Author's Note: I promised daily updates, I know, but I've officially changed that to every other day. Moving swiftly on, I hope you enjoy the next chapter!

BTW, I am accepting OC's.


Chapter Two: Dawnflame

The moonlight shone through the branches of the forest and onto the ThunderClan deputy's back; Dawnflame felt the exhilaration of the fight disappear in every passing breath. Slowly, her claws re-sheathed themselves and she began to self-conciously lick her ruffled fur. Though there was a slight, tingling pain on the shoulder where the rogue had scratched her, the only emotion she felt was triumph. The tom's eyes were closing with exhaustion and clear agony. His face had lost the enigmatic glow and he looked like he was about to faint. She felt no pity. Serves him right for hunting on our territory!

Suddenly, a twig snapped and the scent of Dawnflame's clanmate entered her nostrils. Sure enough, Stormclaw emerged from the undergrowth. "Honestly Dawnflame! You'll wake the whole of Shadowclan if you make any more noise-" the tom stopped, eyes widening. "That's a..." he stopped speechless.

"Stormclaw?" a sigh echoed. "What trouble has our deputy got into this time?" A she-cat padded closely after the tom, a frustrated look on her face. She turned her head towards the rogue and gasped. "Foxdung!" A moment later she was shouting loudly, "Oh for Starclan's sake Dawnflame, he's looks half mangled!"

The deputy dropped into a crouch and arched her back, hissing angrily. "Have you lost your mind Rosepelt? This is a rogue and an intruder."

"The warrior code says we don't have to kill to win our battles," Rosepelt retorted. "He probably didn't even know he wasn't supposed to be here."

"Pathetic excuse for a cat, you've always been far too soft. ThunderClan needs proper warriors to defend it." Dawnflame growled.

Rosepelt bared her teeth and the hackles along her spine rose. "Hollowstar was a mouse brain to make you deputy!"

Tension hit the air and both cats looked poised to strike, but before the argument could get any further, Stormclaw leaped forward. "Can you two just cut it out for one second!" he yelled. "Dawnflame is right in saying this is an intruder, but you were also wrong to practically murder him. We need to get him back to Rowanleaf, now."

"I'm the leader of this patrol-" Dawnflame began furiously.

"And your also deputy, but I don't care!" Stormclaw said. "This rogue needs medical attention, and as soon as he's fully healed-" he cast a quick glance at Rosepelt, "-I'm sure Hollowstar will escort him to the edge of our territory. Understand?"

There was a silence where everyone could feel their hearts thumping in their throats.

"Fine," Dawnflame whispered in a voice like ice. With this, she turned around and stalked out of the clearing. "If you ask me, both of you should be lying on the ground in a pool of blood; not that useless tom!"

"Go to the Place of No Stars." Rosepelt muttered loudly.

Dawnflame heard the trudging sound of Stormclaw and Rosepelt's paw-steps behind her; the deputy deliberately took a difficult route back, knowing it would be much harder for the two cats to navigate their way to camp. She smiled with immediate pleasure when she heard the sound of them struggling; she jeered back at them. "What is it? Having second thoughts!" All she heard in reply was the sound of Rosepelt gritting her teeth. Dawnflame laughed, and simply quickened the pace.

When the night patrol finally reached the entrance to the camp, many cats were yawning, and some had already made their way towards the dens. Dawnflame eyes sought one cat in particular though; soon, they found their target. Hollowstar was grooming his fur by the Highrock, and as his eyes met her's, he got to his paws and made his way over to the patrol. "Anything to report?" he asked.

"Windclan have been at it again!" Dawnflame told him. She lashed her tail. "Fresh kill's disappearing quickly. We need to attack soon and show them that they can't just waltz in and steal our prey! Especially since Leaf-bare is arriving soon."

Hollowstar nodded his head in agreement. "I know. And when we get concrete evidence-"

"Their scent was all over the border line!" Dawnflame interrupted angrily.

"Yes," the ThunderClan leader continued patiently. "But this is not the time to argue, and I will announce it at the next gathering." He craned his neck towards Rosepelt. "I do trust everything else went smoothly."

The deputy emitted a low growl. "Not in a million moons." She signalled with her tail. Stormclaw padded forward and dropped the rogue from his mouth.

Hollowstar eyes narrowed. "What is this? Why have you brought him to our camp?"

Immediately, the cats of the Clan that were still awake caught the foreign scent, and leapt up. "Who's that?"

"What's Dawnflame done now." One cat whispered.

"He looks like he's had a tough time-" Another began.

"Please!" the leader's commanding voice shot around the camp. He then turned back to Stormclaw, and said calmly. "Carry on."

"We found him by the border," Stormclaw's voice rang out loud and clear-

"You mean our oh holy deputy found him by the border," Rosepelt shouted.

"And as you can see," Stormclaw glowered. He waited until he had regained control over the cats before continuing. "And as you can see, Dawnflame gave him a taste of her outstanding, battle skills."

"Obviously!"

"My patrol suggested that we take him back to camp," Dawnflame grumbled disapprovingly. "They said he needed medical attention from Rowanleaf. But that would be wasting precious herbs! We can't spare any space in the medicine den or share our prey in such a critical time. The nursery queen's milk is drying out as well!" The deputy turned and addressed Hollowstar. "Surely you can't agree to house a rogue that we know absolutely nothing about!"

There were a few, reluctant signs of agreement from the ThunderClan cats. Dawnflame raised her head nonchalantly, well aware that she had the support of the crowd. "He would be a danger to all of us! Cast him out into the forest."

"For once, the deputy is right."

"What if he attacked the kits?"

"With Windclan pressing the borders and Leaf-bare closing in, I doubt that we can support another cat in such a time..."

Rosepelt stepped forward, obviously angry that Dawnflame's argument was beating her and Stormclaw's. "What is the decision of Hollowstar? Remember, he is the leader."

A tense silence fell over the crowd. Everyone was watching Hollowstar, waiting for his decision. The tom's eyes were closed... but you could see that he was running over every option in his head. Starclan would have to be with him to make sure he would make a choice that pleased all of ThunderClan. "I think," he began. "That we will let Rowanleaf tend to the rogue-"

"WHAT?" Dawnflame yelled. "Are you a fool Hollowstar?" The rest of the clan acted the same way as well. A crescendo of anger flew through the air.

"On one condition!" Hollowstar said, as politely as possible. "As soon as this rogue has been nursed back to health, we will release him out of our territory. If the wounds are not severe, I'm sure that it could take as much as a few sunrises." Hollowstar was clever: he wouldn't allow this quarrel to become a full on protest. "Meeting dismissed!" he shouted.

As the rest of the clan dispersed, only one cat was left in the camp clearing. "Stupid mouse brain! What has ThunderClan come to?" Dawnflame thought...


That concludes Chapter Two! Hope you guys enjoyed it, and as usual, please read and review!