Jayfeather listened to the fading of Nightpaw's pawsteps, and then he bounded over to the warriors den.

"Lionblaze!"

"Huh?" Lionblaze was passed out after a long day of patrolling.

"Wake up," he hissed, and when Lionblaze didn't respond, he bit him on the scruff.

"Ouch!" Lionblaze shot to his paws. He looked around wildly until his eyes fell on Jayfeather.

"What was that for?" he protested. Jayfeather laid his tail across Lionblaze's mouth. "Shut up!"

Lionblaze looked down at the sleeping cats. "Oops."

Jayfeather groaned. "Come with me!" he demanded in a fierce whisper. "I have to tell you something!"

"What?" Lionblaze groaned as he and Jayfeather squeezed behind the spot that had been their old hiding place behind the nursery. It had become much bigger when the camp was rebuilt after the tree fell.

"This had better be good," grumbled Lionblaze, licking at a rough spot on his fur. "I was having a really good dream about-" He stopped, staring into the trees.

"What?" Jayfeather asked.

"Nothing." Lionblaze bent his head and licked his chest in embarrassment. "It was nothing."

"Fine." Whatever problems Lionblaze might have, Jayfeather wasn't going to pry into his dreams- yet. He changed the subject to a more important matter.

"I think that I've found them."

"Really?" Lionblaze's ears pricked, and his eyes widened. Jayfeather had informed him about the dream as soon as he had come back from the Moonpool. He rather thought that they needed help, he thought. They hadn't achieved very much yet.

"I think that they're Silverpool kits."

"You mean Flamepaw? And Splashpaw and Nightpaw?"

"Yes. You should've seen Nightpaw attack Sunsplash. She's so fast, she's a blur. At least, when she's fighting, she is. I couldn't hear or smell her either. She became… invisible."

"That's cool. What about the others?"

"Lionblaze, you mousebrain! It's more than cool! She one of us! As for the others, I have no idea. Splashpaw does seem to be inflicting a big change in Foxpaw, though. He fed the elders without complaining yesterday."

Lionblaze stopped licking his paw. "What?"

"I know! She's really changed him. I'm worried about Flamepaw, though. He's really quiet, and it doesn't look like he's got any powers. Willowpaw… well, she's so shy, I barely see her. She's always out on patrol."

"I hope he's not like-"

Lionblaze stopped again, looking at his paws as though ashamed. Jayfeather didn't ask what he was thinking this time. He was remembering their sister, Hollyleaf, who had been crushed by both falling rock and despair for the shattered warrior code.

That night, Firestar told her quietly that she wouldn't be going to this Gathering.

"You need to rest," he informed her. "Orders from your leader. Now go and sleep in your nest."

"I'll tell you everything," promised Icepaw, and they bounded off into the trees.

Nightpaw awoke to see Splashpaw and Foxpaw talking. Disgust filled her throat like bile, and she had to choke it down. No matter how much Foxpaw had changed, she still felt sick when she saw him with her sister.

"I'm worried about my siblings," Splashpaw muttered to the red apprentice. "Flamepaw is so shy, he's barely made any friends. And Nightpaw almost killed Sunsplash yesterday! She's got such a hot temper-"

"I do not!" Nightpaw leapt to her paws. "You just feel bad for that piece of foxdung!"

"No, Nightpaw," Foxpaw said. "She hates him, too. I've heard her rant about him. She thinks that he deserves to be thrown out of ThunderClan."

Nightpaw blinked slowly, taking in the fact that Foxpaw had defended her sister from her own actions. She hung her head. "Sorry, Splashpaw," she mumbled.

"It's okay," Splashpaw replied, batting her sister's remaining ear gently. "We're all under so much pressure right now, what with Sunsplash and Silverpool and- you know…"

She stopped, shifting on her paws uncomfortably, and Nightpaw twitched her ear nervously.

"Nightpaw? Are you feeling up to training?"

Nightpaw leapt to her paws. "Finally! Yes!" She bounded outside to her mentor. "Can we go to the hollow? I want to learn fighting moves!"

Stormheart purred. "Not today. We're going on a hunting patrol."

Nightpaw shuffled her paws. "Okay. Let's go!" She hadn't been out of camp for several moons and felt restless and eager to go.

She and Stormheart hunted for what seemed like a day before she finally spotted a rabbit. She glanced over at her mentor, who flicked his ear to tell her that it was hers. She immediately dropped into the hunting crouch. The squirrel began to eat something that it had picked up off of the ground. She slid forward and leaped. But at that moment, she brushed against some ferns that she hadn't seen through her blind eye, and the squirrel dashed away. Nightpaw hissed in exasperation and leapt after it, blundering through the undergrowth.

"Nightpaw!" called her mentor. "You'll scare away all the prey in the forest with that noise!"

Nightpaw checked herself and tried to run more silently. The squirrel dashed for a tree, but before Nightpaw could jump on it, something collided with her. A blinding pain seared her head and she stumbled back, gasping. Dazed, she blinked and recognized Petalpaw, an apprentice from ShadowClan. The apprentice was glaring at her. "Mousebrain! I would've had that squirrel if you hadn't crossed the border!"

"This is ThunderClan territory!" hissed Nightpaw. Petalpaw snarled. "Not anymore, it's not. ShadowClan needs more territory, and ThunderClan is too weak to defend it."

"Petalpaw!" yowled another ShadowClan cat. "Stop talking to whoever's over there and get over here!"

Four large ShadowClan warriors appeared out of the bushes. "What's this?" sneered one. "It's a ThunderClan kit! My, kit, you need to grow some fur!"

Nightpaw hissed as the other cats jeered.

"What's going on?" asked her mentor as he slid out of the shadows. The rest of the patrol appeared behind him, silent and tense. Stormheart dipped his head to the largest, ShadowClan's deputy. Flamepaw stepped in front of Nightpaw, showing no trace of shyness. Nightpaw was impressed, even through her anger, that he was being so brave. Even so, she hissed in his ear, "You don't need to take care of me!"

"Darkwhisker. What are you doing on our territory? Do you need to talk to Firestar?" Stormheart's ears went back as Darkwhisker ran a claw over Flamepaw's flank.

"Do you need to learn what a border marker is?" hissed the ShadowClan deputy, pinning Flamepaw down. "This is our side of the border, Stormheart. Get off our territory unless you want this apprentice's fur clawed off."

"This isn't your territory, Darkwhisker," the gray warrior replied coolly. "It's ours, and we'll fight for it."

"Then I will inform Blackstar that you wish to fight. Tell your kittypet leader that he wants us to meet here at sunhigh."

The ShadowClan patrol vanished into the bushes. Stormheart stared gravely at the group of cats. "Let's get back so that we can tell Firestar," he meowed, and leapt through the undergrowth back to the camp.

"You say that they marked a new border? It was ten tail-lengths over the agreed one?" Firestar growled. "I hate to send my warriors into battle, but I'm sure that they'll agree that it's something worth fighting for."

He padded out of his den with Stormheart and the rest of the patrol trailing after him. Leaping up onto the Highledge, Firestar called to the Clan. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath the Highledge for a Clan meeting."

"What's going on?" Splashpaw yawned, padding out of the den with Foxpaw. Nightpaw narrowed her eyes. "Trouble with ShadowClan."

"Our dawn patrol encountered some ShadowClan cats," Firestar growled. "Stormheart says that they marked a new border several fox-lengths inside of our old one. Stormheart, please tell the Clan what these mouse-brained cats deluded themselves that they could do."

As the cats all listened to Stormheart give the report, Nightpaw watched dissent spread through her Clan like a disease. Foxpaw's tail was lashing back and forth, and he was muttering under his breath. Flamepaw was licking at the scratch that Darkwhisker had given him, claws unsheathed and ripping at the ground. Willowpaw's eyes were round and frightened, but her claws were unsheathed. The queens milled around at the edge of the clearing, each gathered around Dawnfall's kits. Whitekit, one of Dawnfall's kits, was puffing out his chest. "Let me fight them!" he meowed to his mother. "I'll tear them limb from limb!"

Redkit, his brother, pounced on him. "You can't get me!" he squeaked. "I'm Blackstar, the leader of ShadowClan. I have nine lives! Die, Whitekit, die!" He pummeled at his brother with tiny paws. Dawnfall leaned down and lifted him by the scruff. "Hush," she scolded. "Stormheart is trying to give a report."

"Humph!" Redkit said.

Even the kits are preparing for battle! Nightpaw thought.

"The cats who will fight are Cloudtail, Lionblaze, Dovewing, Brightheart, Sunsplash, Mousepelt, Silverpool, Coldgaze, Stormheart, Foxpaw, Willowpaw, Flamepaw, Icepaw, Cherrypaw, Nightpaw, Frostpaw, and, of course, myself," Firestar meowed. "The named cats will join me in the hollow for some extra battle training. The rest of you, get some rest. Thrushwing, come with us so that you can treat badly hurt cats. Jayfeather, stock up on herbs. Cats are going to be injured. "

Nightpaw gathered in the training hollow with the other apprentices. Coldgaze, Stormheart, and Cloudtail were near them, talking amongst themselves. Finally the three toms seemed to reach an agreement and Stormheart walked over to the seven apprentices. "Okay, we're three ShadowClan warriors and you're trapped in bramble bushes. What are you going to do…"

The extra battle training went by in a flash. Nightpaw felt clumsy and uncoordinated as she tumbled through fights. Finally Firestar assigned them jobs.

"We can meet at the new border. Most of us will hide in the trees. I will be there with Stormheart and Cloudtail and try to convince Blackstar to back down without a fight."

"He won't listen," yowled Foxpaw.

"Of course he won't. That's why you'll be waiting in the trees. As soon as he tries to attack, Dovewing, Brightheart, Mousepelt, Silverpool, Coldgaze, Flamepaw, Icepaw, and Cherrypaw will jump down. After the ShadowClan warriors get over that surprise, I'll yowl and the rest of you will come down. Nightpaw and Flamepaw, if you two are too frightened to fight, your job will be to take injured cats to Thrushwing. Is that clear?"

The cats dipped their heads. Nightpaw glanced at Flamepaw. He didn't look too scared to fight. If anything, he looked as though he would rip off a ShadowClan pelt for a couple of mousetails.

Before she could blink, Splashpaw was saying goodbye to her denmates and siblings, and Nightpaw and the rest were leaping through the trees. After a while, they slowed down and moved silently, stealthily so that the ShadowClan cats wouldn't hear them. Firestar and Stormheart approached the entire Clan of cats that silently waited for them, Cloudtail trailing behind.

"Do you expect to fight with three warriors?" jeered Blackstar.

"I have come to ask you to retreat in peace," Firestar replied, and Nightpaw could see that he was forcing his fur to lay flat. "There is no need to fight. Remember what happened last time? Two lives were lost for nothing."

"This time, if lives are lost, there will be a reason!" hissed Blackstar. Willowpaw flinched away from the leader's sharp words, her silver-green eyes wide. Nightpaw's paws ached to warn her leader as Blackstar's tail twitched slowly three times. Instantly ShadowClan was on top of the leader and his small patrol.

Firestar's yowl of fake shock and anger was disguised well. The ShadowClan cats didn't even get to look up before ThunderClan landed on top of them. The other Clan recovered quickly, though. Nightpaw watched in horror as Cloudtail was tossed, bleeding, off of Darkwhisker's shoulders. Furious yowls rang out as fur flew everywhere. Nightpaw closed her eyes and prepared to leap as the second yowl rang out.

When she opened her eyes, she was still standing on the bough. Fear pulsed through her in an icy wave as she saw ShadowClan's warriors rip through her friends as though they were fresh-kill. She gasped as she saw Frostpaw's ear shredded by a warrior much bigger than him. The warrior raked his claws down Frostpaw's face. Suddenly, Lionblaze, battling fiercely with another cat, crashed into the ShadowClan warrior, who fell on top of Frostpaw's hind legs, crushing them. Frostpaw screeched in pain. Nightpaw wailed out loud, pain coursing through her in his behalf. She leapt down and crouched next to the blue-white apprentice, forgetting in an instant her former wariness of him. "Don't worry, Frostpaw," she whispered as she dragged him into the bushes. Thrushwing was waiting there with tangy herbs and sweet berries to soothe scratches and stop bleeding. She instantly spread a chervil poultice on his scratches and gave him a juniper berry to calm his wailing. "Thanks," he managed to pant to Nightpaw.

Nightpaw dashed out and saw Icepaw, fiercely fighting a warrior twice his size. His eyes widened as he looked over at Nightpaw and the warrior scratched his flank.

Nightpaw dashed in as the ShadowClan cat leapt on top of Icepaw and began raking his claws down his back. Nightpaw bit hard on the cat's ear and he reeled back in shock.

Icepaw leapt on the warrior, pinning him down and biting down hard on the paw closest to him. The two apprentices' training flooded back to him, and slowly they drove him back, swiping at his flanks and paws and drawing blood. Yowling, the warrior fled.

"Thanks!" Icepaw meowed, but Nightpaw dashed off as she heard a yowl. She skidded to a halt, watching in horror as her sister fought off a dark brown warrior. She gasped as Tigerheart ripped into Willowpaw's flank, tearing the life out of the apprentice.

"Willowpaw! No!" screeched Nightpaw. Tigerheart looked at the gaping cut in Willowpaw's side and backed away, ears back as he realized what he had done.

"No!" gasped Nightpaw, but her sister flattened her ears as she tried to drag the apprentice to Thrushwing. "Don't," she begged. "It'll only open the wound more."

"No, Willowpaw! I'll get you some herbs and water and you'll be as good as new."

"Thrushwing," gasped Willowpaw. Nightpaw turned to see the medicine cat apprentice bounding towards them, carrying a bundle of herbs in her jaws. She immediately set to work bandaging the awful cut.

Nightpaw whisked around and pinned Tigerheart to the ground. The tabby cat struggled and spat in her face.

"It's against the warrior code to kill!"

He hissed at her scornfully. She dug her claws into his ear and ripped, hard. The tabby yowled as blood sprayed Nightpaw's paw.

Suddenly the most excruciating yowl flattened Nightpaw's ears.

"Silverpool!" she cried, and Flamepaw bounded after her. "What's wrong with our mother?"

Blackstar himself was attacking her mother. Nightpaw crouched to help her, but suddenly a streak of yellow knocked Blackstar over. Nightpaw recognized Sunsplash, knocking Blackstar aside. Stormheart, who was bleeding heavily from his front paw, immediately pounced on the ShadowClan leader.

Nightpaw turned back to the battle and watched as Silverpool crouched to pounce on Rainpelt, another ShadowClan warrior. A yowl of warning and shock froze in Nightpaw's throat as Sunsplash crept up behind her mother and leapt.

"Sunsplash!" cried Silverpool. "What are you doing?"

"Cutting a weakness to the Clan," snarled the orange warrior. Silverpool pushed at him with weak silver paws, but Sunsplash merely snarled. "Weaknesses come from traitors, and traitors come from warriors who love the wrong cats. You are a weakness, and you must be removed!" Sunsplash raised his paw, claws unsheathed.

Flamepaw and Nightpaw attacked at the same time. Nightpaw pinned her father down while her brother shoved Silverpool aside. Nightpaw and Sunsplash briefly fought, but Sunsplash's paws were surprisingly slow, and Nightpaw soon held him down with one claw at his throat, just like the day she had wrestled Stormheart.

"Why, Sunsplash?" Nightpaw gasped. "Why did you try to kill her? She's your mate. I'm your kit!"

"She is not my mate!" snarled Sunsplash. "I am not your father! Your father is a traitor, and so is your mother!"

"You are not my father," whispered Nightpaw. She slid aside, unresisting, as Sunsplash pushed her off of him and strode away.

"You are not- you are not MY FATHER!" she screamed after him. Silverpool stared after him, hissing halfheartedly. Flamepaw's tail swished back and forth. Firestar's last warning screech as ShadowClan cats fled sliced through the air. Nightpaw stared, unseeing, at the ground.

Icepaw approached and hissed in surprise at the blood-covered Silverpool and the tufts of gray hair littering the ground. "What happened?"

Silverpool pushed herself up on weary paws. "Go tell Firestar that Sunsplash does not belong in ThunderClan."

Icepaw's ears flattened. "He what?"

"Just go and tell him, please," Nightpaw begged. Icepaw looked at her with an expression in his eyes that betrayed shock and sorrow. "All right, Nightpaw." He bounded off.

Frostpaw dragged himself up behind her, Thrushwing worriedly trailing after him. "What just happened with your father?" he whispered. Nightpaw bared her teeth. "He's no father of mine, Frostpaw."

"But-" The blue-white apprentice broke off, wincing as Thrushwing gently began wrapping his legs in cobwebs.

"It's okay, Frostpaw. You can go now. I just need to be alone."

"But-"

"Come on, mousebrain!" Thrushwing snapped. "Do you think that I can fix your legs with you lugging yourself all over like that?"

Frostpaw dragged himself reluctantly off. Nightpaw watched him go. "I hope that Thrushwing and Jayfeather fix him up," her mother sighed. "He's a nice apprentice, once you get to know him."

"I guess so," Nightpaw replied.

"Cats of ThunderClan!" Firestar yowled gravely. "Gather here beneath the Highledge so that you can hear what I have to tell you!"

"Great!" Silverpaw growled. "Now we'll have to wait until he's done reporting until you can tell me everything."

"My Clan," Firestar began. "I am so proud of you. The fresh-kill pile is heaping, herbs grow in clumps bigger than our biggest kit, Redkit-"

"Hey!" interrupted Redkit.

"-and we haven't lost a single cat in seasons. But now, I must announce a good ThunderClan cat's departure."

Gasps and murmurs spread through the Clan. Splashpaw looked stricken. "They're terrified! Who died, Nightpaw? Who-" She broke off, searching the crowd. "Wait- where's Sunsplash?"

Her high-pitched mew rang through the Clan. Mutters broke out.

"Today, Sunsplash proved to us that he is every bit worthy of the Dark Forest," Firestar hissed. "During the fight, he jumped on Silverpool and would have killed her if Nightpaw and Flamepaw hadn't stopped him. He is no longer a ThunderClan cat. If you see him in our territory, drive him out as you would any rogue."

Firestar's speech left cats shocked and speechless, too dumbstruck to even gossip. Splashpaw sank onto her belly.

"On a happier note, I would like to make three new warriors today. Icepaw, Foxpaw, and Frostpaw, please come up."

"Icepaw!" Nightpaw whispered in delight. She glanced at Splashpaw, who was nuzzling Foxpaw happily. "Go up there," she murmured to the reddish apprentice. "You deserve it."

"I, Firestar, call upon StarClan to look down on these apprentices. They have worked hard to understand your noble code, and I commend them to you as warriors in their turn. Icepaw, Foxpaw, Frostpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

"I do!" called Frostpaw.

"Yes, I do," whispered Icepaw.

"Foxpaw?" Firestar gazed down at Foxpaw, curiosity in his eyes. Foxpaw was standing at the edge of the clearing, mouth open. Splashpaw nudged him and he stumbled forwards.

"I DO!" yowled Foxpaw.

"Then by the powers of StarClan I give you your warrior names. Icepaw, from this moment, your name will be Icewhisker. StarClan honors your calmness and sense of duty. We welcome you as a full warrior of the Clan."

"Icewhisker! Icewhisker!" yowled Nightpaw.

"Frostpaw, from this moment on your name will be Frostclaw. StarClan honors your bravery and fighting skill, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan."

Frostclaw limped up to Firestar. His wounds were healing slowly, but the bone in one of his hind legs would never be the same.

Firestar rested his muzzle on the heads of the two warriors, and then turned to the third. Foxpaw, from this moment on, your name will be Foxwhisker. StarClan honors your compassion and your willingness, and we welcome you as a full warrior of the Clan."

"Frostclaw! Foxwhisker! Icewhisker! Frostclaw! Foxwhisker!" Nightpaw yowled along with the rest of her Clan. Splashpaw raced up to Foxwhisker and began to wash his shoulders, which were dusty.

"Mrrp- get off- ack!" Foxwhisker mumbled. "You're like an old she-cat, Splashpaw."

"Oh, don't be ridiculous," purred Splashpaw. Foxwhisker pushed her playfully away. "Last one to catch a squirrel is fresh-kill!" The two cats raced off together.

"They're like two kits," Flamepaw muttered. Nightpaw snickered and Flamepaw went off to join a border patrol.

Frostclaw limped up. "Hey, Nightpaw."

"Hi," Nightpaw said warily. Frostclaw blinked slowly.

"Foxpaw- oops, Foxwhisker doesn't seem to care about your injuries," Nightpaw said.

"I'm kind of troubled about my brother. He's not at all the same type of cat I am. It's like he's not related to me!"

Nightpaw blinked, confused at this sudden burden of information. "You mean Foxpaw- I mean, Foxwhisker?"

"Yeah! I mean, obviously his pelt color, but he also likes completely different things, has completely different feelings about everything, and acts completely different from Icewhisker and me. Siblings have at least something alike, right?"

"Yeah, like, they like the same piece of fresh-kill. Seriously, I think that you're overreacting."

"No! It's really starting to bother me. Sometimes Ferncloud acts like she's not even my mother. It's really weird."

Some nervous twinge awoke in Nightpaw's belly. She felt the same way about Sunsplash. She stepped forward. "I know how you feel, Frostclaw."

"Thank you, Nightpaw." Frostclaw purred. His whiskers twitched. Nightpaw flinched as a whisker brushed against her face. He stepped back. "Sorry!"

Nightpaw stumbled back. "It's all right. I don't mind." The touch had startled her, mostly because Frostclaw didn't seem the type of cat who liked to touch others, even his own Clanmates.

Shaking her head, Nightpaw bounded away, ignoring Frostclaw's confused cry behind her.

Nightpaw settled down to sleep that night, missing the warmth of the three new warriors in their nests near her. She closed her eyes, trying to sleep.

Sparks exploded in her mind. She was whisked away to a star- filled sky, feeling the brush of a white pelt against hers. She could hear a whispering voice. "It is not a hard choice to make." Was it Icewhisker? Nightpaw woke up. Compared to the blinding white of her dream, the night was unusually black. A twig cracking broke the moment. She turned with a flash of surprise and- was that guilt?

Frostclaw was standing at the entrance of the apprentice den. She stood. "Frostclaw? Shouldn't you be sitting vigil?"

He nodded but then beckoned with his tail for her to follow her.

She followed him. They walked around the Highrock. Nightpaw looked curiously at the white warrior. He kept walking, and finally they came to where the Highrock met the cliff wall. There was a little hole in the wall which led to a wall with a series of claw-holds, and Frostclaw began to climb. Nightpaw gazed up at him curiously and he beckoned for her to follow. Soon the tunnel widened to a cave, which overlooked the camp. They sat in the little alcove, Nightpaw staring at him. He pointed at the sky with his tail. She looked up and gasped.

"That's beautiful!"

Stars littered the sky in a long, glittering pelt. The moon curved like a claw in the corner, and trees stood black against the light. They sat under the alcove for a long time, staring at the sky. Then Frostclaw and Nightpaw stood and began to climb down and walk back around the narrow path.

A hiss startled them and they looked quickly around.

"Icewhisker!" Nightpaw bounded eagerly forward. "I'm so proud of you. You're a warrior at last!"

"What are you two doing?" Icewhisker demanded accusingly. Nightpaw detected the subtlest hint of an emotion that she had felt in herself, too- but before she could ponder it further, Frostclaw spoke. "We're just talking about Foxwhisker."

Icewhisker's face darkened. "Oh. Him."

"Look, what's wrong? You guys shouldn't be talking. You just broke your vigil!" Nightpaw burst out. Icewhisker flattened his ears. "Last night, we heard Silverpool and Ferncloud talking. They were just discussing the next deputy. Every cat knows that Firestar is on his last life."

"He is?"

"Oh. Yes. He lost one in battle against ShadowClan while you were… um…"

"Go on." Nightpaw didn't feel like talking about what had caused Silverpool and Sunsplash to hate each other.

"Well, Silverpool said that she fully expects her sister to become deputy. Then Ferncloud got all shaky, and Silverpool asked what was wrong. And she said- she said-"

"What?" Nightpaw asked.

"She said that she knows where those two kits that they found came from. She said they came from WindClan, and she said that she knew that their father was a WindClan cat."

"But that could be any cat!" Nightpaw protested. "Any cat with a littermate could be from WindClan."

"But not every cat with a littermate is Ferncloud's kit. It's us; I just know that it's us! We're half WindClan!"

"No, you're not!" Nightpaw cried. "Ferncloud loves Dustpelt. She wouldn't just go running off with a WindClan cat."

"She might not, but that doesn't mean another cat wouldn't," replied Icewhisker. A hush spread over their little group.

"You're saying you're not Ferncloud's kit?" gasped Nightpaw.

"I don't know," whispered Icewhisker as they reached the outside of the warriors' den.

A twig cracked behind them and Foxwhisker appeared. His eyes widened in surprise. He beckoned to his littermates with his tail.

"Yes, I know, we broke our vigil," snapped Icewhisker. "Fine. We'll go back to it. We can talk about it later," he said to Nightpaw.

"Hey! Mousebrain!" Thrushwing yowled, and they all jumped and looked around at each other guiltily. How many cats were out tonight?

"You stupid cat. You'll never heal if you keep wandering out of the medicine den all the time. I have enough to deal with already, what with Willowpaw and Silverpool's injuries, without you wandering off! You're aware you've also broken your vigil, right?" Thrushwing padded over to them.

Her words were stern, but Nightpaw caught a flash of affection as she turned away. Frostclaw looked back apologetically before limping after her. Foxwhisker shot a glance back at them, twitched his whiskers in silent amusement, and went back to his post at the camp entrance.

"Well-" Nightpaw said. She felt awkward. She had never felt this uncomfortable with Icewhisker in her life. He glared at her. "What were you really doing with Frostclaw?"

Nightpaw flinched. "I was just talking about Foxwhisker!" she protested, fur growing hot at the lie. Icewhisker relaxed. "Okay, then," he meowed. "Good." He leaned forward and brushed his nose against her fur before padding away. Nightpaw sighed. Why was Icewhisker so aggressive all the time? She stood, contemplating all they had told her, before walking slowly back to the den and flopping down in her nest.

A.N.- New chapter! WOOT WOOT!