Author's Note: At last! The story that is the product of Loki-BlackWolf and The Mystical Palm Tree is posted! A huge thanks goes out to all those who've helped, and in advance to anyone kind enough to leave a review!

Notice: Allegiances are posted separately under the title "TBTL: Character Pages"

one and only disclaimer: PHOZ DOES NOT CLAIM TO OWN IN ANY WAY THE WARRIORS SERIES WHICH IS COPYRIGHT TO ERIN HUNTER. CHARACTERS BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE CREATORS. PHOZ DOES, HOWEVER, CLAIM ALL RIGHTS TO PHOZ'S CHARACTERS AND THEIR STORY.

Prologue

Despite the hour, a silver light flooded the island. It was strong and steady, yet Hawkfeather noticed that the clouds still hung dangerously close to the moon's glowing edges. Did that mean StarClan was going to be angry? But of course they were! The moon, round as it was, wasn't yet full and it didn't signify a gathering. Despite that, he was standing on the island and waiting to meet a cat from another Clan. It was wrong, so terribly wrong, and that's why the young ShadowClan warrior knew this meeting had to be the last.

Bracken rustled, and Hawkfeather's dark tabby fur bristled as a black and white form slipped into the clearing. It moved easily and with a certain grace one could only find in a cat from WindClan.

"Hawkfeather!" A bobtailed apprentice pranced toward him, his bright blue eyes filled with excitement.

Such giddiness was unlike Ospreypaw, and Hawkfeather figured the other tom had news. For one happy heartbeat, he wanted to ask if he'd received his warrior name, but he stopped himself. He had his own mission, and his stiff stance gave it away.

"Hawkfeather?" Ospreypaw stopped short of touching noses in their usual greeting, and his thrill seemed to fade. "Is something wrong?"

Hawkfeather's dark lips curled miserably as the words prompted recent and evil memories. Was something wrong? The ShadowClan tom flashed glinting white fangs. No. Everything was wrong.

Hawkfeather's tufted ears fell back and the words tumbled out numbly, "We're done, Ospreypaw. Go home."

"What?" The smaller tom's soft voice was full of incredulity.

After everything they'd been through together, there was no way Ospreypaw would believe him, and there was a certain shame in having said it. Pity that there was an even greater shame in not meaning it.

"You heard me," Hawkfeather lashed his long tail, and feeling the dissatisfied eyes of a hidden supervisor, he forced himself to meet Ospreypaw's stare. He reiterated with more force, "Go home!"

The foreign cat watched him, fur fluffed in frustration. Surely, Ospreypaw understood that he spoke halfheartedly, and Hawkfeather knew Ospreypaw would exploit the half full of his doubts. Even if he had good intentions, he couldn't be given the chance.

Before the white and black tom could speak, Hawkfeather unsheathed his claws and narrowed his amber eyes. "I'm not playing games with you, Ospreypaw." He paused, and then hoping that his hesitation went unnoticed, hissed, "Unlike you, I'm going to be the best warrior my Clan's ever seen and no stupid little half-Clan cat is going to change that." He spat, "I'm done with you."

Emotion seemed to drain from Ospreypaw as he responded, "Hawkfeather… why are you saying this?" To Hawkfeather's irritation, he asked, "What happened?"

The weight of the question's answer ripped at the ShadowClan warrior from inside and exploded from him in a deep growl. Shocked, Ospreypaw's ears sagged, and he took a small step back. However, he misjudged the danger as Hawkfeather bunched up his powerful muscles and leapt forward.

The large ShadowClan cat's patience had quickly run thin, and he raked his black claws through the other tom's pelt. Two yowls rang out, one low with hostility, the other high with protest as Ospreypaw tried to slip away, but Hawkfeather blocked his path. For a few frightening moments, he refused to let the other escape, and in that panic, Hawkfeather felt claws nick his ear. He landed a crushing bite onto the white fur of Ospreypaw's shoulder. After that, it wasn't long before Hawkfeather's sheer size came to play and he subdued the young WindClan cat.

Although by then, the fear scent was almost overbearing, and he hoped he'd done enough to drive the other away once and for all.

"Run home!" With the words, Hawkfeather parted his jaws, and as Ospreypaw fled, he made sure to lash out once more with his claws, catching the other's rump. However, Ospreypaw was fast and had gone in the same instant, clearly not caring that the claws ripped through flesh.

Good riddance.

Hawkfeather stood alone and panting by himself. He swallowed, and perking up his large ears, he realized that for some inexplicable reason he was actually waiting for Ospreypaw to poke his head back out of the brambles.

Good riddance?

"He's not coming back," a gentle voice called from behind.

A chill ran up Hawkfeather's spine as his bloody claws dug into the grass. He'd succeeded, then. But it was so odd to feel pain and accomplishment at the same time.

"You don't look happy." A gray furred tom, another ShadowClan warrior, had emerged from his hiding place and pressed against Hawkfeather's side. "You should be."

Hawkfeather cast a fleeting glance at his brother and lied hoping he would himself believe it, "I am."

"You're going to be the greatest warrior ShadowClan has ever seen, much greater than Pineshadow," Owlfur told him simply. "Like I said before, that dirty half-Clan cat would only get in the way. You did the right thing."

"I hope so." Hawkfeather lifted his attention to the starry sky and, rather than catching the calculating glint in Owlfur's dark gold eyes, he saw that the clouds had seeped over the moon…