Skypaw yawned as she woke up. Her teeth chattered and she meowed with surprise when she realized her breath was giving off a frosty glow.

Looking at her sisters, she noticed that they too were shivering. Ducking out of the den, she gazed around at a white wonderland.

Frost layered the leaves of the den that were cracking and falling off, leaving sharp pieces on the camp ground as they shattered. Snow layered the dens and as Skypaw padded forward, she could tell by the way that her paws slipped and slid that there was indeed ice hidden underneath it.

Skypaw figured she was dreaming as the memories from the night before relived in her mind. She had sat and chatted on Splashstar's branch well after moonhigh with Hawkspirit, their mrrows of amusement and purrs of happiness rang through the air. It had been cold then, but never in a million moons would Skypaw expect leaf-bare to roll in so quickly within a couple of hours.

They had arranged to meet every night until the Gathering, both of them both denying that it would be easy to live until then without seeing each other. Their goodbye lasted for more than an hour, and Skypaw's spirits were lifted to the maximum as she padded into camp.

She had collasped in her nest, remembering all of the conversations they had, his meow forever implanted in her ears. However, the one thing that she couldn't forget was how he said that the tom that would claim her as his mate was the luckiest of all of StarClan.

However, there wasn't any other cat in ThunderClan she would ever love, and she knew that. Skypaw figured she would live as a lone warrior, devoting her life to her Clan needs and joining the ranks of StarClan without any line of kin behind her.

Skypaw snapped her head around when she heard the, usually beautiful rustling of the medicine den lichen, shattering of ice as Willowleaf's tortoiseshell pelt padded towards her.

She wasn't dreaming after all.

"Skypaw," Willowleaf's meow was loud compared to the complete silence of the camp. There was no wind howling, no murmurs of cats, no bird song, and no leaves rustling in the breeze.

"Willowleaf," Skypaw dipped her head slightly. "I wasn't expecting leaf-bare to come so quickly."

"Neither were the other Clans," The ThunderClan medicine cat replied. "StarClan's angry."

"Why?" Skypaw's voice was filled with alarm.

"Multiple reasons," Willowleaf looked Skypaw in the eyes. "But, I bet you could guess one of them."

Skypaw stared at her paws as Hawkspirit drifted into her mind. When she looked back up, Willowleaf wasn't standing in front of her any longer, but ducking into the nursery.

"Dear StarClan!" Skypaw looked up as Sunstar's deep meow echoed throughout camp as he gazed around his surroundings. His piercing green eyes were full of shock and anger.

Warriors came bursting out of the den at their leader's call. Their tails were bushed and their eyes were full of fear. However, that emotion quickly changed to surprise as their paws slid against the ice.

"There's no way!" Hazelflower exclaimed.

"It's leaf-bare," Skypaw meowed.

"No, I thought it was greenleaf," Firesoul rolled his eyes. Skypaw glared at him.

"Cats of ThunderClan!" Sunstar growled as he settled himself against the cold Highrock. His Clan quickly gathered, meows and hisses of surprise coming from them.

"It appears leaf-bare has settled in early," He meowed lowly, his gaze threatening. "Leaf-fall hasn't even set in yet!"

"We still have young kits in the nursery," Bumblefoot yowled. "If prey goes scarce, they'll starve!"

"Relax, Bumblefoot," Russetsky's soothing voice came from below the Highrock, in the deputy's place. "As always, ThunderClan will feed their kits and queens first."

"Indeed," Stormpelt chimed in. "Never once did we let queens or kits starve before the rest of us."

Skypaw looked at the cat that was her grandfather. His sleek gray pelt was ruffled from sleep. Gray was starting to appear around his muzzle, and she knew he would soon join Appleleaf in the elders' den. Looking at the entrance to the old bush, Appleleaf was sitting at the entrance, glaring at the ice around his paws.

Thinking deeper, she realized that Appleleaf and Stormpelt both have faced horrible leaf-bares throughout their lifetimes. They've seen the hottest green-leafs and the most leaves fallen in leaf-fall. They've seen the brightest flowers bloom in new-leaf, so she knew that they were familiar with all of the extreme weather changes.

Bumblefoot shot Stormpelt an uneasy glance before staring at his paws.

"Mentors, train your apprentices as always." Sunstar ordered. "Russetsky, send patrols out to the border and to hunt. We need more prey."

Skypaw and several of her Clanmates looked at the well-stocked fresh kill pile, but no cat said a word.

Hazelflower, Petalheart, and Flarecloud nodded, flicking their tails to gather their apprentices. Skypaw rose to her paws, feeling queasy as she felt the eyes of her Clanmates burn her pelt as she walked through her still silent Clan.

~*~

Skypaw's paws silently crept forward. She was in a hunting crouch, hissing in her head every once in awhile when her paws would crunch against the snow. The scrawny mouse, obviously taking effect by the sudden cold as well, was trekking through the forest floor, looking for a beech nut that wasn't covered in frost.

Unfortunately for it, Skypaw knew it would never live to find one.

Putting all of her strength in her hind legs, she leaped, flinging snow up behind her. The mouse spun around, its black eyes filled with horror. It tried to run, but its small paws skidded in all different directions against the ice. Her paws landing perfectly on the brown creature, she swiftly bit its neck, ending its life.

Thanking her warrior ancestors, she quickly returned to camp. Hazelflower had them non-stop hunting, and the Clan had caught so much prey that the fresh kill pile was multiplied. There were now three piles to choose from, and Spottedkit and Amberkit were busying themselves by organizing them by creature.

"This is a mouse," Amberkit meowed, throwing its brown body into a pile with other ones.

"Squirrel," Spottedkit examined the creature that was known for its bushy tail. She threw it in the pile with its other bushy-tailed friends.

"Blackbird?" Amberkit tilted her head to the side as she looked at the bird in her paws, unsure of the species.

"No, that's a robin," Spottedkit replied, taking a closer look.

"No, it doesn't have a red belly." Amberkit retaliated.

"Neither," Skypaw chimed in, gently placing her catch on the mouse pile. "It's a thrush. Blackbirds have black feathers and robins have red bellies, as Amberkit said."

Amberkit nodded, and Spottedkit's eyes followed the thrush as Amberkit put it in a seperate pile, all by itself. Skypaw figured the spotted she-kit was studying the bird, trying to remember its name for future references.

"I wish I could be out hunting with the Clan," Spottedkit whined. "This is so boring!"

Amberkit looked baffled. "No, it's not," She contradicted. "It's fun being able to sort things by their scent, appearance, and spe-"

"Would you shut up already?" Spottedkit snapped. "All you do is blab about how being in camp is fun. Well, news flash, it's not!"

"Yes, it is!" Amberkit spat. "You get to learn things here, be with your Clanmates and there are less threats."

"Wouldn't you rather be a threat than just sit around here all the time?" Spottedkit's tail lashed.

Skypaw's eyes roamed away from the two bickering sisters to notice Willowleaf's tortoiseshell pelt sitting near the nursery, watching Amberkit. The ThunderClan medicine cat's eyes were filled with interest. Skypaw was about to pad over and compliment on the sisters when she noticed a certain dappled pelt stalking the ledge of the ThunderClan camp.

Dapplestar's eyes gleamed evilly as she leaped, her gaze focused on the ThunderClan medicine cat as her unsheathed claws ripped through Willowleaf's pelt triumphantly.

*Thank you for all of the prayers for Tiger. <3*