Hey guys! I'm one year older and full of zest to see this story through to the end!

Hollyshade: That's a cool observation that I didn't even notice when I made her warrior name! XD I've always loved Sasha and wanted to give her a really kickbutt name, and that's what stuck out to me the most. Hopefully Tawnypelt doesn't mind too much!

Bcarfulwatuwish4: That's a good theory! Though I will say that my headcanon for this story is that the Power of Three prophecy never applied since Leafpool and Crowfeather choosing to leave the Clans took the kits out of the equation. What that means for the Clans back home is up to your imagination! (I personally haven't thought about it a lot outside of when I decided the kits would be just normal kits in this story.)

SPOILER WARNING if you haven't read The Rise of Scourge, one of the manga adaptations. If you haven't read it but would still like to continue with the story, I'll put a chapter summary at the very end.

Chapter 12: A Story to Tell

"Will this do, Leafpool?" asked Stormpaw, laying down yet another wad of cobwebs by the medicine cat's feet.

Leafpool sniffed it, flicked her tail across it, and then said, "Thank you, Stormpaw, but you must make sure not to be carrying a spider on it."

Stormpaw gasped, her eyes wide. "There was a spider?" she squeaked, looking horrified.

"It was a small one," Leafpool reassured her, taking a strip of cobweb and pressing it against Tawnyblaze's shoulder.

"But what if it bit her? It would have made things a lot worse, and it would be my fault!"

"It's all right, Stormpaw," soothed Leafpool. "We all make mistakes, we're only cats. Go stand watch with Purdy; his eyes aren't what they used to be."

Stormpaw nodded importantly and strode off.

Leafpool took a glance in the direction Socks had taken to get her another dose of marigold leaves, but he still hadn't come back.

"Leafpool?"

Tawnyblaze was trying to sit up, but she could only tremble weakly for a few moments and collapse again. "Leafpool... where...?"

"We're still in Twolegplace," Leafpool told her.

"Did you ever find Lionkit or Jaykit?" Tawnyblaze asked, laying her head down and closing her eyes.

Leafpool froze. She hadn't even given either of her sons a thought since discovering Tawnyblaze bleeding out on the Thunderpath. "No... not yet."

"What?!" Tawnyblaze struggled painfully to her feet, opening some of her wounds and causing fresh blood to course down her frame. She let out a cough, and then she glared at Leafpool. "You go find those two kits right now!"

"But I need to finish dressing your wounds-"

Tawnyblaze's eyes gleamed dangerously. "Leafpool, with all due respect, if you don't go look for those helpless kits who are all by themselves out here in the Twolegplace, I'm going to claw you so hard that you won't remember what season it is."

And Leafpool knew Tawnyblaze wasn't making an idle threat. "... Can you walk?"

Tawnyblaze snorted. "I've got legs, haven't I?"

Leafpool narrowed her eyes in thought. At last she said, "Okay. Once Socks comes back, I'll dress your wounds again and then we'll be off. Stormpaw! Purdy!" she called.

The two cats bounded up. "Yes?"

"Stormpaw, you and Purdy need to head on back to the barn."

The uproar that Leafpool had expected arose immediately, with both cats complaining at the exact same time, so Leafpool couldn't pick out their individual complaints.

"I mean it, I need both of you to head back to the barn," Leafpool repeated, starting to lose her patience.

"What about Socks?" asked Stormpaw.

"He's coming along with Tawnyblaze and me."

"How come he gets t'come an' not us?" complained Purdy.

Leafpool's patience snapped. "Okay, do you want to know why? It's because you're not a young cat anymore, Purdy, after all that walking and fighting, you need a rest. And Stormpaw, I can tell you're starting to wear out too."

"I may not be young no more, but I ain't worn out!" snapped Purdy. "You young cats think y'know ev'rythin'!"

"If any cat here is worn out, it's Tawnyblaze!" argued Stormpaw. "If I'm going to be going back to the barn, she should come with me."

"Please don't argue with me," pleaded Leafpool. "I don't have time, Lionkit and Jaykit don't have time either. And Tawnyblaze is coming with me because I'm the only cat here that knows what herbs to use. I'll need to keep redressing her wounds regularly, and as long as she doesn't strain herself too much, she'll be fine, I promise."

"Then show us how!" Stormpaw hissed. "Just don't make her hurt herself! She can't die!"

Tawnyblaze's eyes widened.

Stormpaw kept her burning eyes locked onto Leafpool's. "She can't die," she repeated. "I won't let her."

Leafpool was taken aback by Stormpaw's bond with her mentor. I felt the very same about Cinderpelt, she thought.

"Stormpaw," she mewed, staring steadily into the apprentice's dark blue eyes, "I can understand how much you care about Tawnyblaze. This is the cat who is going to train you into one of the first warriors of StormClan. You'll be a credit to our Clan, for your strength and bravery and beauty. Your will isn't seen very often even in Clan cats with the purest blood. It's your gift, but you must learn to use it wisely."

Stormpaw's expression didn't waver.

"You're not a stupid or ignorant cat, but you're young. You don't yet understand all there is to know in the world. Some of these things will take time and patience and experience to learn. That's why you have Tawnyblaze as a mentor, so she can teach you everything you must learn to become a warrior. While you are still a 'paw, you still are an apprentice. When you become a warrior, you'll be able to make all your own decisions. But until then, I am the mentor of StormClan. So when I tell you to head on back to the barn with Purdy, you'll do just that. Right?"

"But-"

"Tawnyblaze is perfectly fine with me. Socks will be coming with us. I will die before I let Tawnyblaze get hurt again. You have my oath as a medicine cat, Stormpaw."

The gray tabby apprentice was quiet for a long moment, her eyes dark slits, until she finally said, "Okay."

Relieved, Leafpool said, "Thank you."

Stormpaw's eyes gleamed in determination. "Just you wait," she meowed, looking at Leafpool and then Tawnyblaze. "I'll become a warrior StormClan can rely on."

"Then we'll be taking orders from you," joked Tawnyblaze, coughing slightly.

Stormpaw purred. "C'mon, Purdy. We have some kits to defend." She trotted away, her nose close to the ground in an attempt to detect the scent trail Leafpool had left.

"Kits? What kits? I though we was lookin' for kits, not defendin' 'em..." Purdy's voice faded away as he padded after Stormpaw.

It was quiet for a few moments, and then the black-and-white shape of Socks leaped atop a fence, his jaws full of marigold. "Where'r 'dey goin'?" he mewed around the leaves, jumping down from the fence and joining the two she-cats.

"I've just sent Stormpaw and Purdy back to the barn. Once I dress Tawnyblaze's wounds again, the three of us are going to track down my kits, and then we're going to regroup at the barn," meowed Leafpool.

Taking the marigold from Socks, Leafpool started to chew the tangy leaves and spit the juice onto Tawnyblaze's wounds. Her ears pricked for danger, Leafpool finished the task hastily but thoroughly, and in two shakes of a rabbit's tail, she was done and inspecting her work. The bleeding had ceased in most places; the only one she was worried about was the one on her throat. She decided to keep a careful eye on it.

"Okay, we're all done here. Socks, make sure to stay close to her and make sure she doesn't strain herself. Tawnyblaze, if you start feeling tired, we'll take a break."

Tawnyblaze snorted, but she didn't say anything.

Leafpool looked back over the bloodstained battlefield, where the scents of the dogs still lingered, and the fresher scent of spilled blood and fear overlaid the staler scents. She flicked her tail, and she, Tawnyblaze, and Socks set off in search of the two missing kits, completely unaware that blood and fear existed in more places than one. And they were also unaware of a pair of glowing, hatred-filled eyes watching them go...

"Ruby, tell us a story!" squeaked Hollykit.

"Yeah, it'll make things less boring around here!" added Breezekit, plopping down beside his sister.

Ruby exchanged a glance with Mossflower, a glance filled with sadness. The kits seemed so unaware how badly things had gone. Ruby was very surprised and disturbed that she had managed to cross paths with another Clan. After BloodClan... After Scourge... She shuddered.

"Pleeease, Ruby?" pleaded Hollykit, her brilliant green eyes growing very wide.

With a sigh, the older she-cat mewed, "Very well, little ones. Have you ever heard of the cat named Scourge?"

"Oh, yeah!" squeaked Hollykit. "He was that bad cat, the leader of BloodClan!"

"Our grandfather killed him!" boasted Breezekit. "Leafpool said so."

Ruby paused, something cold tickling her heart. So Scourge was dead after all. There's been a lot of rumors around, but you never know what to believe, she thought. "Well, you see... Scourge... was my brother."

"Your brother?" gasped Hollykit. "But you're too nice to have such an evil brother, Ruby!"

Ruby let out a barking laugh. "Nice, huh! Nice isn't a very good word to describe me, little ones," she mewed sadly.

"Well I think you're nice," declared Breezekit.

Kits are just so innocent, Ruby thought. They don't ever remember what you didn't do, only what you've done. Just like... Aloud she said, "Gather around, little kits. I'm going to tell you the story of a cat named Tiny..."

"We were littermates, Ruby, Tiny, and me," mewed Socks, a distant look appearing in his eyes as he and the two she-cats padded along. "Tiny was much smaller than my sister and me, and for that we always teased him and ridiculed him. We were so cruel. I can truthfully say that the cat you know as Scourge came from myself and Ruby. It was all our fault."

Leafpool blinked in sympathy. "No cat is perfect, Socks. You were only kits."

The tom sighed. "I know. But that doesn't make things any easier. In fact, it only really makes you feel worse. If only Ruby and I had treated our brother kindly and with respect... countless lives will have been saved."

"Could you tell us about it?" Tawnyblaze asked. "You may feel better just getting it all out."

"That's true," mused Socks. "Well, I lived with my brother and sister in a Twoleg nest with our mother Quince. I just received word of her passing only a few moons ago."

Tawnyblaze laid her tail over Socks's shoulders in a gesture of comfort while Leafpool imagined losing Sandstorm. She didn't like the icy feeling that raked down her spine.

"As I said, Tiny was much smaller than Ruby and me, so we never let him play with us. We shunned him from everything we did. And despite all that... I don't think he ever truly hated us. Not really. He just wanted to be accepted, to be loved. And we couldn't do just that one thing." Socks only hesitated for a moment. "He took more of an interest in the forest than me and my sister. Our father left for the forest before we were born, Mother said. One day we were napping, and when we woke, Tiny told us that he had gone into the forest. We didn't believe him. We just made fun of him. We should have known..."

"Then one day, Mother told us that we were going to leave the nest soon," Ruby continued. Hollykit, Breezekit, and Sunpaw watched with round eyes and pricked ears. Even Mossflower and Fawnstep were paying rapt attention, even though they didn't show as obvious attention as the younger cats. Sparrowheart still lay unconscious by his mate.

"Leave the nest? What do you mean?" asked Sunpaw.

"New Twolegs were going to come and take us away from our nest," answered Ruby.

"Take you away from your mother?" gasped Hollykit. "That's so mean!"

"No cat could ever take me away from Leafpool!" snarled Breezekit, flicking his back legs out in a clumsy battle move. "I'd rip their stupid faces if they tried!"

Ruby twitched. "But we accepted new Twolegs. They never took us too far away from our mother's house; we could see her whenever we liked."

"So did you get taken by different Twolegs?" asked Fawnstep.

Ruby nodded. "Socks was taken first, and then I was taken by a different Twoleg. No one ever took Tiny. Right before I was taken, I said the most terrible thing to Tiny. I said that kittens who didn't get adopted were thrown into the river. I saw the horror on his face; he honestly believed me. And I took delight in the fact that I had terrorized him. I watched him slip under a hole in the fence surrounding our nest and didn't see him again for many moons..."

"Our Twolegs treated us well. We stayed with them all through kithood, but one day they just disappeared without a trace."

Tawnyblaze's fur stood on end. "Disappeared..." The she-cat's blue eyes darkened as she turned her gaze to where the sun kissed the distant horizon, the deep oranges and reds of the sky stained with memories long buried and raw.

"Did they die?" asked Leafpool, scenting the air again. No Jaykit. No Lionkit.

Socks shrugged. "I don't know," he admitted. "I found Ruby; her Twolegs had left too. We lived next door to one another; maybe our Twolegs were related or something. We wandered into the city in search of a new home."

"City?" asked Leafpool, the strange word foreign on her tongue.

"Twolegplace," supplied Tawnyblaze.

"It was very difficult there. Ruby and I didn't know how to hunt. We had to beg for our food. We didn't get much; cats in the city tend to keep to themselves. That's when we heard about the cat named Scourge."

"Scourge!" Hollykit flattened herself against the ground, her green eyes wide with fear.

Ruby sighed. "Yes. Our brother, though we didn't know it then. Supposedly Scourge controlled the city and all the cats in it. He was very small, no larger than you, Sunpaw, even though he was fully-grown by then. Socks and I didn't realize it was Tiny until we saw him: a small black cat with a single white paw and ice blue eyes. He had changed a great deal since we last had seen him; he hadn't gotten any bigger, but he had a new name and enormous power. The cats there were in awe of him. His claws were reinforced with the teeth of dogs, and around his neck was a collar studded with dogs' fangs. He was not our brother anymore, but a monster. He allowed us to eat, but he exiled us from his territory. We hadn't gone back since."

Breezekit bared his teeth. "He's dead now, Firestar killed him!"

Ruby pricked her ears. "Who is Firestar?"

"Leafpool's father," meowed Hollykit. "He's the leader of ThunderClan."

Ruby fixated her sight on the horizon, feeling so sentimental that she thought she might burst from it. "I am glad he did. Scourge may have been my brother, but it is very good that he is no more."

"Hi, there! Is anyone up there?"

"Stormpaw?" Sunpaw leaped up and peered at the entrance of the barn. Ruby craned her neck and saw two cats - a small dark gray tabby she-cat and an elderly tabby tom - padding inside, their soaked fur plastered to their sides. The two climbed up the ladder and joined the rest of the cats.

"Who're you?" the older cat demanded rudely.

"My name is Ruby," she said, dipping her head politely. If the old cat wanted to act like a bad-tempered old fox, she certainly wasn't going to get in his way.

"Don't be so rude, Purdy," chided Mossflower. "This is Ruby's barn. She and her brother are nice enough to let us stay here."

"Brother?" asked the small cat whom Ruby guessed to be Stormpaw, Sunpaw's sister. "Is your brother Socks?" she asked Ruby.

Ruby blinked. "Why, yes he is. Do you know him already?"

Stormpaw and Purdy exchanged a glance. "Socks is with Leafpool and Tawnyblaze."

"Are your friends okay?" asked Ruby.

"Tawnyblaze is badly injured. And no cat knows where Lionkit, Jaykit, and Rainpaw are," Stormpaw mewed, worry shadowing her dark eyes.

Sunpaw stiffened in alarm. "Rainpaw's still missing?" he demanded, his green eyes burning.

Stormpaw shrugged. "We ran into Crowfeather on the way here. He's tracking down Leafpool and the others now. I think we all should stay here and wait for them to come back."

Ruby saw Sunpaw lash his tail and guessed that he was none too happy with that decision. "I want to go hunting. Is that okay with you?" he asked, looking to Ruby. "This is your barn, after all."

Ruby dipped her head. "Of course you can."

"I'll come too," mewed Stormpaw.

"If you don't mind, Sunpaw, could you perhaps teach me to hunt?" asked Fawnstep, stretching her back legs as she stood up. "I'd like to learn to feed myself."

The golden apprentice looked a little doubtful, but Stormpaw said, "Sure! The more the merrier!"

The three cats whisked down the ladder and into the rain, which was slowly starting to lighten into a steady drizzle. The worst of the storm is over, thought Ruby. For us, at least.

Scourge is one of my favorite characters, you might have noticed, so I couldn't resist talking about him. XD I also put in a very small nod to Sasha's manga series somewhere in the chapter because I adore the Warriors manga.

I also noticed that I accidentally put some foreshadowing to the end of this story somewhere in this chapter! What's interesting is that I don't even know if I knew how the story would end when I was writing this part, so that makes it even more intriguing to me. Kudos if you find it, but I will neither confirm nor deny any guesses you guys have :D

There's an elephant in the room that I haven't addressed yet (hint: the elephant's name is Lionkit), and while that must be frustrating, I can confirm that we get some answers in the next chapter! Cross my heart! (If I lie, may I be assaulted with Game of Thrones spoilers! D:)

Thank you so much for continuing to read! It means a lot :)

Chapter Summary: Leafpool is still treating Tawnyblaze's wounds when Tawnyblaze regains consciousness and demands that they start looking for the missing kits. Leafpool, Socks, and Tawnyblaze go looking for them while Stormpaw takes Purdy back to the barn.

At the barn, Hollykit and Breezekit want a story, so Ruby tells a story of her childhood (just as Socks is telling the same story to Leafpool and Tawnyblaze). At the end of the story, Stormpaw and Purdy arrive at the barn, passing on that they had bumped into Crowfeather, who is still hot on the hunt for his children.