Prologue

Darkleaf padded through ThunderClan territory, longing piercing her heart.

Her brother was exiled from ThunderClan, and WindClan took him in. She only got to see him at Gatherings, which was too long away, yet when she was there, it was too short. And sometimes, she didn't even get chosen to go.

She wasn't satisfied with the scenery of ThunderClan, either.

She stared down at her paws.

An idea popped into Darkleaf's head.

What if she left ThunderClan? Nobody would know and maybe not even care! She would escape through the Dirtplace, then cover herself in mud, and then she could see her brother!

It was perfect.

Darkleaf woke up, the scent of her brother faint in her mind. She looked around. Gladly, every warrior was sleeping, though she knew two were guarding camp.

She slowly got to her paws, holding up her tail so it wouldn't brush anyone.

She padded past the other sleeping bodies, careful to not step on anyone.

As she emerged from the bush den, Darkleaf swallowed back a hiss as she realized she made too much noise.

One cat guarding camp, named Greystorm, turned around. Darkleaf stared at her former mentor.

Greystorm narrowed his eyes, suspicious. "What are you doing up this late?" he mewed. Darkleaf's ear twitched. "I'm just going to make dirt." She hoped the moon didn't reflect her sparkling eyes.

Greystorm nodded, then turned again to face the camp entrance.

Darkleaf gave herself a nod, then ducked into the Dirtplace.

Although her pelt snagged on the tough leaves and brambles, she hardly made a noise. She pulled away some vines with her claws, then squeezed through.

She felt pride swell in her belly. "And now, I just need to find a place to start."

Shadefire's shoulders hunched. She looked over to the other warriors in her den. She felt a flash of relief when she saw that no one was awake.

ShadowClan didn't trust Shadefire. She was born from a rogue who terrorized every Clan, who killed leaders through kits with no mercy.

Shadefire shuddered as she remembered her mother, whom named Ruffle. Not a very intimidating name, the tabby thought. But the Clans were proved wrong.

She could only think of one cat who trusted her; her apprentice, Graypaw. Maybe she could bribe him and his friend, Breezepaw.

Shadefire got to her paws, and padded out of the den. She saw Stormfang's nose wrinkle, and hers did too. Her mouth pulled into a wry grin. Probably pleading for my scent to disappear.

She shook her pelt then padded over to the Apprentice's den. She ducked under, then prodded Graypaw with a paw.

"Come on. Get up. We're going to go on an early training session." Her apprentice's eyes opened slowly. "Shadefire?"

"Yeah, it's me." She gave him an unamused look. "And, I got Larchflame's permission; Breezepaw can come along, too." Shadefire knew she sounded forced, but it would do.

"Really?" Graypaw seemed more awake. His bright eyes glanced at the sleeping body of Breezepaw. He smiled then touched her neck with his nose.

"Breezepaw?" The she-cat's yellow eyes opened. She didn't say anything. "We're going on a Moonhigh training session with Shadefire."

Breezepaw looked up at Shadefire. "Why not with Larchflame?" Shadefire sighed, looking down. "You know how he hates me." Her mother killed his parents, and he thought Ruffle's traits were passed down to Shadefire.

Shadefire looked up, the bitterness in her eyes gone. "Now, hurry up. This is important."

As she let the two -and only- apprentices get up, she scented the air for camp guards. No one. She sighed. Featherstar is an idiot; she was only made deputy for her looks. Someone could raid our camp any second now.

As Graypaw and Breezepaw emerged from the den, Shadefire told them no one was guarding camp. As they padded through the entrance of camp, Breezepaw looked up at the warrior.

"Why do we have to make sure no one is guarding camp?"

Shadefire looked down at her. "Because this is special training that only I know of. If someone -the camp guards- saw it, then they would want to learn it too. They would tell our Clanmates-" she choked and the word, "-and they would want to learn too. And, well, you can see how that would be bad, right?"

Breezepaw shook her head, while Graypaw shrugged. "Kinda."

Shadefire stifled a sigh. "You'll learn once we start."

Mintfur stared ahead, into nothing. The reeds tickled his face, but Mintfur gave no reply.

The white tom was a peculiar cat.

Even though he was pure RiverClan, he had always wondered what it was like to become a rogue. His mother always questioned him about it, but he would always answer the same thing; That he just wondered what it would be like.

But today, he decided, was the day he would become a former RiverClan cat.

Nightclaw watched Lightstar's muscles ripple as he flexed onto the Tallrock. Stupid leader. Prancing around camp, seeking compliments about how soft his pelt is. Nightclaw's face screwed up.

The black tom could still feel blood sticking to his paws and muzzle, his former Clanmate limp in front of him. He had killed Heatherpelt; a stupid she-cat designed to go after every tom who was born.

He knew he was being exiled for killing a useless she-cat.

Lightstar gazed gingerly at the cats surrounding him, then threw his head back. "Nightclaw is exiled for killing innocent Heatherpelt!"

If only Darkleaf was here. He hadn't thought of his sister until now. Nightclaw was also exiled from his sister's Clan, ThunderClan.

Lightstar interrupted his thoughts. "You are exiled! Go!" Nightclaw narrowed his eyes. Shut up. I know.

"Like I would listen to you." Nightclaw sneered, pulling his mouth back into a wide grin. The Clan gasped. An apprentice pushed himself through the crowd. "No one ever disrespects Lightstar!"

"Traitor!" A queen bellowed. Well, yeah, I'm a rogue now.

Lightstar's tail lashed. "Get out, or I'll escort you!" Nightclaw gave him a look. Oh no, an escort. I'll make sure I never tread on WindClan territory again.

Lightstar leaped off the Tallrock, then swaggered over to Nightclaw. "I'll take you." He then marched over to camp entrance, beckoning with his tail.

Nightclaw let out a sigh, then reluctantly followed Lightstar. The cream-colored tom purred. "You did it! You followed my orders! If I didn't know better, I'd let you back into my Clan!"

Nightclaw unsheathed his claws. "'If I didn't know better.'" Lightstar sighed. "You don't know humor when you see it."

Lightstar started padding away, and Nightclaw followed him. "That's not humor." The black tom mumbled wryly.

"Quiet."

After a bit, Lightstar stopped in his tracks. "Here, you stop here. Don't follow me and don't raid camp. If you do those things, you're fine."

The cream-colored tom yawned, scented the way they came, then followed the trail like a kit following his mother.

Nightclaw looked after him, then disappeared through the heather.

A/N
It's funny how my favourite Clan are complete idiots