Yay! Chapter 2 is up! And this one came a lot faster than usual, so no complaints. Unless I made any big mistakes. Then you can complain.

In this chapter, we meet the other main character, an intelligent young vixen with a way with words. Hope ya'll like it!

"The heart has its reasons, of which reason knows nothing." - Pascal

First Impressions

The gold and black tom placed his snow-white paws delicately on the soft, grassy earth, one in front of the other, with perfectly balanced movements; his tail held low, he steadily and stealthily crept up upon the plump vole that sat in front of him, just beyond the bush that hid him from its view. Its tiny paws groomed its whiskers busily, completely unaware of the cat that crouched only tail-lengths away, licking its jaws in anticipation at an easy meal; the voles' one-track mind was far too distracted by the plentiful food and excellent weather of Greenleaf to worry about predators.

Shadowheart eyed the little creature hungrily, his mouth watering as its warm, delicious scent swamped his senses. He didn't care if his duty was to feed that clan before himself. This delectable bite of prey was his and his alone! His belly grumbled in anticipation as a he crept on.

A sudden sound – a snapping of a twig he later discovered – made Shadowheart jump, his head twisting around and his ears swiveling to identify the source behind the noise, his heart beating so rapidly he thought it might leap out of his chest. Then, realizing that the sound might also have alerted his prey, he looked swiftly to the fore again to see it standing on its hind legs, its little chest rising and falling as quickly as his own. Fearful that it might make a run for it, he dashed forward, his claws tearing at the ground.

Almost as soon as Shadowheart, another figure with long, pale fur burst from the cover of the ferns ahead, streaking towards the same stricken creature that quivered at the base of a tree, letting out a squeak of pure and utter terror.

At the last second, the vole darted away. Shadowheart let out a howl of dismay as he collided with the cream-colored figure and collapsed in a dazed heap. Almost immediately, stars exploded behind his eyes, followed by a screaming pain that made him cry out again, wailing and shaking his head angrily.

The other cat echoed his yowls, struggling to its feet and swiping a paw over its now bruised skull.

"What is the matter with you, Shadowheart!?" it snarled, fixing him with a fierce and pain filled glare.

"What's the matter with me?" replied Shadowheart heatedly, taking in the fact that he had just crashed into the biggest pain-in-the-tail in the forest: Berrynose. "What's the matter with you!? Great StarClan, I feel like I just head-butted a boulder!" He sat up and licked a forepaw, tenderly feeling the top of his head and wincing as he did so. There would definitely be a bump there later. "They should have named you Rockhead instead of Berrynose…," he added insolently, pointedly rubbing his sore ears.

Berrynose lashed his tail and bared his teeth, further infuriated by the jibe. "Why don't you watch where you're going, Shadowpaw?" he sneered. "You hunt like a newly appointed apprentice. Any idiot could see that was my prey!"

"And how was I supposed to know it was yours, Rockhead?" Shadowheart countered petulantly. "I wasn't the one that was crashing through the trees like a fox in a fit. And there was no breeze to carry a scent in any direction. It was a simple mistake."

"Yes, a simple mistake made by an even simpler, mouse-brained cat who hardly deserves the title of a warrior. Every cat knows you were born outside the clans. No wonder you don't know how to hunt right!"

Stung by the taunt, Shadowheart unsheathed his claws. "Look who's talking! I know as well as the rest of the clan that you were born in the horse-place. You have no more ThunderClan blood in you than I!"

Berrynose had crouched down, fur bristling as he prepared to attack, when a third cat stepped out of the shadows, stepping in between the two young toms as he berated them both.
"Shadowheart! Berrynose!" growled Thornclaw. "Shame on you for acting this way, like kits! You know that fights between clan-mates are not allowed! The loss of a single vole will not end the world."

"He started it!" grumbled Berrynose, glaring at Shadowheart.

Shadowheart grunted and glanced away, staring crossly the spot where the vole had last been. 'Stupid vole' he thought. 'It's all your fault…'. His belly rumbled loudly, reminding him yet again that he hadn't eaten all morning.

"I don't care who started it, Berrynose," Thornclaw snapped impatiently. "Now, quit your bickering." He shot a look at Shadowheart. "That goes for you too. In fact, I think it's best if I separated you two." He pointed his tail towards the lake. "Berrynose, you hunt over there. Shadowheart, I want you to head towards the stream. Make sure no WindClan cats have been crossing the border. You know they have been stealing prey recently, prey we can't afford to share. Oh, and remark the borders if they aren't fresh enough," Thornclaw added as an afterthought.

Berrynose took off without a backwards glance, clearly happy to get away from Shadowheart and the annoyed senior warrior.

"I should've put you both on apprentice duties for such disgraceful behavior," meowed Thornclaw as he began to pad away. He paused and glanced back at Shadowheart. "I won't go so easy on you next time."

Shadowheart snorted as the golden-brown tom disappeared from sight. "Yeah, whatever," he mumbled to himself, rising to his paws and setting out in the direction of the WindClan border. "I'd rather hunt near the stream anyway. Sometimes ThunderClan cats are as prickly as the WindClan ones…"

The black and gold tom set a leisurely pace, in no particular hurry to finish his hunt and return to camp. His tail waved contentedly back and forth, as he took in the wonders of late Greenleaf. A strong, cool breeze buffeted his short fur, seeming to wash away his troubled thoughts. As he paused to enjoy the playful wind, a scent was a carried to his nose, running along his scent glands, and he instantly tensed. The horribly familiar, pungent stench made the fur on his neck rise and he growled. He shot suspicious looks into the underbrush, as though expecting to see a monster racing towards him. Shadowheart began to walk again, cautiously, each step tense and jerky.

He continued on, pausing every so often to survey the forest around him, the monsters' scent – like the smell of dogs and long-dead prey – chilling his blood and making his thoughts swirl in a torrent of bad memories.

At last, he crouched down a few tail-lengths inside the underbrush, just beyond the little clearing that bordered the stream. The reek of the monster was even stronger here, mingling with the fish smell of the river and the wind-blown, rabbit-y scent markers left by WindClan.

Shadowheart hesitantly squeezed his way under a bramble bush, cursing softly when it snagged in his fur. After a few moments of frantic struggling, he pulled free, startling a pigeon into flight; it's piercing alarm call echoed through the trees. He hunkered down in the shadow of a broad-leaved fern, his ears pricked forward in astonishment at the sight he beheld.

A monster sat just inside ThunderClans territory, its bright orange fur gleaming in the bright sun-light. Its head was turned towards him, peering into the forest with intelligent yellow eyes.

Shadowheart held his breath, thinking it might have seen him, but then it turned its gaze towards the river, its long, fluffy tail thumping against the ground. It was then that Shadowheart noticed how its fur was bushed out in agitation, its ears, once swiveled in his direction, lying flat against its head. He inhaled deeply and smelled blood. He lifted his head a little higher and noticed that, previously hidden from his view in the long grass, its paw was caught in a fox-trap, the thin metal wire biting deeply into the short black fur. Blood drenched its paw and the ground beneath it.

The monster – a vixen from the smell of her – let out a whimper of pain, shifting uneasily.

Shadowheart felt a cold, grim satisfaction steal over him at the sound of the monsters' pitiful whines. 'Stupid beast,' he thought, pushing his way out of the shelter of the fern. 'Serves it right for coming into my territory!'

Shadowheart sat down and curled his tail over his paws, sniffing contemptuously at the injured vixen as she swung her head to stare at him. He forced his body to remain still, despite the overwhelming urge that made him want to leap at her and tear out her throat.

The vixens' eyes widened, as if she could sense the wrathful desires that burned beneath his pelt; as if she thought he might actually attack her.

Somehow, he kept his place by the ferns, continuing to eye her irately. He took a moment to study his canine-like enemy; from her bright orange pelt to her night black paws. Her muzzle, though blood streaked, was white, and so was her tail tip. Her eyes were pale amber, a shining dark yellow that glistened with unbridled agony. When she shifted her weight again, he noticed a black spot on her flank.

She glanced away shortly to lick her bleeding paw again, swiping her tongue around her jaws and smearing more of her own blood on her lips as she looked at him again. Shadowheart twitched his whiskers derisively. It was as if she wanted him to feel sorry for him.

They proceeded to watch each other across the clearing – about four or five fox-lengths apart – until at last the vixen looked away with a tired sigh, her head drooping miserably.

Shadowhearts' ears pricked forward, his mouth opening in disbelief as the monster did something that was unheard of in all the 'Clans.

"Not that this isn't oodles of fun and all, but do you think you could lend me a paw here?" The vixens' voice was soft and growled out through clenched fangs.

Shadowheart gaped at her.

"Hello? Help please? Little cat?" She tilted her head thoughtfully. "Oh, right. You cats don't normally talk to foxes, right?"

At last, Shadowheart found his own voice, rough with shock though it was.

"How are you doing that?!"

"Doing what? Talking?"

"Yes!" He was so shocked to hear this monster speak he momentarily forgot his morbid thoughts about killing her.

"Oh, well, that's easy. First, I open my mouth." The vixen opened her mouth wide, revealing two rows of terribly sharp teeth. "Then," she went on, "I make a bunch of sounds. By altering these sounds with my tongue, I do what is commonly known as talking!" She bared her teeth again in what could only be described as a impudent grin, her pain subsiding a little as she teased the poor confused cat sitting before her.

Shadowheart hissed. "I know how you're talking, fox! I meant how are you talking to me!? I'm a cat!"

"Yes. Yes you are," agreed the amused vixen, nodding her head sagely. The gleam of laughter dulled abruptly, a twinge of pain shooting through her injured paw.

Before Shadowheart could make his fiery response, she swept on.

"Seriously, do you want to help me out? This really hurts."

Now that he'd finally accepted the fact that this monster was really speaking, Shadowhearts previous dark imaginings returned with a vengeance.

"No!" he hissed, "I really don't want to help you. Actually, I'd like nothing more than for you to stay trapped there until you die!"

The vixens' ears pricked forward with interest. "My, my…whatever did I do to you, little cat?" she barked curiously. "I just asked if you would help me. There's no need for you to condemn me to my death. I haven't done anything wrong."

"Haven't done anything wrong?" meowed Shadowheart with a sneer. "You're on my territory, probably stealing my prey! The fact that you exist at all is wrong, you mangy piece of crow-food!"

"Whoa, you are one angry little feline, aren't you? Got something against foxes, or are you always this pleasant?" The amused smirk was back, which did nothing to improve Shadowhearts already frayed temper.

"Of course I have something against foxes! You and your kind are mindless, bloodthirsty cat-killers!" The young tom was beyond furious; he was nearly blind with rage. He stalked a few paces forward, his fur fluffed out and his tail lashing.

"And what exactly do you base this information on, little cat?" asked the vixen. The humor was fading from her eyes, to be replaced with a cold intelligence that made Shadowheart take step back. "Are you so narrow-minded that you can make such declarations as that? How many foxes have you met in your life-time? Better yet, how many have you met that actually talked back and defended themselves? How can you possibly say that we're all the same when you don't know what goes on in any of their mind?" As she bombarded him with these questions, her head raised arrogantly, the pain in her paw forgotten as she spoke. This cat had no idea what her kind were like!

Shadowhearts ears were flat against his head as he replied. "How do we know? Because your kind have never given us a reason not to think of you as monsters! You steal our prey and kill our kin. Nothing you've done has ever shown us that you have even a shred of decency in your black hearts!" With that, he turned and began to walk away, mumbling angrily to himself.

"Wait!" the vixen called out with a whine. "Wait! Please, hear me out!"

Shadowheart paused, glaring at her out of the corner of his eye. "What?"
"I know we got off to a bad start, but please, please don't leave," she pleaded.

"A bad start, huh?"

"Little cat, not all foxes are evil, believe me. In the same way that not all cats are good," she reasoned.

Shadowheart remembered the story of Tigerstar and grudgingly nodded in agreement. "Perhaps. But that doesn't make me hate you any less. One vixens' promise that not all of your kind are monsters isn't enough to convince me or any other cat that there are those of you that aren't totally evil."

"I haven't threatened you once, little cat," she reminded him. "And I have absolutely no desire to harm you in any way."

"Am I supposed to believe you?" asked Shadowheart scornfully. "Because I don't."

The vixen lowered her head, staring straight into his amber eyes. "Why can't you accept that not all foxes are cold-hearted? That perhaps I might be different?"

He didn't answer. Even if it was true that some were good, it made no difference to him. He would always hate foxes. Always.

The vixen sighed and looked away towards the stream. Her head was no longer raised with pride; it drooped in despair. Shadowheart realized that the fox had all but given up hope of escape, and he wondered for the first time how long it had been sitting here in pain.

Shadowheart shook his head, refusing to feel sympathy for the vixen.

"Please," she whispered, glancing at him again. "Please help me…I don't want to die yet…" Her yellow eyes were blank except for the now familiar gleam of agony. "I promise I'll leave if you let me go."

"An empty promise," Shadowheart sniffed contemptuously, though he couldn't bring himself ignore her pathetic words that made him shift uncomfortably. "How do I know you won't just attack me as soon as you're free?"

"I…I guess you don't," the vixen whined, licking her injured paw, which had begun to bleed again while they talked. "You'll just have to trust me. Please, little cat…Let me show you that not all foxes are as evil as you think they are."

An unexpected feeling of pity twisted his gut, and Shadowheart twitched his whiskers indecisively. "Right," he scoffed disbelievingly.

The vixen whimpered again. Sympathy wrenched his heart and, try as he might, he couldn't harden it to the pitiful creatures' plight. He hated foxes with every fiber of his being, and yet…she had made an annoyingly good point. While he had no reason to trust this monster…she was right. Not all cats were good, so how could any cat say that all foxes were bad? Especially when neither had ever spoken to the other.

The black and gold tom huffed loudly and the young fox looked up hopefully. Against his better judgment, and fully aware that he would regret this later, Shadowheart padded towards the injured fox. He almost wished that she was laughing at him again; it would make it so much easier to hate her. Instead, the pleased whine that rumbled in her throat made it that much harder to turn around and run back to camp, like all his instincts were screaming for him to do.

He stopped a tail-length away from the vixen, nearly choking on her stench. "If you even think about attacking me after this, I swear to StarClan I will tear you apart."

The relief in her gaze was unnerving. "Thank you, little cat!" she barked, fixing him with an incredibly soft look. Her tail curled up and thumped against the ground.

"Whatever. Now shut up and stop moving, you stupid fox," Shadowheart grumbled. 'If anyone in the clan finds out about this, I will be in SO much trouble…'

She raised her head as he stepped cautiously forward again, ever aware of the mouthful of fangs that hovered above him. Fangs that could easily snap his spine in two. He suppressed a shudder and held his breath. The fox-scent was almost unbearable!

Forcing himself to concentrate and swallowing his disgust, Shadowheart began to dig at the base of the stake that kept the wire tight around its preys' paw. The smell of fresh earth helped to mask the stench of the fox above him and he inhaled deeply, beginning to claw up pawfuls of dirt with renewed vigor.

At last, after several minutes of furious digging, the thin-wire loosened enough for the vixen to pull her paw free. She sprang away from Shadowheart and the trap, limping towards the stream and rasping her long tongue across the deep gash.

The golden and black tom shook a piece of grass off his claws, eyeing the fox suspiciously as she cleaned her wound.

At last, she placed it carefully on the ground and glanced at him. "Thank you so much, little cat. I will forever be grateful to you." She looked like she was ready to howl her obvious delight to the sky, and that was the last thing Shadowheart wanted.

"Yeah, yeah," meowed Shadowheart edgily, hardly daring to believe that he'd really saved a fox, one of the cats most hated enemies. "Now get out of here, mange-pelt, before someone sees you, or worse sees me with you."

"As you wish. I owe you my life." She blinked her overwhelming gratitude at him.

"Great!" he snapped, his patience worn thin. "Get out of here, before I take that life you owe me right here and now."

She nodded and sprang across the stream, pushing her way through the heather just as she had the night before. Shadowheart shook his head. 'Great StarClan, don't let any cat find out about this. Especially Berrynose; I'll never hear the end of it if he does…'

Yeah, obviously I don't like Berrynose.
Thanks for readin'!

Oh, and if you noticed a lot of mistakes, feel free to point them out. I didn't edit this chapter much, because I promise my dork of a friend that I'd start editing HER story, so yeah. I rused through it lol.

REVIEW plz. The make me update faster.

SS