Lionpaw shuddered as the cold leaf-bare wind swept against his golden pelt, chilling him to the bone as his paws forced their way through the snow. At least once he reached Heatherpaw, they would be in the shelter of the tunnels. A buzz of excitement shot through the apprentice at the prospect of seeing the pretty Windclan cat again, of playing their kit-like games in their own little world.

'I don't know any Thunderclan cats I could feel so comfortable with,' he thought bitterly, 'Not even Hollypaw or Jaypaw.'

A twinge of guilt pulled at his gut as he imagined his littermates. How would they react if they knew he snuck off to meet a cat from another clan in the middle of the night? Well, he already knew. Jaypaw would be furious to say the least, probably boxing his ears in until he went deaf. And Hollypaw...Lionpaw shuddered at the idea of the black she-cat's response.

As he neared the tunnel entrance, yet another icy breeze crept through the forest and into his senses. Taking a minute to sniff at the air, Lionpaw blinked in confusion as a familiar scent wafted into his nose- that of a cat, and one he knew well.

'But what would Ashfur be doing all the way out here in the middle of the night?' he wondered, narrowing his amber eyes. Technically, any cat could ask him the same thing, but somehow he doubted Ashfur would be meeting a non-Thunderclan cat by the lake in the middle of the Thunderclan scent line. All of a sudden, a faint rustling and the sound of snow being shaken from dead, bare branches nearby.

Eyes widening, Lionpaw dived for the cover of a holly bush, wincing and holding back a hiss as the sharp leaves pricked at his pelt in an act of protest for the invasion. Staring out into the white and grey forest, he was only relieved that the wind was not blowing his scent straight at the unknown cat. Was Ashfur meeting somebody after all?
A flash of tabby fur between the branches and trees made him prick his ears in confusion, but it was gone within a moment.

Suddenly forgetting all about Heatherpaw, Lionpaw allowed his curiosity to guide his paws, and he slipped back into the snowy wilderness and carefully trekked after the other cat. He smelled no other clan or rogue scents- it must have been a Thunderclan cat. But the question was, who?

The young cat growled in irritation at the mixed up and buried scents caused by the harshness of leaf-bare and all that it brought with it. However, at some point, he must have overtaken his target, because he barely stopped himself from stomping right out into the open beyond the barrier of snow covered bushes and brambles that marked the beginning of the shore- and further on, the lake. Peering from his little cover of twigs and brown leaves, Lionpaw narrowed his eyes at the sight of a grey tom with a speckled pelt, staring out over the water with his tail twitching back and forth impatiently.

'Ashfur? But, what's he doing here?'

"Ashfur?"
Almost jumping in shock, Lionpaw watched as the grey tom whipped his head around at the voice, narrowing his cold blue eyes as the sturdy tabby tom strode out through the brambles.

Lionpaw's eyes widened.

'Brambleclaw! Why is he here too?'

Ashfur regarded his father with a cool look that did little to hide his suddenly obvious dislike as he sniffed, "Brambleclaw."

A stab of pity and, to his own guilt, a hint of shame crossed over Lionpaw as he watched the large tabby sit down nearby, but not next to, his mentor. Ashfur sat tall and confident, immune to the cruel breeze and bitterly cold water that lapped at his paws through his thick coat. Brambleclaw however, looked far beyond so comfortable. His shorter brown fur did little to aid in protecting his broad and muscular frame from the hammering wind, and he sat with his tail wrapped around his large paws, jaw clenched. Lionpaw realised that he had never seen his father this way- so out of his comfort zone...so...nervous?

"You're probably wondering why I wanted to speak to you." Ashfur grunted, looking back over the shimmering lake that glittered beneath the moonlight.

Brambleclaw simply nodded stiffly, "Though I've an idea or two."

Tilting his head, Lionpaw watched the engagement in confusion. What could his mentor possibly want to talk about to his father in such secrecy? Why did it have Brambleclaw so uncomfortable?

A claw scratch of dread filled his belly, 'What if it's about my training? Am I doing poorly? But Ashfur said I was making good progress!'

He tried to push the thoughts away as Ashfur flicked his ears, "Hmm. Well, we'd best get to it." he looked back at the tabby, "Squirrelflight-"

Brambleclaw sighed, and Lionpaw winced as his father hung his head, eyes closed in exhuastion, "Please Ashfur, don't start that again."

Ashfur huffed, lashing his tail and glaring at the other tom, "Trust me Brambleclaw, this isn't what you think. She's been ignoring me. If I speak, she gets angry and if I don't speak she gets angry."

Brambleclaw looked back up with narrowed eyes and bristling fur, "Well maybe she's just showing you how it feels." he grunted, "I can't control her Ashfur. Nobody can. You know that."
Lionpaw grinned, feeling proud as he thought of his fiery mother.

Ashfur however, just flashed his teeth in a snarl, "It's going to interfere with Lionpaw's training."

Immediately, Brambleclaw was sat straight, ears flat against his head with a furious fire in his eyes, "Don't you dare bring my son into this, Ashfur! You don't get to use him as a pawn in this game of yours!"
"Game?"
"I saw what you did to him."

Lionpaw swallowed as he remembered that training session. At the time he'd thought nothing of the savage claw marks left on him, of Hollypaw's horrified expression and Brackenfur's warning glare at Ashfur. It had all hit him like a monster on the thunderpath afterwards. Brackenfur had never fought Hollypaw like that, Berrypaw had never come back to camp limping and bruised after training with Brambleclaw like Lionpaw had that day. He had realised it wasn't normal. That Ashfur had been trying to hurt him. And though he'd never say so- it had frightened him.

He watched as Ashfur scoffed, "Oh, that again?"
"You attacked him, Ashfur!"
"We were training."
"Were you trained like that!? I know I wasn't! This is about you wanting to hurt Squirrelflight, Ashfur- and we all know it!"
Lionpaw blinked in shock. Why did Ashfur want to hurt his mother? What had she done to him?

Ashfur was silent for a moment, then he muttered quietly, "She should have chosen me."

Brambleclaw froze, and Lionpaw saw a flicker of guilt in his amber gaze as the tabby spoke, "She's free to make her own choices, Ashfur."
Ashfur scoffed, flattening his ears, "Even the wrong ones?"
Lionpaw felt his jaw drop as Brambleclaw hesitated before looking at the ground as he repeated quietly, "Even the wrong ones..."
'What does that mean? Does...Does Brambleclaw think Squirrelflight was wrong for choosing him? Is that why Ashfur is so angry with them?'

Ashfur got to his paws, and Lionpaw held his breath as his mentor started to circle his father, "That's your problem, Brambleclaw. You're weak." he shouldered into the broad tabby, causing him to stagger a little, "You have no faith in yourself. You don't stand up for yourself." another shove. "You're like a mouse that she's playing with." A push. "She doesn't respect you. She walks all over you, and you let her."

Anger started to pulse beneath Lionpaw's pelt as he gritted his teeth. How dare Ashfur speak to his father, the clan deputy, that way? And yet, all the while, Brambleclaw just sat there, looking too exhausted to fight back. His only movements were to stumble to prevent his large frame from being shoved into the sand.

"I don't want to fight you anymore, Ashfur." he rasped, "I'm done."

Ashfur lashed his tail, stalking to face the tabby once more, "And why is that, Brambleclaw?"
Brambleclaw looked up, looking utterly defeated, "I have a family. Maybe I am weak. Maybe they don't need me. But I need them." his eyes narrowed, "If I have to fight for anything- I want to use my last breath knowing it was spent for their safety, not in some petty exchange of insults with you over a quarrel so minor."

Ashfur growled in frustration, but he stood straight, "Do whatever you want, Brambleclaw. But one day- they'll decide they don't need you any more. She'll soon tire of you. You'll see."

And with that, Ashfur turned and darted off, leaving the tabby tom alone on the shore.

Lionpaw blinked in shock as he tried to process all he had just witnessed.

'How long has this rivalry been going on for? How did nobody else notice? Did Brambleclaw really steal Squirrelflight away from Ashfur?

However, any such thoughts raced from his mind as he watched his father's broad shoulders hunch in weariness, his head hanging in defeat, body still shivering against the cold.

Forgetting his earlier doubts, Lionpaw slipped out of the undergrowth and padded over, pressing against Brambleclaw's familiar, large frame.

His father blinked down at him in surprise, "Lionpaw! How long have you-"

"Long enough." Lionpaw muttered, looking at his paws and feeling distress fill him. He wanted to be a kit again, at Squirrelflight's side in the nursery with Jaypaw draped over her back, batting at his ears while Hollypaw scrambled over their mother's paws to join them. Back when he was still too young to realise what all of this meant. How complicated it all was.

Brambleclaw didn't press him anymore, though Lionpaw suspected he'd have a lecture tomorrow about sneaking out. His father sank down to lie on the sandy shore, and Lionblaze curled up tucked at his side, pressed against the soft tabby fur. He closed his eyes, as though the tabby tom's exhaustion were contagious at the simple touch. A feeling of safety overcame him as he felt his father's tongue gently rasp over his head in a comforting manner and heard his deep voice murmur softly, "You're so precious to me. Nothing will ever change that- I'll never regret a thing..."

With those words echoing in his mind, Lionpaw let sleep pull him in, feeling his body relax as the stresses of the day became nothing more than memory.

"Any sign?"
"There's a scent here, but it swerves off!"
"The wind must have blown any clues away!"
Squirrelfight heaved a sigh of frustration, green eyes darting around the forest. Were the situation different, she could have laughed as she heard Dustpelt's yelp of pain and then his voice grumbling under his breath, "I hate this stupid snow. I hate stupid leaf-bare. I hate how everything looks the same and I don't know where I'm going!
Squirrelflight rolled her eyes, twitching her tail, "Where in Starclan's name are they?" she muttered, growing concern in her belly.

"Squirrelflight!"
She pricked her ears at Sorreltail's voice, whirling around almost to run into the tortoiseshell, "Did you find them?"
The older she-cat's whiskers twitched, "Yes, I did."
Squirrelflight stared at her for a moment, "...And?!"

Sorreltail chuckled in amusement at her bristling pelt and wide eyes, "They're fine. I'll get the others and we'll head to the Shadowclan border. You can catch up later."
As she bounded off into the snow, she called over her shoulder, "By the shore of the lake!"
Squirrelflight blinked after her for a moment, before heading towards the shore, confusion itching her like an irritating burr in her pelt.

However, as she poked her head out of a bramble thicket, faced with the wide lake, glancing to her side her eyes widened, then she smiled. Love coursed through her as she spotted the large tabby tom huddled around a smaller golden form that curled tightly against his side.

Purring quietly she padded over, careful to shift as little sand or snow as possible, until she stood over them. She bent down and licked Brambleclaw's ear soothingly, smiling as he opened one amber eye to look up at her. Before he could even think of standing, she shook her head gently, flicking her tail to Lionpaw's sleeping form at his father's flank.

Carefully, she stepped to lie down pressed to her mate's other side, and twitched her ears happily as he shifted his head to lay it over her forepaws. Concluding that the patrol would do fine without her, Squirrelflight gently rested her chin on the back of Brambleclaw's neck, happinss spreading through her.

They'd discover the truth, some day. But for now, they were hers. And she would always be theirs.