Chapter 2

The sandy colored tom ripped a piece of skin of a frog and chewed it thoughtfully.

It's time to leave. I won't let these flea-furred rogues kill my Clan.

Clawnose, although he wasn't the true leader of ShadowClan, inserted himself as leader. No one denied him as he told them he would act as ShadowClan's leader, but no one agreed on it either.

He tore another piece of flesh off the frog and chewed it angrily now.

After these filthy rogues started to destroy the Clans, it attacked RiverClan and ShadowClan first, since they were both the smallest Clans. They tried to fight the rogues, but failed miserably. ShadowClan's leader, Crowstar was killed first, then their medicine cat Frogleaf, and finally their deputy Nightclaw. ShadowClan almost became a group of rogues themselves.

We would, if I didn't become leader Clawnose thought.

Suddenly, his ears perked up when he heard a loud yowl come from the medicine cat den.

"That hurts!"

"Hold still, Fernpaw, you have a deep cut on your leg."

Clawnose stood up and padded over to the stone and bramble thicket den. Inside the sandy floored den, a long-furred gray she-cat was pressing herbs against a brown apprentice's leg.

"Fernpaw, let Moonshell take care of you." Clawnose growled.

The she-cat moaned, "But it stings!"

"It will hurt even more if you keep squirming like a worm!" Moonshell hissed, but her blue eyes showed she was much more worried than angry.

Clawnose lifted his head and stared into the she-cat's eyes. Moonshell wasn't born in ShadowClan. Instead, she was born in RiverClan. She heard that the medicine cat, Frogleaf, and knew she couldn't leave ShadowClan without a medicine cat. So, once her apprentice Splashfur earned her medicine cat name, Moonshell traveled to ShadowClan saying she'd been their new medicine cat.

Glad she did, my foolish apprentice keeps hurting herself.

Clawnose couldn't get angry at Fernpaw though, her parents were killed by rogues when she was just a kit and now, she was in mourning. So it was understandable that she kept trying to show off, showing that she wasn't weak.

However, running into a bramble bush trying to catch a squirrel probably wasn't the smartest idea.

Once Moonshell finished pressing cobwebs against the wound, Fernpaw stood up and looked into Clawnose's amber eyes, "Can I get something from the fresh-kill pile now? I'm hungry."

He stared back into her amber eyes and mewed, "Sure, we'll be leaving soon."

Fernpaw blinked in surprise, but her brown head nodded and she ran to the pile, ignoring the pain. Moonshell looked at Clawnose suspiciously.

"Sandface, what do yo-"

"Clawnose," The tom cut in, "It's Clawnose now."

When patrol the lakeshore alone, Bloodspot and is ice-hearted mate Ice-Shard, attacked him. Clawnose was able to toss Bloodspot water. Angered, Ice-Shard attacked his face, trying to blind him.

This is for my mate!

Clawnose shivered. Those words would haunt him forever. Although Frogleaf healed him, the scarred tom decided to re-name himself Clawnose, to remind him and to the Clan he survived the deadly attack.

Plus, he hated the name Sandface. He thought it was stupid.

"Fine, Clawnose," Moonshell rolled her pretty blue eyes, "what is this about leaving?"

The tom looked his left paw and brushed it against his ears, "It's time for ShadowClan to leave the lake. We have stayed here too long."

Moonshell blinked, "So, we are going with the other Clans to find the Sky Tree?"

Clawnose opened his mouth to reply, but he heard a loud hiss. At first, he thought it was a rogue attack. Instead, it was two cats play wrestling with each other. A black tom watched from the distance, grooming himself carefully when he got bored.

"Snakefang! Ashspot! What are you two mousebrains doing?!" Clawnose spat, storming over to the two cats.

One of them, a molten brown tom, stood up quickly and gave his black paws a quick lick and rubbed his chest, "Nothing, Clawnose! Ashspot and I were just playing!"

Clawnose narrowed his eyes, "Kits play, warriors act more mature. Did you two even hunt at all, or did you just make Jetfur do all the work?"

A pretty white she-cat rolled her blue eyes. The gray spots and her beautiful body shifted as she groomed herself, "Of course not, look at the pile."

The sand colored tom did so. The pine-needle pile had two frogs, one lizard, and a surprisingly large crow. Clawnose glared at them and picked up the frog he was eating with his paw. He tossed it at Ashspot, which hit her in the nose. The she-cat glared at him as he spoke.

"The two of you will finish that frog. Jetfur, since you acted like a true, mature, warrior, you can have whatever you what."

The black cat nodded, "Thank you, Clawnose." He walked over to the pile and humbly took the smallest piece of prey, the lizard.

Clawnose admired Jetfur. He was once apart of Bloodspot's clan of rogues, who called themselves the Descendants of Blood. Although most of the cats in the rogue group were related somehow, Jetfur was not. Originally named Jet, he was the only known cat to defeat Bloodspot in a fight. Impressed, by his skills, Bloodspot allowed him to join the Descendants of Blood. Jet didn't care. He just hated living in his current living space, which he called 'a dump'.

But after he saw how the Descendants of Blood were destroying the Clans, he joined ShadowClan. No one trusted him that much, but he quickly gained their trust. He was loyal and honest. He was also very humble, always thinking of the Clan before him.

The self-proclaimed leader watched as the black tom laid next to a bramble bush den and start to nibble on the brown lizard's tail. The two other warriors padded over to the fresh-kill pile and they picked out a frog to share. Clawnose saw Moonshell and Fernpaw pick out the crow and started sharing it with each other.

This Clan will survive, I'll make sure of it

"Clawnose, are you sure this is a good idea?" Moonshell mewed softly.

"We need to." Clawnose answered.

"But what about Fern-"

"Fernpaw will make it. Her injury isn't that bad. Right, Fernpaw?" Clawnose looked down.

His apprentice smiled and meowed happily, "If course! Are we'll leaving to find the Sky Tree?"

Clawnose grinned, "You bet."

Fernpaw bounced happily, forgetting Moonshell was right next to her and nearly crashed into her. Moonshell glared at the apprentice, then glared at Clawnose. He just shrugged and then ripped a piece of meat off the crow and ate it.

Annoyed, Moonshell should up and growled, "I'm going to make traveling herbs for all of us. Clawnose."

Clawnose could feel the the anger flowing through her, "Don't do anything stupid."

Moonshell stood up and flicked Clawnose's nose with her tail and padded back to her den. Clawnose rubbed his nose with his paw when he heard paw-steps behind him.

"Leaving?"

Clawnose turned to see Jetfur behind Fernpaw and him, his yellow eyes filled with curiosity.

"Yes, we are leaving," Clawnose explained, "to find the Sky Tree."

"Sky Tree?" Jetfur asked calmly, cocking his head.

"Yes, remember? The one that Thorntooth, leader of ThunderClan, told us about?" Clawnose said slowly.

"Didn't he have a… Vision… From… Starry-Clan, was it?" Jetfur asked, lowering his head.

"StarClan!" Fernpaw corrected loudly.

"Yes, yes, StarClan." Jetfur mewed at her kindly.

"What's this about StarClan and trees?" Ashspot asked, padding up to Clawnose.

"We're leaving to find the Sky Tree that StarClan told Thorntooth about!" Fernpaw piped up gleefully.

Before Clawnose could explained everything, he heard Snakefang hissed loudly,

"What are you doing here! This is ShadowClan territory, Thunder-Rat!"

"Get off me! I'm hear to take to your leader!"

Clawnose turned to see a long-furred, red she-cat struggling to fight off an angry Snakefang that had her pinned.

"Snakefang! Let Redflower go!" Clawnose snarled.

I can't believe my mousebrain of a Clanmate just pinned down the deputy of ThunderClan!

Redflower pushed off the brown cat and glared at Clawnose, green eyes filled with rage.

"I need to speak with you, now." Redflower hissed through her teeth.

Clawnose narrowed his eyes, "Tell me now, then."

Redflower looked at Fernpaw and Jetfur, who were staring at her with curiosity and seriousness, ready to pounce if needed. The she-cat sighed and meowed,

"Thorntooth and Badgerstar wish to meet you at the island. They're going to get Brookstar from RiverClan as well."

"Why?" Clawnose asked suspiciously.

"Thorntooth and Badgerstar will tell you. Please, Clawnose, don't argue." Redflower said, sounding desperate.

"How do I know that this isn't a trap?" The tom replied.

Redflower's mouth fell open, "Did you… Really… Do you believe that?"

"Of course Clawnose will be there."

Clawnose turned to see Jetfur padding over, looking at Redflower calmly, "And I'm so sorry for the way Snakefang treated you. I hope you can forgive me…"

Both Clawnose and Redflower looked shocked. Clawnose was a little angry Did he just speak for me?!

Jetfur turned and faced the medicine cat den, "Moonshell? Can you start working on making some traveling herbs?"

"I'll done that and have finished." Moonshell muttered through a mouthful of herbs.

The medicine cat blinked kindly at the still shocked Redflower and set sour smelling herbs in front of every ShadowClan cat. Jetfur continued talking,

"Again, I'm so sorry for the way my Clanmate act towards you," Jetfur turned to face Snakefang, "Snakefang! Apologize to her, now."

Snakefang, now looking quite shocked, shifted his paws awkwardly, "Sorry…"

Redflower licked her chest fur and quickly mewed, "I'll go back to Thorntooth and Badgerstar… I'm sure they already brought RiverClan with them."

Clawnose opened his mouth to speak, but Jetfur already was speaking, "No, you should stay. We'll be ready in just a few moments."

The she-cat sighed and nodded. She padded closer to the entrance of the camp and sat down. Redflower lifted her right paw and licked it, brushing it against her ear.

Jetfur looked shyly at Clawnose, his mouth still opened in shock.

"Sorry, Clawnose. I didn't mean to take over. I just thought we should listen to her, she is the deputy of ThunderClan."

Clawnose sighed. He couldn't be mad at Jetfur. He was right. But somehow, he still felt jealous. Jetfur seemed more like the leader then he.

Being the leader is my job! Clawnose thought angrily, flexing his claws.

Before he could say anything, Moonshell dropped a mixture of herbs right in front of Clawnose's paws. The sand colored tom sniffed the sour smelling herbs as the pretty she-cat dropped another mixture of herbs in front of Jetfur.

"What is in this?" Clawnose growled, wrinkling his nose.

"There is sorrel, daisy, chamomile, and burnet," Moonshell explained, watching Jetfur calmly eat his herbs, "I added a hint of heather nectar to make it taste better."

Clawnose grumbled as he slowly ate the herbs, wincing at its sour taste. Jetfur stood up and mewed, "Do you need help carrying the remaining herbs?"

The long furred she-cat smiled softly, "No thank you, I already have Fernpaw helping carry them. Besides, I don't have a lot of herbs left."

Of course you don't! These rogues know exactly how to destroy us.

The rogues, when they stayed in the Clans for two moons, knew that medicine cats relied on herbs to help others. Without herbs, they were basically unable to help their Clanmates.

Medicine cats can't heal with visions of StarClan and prophecies about trees. Clawnose thought bitterly

The self-made leader of ShadowClan watched as his Clan prepared to leave. He felt his heart grow heavy, as he looked over his Clan, one last time. He remembered fond memories in the warm and safe nursery, suckling milk with his brother and sister. He remembered feeling excited when he first slept in the apprentice den with his friends and kin. He remembered the feeling of pride flowing through him as he got his warrior name. He felt like he was ready to defend this powerful Clan with his life. Now, everything felt dead and hopeless. Clawnose watched as Ashspot and Snakefang looked at the bramble thicket nursery, sadness filling their eyes. Snakefang laid his tail across Ashspot's shoulders and whispered into her ear. Clawnose turned to the apprentice den.

Fernpaw was sadly looking into the apprentice den, her tail curled around her paws. Her eyes looked like amber pools of sadness and loneliness. Clawnose padded up to her and rested his tail against her shoulder.

"I understand how you must feel." Clawnose meowed softly.

"Mudpaw deserved to be a warrior with me. He didn't deserve to die." Fernpaw said sadly.

Mudpaw was Fernpaw's brother. He was killed by rogues on a border patrol with his mentor, Soottooth, and two other warriors. Mudpaw, Soottooth, and the other warrior were killed instantly and the second warrior was killed the next day. Fernpaw was still mourning his loss.

Before he could say anything, Moonshell called from across camp, "Fernpaw, can you help me carry the tansy and the feverfew?"

Fernpaw shook her fur and gave a fake smile, "Coming!"

Clawnose watched as his apprentice bounded across the camp to the medicine cat. He padded over the bramble thicket leader den and looked up. He crouched down and leaped into the air and landed on the hazel tree branch that hung over camp. He sat down and called across camp,

"Members of ShadowClan, has everyone eaten prey and has had their traveling herbs?"

Murmurs floated across the Clan, all saying yes. Redflower looked up at the tom curiously. Clawnose's pelt burned with nervousness at Redflower's stare.

"Alright, there is what we shall do. We shall go to the island to see what ThunderClan and WindClan want."

"What happens afterward?" Snakefang shouted from below.

Clawnose dug his claws into the branch, "I do not know. It depends on what ThunderClan and WindClan want."

The cats glanced at each other, but nodded slowly. Clawnose leaped down from the branched and yowled, "ShadowClan, move out."

Slowly and mournful, the cats started to leave the pine woods. Along with leaving their home, they were also leaving the buried bodies of their Clanmates and kin. They were leaving the happiest memories behind in that empty camp.

Clawnose ignored the lonely, aching feeling in his chest and led the Clan through the forest. He noticed out of the corner of his eye that Snakefang and Ashspot were walking side by side, tail entwined together. Worry filled Clawnose.

This is not the time to have kits, you two.

Moonshell padded up to Clawnose, walking next to him. She mumbled softly through a bundle of herbs, "Are you sure this is a good idea, Sand- Clawnose? We are leading this cats anyway from everything they know."

Clawnose sighed, "As a leader, you must put your Clan's safety first. And right now, they are too scared to each set a paw out of camp. We need to find a place where they can call home and feel safe."

"I understand, Clawnose… It's just…"

Moonshell looked away from the tom and looked into the forest, like she was trying to find something. Clawnose understood immediately.

"You miss RiverClan don't you?"

Moonshell sighed, "There isn't a day that goes by when I wonder… What if I stayed?"

"But then I remember, that without me, ShadowClan would have died out. Knowing I saved lives, I'm proud. And… This was Frogleaf's Clan."

The tom shifted his paws awkwardly. There were rumors that Moonshell and Frogleaf were secretly in love with each other, yet never did anything that would get them in trouble. Cats would whisper to each other on how they would give each other flirty looks and whisper to each other when they believed no one was looking.

I'm not going to ask her if there was anything going on with her and Frogleaf… That is too personal… And besides, she never had any kits or broke the code so it doesn't really matter… Right?

"Be careful!"

Clawnose snapped back to reality. He noticed that he was about to step into the lake. He turned his head to see his Clan two tail-lengths behind him. Clawnose felt his ears grow hotter as he slowly padded back to his Clan.

"Alright, everyone. Let's keep going." Clawnose mewed.

They traveled close to the lake shore, nearly running away from every noise. They walked across the Greenleaf Twolegplace and stopped at the RiverClan border.

"Clawnose, it smells like RiverClan hasn't been here for moons." Ashspot reported nervously.

"She's right!" Fernpaw gasped, "It smells like WindClan and ThunderClan just invaded their territory. Their scent is everywhere!"

Clawnose saw the worry on Moonshell's face grow heavier and heavier. He was struggling to think of what to say.

What do you say in this type of situation? 'Don't worry, I'm sure not all of RiverClan is dead?'

"Relax everyone." Jetfur stepped in front of everyone.

"Remember, RiverClan was already the smallest Clan even before the rogues came. Since the rogues have been hanging out near RiverClan, I'm sure they've been too nervous to try and mark their borders. I bet you that Badgerstar and Thorntooth have brought them to the island and they are waiting for us. So, let's keep moving."

ShadowClan and Redflower looked very surprised at Jetfur's little speech, but was soothed by it. Even Moonshell looked reassured. Clawnose stepped forward nervously.

"Y-Yeah! E-Everyone listen to J-Jetfur! So, let's go to the island, shall we?"

ShadowClan purred in agreement and continued on their way, still walking closer to the shore. While everyone was chatting and telling how Jetfur how good is little speech was, Clawnose was thinking to himself angrily.

How dare Jetfur try and take over my position as leader! I'm ShadowClan's leader! I survived an attack from Bloodspot and Ice-Shard! If anyone should be leader, it should be me! I need to keep Jetfur from trying to steal my spot as leader.

They reached the island a short time later. Clawnose looked at Jetfur innocently.

"Jetfur, could you please go behind everyone else. I want to make sure everyone gets on the island with no problems."

Jetfur, not noticing the forceful tone in Clawnose's voice, nodded respectfully, "I understand, Clawnose."

The sand colored cat's amber eyes filled with devilishly delight as he watched the black cat padded gracefully behind everyone. Clawnose chuckled softly and padded slowly up the ancient fallen tree bridge. He was hit by the forest-y scent of ThunderClan and the windy scent of WindClan. He took a deep breath and padded in.

He saw the large mixed group of WindClan and ThunderClan warriors and apprentices all together, whispering to each other nervously. Clawnose understood why they needed to be quiet.

The rogues could be listening to them.

"Fernpaw!"

A loud red apprentice ran up to the brown apprentice, smiling. Redflower muttered a goodbye and disappeared into the crowd of cats. Fernpaw smiled brightly at the she-cat.

"Robinpaw! What's going on in your life?"

Robinpaw shrugged, "Nothing much, you?"

"Just training to be the best warrior in the best Clan!" Fernpaw said proudly with her chest puffed out.

Robinpaw gave a fake look of shock, "No way! ThunderClan is the best!"

"ShadowClan!"

"ThunderClan!"

The two apprentice playfully hit each other, much to the amused of the other cats. They laughed it off and went to the side of the island and started sharing tongues. Clawnose hear Moonshell coming up behind him, purring.

"It's nice to see our youth getting along with each other, especially after what is happening."

Clawnose smiled, "You're right… Hey, have you seen any RiverClan cats? I haven't seen or scent any."

Moonshell's blue eyes filled with worry, "No… I'm truly worried about them…"

"I'm sure they're fine." Clawnose said, trying to comfort the medicine cat. He rested his tail on her shoulder.

"Clawnose! Get up here!"

Clawnose perked his ears and looked up. A gray and black tom was glaring at him with his amber eyes. It was Badgerstar, leader of WindClan. Badgerstar was that old, but he looked like an elder with his messy fur and dull eyes. He was sitting on a tree branch with a messy furred brown tom. It was Thorntooth of ThunderClan.

Thorntooth should be Thornstar, like me

The rogues made camp around Moonpool, making it impossible for medicine cats to share tongues with StarClan or for cats trying to get their nine lives to become leaders.

Clawnose obeyed Badgerstar, leaping onto the tree branch on the right of the WindClan leader.

"Greetings, Badgerstar," Clawnose meowed, "How is WindClan?"

"We don't have time for chit-chat!" Badgerstar remarked.

"Easy, Badgerstar," Thorntooth said calmly, "Let's start the meeting."

But what about RiverClan? Clawnose thought.

"Cats of the Clans, listen up!" Thorntooth's voice rang across the island.

Everyone stopped talking to listen. Rabbitwind, deputy of WindClan, and Redflower padded up to the roots of the trees that surrounded the tree covered island and sat under their respective leaders.

"Cats of the Clans," Badgerstar started, "We regret to inform you that we have some bad news."

ShadowClan started to whisper to themselves. Every cat, except the cats in WindClan and ThunderClan, were very confused. Even Clawnose was perplexed by Badgerstar's words. Clawnose looked down. WindClan and ThunderClan looked very sad and worried.

"When we went to visit RiverClan, there was no one there." Badgerstar explained.

"What?!"

Moonshell stepped forward, eyes widened. Her long furred pelt was shaking, "How?! Did the rogues kill them?!"

Thorntooth raised his paw for silence, "Relax, Moonshell. Rogues didn't kill them. We sniffed the area and found a scent trail. It was all of RiverClan. We found that it lead out of camp and out of their territory. We think that they left last night."

Badgerstar continued, "As everyone knows, RiverClan was smaller than any other Clan. They lost many members of their already tiny Clan. We think they left to find the Sky Tree."

Clawnose saw Thorntooth wince and look away. Clawnose never got any details on the Sky Tree, other than that Thorntooth had a vision that the Clans would leave to find a tree that touched the sky… The Sky Tree. But he never said anything else about it.

I wonder what he's hiding.

Clawnose saw that Moonshell looked very distressed. She slowly padded back to ShadowClan with her head and tail low. Clawnose watch as Jetfur brushed against her pelt. He dug his claws into the wood.

It's my job as leader to comfort my Clanmates!

"We have an idea, Clawnose."

Clawnose turned to face the two leaders. Thorntooth and badgerstar were both looking at him hopefully.

"WindClan and ThunderClan are leaving the Lake Territory to find the Sky Tree," Thorntooth announced proudly, "We believe traveling together is much safer than traveling apart. We can find the Sky Tree together and make our new home there."

Clawnose considered the options. It would be much safer to travel together. It would be like another Great Journey, the Clans leaving their home to find another, safer one. They could protect each other and help each other out.

However, a large group of cats traveling together would bring too much attention to them. The rogues were set on destroying them and taking over the lake. They already succeed in taking over the lake, but they couldn't destroy the Clans. Not if Clawnose could help it.

It's too dangerous…

"No."

Silence echoed across the island.

"What?" Thorntooth gasped.

"I said no. ShadowClan will not be traveling with WindClan and ThunderClan." Clawnose repeated, trying not to shake.

"Are you insane?!" Badgerstar spat, digging his claws into the wood of the branch, "So many Clan cats died because we didn't work together! Don't you think it would be safer if we traveled together?"

"It would be safer," Clawnose agreed, "But also very dangerous. A large group of cats makes rogues, loners, and kittypets suspicious. The… Descendants of Blood… made it very clear they want us dead. It safer if we spit up."

Snakefang and Ashspot nodded in agreement, but Fernpaw, Jetfur, Moonshell, and ThunderClan and WindClan was looking at Clawnose with complete shock. There surprised looks made Clawnose's pelt burn with nervousness.

I'm doing this for my Clan. I'm doing this for my Clan… I'm doing this for my Clan…

Clawnose stood up and yowled, "ShadowClan, we're leaving!"

The tom jumped down and started to walk towards the exit. He ignored their looks of shock and anger. Badgerstar yelled,

"You can't just walk away like that! We need to stick together!"

"I'm doing this for the good of my Clan." Clawnose replied.

The sand colored tom walked off the island with his Clan following him, scared for what they might face while trying to find their new home… Alone.

(-)

Thank you everyone you decided to stick around for chapter two! I've been busy getting ready for school! And I've decided to respond to some replies… There is only two of them and they're from the same person… WHATEVER!

KrazyKat-

I have two problems with this page [prologue], Other than that, purrfect

I appreciate the pun… Now, to the problems!

KrazyKat-

One: Heathereye has purple eyes, that is unnatural. I'd recommend using another color like blue. Or green. Or yellow. Or amber

While I could be that one Warrior writer that's like 'tHis is MY waRrIor cAts FanFiC! yOu haVE no RigHT to JudGE!' I'm not going to do that since that's rude… And the reason why I gave Heathereye purple eyes is because Heathertail had purple-ish eyes. But I changed it to bluish-purple now so it's more realistic. Also, may I remind you that Heatherstar from Tallstar's Revenge is described with 'pinkish-gray' fur. Just wanted to say sometimes Warriors isn't a realistic series… Also dead cats come back from the grave.

KrazyKat-

Two: RiverClan is tiny

I know! I hate to do that to my favorite Clan! :(

Yet, the smallness is because, as said in chapter two, RiverClan was already a small Clan before the rogues showed up. And the two moons the rogues stayed in the Clans, they learned RiverClan was weak because it was small. So, they attacked it first. RiverClan didn't even wanna fight, they just wanted peace. But it didn't work and they lost many members. And later on, they meet a few cats that may help their Clan…

KrazyKat-

Three: I opened mouthed kissed a horse once

Okay!

Second review!

KrazyKat-

Oh boi. One chapter in and I'm already hooked.

Thank you! I plan to write more and more when I have the chance!

Also, I'm sorry for the unedited chapters. I don't have any beta-readers or editors to help me write this. It's just me sitting at a computer and posting these. If you guys want to help, that'll be great!

Anyway, I hope you guys have a wonderful day!