[AN]: Too lazy to be writing an author's note right now... enjoy

Chapter 2

Dappleheart and Bravepaw ran side by side with each other as Brokenhearted and Lightfang led the way.

Bravepaw looked around at her surroundings. This was the first time she'd been in the Moon Woods. She looked up at her mentor.

"Why do they call it the Moon Woods?" she asked Dappleheart.

Dappleheart didn't look at her. She kept running and replied, "At night, especially during the Full Moon, these woods glow an eerie blue-green from the light of the moon. It's really strange. It's almost… magical."

She let the words drift off her lips, and her eyes glimmered with enthusiasm and excitement. Bravepaw looked at her, her mouth slightly open. It astonished her to think of these woods glowing almost green.

Dappleheart's words shook Bravepaw from her thoughts. "You'll see for yourself tonight when we go to the Gathering."

Bravepaw's heart fluttered with excitement. She couldn't believe she was going to her first ever Gathering. She decided not to speak anymore.

Lightfang looked over her shoulder. "We can start hunting now! I can hear birds and other creatures scurrying around," she mewed. Brokenhearted padded after Lightfang as she disappeared into the brush. Dappleheart looked down at Bravepaw. "Come on, I know where to find lots of prey," she said as she padded off with Bravepaw fallowing.

It didn't take Bravepaw and Dappleheart long to find a good hunting spot. Dappleheart looked up into the branches of a lone maple tree and spotted a dove preening itself. Dappleheart brushed Bravepaw with her tail and gestured toward the dove. Bravepaw's heart raced. Dappleheart leaned over and whispered into her ear.

"Okay, you go up into the tree and startle the dove to the ground, where I'll kill it. Okay?"

Bravepaw nodded to her mentor and immediately crawled toward the tree. Dappleheart watched the black and white she-cat nimbly climb the tree.

The dove stirred and turned in the direction Bravepaw was crawling. It squawked and swooped down to the ground where it settled near the roots of the tree. Dappleheart smirked and crawled forward toward the dove, hiding in the brambles. She inched closer, and finally she sprang onto the dove, biting it in the neck. Warm blood filled her mouth and the dove struggled to free itself. Finally, it's light brown body went limp, and Dappleheart dropped it triumphantly. Bravepaw squealed with excitement as she leaped from the tree and bounded over to her mentor. "That was fun!" she mewed.

Dappleheart smiled. She dug a hole and dropped her prey into it. Bravepaw looked around frantically. "Hey Dappleheart!" she meowed.

Dappleheart kicked the dirt back over the hole and looked at Bravepaw. "What?" she asked.

"I smell something. It smells like a cat, but, not from StormClan."

Dappleheart hissed quietly. She scented the air. "NightClan!" she snarled, her claws slowly unsheathing. "Come on, let's go and find—"

"Help!" yowled a voice. It sliced through the air and Dappleheart flattened her ears. She dashed toward the yowl, hoping Bravepaw knew to follow. Dappleheart burst through the gorse to find Brokenhearted pinned to the ground by a NightClan warrior. "Ryetail," hissed Dappleheart. She looked over and saw Lightfang wrestling with a dark brown tabby. She hadn't seen him before.

Dappleheart looked around and saw two hungry pairs of eyes in the bushes glaring at the battle seen. A black tom slithered out of the bush. "Ryetail!" he growled. "Enough, let her go."

Ryetail hissed in frustration and climbed off of Brokenhearted. She looked at her paws, then her fur stood up and she sliced a paw across Brokenhearted's face, with claws unsheathed. The ragged tabby she-cat yowled in pain.

"Ryetail!" roared the black tom.

Ryetail dipped her head, her tail twitching. "Yes, Smokewhisker," she growled through gritted teeth.

Dappleheart stepped into view. "Why are you here?" she hissed.

Smokewhisker smirked and unsheathed his claws. He didn't reply.

"Well? Why is NightClan in our territory?"

"We're hunting here," mewed a pale gray tabby she cat as she slithered out of the bush. "We're not taking much."

Dappleheart flattened her ears. "Hunt on your own territory!" she snarled.

"Why should we? You're not the clan leader," hissed Smokewhisker, his amber eyes gleaming.

Dappleheart bared her teeth. "You have perfectly good prey on your territory. Now leave or I'll attack!"

Smokewhisker laughed and flicked his tail. "Sure, I could easily take you and that measly little apprentice of yours before you could even pin my tail down."

Dappleheart snarled. "Brightstar will hear of this and he'll mention it at the Gathering tonight."

"Sure, sure, and my leader and I will have a perfectly good excuse," he said, flicking his ears. "Riverlight, Ryetail, Crowheart, let's go. We already found a decent amount of prey," he said to his warriors as he turned. He shot Dappleheart a triumphant glance as he padded away with his clanmates.

Dappleheart's claws itched. "They have no right to hunt here," she said to Lightfang as she padded up to Brokenhearted to help her. Lightfang nodded and licked Brokenhearted's ruffled pelt. "Brightstar will deal with it at the Gathering. As of now, we need to gather our prey and report back to camp."

"Awww…" sighed Bravepaw. "I wanted to hunt more…"

"You made a great catch," said Dappleheart.

"No, you did."

"Well, you helped me."

"Whatever…"

Bravepaw sighed again and headed back to where they buried the dove. Dappleheart followed. "We'll meet you guys at the camp," she told Lightfang and Brokenhearted.

Lightfang nodded and watched her go.

Dappleheart weaved her way through the ferns and into the camp with the dove, and Bravepaw fallowed, her head held high with triumph. There was a sparrow hanging from her jaws. Lightfang looked up from the tree stump where she was eating a squirrel. "So Dappleheart let you catch something after all, huh?"

Bravepaw dropped her sparrow and nodded. "I saw it on the way back. It was pulling a worm out of the ground, and Dappleheart said I could try and catch it."

"Very nice," said Lightfang as Bravepaw picked her sparrow back up and dropped it on the fresh kill pile.

The light gray she-cat stood up and walked up to Dappleheart. "Should we go tell Brightstar?" she asked. Dappleheart slowly nodded and hesitated to get up. She wasn't sure how Brightstar would react. She watched Lightfang pad across the clearing to his den, and Dappleheart slowly followed.

"Brightstar?" Lightfang called softly from outside the leader's den as Dappleheart padded up next to her.

Brightstar lifted his head and looked out of the den. "Is that you Lightfang?" he asked.

"Yes sir," the gray she-cat replied. "May I come in? Dappleheart's here, too."

Brightstar got to his paws, his green eyes flashing calmly in the darkness of the den. "Yes Lightfang and Dappleheart," he said softly.

Lightfang pushed her way through the vines and Dappleheart followed. "So, what do you want?" Brightstar asked curiously as he kneaded his bramble nest.

Lightfang took a deep breath and looked at Dappleheart. Her gaze said everything. Do you want to start? Dappleheart shook her head and Lightfang sighed, looking over her shoulder. She finally managed to turn and meet Brightstar's gaze.

I know how hard this must be. Brightstar is very territorial, and sometimes even the slightest thing can set him off. But he must know, thought Dappleheart.

Finally, Lightfang opened her mouth to speak. "Brightstar," she began. "I know you probably won't like to hear this, but today, while I was on a hunting patrol with Dappleheart, Bravepaw, and Brokenhearted, we were attacked by some NightClan cats. They were lead by a cat called Smokewhisker."

Lightfang winced as she saw the hatred and annoyance on Brightstar's face. He turned his head slightly and hissed, his tail lashing. Dappleheart gulped and looked at Lightfang who met her gaze. She looked at Brightstar. "Brightstar?" she asked. "Are you okay?"

Brightstar closed his eyes. He took a deep breath, then nodded. "Yes, thank you," he said, trying to sound calm. "Thank you for telling me. I will be sure to bring this up at the Gathering. Now, until then, you two should go get something to eat and rest. We'll be leaving in a few hours." He dismissed the two with a flick of his tail.

Dappleheart nodded and turned to leave. She leapt down the Highstone, where Brightstar's den sat, and padded across the camp. She picked up a magpie from the fresh-kill pile and sat outside the warrior's den to eat it. Bravepaw padded up to her. "Hi Dappleheart! Where've you been?" she asked.

Dappleheart swallowed her bite and replied, "I was talking to Brightstar about Nightclan."

"Oh, how'd he take it?"

"Ehh… okay I guess. He said he's gonna' mention it at the Gathering."

"Oh, I wonder what they'll say."

"Who?"

"Nightclan! Who else do you think?" Bravepaw laughed.

Dappleheart smirked and took another bite. "You should go get some sleep Bravepaw. Remember, your first Gathering's tonight."

Bravepaw's eyes glittered and she nodded. "Okay Dappleheart. I'll be ready before we leave," she said happily. She bounded off to the apprentice's den.

Dappleheart smiled and yawned. She was a little bit tired.

She finished her magpie and went into the warriors' den where she curled up in her nest. Silverclaw was sitting in his, right across from her. Even though Dappleheart couldn't see him in the pitch-blackness of the well-covered bush den, she could feel his haunting green gaze watching her. "Hello, Dappleheart," he said at last.

Dappleheart looked up. Her vision adjusted and she made out Silverclaw's silhouette. "Hello Silverclaw," she sighed. "I'm trying to sleep you know…" she said, and she smiled playfully, even though Silverclaw couldn't see it.

Silverclaw ignored her words. "Brokenhearted told me what happened when I returned with my patrol. About NightClan…"

Dappleheart sat up. "Okay, but I'm trying to sleep, so please stop talking," she said, trying to hide the playfulness in her voice.

Silverclaw nodded. Dappleheart lay back down and smiled slightly, before falling asleep.

Dappleheart awoke to see the final lights of the setting sunshine through the cracks in the leaves of the den. She yawned and looked around the den. Everyone who was going to the Gathering had already left.

Dappleheart padded out of the den. She was just in time to meet up with her brother and sister, Creekfeather and Nightrose, when they returned from their patrol. Creekfeather was the first to see Dappleheart. He ran up to see his sister. He rubbed up against her and breathed in her sweet smell. "I'm so relieved I caught you before you guys left," he said quietly. "Nightrose and I thought we'd miss you, but at least we didn't."

Dappleheart smiled and licked between his ears. "I'm glad too. Is there something you need to tell me, 'cause you seem frantic."

Creekfeather nodded grimly. "Nightrose and I scented Nightclan cats beyond their borders, on our side. We also found a dead rabbit under a bush that reeked of NightClan."

He looked into his sister's eyes. "We heard from Silverclaw that you guys had a… uhh… skirmish with them earlier today. I wonder what they're up to."

Dappleheart shrugged. "I dunno, but apparently they've got the idea they can steal from out territory."

She laughed slightly and stood up and stretched. She turned to see Brightstar leap up onto the Highrock. She flicked her tail in goodbye to her brother and sister. "Gotta go. See ya later!" she said to them. Then she dashed off.

[AN]: YAY! K, so, yea, tell me what ya think! Oh, and also, who is your favorite character so far? x3 And doesn't Silverclaw seem like a creeper in this chapter? Lol, well, not to give you spoilers or anything but .
Yea... so, now I'm working on chapter three. Until then, laterz! :)