A/N: Jeeze.. School is so stressful! I'm so sorry I haven't been quick to update, but I sure hope I have all my readers still! I am going to try to start uploading a new chapter every weekend!

On another note, I've had suggestions of making a book based off the end of VolcanoClan, what do you guys think? If so, who would be the star? What would it be called? Post your ideas in the reviews and I'll start making a plan for the next book!

Now for what all of you've even waiting for! Chapter ten is finally here! ******italics is a flashback*****

Chapter Ten

Cactusthorn stared at her mother. Dark clouds began to wisp across the sun to block its brutal light that flourished the earths surface. Nervousness pricked at her pelt as her mother looked down at the ground with sadness. "I first met your father when I strayed away from my twoleg nest when I was a young, stupid she-cat. He was in a patrol with two other toms and a she-cat. If I can remember correctly, they were called Hollowpaw, Raggedclaw, and a rather young warrior called Rabbittail. Fireclaw was in charge of the patrol."

"Look what we have here! A young kittypet straying from her border. Hollowpaw, what do we do to outsiders?" A tom with a scarred face growled.

"Shred them! And it's a she-cat! She can't fight!" The black tom apprentice screamed.

"She's not doing any harm!" The light brown she-cat known as Rabbittail hissed then directed her attention back to Shade. "Run along back to your twolegs. This is no place for a kittypet," she warned.

Shade quickly turned and ran. The rocks on her pads made her paws soar almost immediately. Soon, she burst through a dense patch of holly bushes. The sound of paw steps trashed behind her. Soon, she hid in a small gully covered in leaves and shadows from tall trees that touched the clouds high in the sky. Her heart beat hard against her chest as she peered through the leaves to see the tall fire-furred tom that paced in the small clearing. "I know you're here! I'm not going to harm you! I promise. My name is Fireclaw, what's yours?" He meowed cautiously.

Shade cocked her ears toward the tom. She crept out of the leaves and stood face to face with him. "I'm Shade," she meowed plainly. "I was just looking around, I wasn't trying to tresspass."

Fireclaw's eyes sparkled with something Shade couldn't tell. She tried to avoid her gaze as she looked down to the grassy floor. "What you did was very brave. Walk with me?" He gestured Shade with his long bushy tail.

Shade hesitated then nodded and followed the larger tom toward twoleg place.

"From that day, until just four moons later, we were inseparable. But that soon changed when I was expecting his kits." She spat furiously, taking Cactusthron by surprised.

Her mothers eyes softened as she looked at Cactusthorn. She took a deep, painful breath as she continued, "The day I was going to meet your father to tell him I was expecting kits in a half-moon, he was in the paws of another she-cat. A she-cat that looked rather closely related to the she-cat that told me to run. Their tails were intwined and I could hear their purrs from wolf lengths away. I almost clawed the she-cats throat out, but your father stopped me, knocking me away. I slammed against one of the rocks in your territory and instantly started kitting. I was kitting way too early, Cactusthorn. You were the only survivor. My little Cactusthorn is now a full grown she-cat, protecting her Clan that she was raised in. Your father abandoned me and our kits. He left me to die alone as I kitted. Wolves howls rang in my ears as they smelled the blood. Two of your litter mates had already died, leaving you the only survivor. I quickly snatched you up, and took refuge in a small barn nearby. The tom inside took care of me and you, until I decided you would live with your Clan, the place where you belong. The day I gave Fireclaw our last remaining kit, was the day I lost everything. Now I'm a loner, with no one."

Cactusthron watched as her mother hunched over and shook violently. She wrapped her long tail over her mothers shoulders as an idea popped up in her head, "Come to RockClan with me. We need all the she-cats we can get. The cat you knew as Hollowpaw is now our leader, and her had turned RockClan into a shameful Clan. Fireclaw is deputy, and just as evil. Hollowstar has made all she-cats prisoners of its own Clan. We're used for only hunting as kitting."

Her mothers eyes blazed as they made contact with hers. "I will join you, Cactusthorn. I know what my destiny is, and I know where I rightfully belong," her mother growled.

Together, they made the small journey back to the RockClan camp. By then, rain poured from the thick black clouds making the usually dusty dirt, muddy. Cactusthrons fur was caked in mud as they entered the camp. She spotted Blacknight by the leaders den and marched up to him. Knowing that she was not permitted to speak unless spoken to, she waiting for the tom to notice her. "Well? Are you going to speak?" He growled.

"Not without permission, or isn't that the rule?" She growled back with her usual spiky fur standing on end.

They toms yellow eyes turned to slits as he meowed, "Speak."

"I have an outsider that wishes to join the she-cat warriors." Cactusthron meowed to the black tom standing guard.

Obviously overhearing, Hollowstar crashed through the entrance of the leader den. "We don't need more she-cat warriors, we need more toms! Toms is power! Not pathetic she-cats," he growled.

Cactusthron watched her mother cower behind her. "With more she-cats, there will be more kits and more food for our warriors," Cactusthron pointed out.

Her mother looked at her as if she grew another head. Hollowstar pealed his lips back to reveal stained yellow teeth, "Well, at least you're not completely dumb. Maybe I'll make you MY mate, my blood needs to be passed to the next leader. And with a she-cat as cunning as you, I wouldn't make the mistake to pass the chance."

He swiped his tail across her shoulder. She jerked away from the tom and snarled at him, "I would never be your mate, even if my life depended on it!"

Hollowstar's yellow eyes widened in embarrassment. Quickly recovering, he drew back his paw for a mighty hit across the muzzle. Cactusthron took a step back. She noticed that her mother was no longer behind her, looked back, she saw only her terrified clanmates staring in horror. As if in slow motion, she turned her head to see Shade standing defiantly in front of her only daughter. With a gasp of shock, her mother was struck across the throat with mighty paws. Blood sprayed the floor as her mother began to crash to the floor.

"Shade!" Cactusthron screeched in unison with another voice. Cactusthorn turned to see a large fire-furred tom standing in front of his three kits with large, terrified eyes. Fireclaw, her good-for-nothing father.

"Hollowstar! I will not stand by you any longer! This has gone on long enough!" Fireclaw yowled.

Hollowstar grinned such an evil grin that it sent horrific shivers down Cactusthrons spine and made the air around her clanmates cold and thick. "Then you will pay the ultimate price," he snarled.

A/N: *GULPS* It's all about to hit the fan. WHO'S READY FOR THE MAIN EVENTS TO START?! I am.

So don't forget to review your opinions about this chapter as well as your ideas for the next book (if there will be one) about VolcanoClan!

I have just created a new series of stories called The Southern Clans: The Heart of A Badger! They're stories like these, but oh so different! Check it out!

Lets get me to 75-80 Reviews before next weekend! So REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! Thanks!

-Nightspirit