Flurrykit sniffed the air suspiciously. Sunkit hadn't come back yet, and he started to get worried. His brother had only been getting a mouse. It surely didn't take this long. He padded into the shadows where he'd seen his brother disappear. Sunkit wasn't there. Flurrykit looked around for signs of where he might have gone. But only dirt ground greeted him. No patches of fur, torn claws, no blood; not even any pawprints. Huffing in annoyance, he sniffed the air for his brother's scent. He caught it, quite strongly. He had been here recently, but wasn't there now. But he also picked up another scent, as strong as his brother's.

Rogues! He thought, snarling in disgust. Rogues must have taken Sunkit! Flurrykit hurried to Azurestar's den. She needed to be told what had taken place here. The gloomy den carved into the rock yawned out to him, the entrance was sheltered by a layer of lichen. Flurrykit called out a greeting.

"Come in." Azurestar replied clearly. Although he couldn't see her until he padded into the den, she was a magnificent sight. Her blue gray fur was grazed by the moonlight, touching some of it to silver. Flurrykit dipped his head in respect, then lifted his chin to tell her what he had found in the shadows.

"I was looking for Sunkit, because he took too long getting his mouse, and I smelled rogues!" The kit explained, snarling softly.

"Show me." Azurestar replied, heaving herself to her paws. Flurrykit nodded and padded out of the den, his leader following. He went over to where he had scented the rogues, and stopped before they went into the shadows.

"In there." He mewed, pointing his tail into the shade of the rock wall. Azurestar nodded and padded into the shadows. A moment later, Flurrykit could hear her hissing, and imagined her bristling, and tail fluffed out to look twice its size, and her claws unsheathed.

"You weren't lying. That rogue stench is everywhere!" Azurestar spat, coming into view again as she stepped out of the dark.

"I know." Flurrykit muttered, curling up his nose again. "We need to find Sunkit! He's been captured!" He demanded suddenly, flattening his ears. Azurestar took a step forward.

"Slow down. We're not even sure if that's what happened. Though it's the most likely possibility. I will announce this to the Clan and see what they think." And before Flurrykit could reply, she had leaped onto the high rock in one graceful motion. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join beneath High Rock for a Clan meeting!" Azurestar called. Almost instantly cats stopped what they were doing and clustered around the high rock, eyes alight with curiosity.

"I wonder what's happening?" Flurrykit caught Cherryshade's whispering and she talked to Darkclaw. The black tom was staring up at the ThunderClan leader, but he turned his head back to his companion when she spoke.

"Well, it must be something important. She wouldn't call us together for gossip." Darkclaw replied quietly. Then he returned his gaze to the High Rock. Flurrykit joined the other cats below the High Rock, bristling.

"Sunkit has gone missing." Azurestar began. Gasps of shock and worry came from the Clan, and murmuring broke out among the elders and senior warriors. "Flurrykit has shown me where he last saw his brother, and rogue scent bathed the whole place! I believe we must assume he has been stolen." She meowed, looking down skeptically on the Clan. Amberdusk stepped out of the crowd.

"Then we must find him!" Their mother called, her neck fur bristling. Azurestar dipped her head to the she-cat.

"I agree. But we must wait. We have no idea where he might have been taken, and what his captors look like. For now, let us end this meeting with happier news. It is time for Flurrykit to become an apprentice, we will promote Sunkit when he is returned." The ThunderClan leader mewed. Bewildered, Flurrykit stepped forward.

"But what if we never find him?" Fretted Amberdusk.

"We will." Azurestar vowed, dipping her head again. Then she turned back to Flurrykit. "Flurrykit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Flurrypaw." She turned her head to the gathered cats. "Sagewhisper, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You have received excellent training from Aspenfall and you have shown yourself to be brave and strategic. You will mentor this apprentice." As she finished the traditional words, a dark gray she-cat padded forward, excitement shining in her eyes and a brisk pace in her paws. She stopped when she was next to Flurrypaw, right below the high rock.

"Of course, Azurestar." Sagewhisper blinked slowly. "I will teach him all I know." Then the warrior bowed her head to touch noses with her new apprentice. Flurrypaw curved his neck backwards and was just able to bump noses with her.

"This meeting is at an end!" Azurestar concluded, leaping down from the high rock. She signaled with her tail as she paced to the edge of the clearing; and the senior warriors, including the deputy, followed her. They sat in a circle and murmured in concerned voices. Sagewhisper draped her tail over his back from beside him.

"I know you're missing your brother, but you will have to focus on training, ok?" She asked. Flurrypaw nodded in clarification.

"Good. Now get a good rest. I expect you to be up at dawn tomorrow." His mentor mewed, removing her tail from his back. Flurrykit nodded again and padded towards the nursery for a moment, then stopped. He turned quickly to the apprentices den and ducked inside. Moss nests circled the outer rim of the trunk, two of them were occupied. Inside one was a ball of tan, in the other, sat a black she cat with russet underbelly. This must be Robinpaw.

"Hi there! You can have the nest next to Kestrelpaw." Robinpaw mewed, flicking her tail towards the tan ball. Flurrypaw padded over to the empty nest flanking Kestrelpaw's and settled down inside and yawned. Within seconds his eyelids closed and he fell into darkness.

"Hey! Wake up, it's dawn!" A voice mewed urgently in his ear. Flurrypaw opened his eyes and groaned. His throat was sore from no water, and the bright light filtering through the gaps in the trunk hurt his eyes. As his vision focused, he saw Flintpaw standing over him. Flurrypaw scrambled to his feet and padded out of the trunk. Sagewhisper was already waiting for him, green eyes glittering. He quickly went up to her.

"About time!" Sagewhisper mewed, but there was amusement in her gaze. "Come, I will show you the territory." She mewed, flicking her ear and padding out the gorse tunnel. Flurrypaw, quivering with excitement, followed her. But as they reached the top of the ravine, he looked down again. Something was missing. Someone was missing. Flurrypaw felt a lump in his throat as he remembered Sunkit should be there with him. Then he remembered Sagewhisper was waiting for him. He turned back to the trees, seemingly endless forest stretched out before him. Sagewhisper was watching him a fox length away.

"Great StarClan! It's so big!" Flurrypaw mewed, eyes wide. Then his tail drooped, Sunkit should be seeing this. Sagewhisper nodded.

"Very." She replied. The oak trees seemed to touch the sky, and their branches dispersed in wide angles high above his head. Not far away, a bird called, singing it's wonderful song. The green grass below him was gleaming slightly in the sunshine from morning dew.

"Come on, I still have a lot to show you!" Sagewhisper tittered, then she stood and raced farther into the forest. Flurrypaw was on her tail. They bounded between tree trunks and leaped over fallen branches and thickets. Suddenly Sagewhisper stopped, craning her neck around to look back at her apprentice. Flurrypaw skidded to a halt, narrowly avoiding crashing into his mentor's rump. His paws skidded forward on the grass, and his claws dug into the ground.

"What do you smell?" Sagewhisper prompted. Flurrypaw sniffed the warm air, it smelled tangy and sharp. He curled his muzzle.

"That's horrible! What is it?" He asked. Sagewhisper chuckled and started forward again.

"You'll see."

Flurrypaw followed timidly. They came to a small shrub, its branches reaching to its sides, then curling down to the ground again. Sagewhisper crawled under it, and he scampered after her. His mentor was still under the bush, motioning for him to do the same. Flurrypaw froze and peered from under the bush. The scent was strong and horrible here. In front of him, it almost looked like the stone wall at camp, but on its side. And white lines ran across the middle of it, and on the sides. A sudden roaring filled his ears, and the next moment, something sped past. It's pelt was shiny and red, and it was bigger than anything he had ever seen before. And its feet were rounded, like a tree trunk, but black. Smoke sputtered and trailed behind it. Flurrypaw flattened himself to the ground, ears flat. Sedgewhisper looked over at him.

"That's the Thunderpath. And the red shiny thing that just ran past is a monster. There's no need to be scared of them. They never leave the Thunderpath." She comforted. "You see those trees on the other side?" She asked. Flurrypaw nodded.

"They look different from the trees over here." He mewed.

"Right, that's ShadowClan's territory. The Thunderpath is the border." Sedgewhisper explained. "Come on." She mewed, standing up. "There's still more to see." Flurrypaw shakily got to his legs and trudged out of the bush. His mentor was already bounding off again. He hurried after her once more.

Flurrypaw felt the soreness in his paws as he dragged his feet into camp. He groaned with exhaustion and ducked into the apprentice's den. It had been pretty easy to sprint after his mentor at first, but as it got later, he could barely keep up with her. The sun was setting and the sky around it was a rosy pink. The usually white clouds looked like the cotton that was constantly floating around, but reflecting the light of the sun that was slowly falling. The moss nests looked welcoming, and he sank into his. Relief spread through his limbs as he lay down. Slowly his tired eyes closed.

He blinked open his eyes as something prodded him in the side.

"Give me one more moon." He groaned, switching to his other side. But the prodding kept up. Finally he heaved himself to his paws. He gaped in astonishment. He wasn't in the apprentice's den anymore! In fact, he wasn't sure he was even in the forest anymore. Around him there were trees, but they were too... perfect. Every leaf was green and exactly where it should be. Not a blade of grass was out of place. Suddenly a bright flash filled his vision, and it seemed as though the stars were spiraling towards him in a whirlwind of light. The sky darkened again and something was standing in front of him. Its pelt seemed to have stars wound into the fur. And its eyes looked like the stars themselves. It was definitely a cat, but no normal kind. Could this be the StarClan he was always told of? Was he dying?

"Greetings, young one. I'm Leafpool." The she-cat mewed. Under the star intertwined pelt, lay a light brown coat with white paws. Flurrypaw tipped his head.

"A- am I dead?" He asked, looking up at the StarClan cat. Leafpool tittered and shook her head in amusement.

"No. You have been brought here for another reason." She replied. "Follow me." She mewed the words over her shoulder as she bounded away farther into the fantasy forest. As he scampered after her, he realized that the trees were starting to form into the more realistic shape of pine. Flurrypaw recognized the trees of ShadowClan's territory, and the stink of the thunderpath in the distance. Leafpool kept going with a confident stride. As the shadows lessened, Flurrypaw could slowly make out a wooden structure looming ahead of them. It was red and black, with a circle window at the top. He could hear low voices coming from inside.

"What is this?" He asked, looking over at Leafpool.

"Go inside." She mewed. Flurrypaw looked at her in surprise for a moment, then slowly padded to the entrance of the structure. A small light came from inside, and a musty smell reached his nose, growing stronger as he neared the building. He stuck his head inside. There was a platform high above the ground with a ladder leading up to it, and hay stacked all around. And on one patch of hay was... his brother! Sunkit was laying down, his paws curled under his chest. A light ginger tabby tom was sitting near him, the tabby seemed to be telling his brother something, but Flurrypaw couldn't hear anything.

"Sunkit! Sunkit! I found you!" He called. But there was no response from his brother. When he tried to pad closer, he found his paws were rooted to the ground.

No! He thought. I need to get to him! But then the building, and the other cats, faded into darkness, and the scene was replaced by the apprentice's den once more. He had woken up from his dream. Flurrypaw leaped to his feet. He had to tell Azurestar! He hurried out of the den and looked around. It was early dawn, the sun was barely visible, but warm shafts of its light dotted the clearing. He quickly scampered over to the den under the high rock that had been carved in by ancient dried up streams. The lichen shifted slightly in the breeze. He took a breath and called a greeting, then padded inside. Azurestar was sitting up in her nest, washing her paw. She looked up as the apprentice entered.

"Flurrypaw?" She asked, putting her paw down.