[Zee]

For @Papaya (Bumblekit)
For @Exis (Gaykit)
For @littlelove (Cinderkit)
For @Redtalon (Emberpaw)
For @Snook (Flutterpaw)
For @Jackpot (Budkit)
For @Panda1440 (Iciclepaw)
For @Tiabirb (Berrykit)

”That’s precisely why you keep your mentor around when you become an Apprentice, Flutterpaw,” said Whitewolf. “And you will do very well to remember that.” She watched Bumblekit go to his nest, which she hadn’t quite expected. But Dogspirit’s kits had lost their mother so recently that she wasn’t surprised after giving his action some thought. She’d never blame him for his grieving, and she hoped he’d listen when she tried to speak with him after the story.

”Winter had already walked for a long, long time. But the Place of no Stars was cold and unforgiving. The winds ruffled her fur and the ground chafed her paw pads. She walked, and she walked, and she walked. And she found nothing but unrelenting darkness.” Whitewolf flicked her stub of a tail. Her favorite part of the story was upcoming—she’d remembered being terrified when Stagheart told it. “So she walked and she walked and she walked some more. Until she found a single, black form looming above the ground. Floating like a dangerous phantom. She sat and watched the phantom in a stunned silence. It was the first sign of life she’d seen in a while, and she hoped it would help her.”

”’Excuse me, mister phantom, sir,’ Winter said in an attempt to get its attention. But it gazed coldly down at her and didn’t respond. ‘Could you please help me?’ she continued, ‘I’ve lost my way and I need to go home!’ But the phantom stared at her in a persistent silence. Then the wind picked up and tore through the forest, sending black leaves flying in a torrent around its ghastly apparition.

’Ah, yes,’ the phantom said at last. ‘But I will need one of your whiskers, my child.”