"You killed one of my strongest, yet youngest, warriors, hm?" Lionstar's voice was deep and fiercely angry. He was a huge tom with a long golden tabby pelt, that made him look even bigger, and his eyes were green. They were narrowed in pure rage, and the leader's tail was lashing at a rapid pace.

Storm felt the glares of ThunderClan's cats. They were in a circle around him, around the giant rock that seemed to hold two purposes: Lionstar standing and announcing things, and Lionstar's den. He knew that what he had done was wrong, but what else was he going to do? Get killed? Never. Cedartail attacked him, and both toms would never have willingly given Dapplesky up. It was her fault if one really thought hard about it. If she'd chosen Storm as her mate to begin with, none of this ever would've happened. But no, she just went on teasing him. Storm believed that if she'd asked him to be her mate, maybe he would've gone to ThunderClan with her, but that probably wasn't true. No, it took Cedartail for Storm to realize he loved her. Dapplesky's ignorance and Storm's stubbornness had gotten several cats into a mess. Dapplesky was the one to take Cedartail as a mate, and she was the one who ended up bringing him to Storm's territory, even if she didn't know he was following her. Storm was the one who, no matter what, outright refused to join ThunderClan and denied his feelings for Dapplesky. Cedartail was the idiot who didn't feel like he could trust his own mate, which, in this case, he really couldn't.

Dapplesky's mate decision didn't stop Storm from feeling the love he did for Dapplesky, though, quite obviously. Sure, she was ignorant and impulsive, but Storm had his flaws, too, and if she loved him despite those flaws, then he'd love her despite her flaws. This was a mess that they both created and a mess that they would both fix. He glanced over at her, but she was looking down at Cedartail's body, her eyes wide and glazed with no emotion.

Lionstar hissed and leaped down from the highrock, padding into his den with a few final words, "Fishpelt, you can take care of this."

Fishpelt sighed and flicked an ear, "So you said he attacked you?" He meowed, glancing at Storm. Fishpelt was mostly white with a few brown tabby patches. His blue eyes were weary, and he seemed stressed and overall tired. The way Lionstar dumped the situation into Fishpelt's paws made Storm believe that Lionstar had a temper and didn't like dealing with things like this, so instead, he pawned them off onto his deputy. However, as this was the first time Storm had ever met Lionstar, maybe he was wrong.

"That's right." Storm replied honestly. His voice was calm. He heard kits mewling to their mothers and their mothers shushing them.

"Were you on our territory, or...?" Fishpelt asked, quieting down in order for Storm to answer.

"I wasn't. In fact, Cedartail was on my territory." Storm replied.

Fishpelt's ears lay back against his head. He was considering it. He didn't seem to believe Storm, but he didn't say anything about it. He was about to, but Dapplesky said something instead. "He didn't love me." Dapplesky meowed numbly. "Cedartail didn't love me."

Gasps and muttering were heard among the Clan. A golden tabby tom who was about as big as Cedartail approached Dapplesky, "My brother always loved you. You were just too dumb to see it. He was a great cat, and it's your fault he's dead." With a louder voice, he added, "That's right! My brother told me this little cheater had always been visiting this rogue during her apprenticeship!" Even more gasps, and the muttering was getting louder. "My guess is that she went and visited him again, and Cedartail attacked him. I know my brother, and it does make sense that he'd attack, but he did it only to protect the one he loved."

Storm snarled, "I love Dapplesky more than Cedartail ever could have!" He challenged Hayleap with a glare, then looked around at the other cats in the Clan. "I've already proven that."

"By killing a ThunderClan cat." Lionstar added, padding back out of his den. "If you truly loved Dapplesky, you'd not have killed her Clanmate.. Her mate. I want you out of ThunderClan's territory forever. You are not welcome here."

Storm glanced around once again. He could see that, surprisingly, some of the cats appeared to look like they were more on his side than Lionstar's. Storm nodded to Lionstar and padded out of the Clan's camp and territory. As he left, he heard Fishpelt quietly say, "Are you sure it was really the right choice to kick him out? If we accepted him in, he would've replaced Cedartail and-" but Lionstar cut him off.

"There's no such thing as replacing a cat, Fishpelt. Cedartail was my apprentice, and I was as close to him as I am Leaftail and my own kits. He was really like a son to me. Besides, who's to say that Storm wouldn't kill another ThunderClan cat?" Storm felt more guilt, but he ignored it as he left.

He still couldn't tell if it was the right decision or the wrong decision.

A/N: Well, if you hadn't guessed, then my favorite quote throughout the whole story (which, as I said, was in chapter 9) is "I will always protect her", which was said by Storm.

Hehe, I can't wait till you all see how this whole thing pans out. x3