Skypaw had made it back to camp just in time to hear Petalheart call her name. A pang of sadness went through her as she remembered Hazelflower would not be training her for what would most likely be the remainder of her apprenticeship. Brushing it off, she padded up to the white warrior.

Skypaw had stayed with Hawkspirit at the Gathering place until she absolutely had to leave. Her heart fluttered as she thought of him, even though she had just seen him moments before.

Saying goodbye had to be the hardest part of her night. Even though she was left with a buzzing mind from her meeting with Darkface, she pushed it out of her head. She didn't want to think about Clan life at the moment, and she most definitely did not want to talk about the prophecy. This had been the happiest she had been in as long as she could remember. She wasn't going to spoil her joy by thinking about the prophecy that haunted her every other second of the day.

"I'm right here!" She chirped. Petalheart whipped around, surprise evident in her red eyes.

"Were you outside of camp already?" The white she-cat asked, curiosity ringing in her mew.

"Yes," Skypaw responded. She knew that there was no way she could lie about being outside of camp, for several of her Clanmates had witnessed her walk in. However, she was not about to let any cat know where she had been all night, so she coolly responded, "I was trying to hunt. I had heard something in the forest, so I decided to try to catch it."

Petalheart nodded. Skypaw was relieved when her new trainer had believed her lie. "I see you had no luck," She meowed. "Well, at least you got some practice in!"

Skypaw nodded in agreement. Rainpaw ducked out of the apprentice den, her fur neatly groomed. Her eyes lit up as she saw Skypaw and Petalheart waiting for her. It appeared her sister had forgotten about Hazelflower's injury, too.

"Now that we're all here," Petalheart meowed as she eyed the two apprentices. "I think we should take advantage of having Skypaw train with us. We're going to battle train, since you two fighting together will definitely strengthen your skills. It's been quite a few moons since we've last done this."

Skypaw and Rainpaw both nodded, and satisfaction was shown in Petalheart's eyes. Flicking her tail for the apprentices to follow, she ducked out of camp,  heading for the training hollow.

Rainpaw glanced at her sister before whispering, "Where were you last night? I woke up and you were gone, and you didn't come back."

"I was hunting," Skypaw whispered back. Her paws pricked with guilt at the thought of lying to her sister, but she had no choice.

"All night?" Rainpaw's ears flicked in disbelief.

"I just couldn't sleep," Skypaw focused her gaze on the training hollow, that was now coming into view. 

Rainpaw didn't respond. Skypaw sensed that the gray she-cat didn't believe her, but she brushed it off. There's no way Rainpaw actually knew where Skypaw had been all night, so she had nothing to worry about.

"Alright," Petalheart stopped once they were at their destination. Settling on the sideline, she looked at the two littermates expectantly. "Go!"

~*~

Skypaw trudged into camp, her paws heavy with exhaustion. Petalheart had pushed Skypaw and Rainpaw to their limits. They battle trained the entire day only to return to camp to have Russetsky send her out on the dusk patrol. 

Finally have completed all her duties for the day, Skypaw immediately ducked into the apprentices' den, ignoring her stomach growling with hunger. She could eat in the morning. All she wanted to do was sleep the rest of the moon away.

She curled up, her muscles already flooding her body with relief as they were relaxed for the first time in what felt like moons. Her eyes had finally drifted shut, and the ThunderClan apprentice welcomed the darkness that welcomed her when they did.

"Skypaw!"

Skypaw's eyes sprung open as her relief immediately diminished. She had only had her eyes closed for a matter of seconds, who could possibly need her now? All she wanted to do was let her mind wander in her dreams and let her body catch up on must needed rest.

Deep down, she knew her mind would wander over to ShadowClan's territory, and she would do anything to see Hawkspirit. The thought of his smoky gray pelt and his striking blue eyes made her heart pang. Even though she had just seen him the night before, she missed him. He was the only source of happiness in her life currently, especially with Hazelflower's injury and the ever nagging prophecy. She longed to just forget about the prophecy that didn't matter to her. It was supposed to, but it didn't. All it was doing to her was stressing her out and dragging her away from the cat she loved most.

"Skypaw!" Skypaw jerked up as the voice echoed her name once again. She was so tired she had gotten lost in her daydreams. Her paws screamed with protest as she trudged out of the apprentice's den, her eyes scanning the clearing for the source of the disruptive voice.

"Finally!" Willowleaf hurried toward her. The medicine cat's eyes were clouded with an emotion Skypaw couldn't exactly place. Figuring she was just tired, she shook it off. She could figure out the puzzle hidden behind Willowleaf's amber eyes another time. 

"What is it?" Skypaw meowed halfheartedly. What could possibly be so urgent that she had to be driven from her nest?

"Hazelflower would like to see you," Willowleaf meowed before lowering her voice. "Where were you last night?"

"Hunting," Skypaw automatically responded with the lie she had been telling every other cat that had questioned her whereabouts. As if her mind was on autopilot, words continued to spill from her mouth. "I heard prey so I tried to catch some fresh kill for the Clan."

The two she-cats reached the entrance to Willowleaf's den. Immediately after ducking through the lichen curtain, Willowleaf's tail smacked Skypaw on her left ear. Taken by surprise, Skypaw let out an outburst. "Ow!"

"Don't you lie to me, Skypaw," Willowleaf's eyes had turn to amber fire. Suddenly feeling wide awake, Skypaw stepped back. "I'm not!"

"You mean to tell me you were out all night hunting and couldn't manage to catch anything?" The medicine cat spat. Her eyes were blazing with anger. Skypaw had definitely made Willowleaf upset before, but never like this. She quickly realized Willowleaf didn't summon her to see her mentor, either. It was just a trick to get her away from the gazes and ears of her Clanmates.

"It's leafbare!" Skypaw meowed, her voice high and squeaky. She suddenly felt like a kit spitting excuses to its mother. She felt small and inferior. "Prey is scarce!"

"You were gone for hours, Skypaw, hours! You're one of the best hunters I know, if you were actually out hunting you would have brought something back."

Skypaw couldn't muster a response. Willowleaf skillfully trapped her in her lie. She didn't understand how, but the ThunderClan medicine cat always seemed to be able to kill cats with kindness. She had intertwined a compliment within her point.

Similarly to the way Hawkspirit's tail intertwined with mine last night!

Knowing she had caught the apprentice like a cat that caught a mouse, Willowleaf sighed angrily. "Are you going to tell me what you were really up to?"

Deep down, Skypaw had the feeling that Willowleaf already knew where she had been. She didn't know how she would have caught her, she had been so careful. She scented the air, scanned the terrain, watched her back. Willowleaf couldn't have followed her, she had made sure of it!

"I..." The ThunderClan apprentice suddenly felt ashamed. Her little escape from Clan life and from the prophecy had made her feel so confident, so strong. Being with Hawkspirit made her happy, it made her feel loved and feel in love. Why was that so wrong?

Did she not deserve happiness?

"You should be ashamed of yourself, Skypaw. I'm absolutely appalled." Willowleaf's voice trembled with a combination of anger, disappointment and disbelief. "When StarClan told me where you were last night I nearly didn't believe them. I thought, 'there's no way Skypaw would disregard a StarClan warning, she's smarter than that!' Apparently not."

The tortoiseshell she-cat whipped around and stormed into her private den, leaving Skypaw alone to remember the warning StarClan gave her about the spirit of the hawk. She felt like screaming in anger when she heard the words whispered to her in the wind.

"The spirit of the hawk has more than one intention, Skypaw."

That other intention had been love.

Hola mis amigos!

Long time no see!

Sorry for the long wait. School's been very hectic, and I took Driver's Ed, which meant I had to stay 3 hours after school and then do my homework/study when I got home for three weeks.

I'm on break now, so hopefully I'll get lots of writing out for you. This wasn't that good of a chapter, but I did my best. Idk why Skypaw hasn't figured out by now that you can't hide things from Willowleaf. Like, duh.

Also, I have a question for you all. I have an idea for an original story of my own and I was wondering if you would take some time to read it if I published it. I really want to start working on some original works, so if you could spare some of your time to give me some feedback, please let me know! I know this is a Warriors themed account and I've written for the Warriors community for two years, but I'm going to be sixteen in April and I really want to start working on some other things. Of course, I wouldn't abandon this story. It may have taken me months (ok, a year) to update in the past, but I always come back. :) This is the story that has gotten me the success I've received and I'm forever thankful.

Anyway, please vote, comment, etc.! As always, my DMs are open for roleplays/questions/discussions! Please let me know what you guys think, and THANK YOU for being patient!

-Kaylin