Fox dung!
The squirrel had been too quick for her and was already climbing up the treetops, sending flurries of snow showering onto the hunting patrol.

Icefrost purred. "Don't worry, squirrels are always going to be faster in thick snow because it supports their weight."
Well, obviously! Poolpaw thought. If I'd stalked that squirrel better I would have caught it.

It was the only sniff of prey they'd had all morning, and she'd let it get away. As she dropped backward into the thickly piled snow around the tree's roots, Featherpaw's mew rang through the muffled forest.

"I know how we can get the prey out of their burrows!"
"By calling to them?" Poolpaw mewed sarcastically. Hadn't her sister learned to keep her voice low yet?
"How?" Bluefeather beckoned her apprentice closer, and Featherpaw lolloped like a hare through the snow to his side, her belly leaving a trail in the soft white powder.

Thornpaw leaped up onto the root beside Poolpaw. He'd been an apprentice for only half a moon, but he was already as big as her and had the typical cockiness of a fresh' paw. He had gotten Swiftfur as his mentor and caught two mice and never seen battle.
Poolpaw hunched her shoulders as he settled next to her. Couldn't he sit next to his mentor and leave her in peace?

"I wonder what her idea is?" Thornpaw mewed.
"Who cares?" Poolpaw stiffened. "She's probably scared all the prey around here back into their burrows already."
"Don't be grumpy." Thornpaw nudged her gently. "Featherpaw has good ideas."

Poolpaw rubbed her nose with her black paw. "Maybe she thinks if she shouts loud enough, every mouse and bird in the forest will come out to see what the noise is."
Thornpaw ignored her. "I love the snow," he murmured, staring into the trees. "Everything looks so clean and bright."
So do I, "You love everything," Poolpaw growled, letting her bad temper flow freely as she slid off the root and sank into the deep drift below.
The snow gets bigger, more freezing, and makes things hard to hunt in Leaf-bare, but it was better than listening to Thornpaw.

He was always cheerful! Ever since he'd move into the apprentices's den, it had been impossible to get any sleep. He was always joking and teasing and messing around with the others. Blackpaw, Icepaw, and Amberpaw never stopped purring and fidgeting when Thornpaw was in the den. Blackpaw had gotten Briarfang, Icepaw gotten Ravenbird, and Amberpaw got Rainpelt.

Even Featherpaw seemed happier.
Traitor.
Had she forgotten Raindapple and Whiteclaw?

Poolpaw envied Bravepaw and Duskpaw. They were warriors now—Braveheart and Duskwing—and they slept in peace and quiet in the warriors's den.
Warriors didn't think it was funny to hide a beetle in a denmate's nest, didn't try to wake a denmate up to see how pretty the moon looked.
Lucky Braveheart and Duskwing.

Poolpaw struggled out of the drift, wishing her legs were long enough to keep her belly fur from dragging in the snow. She shook the snow from her whiskers. "What's the plan?"
Featherpaw's eyes were bright. "I thought we could leave some nuts or seeds on a tree root to draw the prey out."

Poolpaw rolled her eyes. "Did you bring nuts with you?"
Featherpaw shook her head. "Not this time. But I know Flowertail keeps cob nuts for making ointments. We could bring some next time and—!"
Poolpaw cut her off. "Like she's going to let you use her precious supplies for hunting."
"We'd only need a few," Featherpaw pointed out. "And the prey would never get to eat them because we'd catch it first."

Bluefeather was nodding slowly. "I think it's a clever idea."
Icefrost tipped her head on one side. "I really think it might work."

Poolpaw scowled at her mentor. "I suppose you think she'd have caught that squirrel." She bounded away through the snow.
"Leaf-bare hunting's never easy for any cat!" Icefrost called after her.
Poolpaw ignored her.
"Sorry," she heard Featherpaw meow. "She's in one of her moods."
How dare Featherpaw apologize for her? She's not my parent!

Poolpaw shouldered her way into a swath of brackens, shaking loose its thick covering snow.
A narrow trail tunneled through the stems, and she followed it.

She could the smell the cold, stale scent of fox and guessed with a glint of satisfaction that their paws had beaten this track. She could see fox-prints deep into the snow. Icefrost had told her that fox-prints were diamond shaped and narrow, and they were just that.
The thought of bumping into a fox made her claws itch. She could do with a good fight.

She's in one of her moods. Poolpaw lashed her tail as Featherpaw's words echoed in her ears.
She stomped farther into the bracken, trying to ignore the guilt prickling at her pelt.
It wasn't Featherpaw's fault she felt so angry.

Every morning since Whiteclaw and Raindapple died, Poolpaw woke with the same hollow sadness opening like an old wound in her belly.
It should be her mother teaching her to recognize tracks. It should be her father who should be helping her with hunting, not Icefrost.
If Raindapple and Whiteclaw were still alive, they could help Poolpaw to learn how to hunt so that she didn't appear so stupid in front of her denmates. Why aren't they there?

She heard pawsteps behind her, and twisted her head to see Icefrost. "Where are the others?" she asked.
"I sent them back to camp," Icefrost told her. "It's getting late."
Poolpaw turned her black paws toward home.
"Wait!" Icefrost's mew halted her. She was beckoning her with her tail toward a root of a birch. "I want to talk to you." She swept the snow from the root with a paw, then jumped up and cleared another space beside her. "We're not going back to camp till you tell me what's going on."

Poolpaw scraped her claws mutinously along the bark, silvery and smooth amid the fluffy snow.
She didn't want to talk to Icefrost. She didn't want to talk to anyone. She just wanted to go home and curl up in her nest, away from the snow and the cold and her Clanmates.
"There's nothing wrong," she mewed tightly. "I'm just cold and hungry."
"We're all cold and hungry," Icefrost's pale blue gaze didn't stray from hers. "It doesn't give us the right to be rude or reckless."
Poolpaw looked away with a shrug.

"Now, sit down and tell me what's wrong!"
Reluctantly Poolpaw clambered up beside her. The exposed root felt cold and damp as she sat down. "I'm just having a bad day, that's all."
"It seems like every day's a bad day with you."
Shut up! Shut up!
"It's leaf-bare," she began.
Duh!

"We have to do our best to provide for the Clan. But as far as I can tell, you're not even trying. You act like everything's a chore; you scrape through your assessments, though I know you can do better. Sometimes I feel like I'm wasting my time trying to teach you. You're so bad-tempered with your Clanmates, they're starting to avoid you. And now, when every cat needs to try their hardest, you hunt as though your mind's filled with starling feathers and your paws are made of stone."
Her words stung like nettles, and Poolpaw found herself shrinking inside her pelt as she went on.

"Why should your Clanmates look after you if you won't do the same for them?"
Her eyes began to prick. "I—I..." Her voice choked and she finished weakly, "Everything's gone wrong."
There was a heavy pause. She looked up and she felt Icefrost's tail stroke her flank.

"You miss Whiteclaw and Raindapple," she meowed. "Of course you do. But they died defending their Clan."
"Defending?" Poolpaw bristled. "We were attacking, now defending!"
"Only to save our territory."

"Are you sure?" Poolpaw glared at her. Had StarClan really wanted them to fight?
Icefrost met her gaze, unblinking. "Did you believe we were defending IceClan territory as we headed for battle?" she asked.
Poolpaw paused, remembering, then nodded.

"So did every cat on that patrol." Icefrost glanced at the ground. "We thought we were doing as StarClan wanted. We may have been right. We may have been wrong. But fighting for our Clan is part of the warrior code. Whatever doubts we have, we must not doubt the warrior code. The forest and our Clanmates may change around us, but the warrior code remains the same."
Poolpaw breathed out slowly as Icefrost continued.

"Raindapple and Whiteclaw knew that. They fought bravely and died bravely." Icefrost flicked her gaze back at Poolpaw. "Warriors die in battle. It's a fact. But they do not leave us. They join StarClan, where they find old friends and kin, and there they watch over us."
Poolpaw glanced through the branches at the darkening sky. Silverpelt would be out soon. Was Raindapple and Whiteclaw really there, watching? Her heart ached with wanting to believe it was true.

"Raindapple and Whiteclaw want you to be brave, like they were," Icefrost meowed. "To do your duty, just as they did."
How do you know? A flash of fury flashed over Poolpaw. "You think they want us to die like they did? For nothing?"
Icefrost thrashed her tail, sweeping the snow from behind her. "Dying for your Clan is not nothing!"

Poolpaw dug her claws into the bark as Icefrost took a deep breath. "I wish Whiteclaw was still alive, too," she murmured, with a sadness that took Poolpaw by surprise.
She then remembered how the elders told her that Whiteclaw and Icefrost were littermates.
Then she stood up and shook the snow from her tail. "But he's not, and you can't grieve forever. Your Clan needs you. Concentrate more on your training." Her mew was brisk as she leaped down from the tree root. "It'll give you something else to think about."

I don't want to think about anything else! Whiteclaw and Raindapple are not a thorn in my paw to be plucked out and forgotten! Poolpaw jumped down from the root, her black paws numb for sitting so long she landed clumsily.

Icefrost glanced around at her. "Are you okay?"
"Of course!" She straightened up. She'd show her. She'd be the best apprentice she ever saw. But she wouldn't forget Raindapple and Whiteclaw.

Poolpaw followed her down the ravine and along the path to the tunnel. As they padded into camp, the familiarity of her home soothed Poolpaw. The clearing felt sheltered, shielded from the overlapping snow, and after the walk though thr woods she could feel her paws again.

Maybe Icefrost was right. Maybe Whiteclaw and Raindapple was watching her from StarClan, willing her to be the best and bravest warrior. She'd make them proud. She'd be just as brave, just as loyal, and just a willing to die for what she believed.

For the first time in moons, some of the weight in Poolpaw's heart lifted. She took a deep breath and felt the freezing icy air sear her lungs, reminding her this was leaf-bare, when her Clan needed her the most.