Snowfeather blinked affectionately at Littlestrike, her best friend. The ThunderClan elders had always told tales of ruthless, bloodthirsty ShadowClan warriors, but Snowfeather had learned not to believe them. The mottled tom in front of her narrowed his eyes mischievously, a teasing purr rumbling in his throat, "Bet you couldn't swim faster than me!" the white she-cat considered the challenge carefully. It was Greenleaf, so the water would be warm; she'd always wanted to try fish, so maybe she could catch one! "First one around the Lake wins?" she suggested and her friend gave a determined nod. The two set off towards the Lake, and jumped into the water. The water was warmer than either friend had expected, and it dragged at their fur, "First one to swim to the Island, Climb to the top of the Great Oak, run around the clearing twice, and swim back wins!" Littlestrike counted down from three, and the friends launched themselves in, splashing madly. Much to her surprise, swimming came easily to Snowfeather and she soon flashed past her friend. Littlestrike looked shocked as the broad shouldered white she-cat shot from the warm waters and slid silently through the undergrowth at the edge of the clearing. The mottled ShadowClan tom staggered through the bushes just as Snowfeather leaped gracefully from the highest sturdy branch to land on the other side of the clearing, and she flicked his nose with her tail as she passed. The she-cat sat grooming her drying fur while her friend splashed his way over to flop down beside her, "Wow! You're really fast!" he mewed admiringly, then looked up at the moon, which was beginning to set, "Moonset, we'd better go." he mewed regretfully. Snowfeather leaned forward to touch noses with her friend, "Meet me here the night after tomorrow night." She purred. Littlestrike looked gratefully at her, "I will." He promised before turning back to his own territory.
"Gather all those cats skilled enough to call themselves warriors of ShadowClan to hear my words!" Danwstar's summons rang through the air as her warriors padded from their dens. "Warriors of ShadowClan," she began, "Moons ago, before many of us were born; Firestar and the ThunderClan cowards committed a wrong to all ShadowClan cats. At the half moon we shall right that wrong. We shall take back the Twoleg Clearing!" the warriors cheered at her announcement, their eyes shining with enthusiasm. Littlestrike's belly was knotted with worry, for he had heard the elder's tales of the conflict over the Twoleg Clearing. Every tale an elder told seemed to involve ShadowClan being wronged by their neighbors, in the case of the Twoleg clearing, it was ThunderClan.
Littlestrike paced anxiously along the border, waiting for Snowfeather to arrive. He was gathering himself to go and fetch her when the bushes rustled. The small mottled tom leaped back and bushed his fur until he saw his friend shaking leaves from her pelt, "We need to find a new meeting place," she mewed, shaking her fur, "I've every leaf in the forest stuck in my pelt!" She let out an amused purr which died in her throat when she saw the urgency in his face, "What's up?" she asked, looking concerned. Littlestrike was torn, the last thing he wanted to do was wound his best friend, but how could he spill the battle plan? By now, Snowfeather had guessed what he was thinking, and looked sympathetically at him, "Littlestrike," She began, "I can tell something's wrong, so please tell me so that I can help." The mottled tom made up his mind. The she-cat in front of him wouldn't tell her Clanmates, for she cared too much about him to betray him. "Listen, ShadowClan is going to launch an attack on ThunderClan so that we can have the Twoleg Clearing back…" Snowfeather watched, her eyes widening in horror, as he explained every last detail of the plan, "So, do something, anything, just make sure that you're not at the battle." He finished. His friend stared at him, her eyes darkening, "Does Dawnstar know that you're telling me this? Because if she doesn't…"
Snowfeather padded out into the camp, Lionstar following her. She had just told her leader, conveniently forgetting to mention that her friend had told her, instead saying that she had been hunting near the border when some patrol had been speaking about it. Lionstar said, 'As the great Firestar had said, if the Clan faces danger, it should know', Snowfeather zoned out as the meeting progressed, for she already knew what would happen. She tried to look engaged, but really, all she was thinking about was Litttlestrike's warning, 'do something, anything, just make sure that you're not at the battle', Why had Dawnstar paired Littlestrike with her? Had he given something away? It didn't really matter, but it would be nice to know.
Littlestrike marched through the forest. He and his Clanmates were on their way to the Twoleg Clearing. Twilight cast long shadows through the branches. The warriors had a cruel sense of purpose about them, no rage, fury, or hatred shone in their faces, only a calm sort of desperation. Watch out ThunderClan! Thought the young mottled tom gleefully, I bet they won't even show their faces! Littlestrike suddenly felt guilty, his best friend wasn't a coward! He acknowledged the fact that it was he who would've had to shred her to pieces if she had come. A familiar scent washed over him, and Littlestrike shot a sideways glance to where Stormstrike, his former mentor, stood at his shoulder. His eyes glittered with sympathy, "Who are you waiting to see?" the tabby tomcat asked. The question shocked Littlestrike, how did he know? Before he could reply, Stormstrike explained, "I'm not exactly blind at gatherings, and before you tell me that I'm wrong, I understand. Hasn't anyone ever told you about my best friend? Judging by the shocked look on your face, I guess not." The tabby tom gave a bitter laugh, "Well, my best friend is a tom from SkyClan, calls himself Tigersky. We were kits together, the half-Clan son of a ShadowClan warrior/ ThunderClan queen and a half-Clan son of the Shadow/ThunderClan medicine cats. As two outsiders, we took to each other at once, much to the other warriors' disapproval. They didn't want me to have any friends, seeing as my very existence is against the warrior code. He lacked a father, and I a mother, so we shared ours with each other. As we acted like brothers, we soon…" Littlestrike stopped listening; he'd heard the tale many times. As one of the elders' favorites, the story was told often. Soon the clearing came in sight, and the group took up a new tension. Scenting the air, Littlestrike felt a jolt of terror as he realized that Snowfeather hadn't heeded his warning. Why did she have to come? He thought desperately, didn't she hear me when I told her to stay home? He scanned the clearing hopefully, and felt a jolt of relief as he realized that the scent must've been leftover from a patrol. Padding over to Dawnstar, he murmured, "My cat isn't here, what now?" the creamy she-cat contemplated her answer for a moment before responding, "Double back and join the others in the trees. Make sure that you climb up the tree that we agreed that the Droppers would use." Littlestrike turned and raced back through the forest on his way to Tall Pine, the tree that he would climb to join the Droppers. Dawnstar and the senior warriors had decided that there would be three battle groups: the Attackers, who would attack head on; the Backup, who would finish off the ThunderClan cats after the Attackers had weakened their defense; and the Droppers, who would drop from the trees to land on top of the ThunderClan cats and chase them from the clearing. Littlestrike was going to be part of the Attackers, who each had a ThunderClan target, but seeing as he had warned his target (Snowfeather), he would join the Droppers instead.
Triumphant yowling greeted the returning ShadowClan patrol as they padded into the camp. Ivyleaf and her apprentice Cedarstripe padded into the camp to check injuries and were shocked as they saw a motionless body riding high on the shoulders of its Clanmates, its mottled pelt stained with blood. "Littlesrike!" the pair gasped in unison and raced over to assess the damage. The warriors gently laid the body on the ground as the medicine cats approached, "What happened?" Ivyleaf demanded. Stormstrike turned to her, his eyes hollow with grief, "He died a warrior's death," the tabby tom rasped, "two ThunderClan warriors had Dawnstar cornered against a tree and were about to take one of her lives when this brave young warrior," he rested his striped tail on Littlestrike's flank, "jumped in and saved her. Dawnstar escaped, but the ThunderClan cats over powered Littlestrike. One of them slammed Littlestrike's head against a tree, and once he was unconscious," his voice broke and Stormstrike paused to steady it, "they did this." the tabby indicated a long, deep claw wound that stretched from a mottled patch of fur on Littlestrike's neck, all the way to the base of his long, spotted tail. As Ivyleaf stared sadly at the young tom, Cedarstripe commented, "If he was unconscious, then he would've felt nothing. He probably wouldn't have known what was happening." Stormstrike still looked stricken in spite of his Clanmate's reassuring words.
Snowfeather sat quietly in the ThunderClan medicine den as Featherlight, the medicine cat, checked her wounds. The she-cat's face creased with disapproval, and finally she began to speak, "Why in the name of StarClan did you go to that battle? Didn't think at all about them?" she gestured at Snowfeather's belly, which had begun to swell in the past moon. Snowfeather looked at the pale tabby, utterly bewildered, what does she mean? Who are 'them'? She thought. Aloud she mewed, "What do you mean? I'm a warrior; it's my duty to fight for my Clan!" Featherlight gave her a long look, which made Snowfeather rather uncomfortable. Finally Featherlight spoke, "Snowfeather," she began, "you are a warrior, but your Clan won't expect you to fight for a while." When the white she-cat looked confused, the medicine cat added, "You're expecting kits mouse-brain!" Snowfeather stared at her, kits?, she suddenly thought of something. Muttering a hasty goodbye to Featherlight, she dashed for the camp entrance, when did I get this fat?, she wondered as she heaved herself through the tunnel. She was half way out of the thorn tunnel when a familiar mew halted her in her tracks, "Snowfeather! Featherlight sent me to bring you to the nursery!" her mother, Amberbright, called. Snowfeather turned and reluctantly padded back into camp as Amberbright chattered excitedly about how wonderful it was that Snowfeather would be having kits.
By sundown the news had spread throughout the entire Clan. Snowfeather was only too pleased that she would be taken to the Gathering tonight, as it meant that she would see Littlestrike and tell him her news… TIME WARP… Dawnstar stepped forward on her branch of the great oak, and Snowfeather trembled a bit. She hadn't seen Littlestrike at all and turned instead to listen to the ShadowClan leader's report. "It is with great sadness that I must announce the death of our brave warrior, Littlestrike, who gave his life to save me. StarClan will honor such a noble death." She bowed her head and stepped back to let Lionstar take her place. Snowfeather turned and raced to the lake shore. With a grief stricken wail she launched herself into the shadowy depths. Blackness edged the white warrior's vision as she sank. As the warm water cradled her in gentle paws, Snowfeather thought her last thought, "I'm so sorry Littlestrike, I should've done something, but I didn't. Please forgive me…" With that, Snowfeather closed her eyes and let the light vanish forever…