Sunflame's paws pounded on the ground. All around him, shadows moved through the forest. The rhythm the cats made as they ran together was like a single heartbeat.
"Where do we go first?" Bluepaw yowled.
"Shadowclan!" Ravenheart called back.
Sunflame watched as the lithe jet-black she-cat swerved around a hazel thicket, muscles bunching underneath her pelt as she flew over a fallen tree log like a shadow.
Firemoon, Iceheart and Twigtail leaped after her, tails disappearing over the log. Bluepaw and Mossypaw leaped after them, but Bluepaw misjudged her jump and slid back after a moment of a furious scrabble.
Crowpaw leaped back with a yelp as Bluepaw landed with a thump. The blue-grey she-cat grumbled with annoyance as she hauled herself to her paws.
Mossypaw stood on the trunk, eyes glimmering with amusement as she watched her sister scramble up beside her before leaping down.
Sunflame pricked his ears as he heard rustling behind him, and turned his head to see Dewslip hurrying out of the undergrowth. He swiftly jumped over the log, with Crowpaw not far behind. The dark ginger tom trotted after them and was about to leap when he noticed something moving beside him. His eyes darted into the undergrowth to see Leafbird's tail disappearing into the bushes.
"Leafbird!" he called.
The brown tabby she-cat whipped around with a guilty look on her face. "Yes?"
Sunflame gazed at her for a moment longer before flicking his tail and nodding at the log. "Don't wander off. I don't want to spend the night looking for you," he meowed, his eyes glowing in the darkness.
Leafbird hung her head before walking over to him and clawing her way up the log. Rolling his eyes, Sunflame jumped after her.
Some time later, they crossed the scent markers into Shadowclan.
"This is so exciting!" Bluepaw squealed like a kit.
"I know, right?" Mossypaw chirped.
Crowpaw purred with amusement, although her eyes were glazed, as if something else was on her mind.
Twigtail looked up at the sky. "Come on, let's hurry up. We still have to go to Riverclan and Windclan," he meowed before roughly brushing past Firemoon.
Firemoon's eyes widened with shock and Ravenheart stared at Twigtail in surprise.
Sunflame pricked his ears. I thought Twigtail had a thing for Firemoon?
Firemoon and Ravenheart exchanged glances before Ravenheart just shrugged. "It could just be Ripplespots," she murmured before bounding after the dark brown tabby tom.
Sunflame flinched when he felt presence beside him, and looked aside to see Iceheart's eyes glimmering with excitement in the darkness.
Looking at him, something flared up inside of Sunflame. Iceheart had always been a good friend of Sunflame, and something about his excitement made Sunflame a lot more excited. "Let's go!" he growled playfully before sprinting forward.
"Come on!" Sunflame yowled at Dewslip as they bolted past him.
They broke through the forest into the shadows of the pines. Their paws thrummed on the spongy forest floor, spraying up needles in their wake.
Sunflame pricked his ears when he heard yowling behind him. Firemoon and Ravenheart were racing, pelts brushing. A glow of challenge shone from their eyes as they stretched out their paws, running rhythmically.
