Happy Holidays, everyone! :D And yes, I know, I said I'd update more often. According to FF dot net, I haven't updated this since November 13th... D: *shot repeatedly* Well this time, I really will update more often! No more lying! xD I'm on winter break now, so I'll have much more time. : D

Buuuut just in case you forgot what's been happening, I'll put in another lil' recap xD Enjoy~ :3

Recap: After traveling through the forest for a while, Ross, Mourn and Nightfall come face to face with some of the invaders. They're from ThunderClan, and their names are Graystripe, Sandstorm, and Birchpaw. They earn a hostile greeting from Birchpaw, but Sandstorm manages to calm him down. After a few questions, the warriors decide to bring back the three "loners" to their camp. As they walk, Nightfall gets lost in memories. And then, they reach the camp, and she knows that this is where it all begins.

Yeppers. 8D Dun worry, I won't do that for every chapter-- just when I don't update for a while~ :3 Okie doke, time for review replies!

Macey-the-Invisible: Sandstorm totally is cool, right? 8D Although, I still miss her obnoxious little self when she was an apprentice. xD Ahh, the ol' days~ As for your prediction, well... We'll just have to wait and see! ;D

VioletteRose: Onoes! I hate it when reviews aren't sent! . Et oui, Birchpaw est trés mechant, mais, je t'adore ^-^ Lawl, I love my bad French. xD And teehee, evil cats in disguise xD We'll see what happens! :3

Mudheart: Here's your update :D Gracias for reading! :3

updateupdate: Here you go! :3 Thanks for reading!

Revriley: I totes hear you :3 (The first time I tried to type that, I wrote "I totes you here"... Weird. xD) We'll see what happeeensss~ 8D Thankies for reading! You're always so nice T.T *sobs* Teehee ^-^

Moonfeather: Here's the update! xD I know it took forever, but... eh... xD Thanks for reading!

Alrighty, then! Time for the next chapter! :3 Enjoy~

Chapter 9

Rainwhisker's Doubts

As the cats below slowly began to raise their heads, their eyes widening when they finally spotted us, time seemed to stop. Mourn, Ross and I slowly began to make our way down the steep slope with Graystripe in the front and Sandstorm and Birchpaw proceeding quietly behind us. There was silence, apart from a few muffled growls from somewhere in the crowd. I jumped down once I was at the bottom of the slope, landing neatly on my paws. It was then that I remembered to add a sag to my shoulders, an occasional stumble to my walk. I flicked an ear and continued to follow the deputy, ignoring the gazes burning through my pelt to both sides of me. I lowered my head slightly.

Then, a flicker of orange. I looked up, my ears pricked, to see a ginger tom calmly approach us. He looked fairly strong and quite healthy, and he had these green eyes that sparkled despite the lack of sunlight. Dark clouds had finally covered up the sky, and it looked as if it would begin to rain at any moment. Well, that's spring for you.

"Graystripe," the ginger tom greeted when he'd reached us. He dipped his head and then looked over at the three of us. "May I ask what's going on?"

"We found them in our territory," the deputy replied, casting a quick glance at us. "They're loners." This new tom nodded his head in acknowledgment and took a step towards us. He held his head high in a dignified manner, and his tail kept flicking back and forth. But he nonetheless offered a small smile and a quick bow.

"Would you three mind coming with me?" he asked, keeping the tiny grin on for another moment before he let it slip. He turned around and began walking off, obviously expecting us to follow. I shot a glance at Ross, who just looked at me back, his expression unreadable.

As the ginger tom led us to another slope of rock, I began to hear whispers all around me. Whispers that asked, "Who are they?" "What are they doing there?" "Knowing Firestar, he'll probably let 'em join the Clan in a second..." I pricked my ears at this and fought the urge to look in the direction of the last comment. Two things were just made clear to me.

One: This had to be Firestar. I don't know why I hadn't realized it the second I saw his pathetic, dignified pose, and the way that everyone else seemed to respect him.

Two: Apparently, he's let loners join his Clan before. Maybe this wouldn't be so hard after all.

Firestar-- or at least who I suspected to be Firestar-- led us up a steep pile of rock. I stumbled a bit as I followed after him, and Mourn nearly slipped and tumbled down. I held back a snicker.

The ginger tom waited for us at the top, and when I reached him, I had to turn and look back. I could see the whole camp from up here, and before such a large crowd, I felt... powerful. Was this what Dire always felt?

"Please come in," came the voice of the orange tom, and I turned, seeing him vanish into the small opening of a cave. I watched as Ross's amber eyes slowly narrowed, but he didn't say a word as he followed him in. I shot a glance at my brother before we followed.

It was dark inside, but surprisingly spacious. I spotted a bed of ferns and moss in the back, and I guessed that this was this cat's nest. He sat down, wrapping his tail around his paws, motioning for us to do the same.

I warily sat down, my ears pulled back slightly as I lowered my head, glancing at everyone in the space. Ross and Mourn sat down beside me; Mourn was fidgeting a bit, and Ross was stone still as he stared intently at this ThunderClan cat.

"My name is Firestar," the cat spoke once we had his attention. "I'm not sure how much my Clanmates have already told you, but this is ThunderClan. I'm their leader." I suddenly felt my heart begin to drum against my chest, and it took all I had to hide my inner emotions. I gulped and nodded my head slightly, though my tail flicked back in forth. I wanted to scream and yell at him right then, asking him if he knew that this place already had inhabitants. I wanted to pin to to the ground with my paw at his throat, snarling in his face, asking him... why? Somehow, Ross seemed to sense this, and he shot me a meaningful glance, his amber eyes narrowed just the tiniest bit.

"Firestar," the black and white tom murmured, bowing his head. "We're sorry we invaded your territory, we were unaware that it belonged to anyone. We're just loners."

The ThunderClan leader nodded, closing his green eyes for a moment. "I understand. You're not the only ones." He shifted his position slightly and re-opened his eyes, looking at each of us for a moment. "First, what are your names?"

"I'm Ray," replied Ross, "and this is Dusk and Sampson." I flicked an ear; he seemed to be taking the lead, and I guessed that all I could do was follow along.

Firestar nodded in acknowledgment and then tilted his head slightly as his green eyes drifted to our injuries.

"Those wounds," he murmured, blinking slowly. "How did you get those? Are you alright?"

"T-There was a fire," stuttered Mourn, speaking up for the first time in a while. He lowered his head slightly, as if suddenly embarrassed. I held back a sigh.

"We lived in a barn," I explained, quickly taking over. "It burned down recently. We got a few scars while trying to escape, and while we were traveling, we had a few other encounters... Rats, for one thing." I looked up at the ginger tom, who, after a moment, nodded his head.

"So you've been traveling for a long time," he said slowly, as if trying to lay his facts straight. I gave a weak nod. "Then you three should stay for a few days. Leafpool's our medicine cat; she can take care of you and tend to your wounds." Ross and I dipped our heads, as did Mourn after quickly catching on.

Firestar got to his paws, giving us a brief nod. "Let's go outside," he said. "My Clan must be wondering what's going on." He pushed past us and led the way back outside; once his back was turned to me, I rolled my eyes.

XRXAXYX

When I opened by eyes, a pale, pinkish sunlight greeted me. I grumbled something tiredly and shakily got to my paws. My joints were aching and my wounds, even though they were healing, still stung a bit. Trying to ignore it, I surveyed my surroundings; I was in a den, and for a brief moment alarm gripped onto me. Where was I? Where was everyone else?

But when I saw Mourn and Ross curled up nearby, everything came back. I was in the medicine cat den, but I couldn't quite remember what had happened, other than us arriving at ThunderClan. I squinted my eyes as I glanced outside; it was early morning. The sun's rays were already peaking through the trees, leaving a dim golden-red glow. A bit of mist hovered just above the hollow's ground, and in the distance, I heard a few chickadees call. It was so quiet; as far as I could see, no one was even outside yet. They were probably all still asleep in their lovely nests of feathers and moss, dreaming the day away. Idiots.

"Dusk?" A voice from behind me made me jump, and I whirled around, the fur on the back of my neck raising only slightly. A delicate, light brown tabby stood across from me, a bundle of herbs at her paws. Her head was tilted slightly, and her amber eyes blinked a few times. I tried to remember who it was...

"Leafpool," I murmured, reluctantly dipping my head as I relaxed. I parted my jaws into a huge yawn and tiredly asked, "What happened? I don't..."

The medicine cat gave a small chuckle. "You were exhausted last night, Dusk. After Firestar made the announcement that you and your friends are staying a while, you talked to a few others and got their names. Remember?" I blinked and nodded slowly; my memory was coming back to me. I remember talking to a few of the warriors; some of them were surprisingly friendly, but a few others looked as if they'd like nothing more than to rip my ears off right then. Which I personally thought was quite amusing.

Leafpool smiled. "After I put some remedies on your wounds, you fell fast asleep. You were exhausted." She tilted her head to the other side, a slightly confused look on her face. "Oh, and you yelled at Sampson over something. Something about him being stupid...? I didn't hear the whole thing, I was just coming back with some herbs." I smiled at this and chuckled a bit myself.

"That sounds like me," I murmured, glancing at the two sleeping toms nearby. I looked at Ross for a minute; I'd never actually seen him sleeping up close. He was curled up into a ball and his tail covered his face. I couldn't help but smile the slightest bit; he looked so... peaceful.

"How are they?" I asked, glancing up at the medicine cat, who had begun mixing up some sort of poultice.

"They'll be fine," she replied, not pausing to look at me. "Their wounds aren't anything serious. It's mainly fatigue." This is when she looked up, an expression of amusement on her face. "Which is exactly why you crashed and can barely remember a thing."

I faked a smile and nodded. "Thanks," I muttered. I was about to say something else, but I was immediately cut off by an ear-piercing shriek outside. I jumped at the sudden noise and immediately straightened up, my ears pricked.

"What's going on?" demanded Leafpool as she raced over to my side. I ran out of the den and into the sunlit clearing, where other cats were already beginning to gather. At first, I couldn't see what the matter was, but then I saw it-- other cats, emerging from the bramble entrance and into camp, where they stopped and looked down on us. For a brief moment, my blood froze, thinking that these cats were my band. Had Dire suddenly changed the plan and decided to attack now?

But, no-- I didn't recognize any of these cats. Was this... one of the other Clans? I quickly counted; there were about as many cats as there were in ThunderClan.

"ShadowClan," growled Leafpool softly as she ran up beside me. I flicked my ear and glanced at her, and, seeing my confusion, she said "One of the other Clans. Tensions have been high between us lately; they tell us that their Clan's food is running out, and that they need more territory to keep themselves alive." She paused to snort. "But we've seen them at gatherings-- the last thing they need is more food. They're just greedy."

"Firestar!" yowled the cat who had led in ShadowClan. He was a huge white tom with black paws, and his amber eyes blazed angrily as he lashed his tail and called the ginger tom's name. I heard a few low growls from the ThunderClan cats around me, and Daisy, a queen who had been outside, rushed her kits back into the nursery.

"What's going on?" a low voice growled in my ear. I glanced over to see Ross, who had finally emerged from the den with Mourn scampering quickly behind him.

"ShadowClan," was all I muttered before I saw Firestar appear from the rocky slope that led to his lair. His green eyes narrowed slightly, but he seemed calm as he briskly walked down the scarp. When he reached the bottom, he padded to the middle of the camp. The ShadowClan leader flicked his tail, signaling to his Clan to wait as he leaped down to the ground to meet the leader.

"Blackstar," Firestar stated, his tail flicking uneasily. All was quiet, and all eyes were on the two cats. "What do you want?"

"You know what I want," the large white tom growled, his amber eyes narrowing. "Your territory is bigger than ours, and prey here is plentiful. Cats back at my camp are starving because prey is going scarce and you are not giving us any territory."

"Why would prey go scarce in the middle of Newleaf?" questioned Firestar calmly. "It seems a bit odd. Plus, by the looks of you and your warriors, you've got plenty to eat." I heard a few mumbles of agreement. "This is our territory, Blackstar," the leader continued, "and I am not going to give up any more of it to satisfy your greed."

"Idiot!" Blackstar roared. "One of our elders died today because she was so hungry!"

"Well obviously you shouldn't have hogged all of your prey to yourself, then, Blackstar," Firestar replied.

The ShadowClan leader narrowed his eyes to slits and took a small step backwards. "If you won't give us any of your territory," he snarled, his voice low, "then we'll have to take it from you." Then, before anything else could be said, he lifted his mighty head and shouted, "ShadowClan, attack!"

Everything around me immediately became a confusing blur. The rest of the ShadowClan cats leaped from the stony slope where they met with ThunderClan. Both groups clashed, and, with snarls and yowls filling the early morning air, the battle began.

And then, something occurred to me. A battle like this is exactly what we need! I yelled in my mind. We'll help ThunderClan win, and when they do, we'll be one step closer to earning their trust! Dire caught my eye, and we gave a small nod to each other, as if thinking the same thing.

Pulling my lips back, I leaped into the mass of fur and claws, ready to fight. In the midst of the crowd, I spotted a dark gray ThunderClan warrior (What was his name? Rainwhisker?) fending off two ShadowClanners. I lashed my tail and bounded over to help him, avoiding a few blows in the process.

I leaped on the smaller of the two, a brown tom who had been slashing out at Rainwhisker's face. I easily knocked the warrior to the ground, pinning him down onto his back with minimal effort. He just looked up at me, and he narrowed his eyes as he growled, "Who are you?"

"The name's Dusk," I growled back as I raised a paw and slashed it across his face. Drops of blood splashed onto the leafy ground, and he let out a hiss of pain. "Pleased to meet you." I raked my claws down the enemy's soft stomach, and though it wasn't hard enough to cause any fatal damage, it earned an ear-piercing cry of agony as he struggled to free himself. I stepped back and let him get up, sensing he would flee. And after dealing one last harsh blow to his right shoulder, the ShadowClanner turned and fled back up the stony slope, disappearing through the thorny entrance.

I turned around to see that Rainwhisker was still fighting off the other one, a larger, ginger male. His gray fur had a bit of blood on it, and I spotted a wound in his shoulder that looked quite deep and painful. Nonetheless, he kept fighting, his blue eyes flaring. I leaped over to help him, and, as I stood behind the unaware enemy, I slashed out my claws at his back and bit down as hard as I could into his tail. He yelped with surprise and whirled around, quickly dealing a blow to wherever he could reach. Claws slashed across my forehead, and I hissed as blood dripped into my eyes, blinding me for a moment. While the foe was preoccupied with me, Rainwhisker leaped at him from behind, knocking him roughly to the ground. The ShadowClan cat let out a strained snarl as my "partner" clawed the skin on his shoulder near his neck, and he dealt another blow to his chest. The ginger cat wriggled beneath Rainwhisker's grip until he managed to get to his paws and run off, disappearing into the huge mass of snarls and growls.

Rainwhisker raised his head and looked at me, and I returned his gaze silently. After a moment, he gave me a nod, though some emotion shot through his eyes that I couldn't quite detect. After another moment, he turned and vanished into the crowd, leaving me alone.

The battle didn't last for too long. After I chased off a ShadowClan apprentice, I paused to look around. By then, I'd received a few more wounds; a slash on my right shoulder and a few small scratches here and there, but nothing serious. I hope that ShadowClan's cats are the worst fighters of all the Clans, I thought to myself as I panted, looking around for another foe to fight, because this is pretty pathetic.

At that time, the stench of blood was growing stronger, and red stained the hollow's ground. Leafpool was at the edge of the camp, hastily treating those who had been badly hurt. But still, it looked as if we were actually winning. All according to plan. And then, a call sounded. It was Blackstar, who shoved himself through the cats to get to the front of the crowd. As he walked by, I noticed that he had quite a few bad injuries; of course, it could have just been the contrast of red against white.

"ShadowClan!" he yowled, attracting everyone's attention. The fighting ceased. "We will retreat for now!" A few victorious yowls were heard from ThunderClan's warriors, which resulted in a few hisses of disgust from the opposing cats. The ShadowClanners quickly gathered into a group behind their leader, who began to lead them back up the rocky slope. But not before sending one last glare at Firestar, his amber eyes narrowed.

"This isn't over, kittypet," he hissed before turning and quickly guiding his Clan out into the forest, until they were gone. I let loose a grin at the sight of their leaving before turning around, scanning the camp for Ross and Mourn. I found them nearby, but Firestar's call interrupted me.

"Cats of ThunderClan!" he shouted. He was bleeding in a few places, but he kept his dignity. "We fought well. All of those who are badly hurt, see Leafpool; everyone who needs it, get some rest. Then, I will set up hunting and border patrols as usual."

A few cats immediately dragged themselves to their dens, while a few others went to see the medicine cat. Some of the warriors-- Thornclaw, Brambleclaw, and Brackenfur, I believe their names were-- went back out into the territory to make sure that ShadowClan was truly gone. I was starting to make my way over to where Mourn and Ross were sitting, but from the corner of my eye, I saw a dark gray figure approaching me. I blinked my amber eyes and turned to see Rainwhisker briskly walk over to me.

I dipped my head, trying to be polite. "Rainwhisker, right?" I meowed, forcing a small smile. The tom halted when he reached me and gave a small nod.

"Dusk," he murmured, looking directly at me. "Right?"

I fought the urge to narrow my eyes; what was he up to? But I nodded and went along with it. "You fought well," I commented, grinning slightly.

"So," Rainwhisker said, taking a step closer. His blue eyes narrowed a bit. "I thought you were a loner. How did you learn to fight so well?" For a brief moment, I froze. He was already suspicious of me.

"My mother taught Sampson and I some fighting when we were young," I lied nonchalantly. "So we could fend for ourselves when we got older. She ended up dying from a sickness soon after, so I guess it's a good thing that we learned what we did when we did."

"Right," the gray tom muttered darkly. "It's convenient that you knew how to fight so you could leap right into a battle against cats you don't know, isn't it?" I opened my mouth, but no words came out. He caught me off-guard.

"I felt that I needed to help," I explained quickly, trying to act casual and calm. "This Clan helped me, Ray and Sampson and gave us a place to stay. I..." But the gray warrior had already turned and begun to stalk away, leaving me to stand alone and stare wordlessly after him.

Ooh, Rainwhisker. So untrusting. xD I know he died in the actually series, but I totally forget how. xD I remember it was really lame though, like he just got randomly hit by a tree or something like that. Oh, well~

Reviewers get angry Rainwhisker plushies! (goes great with your angry Birchpaw plushies!) xD I heart CC. :3

Till next time!

Pearly~