Disclaimer: Warriors doesn't belong to me...

So, here's Chapter Two! Enjoy.

Chapter Two

~ An Innocent Friendship... ~

It was a few sunrises later when I saw Raze again. Fireheart had taken me out to practise my hunting technique at the crack of dawn and by coincidence (the rabbit I had been chasing just happened to run in this direction) we ended up by the Twolegplace border.

"Mousedung!" I exclaimed, watching its white bob-tail disappear over the border.

"Bad luck Cinderpaw, but don't worry; not many cats outside of WindClan can catch a rabbit by chasing after it," my mentor sympathised.

"I would've had it if that fallen log hadn't got in my way and slowed me down," I mewed. "WindClan aren't the only fast cats – watch!" I added energetically, beginning to dash off into the trees.

"You couldn't have caught that rabbit if it had a limp," a strangely familiar voice came out of nowhere, mocking me.

I spun around, scanning the undergrowth in surprise. It was sparse in Leaf-fall and I couldn't see a good hiding place anywhere.

"Who's there?" Fireheart growled, coming to stand beside me. I jumped, startled. I had forgotten he was there.

"Up here," the voice called again and this time I recognised it as belonging to that rogue I had met the last time I was on the Twolegplace border.

Fireheart and I both looked up to see Raze's black face looking down on us from a tree right on the edge of the border.

The tree he was in had hardly any leaves left on it, so I wondered why I hadn't noticed him before.

"Who are you?" Fireheart repeated his question in an even tone.

Raze's eyes glimmered in amusement. He was perched on the branch so that his head was bent over his forepaws and his hindpaws were dug securely into the bark. Uh-oh, I just knew this wasn't going to end well.

"Oh, he's just a rogue," I said dismissively before Raze could answer. "Come on, I want to find another rabbit to catch," I added, subtly trying to distract Fireheart from Raze.

But my mentor didn't even glance at me. "What are you doing in our territory?" he asked Raze.

Raze blinked. "This isn't your territory. It's a tree," he meowed. My whiskers twitched, but Fireheart wasn't amused.

"The tree is on ThunderClan territory, which makes it a ThunderClan tree," Fireheart told him.

"Are we talking about the same tree?" Raze asked. "This tree is nowhere near ThunderClan territory," he said.

Fireheart stalked up to the base of the tree. "Can't you smell the ThunderClan scent?" he asked. Spotting the mischievous expression on Raze's face, I dug my claws into the damp earth. I had a bad feeling I knew what was coming next.

"If you mean that rotting flesh stink..." Raze began slyly, "then yes, I can smell it. But only because you just walked over here."

Fireheart narrowed his eyes. I darted forward in front of my mentor. "Fireheart! He's obviously just a mousebrained kit who fell out of lots of trees and hit his head several times after he was kitted so we should leave him to waste his own time instead of ours," I interrupted.

Fireheart glanced at me. "What makes you so anxious to leave him here? I thought you'd relish the chance to chase out an intruder," he meowed with a slight hint of suspicion in his voice.

"Oh, I just want to make sure I have enough time to catch something to feed the elders with," I mewed innocently.

"There's plenty of time for hunting later, after we've made sure this rogue isn't here to cause trouble," he told me, aiming the last bit at Raze as a warning.

"Trouble? Me? Never," Raze called down. "I'm only up here because I like the view... of the edge of the Twolegplace," he said.

I glared up at him. You're not making this any easier!

As if he could read my thoughts, Raze added, "See, I'm harmless really. Anyway, it was nice to meet you. Bye!" he meowed suddenly, and disappeared round the other side of the trunk.

Fireheart looked taken aback with Raze's abrupt departure. He wanted to climb the tree to make sure Raze was gone, but I persuaded him otherwise. We continued hunting, but I couldn't catch anything because my thoughts were full of an annoying, black-furred furball.

I went to my nest early that night, but I was so restless that I couldn't sleep. Deciding to go for a walk, I slipped out of camp and padded though the darkened trees until I reached the tree Raze had been 'hiding' in earlier.

I sat down, keeping an eye out for trouble. The forest was scary at night, and I jumped when an owl hooted. I wasn't sure what I was waiting for, but something kept me there until a voice made me jump out of my skin.

"Finally! I thought you'd never come back," Raze called down cheerfully.

I leaped to my paws, my fur bristling. "Stupid furball! What are you still doing up there? I though you left," I meowed, calming my racing heart by licking my chest fur self-consciously. I was usually the one surprising other cats, not the other way round!

"Like I told that strange orange cat earlier, I like the view," Raze replied nonchalantly. I looked up at him, hardly able to make out his black fur against the tree, but his eyes gleamed down at me bright as ever. I blinked when I realised he was perched on the same branch as before.

"You like the view? It's dark, you can hardly see two tail lengths ahead of yourself, let alone a view from a tree," I pointed out. "What are you really doing up there? You look like you've been there since we saw you this morning – oh, and by the way, Fireheart isn't strange. He's my mentor, and it's his job to chase out intruders like you."

Raze scoffed. "I'm not an intruder, I'm a sight-viewer."

I choked on my laughter. "A sight-viewer? You just made that up!"

"Did not," Raze protested. "Anyway, if you want to know why I'm a sight-viewer, come up here and see," he invited.

I tilted my head slightly. "You want me to climb up there, in the dark?"

Raze smiled, showing his teeth. "Not scared, are you?"

"No way!" I scrambled up the trunk of the tree as gracefully as I could, aware of Raze watching me. I wanted to show him how good Clan cats are at climbing, and also that we're not afraid of anything, but just as I reached Raze's branch my paw slipped and I almost fell. Luckily Raze lunged forward and grabbed my scruff in his teeth, hauling me back onto his branch.

"Thanks," I gasped, my heart racing once more from the shock of nearly falling.

"You're really heavy, you know that? Please don't fall again, because I don't know if I've got the strength to pull you up a second time," Raze grunted.

Annoyance sparked I my eyes as I turned to glare at him. "Heavy? You're too weak to lift a feather, that's why you think I'm 'heavy'," I growled.

Raze chuckled. "Hey, I was just joking," he assured me. "But, see up there? That's what I was looking at earlier," he told me, looking up at the sky. Curious, I followed his gaze.

"Wow," I breathed. Without all the trees in the way there was a clear view of the night sky. Not a single cloud blurred my vision so Silverpelt shone brightly, twinkling like shards of ice above our heads. Hanging high in the sky was the moon. It was a perfect claw shape and glittered as if coated in starlight. "It's so beautiful without any trees obscuring the view." I turned to face Raze again. "Now I can see why you're still up here."

To my surprise, Raze shook his head. "I didn't get you up here to see the stars," he snorted. "You can see them any only time," he said, shocking me.

"They're not just stars! That's Silverpelt, where my warrior ancestors live in StarClan," I informed him.

Raze looked at me like I was crazy. "StarClan. Warrior ancestors. Right. Whatever, I brought you up here to see this," he flicked my ear, directing my attention towards the Twolegplace. I couldn't see much of it because of the darkness. It just looked like a huge, looming shadow.

"Yeah, that's very impressive," I meowed sarcastically, still put out that he had belittled StarClan like that. "I still think Silverpelt is prettier to look at." I switched my gaze back to the sky, determined to enjoy the view.

"You don't get it," Raze's voice sounded close to my ear and I jumped, moving away from him slightly. "One day, I'm going to be the ruler of all that," he continued, following me as I shuffled down the branch until my side was pressed up against the trunk, preventing me from moving any further.

"You're going to be the ruler of a shadow!" I exclaimed. "How exciting!"

Raze poked me. "I'm serious, Cinder. Don't you believe me?"

I shrugged. "I should get back to camp, before Brackenpaw notices I'm missing," I mewed.

"Wait – I'm sorry, if I offended you when I talked about Silverfur or whatever it's called," Raze said suddenly, realising why I was so annoyed with him.

I dug my claws into the branch. "Silverpelt. But, yeah, I guess it does sound cool that you're going to rule the Twolegplace one day," I replied, smiling slightly.

Raze frowned. "You don't sound like it impresses you," he said.

I grinned suddenly. "Well, who would want to rule the Twolegplace when they could rule the forest? I'm going to be leader of ThunderClan one day, just you wait!"

"You? Leader of your Clan? Hah, you'd be a rubbish leader," Raze teased, picking up on my playful tone. "I'm going to be a much better leader than you'll ever be," he boasted. "My father's already teaching me how," he added proudly.

"Well I don't need anyone to teach me. I'm going to be a natural," I replied loftily. "You rogues will tremble at the sight of us Clan cats when I'm in charge."

Raze rolled his eyes. "I think it'll be the other way round. Besides, the Twolegplace is much bigger than the forest. If you could see it, you would realise just what you forest cats are missing."

Raze and I continued talking and teasing each other for a while, but eventually I yawned and realised that I really did need to get back to my den before someone noticed my absence. "I have to go," I meowed apologetically. "But if you keep lingering on ThunderClan borders then I'll probably see you again sometime?"

"Count on it," Raze nodded. I began descending down the tree, and when I reached the bottom I waited for raze to follow me but he didn't. Peering back up into the branches, I saw Raze staring down at me.

"Aren't you coming?" I called up. Raze looked away, and suddenly realisation dawned on me. "You're stuck! You've been up there for so long because you can't get down again," I purred with laughter.

Raze narrowed his eyes. "Are you going to help me or not?" he asked huffily.

"Sure," I replied, still laughing as I climbed back up the tree to help him down.

"You can stop laughing now," Raze told me once we were safely back on the ground. "It's not that funny."

I just shook my head, glancing at him playfully. He looked a bit miffed, but I touched my nose to his ear and his blue eyes widened in surprise.

"It's hilarious," I whispered in his ear. Pulling away, I laughed even harder at his expression. "Bye Raze!" I called over my shoulder, bounding back to camp. My paws skimmed over the ground feeling lighter than feathers despite my tiredness.

When I curled up in my nest after I got back, I felt like the happiest cat in all of the four Clans. I should have known it wouldn't last long.

Author's Note: I know it seems like this is just a filler chapter because not much happens, but the plot will pick up next chapter when (spoiler alert) Raze crashes a training session between Cinderpaw and Brackenpaw, and asks Cinderpaw to do something the Cinderpelt/heart we think we know would never have done in a million years. Can anyone guess what Raze is going to ask her to do? (I bet no-one'll get it right, even though I hinted at it in this chapter!)

Anyway, bye for now :)