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Stonepaw was thrashing around in his dreams. Visions or darkness engulfed him and when he opened his eyes, he was in a mist shrouded place that stank with the stench of crow-food. "You want to be strong, don't you..." a whisper sounded in Stonepaw's ear. He whipped around to see a black tom with green eyes. "Wh-who are you," Stonepaw stammered. "I'm Breezepelt," he meowed. "But you're from WindClan, what are you doing here?" Stonepaw asked. "Questions later, decisions now," Breezepelt growled, "Do you want to join me and get strong, or train with your kitty warriors and let your siblings pick on you?" "No, this is the Dark Forest! I want to get strong but not here!" Stonepaw exclaimed disgustedly. "Then the mountains is the place for you. Go there, and you'll find the answer to all your problems...." Breezepelt began to fade and Stonepaw woke up in the apprentices den. His breathing came out shallow and his eyes bulged with fear and excitement. Finally, something exciting! I'm going to the mountains! Stonepaw's fur was on end and his paws tingled and urged him to get going. Silently, Stonepaw crept out of the apprentices' den. He padded over to the dirt place tunnel and crawled through it. By the time Stonepaw reached the forest outside the hollow, he smelled completely like dirt and bile. But Stonepaw didn't care, for the smell of the mountains would soon wreath around his pelt. As Stonepaw stalked by the entrance of the camp he heard Thornclaw-who was on guard-stiffen. Stonepaw held his breath, every heartbeat seeming like a century. Finally, Thornclaw just snorted and sat back on his haunches. Stonepaw breathed a silent thanks to StarClan and continued his journey. The peaks of the mountains showed hazily along the faint pink light of dawn. It was too early to send patrols out, but Stonepaw didn't want to take any risks. He sped off through the forest. A breeze roared in Stonepaw's ears and his soft gray fur laid plastered to his body by the wind. Breathless, Stonepaw took a moment to stop and consider if what he was doing was right. Of course his Clanmates didn't seem to care for him, but they would miss him, wouldn't they? But they never loved you, they never spoke to you, they never were happy to see you come back from a patrol...the voice of a Dark Forest cat echoed in his ear. Well, most of that's true, Stonepaw thought, Except, they were always glad to see me when I came back from the hunting patrol because of the prey I caught. Suddenly, there was rustling in the bushes and two young kits stepped out. Both their furs were wet and sleek. They had their teeth drawn back to show their sharp fangs. "Hello, little kit. You lost?" one, a black she-cat with white fur surrounding her gray eye and one white foot, mimicked. "Go back to your home, you kittypet," the other, a brown tabby with green eyes, scowled. They started caving in on him, unsheathing their claws and baring their teeth. Suddenly, another cat swung out of the bushes. "Crow, Claw, I'll take care of this kittypet. He's too old for you, just go back to Sasha," the cat ordered, her back turned to him. "Yes, Tiger," Claw meowed obediently. But Crow leaned sideways, hissed at him, then followed her brother. When they disappeared, the cat turned around to look at him. She had beautiful aqua eyes and Stonepaw knew, this was the cat who saved him.

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