Hollowpaw gasped and blinked open her eyes. She was alone again, but she was safely in camp. All her Clanmates had left the meeting area and had returned to their places, grooming themselves in the dry LeafBare sun.

Hollowpaw shuddered, wondering what had just happened to her. One moment, she was listening to Honeystar talk about battle plans, the next, she was in a pitch-black forest with rivers of blood running across the grass, and a Stormpaw-lookalike trying to kill a cat Hollowpaw supposedly loved. And then, she had woken up again a few minutes later, like nothing had happened. Maybe I just fainted from fear. Maybe those nightmares I kept having were the fear I pressed down about the battle! It didn't mean anything, I'm sure of it!

If only she actually believed herself.

A gray and ginger pelt caught her eye. Rainpaw padded over to her, looking confused. "What happened back there? Your eyes were glazed and your face was expressionless!"

Ugh, StarClan be cursed! Of course he would have seen that. "It was nothing—I'm just tired," Hollowpaw lied, avoiding his gaze.

"Oh." He sounded disappointed. "Then, do you want to do battle training with me? Brokentuft says she's going to teach how to attack fro—"

"All cats old enough to catch their own prey, gather beneath HighBranch for a Clan meeting... again!" Honeystar hopped up onto the slab of wood, with a sigh. "Sorry, to those of you who thought the meeting was over and you could go do your training!"

Hollowpaw groaned. Not again! What if I pass out again at this meeting? That would be so embarrassing! She sighed and shook out her fur, determined not to get worked up about everything and anything and everyone again, like she usually did.

Once cats had gathered, Honeystar gave a weak smile. "It's time for us to have a whole-Clan training session! Juniperswift will lead you, as he was a part of that patrol all those years ago."

Uh, what? Hollowpaw wracked her brain. I don't remember Father doing anything of th—oh! I remember now! Back when she had barely been born, the Clans' trees wouldn't sprout new leaves and just stayed dry and barren all through NewLeaf, so the leaders had decided to take one cat per Clan to go on a patrol to try to find whatever kept the seasons from changing. Hollowpaw had been very little, so she didn't remember all the details, just that everything worked out, and her father had gotten lots of experience climbing trees.

"...So, with that, let's all head out to the forest." Honeystar turned to her mate and purred. "Juniperswift, you lead the way, you big hunking warrior!" The two mates pressed their muzzles against each other before separating and heading out of the camp. "ThunderClan, head out!"

Hollowpaw rolled her eyes. Parents are weird. But she followed her father out of the camp with a twitch of her whiskers.

Juniperswift held his head high, but she could see the anxiety from his tense shoulders. Uh oh. Does this mean that he thinks the battle will go badly? Then she chided herself. No, of course not! It just means that he's worried about having to train the whole Clan... I know I would be!

She shook off the doubt and padded out into the snow. It crunched beneath her paws and she enjoyed the feeling of the soft particles of water tickling her feet. She gave a small smile.

Then a hunk of snow landed on her back. "Gotcha!" She turned to see her brother grinning at her. "You never saw it coming!"

"True that, but you won't see this coming!" meowed Hollowpaw.

She smirked and shoved him face-first into the snow.

He gave a muffled oomph! He slowly lifted himself from his icy cage and frowned. "I honestly thought snow would taste more like... I don't know... something!"

Hollowpaw barked a laugh. Then she tilted her head. "Why are you coming? You're a medicine cat, you don't partake in battles!"

Brackenpaw gave her a dubious look. "Really, Hollowpaw? Use your head! I have to drop down from the trees just like the warriors. ShadowClan's gonna be pretty confused if the ThunderClan medicine cats are just sitting behind a bush in the middle of their territory!"

"Oops... I'm dumb!" Hollowpaw smiled sheepishly.

"Can confirm!" Brackenpaw chirped, before dashing away to catch up with the rest of the Clan. Hollowpaw belted after him, unable to hide her excitement.

· ─────── · 𖥸 · ─────── ·

"Head out, ThunderClan," Honeystar said in a low voice, as if ShadowClan would be able to hear them from so far away.

The cats padded out of the training hollow where they had learned to climb, all light on their paws. Hollowpaw kept pace with them for a few steps before she heard her mother whisper, "I haven't done this since she died..."

Hollowpaw froze in her tracks. Then, thinking that Honeystar would notice and realize she had heard what the leader had said, she began to continue walking with her Clanmates, nearly tripping over her paws. What? Who is she talking about? ...Dawnkit? No.That wouldn't be right. There were no battles near the time that she died. Then... Then who is his cat?

"Hollowpaw!" Morningsleet hissed. "Come on. I'll explain later."

She tilted her head, the fur on her back raising. "Did you hear it too...?"

Her mentor nodded solemnly. "We'll talk later. We're going to battle right now, if you hadn't noticed."

Oh, yeah. Oops. Hollowpaw gulped. It hasn't fully sunk in yet.

"We're nearing the border, ThunderClan!" Juniperswift called from the head of the patrol. "Time to head into the trees. Remember: eyes on your paws, don't get distracted, and do not make any noise!"

Hollowpaw gazed around her, trying to find a tree that hadn't already been packed to the brim with cats. She set her sights on a tall oak that only had one warrior in it. Hollowpaw belted over there, her paws flying across the mossy ground. She took a running leap and flung herself onto the first branch of the tree. Her paws fell into a familiar rhythm, one she had been doing the whole day. Her claws dug into the soft bark and she heaved herself up branch after branch.

Every sound that the warriors of ThunderClan made was drowned out by the beating of her heart. Hollowpaw was terrified.

Oh, StarClan Above, I might die! I might get brutally murdered in horrible, painful ways! I might be crippled for life! Her paws quivered on the branch as she shuddered.

"Move!" hissed Honeystar from a few trees over. ThunderClan moved swiftly on their paws and advanced farther across ShadowClan territory. The trees changed from birches and maples to pines. The stench of frogs and mud filled the air, choking Hollowpaw. She wrinkled her nose in disgust. How do ShadowClan cats live in this place?

Honeystar raised her tail as a signal to stop. She angled her head down to show the mob of ShadowClan cats that had almost reached them. For a second, Hollowpaw thought they could see her, but they continued walking. Oh, wow. Good thing we launched our attack when we did. They would have had the element of surprise instead of us!

With a flick of Honeystar's tail, ThunderClan dropped from the sky. Hollowpaw gasped and tried to keep her balance on her branch as it swayed precariously from the sudden movement. She watched as her Clanmates landed on top of ShadowClan cats, right on target. Hollowpaw looked up to see Rainpaw still up in the trees, along with Owlpaw and Stormpaw. They must be scared too, she realized. I need to jump down and show them how easy it is! ...I hope it's easy. She flexed her claws as she prepared to jump.

Then she saw him.

Except he didn't exist. Hollowpaw was sure he didn't exist. And yet, there he was, right beneath her. No. No, not possible. I must be dreaming! I–

The world seemed to tilt sideways. She heaved a breath, trying to keep from hyperventilating and falling.

It didn't work.

Hollowpaw felt it happen slowly, how one claw slipped from the bark, followed by another. Her eyes widened as she realized what was happening. Her hind legs scrabbled on the branch, trying to keep her up.

Then.

Her.

Paws.

Slipped.

And her scream lingered heavy in the air as she plummeted to the forest floor far below.