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In chapter two, we meet our second protagonist, Emberpaw of ThunderClan. Does she support her leader, Ivystar, in the war for the freedom of kittypets? Or does she resent the fighting and agree with Applestar?

This chapter was brought to you by my co-mod, the talented Shadowstroke. Shadow is currently masquerading as 'Fruitatee'. It's an inside joke (and it's probably better you don't ask XD).

Two

The air was still cold when Emberpaw awoke in the apprentice den. She stretched, her thick black fur standing on end as she did so, the slight breeze that permeated the den ruffling it. Her amber eyes blinked to adjust to the light, and she headed out.

No other cat was out there, and she revelled in the fact that, at the moment, the camp was quiet and at ease. Well, as close to ease as it could be, given their current feud with ShadowClan. If they were to attack at a time like this, in the pale gray hours of early morning, the Clan would be woefully unprepared. Emberpaw's whole view of the quiet peace suddenly shifted, and instead of being calmed by the inactivity, she was on edge. What could she do if they attacked? Get her mentor? But surely the ShadowClan cats wouldn't let her escape their clutches.

We really need a night watch, she thought, then sighed and went back in her den to sleep a few more minutes.

Of course, that didn't work out well. In what felt like no time at all, her mentor Cedarclaw was prodding her awake with his paw. "Wake up," he demanded, gruff but not unkind.

She yawned sleepily despite the fact she hadn't been asleep. "What?" she grumbled.

"We've got a hunting patrol pretty soon. Our warriors need their strength, after all." His tail flicked back and forth as if this topic made him vaguely uncomfortable, but he did not volunteer any further information.

Need strength for what? Emberpaw's eyes narrowed, and she fixed Cedarclaw with an accusing stare. "Why?" she asked, bringing voice to the question in her head.

Cedarclaw shifted slightly, then answered her question. "Ivystar has demanded an attack on ShadowClan."

At those words, the remnants of her former sleepiness were banished. "Another one? Why?" she demanded again, this time harsher.

Her mentor's eyes flickered. It was clear he didn't approve of the violence any more than she did, but the rest of the Clan seemed fine with it, apparently. "The war, with the new code. I think it's more of a power struggle between her and Applestar, honestly."

"What will Ivystar do if someone gets injured or killed because of a simple power struggle?" This was an awful idea, and Emberpaw was going to make it known.

"I don't like this any more than you do, Emberpaw," Cedarclaw mewed, trying to quell her rising anger while avoiding answering her question. "But I also don't want any of our Clanmates hurt. They'll need some food, and so we hunt."

Emberpaw was not swayed. "What if someone gets hurt in something so trivial seeming?" she growled, making it clear she was not going to be put off again.

After a pause, Cedarclaw answered. "I don't know. But there's a less chance of that happening if we do our jobs. Come on." He turned and stalked away, patience wearing thin at last.

Emberpaw waited a few moments to prove a point, then left the den and followed him outside the camp.

Cedarclaw looked up when he saw her approaching, but did not greet her like he usually did, giving her only a terse nod. "Emberpaw," he started, and the young black-furred apprentice was relieved to hear no anger or huge amounts of impatience in his voice. His disapproval was not aimed at her, and he was trying to be just as cordial with her as always. "Where do you think would be a good place to hunt today?"

For a brief moment, she wondered why he needed her help, then she shook her head. He's just testing you, mouse-brain.

"It's early," she began slightly hesitantly. "And coldish, so the prey will mostly still be underground. They won't be eating, so the nutty area by the oak tree's out."

"Go on." Her mentor's deep green eyes betrayed surprisingly little emotion at the moment, so she figured he was withholding judgement until she provided an answer. "Uh… the clearing in the middle of our territory might work." She paused. "But there'd be no reason to go in the clearing, because they can't find much food or shelter in it. So… the forest around the clearing?" She finished it as a question, although she was pretty sure in her reasoning. She didn't want Cedarclaw to think she was too sure of herself.

He nodded. "It's as good a place as any. Let's go." He straightened up, stretching the muscles on his back as he did so. "Lead the way, Emberpaw."

She bounded off into the forest, knowing her mentor was right behind her and watching carefully. He made less sound than her, and she knew that was probably a good idea. The dark-furred apprentice slowed, placing her paws more carefully on the undergrowth, trying to keep herself hidden. She felt Cedarclaw slow down too, presumably to stay behind her and watch her movements.

"Bend your legs a little more, get closer to the ground," he instructed. She turned to look, and saw the long, thin furs on his stomach brushing the crushed leaves under him. His ears were pricked. "The closer you are, the easier it is to hear things, like the scrabbling of mouse paws or rabbits that come over from the moore."

Emberpaw copied her mentor's position, and was surprised when she could hear the rustling sound of something moving in the bushes. Her tail flicked excitedly, and she glanced back at Cedarclaw as if seeking permission.

Her mentor caught her gaze, then nodded, amusement shining in his eyes. Apparently, he thought it was funny that she was asking permission.

Closing her eyes, Emberpaw concentrated. She could hear the slight scuffling of the same paws. A vole, she decided. It was scavenging for food in the undergrowth, for nuts or buds, or anything edible.

There. A clump of grasses to her right. Emberpaw tilted her head, trying to pinpoint the creature. After deciding she had it, she pounced at the grass. A high-pitched squeal and a few quivering leaves later, she had a vole pinned in her claws. She quickly leaned down, biting the back of its neck for a painless death. Eyes shining, she looked up at Cedarclaw, only to discover he was gone.

Scenting the air, she found him, separated from her by only a bush. Around him hung the scent of mouse blood, so she figured her mentor had missed her awesome catch. She wasn't disappointed, how could she be if he was serving her Clan? All the same, she wished the fighting with ShadowClan wasn't such a big problem. I wish I could just be a normal apprentice. Is that really too much to ask?

Cedarclaw moved around the bush, then set his mouse down by her vole. "I saw that," he said, eyes twinkling with pride. "Very nice. Less noise might be preferable next time."

That made her feel satisfied. She lifted her chin proudly, happy that her mentor had watched instead of just letting her go like she thought he had.

"I think we can split up," Cedarclaw said, trying not to ruin her moment of pride. "You go one way, I'll go the other. Whoever catches the most gets bragging rights."

Emberpaw jumped up, then meowed, "It's on!" and disappeared into the undergrowth, carried on by her energy from her mentor's praise and satisfaction. Her mentor just smiled slightly to himself, remembering fondly the days when just a simple sentence from his mentor-now-elder Cloverleaf could fill him with as much joy.

When the two cats met up not too long afterwards, Emberpaw was very proud of herself. She'd caught a squirrel, a mouse, and a blackbird, plus her vole from earlier. Cedarclaw had caught another mouse and a sparrow.

"I won," Emberpaw remarked, flicking her ears back and forth.

Her mentor laughed softly. "You did. We got a good haul, too." He bent down and picked up his two mice, then spoke through their tails. "Come on, Emberpaw. We're taking these to the camp."

He strode off without waiting for her, leaving her to grab her vole and her squirrel and scramble after him, paws slipping in the dewy leaves. She was so concentrated on not falling that she didn't notice Cedarclaw stopped right in front of her until she crashed into him.

"Ow!" she mewed. "Watch where you're—" At that moment, she caught sight of what made her mentor take pause. A patrol made up of nearly all the able-bodied ThunderClan cats was headed in their direction. Emberpaw even saw her best friends Skypaw and Acornpaw, near the back beside their mentors, Weedfur and Darktail. She saw her mother, Hazelshade, and her father, Frostpelt. Alongside them were the rest of the warriors, Juniperpelt, Puddlenose, Spotfur, Bumblefoot, and Raintail. Emberpaw noticed that Ivystar wasn't there, and neither was Lilywhisker the medicine cat, or her apprentice Darkpaw. But the deputy, Sparrowfeather, was in front, and he had brought his apprentice (who just happened to be her brother Icepaw), although the white-furred young tom was near the back with the others.

The cat in front, Sparrowfeather, immediately moved in toward Cedarclaw. "Cedarclaw! Where have you been?"

The younger warrior drew himself up, steeling himself to argue with his deputy. "I've been hunting," he mewed strongly. "I hoped it would improve our chances in battle."

Sparrowfeather simply hissed, "You should have come back sooner. We wasted valuable time looking for you and your apprentice until one of them remembered you went out. ShadowClan could have prepared themselves in that time! They could be preparing an attack themselves!"

"With all due respect, Sparrowfeather—"

"I don't want to hear it. Just get in position, and try not to hold us up, again." The haughty deputy turned away from the brown tom, and bounded away. Some of the younger warriors, like Spotfur, flashed Cedarclaw apologetic looks, but most just ignored him and followed the deputy. Cedarclaw sighed and took a spot at the edge, near Bumblefoot, while Emberpaw fell into position by her brother.

Icepaw looked up and flashed her a grim look. "How do you think this'll turn out?" he asked solemnly, his voice quiet.

"Badly," she meowed back. "Cats are going to get hurt for no valid reason."

Skypaw, the young kittypet who'd most recently joined the clan, leaned forward from her place on Icepaw's other side to hiss, "Defending our Clan's honor is a valid cause, Emberpaw."

Emberpaw liked the silvery she-cat, despite her origins, but sometimes felt she tried too hard to take Clan loyalty seriously. Ah well, at least she wasn't taking it too lightly.

"We're not defending our Clan's honor, though, Skypaw," Emberpaw pointed out. "Just yours. And do you really want blood shed for you?"

Skypaw fell silent. "It's not just me," she murmured, although she sounded much more subdued.

"No," she agreed, "But you get more from this than Emberpaw or I will."

The silver she-cat's light blue eyes darkened and she waited for a long moment. "I see," she said.

"Hey, Emberpaw, don't be like that," Acornpaw, the tabby beside Skypaw, said brightly. "It's worth it. Skypaw's our friend!"

Emberpaw opened her mouth to reply, but she was interrupted by the deputy. "Quiet back there, apprentices," snapped Sparrowfeather. "We're getting close. We don't want ShadowClan to hear you chattering like birds."

Emberpaw rolled her eyes but remained silent, and she felt Icepaw shrink back a little beside her. She glanced over while they ran and saw her brother's wide, slightly terrified blue eyes and brushed against his shoulder comfortingly. His gaze swept up and met hers, and he nodded slightly in thanks.

They ran on for a few more paces before they ran into a ShadowClan border patrol. It was rather unimpressive, just four cats, two of which seemed to be apprentices. With a long, screeching cry of "ThunderClan!" the deputy charged at the heavyset brown tom closest to him. The cat screeched and twisted away, but he darted back for more, and the battle was on.

Emberpaw saw another two cats make their way into the battle, and saw the younger one's eyes harden as he looked at Cedarclaw, who had a young she-cat pinned underneath him. Emberpaw's own eyes widened as the male clawed hard at her mentor's spine, causing him to cry out and let the she-cat go. Rather than run away, the two apprentices clawed and bit him until his blood ran thickly over much of the undergrowth and he was forced to beg them to let him go.

"Cedarclaw!" she cried a few moments too late, gaze still transfixed in horror at the bloody brown fur of her mentor. She was brought sharply into the present when she felt weight drop down on her back in the form of a black-furred tom leaping at her and snarling. She twisted out from under him, and he managed to surprise her by leaping clear himself and swiftly jumping again. He struck a blow to her side and caused her to fall onto the ground. Emberpaw scrambled to her paws, but not before the tom had made it to her side and slashed with his claws. It wasn't to deep, but it stung and left her a bit disoriented.

The tom paused, as if unsure of what he should do. His blue eyes twinkled in excitement, and she vaguely thought he might be interesting to know if not in these circumstances. Even so, she wasn't just going to sit back and let him injure her. She jumped at him, knocking him off his paws and not wasting time before fleeing deeper into ShadowClan forest.

Several paces further, she knew she heard pawsteps behind her, but she was a bit distracted by the rather large fox standing over her. Emberpaw was cornered, and was considering leaping anyway despite the low chance of survival when the brown tabby tom who'd hurt Cedarclaw earlier was suddenly atop the fox, biting and scratching at its face. The black she-cat considered running away and leaving the ShadowClan apprentice to deal with the fox on his own, but some inner shred of morality inside her made itself heard.

She jumped, aiming for the fox's back and digging in her claws when she felt soft flesh under her paws. She landed right on target, and dug in her claws deep, feeling the blood flow freely from under her. The two enemies fought together, until at last the fox yelped a final time and managed to wrench the two cats off his back and flee, crying, into the forest.

Emberpaw half hoped the fox's desperate flight had carried away the ShadowClan apprentice, but no, he was still there, glaring at her as if she'd put the fox there on purpose. "Good job," she meowed tiredly, hoping that he wouldn't hear how hollow her words were, but at the same time not really caring.

Evidently, he didn't. "Who are you and what are doing in my territory?"

I'm waging war on your Clan. What does it look like, mouse-brain? "My name's Emberpaw," she mewed, still with the same tired voice as before. "During the battle, I was jumped by a black apprentice. I had to go somewhere."

His eyes clouded in recognition, so Emberpaw figured the brown apprentice knew the tom who'd attacked her. No matter.

"Well, go home!" He sounded so indignant all of a sudden, it was all Emberpaw could do not to laugh out loud. Who was this little brown cat, trying to tell her what she should do? "This is ShadowClan territory!"

I noticed, she thought dryly. Still, she didn't really want to argue with the brown cat, so she nodded and turned away, racing back toward the battle and her injured mentor.

When she arrived, the field was in chaos. More ShadowClan cats had arrived, and they were forcing ThunderClan backwards. Cedarclaw was nowhere to be seen, but given that Darkpaw was lurking near the back, toward ThunderClan, she figured that Lilywhisker must have taken him back to camp.

Does that mean the battle's over soon? she thought, just before she caught the yowling cry of Sparrowfeather.

"ThunderClan, retreat!" he bellowed. The ThunderClan cats began to peel away from their ShadowClan opponents, running off back toward home. Emberpaw saw the other apprentice who'd hurt Cedarclaw, a dark gray she-cat, smirking after them with a prideful look on her face. Emberpaw felt her pelt bristle up in loathing, even as she herself followed her retreating Clanmates back toward their camp.

As soon as she arrived, she demanded to know where Cedarclaw was. Darkpaw explained that Lilywhisker was keeping all non-injured cats away from the den, so Emberpaw was going to have to wait until the next day to see him. She sighed, ignoring Darkpaw as he spread a coat of goldenrod over her cuts and dabbed up the blood with wet moss, heeding him only when he told her she could go. All across the camp, cats lay, tired and injured. Most warriors seemed to be going into the dens to sleep, and neither the deputy nor the leader sought to stop any of them.

Emberpaw's burning amber eyes sought out Sparrowfeather, and found him up by the leader's den, conversing with a familiar black and white she-cat. Their leader, Ivystar, who seemed not to care in the slightest that one of her warriors was grievously injured in a fight that gained ThunderClan absolutely nothing.

I hope you're proud of yourselves, Emberpaw thought bitterly as she crawled into the apprentice den to sleep. I hope you think you've done the right thing. She settled down into her mossy nest beside Skypaw's. The silvery white she-cat was there, curled up into a tight ball, smelling slightly of poppyseed and cobwebs. A deep cut showed on her back, and Emberpaw sighed. Her brother was there, too, his ear ripped open near the edge. He was probably going to sport that scar forever, an eternal reminder of Ivystar's terrible battle.

I hope you realize you're wrong, Emberpaw thought, her amber eyes fluttering closed. I hope you pay for this.