Chapter Eleven

Adderpaw was roused from his slumber by a heavy paw. The pale tabby had been curled up beside Thistlepaw, his legs neatly tucked under his body. In fact, he had been enjoying his first good sleep in what felt like moons.

He yawned, revealing sharp white incisors. Then reality settled in and immediately he was tensed and ready to attack. The air around him smelled like strange cats, and he was being prodded by a cat he had never seen before in his life. Everything felt wrong. Where was he?

Then he relaxed. He was in the main cavern of the Tribe of Falling Leaves, and the cat in front of him was nothing more than a small black kit. Adderpaw yawned again and sat up, narrowing his amber eyes as he glowered at the young kit.

"What do you want?" he asked with a snarl.

The kit didn't shrink back. The young tom was big for his age, which Adderpaw estimated to be around three moons. The kit did, however, lower his paw and gaze at him with serious green eyes. He sat down unblinkingly and wrapped his tail around his paws, licking a paw and drawing it over his head.

Then another cat came over, this time a grown she-cat. "Sorry!" she exclaimed, and Adderpaw's fur prickled with embarrassment. "This is Rubble where Large Tree Falls, I'm sorry he bothered you. He's never met a cat that wasn't from the Tribe before…"

Adderpaw fixed her with a dark glare. "Have you?" he asked dryly.

The black she-cat didn't seem offended as she gently urged Rubble away. "I met a loner once," she admitted. "He seemed nice at first, but then… well, let's go say he turned out to be not so nice. My mate Bramble chased him off. He's a caveguard – Bramble where Tiny Mice Hide. He's right over there."

Adderpaw followed her tail flick to where a large dark brown tabby was standing. He was broad-shouldered, just like rubble, with a wide head and bright amber eyes. "Rubble is going to be a cave-guard too," she purred excitedly. "He was born into it. Bark, that's Bark that Protects the Trunk, is going to be a prey-hunter instead. Those are only my two youngest kits, though. I'm also the mother of Flint that Reflects Bright Light and Run of Worried Mouse, but Bramble wasn't their father."

He wasn't affected by her enthusiasm. "So what's your name?" he asked, interested despite himself. Adderpaw couldn't help wondering what his Tribe name were to be if Shrewpaw decided to stay – no, if he decided to stay. Shrewpaw didn't make his decisions for him.

"Shadow of Looming Oak," she said cheerfully, beginning to groom herself. The quick flicks of her paw over her ear were replicated in her tail, the twitching of which began to woke Marshkit. He lay beside Splashpaw, who was on Adderpaw's other side.

"No, Toadkit…" mumbled Marshkit drowsily. "That's mouse-brained… no, geddoff… I'm too tired to play right now."

Splashpaw, who seemed to have already been awake and witnessing the whole thing, nudged him. "Wake up, Marshkit," she said gently, and slowly the black tom opened his eyes. When he saw Shadow he instantly leapt to his feet before remembering where he was and letting his fur lie flat.

Shadow's eyes widened at Marshkit's hostile reaction. She pushed Rubble towards her and looked at them apologetically. "I should really go," she mumbled, taking her kit and padding off.

"Way to scare her off," purred Splashpaw good-naturedly, flicking Marshkit with her tail. The tom was looking more and more like an apprentice everyday, and he rolled his eyes.

"I'm glad she's gone," muttered Adderpaw darkly. He didn't like her strange enthusiasm. It was like her whole life revolved around the Tribe and she couldn't see beyond the confines of the Brackenrocks – and her kits.

"Aw, don't be so stingy Adderpaw," teased Marshkit gently. At first Adderpaw felt like snapping back a reply, but a warm feeling rose up inside of him when he realized that the black kit was teasing him because he genuinely accepted the pale brown tabby.

Splashpaw nodded. "I'll get Shadow right back here to deal with your attitude. I'm sure everything would be fine, dear, if you just had a few kits…"

A purr rose in Marshkit's throat and the two began to laugh outrageously at Splashpaw's imitation. Adderpaw just sighed and narrowed his eyes, hiding an amused twitch of his whiskers at the expression on Marshkit's face.

He turned away from them, looking up as another cat came over. It was Bramble, his amber eyes full of simple curiosity. To Adderpaw's disappointment, he headed straight for Shrewpaw. The tom murmured something in the smaller cat's ear, and then Shrewpaw got up to follow him.

"I'll be back," muttered Adderpaw hastily, rising to his feet.

Splashpaw and Marshkit, who had recovered from their fit of laughter, looked at him curiously. "Where are you going?" asked the ginger and white she-cat curiously, her green eyes shining with happiness.

Adderpaw shrugged. "Nowhere," he lied. "I just wanted to get some air."

Seeing Shrewpaw and Bramble slip through a tiny crevice in a wall nearby, Adderpaw waited until they had completely vanished before following them.

He slipped through the crevice and found himself back outside, though he was surrounded by large slabs of rock. Shrewpaw and Bramble were already a few above him, and so Adderpaw climbed hastily. A few slabs up, they disappeared back into a cavern.

Adderpaw stuck his nose through before realizing that this cavern was far smaller than the one before. He withdrew hastily and positioned himself right outside, where he could hear every noise from inside the enclosed area.

"Shrewpaw!" That was Brackenteller's greeting. There was a pause, and Adderpaw imagined that they were touching noses or something like that.

"Brackenteller, why did you want to see me?" This was Shrewpaw's voice. The young tom sounded genuinely confused. Adderpaw felt a stab of doubt at his anger towards the small brown tom but quickly pushed it away.

"Last sunhigh, you told me that you were Clan cats at heart and that you could not stay with the tribe," said Brackenteller. His voice was thick with sorrow and Adderpaw imagined him staring at the ground with a defeated expression.

Shrewpaw didn't say anything, and so Brackenteller continued. "As much as I wish you would rest here with us, I… I understand your position. I didn't tell you this before, but…"

Still there was silence from Shrewpaw. Adderpaw felt his chest tighten and his paws tingle with excitement. It felt like Brackenteller was going to say something important.

"There are a Clan of cats not far from here," finished Brackenteller with a sigh. He sounded tired and defeated. "They call themselves SkyClan."

Another Clan? Adderpaw's eyes widened, but he kept his body still as he listened to Shrewpaw reply. "Thank you, Brackenteller," murmured the brown tom.

That was enough. Adderpaw's whole body itched with curiosity, yet he was also stung by betrayal. Neither Tallstar nor any of the elders had ever mentioned a SkyClan. Did they come from the original Clans, or were they formed separately?

He took a step back but his paw scrabbled on a pebble. It clattered down from the slab of rock, making a noise that echoed around the sides of the miniature canyon. Adderpaw leapt down quickly, disappearing into another cavern just as he heard Shrewpaw's voice call out: "Hello?"

The new cavern that he was in was dark for the most part, but sunlight glittered from a hole in the roof and fell in a circular pattern on the floor. As Adderpaw entered, he was aware of cats in the shadows.

Then, without warning, two cats leapt out into the circle of light. Adderpaw recognized the first one as Cry of Diving Hawk, but the second, a pretty silver tabby, was still unknown to him. He watched in surprise as they fell to the ground, tussling.

Cry seemed to be winning and holding her down, and when the she-cat went limp Adderpaw wondered if she was alright. But then she sprang back up, her yellow eyes glittering, and kick him off of her. Cry hit a rock but got right back up, springing at her. The she-cat dodged his attack and turned to trip it. Cry managed to avoid her back leg that was in his way, but he wasn't prepared for when she whirled around and stuck her forepaw in front of his back legs.

The tom stumbled forward. The she-cat leapt on top of his back and dug her teeth gently into his scruff.

"Alright, you win," grumbled Cry. The she-cat hopped off and watched as the dark brown tabby leapt to his feet.

Then the silver she-cat turned and saw Adderpaw. She tensed and meowed something to Cry. The tom nodded and padded off towards the shadows. A moment later he remerged with another cat that Adderpaw recognized, Branch of Ancient Oak, by his side.

"Hey Adderpaw," said Branch, rather sheepishly. The silver tabby was still hanging back and watching him anxiously. "Err, what are you doing here?"

Adderpaw didn't bother to answer him. "What are you doing here?" he asked rudely. "You have a whole forest to practice in, but instead you do it in the caves?"

The dark grey tom looked down. "The stone hides our scents."

Blinking in surprise, the light brown tabby tom looked around the cavern. There were only three cats, Branch, Cry, and the silver she-cat. There were no cave-guards or prey-hunters. "Why do you need your scents hidden?" he asked. "Are you doing this in secret?"

Branch bowed his head. "Listen, Adderpaw… We've run into a few SkyClan patrols lately while just out hunting. See, I'm training to be a prey-hunter, and so is Stream Where Small Trout Dance," he mewed, gesturing towards the silver she-cat.

Narrowing his eyes, Adderpaw glanced quickly from Branch to Stream, still not understanding. "What does that have to do with anything?" he asked curiously.

"We've seen how SkyClan warriors… they hunt and fight, right?" asked Branch, nervously scuffing the ground. "Well I wanted to learn how to fight as well… but I'm not training to be a cave-guard. Cry and Stream also sort of agreed that we should learn both, so we're teaching each other how to fight and hunt and stuff. It was mostly my idea."

"Mostly?" asked Adderpaw curiously.

He sighed. "Cry and Stream… they're pretty much fine with what Brackenteller wants. I'm a bit… different."

"What does Brackenteller want?" asked the pale brown tabby. Were these three to-bes going against rules set out in the Clan? It was like apprentices sneaking out at night or disobeying their mentor's orders.

"He wants prey-hunters and cave-guards," replied the young to-be. He looked very small, maybe only a little older than Marshkit. "I just… I thought it would be neat to learn both. Since the Time of Frozen Water is coming soon, it might come in useful."

Adderpaw narrowed his eyes. Branch made a good point. Leafbare was right around the corner, and the Tribe would need even more prey. But if most of their members were cave-guards, then they would need more prey-hunters.

The Clan cats were good prey-hunters.

Shaking his broad head from side to side, the lean tabby tried to clear his mind of the disturbing thoughts. Would staying with the Tribe really be so bad? A voice inside of his mind pricked at him but he ignored it.

Branch shifted awkwardly from paw to paw. "Err, would you… would you mind sparring with us? It would be nice to practice our fighting skills against a real Clan cat."

Adderpaw perked up, his amber eyes gleaming with interest. "Of course," he purred, sizing Stream and Cry up. A rematch against Cry would be good, but Stream also looked like a worthwhile opponent. Her slim frame made her agile.

Eyes glowing, Adderpaw padded past Branch and towards the other to-bes. "Just say the word."

- - - x - - -

A/N: Alright, Chapter Eleven! I have nothing of Chapter Twelve written yet... I used to have a buffer between what I was writing and what I was posting, but I guess my laziness caught up to me.

So: I'd like to thank KawaiiBoushi, Cinderpaw11, GinnyStar, Chene, and Icethroat21 for reviewing :) Also, thanks to everyone who added this to their story alerts or favourites, that was awesome :) Some of you are kinda worried that Brackenteller will be like Stoneteller. But while Brackenteller might want some of them to stay, he won't be like Stoneteller and try to force them to stay. Anyways, Stoneteller ended up being a pretty good cat in Dawn :)

Right, and all you guys get Branch plushies C:

Thanks for the support and the reviews 8D

- Shocky