Still crap. Still loving it. I'm on a post-a-thon. I want to get this done as quickly as possible because I don't think I ever intended on finishing this series and now I want to at least get to book four before I forget it. Hopefully, it'll be freakin awesome compared to this. Anyway, chapter 5. -Cara Lea

Chapter 5

Flowerheart hissed, drawing her lips back and leaning into Tanclaw. There, in the middle of the clearing, stood a broad-shouldered warrior she knew well. Or at least thought she had known.

"Darkclaw," Jetstar said from his perch on the Speak-ledge. "Has Silverstar a message for me?"

"That Skunk-stripe can rot in the pit for all I care," Darkclaw said with ease. "I have not come on her behalf; I have come here on my own."

Jetstar looked mildly surprised. "You have left StormClan?"

Darkclaw dipped his head, "To humbly ask to join MoonClan."

Jetstar's ears flicked forward in surprise. "Why would you want to join MoonClan?"

The dark stripped warrior shrugged. "StormClan was never really a home to me. My mother was StormClan, but my father and brothers were HillClan. I have always had a paw in two worlds. MoonClan gives me a chance to have a paw in one world that carries both the blood of my parents' Clans."

Jetstar tilted his head. "I never knew that you were half-Clan."

Darkclaw shuffled his paws awkwardly; something Flowerheart had never seen him do. "It's not exactly something that was broadcasted."

The huge black leader nodded. "I understand. You may, of course, stay."

Darkclaw dipped his head. "I thank you."

"You can thank us by joining my hunting patrol," Sharpfang declared readily. The Siamese deputy indicated the entrance with his tail. "We still have to show you around the territory."

Darkclaw dipped his head and joined them. Flowerheart sat back on her haunches, wondering what the aggressive warrior's true intentions were. He had always had a fierce loyalty to StormClan, even under Lionstar's disjointed leadership.

Not that she'd seen much of that. She had already departed for MoonClan by that point.

She remembered the night easier than any other part of her life. Her blood had been pumping heatedly through her body, as it had been her last post before she would have been eligible to receive her warrior name. Moonpelt had been looking forward to putting her up for her warrior name, and the night post was her final assessment.

It was cold that night, the stars more visible than they ever had been. She had looked toward SoulClan and thought forward to her life as a StormClan warrior. She would show them that coming from CityClan didn't make her any less loyal.

And then all had been dark. She remembered waking up and seeing Blueheart and Greenshade. They two queens who had vanished from the camp. Her heart had pumped in her chest as she stared at them, gawked at them. They had explained that she was part of MoonClan now. They had begged her to stay. And she had.

Tanclaw had joined a very different method, she knew.

He had joined by going with Sandclaw and Jetstar on the last night before MoonClan declared themselves. She didn't know how MoonClan had gotten started, or how any one knew where to go or how to get there. Jetstar- then Jetclaw –had been one of the last to join the Clan. Already, they'd had a medicine cat and medicine cat apprentice. Blacktooth, who had been brought by Blacktail and Scentwing in his own Clan, and Crystalpaw, the HillClan medicine cat apprentice who had always been treated differently for her CityClan roots.

SoulClan had sent a sign, a very prominent one, to elect Jetclaw as their new leader. It was widely accepted. After all, he had been the FireClan deputy. He asked Blacktooth and Crystalpaw to accompany him- not to the Light Camp in FireClan territory, but the old abandoned Cityleg den just outside HillClan territory. He had asked Sharpfang the loner to come as his deputy. There had been a disagreement about that. Sharpfang had also once been a FireClan deputy. Why should FireClan have two representatives as leaders of the new Clan?

But Jetclaw had reminded them that the old Siamese warrior had no Clan anymore. He hadn't been a FireClan warrior in a long time, but that he had the experience that was needed to be an efficient deputy. Blacktooth and Crystalpaw had supported his decision, and after their returning from the old abandoned nest, nobody questioned Sharpfang's place.

She watched their deputy now as he lead Darkclaw out of the camp alongside Twitchstep, Inkfrost, and Cricketpaw. He stepped with every confidence of a deputy. His fur was sleek and well cared for, his lean muscles rippling with every step. Worst of all was the look on his face. He belonged at the head of a Clan and he knew it. It was ultimately that haughty quality that made Flowerheart's fur prickle with distrust. Most cats who thought they deserved leadership shouldn't have it.

She shook herself. That was not her decision, it was Jetstar's. Her leader had been an excellent leader so far, speaking with the wisdom only SoulClan could have given him. He so far had not showed any real anger toward any outside force. She could see that he was nervous leading his Clan, but simultaneously that he knew just what he wanted and how to get it. She could also see that what he wanted coincided with what the Clan wanted. It seemed that he genuinely had the Clan's best interest at heart.

And SoulClan had chosen him. Who was she to argue with that?

…

Flowerheart paused at the edge of the trees, following Sapfur along their HillClan border up to the Circle Quad. The golden tom had once belonged to HillClan and his powerful muscles ripples still beneath his pelt. The one good thing about patrolling at night was that they were not going to run into anyone along the border. When night came, every other Clan curled up in their nests. This was the time that MoonClan could shower their borders with new scent and reinforce their place amongst the Clans.

She couldn't help but feel out of place among the patrol. Although they were all of one Clan now, every single member of the patrol had once belonged to HillClan. She was the only ex-StormClan cat. She shivered in the cold, staring from cat to cat. First was Sapfur, leading the patrol with quiet steps and covert glances. Then was Falconfeather- a stuck up dark tabby and white tom. Flowerheart followed just behind them with her head bowed against the wind. It was very cold and windy out tonight, which could only mean that the cold season was on its way. HillClan cats might be able to adjust easier because they lived on the barren hilltops where there was no cover. But in StormClan, she had always had thick trees to conceal her from the worst of the weather. The cold no reaching through her thin fur was almost too much.

"How much longer?" she asked impatiently as Sapfur sniffed at the same rock for a third time. "Come on, Sapfur, it's just a dumb rock. Let's get a move on."

He blinked at her in mild surprise while Falconfeather snorted. "Enjoying the new weather?" he teased lightly. Flowerheart hissed at him, but it changed to a wheeze as she shivered rather violently.

"It's not just a dumb rock," Sapfur explained quietly. "There's enemy scent on here. And unless I'm mistaken, it once belonged to The Clique."

Flowerheart's fur wasn't the only thing frozen at his words. "Impossible," Falconfeather answered for her. "The Clique disbanded."

Sapfur shrugged. "We don't know that. They just up and vanished one day. They might have regrouped in CityClan or something."

Flowerheart flexed her aching muscles to try and warm them. "Well if they're thinking of settling here, they're pretty stupid. Our territory here is narrow, so they would have to deal with HillClan, WaterClan, and us."

The golden warrior shook his head. "I doubt WaterClan'll do anything, though I don't foresee Smashstar letting it slide. This rock is on our territory though, so unless they're crossing her border too, she can't do anything."

Flowerheart's teeth chattered, giving her away in humiliation. "Well, they better not settle here. No way'll Jetstar allow it."

"Maybe," Sapfur admitted. "I don't think he'll let them settle here. But maybe he'll let them join us."

"Join us?" Falconfeather snorted. "I doubt that. Letting Darkclaw in was one thing. He was already a Clan warrior. Just out of place like we were, found his true loyalties like we did. But the Clique is unholy. They have something again SoulClan. Aint nothing we can about that."

He shook his golden main. "We need to tell Jetstar. Let's go back now and tell him." Flowerheart agreed whole-heartedly.

She didn't think she could last another second in the cold anyway.