BraveClan's touching story/(3): Rediscovering Wonders from Darkness/16

## Part 16: Darkstar's Reckoning and Frozenbreeze's Recognition

Same as BraveClan and SunClan's story: Darkstar wondered where Frozenbreeze went as he last saw him leave by himself on patrol. Other cats also saw him patrolling for some time before he went out of sight sooner or later, as expected.

Listening to this, he wondered what became of this warrior. He didn't necessarily care about the loss of one warrior, but a daughter of Auburnfur kept worrying about where he went, even though her mentor, Longfang, told her to stop worrying about him so much as she needed to train. Darkstar figured Airpaw was devastated about his disappearance, and he didn't want an apprentice who was the daughter or apprentice of two dark prophecy cats to be wasting time on worrying about him.

Darkstar secretly hoped he didn't get lost like Fierylight did or run off like Destinyflower and Warmtail did or die like a mouse like Bluntgaze did. Or even worse, defect to another Clan. Like every group, DarkClan had secrets, and Darkstar wished to keep them only within the Clan, and would never tolerate even a tiny leak of information to enemy groups.

Where Frozenbreeze was, a few days ago, after he left BraveClan, he still wondered about what to do. He still didn't know to get back to DarkClan, so he wasn't sure if he could trace a path between the two Clans. He wondered for how many days he would wander until he finally found another affiliation.

He searched for a day how to get back, and he tried to recall what the forest looked like while he was going towards BraveClan. But it seemed mostly foreign, and Frozenbreeze still remembered those violent dogs in the forest. *Dogs must love my scent or something like that,* he spat in his thoughts in frustration.

He desperately hoped that they wouldn't come for him again and he even prayed to StarClan, which DarkClan cats were not allowed to do, he knew, but he was very much helpless at this point. He thought he saw Darkstar looking angrily down at him, but he stopped thinking about that.

Then Frozenbreeze saw a she-cat with silver fur, slightly darker spots, and blue eyes. It was the first time he had seen a cat for a day so he decided to ask the she-cat who she was and if she could help him.

"Um, hi," he said sheepishly and politely and the she-cat noticed him and gave him a shocked look.

"Who are you?" asked the she-cat without a greeting. Frozenbreeze blinked a few times trying to think of a reply until she continued, "I am just by myself and defending myself in the forest. And what about you?"

"Um... my name is Frozenbreeze. I am actually lost," he replied. The she-cat flicked her tail.

"From where do you come?" she asked cautiously.

"Um..." he drawled, thinking that he couldn't tell her the truth just yet. "I live in an area which is close to a large group of evil cats. I am planning to leave it, though."

The she-cat was surprised. "Really? Did you know that there were evil cats there in the first place?"

Frozenbreeze shook his head sadly and replied, "If I did, I wouldn't have settled there anyway. Do you know where the large group of evil cats might be? I need to get my stuff there."

The she-cat stared at him for a moment before replying, "I heard of that place, it's called DarkClan. Are you a Clan cat, too? Because your name sounds like one."

Frozenbreeze shrugged and nodded. "My Clan got destroyed by these cats, too. Did yours?"

The she-cat nodded gloomily. "Yes. I used to be from a Clan called SunClan, have you heard of it before? My name is Dewflower. I had to run off by myself when the leader, Marigoldstar, disbanded it. I thought it had to do with DarkClan's threatenings. I was only a recent warrior."

Frozenbreeze was surprised that this cat came from the same Clan as one dark and two light prophecy cats, but he figured Dewflower knew nothing about it. He also thought that this cat was resilient as she survived by herself for so long despite being a young warrior.

"I think I may know where your camp is," continued Dewflower matter-of-factly. "I once ran into the DarkClan camp while looking for food, and a few cats that I recognized as DarkClan chased me out of the area! So follow me."

Frozenbreeze just nodded and followed Dewflower as she started walking. They walked in silence for an hour or so until Dewflower stopped and looked at him. "The path takes too much time to travel and too dangerous for me, but did you figure out any familiar landscape?"

Frozenbreeze looked around and recognized the path he was chasing that rabbit from. Then he nodded and replied, "Thank you, Dewflower, for helping out a stranger, without any reward in return."

The she-cat stared at him for some time before replying, "There is a reward. StarClan. Hopefully you find a path to StarClan, too."

The tom just nodded and was about to leave for DarkClan until he thought that Dewflower would deserve a reward for selflessly helping out a random cat who could possibly be a DarkClan cat. Then he turned around and said, "Wait, I think I know the way to a Clan called BraveClan."

Dewflower stopped and gave him a surprised and questioning look.

"Um, I actually wandered off to BraveClan by accident. But I got hurt saving two BraveClan cats so they agreed to treat me and they let me go. They accepted some cats from SunClan, too," Frozenbreeze explained. "It's in some very deep forest, surrounded by many trees. A ton of trees are inside of the camp, too, providing extra protection, I guess. The path to there, I think is the opposite direction where we first met. Then you need to find an abandoned camp in the middle of the way, and keep going from there."

Dewflower looked a little confused but she just nodded slowly. "Well, thank you for the information, I guess. I will try to look for it." Then she smiled for the first time and continued, "I do suppose I should find a Clan again. I have to go now. I think DarkClan recognizes me. Hopefully you are safe, too." Then she bounded off in a flash.

Frozenbreeze watched her leave and wondered if she figured out that he was a DarkClan cat himself, DarkClan-born, too. But he figured that didn't matter now as she was already gone and she wouldn't necessarily do any harm to him. He also wondered if she would find it.

Then he went back to DarkClan in silence, but a little tired as well.

### ~~Back at DarkClan, day later~~

Darkstar looked around for his mate, Purpleslash, and saw her telling stories to the apprentices about her life before DarkClan. He needed to discuss with her about how Longfang and Airpaw finally found Frozenbreeze passed out in a bush. It was strange to him that this happened in the first place and he dared to think that really funky business had happened.

Airpaw was very scared for Frozenbreeze as the medicine cats tried to treat him. Longfang had a stern look at Frozenbreeze, but he was also watching the medicine cats with his apprentice. Darkstar thought that Longfang didn't like the white tom, but he didn't hate him either. Darkstar was also normally neutral when it came to his Clanmates, but there were some who it was impossible to not dislike, such as the light prophecy cats, especially the three who ran from the Clan. One of those cats was Frozenbreeze as Darkstar thought his behavior and circumstances were starting to become stranger and stranger by the moons, and he doubted they could be coincidental.

After all, having a dog attack them and having passed out in a bush was too uncanny for normal circumstances to Darkstar.

And Darkstar's suspicions got worse when Smokyleap told him that Frozenbreeze had some treated wounds on his chest already, probably from a dog bite. Darkstar thought that being bit by a dog twice was not at all involuntary but he was sure that Frozenbreeze couldn't treat himself at all. Darkstar was getting a very disquieting vibe from him, and he needed to talk to his mate about it.

He remembered that Frozenbreeze wasn't typically a good warrior but he wasn't that bad either. Darkstar thought that he mostly just tried to work as hard as he can but he still couldn't succeed that well. Darkstar also remembered that he sent Frozenbreeze on the trip to capture those two runaway cats but Smokyleap, the medicine cat who went with them, told him that the white tom crashed into a tree while running, and got pretty injured, which made Darkstar think he wasn't up to the job.

But now Darkstar knew it wasn't just coincidental. He had to get to the bottom of this quick.

He went to Purpleslash and gestured her to come into the leader's den. She nodded and followed him there, after telling the apprentices she'd be right back. Then she asked Darkstar, "What is it? Is it about Frozenbreeze?"

Darkstar grimly nodded. "He is acting too strange, don't you think? Did StarClan do something to him?"

His mate shrugged and replied worriedly, "I would think so. Do you think StarClan is trying to attack us by using dogs? Auburnfur also lost her kits!"

Darkstar sighed and shook his tail wildly in anticipation of something horrible to come. "I think so. That is why we need to fight them. Although I don't think that is how StarClan works, since they believe in peace and all..." He hissed at what was seemingly just air, but in his mind he was hissing at stupid StarClan.

"I don't think they will try to kill us, because if they do, we will also be able to kill them," began Purpleslash, "but we need to be very alert, because they are doing some secret things in the background!"

"Yes, they are," said Darkstar, wondering what they exactly did to Frozenbreeze and Airpaw. "They must have sent that dog after them, and injured Frozenbreeze and Airpaw, which is bad. Ugh, we need all the dark prophecy cats to fight back, and DarkClan to fight BraveClan!" He remembered that he didn't know his power yet. "We figured out what the other three's powers are, but not mine! We need to find it quick so that we can fight back and DarkClan can be here for a long time."

Purpleslash just nodded. "Our grandson did a good job killing that violent dog, and also is doing a good job mentoring Airpaw. And our daughter can easily destroy the herb supply of BraveClan, and maybe even make a tree fall on them. And Auburnfur, despite not being DarkClan descent, is doing an excellent job with warrior duties. I think she has a very great power to defeat enemy cats, which will probably kill them immediately, as she doesn't even need to do a death blow. But I wonder about you."

Darkstar just shrugged. "We still have time. No need to rush too much, but yes, I need to figure out my power soon! But what do we do about Frozenbreeze?"

Purpleslash shrugged in response, too. "For now, we should probably just question him, but no punishing. But if something like this happens again we have to do something." Darkstar agreed as he didn't want to be too worked up over one warrior, but he thought whatever was happening to Frozenbreeze would be a very important clue to figure out what would happen next. After all, Frozenbreeze never came off as a strong warrior, so he thought StarClan was choosing an easy target to attack.

*Maybe we should get rid of him soon, so we don't have to waste our resources on him if StarClan is indeed attacking him,* Darkstar figured, but he decided to listen to his mate and wait for any future incidents like this to happen in order to make a good and thoughtful decision.

### ~~Hours later~~

Mothspring wandered through the forest. She told her father, Darkstar, that she would go and try to find any cats that would be lurking around, along with Birdrose and Charredbelly. Mothspring was interested in Charredbelly but she also wanted to be a efficient warrior before mating. She was born in the last litter along with Birdrose and Lynxmoor. Her older sister, Oakbush, usually teased her about her relationship with Charredbelly. *She can see it, too,* Mothspring grumbled, but she knew that it was true so she didn't say anything to her.

The brown-yellow tortoiseshell she-cat knew that Charredbelly was the brother and littermate of the deputy so she wanted to be the mate of someone cool, so that she could get a better standing in front of Highjump and Darkstar. She also wanted her kits to have a higher standing, too.

Mothspring also knew she was just an ordinary warrior, with the exception of being a kit of Darkstar, but she had no special powers of any sort, like Oakbush or her nephew, Longfang, so she wasn't really that much feared or respected in the Clan as the others were. Even her mother, Purpleslash, who was relatively tame, was still feared for a very efficient warrior on top of being the mate of Darkstar.

Mothspring also never had an apprentice before, despite being way past the normal warrior age, and she wasn't very confident about her warrior duties either. And even Birdrose had an apprentice, Destinyflower, who had run away with Warmtail, another DarkClan cat who was previously SunClan and now a light prophecy cat, which made Birdrose ashamed that she did so, and other Clanmates didn't look at her in the same way.

She also remembered when her brother, Shrewspeck, and another warrior, Spottedlark, died, but she never really liked them since they always taunted her, so she didn't care if they died. She thought Auburnfur thought the same because she was one of the newer cats to come to DarkClan at the time and they taunted her, too.

The she-cat wondered if Frozenbreeze thought the same when Airpaw was given to Longfang but she shook that thought away.

Darkstar told Mothspring and her patrol not to wander too far like Frozenbreeze did and the three cats understood. Mothspring didn't want to get bit by a dog again.

Birdrose asked Mothspring where cats could be and the latter just replied that cats usually travel around the forest, so they may encounter one.

As they kept walking they encountered a lake. Mothspring thought it was the same lake Auburnfur and Goldjaw were at when they discovered her power so she tried to look for any signs of spiritual influence. But the lake looked normal. She wondered if she would find any signs of her being special.

Birdrose and Charredbelly drank some water from the lake and the former asked her sister, "Where do you think you might find any cats? You're the patrol leader after all." Mothspring shrugged. She knew that cats didn't normally go onto DarkClan territory, even unknowingly, since there were little prey or herbs here to find and not many trees. But they didn't have to hunt or gather much because of their pillaging technique, which is why they had settled here, and still got a huge surplus of supplies without hunting or gathering, just fighting.

Then Mothspring drank some water, too, before heading on, and decided to focus and where cats could be.

Then they started heading into wooded area, which made Mothspring confident that they could finally find some cats. Then suddenly, they saw a very large and muscular black-pelted rogue which had a ton of scars on his body, one ripped ear and some bare skin. The tortoiseshell she-cat was wondering what they should do, but then her sister and her love interest pounced on him immediately.

Mothspring decided to do the same thing they did since it was the best option right now and she was also patrol leader, for the first time she thought she was. Before, she was considered too meek to lead a patrol, so other cats got chosen instead, such as Highjump, Charredbelly, Shrewspeck, Oakbush, and her former mentor, Lionfoot. Some other cats, like Wildclaw and Sandfight, also led the patrols, but they were very rude to her, too. Darkstar had reprimanded them for taunting her but he didn't do much else to protect Mothspring, which made her melancholy.

The rogue hissed at them fiercely and scratched Birdrose's chest severely, with blood coming out. Mothspring was surprised, but she knew she had to fight, too. Charredbelly tried to do a death blow as he usually liked to kill cats, but Mothspring shook her head at him as she knew that the rogue was too strong to get hit by a death blow. But then the rogue easily dodged the blow and his very large and muscular body pounced on Charredbelly's chest, biting it severely. The rogue was about to bite Charredbelly's neck but Mothspring slash-swiped his stomach and chest and used all her strength to push him off. He ended up slashing Mothspring's cheek very harshly, and Mothspring felt the roaring pain coming from the right side of her face, and she stepped back to help her love interest up.

Birdrose had tried to recover from the chest slash, and then pounced on the rogue and swiped his flanks with all her might. Charredbelly got up slowly and also tried to recover from the pain. Then he winced in pain as he was limping away from the rogue. Mothspring realized with a shock that he had a broken leg, and tried to help him up. The tortoiseshell she-cat had seen stronger cats than her before but she had never seen this strong and muscular of a cat before. She thought that he was even stronger than Darkstar, who was pretty strong already, and she wondered how to defeat him.

Until three other warriors came, Stormear, Lostear and Grassfoot, who were also on patrol, but a hunting patrol instead. When they saw what was happening, they immediately pounced on the huge rogue, and with Mothspring and Birdrose helping them, the rogue got subdued but he was still trying to fight back.

Lostear looked surprised and frightened, being a young warrior and the same age as Talonwing and Flamepaw due to being littermates but the other two warriors who were older than her were very determined while fighting.

Mothspring was about to slash the rogue's neck until her mind thought of something. *What if we bring him back to face Darkstar?* she wondered. Killing cats was a good pastime for cats, but kidnapping cats was even better, since they could get to get a little more fun out of them, especially Darkstar. Also, she was curious to know who this rogue exactly was and how he was so strong. She ordered the other cats to drag him back to camp, and they agreed, probably thinking the same thing she was.

So they knocked him out and all of them (excluding Charredbelly) dragged each part of his body each since he was so heavy, Mothspring by the scruff. When they finally got to camp, the other DarkClan cats, especially Darkstar, looked shocked when they saw the huge, unconscious rogue.

"What *is* this rogue?" Darkstar demanded in confusion, probably still wide-eyed at the rogue's muscular body.

"We don't know," started Mothspring's pitch, feeling more confident than she ever had before, "but we can get to have some fun before we kill him!"

The other DarkClan cats agreed excitedly, including Darkstar. Darkstar was still pretty confused at what Mothspring and her patrol had found, since he couldn't figure out how this cat came to be.

Finally the rogue woke up in a state of perplexment. He looked around and saw many cats, and Mothspring knew he would never escape. The rogue's eyes focused on Darkstar, but the DarkClan leader was ready. The rogue pounced on him.

Darkstar easily dodged and pounced on him instead. Wildclaw, Brownfur and Oakbush also came and helped out. Charredbelly was tended to by the medicine cats, of course, but Mothspring and Grassfoot stayed to help out, too. Longfang and Airpaw were watching Brownfur fight the rogue but they didn't do anything.

The rogue was easily getting subdued again, and Mothspring thought she could see a twinge of helplessness on his face, until his claws went out and slashed Wildclaw's neck. The warrior gasped and died nearly instantly.

### ~~Another hour later~~

Airpaw was talking to her sister, Lightpaw. She was way too distressed about everything, and she wondered how Frozenbreeze could be bit by a dog two times in two seasons.

"We found him in a bush, lying there and I thought he was dead!" she told Lightpaw, who was surprised. Airpaw was a teensy bit jealous of Lightpaw, who had a much better mentor than Longfang, which was Talonwing. Talonwing was slightly older than Longfang, but the former was a great mentor compared to the latter.

"We immediately called for a medicine cat when we realized he was alive and Smokyleap came running!" Airpaw continued in great unease. "And now you know what! He is injured!"

"Did you talk to him?" Lightpaw asked, still in shock. "I never knew you could be bit by something other than a cat."

"Yes, I did, and me either," Airpaw replied gloomily. "Longfang told me about hawks, eagles, foxes, badgers, wolves and even something called Twolegs! And he said they were more dangerous than dogs! I thought being an apprentice would be fun like Brownfur said it would be but now it is becoming tiring and boring, and scary and frightful all at the same time!" She sighed with great distress. "It was so fun with Frozenbreeze because these things didn't normally happen and he was light on me while training. But Longfang wants me to train five times a day, four being fighting! I am surprised I am not in the medicine cat den for moons!"

Lightpaw was very shocked and appalled at this revelation. "Why didn't you tell me earlier? I would have helped you get through it! And maybe complained to Auburnfur about it and get Frozenbreeze to be your mentor again."

Airpaw just shrugged in dire sadness. "I doubt it works that way. Best case scenario they'll reject saying that they don't want me to be a weak warrior training with Frozenbreeze. I don't even know if Frozenbreeze will get another apprentice!"

Lightpaw looked like she was thinking, until she said, "Um, since we are daughters of a dark prophecy cat, maybe we can politely tell them that we don't want to be overworked?"

Airpaw sighed. "I think they expect the opposite of us! Since they want us to be strong. But my muscles are searing up way too much. I wonder if BraveClan or SunClan is much better with apprentice training."

Lightpaw looked glum at this realization, too. "So what can we do?"

"I don't know. We aren't really deputy or kin to Darkstar or even warriors. We are powerless to do anything. The best thing we can do is to protect ourselves from more danger. I still worry about Frozenbreeze. Is he going to be punished for being 'weak'? I doubt we could just run off to BraveClan, either."

"I don't know. But that is sad we have no power." Lightpaw sighed in melancholy. "I don't think we should speak in public, though, because someone can overhear."

Airpaw just nodded solemnly and was about to go check up on her former mentor until Talonwing came. "It's training time!" he said joyfully to Lightpaw, and Lightpaw looked excited. She shot an empathetic look towards her sister before leaving with Talonwing.

Airpaw just watched them leave and continued walking towards the medicine cat den. Longfang was there and he had a stern look on his face, but he was looking into the den. *I hope he's not going to do training,* Airpaw hoped with great desperation. *Or be angry at Frozenbreeze.*

Then she saw Frozenbreeze was finally awake, to her delight. Smokyleap ran up to them excitedly and cried, "Great news! He has only passed out from hunger so all he needs is a mouse." Airpaw was so relieved, especially when she saw Icypaw carry a mouse to Frozenbreeze. Longfang was still wearing the same expression as before.

But her delight and relief was short-lived as Darkstar and Highjump immediately walked over to the medicine cat's den upon hearing Smokyleap's joyful cry. Before she knew it, they started barrelling him with questions, and she saw Frozenbreeze clearly too exhausted to answer them, as he didn't even get to take a bite from the mouse, but they kept asking them anyway. Smokyleap and Icypaw looked a little uneasy so they immediately left the den. But Smokyleap still smiled at Airpaw as she left.

Longfang turned to Airpaw and said strictly, "Well, now that you know he is fine, do you want to train *now?"* Airpaw couldn't hide her disappointment and just sighed in disgrace.

Her mentor noticed this and growled, "As an apprentice, Purpleslash had me do five training sessions a day! Other than being kin of Darkstar, how do you think I was chosen to be a dark prophecy cat?" Airpaw just shrugged and replied, "Well, I don't think you did this intense of training."

The dark prophecy cat was surprised to hear this and yelled, "You think so? Sure, Purpleslash may be my grandmother, but she isn't weak. And even so, we are both young. We can handle the heat easily. And you are the kit of a dark prophecy cat, too, you know."

"Didn't she become one after I was born, though? Otherwise she wasn't important at all, and neither were we," Airpaw retorted. "And I am only an apprentice. I can't handle so much training!" She was about to yell at him that Frozenbreeze was a better mentor but then she thought she would really be crossing the line more.

Longfang glared at her for a moment before looking at Darkstar and Highjump, who didn't hear as they were too busy confronting Frozenbreeze. Airpaw thought out loud, "Why don't we go on patrol? Hunting patrol. That would be better."

Her mentor stared at her for a little bit before slowly nodding and said, "Fine, if you think that is better for you. That is, if we will find any prey."

Airpaw knew that their place in the forest had barely any sort of real resources to keep themselves alive, which was why it would be hard to find any prey without venturing much farther than their territory, but she just shrugged. *If I don't find any real prey, better for me since I don't have to do anything,* she thought optimistically, even if that was bad for DarkClan. At this point, she didn't care anymore. All she wanted was real rest.

They did have to venture far enough before they found a brightly-colored snake which seemed to emit danger. Cats wouldn't be so scared of snakes if it weren't for their venom. Longfang scoffed at the snake as if he thought that this was as easy as catching a mouse, but Airpaw was terrified, which was definitely unlike DarkClan cats. Again, the feeling of not belonging enveloped her again, and she stood there frozen, watching Longfang stealthily sneak up on it from behind a rock.

The snake noticed Longfang, however, and started tapping its tail rapidly against the forest ground, but the warrior was unfazed. Airpaw was worried if it would bite her mentor, but it didn't seem to do anything with its mouth, which made her wonder if it was harmless. But she didn't understand the bright colors and venomous appeal.

The snake tried to slither away quickly upon seeing that Longfang wasn't getting scared away, but Longfang pounced on it and easily caught it with a bite to its neck. He snorted once he made sure it was dead, "Kit's play. This is a pretentious snake, which is pretending to be poisonous." He seemed to be in a victorious mood.

Airpaw just blinked a few times while trying to process what he said, since so many thoughts were spinning around in her brain, especially Frozenbreeze's bites. She had no idea about that. "Oh," was all she replied, still staring at the dead fake venomous snake.

Longfang suddenly narrowed her eyes at her. "You think you would have learned that with your *former mentor?*" he challenged, trying to use this moment as a point of debate.

Airpaw said nothing in reply, and didn't even look at him, which was usually unlike her. She was in deep thought, still wondering about the differences between Frozenbreeze and Longfang. Longfang was better educated about the world and better skilled, yes, but Frozenbreeze was more understanding of her capabilities and more empathetic towards her. She had heard of two warriors fighting over one in a form of love, but she had never heard of two warriors fighting over an apprentice in a form of mentorship. Or rather, she was trying to fight between them both.

"Also, don't ask me how I know this. Purpleslash taught me *extremely* well, which is what I am trying to do with you," Longfang continued with his monologuing lecture. "She taught me the differences between venomous and non-venomous snakes. Non-venomous ones are pretty easy to catch once you figure them out. I wonder if Frozenbreeze even paid attention to what Streamtail told him about the world. You want a mentor like that? Especially since you are going to be a warrior in one moon?"

Airpaw still stared at her paws. Then she thought that Longfang was probably expecting some sort of reply from her which showed that she even heard a sentence of what he uttered, so she just nodded and said, "I understand now."

Longfang glared at her for a moment more before he strictly said, "Good." He muttered a few words under his breath before he picked up the snake and buried it.

They tried to search for any more prey, and they only found two rogue mice. Airpaw had to catch both of them, which she thought was pretty easy anyway since she had already learned how to do this before. Then they went back.

Longfang wanted her to do fighting training next since he told her that he thought hunting was way too easy for a DarkClan apprentice of *her* skill level.

*Figures, since we never need to hunt that much anyway,* Airpaw groaned internally. She was forced to accept or risk getting angry responses from her mentor and Brownfur. *Not risk, but surely get.*

After this, Longfang told her to rest and come back after an hour. Airpaw thought she was not going to be ready until she became a warrior, which was only a moon from now. *Maybe once I become a warrior, Longfang won't bother me for the rest of my warriorhood, and I can finally spend more time with Frozenbreeze,* she thought in her itchy moss bed in the vast apprentices' den which was what her resolve would be. But her heart sank again, since DarkClan warriors still needed to train constantly, especially in fighting. Not necessarily with the same mentor, but in groups.

*Maybe they can give leeway to new warriors?* Airpaw hoped in a desperate manner, since she knew that wouldn't be the case.

Frozenbreeze suddenly caught her eye, and he looked back to normal. *Sort of, anyway,* Airpaw thought anxiously but hopefully. He was staring at the warriors' den for quite a while now, in what seemed like worried thought.

The forlorn apprentice decided to talk to her former mentor, since it looked like most of his issues were solved. Except perhaps his reaction to being treated the way he was by Darkstar and the rest of DarkClan.

"Hey, Frozenbreeze," Airpaw greeted.