Author's Notes: Nope! You still don't get an antecedent, even though you undoubtedly know who this is by now! Also, I got really sick about halfway through this story, so from there my writing quality may not be what it usually is. Oh well, hope you enjoy it anyway!

Another thing. Because I felt bad that I kept you guys waiting for all this time, this chapter is an extra-special long one! =D So anyway, please read, review, and YOU'D BETTER ENJOY THIS!! -cough-

Disclaimer: Me: Thaed, why don't you do the disclaimer today?

Thaed: Awww, do I have to?

Me: Yes! I'm getting bored!

Thaed: Fine. Player4 does not own The Legend of Zelda or Warriors, and is merely doing this for fun. She does, however, own me, Tara, and everything else having to do with Silver Tassels. So don't touch! There, happy? On with the story!

--~-~-~--

Chapter 9: Fighting and Lies

The sky was a dismal gray the morning after the storm, not assisting much to lighten the moods of the cats clustered together on the windy moor. Slowly, the mob of pelts crept back into the forest. Link looked around and the charred trees and decrepit brambles with a sense of dread; even if the forest wasn't his home, it gave him pangs of sadness for the devastated warriors. Plus, whether he knew it or not, he had grown rather comfortable in the thick ThunderClan forest.

"It looks so empty," a voice spoke beside him. Hollyleaf's eyes were cast on the blackened vegetation surrounding the group.

"It's almost frightening," Link admitted. The withered and dead branches of the trees reached out like desperate fingers, begging silently for a life that he couldn't grant them. A charred thorn branch snagged his pelt; it all but disintegrated with a jerk of his muscles. The woods were pleading...but there was nothing he could do for the grieving forest.

"Prey won't be running well for a moon," the frustrated voice of Lionblaze spoke up from the other side of Hollyleaf.

"There are hard times ahead for the Clan," Hollyleaf responded with a grave nod. Her eyes briefly flickered to Link, a movement he didn't miss, however brief. It was obvious to him that her words held a deeper meaning, but they remained an enigma.

"We're here," Link mewed, though it was almost a deadpan. The three young cats followed the other warriors as they slipped through the entrance, which Link realized had almost been burnt away. He felt small claws like little pinpricks down his spine.

Don't let the camp be totally destroyed, he asked silently. Merciful Din, don't take their home...

As he emerged into the camp, it seemed that his prayers had been answered. Though the warrior's den was in a sore state, the nursery looked to be almost pristine, as far as a cat-made nest of brambles could go. The elder's den, which was towards the back of the camp, appeared in similar condition. Unfortunately, the fresh-kill pile had taken plenty of damage, and the sight of the charred and unrecognizable bodies of the small woodland creatures made Link want to gag.

Still, he couldn't complain very much. The damages to the warriors' home were repairable, and none terribly significant. An infinitesimal smile of satisfaction played across his mouth for a moment.

The Clan had taken a harsh blow, but they would move on, live on.

--~-~--

She wasn't entirely sure how the events had played out, but somehow, she had been accepted into the little "clan" of cats or whatever. Perhaps it had been in the way she threatened the so-called leader to relinquish any information he had, or the deathly gleam in her amber eyes that proved she would get what she desired no matter the challenge or cost. Somehow, the leader had been amused, or impressed, or a mix of both...she stopped and shook her head.

Don't ramble and let your thoughts get off track like that, or you'll never get what you want! How do you expect to find him if you can't even keep your thoughts straight?

"Alright, rouge," the voice of the leader, Black Star or something, rumbled. She looked up from her instinctive washing (why was she even doing that?) to see the powerful cat approach her. "Let's see how well you can fight. We're leading an attack on ThunderClan today, and you're coming along with the patrol. If you can fight as well as you say," he added with a smirk in his voice, "this should be interesting."

"Interesting." What, am I some sort of entertainment for him? She rolled her eyes as he walked away, and dragged a paw over her ear.

It was finally sunhigh, or whatever these cats called "noon", and the patrol was getting ready to leave. She nonchalantly strolled to join them, paws tingling with the prospect of a fight. Maybe she could work off some steam.

"We'll keep to the undergrowth and catch them by surprise," the cat Russetfur spoke. She was supposed to be like a successor to the leader, even though the two weren't related. "Stick to the shadows, and wait for a patrol."

Stick to the shadows, huh? She almost laughed, but it lacked humor. Then I'll be the expert.

"You, rogue." Though she wasn't fond of the way she was addressed, she looked up. If she had possessed eyebrows, one of them would have been raised skeptically. "You probably know nothing of honor or the warrior code, so I'll just tell you. Don't attack a single cat, even if you see one. Wait for my command. We are a group, so we fight a group."

"Sure," she replied with a casual flick of her tail, while somehow still managing to seem condescending.

A vague image jumped on the edges of her memory as the patrol approached the ThunderClan border, one of a clearing and a golden-colored cat. She realized now that if he was on ThunderClan territory, then he might be a ThunderClan cat. And since they were attacking ThunderClan, he might be there... She did not like that cat. Ever since she had made contact with its hauntingly blue eyes, those that dared to look so much like his...

A rather twisted smile crept onto her new face at the prospect of flaying that shiny, mottled fur.

The scenery changed slightly, and the tree-scent of ThunderClan replaced the rank smell of ShadowClan. The scents joined on one line, where they were the strongest. The border. With a nod from Russetfur, the cats slunk into hiding places in the tall grasses, bushes, and few in the low branches of trees. The only thing to do now was wait for a group of ThunderClan cats.

She watched a mouse scurry out of a clump of ferns on the other side of the border. Soon after, a brown paw extended from the ferns, stepping delicately on the ground so as not to alert the possible prey. Brown, so it wasn't That Cat...or was it? Come to think of it, she couldn't remember what the tom's paws looked like. The next paw slid out, but the cat itself didn't quite emerge yet. Suddenly, the bushes burst open, and a furry blur landed square on the mouse. It hardly had time to squeak an alarm before the predator bit its neck. The golden-furred tom stood up, mouse dangling from his jaws. Golden fur. That Cat.

As That Cat turned around to head back into the trees, he paused. He set the mouse at his paws and opened his mouth, as if he were trying to sniff the air. Could he smell the patrol? That wasn't possible! They were right on their own border, concealed by the ShadowClan scentmark! That Cat wandered around in a loose circle, eventually drawing rather close to the hiding place of the attacking patrol. Abruptly, his blue eyes widened. He mewed something under his breath, something that she didn't catch.

Slowly, he stepped right up to the border. Several cats drew in their breaths, disbelieving looks on their faces. How could he have known of their presence? What scent gave them away?

Ugh, that stupid cat! If he sounds an alarm, we'll lose our element of surprise!

He looked at the border, back towards the woods, back to the border again, woods again, and eventually he took a hesitant pawstep forward. He backed up though, shook his head, and turned away. He picked up the mouse once more in his jaws, and started again for the trees.

"Was that it?" one of the ShadowClan cats hissed to Russetfur. "Just a hunting patrol? Where is their border patrol?"

"Have we missed it?" a few other cats murmured quietly.

At that moment, a dark tabby head emerged from the bracken. He held his head high, and based on his stature, it could be assumed that he might be the deputy.

"There's the border patrol!" one cat hissed. "Finally!"

That Cat nodded to the tabby, who nodded in return, and fell in with the group behind him. The line of cats began to mark their border.

"On my signal," Russetfur meowed. "Now!"

The ShadowClan attackers sprang from their hiding places, leaping onto the ThunderClan patrol. Yowls of surprise and rage broke out as the strip of land erupted into a flurry of lashing claws and writhing bodies. She pounced on a young, black-furred she-cat, pinning her down under her own greater weight. The she-cat yowled defiance, her green eyes blazing with fury. The more she struggled and took blows, however, the more frantic she became.

"Ack! Get...off!" Her only reply was slashes down her side from the claws of her ShadowClan enemy.

Suddenly, the attacker found her breath knocked out as another cat barreled into her side. In a blur of motion, her head hit the ground, and sturdy paws were pressed on her chest and flanks. She blinked to fight the dizziness, and found that she was staring straight up at That Cat. His feral eyes were narrowed in anger, but they quickly widened in utter shock. His mouth fell open, and his grip on her shoulders slackened.

What an idiot!

With all of her strength, she pounded her paw into the side of his head, scoring deep lines on his face and knocking him sideways. She jumped to her feet before he was even completely off of her, effectively making him stumble to the ground. Her blow seemed to smack sense back into him, and a string of different emotions whirled in his eyes. Finally, they landed on...betrayal? No, it couldn't be. It must be something else. He didn't have long to feel whatever emotion was going on inside him though, because she quickly jumped to the attack once more.

"M--!" he started.

"Shut UP!" She cut him off with a hard slash to his shoulder.

She wasn't holding back now. All her frustration, anger, and worry from the past few weeks now channeled out through her claws in a blaze of attack after attack. It took her a while to realize that That Cat wasn't fighting back, and that his claws were sheathed. His legs and spine quivered, but he held her gaze unwaveringly.

"What are you doing?" she demanded. "Fight me!"

Without waiting for a reply, she ripped her claws down his side. Blood welled from gashes all over him, soaking through his golden fur and matting it together in clumps.

All of a sudden, the howling of wolves ripped through the air. Their angry cries overpowered the yowls and stifled battle. Cats stood frozen in the middle of slashing or biting their enemies. Fur rose and ears pricked, as the sounds of the wolves got louder. Normally, she would like wolves...a wolf, but these wolves did not seem happy. At all.

"Liar!" the wolves shrieked to the heavens. "The cat is a liar!" A fearful recognition flashed in the eyes of the tortoiseshell before her, a look of pure panic. The sound of heavy paws thudding on the ground rumbled and shook like thunder.

"Retreat, ThunderClan!" a voice commanded.

"ShadowClan, fall back!"

At that moment, a pack of wolves burst into the clearing. Their eyes burned with rage, and their paws pounded the ground as if they were intent on leveling it. They ran with purpose, straight for...That Cat. What would they want with him?

"You lied, cat!" snarled a huge she-wolf running at the head of the pack. "You were warned!"

The wolves divided, skirting the edges of the clearing and preventing both Clans from fleeing the area. The cats backed away in terror, clumping together in the center.

"What do they want?" frantic mews sounded.

"Why have they come?"

"They're back!"

"But he led them off!"

The she-wolf at the front jumped through the air, her paws landing with a tremor directly in front of That Cat. He staggered, falling to his side with a thud. He struggled to get up again, but the wolf's huge paw prevented the action. She bent low, so that her long maw was right next to his mortified face.

"We warned you," she said in a low, threatening growl. "We told you what we would do if you misled us, and yet you defied us anyway. I look forward to decorating my den with your pelt!"

Wow, she thought. Harsh.

"But we're not going to slaughter just you," a new, male voice sounded. Another wolf of equal size to the she-wolf stepped up from behind. "First, we'll shred the pelts of every member of your cat pack, while you watch!"

"No..." That Cat whispered...in wolf?! How could he speak wolf?! "Leave...leave them out of it!"

"We might just let them live," began the she-wolf. "If, that is, you tell us where we can find the Hero of Twilight!"

She stiffened in shock. Hero...of...Twilight?! Link! Those wolves were looking for Link!

"He..." His breathing was labored, and she realized that most of that was probably due to the injuries she had inflicted on him.

"Don't you dare tell them where he is!" she suddenly snapped in the language of cats. "Or so help me, I'll rip your throat open!" He looked sideways at her in surprise, then looked back at the wolves.

"Past...RiverClan," he murmured. "There are...mountains. He's hiding...there."

"You had best not be lying this time, cat! Filthy, worthless piece of dirt!" The she-wolf batted him away as if he were a mere leaf, called her wolves together with a single bark, and the whole group headed off through the pine trees. There was a frigid stillness in the cats until the last tail vanished from sight.

"They're headed towards ShadowClan!" Russetfur yowled in rage. "What did you say?!"

"They won't...attack...you. Mountains..." The past events apparently were too much for That Cat. He shivered, closed his eyes, and didn't move after that.

"He needs to see Leafpool, right away," meowed the dark tabby from before. "Lionblaze, Thornclaw, help carry him back to camp."

The two cats who must have been Lionblaze and Thornclaw picked up the weight of That Cat and supported him on their backs. They traveled as swiftly as possible, disappearing in the bracken. The ThunderClan deputy locked a cold gaze with Russetfur before he too departed, the rest of his patrol following close behind.

He told them, she thought as she curled up in the sun back at the ShadowClan camp. He told them where to find Link...I'll never forgive him. Ever! Yet, a tiny portion of her wanted to believe that he lied, that Link really wasn't in the mountains after all. Then, a thought occurred to her. How could he even know who the Hero of Twilight is? She didn't have the answer to that. But he must have known...the wolves wouldn't have tracked him down if he didn't.

She tried to find a comfortable position to lie in, but remained unable.

---~-~---

"Welcome back," Link heard a male voice slur. Well, maybe it wasn't the voice that made the words blurry so much as his head. It hurt. A lot.

"Uhnnn...wha' happ'n'?" Upon hearing his own bleary words, he instinctively shook his head to clear it, and found that was a grave mistake. The world spun in a mix of gray and brown, and his ears rang in protest. He blinked his eyes slowly, trying to make his head settle and figure out where he was. He recognized the familiar surroundings of the medicine den, and the figures of Leafpool, Jayfeather, Hollyleaf, and Lionblaze. Wait, why were Hollyleaf and Lionblaze in here?

"The wolves came back," Hollyleaf mewed quietly. "Don't you remember?"

Link was suddenly extremely alert. He quickly tried to get up, but his muscles roared defiance and prevented him from doing so. Wearily, he sank back into the nest.

"Don't move around so much!" Leafpool meowed. "You'll shake off the cobwebs and poultices!"

He looked back at himself for the first time, surprised that his torso was now plastered with multiple cobwebs and sticky substances. Most of them were tinged with a ruddy color, and he realized that they must be holding back his own blood.

"Honestly," Leafpool mewed with an exasperated smile, "I should make you your own personal nest in here!" Link merely sighed a breath that hardly constituted for a laugh.

Midna...

She was there. She was in the fight...she hurt him. She despised him, and yet she didn't know who he was. If only she knew he was really Link, then...what then? That didn't change much.

But it did. At least he'd have the support of his only companion, his friend. But then...what about the three siblings? Hollyleaf, Lionblaze, and Jayfeather? They were sort of his friends too, now.

Then there was the looming threat of the wolves. He doubted that they would stay away this time...how much time had he bought himself by telling them to go to the mountains? He would have to be out of here by then...or at least be Hylian. Or even wolf. Something.

I can't let these innocent cats get hurt because of me. I won't!

---~-~---

It took a while for Lionblaze and Hollyleaf to leave, and then for Leafpool to go collect more herbs for the other injured warriors. Jayfeather was organizing the herb storage, so the only other cat in the den was Link.

"So, um..." Jayfeather began, "what exactly did the wolves say to you? What do they want?" Link didn't reply for a moment.

"They...they're looking for a cat called the Hero of Twilight," he finally responded. "Before, I had told them to look past the ShadowClan territory."

"But?" Jayfeather asked.

"Well...they didn't find him. So they came back."

"And what did you say this time?"

"I told them to go past RiverClan and into the mountains. I figured it would take them long enough to get back that I would be gone by then."

...Gone? Does he...want to leave?

For some reason, the thought did not sit well with Jayfeather. Then another thought struck him.

"The Tribe!" he exclaimed.

"Tribe?" Link asked.

"They're a group of cats, much like a Clan, that live in the mountains," replied Jayfeather.

"And I told the pack...argh!" Jayfeather heard the tom pound his paw into the ground. "All I'm doing is putting more cats in danger! They shouldn't be a part of this..." He spoke through gritted teeth, and his voice trailed off.

"Link," Jayfeather started, "do you know who and where this Hero of Twilight really is?"

"...No." Jayfeather couldn't be sure if he was telling the truth, but when he tried to probe the tom's mind, all he got was a raging cloud of hurt, anger, betrayal, despair, and doubt. The emotions were so strong that the medicine cat was forced out, and he remained dizzy for a moment after severing the connection between their minds.

I'll walk in his dreams tonight, Jayfeather thought to himself. Even if I don't want to.

It must have been close to moonhigh, but the loner still hadn't fallen asleep. He simply sat in his nest, waves of negative feelings drifting off of his pelt like a tide. Finally, after long last, he sank into slumber. Jayfeather made sure that Link's breathing was long and even before he began to probe his mind. Once more, he pictured himself walking out of his own mind to lie next to the tortoiseshell. It didn't take long to drift into the tom's troubled mind.

Jayfeather opened his eyes to sight. A light, azure sky was above him, and lush green grass was below him. Cool winds made little ripples across the grass, and a strange golden bug was crawling to the top of a broad-leafed plant. Was this Hyrule? It was pretty. He couldn't see Link anywhere though, so he decided to go search for him.

As Jayfeather walked, he realized that he could see for hundreds of fox-lengths. The grasslands stretched into the distance, vanishing from sight before their borders were apparent. What a giant field! It would take moons to travel from one end to the other, Jayfeather decided. Then...would he be able to find Link before he woke up?

A constant thrumming sounded behind Jayfeather, alerting him to a huge, reddish-brown animal that was galloping through the grasses. It had a long snout and paws made of stone, and its legs were tough and muscular. A horse, or so he thought. He had never seen one, of course, but he had heard descriptions of them. They carried Twolegs on their backs, allowing the strange creatures to travel farther and faster. Horses must be so mousebrained.

The pounding of the stone paws slowed as the horse approached Jayfeather, and he could finally get a good look at the Twoleg that was riding it. The Twoleg seemed young enough, not that Jayfeather was a good judge of Twoleg ages. He didn't appear fully grown, but he wasn't a kit, either. The fur atop his head was a light, golden color, and his eyes were a deep blue. His ears were long and pointed, a characteristic Jayfeather had never seen on a Twoleg. He had a smooth-looking brown material on his front and hind paws, which seemed slightly familiar in a strange way. The pelt he wore was a forest green, and another pelt of the same color covered the top of his head.

"Look, Epona," the Twoleg spoke in a strange barking noise as he pat the neck of the horse, "it's a cat! What's it doing all the way out here?"

I...can understand Twolegs?! How can I understand Twolegs?! Well...I...I guess...it is a dream, after all. That's it, right...

The Twoleg, to Jayfeather's horror, climbed off the horse's back and approached him. His fur rose up in fear, making him look almost double his actual size.

"Don't be scared," the Twoleg soothed. "Do you miss your owner? How did you wind up in the field?" He kept a distance of a few tail-lengths, but he was still closer than Jayfeather would have liked.

"We can take you back to your home," a new, shrill voice sounded. Jayfeather almost jumped when he realized that it was the horse who spoke. Her head was turned to him, and her eyes were soft and compassionate.

"Wait a minute," the Twoleg began, the lines of fur on his face arched in what Jayfeather guessed was confusion. The Twoleg was right next to him now, and he crouched low. Jayfeather wanted to run away right there, but his disloyal paws wouldn't let him move. "Are you...Jayfeather?! Is that you?"

Jayfeather froze.

He...he knows me! He knows who I am! The Twoleg knows me! Why would some random Twoleg from Link's dream know me?! Where is Link anyway?!

"I-I'm looking for Link!" Jayfeather stuttered.

"Oh," the horse whinnied with a nod. "That's--"

Her words were cut off as a flaming, pointed stick whisked right by the Twoleg's head. He jumped to his feet, already holding a sharp-looking, gleaming silver object in his left paw and a flat, blue-and-silver object in his right paw.

"Watch out, Jayfeather!" he cautioned. "Behind me!"

It was then that Jayfeather saw the threat come over the hills. Several green creatures that resembled small Twolegs charged towards them, their bright crimson eyes glinting with a lust for battle. They wore brown pelts, and they held strange, curved objects. They raised these objects now, setting more flaming sticks against thin, cobweb-like things attached to the curved objects. They released the sticks, which somehow flew in great arcs towards Jayfeather, the horse, and the Twoleg. The Twoleg raised the flat, blue object, and the few sticks that made it to them were deflected off of it.

It was then that the Twoleg ran at the green creatures. He met them with his long, shiny, silver thing, even though he was outnumbered seven to one.

"What are you doing?!" Jayfeather demanded, even though it seemed that the Twoleg could not understand him. "That mousebrain will get himself killed," Jayfeather grumbled under his breath.

"Don't doubt him," the horse neighed, almost defensively. "He's gone against countless foes and impossible odds, and he always comes out on top anyway."

Jayfeather looked back at the seemingly pointless battle, to find to his surprise that there were only a few of the creatures left standing. The Twoleg brought his sharp object around him in a great circle, slicing through the torsos of the three remaining enemies. They fell to the ground and exploded, and the Twoleg replaced his strange objects at his back.

"See?" the horse asked, a smug note in her voice.

Suddenly, a dark, malignant laughter sounded in the air. It shook the sky, resonating all around and making it impossible to tell where it originated.

"Well done, Hero," the voice boomed, sarcasm dripping from its tone. "But how long can you continue to spit out lies? The truth will come forth soon!"

The light sky abruptly pitched into a hazy orange, the land shaping from pleasant field to wicked nightmare. Jayfeather felt as if his soul was being ripped out of his body, and he locked his limbs to his torso as if to contain it. The horse reared in alarm and vanished, leaving only a glowing sphere behind. If Jayfeather reached out with his senses enough, he found he could see the outline of the large animal. Meanwhile, the Twoleg was convulsing as if in pain, crying out from whatever was afflicting him. He fell to his knees, then to his front paws, and with a final scream, his body turned completely black.

Both Jayfeather and Link awoke with freezing chills in their hearts.

Post-Notes: Sooo, watcha think? =D Please review, and I'll see you in chapter 10!

--Hopefully going to update sooner,

Player4