but he wasn't able to ask questions. The cat who had interrupted his dream was Petalpaw, who stood at the medicine cat's den entrance, shifting on his paws with worry.

Mossrain appeared a moment later from the back den, a bundle of old moss in his jaws. He dropped it and hurried forward. "What's wrong? Who's hurt?" His trained eyes could see that nothing was wrong with Petalpaw, Ravenpaw realized with awe. He would have guessed it was Petalpaw himself was injured; he wouldn't have even thought about another cat.

"Eagleclaw sent for a medicine cat. Goldenpool was sleeping, and I didn't want to interrupt her." 

"What happened? Is Eagleclaw injured? I always told her not to climb to the topmost branches of a tree!" Mossrain hurried to the herb store as if his guess had already been confirmed.

"Eagleclaw's fine!" Petalpaw was quick to ensure the medicine cat his mentor was okay. "Blossompaw got in trouble again and is with Acornstar—she seemed really angry, and Eagleclaw said I needed to get you or Goldenpool. She said you would know what to do." His eyes sparkled in fear.

Mossrain looked over, and Ravenpaw could feel many different emotions coming from his mentor. Fear, worry, stress, all tangled together. After a quick heartbeat, Mossrain shook himself out of it, quickly grabbed a poppy head, and shook out a few seeds onto a nearby oak leaf. He took the oak leaf so the poppy seeds would stay in and hurried from the den, not even giving Ravenpaw or Petalpaw a second look.

Worry flared through Ravenpaw for his sister. He knew that he would possibly get in trouble for going after Mossrain to see what was wrong, but the urge to try to protect his sister was too strong and he raced after his mentor, his limbs stiff from sleep, and he tripped, sending pain flooding through one of his claws. But he went past Petalpaw without a second thought.

The late leaf-fall sun blinded his eyes, but he did his best to ignore it and went for the leader's den, where he could see Mossrain's tail disappearing under the waterfall, with the water falling heavier than he had seen in his past moons. Leaf-fall was causing the rivers to get larger, and he knew sometime in leaf-bare, depending on how bad the cold was, the waterfall would either be overflowing from the pool or just barely coming down.

Ravenpaw tried to decide what Blossompaw had done this time as he hopped over the stepping stones, feeling happy that the rocks took him a little away from the waterfall so when he leaped through he only got a heavy spray instead of a complete wash down. Just the waterdrops were enough to send shivers over his body, and he shook his fur to clear some of the water out.

Three days before, Ravenpaw had gone to the absolutely terrifying Gathering and he had seen Acornstar's true anger. Blossompaw had started her streak that night when she was disrespectful to another Clan's apprentice. When she returned to camp, she was told to take prey to Dappletail, but she instead ate it herself, which got her confined to camp. The morning after, the dawn patrol found her sneaking off into the forest as they were returning. Brightpaw was set to watch her instead of working towards her warriors' assessment, and Blossompaw slipped her while the guard was going to the dirtplace for a moment. After being found in the Gathering area pretending to be leader, Snowfern had taken over guarding her. It had proven to be the right move, for Blossompaw hadn't acted up since.

But now she was staring defiantly at her leader, standing tall with fluffed fur. Acornstar was pacing, while Eagleclaw watched with a guarded look from the back of the cave, though Ravenpaw could detect fear coming from her pelt. Mossrain hurried forward and dropped the poppy seeds down so Acornstar turned and looked straight at them. She gave Mossrain a warning growl and continued her pacing, walking right over the seeds, her paws missing them by a whisker.

"Acornstar, eat them," Mossrain ordered, though his voice broke with slight fear. Acornstar flicked her tail dismissively.

"Not until I deal with her." Her tail flicked in Blossompaw's direction, and Ravenpaw pleaded silently that his sister would do something to show even the smallest bit of regret for her actions.

"Acornstar—" Mossrain tried to say, but the she-cat silenced him with a glance of furious eyes.

"No!" she hissed. "She is tarnishing the name of EchoClan with her foolish actions! She does not listen!"

"Acornstar!" Mossrain suddenly snapped, and the leader looked at him in surprise, clarity beginning to appear in her gaze. She looked at her paws, eyes wide. "We will deal with Blossompaw, you need to rest." He pushed the poppy seeds towards her, and she stared at them for a moment, even leaning her head down close to them.

Then she backed away, shaking her head. "No. I will punish her. It is my duty as a leader."

Ravenpaw suddenly heard claws scraping against stone, and the cats in the cave all looked to see Boulderclaw and Snowfern entering the den, side by side. Looking back at his sister, Ravenpaw could see the fear in her eyes.

"Acornstar," Boulderclaw began, moving forward with a respectful dip of his head, "I have had enough with Blossompaw acting out as well, and I have decided, with your permission, to take Blossompaw as my own apprentice, and give Firepaw to Maskdapple." He nodded to the tortoiseshell, who Ravenpaw hadn't noticed before, and she returned it, seemingly fine with the idea.

Acornstar looked like she was going to refuse, her tail flicking uncertainly. But then she forced a nod. "Fine. Just get her out of my den." After a pause, she added, "any future behavior of hers that reflects badly on EchoClan will be reflected on you." Her eyes shone with an angry impatience, waiting for his answer. Boulderclaw nodded.

"I understand, Acornstar. I take full responsibility for training Blossompaw. I will make a warrior of her yet." The words rang through the air, and Ravenpaw saw his sister's tail lashing madly, but he believed it to be a cover for the fear and sadness that shined in her eyes.

Boulderclaw flicked his tail, and he led Blossompaw from the den. Snowfern followed but stopped to give Ravenpaw a lick on his forehead, and he made sure to keep his nose far from hers, not wanting to spy on his mother's future. She purred softly to him, clearly trying to distract his thoughts from his sister, then left the den, jumping gracefully from stone to stone until she reached the clearing.

Mossrain was talking with Acornstar, quietly getting her to eat the poppy seeds he had gotten for her, and he meowed, "rest for a while, Acornstar. Allow Eagleclaw to take over." The leader nodded numbly, the poppy seeds already taking effect. She lay in her nest and Mossrain and Eagleclaw quickly moved to leave the den.

Mossrain flicked his tail for his apprentice to follow, but because he was closest to Acornstar, he heard a quiet sound. "I can't do this much longer. Redcloud, how can I do this without you beside me?" Acornstar whispered under her breath, barely loud enough for Ravenpaw to hear.

Ravenpaw knew he should leave, so he hurried from the den, jumping across the stones, and quickly followed his mentor. When they made it back to the medicine cat's den, he asked, "Mossrain, do you know who Redcloud is?"

Mossrain turned to look at him, surprised, and asked, "where did you hear that name?"

"Acornstar said it," Ravenpaw explained. "She said something about not being about to do 'this' longer and that she didn't know how without Redcloud beside her."

Understanding flooded Mossrain's eyes, along with a small bit of sadness. "Redcloud was Acornstar's mate and deputy," he explained after a moment. "I'm sure you've noticed Acornstar's temper. It used to be nonexistent." He looked down at his paws, flexing out his claws.

"Until...?" Ravenpaw was surprised he had to edge Mossrain on, for how talkative he usually was.

"Until Redcloud died. He died quite a while before I was born, but Goldenpool told me many stories of Acornstar and him. Before he was gone, Acornstar visited the nursery every day and played with the kits and talked with the queens. Everybody expected her to have a new litter of kits, and soon enough she was expecting. Redcloud, as her deputy, took over as the leader for the time being. But Acornstar's kits were stillborn, and she fell into depression. Redcloud was the only one to make her feel better, and while she rested up and got stronger after the loss, Redcloud had to lead a battle patrol to attack a group of foxes who had moved into our territory.

"They fought the foxes off, but Redcloud died a few days later from infections in his wounds. Acornstar was completely broken, and now the duty to take care of the Clan fell on Goldenpool, for Acornstar refused to name a new deputy. There was confusion with no one to lead them--except for Goldenpool, of course--and Eagleclaw decided to take charge. She helped the Clan calm and was incredibly smart and a good leader. The Clan made her deputy without even bothering to ask Acornstar.

"A little before I became an apprentice, Acornstar began to come back into the world again, slowly at first, just going on a few patrols, but pretty soon she got back into the position you see her in now. We all thought she was better, but pretty soon she began to show impatience and anger. I hadn't even thought that she was still mourning after her lost mate." Mossrain dropped his head, seeming to be disappointed in himself.

"It sounds hard to go through," Ravenpaw murmured, imagining himself and his littermates never being alive, and a shiver went through him as he thought of his brother and sisters not allowed life. All he wanted was for them to grow into warriors, and he pleaded to StarClan for all of them to make it, hopefully with Blossompaw better behaved.

Mossrain sniffed heavily, shaking his head to clear his mind. "We're still low on a few herbs, I'm going to go out and gather some."

Ravenpaw instantly got to his paws, ready to go with him, but Mossrain flicked his tail to hold him back.

"You stay at camp, I'll be back soon." Ravenpaw followed his mentor out of the den and saw him going to the warriors' den. He called inside, and a moment later Pebblepeak emerged. They talked quietly together, then they padded away together. Pebblepeak stopped by the apprentices' den and called in, and after a moment Willowpaw's head emerged. He talked to her quietly for a moment, then she disappeared again and the two littermates left camp together.

Ravenpaw hoped to have a similar relationship when he was older. He almost went to his sister, but then decided on instead of going to Snowfern, who was settled in the clearing, eating a mouse. He bounded up and crouched next to her, rubbing his forehead against her shoulder, purring and taking in her soft, sweet scent that had helped him calm throughout the seven moons of his short life. She purred in return and touched her nose to his forehead.

"Hello, little one," she said softly, quickly finishing her mouse then laying down and allowing Ravenpaw to curl into her stomach as he had as a kit. Warmth enveloped him, and he suddenly felt safer than ever before, and all his thoughts traveled away, except the one he focused on.

"Snowfern, did you ever lose any kits?" He didn't hold back, knowing idle chatter wouldn't help, and he wanted to know the answer, to know if his mother went through the pain Acornstar had. Fear traveled through him as felt a shudder go through his mother's stomach. He stayed quiet, and after a moment, she began her story.

"You know I'm originally from BatClan, right?" she asked, and after he nodded, she continued. "Boulderclaw and I met when I was still a BatClan apprentice, and we met up every Gathering. After I became a warrior, we met on other nights as well. He talked to Acornstar and she, somehow, agreed to allow me into EchoClan. I had planned to say yes, but then someone very close to me died, and I stopped meeting him.

"After a few moons we started meeting again, and nothing was said about his question. Then, after a few meetings, he asked again. I wanted to, but I had something that held me back--I was expecting his kits. They would be future warriors of BatClan. Good, strong cats. But they would be starving every day, and I pictured them dying like my littermates and so many others of my Clan.

"I was planning to go with Boulderclaw overnight in half a moon, but before that day came I lost my litter. I couldn't face Boulderclaw after that. I had told him I wanted to wait longer, to help my Clan as much as I could before I left, but because I stayed my kits didn't get enough prey and couldn't survive. It was moons before I saw Boulderclaw again. He was so upset he lost the kits, but wouldn't let me leave him. I wanted to go with him, but I had a duty to my Clan.

"He said he did not want to me to end up the same as my Clanmates, starving to death. Finally, I agreed to join him. And I never looked back. At least, I tried to never look back. I was scared to have another litter, but I finally did. That was Stonecoat and Shadefur. After my stillborn litter, I never lost another kit."

Snowfern was quiet for a long moment after she finished, staring at her paws with waves of sadness coming from her. Quietly and softly, Ravenpaw tucked himself closer to his mother, feeling strong regret for forcing her into painful memories. They lay there in silence for quite a while, listening to the soft breeze.

Ravenpaw felt himself dozing off, despite his mother's sad past that still lay fresh in his mind. He hoped to be visited by Echo so he could finish his visit to the past, but he knew she visited him when he was deep in sleep, and currently, he was drifting in and out of consciousness. Everything went black and quiet, then the warm feeling of his mother returned and he could hear the daily sound of the camp, then back into the black silence.

In and out he went, he didn't know for how long until he realized that when he drifted away he couldn't feel his mother's heat anymore. Forcing his eyes open despite his sleepiness, he found he was resting in the clearing alone. His mother was nowhere to be seen, and her scent was faint. He looked at the sun, and he saw the sun was already sinking down the sky. Last he had seen, the sun was still rising. He had been asleep for half the day, right in the middle of the clearing.

Ravenpaw yawned, stretching his jaws open and shaking his head to clear it. Licking his jaws, his stomach suddenly rumbled and growled in hunger. Winching, he forced himself to his paws and stumbled tiredly to the fresh-kill pile. Sniffing around, he found a warm vole, and he took it to the front of the medicine cat's den, settling down to eat. The vole tasted wonderful in his mouth and stomach, and he told himself once again vole was his favorite. Bird was tough and mouse was stringy, but vole was chewy and sweet.

"Ravenpaw, you're awake!" Willowpaw came bouncing through the clearing. "Pebblepeak told me I had to wait until you woke up!" She flicked her tail and stood next to him, eyes glowing. "Mossrain wants you to come training with us!"

Ravenpaw tilted his head, confused. "Training?"

She snorted. "Battle, hunting, normal apprentice things!" She rolled her eyes.

It was his turn to snort. "I'm not a normal apprentice," he meowed, feeling a small pang in his heart as he was reminded of the wedge that divided him from his littermates.

"You still need to learn to fend for yourself!" she retorted excitedly. "Come on, we're meeting the others at the training hollow!" She bounced from paw to paw as she waited for him.

He looked at her for a moment with a tilted head, waiting for her to say something else, but she was waiting rather impatiently. Deciding his fate was already laid out for him, Ravenpaw quickly finished his vole and got to his paws, shaking out his fur. Willowpaw squealed and hurried off. Grumbling and knowing he'd regret it, Ravenpaw got up and followed his littermate to the moorland camp entrance.

They jumped down the rocky pathway to the smooth moor grass, though after Willowpaw almost slipped she continued down more carefully. Reaching the soft grassy land, the two littermates traveled for the nearby dip in the ground that created a nice place for training. Ravenpaw had visited it once with Mossrain, though no cats had been training at the time. Excitement but also fear filled him at the idea of watching the training.

The scents of Pebblepeak, Foxpounce, and Jaypaw came to him. Excited by the smell of his brother, Ravenpaw quickened his pace and peered into the dip in the ground. Jaypaw was facing his mentor, Foxpounce, with a lashing tail. Pebblepeak was sitting on the side and flicked his tail for the two apprentices to join him. The two hurried over quickly and settled down, watching their littermate with interest.

The two toms were circling each other, with Jaypaw so focused on his mentor he hadn't even noticed his siblings watching him. His fur was puffed and his pale gray ears were flat against his head, while his green eyes were narrowed and focused. Then, the apprentice leaped.

He headed straight on, but then leaped to the left, sliding next to Foxpounce's side with his tail tucked in tightly. Ravenpaw was confused by the action, then saw the older tom lash out with sheathed claws towards Jaypaw's legs, trying to catch a swinging tail. With it tucked in, Foxpounce's paw went harmlessly through the air.

Jaypaw, quick as a fish leaping from the water, slid underneath Foxpounce, twisting onto his back and—sliding along the ground—he pushed with his back paws against his mentor's open stomach. If Jaypaw had been older and stronger, it was likely he could have sent Foxpounce flying, but because of the older tom's weight, he only stumbled away unsteadily.

It seemed Jaypaw had expected more, and he hesitated for a moment while trying to think of what to do. He scrambled to his stomach and tried to get to his paws, but Foxpounce had gained his senses again and leaped back, pinning his apprentice to the ground. The warrior had a heavy paw in between the young cat's shoulders, holding him down firmly. Jaypaw wiggled aimlessly, then went still, giving up.

Ravenpaw felt bad for his brother, having had such a good idea with his mock-fight, and Foxpounce seemed to agree, losing his grip on the young tom. He began to open his mouth to say something, but then Ravenpaw noticed a strain in his brother's legs and realized what was going to happen a moment before it did.

Jaypaw suddenly pushed off the ground, forcing his weight against Foxpounce's paw. The warrior, in his surprise, could not react in time and stumbled back. Quickly, Jaypaw whipped around and went straight for his mentor, paws stretched out. His paws slammed into Foxpounce's chest and they rolled backward, small white and gray shape rolling with a larger fiery-red  one. For a moment, they were a rolling mess, then Jaypaw was pinned again, this time on his back with one of Foxpounce's paws pressing on his chest. It was obvious the tom was not going to let up again so easily.

"Good move, Jaypaw," Foxpounce panted, tail flicking, ready for a new challenge. "We're done for now, though." He waited for Jaypaw to nod in understanding, then backed away, still looking ready for an attack of revenge. Many younger cats would be frustrated about defeat and would try to attack again. Jaypaw seemed to get the message, though, and standing, he shook out his fur then licked at his chest fur.

Suddenly, he noticed his littermates, and embarrassment flickered through his eyes before he forced it away with excitement as he looked at his brother. "You're joining us!" he mewled excitedly, hurrying forward and going to touch noses with his brother. Quickly, Ravenpaw avoided it. Jaypaw looked upset, but Ravenpaw quickly mended it by touching Jaypaw's muzzle with his, keeping their noses apart. This seemed to be good enough for Jaypaw, and he sat next to his sister with a contented flick of his tail. Willowpaw gave him a mew of greeting.

"Hello, Ravenpaw." Foxpounce walked up and dipped his head respectfully, sending a shiver through Ravenpaw. He was barely an apprentice, but yet the warrior treated him with great respect just because of his status as a medicine cat. "I remember Mossrain mentioning you'd be coming to training one day soon."

"I don't see why," Ravenpaw couldn't help but say. "There's a reason I'm not training as a warrior," he pointed out.

Foxpounce purred in amusement, while Pebblepeak meowed, "even medicine cats need to know how to defend themselves. Mossrain's my littermate, remember. He trained with me once and a while even though he was a medicine cat."

"That still doesn't make sense," Ravenpaw argued, mostly to postpone having to fight, even as practice. "I'm not going to be in battles or anything. And the other Clans know not to attack a medicine cat."

"Does a fox know that?" Foxpounce intervened quietly, head tilted and eyes curious. "Or the Twolegs? Or one of the dogs the Twolegs brought with them?" Ravenpaw shivered, remembering when the patrols had first brought in the news of the scents and sights of dogs with the Twolegs who had invaded their territory.

"I..." Ravenpaw dropped his head in defeat. "I guess you're right," he sighed, getting to his paws.

Pebblepeak purred sympathetically. "Just a few simple moves, I promise. Why don't you go up against Willowpaw, and Jaypaw and I can show you what to do."

Foxpounce sat at the edge of the small hollow, watching the apprentices and young warrior with interest. He was the oldest here and was probably going to help Pebblepeak if he had any troubles with training three different apprentices. Meanwhile, Pebblepeak went to the middle of the hollow and faced Jaypaw, with Ravenpaw and Willowpaw matching them.

"We can start with a simple avoidance to the front paw swipe." Without warning, Pebblepeak swiped at Jaypaw, and the apprentice ducked, sweeping to the side. It was obvious he was holding back swiping with his own paw, he had realized this was not a fighting move, but a defensive move for his brother. Pebblepeak nodded in approval, then meowed, "Willowpaw, you try it on Ravenpaw."

His sister waited a moment to make sure he was ready, then swiped her paw through the air. Ravenpaw flinched back violently, sending a pain through his neck at the quick movement. No cat seemed to mention it, though, and he was glad.

"Ravenpaw, you try on Willowpaw, now."

Ravenpaw nodded, flexing his claws for a moment before sheathing them as much as he could, then he raised his paw, trying to move it more, but it was like it was stuck in place. Finally, he managed to swipe out at his sister, but it was slow and not out far enough to even reach her. She barely had to move her head back to avoid it.

She purred in amusement at her brother's scared eyes. "Don't worry, Ravenpaw, you won't hurt me." She seemed to be able to tell his fear of accidentally hurting her, and he looked at her, grateful, before forcing himself to swipe again, this time with more speed with his paw stretched out farther.

Willowpaw dodged easily, then suddenly reached out her own paw skillfully toward's her brother's head. Shocked, Ravenpaw's limbs went stiff and he closed his eyes, ready for the blow. It didn't come. He opened his eyes to see Willowpaw's paw barely a whisker's length from him. He looked at her fearfully.

"Ravenpaw, you were supposed to duck," Pebblepeak said softly, and Ravenpaw looked at him, then nodded quickly, shaking out his thin coat to remind himself he was still there.

All the cats were quiet for a moment, then Jaypaw meowed, "well, I guess it's a good thing he became a medicine cat, huh?"

Question #1: What are your thoughts of Acornstar—do you think her past qualifies her to act this way?

Question #2: Did you like the look into Snowfern's past? Would you like to see more of it, in the form of its own book, or just in more stories throughout this series?

Question #3: What are your thoughts about Echo being blind?