A/N: Yay, new chapter! And whew, I was beginning to think no one would ever review. This IS a crossover, though; 'tis to be expected. Anyway.

Swiftshimmer - Thank you! And ooh, I love the use of 'Swift' in your name. In Warriors-related things, I go by Swiftshade. :3

Sakura Waldorf - Thanks. I try to keep it entertaining. :)

"Okay, right this way, everyone," came a malevolent purr. Brightheart's one eye flashed up, catching sight of Hawkfrost's ghostly form a foxlength or so away. She felt a paw nudge her flank, and she whipped around, fixing the cat with a gaze of blue fire. Birchfall. Birchfall. Of course it was Birchfall. Her son-in-law, Birchfall, leading his mother-in-law and daughter off to their deaths. He flinched, and for a moment she thought she saw sorrow flickering in his amber depths; but it vanished as quickly as it had come, like mist on a sunny day, and he glared pointedly at her. With a quiet growl, she bounded forward to search for her granddaughter.

Brightheart found Dovewing with her ears flattened and eyes down, looking as though she was in shock. Before Brightheart could reach the young cat, however, there was a loud mew and Bumblestripe bounded up to her, lying a tail-tip on her flank. Brightheart watched sadly; in these cruel Games, love could bring only heartbreak.

The cats had rounded the side of the island, urged on by the Dark Forest cats and their traitorous earthly puppets. Dug down into the sandy shore were a row of dens, which they started to shove the unlucky tributes towards. "Oh, StarClan," Brightheart muttered under her breath, and dug her claws into the sand.

"Get in," came a sudden growl on her blind side. Startled, Brightheart whirled with a hiss, and in a flash she found herself on the ground, scarred cheek smarting. She scrambled to her paws and bared her teeth, staring straight into Thistleclaw's sneering face. With great self-control, Brightheart stepped into a den. Two more cats crowded in around her at the Dark Forest cats' prodding - Squirrelflight and Leafpool. What a pity both of them were chosen, she thought with a pang.

Tigerstar's deep rumbling voice, honeyed and dripping with false goodwill and sarcasm, raked on Brightheart's ear. "These will be your quarters until the Games begin. Tomorrow, the Clans will come together again for the assigning of mentors, about one to every two tributes." He chuckled darkly. "Sweet dreams, tributes."

Squirrelflight bristled beside her, but didn't have enough time to say anything before a boulder rolled over the entrance, sealing them inside in pitch blackness.

The next morning dawned pale and chilly, with mist wreathing around the tributes' dismal prisons. Brightheart blinked open her single eye to complete darkness. Suddenly, savage snarling and yapping broke out outside the den. Brightheart felt Squirrelflight and Leafpool jolt awake on either side of her, fur bristling. There was a smack, a single yelp, and silence.

Pawsteps sounded close outside the den; there was a grunt, and the boulder rolled away, revealing Darkstripe's ghostly form outlined by the pale sun. "What was that?" Squirrelflight growled, and Brightheart craned her neck around Darkstripe's slim shoulders. A gasp escaped her throat.

Several Clan traitors were dragging a fox's unconscious body across the shore. All, including the fox, were marred by scratches oozing crimson blood. The fox's tongue lolled out, its bright tail lying limply in the sand; if it weren't for the labored rise and fall of its chest, Brightheart would have thought it was dead. The warriors dragged it another tail-length and shoved it into another of a large set of dens, blocking the entrance with a heavy stone as it slid limply into the burrow.

"But how - why - " Brightheart spluttered, flabbergasted.

Darkstripe grinned wickedly. "I expect you'll meet up with that fox again," he meowed, "in the Games." With that he tossed in a couple of mice and left, leaving Brightheart with a sinking feeling of dread.

Time crawled by agonizingly slowly. The Dark Forest warriors would not permit the tributes to leave their cramped prisons, except to make dirt. But finally, finally, the moon rose in the darkening sky, and the tributes were ushered from their dens and around the side of the island. Brightheart noticed, with a growing sense of doom, that a long set of larger, blocked-off burrows stretched on the shore directly opposite the tributes' dens. Burrows for holding foxes and badgers and other threats to attack the cats.

The tributes were herded in front of the Great Oak, clustered by Clan, with the traitors from each flanking them with unsheathed claws. Several Dark Forest warriors - Tigerstar, Brokenstar, Hawkfrost, Mapleshade, Thistleclaw - swarmed into the Oak's leafy branches as a Clan leader would.

I'll see them one last time, Brightheart thought, almost hopefully. I'll see Cloudtail and Whitewing and Ivypool, one last time... She knew they were there, for every leader, deputy, medicine cat, warrior, and apprentice had been required to attend. Only queens, kits, and elders had been left behind.

"Cats of the Clans..." As Tigerstar addressed the assembled cats, a flash of white in the ThunderClan section caught Brightheart's eye. There! Cloudtail, Whitewing, and Ivypool were all clustered together among the ThunderClan cats. Cloudtail, his face a mask of hate and rage, so passionate Brightheart was nearly swept off her paws; Whitewing, her face tear-streaked and hysteric as she buried her muzzle in her remaining daughter's shoulder; Ivypool, her gaze bleak and hopeless as she gazed wordlessly up at Tigerstar. Brightheart felt a powerful burst of love for all three of them, and regret that she had to leave them so soon, as well as a blast of sympathy for her daughter. Whitewing's mate had betrayed her and the Clan; her mother and daughter would be killed in the Games; and her other daughter would soon be killed for betraying the Dark Forest. What did she have left to live for?

"...so I will assign a mentor of each Clan to every two or three cats," Tigerstar was finishing. "The mentors and tributes can work out who will train with whom."

"From ThunderClan, the following mentors have been chosen," Tigerstar began. "Dustpelt." The brown tabby looked up, startled. "Sandstorm." Squirrelflight and Leafpool stiffened beside Brightheart, looking surprised. "Brackenfur." Brackenfur! Her older brother - that was a spot of good fortune. "Mousefur." The old cat would have a lot to teach, she supposed. "And Cloudtail." Cloudtail! Brightheart's mind raced, her heart hammering into overdrive. Oh, Cloudtail...

The chosen mentors stepped up to join the tributes, and the moment Cloudtail set paw in the crowd Brightheart surged up to him, winding around him, drinking in his scent, purring madly. He purred back, resting his muzzle on her back, tail-tip swishing across her uninjured cheek. So ecstatic was she, she almost missed the announcement of the other Clans' mentors...

"...Cedarheart and Rowanclaw." The ShadowClan deputy and an elder of the same Clan stepped up to join their Clanmates; Tawnypelt pressed herself to her mate witha soft purr and a lick to his ear.

"From WindClan, Tornear and Onestar." Onestar! That was certainly surprising.

"And for RiverClan, Reedwhisker and Dapplenose." The deputy and crippled she-cat stepped up to weave around their friends and Clanmates.

"Mentors are to report to the Island from sunrise to sunset daily, including today. That will be all."

Brightheart's gaze followed the Clans as they swarmed from the Island, weary and much diminished in size, leaving her pressed to her mate and wondering what was to come.