Title: Rise of the Russet Moon

Author: Moonlit Rainfall

Catagory: Warriors (Books)

Characters: Russetfur

Genre: Hurt/Comfort/Romance

Summary: Exiled from her Clan, Russetfur reflects on the life she had, her mentor, her siblings, and her best friends. Her story is one of fear, of hard work, arguments, laughter, and secrets. A story of love, and how that love turned her into an exile.

Blackfoot was snoring. Jaggedtooth was rolled over onto his back and scratched his large belly with one claw. Boulder was curled into a tiny ball and half-hidden beneath the shadow of a fern, always trying to be as small and sneaky as possible. It was what the BloodClan cat was always trying to do, and Russetfur had noticed it a long, long time ago. Before the cat had even formally joined ShadowClan. Before they had been exiled from ShadowClan.

Russetfur sat with her paws tucked beneath her neatly, her large green eyes moving from sleeping cat to sleeping cat. Slender, long-legged and with a dark, beautiful red coat, Russetfur was the only she-cat among the rogues and she didn't mind it. Many of these cats she had grown up with and played with as apprentices. She had fought and hunted and killed beside them, and her gender meant nothing, not when she had a set of teeth and claws and the willingness to use them mercilessly.

Her green orbs slid over to the largest of the cats sleeping, his strange, flat fat upturned, his matted and curling fur thick and mottled brown. Brokenstar, the true leader of ShadowClan, was a fearsome sight even as he slept. His claws flexed as he dreamed, and Russetfur could imagine those claws sinking into her shoulders and winced. He was a leader to be proud of, a leader that would bring the Clan to greatness. A leader that would destroy the other Clans.

And yet…

Russetfur tore her eyes from Brokenstar as he stomach contracted painfully. She didn't want to think of him any longer. And she didn't want to look at him either. She turned back to the sleeping cats again: Blackfoot, Jaggedtooth, Boulder, Brokenstar… there was one cat missing. Russetfur stood quietly and stepped between the dry, crackly leaves as she moved away from her sleeping comrades.

They slept along the side of the Thunderpath just outside of ThunderClan territory, where Brokenstar felt the need to steal as much prey as necessary. The Thunderpath was quiet tonight, as it was most nights, and Russetfur felt no anxiety as she padded up with slope to where the brown, slender shape of Clawface sat, scarred face tilted up towards the moon. The wind fell still, the crickets ceased chirping. Heavy, thick silence covered the two cats and the Thunderpath, with the full moon shining down on them palely.

Russetfur sat beside him and said nothing. Clawface, too, was silent, but for different reasons. He was built long and lean and powerful, more hunter than warrior. But the tom had killed more than Brokenstar, and had lived for not much longer than Russetfur herself. A fresh cut dragged down his shoulder. It would scar over, just like all of the other cuts and bites Clawface had accumulated over the years. As healthy as the rogue was, he scarred painfully easily.

"This night reminds me of a night a long time ago," Russetfur said finally. Clawface did not even twitch an ear to acknowledge that he heard her, but she knew he did.

"It's almost like a dream, isn't it? But you remember it, and I remember it. A dream we had together as kits. A dream of kits, before they woke into the world of the warrior."

Half a muscle in Clawface's shoulder twitched. He remembered what she was speaking about. And they both remembered it all too clearly.

I will serve him. I will serve him. I will serve him. I will serve him. I will serve him. I will serve him. I will serve him. I will serve him. I will serve him. I will serve him.

Clawface and Russetfur both lowered their heads as the weight of those words, of the memory of those words, came crashing down on them. Like the buzz of a fly that became the crashing waves on rocks and then the roar of the earth as it shook, the seemed to echo louder and louder in the silence of the night.

I will serve him. I will serve him. I will serve him. I will serve him. I will serve him. I will serve him. I will serve him. I will serve him. I will serve him. I will serve him. I will serve him. I will serve him. I will serve him. I will serve him. I will serve him. I will serve him. I will serve him. I will serve him

Clawface's shoulders were shaking, his fur online his spine prickled and his ears pressed flat to his forehead. Russetfur was pinned beneath the memory they shared as well, could feel it pressing down on her and forcing her to the ground, forcing her to submit to the memory, to the horror of it. Of that dark den, to the claws and monotone voice. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to escape the memory and fell back further. To other times. To happier times. To the dream of kits, before the world of the warrior…

"Dive, Russetpaw, dive! You need to be faster than that!" Fernshade stood, flicking her tail irritably as her little ginger apprentice hurtled forward against her sparring partner and just wriggled out of an attack to her chest.

"Oh shush, Fernshade, let your apprentice fight. She won't have you shouting over her shoulder in battle," said Archeye coolly, licking his claws. His own apprentice, Jaggedpaw, had just tackled Cloudpaw in the stomach and knocked the wind out of him. He half turned to the ginger tom, "Good job, keep at it!"

Russetpaw gritted her teeth and dodged beneath Clawpaw's outstretched arms, swiping at his stomach. The skinny brown tom sucked his stomach up, though, dodging, and rolled to the side. In a flash he was back on his feet and leaping at her, and Russetpaw dove, rolling forward to avoid him and scrambling to her paws again, raking her claws across the hard-packed dirt and raising a cloud of dust. Both she and Clawpaw were panting heavily and neither had landed a significant blow. They had been sparring for a while now, longer than usual, and were still on their first spar while Jaggedpaw and Cloudpaw were finishing their second.

There was an exhilarated smile pulled across Clawpaw's face, pulling the scar across his face and eyes taunt. He wasn't much older than her and wasn't much larger, but had longer legs and stronger shoulders than her. Russetpaw wasn't nearly as fast or strong as he, but for some reason she and Clawpaw always struggled against each other when they sparred.

"That's it!" Jaggedpaw wailed, "I'm done!"

The big ginger tom was pinned beneath Cloudpaw, who was puffing hard and covered in dust. He winced when Jaggedpaw battered weakly at his stomach but held him firm, and Jaggedpaw flopped over weakly, utterly defeated. Fernshade and Archeye laughed a little to each other, and Russetpaw pricked her ears as Cloudpaw climbed off of Jaggedpaw, then darted over and tackled him herself.

"Gerrof!" Jaggedpaw growled, tossing her about, then pouncing on her himself. Russetpaw wriggled out of his grip and danced away, and all of the cats burst into laughter now. Fernshade caught up to Russetpaw and trapped her between her forepaws, tickling the she-cat with her nose, and Archeye padded over to Jaggedpaw and patted him over, looking to see if he was hurt. It was brother and sister mentoring brother and sister – Archeye and Fernshade were twins, and Russetpaw and Jaggedpaw were twins. They often trained together and had grown closer because of it.

"Cloudpaw cheats!" Jaggedpaw complained.

"I don't cheat, I'm just better than you," snorted the white tom. He was a good four moons older.

"And faster, you need to work on your reaction speed, Jaggedpaw," said Archeye.

"But I'm strong," Jaggedpaw frowned, "Doesn't that count for something?"

"Of course it does," soothed Archeye, "But the best warriors are balanced between strong and fast. Too fast and your blows may not do as much damage. Too strong and you may not hit your opponent."

"Clawpaw's pretty even when it comes to fast and strong," Russetpaw piped up.

"That's right," Fernshade laughed a little, "Alright, training's done for now. Let's go over what everyone needs to do. Cloudpaw, what do you think?"

"I need to get faster, I wasn't able to dodge Jaggedpaw very well today and wasn't able to land as many blows as I wanted."

"Excellent. You might also want to work on strengthening your back legs, your pouncing could be stronger. Jaggedpaw?"

"I need to get faster," he said glumly.

Fernshade's smile was as gentle as she was, "We can work on that tomorrow. Russetpaw?"

"Erm..." Russetpaw shuffled her paws, "I'm… I need to work on…"

"Tactics." Said Clawpaw quietly. Russetpaw turned to look at him. The skinny brown tom's yellow eyes held her steadily, "I was able to read you like an open book. You need to be more careful about where you look when you attack and how you attack."

"I'd say the same thing," said Archeye, "And what do you need to work on, Clawpaw?"

"I need to get faster," Clawpaw turned and fixed his steady yellow eyes on Archeye, "Russetpaw is beginning to outpace me."

"Russetpaw is probably the fastest out of all of you, you don't have to worry about her outpacing you, everyone is strongest at something different."

Clawpaw just shrugged, "I still think I need to be faster."

"I'd agree with that." Said a mysterious, silky voice. All six heads whipped around to see a powerful, mottled body enter the clearing, his yellow eyes high and proud. All six cats dipped their head slightly to their leader, Raggedstar, in respect.

"Raggedstar," Clawpaw said quietly to his mentor, lowering his head. Raggedstar nodded to his apprentice.

"You all are coming along fantastically. Along with Blackpaw I'm not surprised the elders call you the Future's Five. You will all make powerful warriors." Every little apprentice chest swelled at the leader's words, and Russetpaw felt her tail quiver wrapped around her paws. Raggedstar looked at each one of them fondly, and then; "You should all head back to the camp and have a nice dinner. Clawpaw, may I talk to you for a moment?"

Fernshade, Archeye, and the apprentices dipped their head to Raggedstar and stood and left, leaving the leader with his apprentice. Russetpaw bounced along next to Cloudpaw, feeling a little thrill in her chest whenever his tail accidentally brushed hers. Cloudpaw was the oldest apprentice and the most handsome cat in the Clan… Russetpaw flushed a little just thinking about him.

"You did really well today, Cloudpaw!" she piped up. Cloudpaw looked down at her – he was a bit taller than her, and smiled.

"Thanks, you did really well too, Russetpaw!"

Butterflies trembled in Russetpaw's belly, she could melt just about now!

Ahead of them, Fernshade paused and glanced back at the clearing, her forehead furrowed in thought. Russetpaw stopped by her mentor and looked up at her.

"Is something wrong, Fernshade?" she asked.

"I left that finch we caught on the way to the training hollow." She said thoughtfully, "I should go back and get it so we can eat it tonight."

Russetpaw's ears pricked, "I can get it for you! I'll run real fast!"

Fernshade looked dubious, "Do you know the way back to camp?"

"Of course, we've been to the training hollow a thousand times, I could run there and back in the dark with my eyes closed!"

"Isn't that the same thing?" sniffed Jaggedpaw. Russetpaw shot him a sour look. Fernshade bopped her on the nose.

"Alright then, run and get it. Don't take too long, alright?"

But Russetpaw was already gone, bounding through the marshy ground and between the pine trees back to the training hollow. If she got the finch, she could share it with Cloudpaw! He always talked about how finch was his favorite prey, and he never was able to eat enough of it. As she neared the hollow she slowed, putting her nose to the ground to sniff out where her mentor had buried the finch.

"Slow? SLOW? How about stupid?" A harsh voice cut through the air and Russetpaw froze. The voice was suspiciously like…

Russetpaw sank to her belly and crept forward to the bushes surrounding the training hollow just in time to see a skinny brown shape hurled to the ground by Raggedstar's powerful claws. Russetpaw felt a cold rock form in her stomach as she saw blood splatter on the ground, and Clawpaw slowly stumble to his feet. Raggedstar loomed over his apprentice, his face like a thunderhead.

"I watched the entire thing. You couldn't even land a hit on Russetpaw, Russetpaw! An apprentice a full two moons younger than you, who just started her battle training half a moon ago."

"She is fast, Raggedstar," said Clawpaw, looking down at his feet. A nasty cut along his jawline bled slowly.

Raggedstar snarled and whipped his claws forward again, throwing Clawpaw to the ground. Clawpaw attempted to stand but his mentor loomed over him and struck him again on the head, then again on the shoulder and again on the throat. Clawpaw coughed, blood trickling from his mouth. Russetpaw pressed herself lower and lower into the ground as she watched Raggedstar beat his apprentice, wounding him in ways that only warriors did in battle. When he was finally done Raggedstar stepped back, panting. Clawpaw was still, his side rising and falling slowly.

"What are you?" snarled Raggedstar. The answer from Clawpaw was weak, almost a whisper:

"I am nothing."

"Where are you?"

"I am nowhere."

"Who do you spare?"

"I spare no one."

Raggedstar bent over his apprentice, pressing his claws into his already scarred face, "You are a killer. My killer. You do what I tell you to do. You kill who I want you to kill. You are a monster, and you will become stronger than that apprentice, or I will have you kill her!"

"Yes, Raggedstar." Clawpaw's voice was weak.

"Your mother, Lizardstripe, was my assassin before she died, every ShadowClan leader takes an assassin when they gain their nine lives. You will be Brokenkit's, you will serve him as you serve me. Without question. Without a second thought. Tomorrow we will train together at the carrionplace. Be there before the sun rises."

"Yes, Raggedstar."

Russetpaw squeezed her eyes shut as Raggedstar raised his claws and brought them down on Clawpaw again. And then the clearing was silent. When Russetpaw opened her eyes again Raggedstar was gone and Clawpaw was rubbing dirt into his wounds to staunch the blood flow. Russetpaw made to step out into the hollow, but something held her back, and she withdrew the paw she had outstretched. Abruptly, Clawpaw whirled, and his steady yellow eyes met her. And Russetpaw could do nothing as he turned and left the clearing without saying a word, and without indicating anything was any different than it always was.