Rowanclaw's POV
They're gone. They're all gone. Tawnypelt, Dawnpaw, Tigerpaw, Flamepaw. The cats I love more the life. I can't close my eyes without seeing her face. Tawnypelt, he green eyes deep enough to drown in, her tortoiseshell fur rippling in the sun. But now she was gone, and so were our kits. Tigerpaw and Dawnpaw were such good fighters, and Flamepaw was going to be a medicine cat. But now he couldn't because of Sol. Sol. This was all because of Sol. The cause of all my pain and Tawnepelt's pain. Why had Blackstar let him in? If I could get my paws on him, I'd rip his throat out. He'd torn apart our Clan, and torn apart me and my mate. He'd torn Tawneypelt too- I could see it in her eyes, the day she told me she was leaving.
"Rowanclaw" she whispered. "You can come too. Firestar will let you, or Brrambleclaw will convince him. Please?"
"There's the Clan…." I muttered. Tawneypelt's eyes flashed. "What Clan?" she spat. "There's nothing here but bunches of rouges who ignore their ancestors- the very cats who brought us here. I can't believe you would reject them too."
She turned and stalked away, not looking back. I hurried after her. "Tawnypelt, wait! I'll come too. There's nothing to here to live for. I can never see our kits be warriors, and I can never get rid of Sol."
I took a deep breath. "I'm coming with you." Tawnypelt brushed her tail along my back and purred. "Thank you."
It was difficult to leave. According to Sol, we had to hunt for ourselves, and the apprentices had no training. Tawnypelt and I wore ourselves ragged catching extra prey for them as well as ourselves, building their strength. All that time, Sol watched us, his large pale eyes never blinking. Does he know? I wondered. Does he guess something? My hatred of him grew every minute I was in his presence. How could Blackstar do this? How could he watch the once-proud Clan huddled together like scrawny rouges and not show the slightest sign of remorse?
The day we left, something happened that was the last straw. Blackstar has called a meeting, and said that he was now Blackfoot again, and would no longer keep his StarClan-given name. StarClan was not to be spoken of, and all they had done was to be ignored. I glanced at Tawnypelt, and saw the resolve in her eyes. This settled it. We crept out the way we had planned, and met in the forest. The apprentices looked frightened, afraid of leaving all they had known. Claws tore at my heart at the thought that I would never share tongues with my Clanmates again, never walk among the pines or curl up in the warrior's den after a patrol. Tawnypelt glanced back, and I saw the anguish on her face. She had gone through so much, born under her father's shadow, leaving her birth Clan and striving to prove her loyalties to ShadowClan. Now she was being forced out again, this time because of Sol. "If we ever meet again you piece of foxdung, you will regret it." We set out for the ThunderClan border, keeping a sharp lookout behind. I didn't want to think of what would happen if we were discovered. What would happen when Blackfoot and Sol found out we had gone? And now we were stream the marked the border, ready to cross. But there was something behind us, something moving. I was about to call out to Tawnypelt, when out stepped Blackfoot.
His ears were pinned against his head, and his amber eyes gleamed with anger. "Running off the ThunderClan are you?" he growled. "Cowards."
Tawnypelt bristled, the fur on her spine rising. I unsheathed my claws and faced Blackfoot. "We are not cowards" I growled.
"But we will no longer stay in the mess of rouges that you call a Clan, lead by that mangy traveler!" Blackfoot's eyes blazed and he leaped at me, knocking me to the ground. "Let the half-clan crowfood escape" he hissed. "But you will stay here." I fixed my eyes on Tawnypelt. "Go!" I gasped. "Don't fight him. Take the kits with you." Then Blackfoot's paws crashed on my head and everything went black.