Hello once again. Here's the next chapter of the story.

First off, I want to say that I'm sorry about the mix-up with the chapter order that some of you may have seen before I changed it (I had originally written the prologue, then said the next chapter was chapter two when I introduced it, like a dingus. Won't happen again, I promise.)

This is the REAL Chapter Two. Enjoy!

Chapter Two: Unwelcome Arrival

"Thank you for sharing this with me, Sedgewing, but I'm not sure how this "storm" has anything to do with WindClan," Willowstar said somewhat dismissively. Gaze shifting to the entrance of her den, she stood and angled her ears to the growing chatter in the clearing. The white she-cat exhaled. "It seems that the dawn patrol has just returned. You may go now." Following the medicine cat out of the den, she turned and leapt gracefully onto the Tallrock. It became immediately apparent to Willowstar that something was off. All around her, she could hear the hushed murmuring of her Clanmates; some confused, others outraged.

"I thought they were patrolling the borders, not hunting for kits!"

"Where did they find that kit? Is it from another Clan?"

"Definitely doesn't smell like a Clan cat."

"Hush, Scorchkit."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Mosswhisker and Beetle push their way through the throng of cats to stop in front of her. Their pelts were torn and cut, their fur caked with dry blood. Watching with an air of calm seriousness that had been about her lately, she sat patiently, looking on as Mosswhisker set the kit on the ground. "Explain yourselves, please." She noticed their hesitation and narrowed her eyes. If they stole this kit from RiverClan or ThunderClan, I will definitely hear about it at the next Gathering, she thought bitterly. She swished her tail, waiting for one of the two to speak up. "Well," she encouraged. Mosswhisker cleared his throat, and Willowstar saw him look at some of his Clanmates; his hackles raised in challenge.

"W-We found him along... along the border with ThunderClan in a pile of leaf litter." He shifted his paws guiltily, sending a small cloud of dust spiraling up into the clearing. A myriad of questions buzzed through Willowstar's mind like bees on a greenleaf day. What would the other clans say? Who's kit was this? Why were her Clanmates acting so hostile?

Silence fell upon the camp.

The WindClan leader flicked her tail in disbelief. She looked down at the two toms, her gaze as hard and cold as stone. Mosswhisker and Beetle both hung their heads. Looking out at the cloudy sky beyond the camp, she noticed the strange scent of wet stone on the breeze but thought nothing of it, dismissing it as an early leaf-bare storm. Willowstar then saw her deputy, Rabbitfur came to stand in the clearing, his face contorted with malice. She was shocked. Never in her life had she seen him this enraged, not even when the apprentices had gone off alone to fight a fox when they were kits.

"Liars! You probably stole this creature from a kittypet," he spat furiously at them, his eyes locked on the little tom-kit. "You should have left that mousefodder where you found it!" A shocked gasp rippled throughout the crowd at his words, only growing stronger as time went on. Still, some murmured their agreement. Have they become blind to the warrior code, Willowstar thought. Surely they knew that it was every Clan's duty to care for kits, no matter where they came from. Willowstar raised her tail for silence, glaring furiously at Rabbitfur.

""Rabbitfur," she said icily as silence returned. "I would like to speak with you in my den when we are finished here. Is that understood?" She did not wait for his reply, instead addressing Beetle. "What have you decided to call him?"

"We've decided to call him Rainkit, Willowstar," he said. "It was his mother's last wish that we give him a better life before she died." He shuffled his paws aimlessly in the dirt. Is he telling the truth, Willowstar wondered. Or is there more to this than he's letting on? Deciding that there's no feasible option left then to ask, she sat and observed the warrior in silence.

"Is there anything else you would like to share," she asked slyly. She spotted Beetle give a slight nod of affirmation, his head down. She dipped her head to the warriors. "Despite objections, in accordance with the warrior code, Rainkit will be given a place here in WindClan." Some of the Clan looked reluctant to agree with her not only because of the unusual circumstances surrounding the kit's sudden appearance but also because of what Rabbitfur had said. The small soul that lay, now squirming, in front of Beetle had wedged a rift in between her Clan, which Willowstar feared she might never be able to close. Her mood sagged, turning sour as she watched her Clanmates quarrel over Rainkit's right to be in the Clan. "Enough," she roared. "Stonefur, take Rainkit to Foxear in the nursery. Rabbitfur, follow me. Mosswhisker and Beetle, are those wounds of yours anything serious?"

"No," they meowed in unison.

"I would still have Sedgewing take a look at you." Turning, she made her way down the Tallrock and back into her den. She curled her tail around her paws, waiting for the deputy's arrival. Soon, he sat down across from her, a look of clear confusion in his eyes. Willowstar fought the urge to snap at him, to tell him how wrong he had been. He stared at her, awaiting what was to come. "Why did you say what you did? Have you got bees in your brain?!" Willowstar saw him wince.

"Willowstar, he does not have any righ-"

"That's a load of badger droppings, Rabbitfur! All kits have a right to protection from every Clan. How dare you insinuate something that you don't even know is true!" His outright disregard for the code infuriated her. She choose him as her deputy because she thought that he would uphold it, not watch it gather dust and wither away in the sun.

"Willowstar, we don't even know where that kit came from! Don't tell my that you're going to go start acting like Firestar, taking in cats whenever you feel like it. If you had any sense, you would see how wrong of a choice you've just made for our Clan," Rabbitfur retorted. "I've respected your decisions in the past, but this is something I can't, and won't, abide by." Willowstar saw the glint of his teeth, his lips curled back in a snarl. "Mouse-brained old fool! Every cat would think you've gone mad with how willing you seem to accept anyone that needs you. Don't you see; WindClan doesn't need to be every cat's protector. You should have let well enough alone." He huffed, turning and storming out of the den.

Watching him leave, Willowstar thought about her Clanmates responses to Rainkit's appearance until Mistclaw's arrival to her den hooked her abruptly from her thoughts. The blueish gray warrior stood rigidly in the entrance of the den with a troubled look plastered across his face.

"I scented fox near the RiverClan border. Should I take a patrol to alert them?" Mistclaw blinked, awaiting the leader's response.

"They don't usually see much trouble from foxes but I would still alert them. Take only a small group, we don't want to rile them. Mistclaw nodded and left to gather a patrol to head to the border. Rising to her paws, Willowstar squinted at the sudden brightness of the clearing as she headed outside. The sun hung high in a crystalline blue sky, moving swiftly among the wispy clouds. Crossing the camp to the nursery and walking inside, she found Rainkit snuggled up against Foxear, nursing, the queen smiling down at him lovingly. The leader watched as Scorchkit, a patchy brown-and-ginger tabby tom-kit and Foxear's son, sniffed at the dark brown tabby — whose small tail swished every so often — and wrinkled his nose.

"Foxear," he asked. "Why does he smell weird, sort of like wet stone?" He prodded the kit, who fidgeted in response. Willowstar caught Foxear's eye and held her gaze for a moment. She answered for the queen, aware of her distress.

"He was found near the ThunderClan border but we don't have any idea where he came from besides that," she mewed softly.

"Is he from ThunderClan," Scorchkit asked the leader.

"How about you go take some prey to Haretail," she said, dodging his question. "I'm sure he would be happy to tell you a story." Willowstar watched as the young cat jumped to his paws and strode outside to the fresh-kill pile. A dark brown-and-gray queen lifted her head as the kit padded outside, awoken by the commotion.

The queen smiled. "Looks like you've got your paws full with the two of them, Foxear," she said with a purr of amusement. Willowstar, too, found herself purring as an image of Scorchkit bounding around the nursery greeted her.

"Tell me about it, Fernpelt!" The queen paused and Willowstar saw her glance over at Fernpelt's two kits — Silentkit and Rushkit — who were sleeping contently against her belly fur. "Scorchkit is only a quarter-moon old, but he's so full of energy that it's hard to ground him sometimes. I'm worried though. He seemed to be questioning Rainkit just like Rabbitfur had. Was this a mistake?" She curled her tail around the kit protectively.

"Don't be a bee-brain, Foxear. Kits will be kits; they're bound to be curious about what goes on in their lives," Fernpelt mewed reassuringly.

Willowstar went and rested her tail on Foxear's shoulder. "How's he faring?" She watched the kit as he nursed, writhing and pushing at the queen's belly strongly.

Foxear sighed. "Good. But do you believe that this was a mistake, Willowstar? Maybe Rainkit would be better off with his parents, whoever they are... From what I heard earlier, a lot of cats don't think he belongs here. What good is he in WindClan if even its deputy won't accept him?" The queen kneaded the heather in her nest, clearly dismayed.

"No Foxear, I don't think that I made a mistake by taking him in. It was the right thing to do given the circumstances." Fernpelt moved to sit next to Foxear and licked her ears comfortingly while Willowstar went on. "As far as he will know, you are his mother, and he will grow up a like any other WindClan kit. Foxear nodded meekly at her words and nuzzled Rainkit's head gently. She shifted to make room for Scorchkit, who had returned from his excursion to the elder Haretail's den. Moments later, the three of them were settled down and asleep. Willowstar bade farewell to Fernpelt and returned to her den. There, she sat at length, reviewing the events of the day. She would, she decided, talk to Beetle later about what had happened. Sighing inwardly, she watched the clouds as they slowly moved like ants across the sky.

Willowstar felt a claw jab her flank. She groaned and rolled tiredly onto her side. She felt the claw again, this time accompanied by a hushed meow. "Willowstar, wake up." She pretended to still be asleep, hoping that this pain in the tail would go away. "Willowstar, wake up," the cat hissed when she did not respond. Bolting to her paws, Willowstar bushed out her fur, her eyes huge from fear. She relaxed when she saw Beetle in front of her but noticed that he looked shaken.

"In all the stars, Beetle, you chose now to talk to me? In the middle of the night?" She sighed, realizing that there was no reason to be mad with him. She had to admit that it was actually very smart of him to come now, when most of the cats in the camp would be asleep, to speak with her. "What is it," she queried.

"I need to speak with you about the... uh." He grew silent, the light of the moon that came in through the entrance silhouetting his body. Willowstar nodded in full understanding of what he meant.

"Is anyone else coming," she asked as she quietly as she walked out into the dim light of the moon. The white-furred leader flicked her tail, silently praying that he would say "no". Her wishes were dashed away when she heard his reply. "Who?"

"Just Foxear and her mate, Antfoot. I felt they needed to know the truth as well." Willowstar flicked her ear and followed the warrior to where the two sat waiting for them to arrive. "Follow me," Beetle meowed in a hushed whisper as he came to a halt beside them.

The tom led the three of them to an area not far from the camp, a small patch of daisies and heather where the apprentices would learn to practice running efficiently. Willowstar sat and glanced at Foxear and Antfoot, seeing the looks of confusion on their faces, the very same one that was mirrored on her own. Undoubtedly, Beetle had much more to say about how Rainkit was found now than he was willing to say earlier.

"Mosswhisker and I, we found Rainkit after we saw a loner come on to the territory. She had him with her." Willowstar watched, appalled, as Foxear and Antfoot advanced on him.

"You stole Rainkit from a loner," they growled as one. Of the two, Foxear looked to be the most taken aback by this news, her fur was spiked in rage and her lip was pulled back in the beginning of a snarl. Desperately, Willowstar searched for a way to diffuse the caustic situation, despite her own anger. Why didn't he just speak up earlier today without my asking? He could have saved these two a lot of trouble. Taking a deep breath, she stepped between Beetle and the outraged mates.

"I tried telling Mosswhisker that it was a bad idea but he wouldn't listen to me," he meowed shakily from behind her.

"That's no excuse," Antfoot snarled, peering at Beetle with slitted eyes. "Don't you see what you've done?!" Willowstar shivered, at the rage he put behind each word. "Half the Clan hates Rainkit now because you decided not to speak up! I never trusted Mosswhisker, and now I know why! He's been influencing you, hasn't he?... You have about as much use as a dead fox, Beetle; we should have never taken you in when you came to us!" Willowstar jumped away suddenly as Antfoot flung himself at Beetle, his teeth bared.

"Antfoot," Foxear exclaimed as she rushed forward and tried desperately to pull her mate away from the source of his rage. How could one small kit cause this much anger and hate? It's spread like a wildfire, Willowstar thought, running in to assist Foxear. Succeeding in getting Antfoot away from Beetle, she nudged the battered warrior to his paws and let him lean on her shoulder.

"I understand how mad you both must be, but I would rather you allow Beetle to finish explaining instead of attacking him." Turning to Beetle, she nodded. "Continue."

Murmuring his thanks, Beetle continued his explanation. "Song, Rainkit's mother, w-was hunting for prey on our territory. She caught a rabbit. Mosswhisker tried to stop her from taking it back with her. She lashed out and... and I guess Mosswhisker still wanted something from her. He chose her kit. It was strange though, she was sort of reluctant to let him go at first but then agreed, asking that we give him a better life than she could have. That's why we accepted, we knew that WindClan could care for him. She left after that." He looked at Foxear. "He smelled of milk, so he must have been born only a few days ago."

Now Willowstar was confused. She allowed him to be taken? A mother's instincts to protect their young were stronger than any other and Willowstar doubted that the decision would have been easy for her. Having to make a decision like that probably tore her heart in two. She could imagine Song now, her dreams more likely than not filled with images and memories of her kit.

Sensing the tension begin to fade, Willowstar stood and shook out her pelt. Leading the group back to camp, she felt doubt weigh heavily upon her mind and tug at her pelt like the thorns that shielded the WindClan camp.

Oh StarClan, what have I done?!

Whoa! That was long, wasn't it? Hope I wasn't too vague or off course with it. I think that's my longest chapter yet (2,704 words excluding these notes!)

QOTD: None, because I didn't think this needed one.

As always, please remember to R&R!

Till next time,

Rain