As long as the being left in a heartbeat, Icebird trotted with a mouse she caught near the log that she was in. Ivydawn's jaw dangled open in shock, her green eyes widening in confusion and shock. She couldn't process what she saw. She didn't even want to think what she saw was even remotely real.

Icebird dropped the mouse she had before leaning closer, looking to the log. "Ivydawn, what you are you doing in there? That's not how you hunt like a ShadowClan cat! That would be a method ThunderClan cats use."

Ivydawn snapped out of thought. She pushed herself out of the log, standing up next to the white she-cat. Ivydawn gave a reassuring smile to her in case she thought she was going crazy. She didn't want to bring concern to her or make her believe she actually believed in the being she saw. She would feel bad lying, but she knew Icebird could not know at the moment.

"Hehe, you're right. I was just being a ThunderClan cat. Sorry about that! I just saw a raven, and wanted to make sure I could catch you. You know how much a raven would feed ShadowClan." Ivydawn responded.

"You almost caught a raven? No wonder you looked so shock when it flew away!" Icebird gasped, having a wide smile appear across her mouth.

"Almost, but that bird just had to fly off," she replied, chuckling.

"Oh, don't feel bad about it, Ivydawn! You were so close, so that was a pretty great achievement. Not even Hawkcry could catch a raven. Oh StarClan, I'll have to tell Hawkcry about how you almost got close to a raven! He can't even get that close. Maybe one day you'll catch a raven, and you then can rub it in Hawkcry's face."

Ivydawn chuckled as Icebird went on. She hid what she really felt like after seeing what it was. She was fearful, knowing what she saw in front of her was real. It wasn't her imagination. She knew it. She could not have imagined something like that.

All this time, I've been in denial that the Creeper didn't exist in our Clan's territory. I thought the whole Creeper story was made up by Stormheart to just scare me as a kit from going out of ShadowClan's territory, Ivydawn thought as Icebird kept on talking.

Ivydawn really wished she payed more attention to what Stormheart had to say about the Creeper. She didn't know what to do in order to stop one. From what she remembered as a kit, she always heard the same thing over and over again; the Creeper was strong and couldn't be defeated easily. It hunted for vulnerable members of her Clan, which from what she remembered, was almost every cat in ShadowClan.

She had to find out what to do about the Creeper. Ivydawn didn't want to tell anyone about this really. While all of her friends and siblings believed the Creeper existed in some way, she knew that they all would think she went crazy if she told them that she saw it. She had to tell someone who she truly trusted.

"So, maybe you can catch a raven for real while we're out here? We still have some daytime to kill," Icebird asked.

Ivydawn perked up, giving a quiet gasp as she snaps back into reality. Icebird still stared at the ShadowClan she-cat. She didn't want to stay out of camp now after seeing the Creeper being out there. She didn't know where it was, but she didn't want her and Icebird to be the Creeper's next meal. Staying at camp with cats surrounding Ivydawn would be safer for the time being until the Creeper comes to strike it one day.

"Actually, I don't feel like hunting anymore. Do you mind if we go back to camp?" she questioned the white she-cat as she stared into her blue eyes.

Icebird paused for a heartbeat after she heard what her warrior friend had to say. Ivydawn didn't want to die out here because the Creeper was out. For all she knew, it could come back after hearing a cat may be around this area. She wanted both of them to stay safe.

"Well, I guess we can. I mean, after all, I don't want Bluestrike to be yelling at us for going out of camp again. Why?" Icebird meowed.

"I don't feel so well. I think I may go to sleep now. Plus, I do want to see Stormheart. I remember her telling me she wanted to come around dusk after all," Ivydawn answered, giving out a fake yawn to convince Icebird that she was tired. She also hoped her seeing Stormheart was convincing enough, but she did want to see her mother.

"Sure! If we go back to camp now, I can rub in what you did to Hawkcry!" she mewed like a kit. Ivydawn held back a sigh of relief after hearing Icebird's agreement.

Icebird grabbed the mouse she had, excitedly going back to ShadowClan camp. Ivydawn stood by her side, also ready to go. Icebird quickly walked off, leaving Ivydawn in the dust from what it seemed. She shrugged it off. The warrior followed behind Icebird. As she followed, Ivydawn looked up at the sky and around the pine forest. While she was behind her white-furred friend, Ivydawn could easily look around everywhere without being asked what she was doing.

She wanted to make sure that the Creeper wasn't around as they walked back to camp. There wasn't any sighting of one as Ivydawn walked on, but she couldn't let her guard down at a moment like this. From what she remembered Stormheart telling her, the Creeper would always take the opportunity to strike at a cat that had their guard down. While Icebird did, Ivydawn made sure her guard was fully up in case the Creeper was around.

Let's hope this Creeper doesn't plan on attacking any time soon, she told herself.