A/N: Well, hello there, people of the world! Yes, well, here's the next chapter. So, yeah. I hope you really like it. I'm not sure if this Fanfic is my best work ever, but I'm having fun writing it so I suppose that's what counts. As always, I'd love to hear your feedback, okay? Whether it be a review--even anonymous--or a PM, I just love having people tell me what's good/bad aboiut my work, how to fix the bad parts, etc. It just gives me a fuzzy, warm feeling inside. LOL.

Oh, and speaking of which....much thanks to my fawesome reviewer Angeluff and for her adding me to her favorite authors list. If you haven't checked out her Fanfics yet, you SOOO should. They're really awesome. Right now I'm finishing up her "Falling Ashes" and I'm loving it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Warriors, Erin Hunter does. Because, really, if I did own Warriors, I would sooo be working on the next book and not writing down my random ideas and posting them on .


Chapter 2: Divided (Day 4)

Spiderpelt slumped forward, just looking at himself in the still, grayish water--just a puddle, really, but it worked. He could see his defeated stance, like a heavy weight was on his shoulders even though there wasn't one, how his pelt had gone dull, how his eyes were blank.

He shuddered, and a little life flamed up in his eyes. He licked down his dark brown shoulder fur and swiped a paw over his ears. He didn't care much for appearances, but he wanted Bramblestrike to stop looking at him the way he was and for Goldenpelt to stop shooting him worried looks.

Maybe he'd just been in shock. Maybe that was it.

It was three days after the fire. Three days since ThunderClan was nearly destroyed. There were very few cats left; for example, Pouncepaw and Redpaw were the only apprentices left and Stonefang was the oldest cat amongst them, the most experienced warrior. Unanimously, Stonefang was appointed their motley group's leader.

He considered him a good choice. He'd acted like he'd had ants in his pelt when the fire had been blazing through camp, its thick black smoke choking everyone....

He shuddered and stopped thinking about it.

But, Stonefang had always been a loyal warrior, courageous in battle but gentle enough to play with the youngest kits. He'd been a good choice.

He was pretty sure he was just mindlessly thinking through the last few days, just so he'd be able to remember it later and to keep his mind off the true horrors that were already starting to blur in his memory. He was so glad for that....

"Spiderpelt! Spiderpelt!"

He looked behind him and saw Pouncepaw almost jumping up and down. Not out of excitement, but....he was pretty sure the apprentice started getting nervous when anyone was out of his sight.

Well, Pouncepaw was the youngest cat here....he could only imagine how he was dealing with all of it.

Of course, Pouncepaw was pretty used to drama and grief. His own mother had been a loner and his father, well; his father was....Blackfur, the former deputy, before the last, Birchbranch.

He knew this only because, well, he knew a lot of stuff he probably shouldn't. He wasn't really sure how he knew half of what he did. He just did. He was pretty sure he'd heard that by mistake, though, after supposedly being asleep--knocked out from poppy seeds after receiving a battle wound--and Blackfur had been talking in his sleep....also in the Medicine Cat Den....he'd had a fever, if he remembered correctly....during the green cough epidemic....

Yeah, that was it.

Pouncepaw thought he'd just been a lost kit found on the border. Mostly true, sure. He didn't know his father had been a deputy, though. He didn't really need to know, especially not now--he already had to deal with enough. It wasn't his place to tell him anyway.

"Hey? You okay?" Pouncepaw asked him, head tilted to the side and a slightly worried expression on his face.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm good." he replied curtly and padded over to the downy-pelted apprentice.

"What were you thinking about?" Pouncepaw asked, looking curious instead of concerned now.

Well, sort of. The underlying strain was there, like Pouncepaw had to try very hard to not start wailing like a kit.

"Nothing important," he replied calmly, and Pouncepaw just nodded once, quickly.

"Oh. Okay. Um, well, Stonefang told me to ask you to go and hunt for the rest of the....Clan." Pouncepaw seemed to have trouble saying the last bit, as if they weren't really a Clan anymore.

"Okay, you can come too if you want," he meowed quickly.

"Really?" Pouncepaw asked, his mew showing his surprise.

"Yeah, come on....Boulderfall and Goldenpelt need something to eat," he replied instantaneously.

Boulderfall had messed up his shoulders pretty bad, trying to drag Redpaw out of the collapsed apprentice den. A tree had fallen onto it....

Boulderfall had succeeded, though, and Redpaw was still alive--even if her bright ginger fur was a little patchy and singed, she'd made it out without more than a few scrapes.

"You seem pretty out of it today," Pouncepaw commented and he just shrugged his shoulders.

The truth was, he knew he was out of it. He felt like all of his senses were toned down, almost obliterated. He wasn't sure how he was going to be able to hunt, when he kept tripping over his own paws....

***

Spiderpelt was currently crouched by a shrew; trying to gulp it down in a few, hurried bites and attempting to drown out the loud argument around him. Redpaw, who was currently slowly eating a small mouse, seemed to be trying to do the same. Her light ginger fur was ruffled on her shoulders, bristled in agitation, and her ears were almost flat against her head.

He almost wanted to all tell them to just be quiet because they were upsetting the youngest she-cat in ThunderClan, who didn't know how to deal with all of this.

Currently, the arguing was about whether or not they should move camp--find a better spot for the time being, at least. It was rational. Unfortunately, Bramblestrike wasn't in a rational mood and didn't want to leave his sister's body. Well, he guessed at the last one. Specklefoot had been buried, but there hadn't been time for a long vigil. Bramblestrike was still....very upset. He didn't blame him for that.

Just to note, he still hadn't had his questions answered, though....

"What?" Bramblestrike was hissing loudly, eyes narrowed into slits. "We can't leave! This is our home! It's been our home since Firestar's time!"

Stonefang let out a long, weary sigh.

"I know you don't want to leave, Bramblestrike, but think about what Pouncepaw smelled. Two-leg scent mixed with that....the odd smelling stuff they left by the WindClan border--the same stuff that we smell now, from the smoke. The fire was started on purpose." Stonefang explained slowly, softly.

Goldenpelt let out a small gasp at the news.

"Maybe the two-legs didn't realize we were here, maybe they did. I don't even know. But we do know the fire might have even started in WindClan's camp, there's a blackened path leading to ours from their territory at least." Stonefang continued, almost calmly.

The almost-panic in his eyes told him he wasn't exactly as perfectly fine as everyone else seemed to think.

He shivered slightly, then. He wondered how well WindClan had survived. ThunderClan had suffered badly from the green cough epidemic last leaf-bare, but so had WindClan--and at least they'd had a fair supply of catmint at the abandoned TwolegPlace. If the fire in WindClan's territory had been worse....maybe actually blazed through their camp....

Ugh. The possibility made him sick to his stomach.

When no one spoke against him, Stonefang let out another short sigh. "See, we just need to move the camp for a little while--to make sure none of the two-legs will come back and act like the mouse-brains they are and hurt, or kill, any other cats."

Boulderfall nodded. "That makes sense," he meowed gruffly, from where he was sitting--resting--a few fox-lengths away.

"I don't want my kits to be hurt...." Goldenpelt's eyes flashed with pain at the thought, even if her kits weren't born yet.

"I don't want to see....that....anymore," Pouncepaw added hurriedly, nodding to the still smoking mess that was considered their camp, still.

"Good, then we'll nest in the clearing for now, as the ground is soft enough for training it will be perfectly fine to sleep in." Stonefang meowed firmly.

"What if it rains?" Redpaw asked, speaking up for the first time.

Normally, Redpaw was a very outspoken cat, challenging anything and everything--now she just seemed frightened, quieter. That upset him a lot. He wished she'd go back to being her sarcastic, old self. At least that would mean things were getting better....

"We'll sleep on the edge of the clearing, under the covering of trees," Stonefang replied, his one hooked fang catching the light and flashed for an instant.

Redpaw nodded, now contented.

I was still uncertain about leaving the camp, but I wanted to get away from the choking stench. I didn't want to wonder about what the smoke came from--what the fire had burned up.

He shuddered. Wow, was he ever acting all doom and gloom right about now....? Well, it did seem pretty bad. First the green cough epidemic, then this. And Mallowpelt hadn't received any signs from StarClan....no omens, no prophecies.

They....hadn't been abandoned....?

Had they....?


A/N: Yes, I just planted the seed of doubt. GO ME. Well, this is the second chapter....hope you all like it. I'll be posting the third one today. Um, I'm having a little trouble with the Allegiances and Prologue, though, any ideas? Here's what I have of the allegiances so far, since you guys probably are curious. (What? I can dream, can't I?)

THUNDERCLAN

BOULDERFALL--large, dark gray tom

STONEFANG--light gray tabby tom with one hooked fang

GOLDENPELT--pale golden brown tabby she-cat

POUNCEPAW--gray tom with a white flash on his chest and green eyes

BRAMBLESTRIKE--very pale brown tabby tom with amber eyes

SPIDERPELT--brown tom with one black ear

REDPAW--ginger she-cat with a flame-colored pelt and amber eyes

SWIFTFEATHER--dark blue-gray she-cat with piercing blue eyes

SHADOWCLAN

JAGGEDCLAW--black tom

TIMBERFANG--dark brown tabby tom

BEETLEPAW--gray tabby tom

MOSSEAR--pale gray she-cat with very small ears and green eyes

ROWANPAW--brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes

HAZELPAW--white she-cat with gray splotches

WINDCLAN--

GORSEHEART--pale gray tom

FALLOWPELT--dark ginger she-cat with a white belly

ASHWHISKER--very pale gray she-cat with long, sweeping whiskers

FURZEPAW--gray-and-white tom

RUNNINGPELT--skinny light brown tabby tom

RIVERCLAN

MINNOWLEAP--light gray she-cat with darker flecks

WHISKERFROST--white tom with pale blue eyes

STORMSTEP--dark gray tom with black paws

FEATHERFUR--silvery-gray she-cat

SILVERTAIL--white-and-gray-tabby she-cat

VOLEPAW--small brown tabby tom

There you go, now you know what everyone looks like....sort of. Um, I'm thinking of writing a couple more of my ideas down and posting them here--so if you have any Clan, or Tribe, names to spare I'd love to hear them--for the next few allegiances. Just, if you'd like to help out. Um, just send me a review or PM, then.

So, yeah. R&R?