AN: Yep, another update, I'm on a roll! I'm thinking of writing two chapters today since I have nothing better to do. Not too sure at the moment. Thanks again to everyone for your wonderful reviews, they make me smile :D Oh, and you can thank Enya for this update. Her music is very soothing to listen to...

Chapter Nine

*Silverpaw*

She was woken up by the sharp prodding of a paw.

Her eyes snapped open when Silverpaw realized she was sleeping alone. No walls surrounded her or concealed her from the ever curious Twolegs. There were no foxes around, but Silverpaw could tell that they wouldn't come so close to a Twoleg infested area.

The young cat's pelt began to bristle with unease until she realized it was Pounce who had woken her. His own eyes were wide and curious as he watched her. For a moment Silverpaw thought of batting him away. All she wanted to do was sleep, but she knew that it would only cause tension between them.

Pounce gave an excited squeal when she rose from her nest. Silverpaw blinked in surprise when she saw that Sky was already awake. The tortoiseshell was grooming her fur as though nothing had happened during the night.

"Good morning," Sky purred when she noticed Silverpaw was awake. "Pounce couldn't wait, I'm sorry if he disturbed you," she added with a dip of her head.

"He didn't wake me," Silverpaw lied. She didn't want to sound rude in front of these cats, who were kind enough to offer her a place to sleep.

"Well, then maybe we can start the day hunting." Sky looked down at her son who looked like he was ready to burst with excitement. "There's plenty of food around here that the Twolegs leave us."

Silverpaw's nose wrinkled in disgust at the thought of eating Twoleg food. From what her old Clanmates had told her Twoleg food was nothing but muck. She knew that no good would come from eating such flavorless food.

"Don't you hunt prey?" she asked with a tilt of her head.

"During greenleaf," Sky replied. "But when it gets colder and the prey becomes scarce we switch to Twoleg food. It's been an unusually long leafbare, and I doubt the prey's come back yet." Her whiskers twitched at the mention of leafbare, as if something had happened during the coldest season.

"Hm... I bet I could track some prey for you," Silverpaw mewed after looking at Pounce's interested expression.

Sky looked at her as though she had grown wings. "Well, you are older than Pounce, and I'm sure you've had to survive on your own if you're still living," she murmured.

Pride swelled within Silverpaw's chest before it deflated. She nodded to Sky before slinking off to search for any prey that might be around. She wasn't used to hunting in such thick undergrowth, and she preferred hunting during the night.

But I'm a ThunderClan cat, she reminded herself tartly. Maybe I have their hunting abilities.

Her claws unsheathed as she picked up the scent of a mouse hiding in the strands of grass that stretched on before her. There were no Twolegs in sight at the moment. As long as she kept low to the ground she might be able to catch the mouse off guard.

The pale gray cat kept still as she could until she reached where the mouse was hiding. Her breathing had slowed down even though she didn't know what help it would offer.

With one leap she soared through the air, ignoring the pain that stabbed in her shoulders. The mouse hardly had a chance to escape before her claws struck it down. With a squeal it fell and died under her claws. Silently she gave thanks to StarClan for the life she had taken before she returned to where Sky and Pounce were waiting. Both cats looked shocked when she dropped the mouse at her paws. Even Sky dared not say anything when she met their gazes.

"It's my way of... thanking you for taking care of me," she admitted with a dip of her head.

"Y-you don't have to share," Sky murmured. She sounded embarrassed when Pounce leaped at the chance of having his first mouse.

"Please?" he begged. "I've never had one before!"

Finally the mother gave up and nodded. Pounce's eyes widened before he bounded forward and grabbed the mouse. Amusement washed over Silverpaw as she watched him. He chewed the fresh-kill slowly until he realized just how good it was.

"Thank you, Silver," Sky meowed when he was finished. "You didn't have to do that."

"Of course I did," Silverpaw replied. "It would seem rude if I didn't. Besides, I owe you for lending me a place to stay."

The tortoiseshell looked even more embarrassed than ever with Silverpaw's praise. She dipped her head before she nuzzled her son affectionately.

"Maybe now we can play a game!" Pounce squealed after he shoved his mother's nose away.

"What sort of games do you play?" Silverpaw ignored the grumbling in her own stomach - eating could wait for as long as she cared.

"Hide and seek, and tossing pebbles or moss around," he replied after Sky laid down beside a flat boulder. "Mama never wants to play with me because she's too busy watching for Nofurs," he added when she looked at him calmly. "Can you play with me?"

"Alright, show me how these games work," she mewed.

As if her words had been a cue he suddenly tossed a pebble in her direction. Silverpaw gasped in surprise before she realized that this was one of his games. Toss a pebble to one cat and see if they can catch it. Who ever would catch the most won the game if it ever ended. A smirk fell upon Silverpaw's face before she swatted the pebble back, flinging it towards Pounce. True to his name he managed to catch it with his paw before sending it back at her.

His game reminded Silverpaw of the times she and Hailpaw would play. Normally they would use moss or a piece of fresh-kill. Who ever caught the fresh-kill would have to eat it because it was usually covered in mud or snow. Of course at the time they didn't know that they needed to respect the prey that was given to them.

She forced back a gasp of pain when her wound suddenly stretched as she reached for the pebble. Pounce didn't seem to notice her pain, luckily. It was Sky who had noticed it, and she stopped the game as soon as she caught the scent of blood.

"This will never heal if you keep these games up," she muttered when she checked the wound.

Within heartbeats Sky had yet another poultice of herbs around Silverpaw's shoulder. The young cat winced when it stung, but it was a good kind of sting. She knew that Sky was right, but she couldn't resist acting like a kit when she had never been treated one back in ShadowClan.

"I know this is sort of sudden and strange to ask, but you never told us who your mother is," Sky added once she was finished. Silverpaw flinched at the mention of mother, and was instantly reminded of her mother Snowflower, who had died the night she was born. "It may sound strange but... there is troubling news going around those Clan cats that there is a murderer on the loose. I know it doesn't involve you, but it's better to be safe than sorry."

"My mother... she died giving birth to me," Silverpaw admitted. Her teeth ground together when Sky's eyes widened in horror. "Another she-cat took me in when her kits came and she raised me until I was old enough to take care of myself. She kicked me out after that."

"I'm sorry," Sky murmured. Her voice was filled with sympathy as she looked down at the young cat. "Times are hard, especially with how long leafbare had lasted. Even the Clans are suffering because of it." Now she sounded flat as she spoke of the Clans.

"What exactly did the Clan cats do to you?" Silverpaw was curious as to what had happened to Sky to make her so bitter towards the Clans. She knew she was pushing it by asking, but it wasn't like she would get any information out of the question.

A flicker of emotions gleamed within Sky's eyes before she looked away. For a moment Silverpaw was afraid she would strike out. Instead Sky took in a deep breath before answering, "That is an answer better left when Pounce is not with us."

*Pebblestar*

Pebblestar stood alone for what felt like moons.

Shadows flickered at the edge of her vision while she watched her Clan carefully. A day had passed since Silverpaw's disappearance, and already the tension seemed to have left the Clan. Pinefur was still bitter towards Rustfeather for 'letting' Hailpaw die. Gorsepelt was always busy organizing patrols like the loyal deputy he was.

Life dragged on as newleaf arrived upon the lake.

Yet it seemed as though something was changing within the air. Pebblestar had noticed it when Silverpaw disappeared. It felt as though the Clans were beginning to turn on one another. Her claws unsheathed as she imagined battles breaking out over something as little as checking the border.

"Pebblestar, can I speak with you?" The mottled tabby flinched when she heard Rustfeather call her over. She glared at her medicine cat before she nodded and padded over.

"Everything alright?" she grumbled.

"I... I had a dream with StarClan," Rustfeather admitted. Her voice was shaky as if she had returned from a sprint through the forest. Pebblestar eyed her calmly before nodding for her to continue. "I was wandering through ShadowClan's territory... I began to see these images form around me, but they didn't seem aware of my presence. Then at the last heartbeat... I saw... Snowflower." Rustfeather's eyes widened in horror when she mentioned Snowflower's name.

"Snowflower told us to raise her kit in ShadowClan," Pebblestar muttered accusingly. "Does she believe she was wrong in making this choice? Silverpaw made her own decision by abandoning her responsibilities."

"Don't you think I know that?" Rustfeather sounded angrier than Pebblestar had ever heard her before. It reminded Pebblestar of the time she was forced to give up something that she held close to her heart. Pebblestar wasn't about to think of it when Rustfeather was acting so strangely to begin with. "Snowflower wanted to tell me something. But instead she showed me. The pine trees in ShadowClan were being torn apart by lightning. Storms were breaking out all over... the forest itself was ripped apart by them." A shudder coursed through Rustfeather before she looked down at her paws. "I... she made it kind of obvious," she whispered.

Pebblestar swallowed and looked down at her paws. She knew what the storms in Rustfeather's dreams meant. Snowflower had made it obvious by pointing out Runningstorm's destructive behavior. But ripping apart the pine trees made no sense.

"What should we do?" she asked in a low voice. There was no need to scare the rest of the Clan. Rustfeather looked like she was ready to run at any moment.

"Keep it a secret for now," the dark ginger she-cat rasped. "I'm not sure how long we have before he strikes."

Anger rushed through Pebblestar when Rustfeather left her. Runningstorm was the reason behind this whole mess. Stonestar was oblivious to the ambition his brother had. Her claws sheathed and unsheathed before she forced herself to calm down.

StarClan does these things for a reason, she told herself. Maybe this is their way of warning us of the trouble that will follow.

AN: I did sort of make Rustfeather's dream obvious, but maybe it's so obvious that people won't even notice XP But yeah, this chapter was fun to write mostly because you get to learn a bit about Sky and Pounce. And find out what has been happening with Pebblestar and Rustfeather :P