Tigerclaw glided through the forest, his paws making no sound as they touched the forest floor. Step by step he made his way closer to Redtail, closer to achieving his goal... this would help him achieve his goal, right? In order to become leader, Redtail would have to die at some point. Might as well be now.

And then he'd have to deal with Lionheart and Bluestar. That was going to be a pain, but no matter. He'd know what to do when the time came.

Pushing aside his doubts, Tigerclaw slowed to a stop. Redtail had noticed a vole, and was moving toward it in slow, deliberate pawsteps. Feeling a twinge of satisfaction, Tigerclaw hid behind a clump of brambles. Redtail had no idea he was being trailed in the same way that he was stalking the vole.

Tigerclaw was so intent on his hunt that he didn't pay close attention to where he put his paws, and a twig snapped under his weight. Redtail jerked his head around, looking for the source of the noise, and Tigerclaw made himself still as stone. Finally the tortoiseshell tom turned his head back to his prey and began creeping up on it again. After a few moments, Redtail was just as focused as he'd been before.

Perfect. Tigerclaw shadowed the tortoiseshell deputy as he moved, bunched his muscles to spring and-

"Going somewhere?" A wave of ice cold fear hit Tigerclaw. The shadow cat was suddenly right next to him.

"You again!" he spat, leaping nearly a fox-length into the air.

"Yes, it's me. What's wrong; did I frighten you?" The shadow cat stepped closer in one smooth movement, and Tigerclaw backpedaled, crouching and baring his teeth. "You seem rather surprised that I'm here."

Tigerclaw let out a low growl from deep within his throat, taking another step back. "What do you want from me?"

The pitch black shadow flicked her tail. "Surely you can't think we'd just allow you to murder a cat in cold blood without intervention." Tigerclaw opened his mouth to deny her accusation before he remembered she could read his thoughts. "And don't pretend that wasn't what you were doing," the dark she-cat cut across him. "I can't believe I have to be here right now- Great Shadow Spirits, Tigerclaw, you're absolutely hopeless." She paused, tilting her head to one side. "So for some strange reason, you thought killing Redtail was going to help you? I was very clear before- you need to do things the right way."

Throat dry, Tigerclaw let out a rasping breath. "I wasn't-"

"Just stop denying it; you're wasting everyone's time here."

Tigerclaw flattened his ears, hating the shadow cat and his own lack of control in this situation. If this had been any other cat mocking him, he would have killed her right then and there, but with the shadow cat he didn't have that option. What chance could he have against some strange spirit from beyond even StarClan, that could sense his every thought?

"Is that all you think about, killing cats that get in the way of your supposed greatness?" And there she was again, reading his mind. Tigerclaw unsheathed his claws. "Let me be clear, if I wasn't clear enough before." Tigerclaw bristled at her tone; the shadow cat sounded as though she was scolding a kit. "Murdering to get what you want is not doing things the right way."

Flicking his ears, Tigerclaw looked away from the shadow cat. Why should he be concerned with doing things the right way? That hadn't gotten him anywhere, in fact he was worse off than he had been at this time in his previous life because of it.

Letting out a sigh, the shadow cat lowered her head, and Tigerclaw guessed her facial expression would have been one of exhaustion if she wasn't pure shadow. "I'm going to be honest with you right now, Tigerclaw. If you decide to kill another cat, I might not be able to stop you again."

"Might not?" Tigerclaw spat, digging his claws into the ground so he wouldn't strike at something in his fury. "But you still might. So you will stop me, most likely. Do you plan to get in the way every time I do something you don't agree with?"

"Maybe." The shadow cat shrugged. "Or maybe not. It defeats the purpose of this whole thing if you're not actually trying yourself."

Tigerclaw snorted. He was trying; the shadow cat just kept getting in his way! His training with Ravenpaw, his plan to disgrace Firepaw, his attempt to get rid of Redtail; all of those things he could have succeeded at if the shadow cat hadn't stuck her nose in them and danced around at the edge of his vision like a swarm of mosquitoes! Perhaps if he hadn't been distracted by her dark presence he could have succeeded.

The dark she-cat raised her head to the sky as if asking for wisdom from a higher power. She then turned to face him. "You can't blame me; you brought this all on yourself. You're trying to do what you want, and that's not the point."

Tigerclaw let out a low growl, not even bothering to voice his rebuttal out loud. Of course that's the point! For a spirit cat, she was frustratingly dense. Did she seriously expect him, Tigerstar, leader of ShadowClan and the Place of No Stars, and future leader of all Clans, to bow before her? The fool.

The dark she-cat sighed. "Just know this. If you try to kill some cat for the wrong reason, and I can't stop you in time..." she stopped, and Tigerclaw almost thought he saw a shiver course through her shadowy figure "You might regret it more than anything else you've ever done."

Tigerclaw's fur prickled; he felt as though it had been coated in ice. Then a rustling sound came from the undergrowth behind him. Tigerclaw twisted his ears back and opened his mouth to identify the scent.

He could hear the crackling of leaves as Redtail poked his head through the screen of undergrowth. "Tigerclaw? Was that you? I could have sworn I heard cats."

"Do you think I regularly stand in the forest in the black of night and talk to myself?" Tigerclaw sheathed his claws so he could turn around to face Redtail; they had left deep gouge marks in the ground. "I hesitate to say this out of respect to you as Clan deputy, but do you have bees in your brain?"

Whiskers twitching in amusement, Redtail looked around. "I truly did hear yowling. Perhaps it was the prey."

Tigerclaw nodded. "It must have been."

From the edge of the trees, the shadow cat was lingering. Even though Tigerclaw couldn't see her eyes, he could feel the shadow cat's glare.

He was so close. If Redtail took just one step nearer, he'd be within a range of a single leap.

But no. Tigerclaw shook himself. It would be pure idiocy to kill Redtail now, right in front of the shadow cat immediately after she'd threatened him.

"I must return to my hunt. The scent trails will be fading soon," Tigerclaw mewed curtly.

"Very well. Good hunting." With a dip of his head, Redtail went back the way from which he came.

Letting his shoulders relax, Tigerclaw glared at the shadow cat. Or where she had been before- now she was gone, and the shadows of the trees and undergrowth had returned to normal. Directing a hiss where she'd left, Tigerclaw spun around and made his way past the trees.

Deciding that Redtail would find it odd if he didn't bring anything back for the fresh-kill pile, Tigerclaw honed in on a vole. He made quick work of killing it, and then trudged back to camp, not bothering to inform Redtail of where he was going. The tom could smell; he'd figure it out.

The shadow cat's presence was beginning to irritate him. Was she just going to interrupt whenever he needed to get rid of other cats? If so, that was going to be a problem. He had to think of something. Redtail and the kittypet would both need to be taken care of sooner or later.

But he couldn't kill Redtail. Not yet. Bluestar still didn't trust him, that was why. He told himself it had absolutely nothing to do with the shadow cat's dark warning. Sure, he was reluctant to test her words, but he was most certainly not afraid of her. She was just presenting a challenge.

The moon was setting as he arrived at the camp. Tigerclaw carefully made his way around his Clanmates and curled up in his nest.

Darkstripe, who had apparently been waiting for him the whole night, sidled up to him. "What about the kittypet? I thought-"

"Not now," Tigerclaw hissed. "We need to go about this the right way. Go to sleep.

Darkstripe nodded and obediently curled up in his nest. "'Night, Tigerclaw."

Tigerclaw lay awake for a long time. Even if his course of action was a bit constrained for the time being, he could stop Redtail from altering what was supposed to happen.

As the night drew on, he tried to piece together what the shadow cat was trying to tell him. He was supposed to do things the right way. Whatever that meant, he still wasn't sure, aside from the fact that murder was not considered part of it. Of course, he was aware that murder was generally frowned upon and against the warrior code, but in practice...

He scowled, remembering the last thing the shadow cat said to him. There were apparently right and wrong reasons to kill now. So technically, if he could determine what wrong and right were for murdering purposes, he wouldn't have to deal with some terrible fate should he kill for the 'wrong reason.' This supposed 'wrong' and 'right' way made sense to him in the same simplistic way that kits thought of morals, but he brushed it aside. Cats died at the claws of others all the time. It wasn't as if warring Clans put in much effort to avoid killing their enemies.

Tigerclaw snorted; true warriors weren't afraid to kill, no matter the cause. This was going to be a hassle if he actually decided to go by the shadow cat's rules.

But it did make sense that the wrong way was to kill one's own Clanmates, Tigerclaw figured. Perhaps that was what the shadow she-cat meant. But no, that couldn't be right. StarClan had been perfectly okay with the kittypet trying to kill him, and they had been Clanmates. Was it just that different rules apply to StarClan's chosen ones?

Why should he even bother with the warrior code anymore? The archaic tenets had been made by StarClan cats, the same ones that had passed over him in favor of a kittypet.

Tigerclaw tucked his nose under his tail and closed his eyes. Whatever he did, he'd figure it out in the morning.