Chapter Eleven:

"Now, we can do this the easy way," the black tom growled, unsheathing his long, sharp claws. "Or the hard way…"

Whitepaw felt her body freeze and her blood-stained claws retract into their places. She raised a paw to try and deflect an attack, but the three others behind the black tom took it as an attack signal.

"Let us at her, Shadowpaw!" cried a white she-cat with gray ears, her teeth bared in a snarl and her claws sheathing and unsheathing in anticipation. Whitepaw guessed that she would be the one to attack her first, so she had to be ready; this cat looked awful fast and quick with her claws. "We can take her while you go and tell Rushstar!"

"Quiet, Cloudears," the black tom –Shadowpaw- meowed, his voice full of authority as though he were leader himself. "My father doesn't need to know about this." He sent Whitepaw a devilish smirk and a flash with the same menace passed through his eyes. "Not yet, anyway…" He suddenly turned, his back to Whitepaw and his tail brushing against her whiskers. "Surround her. We'll take her to camp and see what Rushstar wants to do with her. But I wouldn't be surprised if he wanted her executed for trespassing." He flashed her that same grin once more. "It's happened before, after all."

Fear snaked throughout Whitepaw's lithe body as she was led away from the border, the three cats surrounding her so close to the point where she couldn't even see the sky above her when she would look behind her. She was being led away from her home for the first time in her life...

She grinned and let out a warm purr.

She was just fine with that.

Shadowpaw led Whitepaw through SunClan's camp, and the white she-cat drew back and hissed at the vast amount of sunlight streaming through the camp due to the fact that SunClan cats... well, lived in the sunshine with no trees to barricate the harsh rays.

"Great StarClan," The white she-cat Whitepaw had met earlier -Cloudears, was it? She glanced behine her to where the SunClan warrior was chatting with two others cats -a large golden tom and a dark, almost russet-tinted she-cat. She looked at the warrior's ears; gray. Yes, it was Cloudears. "Do HailClan cats ever see the sun?"

"Apparently not," remarked the russet-colored she-cat with a small snort of amusement. "from the way she drew away, I would've thought she was allergic!"

"Poor thing," the large golden tom cooed sarcastically. "the kit probably spent its life living in darkness!"

"HailClan sees the sun!" Whitepaw growled, her shoulder fur bristling. "Just not as much as SunClan cats..."

"Do you even know what the sun feels like?" The russet she-cat asked with a twitch of her whiskers. "Go on, kit! Step into the sunlight and let it drape onto you!"

"I'm not a kit!" Whitepaw snapped, and to prove her point she went head first into the bright and blinding sun, feeling it warm her back and the earth underpaw. She let out a warm purr of contemptment and sighed, wanting to stand there forever enjoying the warmth.

"HailClan!"

The voice of Shadowpaw snapped Whitepaw out of her haze, and drawing her eyes open she saw the black tom approaching her with an identical black cat behind him -the only difference between them were their eyes; Shadowpaw's were a light, ocean blue and the other cat's were yellow. "This," Shadowpaw meowed, gesturing to the larger tom behind him, "is my father, Rushstar. He's our leader."

Whitepaw -with her mouth open in a silent gape- bent her body into an arch in a bow of respect. The large black tom let out a growl and snarled, "Stand up, crowfood!" which made Whitepaw jump back to her paws and stand before the two cats, her eyes looking down at her mud-caked paws.

A sharp blow hit her across the side of her head, and she staggered a small bit. Claws suddenly lifted her chin up high enough to face a pair of cold, emotionless yellow eyes. They held no sympathy, no compassion... They were lifeless. "Look at me when I'm talking to you, HailClan scum!" Rushstar hissed, lashing his tail. "I could kill you right here and now if I felt the need!" He allowed his bristling fur to lie flat and sighed, gaining his composure and letting a fake I'm-not-going-to-rip-you-to-shreds smile form across his muzzle. "Come into my den, we must discuss some things."

On shaking paws, Whitepaw followed the large tom towards a deep cavern inside of a tree, located in the far left of SunClan's camp. Shadowpaw followed her closely, every once in a while their pelts brushing; Shadowpaw would mutter an apology and stop so she would go ahead of him so it wouldn't happen again, and then continue to follow.

Once they were inside Rushstar's den and all three cats had taken a seat -Rushstar in his nest, Shadowpaw sitting on a high ledge that was coming out from the top of the den, and Whitepaw on the hard yet warm ground- Rushstar began to speak. "Why in the name of StarClan would you go onto my territory? Doesn't HailClan teach their cats not to go over borders? Every cat says that's what your Clan teaches new apprentices first thing." He let out a snort and stared at Whitepaw through narrowed yellow eyes. "They obviously didn't teach you."

"They taught me the ways of a medicine cat!" Whitepaw retorted with a sharp hiss. "Can you say the same about your foul cats, who played a part in my father's death?"

Rushstar hissed and within heartbeats he was standing muzzle-to-muzzle with Whitepaw, his yellow eyes finally showing the emotion of rage. "How dare you talk about my noble and loyal warriors that way, HailClan? And if you're a so called medicine cat, what's your special herb you need to steal from us now?"

Whitepaw thought long and hard about the herbs Skystorm had wanted a few days ago when they were cleaning out the herb store. She suddenly beamed; she knew what one! "We need some raspberry leaves, chamomile, and catmint."

"My medicine cat will get you those." Rushstar meowed hastily, as if he didn't believe her yet knew he had too, for she was a medicine cat. "And I will have Shadowpaw and two of my warriors escort you out of our territory for good." He flicked his tail, and Shadowpaw stepped up beside Whitepaw, his ocean blue eyes gleaming.

"Come on," he meowed, a slight redness creeping onto his features. "I'll just take you out myself."

"Here you are," Shadowpaw meowed with a sigh. "You're back at the border."

"Thank you for helping me find my way back," Whitepaw murmured, and then looked at the night-black tom. "Thank your father for allowing me to use these herbs as well."

"Sure," Shadowpaw meowed as he turned away, back towards his home. "I'll tell him for you."

Whitepaw watched him leave and then looked up at the sky, shock coursing through her veins at the night-black sky.

It's moonhigh! I'm late for my meeting with Acornpaw!