This story was written for Veni0Vidi0Vici by Ruining Hopes and Dreams and Siamese Kitty. Happy birthday, Veni. We hope you don't cry over our Australian English and that you enjoy reading this.

As for anyone else reading this story, we hope you like it.

Thanks go to Jimmy (Wolfblaze ut etiam Jimmystar) for Beta reading.

-Hannah and Jess

Rising Ashes

It was a bright and sunny morning when the littermates Smokepaw and Cloudpaw sneaked out of camp.

"Come on, Cloudpaw!" Smokepaw mewed to his sister.

"I'm not sure this is such a good idea..." Cloudpaw told him. She kept looking around her, expecting to see some of the Clan's warriors come and admonish them for sneaking out.

Smokepaw rolled his eyes. His sister was being much too cautious. They were almost warriors, after all. A small outing out of the camp was hardly anything bad. He gave a flick of his tail and moved into the forest, heading for a small clearing where ShadowClan found the majority of their prey.

Cloudpaw gave a sniff of disapproval, obviously annoyed that her brother hadn't listened to her. After a few moments, she followed him, her fluffy white tail held high.

She soon reached the clearing, where Smokepaw had already caught a mouse. The smell of fresh-kill filled her nose, and Cloudpaw forgot about the worry that had been bothering her since they had left camp.

The two apprentices continued to hunt, managing to catch enough prey to justify their absence from camp. Cloudpaw had just managed to kill a plump shrew when Smokepaw's ears perked up.

"Do you hear that?"

"What?" Cloudpaw asked. She looked at her brother, who seemed to be intently concentrating on something.

Snf... Snf...

"Did you hear that?"

Cloudpaw strained her ears. "No. I don't know what you're talking about."

"I'm going to go check it out," Smokepaw mewed, curiosity taking precedence over everything else. The grey tabby had vanished before Cloudpaw could call for him to wait.

The white apprentice took one step forward before changing her mind. She took a look at the trees surrounding the clearing. They normally looked welcoming, but Cloudpaw thought they looked oddly tall and menacing that day. All of her worry suddenly returned, the she-cat stared unblinkingly at the place where Smokepaw had left the clearing. She was ready to chase after him in an instant.

Smokepaw let his sharp ears guide him as he followed the noise. He could tell he was getting closer as the noise became clearer and louder.

Out of the corner of his eye, the tabby saw a black and white blur dash from a bush. His instincts warning him that he was in mortal peril, Smokepaw leapt out of the way just in time. By luck, he landed near the base of a tree, and the tom clambered up as fast as he could. Solely focused on escaping the huge beast, he paid no attention to what it was. He could tell that he was more agile than the black and white monster, but he knew he was completely outmatched in matters of speed and strength. He only hoped that the beast couldn't climb…

Once he had climbed as high as he could, Smokepaw turned to see what had attacked him so violently. With a shudder, he realised that it was a badger. He could easily remember hearing stories from the elders about these vicious creatures.

Thinking fast, the grey tabby saw an escape route. If he could run across a thin branch that extended to the neighbouring tree, he could sneak past the badger and run back to camp. The warriors would know what to do.

Putting a paw down on the branch, Smokepaw cautiously tested his weight. The branch held, and the tabby slowly moved forward, entirely focused on balancing.

He was so engrossed in his task that he didn't hear the snap until it was too late. The branch plummeted towards the ground, Smokepaw yowling the whole way down. He was only in the air for a heartbeat, but it felt like a lifetime.

The badger extended her claws, intending to catch the little creature who had dared trespass in her territory.

She propelled her body forward, her front paw arching down to catch the puny invader. Instead of hitting its head like she had planned, her claws caught its side. A long scratch ran from the intruder's ear to its leg, and the badger stepped back, satisfied as the trespasser collapsed. He would not bother her again.

Cloudpaw paced agitatedly, waiting for Smokepaw to return. Suddenly, she heard a loud yowl.

"Cloudpaw! Smokepaw! You mouse-brained apprentices!"

"Darkflight," Cloudpaw mewed, relieved. She bounded up to her mentor. Darkflight always knew what to do. She saw that the black warrior had brought along several other cats.

Darkflight raised a paw and batted Cloudpaw lightly on the head.

"You silly apprentice. Sneaking out of camp? I would expect those sorts of things from your brother, but not you."

Cloudpaw guiltily scuffed her feet.

"Where is Smokepaw?"

The white apprentice mumbled an answer under her breath, ashamed she hadn't brought it up sooner.

"What?" Darkflight bent down to hear her apprentice better.

"Smokepaw heard a noise and decided to follow it, but he never came back."

"Foxtail, Shrewfur."

The mentioned warriors immediately began to scent the missing apprentice out. They sniffed the air carefully, trying to work out which direction Smokepaw had travelled in. Suddenly, the red tom Foxtail stopped in horror.

"Darkflight, I smell... badger."

All the cats in the clearing stood still and silent for a moment. A few moons ago, a badger loose in the forest had killed many cats in ShadowClan. The very word struck fear into their hearts.

Smokepaw woke to a blazing pain in his side. He immediately shifted, attempting to ease the throbbing pain he felt from his right ear to his back leg.

"Don't move, mouse-brain!" He heard the familiar voice of Gingerpelt off in the distance. The medicine cat hurried over to where he lay. "Take these." She placed a couple of poppy seeds right by his mouth, and the apprentice half-heartedly lapped them up. He realised that somehow, he was in the medicine cat den.

"Am I dreaming?" he wondered. He couldn't remember being taken there, and he certainly wouldn't have managed to make it back to camp on his own.

"Cloudpaw," he realised. She must have fetched help when he hadn't returned. "I'll have to thank her when I next see her," was his last coherent thought before he fell back into unconsciousness.

"Why can't I see him?" the apprentice whined. "He's my brother."

"He's in a lot of pain, and we don't know exactly what will happen yet," Darkflight told her. "At the moment, no one is to see him but Gingerpelt and Adderstar."

The white apprentice sighed and went to lie in the apprentice den. No cat was permitted to leave camp without at least three others, and two of the cats had to be warriors.

"Cheer up, Cloudpaw," mewed Blackpaw, the only other apprentice in ShadowClan. "He's Smokepaw. You know what he's like. He never gives up."

Cloudpaw knew that. She knew it well. But somehow, she knew that this occasion was different. Her brother had been clawed by a badger, for StarClan's sake. She also knew that Blackpaw was only trying to help, so she mewed, "Thanks, Blackpaw."

"Do you want to see if some warriors will go hunting with us?" the small black she-cat asked. "It might take your mind off things."

"I'd rather—" Cloudpaw wasn't particularly interested in hunting at the moment, but when she saw the look in Blackpaw's eyes, she changed her mind. "Okay."

"This isn't that bad," Cloudpaw thought. She sniffed the ground, catching scent of a mouse. The apprentice was hunting far away from the clearing where she had been with Smokepaw. The two warriors with them, Oakclaw and Silverstrike, were taking it in turns to keep watch.

The white she-cat crept forwards carefully, taking slow and measured pawsteps. She leapt with an almost silent hiss, landing on top of the mouse. With a controlled swipe, she ended its life right there.

Just then, she saw Oakclaw motioning her over with his tail, his eyes filled with worry. Blackpaw and Silverstrike were already standing next to the huge tabby warrior. She hurried to stand next to Blackpaw.

"There's badger scent wafting over from that direction," Oakclaw told them. Cloudpaw immediately felt pale, but she continued to listen to the warrior's instructions. "Cloudpaw and Blackpaw, I want the two of you to go back to camp and get Adderstar to send a patrol of warriors to help us out. This badger dies today."

The two apprentices ran as fast as they could in the direction of camp, not speaking.

"Adderstar! Adderstar!" Cloudpaw yowled as she skidded into camp, Blackpaw right by her side.

"Cloudpaw? What is it?"

"We were hunting... with Oakclaw and Silverstrike..." The apprentice's words came between short gasps of breath.

Blackpaw took over. "Oakclaw scented... he scented badger."

"He wanted you to send a patrol of warriors to help them," Cloudpaw added, starting to recover.

Adderstar turned immediately. "Darkflight! Foxtail! Brackenclaw! Lightstep! Hawkwing!"

The warriors assembled in the centre of camp by their leaders' call.

"Hawkwing, I want you to lead this patrol—" Adderstar glanced at Cloudpaw.

"To the clearing near Fourtrees," the apprentice filled in.

"Yes, Adderstar," the deputy meowed. His tail flicked once, and the other warriors followed him out of camp.

Smokepaw awoke, his vision blurred and his thoughts hazy.

"Cloudpaw?" he asked, once his sight returned to normal. His sister was standing nearby, watching him.

"Smokepaw!"

"Yes, that's me," the grey tabby mewed.

"Does it hurt?"

Smokepaw thought it was a stupid question, but he responded anyways. "Yes, it does."

"How are you?" Cloudpaw's voice was filled with concern.

"I'm... bored, to be quite honest," Smokepaw admitted. "I can't wait until I'm healed and I can go back to training."

He saw her eyes lose some of the glow they had held before, but decided it was a trick of the light.

"Smokepaw, you do realise—"

"I won't be going back in a matter of days? Yeah, I know that."

Again, some of the glow disappeared. Starting to get a little worried, Smokepaw let his head collapse back onto the moss.

"I'll come back later," Cloudpaw promised him.

"She thinks I'll never be well enough to return to training," Smokepaw realised.

"I'll just have to prove her wrong."

"We did it!" came the triumphant call as the patrol walked back into camp. All of them were nursing minor injuries, and Oakclaw and Foxtail had more severe scratches.

But all of them were focusing on the more important—the badger would not be harming any more ShadowClan cats.

Cloudpaw tried to be happy, she really did. But all she could think of was the way Smokepaw had looked when Darkflight and Shrewfur carried him into camp after the attack—his fur matted with blood, his body limp like a dead mouse.

He was still so injured, yet he was sure that he would recover to become a warrior. She didn't want to crush her brother's dreams, but they were unrealistic. He would never be a warrior…

Smokepaw tried everything he could to become stronger. He ate all his fresh-kill, began to move around the medicine den, and talked to all his visitors.

He could now walk short distances without his scar aching every step of the way. Even Cloudpaw had started to listen when he told her he'd be back in training in no time.

Soon, he felt he was well enough to start apprentice training again. Gingerpelt, however, had other ideas.

"No, and that is final." Gingerpelt continued to arrange her herbs. "You are not well enough to go back to apprentice training. If you want to begin your duties again, you can start by helping the elders.

"I'm well enough to train again!" the grey tabby insisted. He leapt into the air, used his left paw to swipe at an imaginary enemy, and ignored the twinge that he was now used to feeling whenever he moved.

Gingerpelt still didn't look convinced. Smokepaw started to beg. "Please. I've already missed out on so much! If I start training again now, I might still become a warrior at the same time as Cloudpaw!"

Gingerpelt looked at Smokepaw wearily. "Alright. You can go back to training. However, if you feel the slightest bit of pain, you are to stop immediately. Do you understand?"

Smokepaw nodded quickly and rushed to give his mentor the good news.

"We'll start slow," Brackenclaw mewed, looking at Smokepaw as if daring him to argue. "We'll go through the hunting crouches, to make sure you haven't forgotten them while you were in the medicine den."

As Smokepaw fell into the crouch he used while hunting mice, he felt his back right leg wobble. He steadied himself, determined not to show any weakness.

"Are you okay?" Silently, Smokepaw cursed his highly observant mentor.

"I'm fine."

"Take it slow, okay?" The worry in Brackenclaw's voice was clear. "I don't want you to injure yourself even more."

Again, Smokepaw attempted the crouch. This time, he managed to hold it without feeling any pain.

"Well done!" Brackenclaw mewed happily. "Let's see your bird hunting crouch."

As moons passed, Smokepaw continued to get stronger. He went back to battle training, though he noticed Cloudpaw and Blackpaw held back when they practised with him. Brackenclaw was very cautious with what he did, and the grey tabby was getting quite frustrated. He wanted to be treated as normal, not some helpless kit who would fail in times of need.

"You've been acting different around me lately," he accused Cloudpaw.

"I have? I didn't notice."

The tom growled in frustration. "Yes, you have been. You treat me like I'm going to fall apart any moment!"

"I don't—"

"Yes, you do. And don't think I haven't noticed that you haven't become a warrior, when you should have received your warrior name a moon ago! You're waiting for me, aren't you?"

"I'll admit that," Cloudpaw told him. "When we were kits, we always said we'd become warriors together, or not at all."

Smokepaw was taken aback at this. He couldn't believe that she still remembered that promise—and that she was keeping it. They had been kits, after all, only three moons old. And yet Cloudpaw was still keeping her promise.

Smokepaw was determined to become a warrior. He didn't want to hold Cloudpaw back any longer.

His only problem was convincing Adderstar that he was ready.

"ThunderClan! ThunderClan is on our territory!" Hawkwing yowled, racing into camp. "They're near Fourtrees!"

"Oakclaw, Foxtail and Shrewfur! Go east with Hawkwing! I'll take Darkflight, Brackenclaw and Cloudpaw by the west route. We'll cut them off."

"This is my chance," Smokepaw thought. "But I won't be there if I don't follow them."

The grey tabby decided that he would go by the west route—Foxtail and Shrewfur were the Clan's best trackers, and they would scent him immediately if he followed them.

Cloudpaw battled fiercely with a dark ThunderClan warrior, clawing at his belly with a hiss of rage. "How dare they cross into our territory?"

She felt a slight sting as the tom scratched her nose, small droplets of blood falling to the ground as she flipped to get rid of the enemy warrior. She took a swipe at his face, catching his muzzle. He fled, and the apprentice took a moment to revel in her victory before she leapt back into the battle.

"How are there so many of them?" she wondered. "Where are they coming from?"

The ThunderClan cats seemed to realise the same thing—the ShadowClan cats were hopelessly outnumbered.

"If only we could find their leader," Cloudpaw thought. "They'd get out of here if we defeated him."

Lost in thought, the white apprentice didn't notice the cats surrounding her until it was too late. The closest cat, a tortoiseshell she-cat, jumped for the apprentice's back, expecting an easy victory. Suddenly, something hit her in the air, and she was struggling to get up from the dirt. A flurry of claws raked her belly, and her attacker hissed in rage.

"Think you can take her on three to one, do you?"

"No—"

The tortoiseshell felt a claw scratch her face, and scrambled to her feet, intending to escape.

"That's right, run away, little kittypet," taunted her assailant.

The she-cat hissed in frustration, but she knew when she was beaten. She fled.

"I didn't get to thank you yesterday," the white she-cat mewed. "But thank you, for saving me."

"You would have done the same for me," the grey tabby replied. "I hope. You would have, wouldn't you?"

"Of course I would have, mouse-brain," Cloudheart told her brother, purring in amusement.

The grey tabby shifted uncomfortably. "It still hurts," he complained. "I don't think crazy ThunderClan she-cats are good for my health."

"Get some poppy seeds from Gingerpelt," the she-cat meowed sleepily, "and stop bothering me. I need to sleep. Sitting vigil was surprisingly tiring."

"I can cope with the pain in my leg," mewed Smokewhisker. "It's the headache I get from your constant talking that's bothering me."

"Hey!"

Soon, ShadowClan's newest warriors were asleep. Sitting vigil was tiring, after all.