A/N: Actually nothing much to say for once…wow.

Disclaimer: If I was really one of them, why am I rabidly waiting for Dark River to come out right now?

Chapter 9

"You're all positive it was him?"

"Yes," Mousepatch said, nodding to Firestar.

"He's my brother," Oakbranch said. "Creamflower was too excited too notice, but I did. I was the one was always with him, too."

"It couldn't have been anyone else," Specklewing muttered. "He's still arrogant, still thinks he's the best, still thinks he deserves the best."

Firestar looked at Specklewing, a calm, penetrating look, who instantly averted her eyes. Firestar's looks were never angry, but the ThunderClan cats could always tell when they had said something wrong.

"And – and he always was ambitious, so eager to fight," Oakbranch stammered out as if he shouldn't have said so. "But it's still so odd…he isn't even Ferretpaw anymore…he's…what was it?"

"Scorn," Mousepatch whispered. Then even quieter, he said, "Because he's in scorn of what he left…you, his family…" Suddenly the warrior stopped, looking at the ground, giving in to the mournful silence.

The four cats in Firestar's den said nothing for a few moments, submitting to the uneasy quietness.

Finally, Mousepatch rasped, "…me." He sighed, one so sad and heavy it caused the other three cats to sigh, too.

Awkwardly, Oakbranch asked, "So what are we going to do, Firestar?"

Firestar grimaced, and the silence came back again in full force. Oakbranch stared at his leader, eyes wide with question, Specklewing and Mousepatch's waiting faces backing him up.

The answer then came, so quiet it was a wonder it managed to reach the three cats' ears.

"I don't know."

Oakbranch blinked, then his mouth tightened, trying not to let a word escape. He succeeded for a few seconds, but finally gave up, as a yowl of surprise flew from his mouth.

"What?! You don't know?! HOW? You rescued the clans from BloodClan, exposed Tigerstar, helped RiverClan and WindClan, and saved SkyClan, but you can't rescue a cat – my brother! – from BloodClan? MY BROTHER!!! My own brother, Firestar! I…I…" Oakbranch's protests disappeared, forming into chokes, and he let out a huge sob, and started to cry.

Specklewing looked at Firestar and Mousepatch, who were rather uncomfortable with the situation. Seeing that no one was going to comfort him, she slowly moved toward Oakbranch, and started to stroke him with her tail haltingly, feeling embarrassed.

When Oakbranch's sobs were reduced to the occasional sniffle, Firestar spoke again.

"I'm sorry I can't do anything," he said, voice even, as if the crying before had never happened, "but this was Ferretpaw's –."

A voice that seemed to have a sigh permanently trapped in it interrupted. "Not Ferretpaw, Scorn," Mousepatch said, whiskers drooped.

"-Yes, Scorn's choice. He – he wanted to join BloodClan, apparently, from the looks of when he was announced at the gathering, and we can't do anything about it."

"It's – it's not fair," Oakbranch said, voice choked. He squinted, and it was obvious he was trying to hide the fact that his eyes were watery.

Firestar dutifully ignored it. "Yes," he responded, voice heavy with sadness, "It's not fair."

------

A faint sliver of a moon dimly lit the sky, just barely letting the forest able to be viewed. Silverpelt was dim, as if telling him not to do it, that this was something he couldn't hope to succeed in. There were no small breezes flowing to cool the unusually warm night, and the sweat on his fur was free to rest, the damp of it making him uncomfortable and fidgety, adding to his nerves.

I've got to do this, Oakbranch thought. It'll only take a little persuasion for Sc – no, Ferretpaw,to become ThunderClan again. Then everything will be fine, and Ferretpaw will be back, and a warrior!

Oakbranch looked up at Silverpelt, as if waiting for verification. A "Yes, what you're doing is right." But the forest stayed silent, like StarClan was disapproving.

"What I'm doing is good, right?" the warrior gazed up at the night sky, at Silverpelt, at the small sliver of a moon.

Cold silence.

Maybe they're testing me, Oakbranch thought, attempting to convince himself. StarClan wants to see if I can do this without their help, their reassurance.

After all, he was pretty sure he knew where BloodClan was. He had asked Creamflower all about the night of that gathering when Ferretpaw disappeared, so long ago.

"Well, I do remember something…the smell. It was like a great big garlic plant had been dumped upon the forest, and the plant was taken away, leaving only the smell, except for that there were some places where it was really strong. And I think Ferretpaw-." Here Creamflower had swallowed at the thought of her lost brother, then continued. "-and I think Ferretpaw was going in the direction of the strongest smell of it, now that I think about it. But that's all I can recall…" then Creamflower had walked off to unsuccessfully flirt with Birchfall.

But days after the gathering, there was almost no scent of garlic at all, which Oakbranch had deduced to be something BloodClan were disguising themselves under. Just a faint memory, laughing at his attempts to track BloodClan down with it. But he was doing better than most cats would. Oakbranch had been considered one of the all-around best apprentices, with good fighting and hunting skills and a strong sense of smell.

Oakbranch had traveled up to the abandoned Twoleg nest, taking in a deep sniff, when he scented something.

It was very stale, so stale that it could have been a dream, and only the strongest smellers could scent it. It was going to be fully gone soon, and Oakbranch at first didn't know what it was. Then it all came rushing back to him like a long forgotten memory, and he knew what it was.

Ferretpaw's scent.

Oakbranch briefly let his mind settle back into his kithood days – back when Ferretpaw was just another ambitious little kit, and they would play and wrestle together, and they'd always be covered with each other's scent. Then the present came back and he was Oakbranch, warrior, standing by a Twoleg nest in the middle of a cat's stale scent in the middle of a night.

Standing there, the damp grass tickling his paws, Oakbranch realized what he was doing. This was the path that Ferretpaw had taken to join BloodClan. Oakbranch could picture it in his mind: a wiry, dark brown tom with a white chest striding purposefully, nose in the air sniffing for garlic, a confident smile on his face.

A dark brown tabby, who, after moons, became…became…

"Scorn," Oakbranch muttered. "Scorn of BloodClan."

The warrior stood there among Ferretpaw's scent from long ago, pondering, while a lone cricket chirped, the only sound beside the occasional rustle in the underbrush or the treetops, and the small creak of the old Twoleg nest. It could have almost been any other night, except for that tomorrow another cat would be back in ThunderClan.

It took Oakbranch a while to remember what he was there for. Images of Ferretpaw – with a warrior name – back in ThunderClan cavorted in his mind, along with the cat he currently was now, sleeping in Twolegplace with all the other BloodClanners. He shuddered at the thought of his brother there, and continued walking down the path Ferretpaw had made so many moons ago.

------

The dusky red sun, newly risen, bathed ThunderClan camp through the brambles and the other plants in a faint, warm light. With it one cat had risen, early enough to be up before the other cats and before the dawn patrol could be arranged. After a long, restless night, at dawn Specklewing felt she couldn't be able to stay in the warriors den lying still anymore without screaming, and set out to find another cat who was up.

Last night's meeting with Firestar was still on her mind, and she felt she had to talk about it, and Scorn, too.

Oakbranch, she thought.

She padded down the den, careful not to step on any of the sleeping bodies, looking for the brown tabby warrior, also sniffing the air for his scent.

Mousepatch's scent was there, her parents', Cloudtail and Brightheart and her older sister's, Whitewing, were too. She could smell every cat in there, from Squirrelflight to Birchfall, but couldn't scent Oakbranch. Just to make sure, she looked behind the plants, but there wasn't one cat there.

The she-cat groaned and sat down. Where had he gone? She replayed the previous night in her mind, up to her embarrassingly stroking him, until he had stopped crying. What had happened after that? Talking about Scorn's choice, Mousepatch's whiskers drooping…

A choked voice, eyes watery again… "It's not fair…"

StarClan. Oakbranch, the little mousebrain.

Specklewing tore out of the warriors den, accidentally stepping on a few cats on the way, who only had time to blink and glare at the cat running past them, them dropping back on the ground, eyes closing. She raced up to the place where the ThunderClan cats gathered for an announcement, and jumped onto the Highledge.

"Firestar!"

------

The change was gradual. The green grass started getting sparser and sparser, with a rough gray ground replacing it, until there was only one blade of grass poking up here and there. First there were small twoleg nests, like those Oakbranch had been told of had been by the ThunderClan territory in the old forest. They started getting bigger and sleeker, and shiny, the bright sun glinting off of them.

And StarClan, the noise! There were all kinds of noises, animal to Twolegs – screams, laughs, hisses, mews, barks, and buzzing. There were also noises coming from Twoleg monsters in the distance. Oakbranch shivered at the thought of so many.

This was where Ferretpaw was living.

Oakbranch shook his head in dismay. He couldn't believe that cat was really Ferretpaw, that it wasn't an impostor.

Suddenly he yawned. The warrior hadn't rested once while tracking down the garlic, and he had had no sleep. Trying not to walk too hard on the rough gray ground, Oakbranch wandered over to a nearby, shady corner, blinking groggily.

"But I shouldn't go to sleep," Oakbranch murmured to himself, eyes half closed. "I need to find Ferretpaw. I need to bring him baaaa…" He didn't have a chance to finish the last word of his sentence, as he collapsed rather painfully onto the ground, eyes closing in relief as he lay down.

The dozing ThunderClan warrior made a peaceful picture among the hustle and bustle of the Twolegplace, and he let out a soft snore.

That was what they had been waiting for. Among the shadows given by the Twoleg nests, between each one where the garbage was, several eyes blinked open, glowing orbs among the darkness. Six cats with teeth embedded collars padded out into the sunlight, crowding around the sleeping cat.

"It is ThunderClan, right?" one hissed.

"Mousebrain," another snarled back. "Can't you smell? Of course it is. C'mon, let's take him."

The other five cats slowly lifted the still sleeping Oakbranch on their backs. It was unfortunate that the tabby was such a heavy sleeper. The sixth cat, who was evidently the leader, watched them with a smile on his face, slitted eyes showing satisfaction.

Of course Oakbranch knew nothing about the common rules animals kept for safety in the city. He had just disobeyed the first one. And that one was: Never fall asleep in the open, because there's always an enemy waiting for it to happen.

BloodClan was usually that enemy.

------

"He what?"

Leaders couldn't always keep their calm mask on. Such was the case now.

Specklewing looked down at the ground, eyes narrowed. "Yes," she said, pawing at the ground with harsh, immediate blows. "He's gone to wherever BloodClan is to find Scorn and bring him back. I'm sure of it."

Quickly Firestar regained his mask after hearing what Specklewing said. "You're sure of it," he parroted her words. "Do you have any proof?"

"His own words," Specklewing said bitterly. "'It's not fair.' Refusing to call Scorn by his name, instead saying Ferretpaw. It's obvious. I bet if we went out of camp we could smell his trail. He was probably too anxious to have his brother back to cover up his scent."

"You do have a point," Firestar said.

"Well, then let's go and get Oakbranch now before he's attacked by BloodClan cats or something!"

Firestar tilted his head, a pensive look on his face. "Ordinarily I'd take maybe four or five warriors on something like this," he said. "I think BloodClan is far away, since we only smell their scent at the gatherings. But I can't let the rest of the clan know, so I guess you, me, and Mousepatch would have to do." A satisfied look crossed his face for a second, then he frowned. "Brambleclaw would want to know what's so important that I need to go away for," he muttered, waving his tail rather nervously on the ground, "and I can't say the Moonpool, because of you and Mousepatch…" he broke off and tilted his head again, looking up at the top of his den.

Specklewing paced Firestar's den, waiting for an answer.

Suddenly Firestar brightened. "You and Mousepatch will be on a long hunting trip, and I am going to the Moonpool without Leafpool. Brambleclaw will be too busy with the dawn patrol and other such business to ask why I'm going."

Specklewing smiled. Finally something was going to be done. She rushed out of Firestar's den and down the Highledge, racing past Brambleclaw so there wouldn't be a chance of her going on the dawn patrol, and going over to the freshkill pile, where, as she thought, lay Mousepatch, eating a piece of prey and chatting with his sister, Hazelheart.

She tugged the scruff of his neck.

Mousepatch turned around, annoyed as he swallowed the last of his prey. "I'm talking to someone, you kn-," he said, breaking off when he saw it was Specklewing.

"We're going on a long hunting trip. Now," she hissed in his ear.

"What? I'm not going on a hunting trip…" he replied, narrowing his eyes in confusion. Specklewing narrowed her eyes. They gave out a message like, "Yes, you are. Don't argue."

Mousepatch's observant eyes caught the meaning and said hastily, "Oh, yes, yes I am. I forgot." He turned back to Hazelheart, who looked annoyed. "I'm sorry, Hazelheart," he told her. "I forgot I was planning to go on a long hunting mission with Specklewing. I'll be back later."

Still a bit irritated, his sister nodded and he turned to Specklewing, whispering, "What are you doing?"

"Oakbranch," she said grimly. "He seems to think that if he takes Scorn, or rather Ferretpaw, as he insists to call him, back to ThunderClan, he won't like BloodClan anymore and everything will be all right."

Mousepatch, who was still rather tired, asked, "What does the pretext of a hunting trip have to do with it?"

Specklewing rolled her eyes. "We have to go and get him before he's mauled by BloodClanners."

Mousepatch winced at the image, then remembered that Specklewing always was rather morbid. "Is Firestar going with us?"

"He's going to the Moonpool. Like we're going on a long hunting trip."

"…wha – Oh…" Mousepatch nodded. "Well, then let's go."

The two ThunderClan warriors padded out of the camp and into the forest. Instantly, Mousepatch caught a whiff of Oakbranch's scent.

"Yes, we're lucky Oakbranch was in too much of a hurry to cover up his scent," A voice came from behind the trees a few mouse-lengths ahead. Firestar stepped out from behind the weathered trunks, and sniffed the air, the familiar tilt to his head which showed he was thinking. "I've heard that scent increases when one is very desperate," he said. "I can certainly sense the desperation in Oakbranch's scent, and there's a lot of it, too. It's amazing how much want can cloud one's mind."

Mousepatch and Specklewing both nodded slowly, wondering why Firestar was choosing to comment on it.

"Well," Specklewing said abruptly, "We should be going now. And cover up our scent, too," she added as an afterthought.

The three ThunderClan cats began their way to the giant Twoleg-nest, where Oakbranch was surely lost.

------

The group of BloodClan cats finally arrived at the entrance to Heat's den.

"Reason?" hissed one of the guards.

"We're back with the ThunderClan," the leader of the group growled, flicking one ear to motion toward the – amazingly – still sleeping brown tabby the other cats were carrying.

The other guard nodded and moved back, disappearing into the darkness. Seconds later he came back, saying, "You are wanted by Heat. Enter."

The BloodClan cats tried to gently heave the ThunderClan cat back on the ground, failing. For a second, one eye flitted open. "Huh?" the cat began. "Where am-." The leader quickly silenced him with a rough swat of the paw, seeming to knock him unconscious, or back to sleep, at least.

The cats pushed him down the tunnel and through the hanging plants, where Heat waited for them, eyes glimmering with interest.

"We are back from our mission, Heat," the group leader growled, dipping his head.

Heat's amber eyes glinted. "Good," she mewed. "For once you succeed." She looked pointedly at a particularly large scar of his running across his face, a punishment from failing a particularly important mission.

She padded toward the ThunderClan cat, sniffing him. "It is the one I wanted," she verified. "We will be expecting a few ThunderClan soon."

How did you know all of this, Heat?" one cat questioned, looking up at her in admiration.

"I have my ways," she responded discreetly. "It pays to keep a close watch on your enemies."

Suddenly turning to the side, she said, "Talon, take a dozen BloodClan. They don't have to be too good. I'm guessing will only have four or five ThunderClanners."

"As you wish," he rumbled, in his usual spot, invisible among the shadows.

Heat's eyes glinted with satisfaction. "I suspect a couple ThunderClanners will be badly hurt tonight," she said, smiling. "I know Firestar isn't as mousebrained as he looks. It's a pity he wasn't paying attention to what I was really saying at the last gathering."

The group of BloodClanners grimaced. Any enemy of Heat's who didn't catch what she was really saying didn't stay an enemy for long.

A/N: And so Chapter 9 ends. I'm sorry for no Scorn POV and all the POV switching, but I can't do Scorn all the time. Hope you still enjoyed it, though.

Anyway, Happy Halloween!