A/N: Okay, reviews are in for the last chapter and the question I asked in my previous author's note is answered :) This is about five moons after the last chapter, and throughout those moons, WindClan has been pressing on the ShadowClan border and Raggedstar is very displeased. Also, Featherstorm had these kits: Lizardkit (female) Snakekit (male) and Brownkit (male) and Shadekit -not canon- (female) with Blackfoot. Raggedstar said that all she-cats should have kits, since ShadowClan was so much smaller than the other clans. Also, Crowtail is very close to having kits (she'll have them in the chapter) and they are Runningnose's! -Gasp-. I've never seen why male meddy cats can't have kits, and ShadowClan really is very, very small. Also, after this chapter I will do a second allegiances, because stuff is changing so much :/ As for other news... Tigerpaw and Russetpaw are still Gathering-buddies but he hasn't tried to meet secretly with Russetpaw; he knows that she'll kick his furry butt! Other than that...Umm... Oakpaw says "Hi!" Now he's a touchy fellow, so tell him hello back, guys!

Russetpaw stretched in the apprentice's den, half-excited, half-wary. WindClan had been pressing on the borders near Carrionplace for the last few moons, and the past suns, they had left markers more than every tail-length of the border. She shivered with anxiety; it was still more than a moon till newleaf, so the warriors said, and they depended on the Carrionplace for food during the harsh moons; they had a smaller, more prey-poor territory than the other Clans, which was part of the reason that their Clan was smaller. But in the past seasons, ShadowClan had shrunk and shrunk until they were very vulnerable to attack, so Raggedstar had decreed that all she-cats should have kits, even if the father was not their mate, and . Russetpaw's own mother, Crowtail, was soon to have Runningnose's kits. This, along with Featherstorm's pregnancy, had delayed Cedarpaw and Cloudpaw's (who had been apprenticed to Crowtail three moons ago) training, so Hollyflower, Lizardfang, and Archeye had all been helping to train them.

Padding put of the den, she nearly tread on Whitepaw's tail. Glancing out to see Littlebird pacing near the nursery, she prodded Whitepaw's side. "Whitepaw! Littlebird's waiting for you, I think." The long-furred she-cat gazed at her tiredly with two bright blue eyes, but got to her paws and padded out to her mentor. Russetpaw followed and caught Hollyflower's eye. The gray and white warrior trotted over, and her apprentice asked, "So. What are we doing today?"

Her mentor's gaze clouded. "Raggedstar's getting very edgy about WindClan. He's ordered a huge patrol of us to go and mark the border as closely as they have. It's you and me, Raggedstar and Foxpaw, Littlebird and Whitepaw, Wetfoot and Oakpaw, and Archeye." Russetpaw's eyes widened. Even if it was a battle patrol, it was still large! Her mentor frowned and added, "Once our patrol leaves, he told Lizardfang, Blackfoot, Tallpaw, Jaggedtooth, Rowanpaw, Cedarpaw, Cloudpaw, and Poolcloud all to guad the camp. No cat is supposed to be out and about while we're gone. It's obvious he's expecting a battle. Our patrol goes out halfway between sunhigh and sundown. Until then, he says, every cat is supposed to hunt besides the medicine cats, who are supposed to be gathering strengthening herbs." It sure did sound like Raggedstar was sure there was going to be a battle.

"Well, I guess we'd best go hunting then, right, Hollyflower?" she inquired, and the warrior nodded. "We'll take Cloudpaw, too. Will you fetch him? I think he's in the nursery." Russetpaw dipped her head and walked quickly to the nursery. Cloudpaw was indeed in there, sharing a rat with Dawncloud, his older sister. Brightkit kept sneaking up and taking small mouthfuls sneakily without Cloudpaw or her mother noticing. Just as she was about to bite off another chunk, leaning very far forward, neck outstretched, she spotted Russetpaw in the entrance and snapped her jaws shut and sat on her paws with an innocent grin. Russetpaw winked at her, green eyes gleaming, before clearing her throat and calling, "Cloudpaw?" The white apprentice turned with a mouth full of rat and cocked his head questioningly. "You're to go with me and Hollyflower out hunting, once you're finished eating. He nodded, ripped off a large hunk of rat, and wolfed it down. "Ready!" he said with his jaws still half-full.

The two apprentices followed Hollyflower out of camp, another patrol of hunters just behind them. Outside of the camp, which was warmed by so many cats' bodies, the marsh was freezing. a thin layer of snow veiled the ground, and the normally damp ground was stiff with ice. Russetpaw realized how her dark ginger pelt stood out against the icy landscape, while Cloudpaw and Hollyflower's fur blended well. Hollyflower had obviously noticed the same thing, because she said, "Cloudpaw and I will hunt near Carrionplace, but Russetpaw, with your fur you might be better off near the Burnt Sycamore, where there isn't as much snow." With a polite nod, the hunting patrol split up, and Russetpaw headed for the twisted tree she could see in the distance.

It was nearing sunhigh, and hunting was hopeless by the old tree; Russetpaw had only caught a scrawny vole and a thrush that looked like it was all feathers and bone. She saw with a glimmer of hope that there was one tiny green bud on the sycamore as she perched in it's bare branches. She had scrambled up the tree to hide in a deep hollow where owls normally lived. It was strangely vacant (given that it was day-time and owls hunted at night) but when birds landed on the branches of the tree, she could prowl along the branch to catch them; this was how she had gotten the thrush. Suddenly, she heard a loud fluttering of wings from outside the hollow. Russetpaw tensed against the back of the dark hollow; these wings must below to a much larger bird than the thrush she'd caught, for the wing-beats were monumentally louder.

Two bright orange eyes appeared, piercing and bright, but they were not cats' eyes. It was the owl! There was a mouse, very fat for leaf-bare, clutched in a curved beak. Russetpaw gulped silently as she glanced down and saw wickedly sharp talons on both of the owl's feet. One foot was clutched to the rim of the hollow, but the other had another mouse in it, though this was even scrawnier than Russetpaw's own catch. The owl seemed to just notice that there was something very alive in its hollow, and Russetpaw instinctively flung herself at the enormous bird; the gray-feathered creature was easily bigger than her!

It managed to flutter inside the hollow over to two bright white eggs that sat in a pile of sticks and grass. It dropped the mouse from its beak and gave a violent screech that rang in the apprentice's ears. There was no way Russetpaw could leave her prey here and go back to camp empty-pawed! Eyes narrowing in determination, she stalked toward the owl. As the cat neared, the bird's leg shot out, and she barely dodged the dangerous talons. Now or never, Russetpaw thought, and lunged at the owl. She latched onto its chest and sank her teeth into the owl's neck. But the thing was far from finished. despite the blood leaking from its jugular, it raked a talon down Russetpaw's shoulder. She squeaked in pain and writhed around so that her back legs were on its wings, and her front claws dug into the space between the appendages.

But the owl simply brought its wings back, and flapped them so violently that Russetpaw was flung to the ground. It cuffed her over the head with one huge wing and she crashed to the ground, dazed. She panted with exhaustion and weakly struggled as the owl turned her onto her stomach with a set of talons. It held her down with its foot, the back talons digging into her stomach, and the front resting on her breastbone. Who is the prey here? She wondered. Seeing the dark feathers around two bright amber eyes as the owl's face loomed above her, she was reminded of a certain cat, and the thought gave her strength.

She went totally limp, thinking fast, then brought all four of her legs together, claws outstretched, and raked all sets on the leg that held her down. The owl recoiled with a sharp screech, and she once more dove for its neck. This time, she kept the owl's talons busy by continually raking her back claws downward while tearing at its throat with her teeth, clinging on with just her front paws. After was seemed like an eternity, the light died from its eyes and it was dead. Triumph glowed in her heart. What other apprentice could say that they had killed an owl? Especially one that was twice their size? She wanted to crow her victory out loud, but she knew that there was another owl that lived here, the mother of those eggs, and she didn't think she could fight another one, especially not a mother, since she knew how fierce queens were about protecting their kits, and owls would be just the same.

She looked out the hollow and saw with a jolt that it was past sunhigh! She had to get her kills back to camp before the patrol left without her. She couldn't possibly make it down the tree with prey in her jaws, so she shoved the owl out of the hollow entrance with some difficulty. She also dropped down the two mice the owl had caught and her thrush. Her vole was already covered in snow at the base of the tree. She scrambled down the trunk, aching from her fight. She stared at the array of prey with a flash of pride; the owl would feed four, maybe five warriors by itself in greenleaf. Since it was leaf-bare, and the cats were used to much smaller portions, at least seven could be well-fed tonight. Not to mention that it had caught two mice for her, one of them shockingly plump. But how to get all of the food back to camp? Inspiration stuck, and she pried open the owls bloodied talons. She stuffed the thrush and the fat mouse in one foot, and the other mouse and her vole in the other foot.

She grabbed hold of the owl and started dragging it in the general direction of camp. It was very, very heavy and she had to pause several times. The deep scratch on her shoulder stung, and her teeth ached with the difficulty of dragging her heavy load. Unfortunately, every cat had already returned to camp to get ready for the patrol, so no one could help her with her burden. She reached the entrance to camp when she heard a high-pitched wail that Russetpaw recognized as Crowtail's. Her heart dropped to her paws and she prayed desperately, Please, let her be having kits and not be injured! She quickened her step and entered the camp tail-first, since she couldn't possibly push her owl in front of her.

As she dragged the prey to the fresh-kill pile, which consisted of a thin rat and a skinny frog, she felt eyes on her from all around camp. There was silence for a moment, then yowls of surprise. Foxpaw dashed over to her and exclaimed, "How in StarClan did you find a dead owl?" Russetpaw had a mouth full of owl feathers, so she just finished dragging it to a spot next to the pile. She still did not answer as she pried the two mice, thrush, and vole from it's claws and put them on top of the rat and lizard. She swiped her tongue around her jaws, sat down, and tucked her tail over her paws neatly before saying, "I didn't find a dead owl, Foxpaw."

Her sister tilited her head sideways, not comprehending. "I killed an owl." Foxpaw gasped, taking in the sheer size of the bird, and the bloody claws. "What! But...how!" the bright ginger she-cat asked, astonished. "I was in its hollow, waiting for birds to land on the branches, so I could catch them," she paused, nodding at the thrush, "when the owl flew in. There were eggs and it was defending them, so I attacked it." Russetpaw was very aware that most of the Clan was gathering around to listen. "It didn't go down without a fight though!" she added, and licked the wound on her shoulder. She was also bleeding from her chest, but the cut wasn't half as deep as the slash on her shoulder.

Raggedstar was among the cats gathered, and he meowed, "You have done excellently in catching this owl, it will feed half the Clan! And you got four more bits of prey as well!" His eyes were glowing with warmth, and Russetpaw flushed. "The owl caught the mice and brought them into the hollow, I didn't catch them." she told him, but he didn't look disappointed. "No matter. I would be impressed with your catch in greenleaf, but for leaf-bare... You have done us proud. All of ShadowClan." he dipped his head low to the ground in a sign of respect, then called, "Russetpaw! Russetpaw!" the warriors around also called her name, and she was redder than her fur by the time the calls died down.

The ShadowClan leader turned and called, "Runningnose! Patch up Russetpaw, our patrol leaves soon." The medicine cat nodded and fetched some herbs from his den, then whisked over to her. He seemed edgy and jumpy as he treated her. "What's with you, Runningnose?" she asked curiously. He gave her a "duh" look and said, "My kits are being born, Russetpaw!" A jolt ran through the apprentice. In the excitement of presenting her owl, she had completely forgotten. Littlepaw emerged from the nursery a few fox-lengths away and called, "Runningnose! Crowtail's fine, and she has three healthy kits! Three toms and two she-cats."

The tom jumped to his paws and dashed to the nursery, Russetpaw hard on his tail. Crowtail was curled around three tiny kits. The smallest was a somewhat darker version of Runningnose, with light gray and black patches, and a very long tail. She was cuddled between a white tom with gray speckles and a black tom with gray and white speckles and ultra-black stripes. There was an all gray she-cat and a gray and white tom that were huddled together a little away from the other three. Crowtail looked worn-out but happy as she nuzzled her kits. "Runningnose, I want to name this one Skykit." Crowtail said simply and nodded at the large gray and white tom. With a small smile, the medicine cat nodded, but his attention was mostly transfixed on his kits. He waved his tail at the all gray she-cat and meowed in a raspy voice that was choked with emotion, "Duskkit."

Just then, the small she-cat with the long tail opened her eyes. They were a very bright green, a brighter green than Russetpaw had seen in the eyes of a cat before. As if by some unheard signal, all of the kits started to open their eyes, all except Skykit. The kits' parents looked into each other's eyes, and Russetpaw couldn't figure out what was in their eyes. It wasn't the same look they gave their kits, but something similar. Had her mother found new love with the Clan medicine cat? Crowtail seemed to notice that Russetpaw was present. "Russetpaw. Will you name one of the kits?" She was a little taken aback, but she knew better than to refuse the offer. She studied the kits, and saw that the black one with speckles was strikingly familiar. He looked just like the owl! His bright amber eyes were even the same shade as the owl's had been. She flicked her tail and suggested, "Owlkit?" Runningnose's eyes flickered and he smiled.

"Owlkit is perfect. He really does look a lot like your catch." Crowtail looked at them questioningly and Runningnose told her about the owl. She smiled proudly at her daughter before studying the kits again. "I think Vinekit, for this little one." she nodded at the small she-cat with green eyes. The medicine cat nodded and meowed, "How about Frogkit, for his eyes?" he looked at the gray speckled white tom, who had dark green eyes. Crowtail smiled. "Frogkit, Vinekit, Owlkit, Duskkit, and Skykit. They're perfect." Her mother looked exhausted as she laid her head down on her paws, and Russetpaw took the hint and left the den.

Waiting for her just outside was Nightkit. She remembered how thinking of him while fighting the owl had saved her life, and she purred when he sat next to her. "You made quite a catch," he murmured, and she purred even harder. He was as big as her now, and she leaned against him, enjoying the comfort of the moment. Raggedstar called, "It's time for the patrol to leave!" from the center of the clearing and Nighkit whispered, "Be careful." as she turned to leave. She looked him in his bright amber eyes and said, "I will."