"Of course," Spiderpaw meowed. "I'll take you to the rockpile, but we can't go inside. I don't want you to risk falling asleep."
"I won't," Slatestripe urged. "I'm not tired."
"You don't understand," Spiderpaw meowed. "Inside the rockpile - you feel like you're under some type of force, making you feel like you've been walking for a moon without a rest. We can't risk that."
"I believed you, Spiderpaw," Slatestripe said. "But StarClan can't put physical forces on us like that."
Spiderpaw shook his head. "They're not StarClan," he uttered. "I'm nearly certain they aren't."
Slatestripe followed him among the terms as feh made their way towards the ThornClan camp. The moon, although still shining brightly, was floating across the sky quickly, and Spiderpaw knew the cats would have to pick up the pace in order for Slatestripe to make his way back to his camp before sunrise. "Make sure you pick up a squirrel on the way back so Talonstar would think you've been hunting if he sees you."
"Not with Talonstar," Slatestripe said. "I would prefer to have him know I snuck out."
Spiderpaw turned towards him, feeling the breeze slash against his pelt as he walked. "Really? How come?"
"Talonstar is a fine leader, but he can sometimes be very traditional and patronising. He doesn't like singular hunters in case they were to get injured. Crowcall went out to catch a sparrow for Eaglefang in the night when he was sick when they were still apprentices, and Talonstar didn't let him train for the rest of the quarter moon."
"That seems like a fairly large punishment for a cat trying to do something nice for his Clanmate," Spiderpaw admitted.
"Yeah, but that's just the way Talonstar is."
Spiderpaw tried to shake off the strange behaviour. "Here we are," he meowed, pointing his head in the direction of the Shadowstone's rockpile. "I'm telling you, you don't have to go inside - and I'd feel a lot better if you didn't."
Slatestripe seemed to be a little surprised by the size of the rockpile, and how small the entrance was. "Can I take a peek inside?"
Spiderpaw nodded, although he stayed ahead of Slatestripe to make sure that he wasn't able to set a paw inside. He watched Slatestripe as he bounded over towards the entrance and narrowed his eyes.
"Wow," Spiderpaw heard him murmur. "Looks cold in there."
He couldn't help but feel a little annoyed. "This could be the most dangerous place in the forest," he meowed. And yet, the only thing that Slatestripe had to say was to mention that the interior looked cold.
"Surprisingly though, the rockpile does look quite closed off," he meowed. "Are you sure Heronkit was able to find this place in the middle of the night?"
"Precisely," Spiderpaw meowed. "I'm just glad that Dustpaw had never fallen asleep there. One cat associated with such danger is enough, and if Echostar was to find out, she would go into a panic."
"And that's why Briartail doesn't want any other cats to know," Slatestripe assumed.
Spiderpaw nodded back to him. "She doesn't want the word to get around. Besides, she knows that Echostar is a pain when one of the cats has misbehaved. When she found out where Heronkit had been going off to, she cancelled her apprentice ceremony."
"That seems abrupt," Slatestripe meowed. "Kits love to explore."
"Not outside of their camp without a warrior," he meowed. "That's just dangerous. Who knows what could have happened if she wasn't careful? Who am I kidding - who knows what has happened? She's clearly not responsible enough to become an apprentice."
Slatestripe blinked. "Don't you feel the slightest bit of sympathy for her?"
His eyes widened. "You've told me stories about Briartail sneaking out when she was still in the nursery. Kits do these things all the time."
"But Briartail wasn't doing anything dangerous," Spiderpaw argued. "Sure, she was stupid and got stuck in things time after time - but she never got herself into a position where she could be harming the Clan."
Slatestripe nodded timidly. "Isn't Dustpaw lonely in the apprentice's den?"
"No," Spiderpaw replied. "He used to be, but now Heronkit is allowed to stay with him in the den. Although if she slips up, I feel like she'll have to be in the leader's den with a very close eye."
"Echostar watches like a hawk," Slatestripe shuddered. "She caught my eye once, and I froze."
Spiderpaw couldn't help but feel surprised. "Is she really that intimidating?" 
Slatestripe nodded, pacing back as if he was surprised by Spiderpaw's confusion.
"She never used to be like that," he muttered. "Anyway, I've shown you what you've wanted to see."
Slatestripe dipped his head. "I should probably be getting off, but I really don't want to."
Spiderpaw brushed against him, tilting him away from the rockpile. "I don't want you to either, but I don't want you getting into trouble - the way you see Echostar is the way I see Talonstar."
Slatestripe rolled his eyes lovingly. "Walk me to Fourtrees?" he asked.
And together the two toms walked side by side, their tails entwined as moonlight washed over them.