Hello community! Great to see you again ^^ Already at chapter 3! Man, things are going swimmingly, aren't they?

Thanks for all the reviews! I love reading them, it's always nice to know that the stories I like writing some people like reading!

Chapter 3

The next day came bright and cool. The brisk wind that had be howling over the tree tops from the moors had subsided, leaving the forest crisp and with a little less tree-cover. Colorful leaves of red, gold, and orange were strewn across the ground where the undergrowth was dying back, brown and gnarled against the faded green grass.

The evening before, the whole Clan had been talking about the rumored meeting between Boulderstar and the rogue. Many had been whispering about the rogue, suspecting him to be the murderer and how it was madness that they were letting their leader meet with a dangerous loner without more than a few cats as guard. Even more had been whispering how this was a plan to catch and kill the murderer once and for all, which had lifted the spirits of the cats as they spent the night sitting vigil under the distant gleam of the stars.

Fallstripe had sat in vigil until midnight, when her littermates decided to return to the den she followed as well and slept soundly until dawn when Coalspark awoke her, ordering her to do a quick scout for the murderer before it was time to get ready for the meeting.

And now here she was, making her way out of Clan territory and toward the Moonpool, where she had first happened upon Flint. She was supposed to go alone to meet him, and then bring him back down to the border where Boulderstar waited with Coalspark and Scorch. There Boulderstar would decide what to do with the rogue.

At least, that's what was supposed to happen.

"Ivysong, what are you doing here?" Fallstripe hissed, glaring at her sister who slunk out of the bush reluctantly but faced her boldly, green eyes flaring.

"You were too suspicious last night, you didn't say more than two words after you and father returned with news of the rogue. I knew there was something you weren't telling us," her sister accused her, drawing up her full height and looking down at her. Even though there was hardly a mouse-length of difference between them, Ivysong filled the space with her brilliantly white and silver tabby pelt and Fallstripe squirmed under the intense green gaze that pinned her down, just like when they were kits.

"This is an important mission, I was ordered to keep quiet," Fallstripe defended herself, breaking eye contact and looking down at her paws. Nothing's changed since we were kits, I'm going to end up admitting I was wrong for keeping secrets and then she'll come with me and I'll be in trouble with father.

"That's no reason for keeping secrets," Ivysong retorted, taking a step closer to her, so that her shadow blocked the sun from her eyes. Fallstripe looked up and met her sister's green gaze, it had softened and was friendly and welcoming.

"I'm sorry," the words came from her mouth before she could even think them, but she was rewarded with her sister's gentle purr and her warm fur pressed against her.

"I forgive you," Ivysong's lovely voice echoed in her ears and Fallstripe purred in response, trying to stifle the envy at how easily Ivysong succeeded in everything she did. Fallstripe didn't even think she had the right to call herself her sister's shadow, that was how magnanimous her sister was to her.

"Now let's go find that rogue together!" Ivysong mewed, jumping away from her and bounding a few steps up the trail, pausing to look over her shoulder and beckoning her to come.

She must have been spying on us since we left camp, that's the only way she could have known what we are doing. Fallstripe thought, remembering what she'd told her father yesterday, Ivysong was able to stay hidden from a leader, deputy, senior warrior and me even though her pelt sticks out so much. She probably would make a better spy than I do.

But, and she took a bounding leap after her sister, taking the lead as the self-created breeze whistled past her ears, I'm the one they asked to be a spy, I'm the one they give these important tasks to, and in this I will not fail.

The two she-cats talked lightly as they made their way up the hill, Ivysong's good nature was infectious and Fallstripe found herself shedding her fears and worries as they reached the place where she had first met Flint. If their father would have seen them, they'd be getting a long lecture.

"Is he here?" Ivysong asked as Fallstripe opened her mouth to take in a breath of air.

"He's close," Fallstripe mewed, looking at her sister's glimmering eyes. She sat down on the short grass, "We can wait here."

Ivysong sat beside her, looking down the hill over the Clan territories with her. "Do you think he is the murderer?" her sister's quiet mew was the only betrayal of fear that Fallstripe had heard from her today.

She looked at her sister in surprise and Ivysong blinked quickly, turning her face away. "I don't think so," she mewed reassuringly, "From what I know from yesterday, he's too stupid to be the culprit."

"He could be acting," Ivysong defended herself, looking back at her with a perplexed expression. "But you've always been good at seeing through cats, so I guess I'll trust your judgement. But if he attacks us, I want you to run away as quickly as you can," Ivysong mewed in a rush.

Fallstripe stared at her in surprise and nodded slowly, "Is that why you came out here? To make sure I was okay?" she asked hesitantly, both hurt and touched that her sister still wanted to protect her.

"Don't worry, I only mean to join the Clan," before Ivysong could respond, a calm voice made them both jump to their paws and spin around, looking up at one of the boulders that lay on the path.

"You must be the rogue?" Ivysong asked, looking disconcerted at the toms remarkably familiar appearance and she looked at her for an answer to which Fallstripe responded with a shrug.

"He claims to have relations with ThunderClan warriors, but that's all we really know," Fallstripe whispered to her sister. To Flint she said, "Boulderstar is waiting at the border, we'll take you there."

The mysterious tom that so strongly resembled their father nodded and leaped down the boulder to land between them, only whiskers away and turned his gaze from one sister to the other, "I'm happy to have such good company," he purred and his dark eyes glimmered as they gave each other wary looks.

Ivysong spun on her paws, marching off with a pouting look on her face but with her head and silver-tipped tail high as Fallstripe scrambled after her, walking at her side with Flint following them a few paces behind.

"He's a little weird isn't he," Fallstripe mewed, seeing the bothered look on her sister's face.

Ivysong gave a quick glare over her shoulder, "He's got some nerve! We're not equals, he's at our mercy, and yet he acts like he's in charge. Not even announcing his arrival but sneaking up on us… if we did that to our mentors then we'd be crowfood," Ivysong ranted in a furious whisper, continuingly glaring over her shoulder at the rogue who padded along nonchalantly, eyes tracing the whimsical path of a butterfly a couple of cat lengths away.

"I know, I don't think he's going to be allowed to join the Clan with an attitude like that…" Fallstripe mewed, feeling the same uncomfortable feeling in her belly as yesterday. Every instinct she had told her to send this stranger away, but what could she do? She was just a warrior, the runt of her litter, and besides, she had bigger things to focus on right now. I couldn't find any traces this morning either, I hope Thorn will have some news when I see him tomorrow.

"Even so… I think they'll let him into the Clan," Ivysong's growled admission made Fallstripe's tail droop.

"It's his appearance, isn't it?" Fallstripe asked, shooting another look over her shoulder, only to whip her face forward again as her eyes instantly met Flint's.

Ivysong game an almost imperceptible nod, "He is practically the spitting image of our father. His claim to be of Warrior relation is either an extremely convenient coincidence, or else it's true. Most cats will believe the latter, but whose son is he?" Ivysong gave her a look and Fallstripe shook her head.

"It doesn't have to be direct relation, maybe just a few generations back they shared the same parent…" Fallstripe offered, trying to avoid what they were both thinking. What all three of them were thinking, that they were more closely related then they wished.

"Is this ThunderClan land?" Flint asked, interrupting their unfinished conversation, padding up on Ivysong's other side and looking at them.

Fallstripe glared at him, "Do you smell the scent markers?" she asked. Flint tasted the air and shook his head. "Then why would you think we'd crossed the border?"

Flint shrugged, "There are trees here, and it wasn't long after we went under the trees that you said it was ThunderClan land."

Fallstripe looked around at the three trees that grew along the stream's bank, they were skinny trees, too thin for a cat to climb and less than half the height of a maple or oak tree. Their leaves had already turned bright orange and were falling off one by one into the stream to be carried away by the water. They were hardly trees, they appeared more as tree-like shrubs.

"We're almost to the border now," Ivysong mewed sternly, looking sharply at the rogue until he seemed to get the message and slipped back to his spot behind them.

They fell into an uncomfortable silence and Fallstripe felt her heart beating more heavily as they approached the border. A dark shadow was cast by the wall of trees and beneath the trees Fallstripe could see three cats sitting side by side, awaiting their arrival.

Quickening her pace so that she would meet them first, Fallstripe dipped her head first to Boulderstar, then her father and Scorch. "I've brought the rogue as you asked," she mewed quietly, awaiting what she knew would come next.

"And I see you brought along your sister too, I instructed you to go alone," Coalspark growled softly. It was that soft growl that made Fallstripe flinch, that meant he was angry, not just annoyed.

"I was nearly at the spot where I was supposed to meet the rogue when Ivysong joined me, I—"

"You were tracked by your own sister, you've been around her scent since the day you were born, and you still couldn't notice it?" Coalspark broke her off and Fallstripe dipped her head, unable to meet those cold green eyes.

"Calm down, Coalspark. There's no harm done," Scorch mewed lightly and Fallstripe glanced up at the small red and black she-cat's sightless green eyes. Scorch, the leader's mate, and mother to the medicine-cat and two of the best warriors of the Clan. She was blind but was the Clan's best counselor along with the elders. She kept to herself, but no cat could ignore her and Fallstripe both envied and pitied her.

"The rogue is here and the two of them are fine, Ivysong-" Boulderstar addressed the white and silver she-cat who stood up straight at the sound of her name. "You shouldn't have gone when you were not part of patrol and I'm sure you had other duties," the leader gave the young warrior a stern look, "but given the circumstances, so long as you agree to stay silent about this until something is announced to the Clan, I will not punish either you or Fallstripe."

Ivysong hurriedly agree and Fallstripe sighed in relief, lifting her head and stepping back to stand next to her sister, continuing to avoid her father's judgmental look. "So, you are Flint," Boulderstar mewed, looking curiously at the rogue who now finally seemed a bit intimidated and who nodded deeply to the leader.

"Ivysong, Fallstripe, you are dismissed, return to your regular duties," Coalspark barked. Fallstripe balked at this blatant insult, after all, she'd been involved with this rogue enough to want to know what his fate was. But the tone in her father's voice wasn't one to be argued with and under Scorch's sympathetic, unseeing gaze she and Ivysong slunk away.

"That was intense!" Ivysong mewed once they were out of earshot.

Fallstripe nodded, still miffed that they'd been dismissed. "Come on, don't be like that. We got to play an important part today and we got to meet the rogue before most of the Clan! They probably wanted less cats there so that they could get a better sense of the rogue without too many distracting eyes."

"You're right," Fallstripe mewed, watching Ivysong leap over a fallen long before scrambling over it herself far less gracefully.

"Hey, I've got a hunting patrol to go out on soon, race you back to camp?" Ivysong asked, looking at her with a glimmer in her bright eyes.

Fallstripe purred at the challenge, thinking again of how lucky she was to have a sister who tried so hard to cheer her up. "Okay," she mewed, "But I won't lose this time!" dashing off through the wrinkled undergrowth, Fallstripe twisted and turned her slim body through the twisting bushes and branches, feeling twigs run harmlessly over her short fur. She felt like she was swimming in a river of leaves and branches, and she expertly guided herself along the current, never stumbling or getting caught as she flew over the smooth grass.

Ivysong ran right behind her, huffing and puffing as she forced her way through the path that Fallstripe twisted through. Her lovely, long fur wasn't as suitable for this as Fallstripe's shorter fur, and twigs snapped off and got caught in her fur. Fallstripe purred, on a clear path, Ivysong was faster, but here where the forest around them created an obstacle course, Fallstripe held the lead.

"I win!" she crowed, coming to a stop to catch her breath outside of camp and turning to watch her sister flop on her side, eyes closed as she slowed her heaving sides.

"Gah, next time, we're taking the main trail back to camp," Ivysong groaned, looking over her dirty pelt in dissatisfaction. Fallstripe purred, nosing her sister to her paws. "We should go out sometime with Sparkfire and Duskleap, we haven't gone out hunting together for a while," Ivysong mewed, mentioning their brothers.

"We eat together almost every night, it's not like we never see them," Fallstripe mewed, picking out a few of the larger twigs from her sister's pelt with a hooked claw. "We're all busy with our duties after all, it's not strange that we always get put on separate patrols."

"I just thought it would be nice," Ivysong mewed softly, eyes turning up toward the camp where the noise of cats at work and play drifted to them. "Are you coming into camp?" Ivysong asked, looking over her shoulder as she took a few steps toward camp.

"Uhm, soon, father asked me to do something for him really fast, I'll be back by the time you finish your patrol though," she promised, nodding her sister away.

"Okay," Ivysong mewed, a little worried at her vague answer, "Hopefully by then we'll know what's going to happen to Flint."

Fallstripe nodded, getting that unsettling feeling in her stomach at the mention of the rogue. I hope it's just a feeling… but oh StarClan, please keep him out of the Clan. Or at least, away from me.

...

Another shorter, slower chapter. But here we meet Ivysong! I really like her character, I don't write a lot of cats like her to support to MC, but it's pretty refreshing! I hope to write more of her. And I think the next chapter will pick up speed again, for a story planned to be so short, I'm taking my sweet time, eh?

Feel free to review if you feel like it, or just come back for the next chapter! Thanks again for your support!