'Thankyou, Thankyou, Thankyou!' To all my reviewers! Here's chapter four!

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Goddess yawned and stretched in the dawn light that seeped it's way into the leader's den. Her glossy, well-groomed coat glowed a pale cream in the light, and if it were not for the ribs that stood out amongst the thick fur, you would not have realised she had left her home for three moons now. What were her owners thinking? Did they miss her? Did Tiffany and her friends wonder why she left or where she was? These were the thoughts that spun through Goddess' head like a beehive. Fallenstar was curled up in a ball beside her, still exhausted from last night. It had been the gathering night, and Heronstar had picked on Fallenstar for every little thing he did wrong. True, Fallenstar was young for a leader, and true, his father had been a traitor to the clans, but his mother was one of the most renowned legends of all time, the great leader Lilacstar. Fallenstar had told Goddess his entire past a few days ago, and she could still remember it. In fact it became so real, she imagined that she was Lilacstar.

"When I was a new-born, my mother had an argument with my father, Blackheart. He was treating the other cats with little respect and fatally injured two warriors from Riverclan after a gathering. He left angry, and didn't come back. Lilacstar was worried, but couldn't leave me to search for him. Instead she sent two warriors, Krestalwing and Swancloud to look for him. They returned badly injured saying that Blackheart had attacked them with a band of rogues. Two days later, more attacks happened on border patrols. Then more. Until, hunting parties were sent to try and destroy the band of rogues led by Blackheart." He then wiped his eye with his paw. She had asked him if he wanted to continue, and he had. "Heronstar, or Heronclaw at the time, was leading the patrol that killed the band, but Blackheart managed to escape. He killed my other sister, Mistlekit." He paused again. "Fearing that he would come back for me or Adderkit, Lilacstar went out to find him, leaving me to the care of Hollythorn. She found him the day after she left, lying in a dark hole on the edge of Shadowclan territory. He was planning to gather hundreds of foxes and take them to swarm the clans, destroying them entirely. But Lilacstar stopped him…she…killed him…" By now, the black tom's eyes were pouring with tears and Goddess had nuzzled into his shoulder. "My mother told me what had happened before he died. This is what she said, 'When I found him he was mumbling things to himself, about the foxes and his plan. He hadn't noticed I was there. When I was sure of his plans I asked him why he was doing it. He told me that they were going to give him something in return. Something called Dreamleaf. Apparently when you ate it, it made you peaceful and life was like a dream-you could do what you wanted and not be harmed. I ran and got Honeydew, our old medicine cat. She confirmed that Dreamleaf was a type of addictive plant that made cats lose their minds. My only option was to kill Blackheart…Honeydew gave me some deathberries and I fed them to him. As he lay dying, he regained some consciousness and told me to name you Fallenkit, because every warrior falls at some stage…then he died.'"

The story was so sad. Goddess' mother and father lived down the street from her, and she had a brother named King who lived a few houses from the old cat named Nemmy. Her mother, Fleresce was a purebreed somali, as was her father, Revender. No-one she knew from her family had died from other cats or dangerous plants. How different clan-life was to kittypet-life. She looked down at Fallenstar, sleeping so soundly. She doubted he would wake before midday so she left him to go get some fresh air.

In the cool morning, not many of the cats not on patrols were out. Whitefern was on a border patrol so Viperpaw was lying in the sunlight. Trying not to wake him, she took a thrush from the fresh-kill pile and sat down to eat. It was quite thin, so she was still hungry when it was gone. Not wanting to take another piece of fresh-kill, she stayed hungry. But then Viperpaw woke. The black tom stretched and yawned. Unlike the pitch-black fur that Fallenstar had, Viperpaw had a greyer-toned pelt and grey eyes not black.

"Goddess!" he meowed, clearly embarassed by her being there without him knowing.

"Good morning, Viperpaw." He smiled and looked around for Fallenstar.

"Where's your mate?" Mate?

"Um, he's not my mate…we're just…" what was the word? Dating? Going out? Viperpaw seemed to understand and smiled again. This smile was different though.

"So…do you want me to show you our borders or something? You must be hungry, not used to clan-life yet…" Goddess nodded slightly. She was hungry. Plus, it might be good for her to meet some of the other cats. "Cool! I'll just go check with Shadedlight. Be right back!" he meowed, streaking off into the warriors den. He came back smiling his…disturbing sort of smile. Should she really be doing this? "She said okay! C'mon, we only have 'till midday."

The forest was green still, but getting greyer as leaf-bare settled in. She had found out that Viperpaw was almost a full-warrior, his assessment only a few days away. She had also found out that if she were born to the clans, she would only be a young to middle-aged warrior. Goddess' stomach rumbled. Viperpaw chuckled and leapt into a shrub just to his left. He came out with a pheasant in his jaws and she gaped at him. How…?

"Here you go." He meowed, dropping the plump creature at her paws. She stared at it. Magic? Starclan? Skill? However he did it, she was grateful.

"Want to share?" she offered, and he quickly accepted. The two cats had to sit closely to eat the bird, and Viperpaw was obviously enjoying her company. Strangely enough, she felt herself enjoying it too. When they had finished, they patrolled the entire border, Viperpaw telling her about everything.

"Now see this shrub here? This is good for cuts and scratches. Leopardpaw told me that one day while she was collecting it for Peaceheart." Leopardpaw?

"Who's Leopardpaw?" Viperpaw looked surprised but recovered quickly.

"Oh, you haven't met her yet. I think she might have been away when you were being introduced. She's Whitefern's and Greycloud's daughter. Wants to be both a medicine cat warrior I think." He laughed and Goddess smiled. Maybe Viperpaw wasn't that bad after all…"What do you want your warrior name to be?" he asked casually as they headed back to camp.

"Im not sure. Maybe something like Sunshine or Silverpetal. I really don't know because I like my name." Viperpaw was quiet for a minute.

"Moonbeam?" he suggested. Goddess shook her head.

"It's nice but it doesn't suit me. I don't know, I guess it's Fallenstar's decision in the end." They trotted on without any more speech. Just as they were about to get to camp, Viperpaw stopped.

"I know this is kind of early and all, but, I really like you, Goddess. Would you ever consider dating a tom like me?" WHAT? She didn't know what to say…

"I-I…don't know, Viperpaw. Your still an apprentice. I guess when you become a warrior I may date you, get to know you. You'll have to wait though." Viperpaw seemed satisfied and they entered camp. Goddess couldn't help but feel a little worried though…surely Fallenstar wouldn't mind if she chose someone different…would he?

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Just a quick A/N, Vote who you think Goddess should go with by reviewing and stating the lover's name. More will come as the story advances, but for now it's just Fallenstar or Viperpaw. The next chapter will have more:) I may decide her final mate by your opinions!

~Jaffa Maze