A/N: *time skip* Yay.

I put down the fish I caught on the fresh-kill pile. Frostpaw padded past me and huffed.

It had been three moons since I had dislocated her leg. Once Mistwhisker had put the joint back into place, it had healed within a few days. But the hatred for me still continues…

After she came out of the medicine cat den, Oakstar took all five of them to the Moonfalls to apologise for her injury and for everything I had ever done that hurt them.

There are six apprentices.

Guess who didn't go…

Now they're all one step closer to becoming warriors, while I'm still stuck here, being glared at.

Oh well. Dad will have to take me to the Moonfalls sooner or later.

I had been to the FlameClan border several times and noticed how there were only a few border patrols, but heaps of hunting patrols. It was like they cared more about their stomachs than their territory. Which was kind of odd, since every cat there seemed really thin—like they ate very rarely.

So, what happened to the rest of the food?

I decided to find out today.

I'd ask to go on a border patrol and then I'd stay there until I saw Nightpaw.

With newly found confidence, I padded up to Scorchfoot.

"I'll go on a patrol to the FlameClan border," I meowed.

He shook his head, his eyes sparkling. "You sure like to bend the rules, don't you?" he purred, "You go on whichever patrol I send you on. And anyway, that patrol has already left. It's probably on its way back now. You can go on the ReedClan border patrol if you want."

My heart sunk as my perfect plan grew wings and flew away.

"No…It's okay…I can just wait…" I sighed.

I trotted to the fresh-kill pile and grabbed a mouse. Now how would I be able to talk to Nightpaw…?

I'd have to wait until tomorrow…

I sighed and laid my head on the ground.

No.

I stood up and huffed.

It was time for me to stop acting like a scaredy-mouse! I would sneak out of camp! No one would catch me!

I dropped the untouched mouse back onto the pile and grabbed my fish.

Sneaking out of camp felt good. It made me feel alive.

…That is until I heard my dad's growl.

I scrambled for a tree and watched as he and his hunting patrol returned.

They looked awful. Most of them had scratches and they all looked exhausted. And they had only one measly squirrel with them.

"Those fox-hearted FlameClan cats!" dad growled, "They'll pay for taking our prey! They have enough already! So why should they take ours too?!"

I ran, not wanting to be the poor, unsuspecting cat that dad took all of his anger out on.

With the fish trying to trip me over, it was a lot harder to get to the border.

But, luckily, I made it there, alive.

Stupid fish.

I dropped into a crouch so no cat could see me.

"Do that again, Nightpaw! Try harder!"

"…Yes Vixenstep…"

I crept behind a large tree. The stump would keep me safe from enemy eyes.

The perks of being tiny!

I dropped the fish beside me and carefully peeked out from behind the tree and noticed Vixenstep watching Nightpaw fight…

…With a dead rabbit…

"Come on Nightpaw! You're not leaving until I see you attack and kill this opponent," Vixenstep growled. "You're the most feared cat in the forest thanks to me! Now act like it!"

"Um, yeah, but, won't Redstar be mad that we've destroyed her fresh-kill?" Nightpaw stuttered. "Also, I don't like training here. LightningClan cats could see us and then your whole plan would be ruined. Imagine if every cat in the forest was afraid of just a mere apprentice…"

"You will train here so you are used to the surroundings. You will need to know where every rock and every tree is so we can destroy those smug LightningClan cats!" Vixenstep hissed, "And anyway, if you were really The Shadow, you'd kill them straight away! I spent moons giving you a feared reputation! And for what? A stupid apprentice who is too scared to kill a dead rabbit!"

"Don't bother with him," another voice growled, "He's useless."

Hearing that was like being sliced in half with a dirty FlameClan claw.

He winced but didn't say anything.

A grey she-cat trotted towards them. "Foxstep and I are going to train Firepaw. You should come and see how a real FlameClan apprentice acts."

She said the last few words with spite as she glared at Nightpaw.

"Sure, Ivyfire, why not?" Vixenstep shrugged. She turned to Nightpaw. "Do not come back to camp unless you have either the body of a cat you've killed or four pieces of prey."

She flicked her tail and the two she-cats bounded off.

I tasted the air, making sure that they had really left…

There was no more scent. Good.

I picked the fish back up and padded closer to the border.

He wasn't there. His scent was still very fresh, but he was nowhere to be found…

I turned around to make sure that he had not gone into our territory. He wasn't there either.

I cautiously stepped over the border and glanced around.

"You'll be okay, Littlepaw," I whispered to myself under my breath.

I walked a little further in, then suddenly, I heard a snort coming from behind me.

I turned to see Nightpaw growling. "What are you doing on my territory?"

Vixenstep's instructions played in the back of my mind. Do not come back to camp unless you have either the body of a cat you've killed or four pieces of prey.

I gulped. Was I going to be that cat?

"I've come with a peace offering," I meowed. Placing the fish in front of him, I continued. "I know that when we first met, you and I didn't exactly get off on the right—"

Nightpaw lunged for the fish and finished it within two bites.

"…paw…"

He licked his muzzle clean. "That was amazing! But, have you have some—?"

"—No, I don't have any more. I only caught one fish…" I interrupted.

"Oh…"

He suddenly knelt to the ground and started to heave.

…Did he have a hairball or something…?

Suddenly, a piece of fish slid out of his mouth.

…The same fish he just ate…

"I didn't know that you hadn't eaten. My mother always told me that it was rude to eat prey in front of a hungry cat.," he told me, "Here, you can have this."

Lucky me.

"I already ate a huge leopard—Rabbit! I mean rabbit," I meowed, "Uh, so I don't think I could possibly eat any more prey…"

My stomach growled.

StarClan, why do you hate me so much?

Nightpaw looked at me, then back down at the fish.

I had no choice…

I crouched down and took a bite.

"…Yum…" I mumbled while trying to keep the fish in my stomach. "Thank you so much…"

I smiled and he smiled back.

…No one had ever returned a smile…

What was this feeling? Was it…joy?

"Just for the record," I mewed. "…I don't think you're useless…"

He looked at paws, almost embarrassed.

Maybe he was just like me? Misunderstood and hated by the Clan…?

Well… almost like me…

I looked at his tail. "So…what happened to your tail…?"

He looked down at it. "I don't want to talk about it," he growled.

Nightpaw turned around and laid down.

Lucky for him, I was persistent.

I crept towards his half-tail and tried to paw at it.

He turned around and hissed at me. "I said, I don't want to talk about it!"

Dejected, I padded away slowly. I guess I was wrong. Maybe he was just like everybody else…

"Wait."

I turned around to see Nightpaw's eyes filled with regret. He purred. "I'll tell you, but not here. Follow me."

He ran and I followed him.

One thought crossed my mind.

Had I made a friend…?

… Pfftt! Hahaha! Silly Littlepaw!

0-0-0-0-0-0

"I want to show you something I found."

I looked over the border and into LightningClan territory. Was I still breaking the code by being no more than a mouse-tail in the FlameClan territory?

I looked back at him. He had stopped and was looking down at what looked like an old fox or badger set.

"A-Are you sure it's safe?" I muttered, glancing down.

There was no scent of either of the predators, just the lingering scent of Nightpaw.

He had been here before and still wasn't dead, so…

"Of course! I've been down here countless times! The only animals in here are rabbits that go down the hole and through the tunnel," he assured me.

He disappeared down the hole and I just stood there unsure what to do.

"'Maybe I should just come back when it's lighter…"

"It's practically sunhigh!" Nightpaw's response echoed in the tunnel, "You're not afraid, are you?"

Although it was a teasing tone, I growled at the thought. "Of course not!"

I jumped down and instantly, I realised that it was dark.

Very dark.

"Come on Littlepaw!"

I could hear Nightpaw, but I couldn't see him.

Curse your jet black pelt, Nightpaw!

"I can't see!" I meowed.

"Your eyes will adjust," came the uncaring response.

I huffed, waited for about a heartbeat and I still couldn't see anything.

"Give me your tail!" I called, "Then you can lead me out of here!"

Wait.

I mentally scratched myself. Of course! I keep forgetting!

"Just follow my voice," Nightpaw meowed back.

He kept saying random things like 'hungry badger' or 'mouse-brained sparrow', but everything helped, so I really didn't care how much of a fuzz-brain he was.

The tunnel pathway slowly inclined.

We were heading back up! Into the sunlight! With the trees and the birds!

I could see light up ahead!

"We're here!" Nightpaw mewed.

I padded out of the tunnel and waited for my eyes to adjust to the sudden brightness.

It was incredible!

It was like it was an old, abandoned camp!

There was a pristine pool of water in the middle and around it was many overgrown plants hiding what could have been dens!

Yes, yes! I could see it now!

The leader padding to the middle of the pool, by using the stepping stones and standing on the large rock in the middle.

The Clan would be all sharing tongues in the one spot that the sun shone.

The elders would be telling kits of their daring adventures in the den nearest the tunnel.

The medicine cat would be either sorting out herbs or healing a sick and greedy apprentice who had eaten too much fresh-kill.

I looked up. Most of the sky had been hidden by the trees—the protection!

"It's incredible!" I gushed.

"I come here whenever I want to be alone. Away from the glares and the insults. Away from the many kits asking what happened to my tail. Here, I feel…free."

I looked at Nightpaw who had a distant look in his mint green eyes.

"You don't have to tell me what happened, if you don't want…" I meowed.

He looked back at me and shook his head.

"Welcome to the CoveClan camp," he meowed; his tail gesturing to the camp behind us. "You're just in time to hear the elder, Nightpaw, tell the young kit, a story about how he lost his tail."

His voice was dripping with sarcasm, but not the bad one, the happy version. I could tell that he was smiling on the inside.

We laid down and he began to tell his story...

"I'll start from the very beginning…When I was two moons old," he began, "my father, Blackfang, the previous deputy, mysteriously disappeared. Redstar was almost as distraught as I was; our family was close friends of hers and she trusted my father with her life—."

"Do you know if he died?" I interrupted.

"No, but that's not the point of the story," Nightpaw growled, "Don't interrupt."

I closed my mouth and let him continue.

"Redstar replaced him with Thunderwing and camp life seemed to go on as normal. But it wasn't until my fourth moon, that I lost my tail…" Nightpaw meowed, "Redstar had just finished the warrior ceremony for her youngest son, Applepaw, now Appleclaw. They had just finished shouting his name when Brightfeather ran though the entrance, bleeding from ear to foot."

I let out a slight gasp. What a thing for a kit to see!

"Behind her were two ravenous foxes. The mouse-brained furball had led them to the camp. Without remorse, they ran around the camp trying to kill everything in sight…" Nightpaw let out a sad sigh, "One of them found its way into the nursery. My mother Shadepelt, did everything she could to get rid of them and keep them away from me, but it grabbed me by the tail anyway."

He let out an amused purr. "That fox was given more than enough scars to remember Shadepelt by. She leaped out after me and was caught by the second fox. I mewled and tried to scratch the fox's muzzle but it shook me, as if to punish me. By this point, my tail was in excruciating pain. By the time it stopped shaking me, my mother was no more than a memory."

"How did you escape?" I gasped.

"Vixenstep, Foxstep, Thunderwing and Beepaw came to my rescue," he explained, "Thunderwing grabbed the fox's feet and bit them while the other three tried to disorientate it. I remember the fox pushing Thunderwing to the side, but he never returned to the battle. The fox eventually gave up, called for its friend and they left, probably to find some prey that wouldn't fight back."

We both let out a humoured purr.

"But, my tail was only on by a thread… Redstar had to bite it off otherwise I would probably die. Three cats already had: Thunderwing, Shadepelt and Brightfeather," Nightpaw explained.

"What did your medicine cat do to help them?" I asked.

He tilted his head. "Medicine cat…?" he asked back, "We don't have one of those; Redstar says that they're a sign of Clan weakness."

"What?! But they are what helps the Clan become strong!" I argued. "How do sick cats become better then?"

"Oh, if they're still alive, Vixenstep or Redstar will kill them," Nightpaw replied nonchalantly, "They don't want any weak links in the Clan."

I couldn't get my head around it. Killing the sick cats! That was awful!

"Well, then how did you become an apprentice?"

"Because my mum was the only queen in the camp at that moment and no one else wanted to nurse me, they were about to kill me," Nightpaw shuddered, "But, for some reason they didn't. But I noticed a lot of talk about LightningClan and 'tail'. Vixenstep took me in as an apprentice two moons early and became deputy. The end."

"Wow…"

I didn't know what else to say. What could I say? It'll be okay. Your tail will be back soon…?

Nightpaw looked at me. "I'm sorry, but I really want to get back to camp and sleep in my own nest tonight, so…"

Do not come back to camp unless you have either the body of a cat you've killed or four pieces of prey…

I gulped and looked at the sky. Would there be one more star joining Silverpelt tonight?

"…I'm going to have to go if I want to catch four pieces of prey by sundown. I'm sorry. Do you want to meet here at CoveClan every sunhigh?"

I thought back to my own training schedule. We only ever trained before sunhigh, maybe after sometimes. "Yeah, that should be fine. But just not tomorrow. I know I'm going on the sunhigh hunting patrol," I meowed.

He rubbed himself against me in a way of saying thank you, before he bounded off, towards the tunnel hole.

I just stood there stunned.

He was the most feared cat in the forest…?

A/N: I have nothing much to say, except, I hope you liked Foxstep's cameo, Kit. But, yeah… that was the Forbidden Friendship scene— my favourite scene in the entire movie. It has the nicest instrumental. Well…actually… it'd be a tie between this and the See You Tomorrow instrumental.

…It's not weird that I like instrumentals more than songs!

Anyway…

~ Kat's Komments ~

The Silent Fury: So do I. This scene is just so beautiful. Also, I can't answer your question because of spoilers. But, I've just finished writing it, and it works out pretty much the same. Obviously, it's not going to be the exact same because in the movie it's Boy vs. Dragon. If I wrote it like that, that'd be kind of weird… Awesome, but weird.

crazyfoxqueen: …Wait. How do you know about the friendship value of a dead squirrel? *shocked face* Is there something you're not telling me, Kit…? Hope that this update made your sick, boring day better. :3

neobendium: Thanks. :) I was too. It took a lot of thought.

Baby Toothless: Thank you for finally reading this, sis. Took you long enough.

.

As usual, all reviews are read and smiled at.

I'm not in a great headspace right now, so even just a few kind words would be appreciated.

Thanks.

~ Cloudjumper Kat