"Murderer!"

"You did this!"

"This is all your fault!"

"Shame on you!"

Rainclaw lowered his head and hissed to himself as the insults rained down. Ravenstar, sitting neatly on top of the Clanrock, looked down at Rainclaw in disgust.

"Rainclaw, from this moment on, you will be exiled from ShadowClan for murdering Sunnystep. We hope we will never see you near the lake again."

This is all so mouse-brained. Rainclaw thought. This Clan's logic is just messed up. See a cat next to a body? Assume he's the murder and kick him out for life.

"Rainclaw…" A voice murmured, and Rainclaw looked up to see his best and only friend, Petalbright, staring sadly at him.

The threatening yowls of Rainclaw's former clanmates seemed to be drowned out by Petalbright's next words.

"I'm coming with you."

The Clan fell silent for a moment, then exploded into hissing and snarling. Both Petalbright and Rainclaw had to dodge the flying attacks that were thrown at them.

The deputy, Yarrowtail, marched forward. He hissed at the duo. "If you are ever seen on our territory or near the lake ever again, the Clans have the right to kill both of you. Begone."

Rainclaw, saying nothing, whipped around and stalked out of the camp, Petalbright trudging uneasily behind him.

As soon as they were out of the camp, they bolted to the border and across it, the threats and enraged yowls still ringing in their ears.

Rainclaw looked at Petalbright, guilt on his face. "You didn't have to."

Petalbright frowned. "What's the point of becoming the best friend of someone if you're just going to ditch them when they get exiled?" She asked.

Rainclaw just sighed. They were silent for a moment, and suddenly Rainclaw's pelt prickled in fear. "Petalbright, do you think I murdered Sunnystep?"

"Of course not. Why would I be here if I think you killed her?"

Silence followed these words. Petalbright squinted up at the sky, and after a long moment, she said, "We need to find a place to sleep."

Rainclaw looked over his shoulder at the ShadowClan border. "It'll have to be far from here. If the Clans find out we're sleeping right at the border, they'll have a fit."

"Right." Petalbright said, then proceeded to turn and walk away. Blinking, Rainclaw trotted after her.

After seemingly ages of walking, Petalbright stopped abruptly. Rainclaw crashed into her and stumbled backwards, but she amazingly didn't seem to notice.

"It's beautiful." She said.

Rainclaw steadied himself and padded to her side. "What is?"

Petalbright nodded to a clearing in front of her. Rainclaw's gaze drifted to the clearing, and he let out a small gasp.

The clearing was small, with bushes, brambles, and wild flowers decorating the edges. a shallow stream ran down the middle, hardly making a sound. Colorful pebbles were scattered around near the stream, shining brightly in the setting sun's light.

Petalbright padded into the clearing and cleared the stream in a single leap. She nodded to a shaded path of grass. "We can make some nests here."

Rainclaw leapt over the stream and landed next to her. He nodded. "Yeah, it looks good."

Petalbright began scraping together some nests, using moss, cobwebs, and a few fallen feathers, while Rainclaw walked along the edge of the clearing, reinforcing the natural 'walls' so they wouldn't get any unwelcome visitors in the night.

By the time Rainclaw had finished weaving the last bit of bracken into the wall, Petalbright took a step back and called out; "The nests are ready."

"Aight." Rainclaw called back, and made his way to the corner where Petalbright had laid their nests out. He flopped onto his nest and closed his eyes, tired form all the walking he had done. Petalbright laid in her own nest, and soon enough he could hear her soft sores as she slept. But he was still there, laying awake with his eyes closed, haunted by the events of the day.

And when fe finally feel asleep, he was still haunted by the screams, the threats, and the bloody images.

—

"Three mice, a thrush, and a few voles. You have to stop pushing yourself, Rainclaw. You could have been sleeping ,and instead you were out hunting prey while they slept in their burrows. Do you know how creepy that is? And unhealthy?"

Rainclaw was as silent as a rock as Bloomtail babbled on. He wasn't paying much attention to what the senior warrior was saying, and instead was staring at the nursery. Sunnystep had her kits a moon ago, and Rainclaw still hand't seen them.

After a moment, Bloomtail just sighed, shook his head slowly, and shoved Rainclaw's catches into the fresh-kill pile. :You could have at least caught a toad near the lake." He mumbled. "Some cats are dying for a toad or two."

Rainclaw nodded, got to his paws, and padded to the nursery. He thrust himself into the den, and was met with the sound of kits mewling.

Rainclaw chuckled. "Sunnystep, have you been feeding those kits?" He said, and blinked at her. She stared down at her kits, which were nestled at her side, and said nothing. He frowned. "Are you alright? Do you need water? Prey?"

Only when Sunnystep continued to stay silent did he get the urge to look into her eyes.

The gray coldness of her eyes instantly scared him, and Rainclaw felt like he was on the verge of screaming.

Sunnystep was dead.

The kits' cries grew louder, but Rainclaw was too shocked to hear their cries. His eyes drifted to Sunnystep's side. No injuries there. He looked at her neck, and cringed. A bite decorated the back of her neck, dry blood lining the outside. She had been dead for a while; her body had become so stiff that there killer had put her in the position she was in to make her look alive.

Rainclaw couldn't take it. StarClan forgive a cat for being so sickened, but he turned and threw up.

Rainclaw? Are you alright? I heard you retching…" The medicine cat, Aloewish, poked her head in, holding a bundle of herbs that Rainclaw guessed was borage in her jaws. She flinched as he heard the kits. "Is something wrong? Why are the kits crying? Sunnystep, are you out of milk?"

It took a longer amount of time for Aloewish to figure out she was dead.

"She's dead!" Aloewish screeched, dropping the borage bundle. She turned furiously to Rainclaw. "You killed her! You traitor! She had kits! How could you be so heartless?"

"I didn't kill her!" Rainclaw cried, but Aloewish didn't seem to hear. She pounced on him and pinned him down rather easily, and bared her teeth at him. "Murderers don't deserve to live." She hissed.

Rainclaw couldn't believe it. The medicine cat had turned from furious to murderous in heartbeats.

Warriors began spilling into the nursery, obviously coming at the sound of Aloewish's screams and yowls.

It didn't take very long for them to realize what was happening, and soon enough Rainclaw was being dragged out. He kicked and screamed, and everything blurred. They tossed him to the side, leaving a few cats to guard him as the chaos went on.

Soon enough, the Clan's fury led them to come up with one 'rational' solution; exile Rainclaw.

—

After that surreal memory, came a nightmare.

Rainclaw woke up in a sweat, and thankfully in reality. He went limp in his nest, trying hard to remember his nightmare. But, no matter how hard he tried, his nightmare had been lost, pushed into the back of his mind. All Rainclaw remembered was that it seemed to be a twisted version of the vents of the day prior.

"Wake up." Petalbright nudged Rainclaw in the side, and he sat up, blinking. "I'm up." He grumbled.

Petalbright blinked softly at him with wide yees. "Did you have nightmares?"

Rainclaw hesitated, then nodded. "Yeah."

"Do you miss the Clan? The Clans in general?"

"Yes."

"What about Clan life? The code? Working together with others?"

"Yes?" Rainclaw was confused by Petalbright's questions.

"How about we start out own Clan?"

Rainclaw paused to think. He nodded. That idea sounded just fine.