Circle of Life: Book 2: Paths Not Tread

A/N: Chapter one! :D I'll be updating every Monday, to get me on a schedule, lol.

Chapter 1: Of Friends, Old and New

Nighttime lay over NorthClan territory.

Moonlight fell on two warriors resting next to each other in the snow. One was a silver-furred she-cat, and the other a black tom. All around them, the snow fell undisturbed, leaf-bare finally upon the Clans once more.

The she-cat sighed, and the tom glanced over.

"Something wrong?" he asked.

The she-cat smiled. "Nothing, Shadowleaf. Just bored. You know that there's nothing to do out here."

Shadowleaf smiled back. "Except stare longingly into TreeClan territory, right?"

The she-cat laughed. "Right. Except that." Though her tone was light-hearted, she couldn't help glancing back at the land across their border, worry twisting her stomach.

"Silvertail..."

Silvertail glanced over at Shadowleaf. "What?"

"They'll be fine," he said. "Don't worry."

"But they've been gone for moons," Silvertail whispered. "Surely Moonshadow must have found TreeClan by now?"

Three moons before, Stormstar, the NorthClan leader, had announced that NorthClan would be setting out a patrol to bring back TreeClan, the Clan that had been driven out by Foxfur, the LightningClan deputy. Moonshadow, Silvertail's father and one of Stormstar's senior warriors, had been chosen to lead the patrol. With him had gone Rosetail and Twilightsky, two more NorthClan warriors.

But since then, there had been no news. Stormstar had also decided that two NorthClan warriors would be on guard at the border between the two Clans, just to make sure that no cat took advantage of the Clan-less territory so they could bring home some extra prey. Already, NorthClan had chased LightningClan warriors out of TreeClan's territory more than five times. Three of the times, Foxfur herself had been with them.

The thought of Foxfur made Silvertail's mind turn to other things. Back in NorthClan camp, Silvertail's adopted brother, Tanglepath, still lay in the medicine cat den after the LightningClan deputy had severely injured him when LightningClan had invaded NorthClan territory. Despite the fact that he'd had four moons of rest, his shoulder was still stiff, and he wouldn't be allowed to leave on patrols again for another half-moon.

Silvertail was startled out of her thoughts when a noise came from behind them. She and Shadowleaf turned just as a gray-striped tom and a brown tabby she-cat stepped out of the undergrowth.

"Stripefur, Duskflame," Shadowleaf greeted.

"Not sleeping on the job, are you?" Stripefur, the gray tom, teased them.

Silvertail purred. Stripefur had been her mentor when she had been an apprentice, and they shared a close bond. Even now that she was a warrior, she often turned to her old mentor for advice.

"You would be too if you spent all night staring at TreeClan territory," she joked.

Stripefur sighed. "Well, Duskflame and I will be spending the rest of the night doing just that."

"No disturbances?" Duskflame asked.

Silvertail shook her head. "Nothing. Maybe Foxfur's finally learned her lesson."

Stripefur snorted. "I doubt that. She's probably just waiting for us to let our guard down."

"Well there isn't a chance of that!" Shadowleaf declared. "Moonshadow will be back soon with TreeClan, and if there's any problem, Stormstar won't let it get out of hand."

"I hope you're right," Duskflame sighed.

"You two should get back to camp," Stripefur said. "Don't forget you've got a hunting patrol to go out on later."

"Yes, Stripefur," the two younger warriors chorused. Stripefur had taken over for Dawnfire, the deputy, while she was in the nursery with her and Stormstar's kits, who would become apprentices in little more than a moon.

They got to their feet as Duskflame and Stripefur settled in for a long night and headed back to NorthClan camp. For a moment, Silvertail pretended that nothing was wrong; that TreeClan still lived peacefully in their territory, that Foxfur wasn't deputy of a Clan whose leader had lost control of her warriors, and that Tanglepath wasn't in the medicine den, still recovering from an injury not deserved. For that moment, Silvertail was just going for a run with a friend, bathed in the light of the moon.

Finally, they reached the camp wall. A golden she-cat with black stripes yawned as they came up.

"Evening, Emberheart," Shadowleaf greeted her as they came up. "Any trouble?"

"No," Emberheart answered. "It's been so quiet you can hear a mouse's pawsteps."

"That's probably a good thing," Shadowleaf said.

Emberheart nodded, then yawned again. "Lucky for you, you get to go to sleep."

Silvertail chuckled. "The sun should be up soon, and that means the dawn patrol can deal with it."

The other she-cat laughed. "Right."

"See you later," Silvertail said as she followed Shadowleaf into camp.

Inside, Featherpaw, Silvertail's sister, was just poking her head out of the medicine cat den where she slept with her mentor, Lillypelt, the NorthClan medicine cat. Silvertail flicked her tail toward the pure white she-cat in a greeting, then slipped into the warriors' den with Shadowleaf.

She nodded to Topazfur, another warrior, as she and Shadowleaf settled down in their nests, and then, she fell asleep.

When Silvertail woke up, sunlight was streaming into the warriors' den. As she raised her head to look around, Shadowleaf stirred next to her.

Other than the two of them, the den was empty except for Emberheart, who must have come in at dawn. The light pouring in from the entrance flickered, and Silvertail glanced over to see Stripefur slipping inside.

"Silvertail," he greeted her wearily. He and Duskflame both looked tired.

"Problems?" Silvertail asked.

"LightningClan," Duskflame confirmed as she sank down into her nest. "We caught two of Foxfur's warriors trying to steal prey, but we made sure they knew that NorthClan was watching."

"I think they knew that already," said Shadowleaf, who seemed to be fully awake now. "They just didn't care."

"Foxfur wasn't always this ambitious or power hungry," Stripefur mewed sadly. "I remember when she was an apprentice. Stormstar and I had only been warriors for about a moon or so when I met her. She was clever, and utterly loyal to LightningClan. If she wasn't so desperate for power, she would have made a wonderful leader. Now I'm afraid to think of what might happen if Moonstar dies."

"Then we'll just have to make sure that never happens," Shadowleaf growled. Silvertail nodded.

Stripefur shook his head. "Oh, to be young again," he sighed. "If only it was that easy."

"Get some sleep," Silvertail advised. "LightningClan won't be coming back for a while."

Stripefur nodded. "Don't forget that hunting patrol."

"We won't," Silvertail said. She waited until both warriors were asleep before getting to her paws and heading for the entrance to the den, Shadowleaf at her heels.

Outside, the camp was already bustling with activity. Ravenkit and Poolkit, Stormstar and Dawnfire's kits, were play-fighting outside the nursery. Jewelfoot watched them, her belly just starting to show the tell-tale signs of a pregnant queen. Her mate, Twilightsky, had gone with Moonshadow to bring back TreeClan.

On the other side of the clearing, Dawnfire was waiting for them. It would be her first patrol since she had first gone to the nursery, pregnant with Stormstar's kits.

"Good morning," she mewed as Silvertail and Shadowleaf approached her.

"Morning," Silvertail responded. "Ready to get going?"

"Wait up!"

A voice from behind them stopped Dawnfire from answering. Turning, Silvertail saw a tabby warrior racing towards them. It was Tanglepath, her brother.

"What are you doing out here?" Silvertail asked, blinking in surprise. "Shouldn't you be in the medicine den?"

"Lillypelt told me I could go on a hunting patrol," Tanglepath said excitedly. "I'm finally getting out of camp!"

"That's great!" Silvertail exclaimed. "You can come with us!"

The group turned toward the camp entrance, but was stopped when Stormstar pushed into the camp. Behind him was Smokefoot, Silvertail and Tanglepath's brother, and Sunstripe, Smokefoot's former mentor and Emberheart's father.

"Any problems?" Dawnfire asked Stormstar.

The NorthClan leader shook his head. "Nothing." He glanced over their group. "Heading out for a hunting patrol?"

"Yes," Dawnfire replied.

Stormstar nodded. "Silvertail, Shadowleaf, when you get back, I'd like to speak to you."

Silvertail glanced nervously over at Shadowleaf.

Stormstar must have seen the exchange, because he quickly said, "You're not in trouble. I'd just like to speak with you two about something."

Silvertail dipped her head. "Yes, Stormstar."

"You may go." Stormstar dismissed them with a flick of his tail, and they left the camp.

As Silvertail walked between Tanglepath and Shadowleaf, she couldn't help wondering what it was that Stormstar wanted to speak with them about, but the thoughts were pushed out of her mind. It had been so long since she and Tanglepath had been on patrol together, and she hadn't realized how much she'd missed it.

Foxfur and her warriors might have been threatening the Clan, and Stormstar might have wanted to speak with her and Shadowleaf, but right then, walking between her brother and her best friend, Silvertail was the happiest she'd been in a long time.

A/N: Review?

Off to take over the world,

Crazy Girl