A few moons later…

Shrewfur sat at the edge of the lake alone, hearing nothing but the sound of his stomach protesting the scarce prey of leaf-bare. The sunrise stretching out in front of him marked the third moon since he had come back from the dead.

Ever since he rejoined ThunderClan with Swiftfoot, he realized that it was nearly impossible to sleep. Too many times he had gone to Leafpool and Jaypaw, only to be turned back because there was "nothing they could do," and he should "try tiring himself out with more hunting and patrols." Shrewfur should have been the medicine cat instead because none of that worked. Instead, he chose to get up early and watch the sunrise; he marked it with claw marks on the trunk of the tree he sat under, a large oak next to the lake.

"I thought I'd find you here." Swiftfoot padded down the gravel and sat next to his "brother." "Still can't sleep?"

Shrewfur snorted. "What do you think?" They sat in silence and stared out at the sky.

"Gathering's tonight," Shrewfur announced. "Do you think Tigerstar will have made his move?"

"I doubt it. He seems content as deputy."

The brown warrior snorted. "That's hilarious. Tigerstar, content not being number one. Next, I suppose you'll say Light is content not being in the Tie Between the Worlds."

Swiftfoot flicked his tail. "It's been three moons, Shrewfur. You should know; you're keeping track." He nodded to the scratches on the tree. "Tigerstar or Tigerfur or whatever hasn't done anything. Blackstar hasn't lost a life. And Hawkfrost, or Flamepelt, is just a warrior. An average warrior. Maybe all they wanted was to be a warrior and the deputy of ShadowClan. Maybe-"

Shrewfur interrupted him. "You don't believe that. Think of Russetfur. Tigerstar murdered her, then the deputy after her because he was ready to be deputy. And Blackstar appointed him. Next, on his own time, he'll be Clan leader with Hawkfrost as his deputy. That's how he is, Swiftfoot."

Swiftfoot sighed. "We'll see. You're right, I don't believe it. But a warrior can dream, can't he?"

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The past few moons had been the most eventful and uneventful of Shrewfur and Swiftfoot's lives. They received their warrior names rather quickly, being the "quickest learners the leader and deputy had ever seen." That didn't surprise either of them, since Swiftfoot should've been a young warrior when he died, and Shrewfur was fairly close to being a warrior himself.

Light had shocked them both by joining ThunderClan, but not surprising at all, she refused the warrior name they chose for her.

"You have beautiful, shining eyes, so why not Shiningeyes?" Firestar mewed innocently.

Light hissed in fury. "Because that is the most idiotic, asinine, moronic, and stupid name I have ever heard in my life! And believe you me, I'm not a kit any longer!"

She chose instead to keep the name Shrewfur chose for her, Light; the other clans hated this, but Firestar held his ground at that Gathering. She was still a loyal member of ThunderClan, blah, blah, blah.

Shrewfur was bored at that Gathering. This one, however, would be different. Because of his insomnia, he hunted more and went on more patrols that any cat, so he had gone to every Gathering; he was able to always keep an eye on Hawkfrost (Flamepelt) and Tigerstar (Tigerfur). Every time there was a report of dead warriors in ShadowClan, probably those who resisted the takeover. Shrewfur knew Tigerstar was going to make his move soon.

"Do you think this'll be it?" Shrewfur whispered to Light as they waited for ThunderClan to cross the bridge.

"How am I supposed to know," she hissed. "I'm mortal now." She followed behind Firestar and Brambleclaw and disappeared into the crowd of Clan cats on the island.

And what a crowd it was. Shrewfur was taken aback every time he went to a Gathering about just how many cats there were in the Clans, this being only a fraction of them. Tortoiseshell, tabby, tom, she-cat, RiverClan, WindClan, apprentice, warrior, elder… All types of cats were represented under the full moonlight, talking to other cats.

ThunderClan seemed to be the last to arrive, and Firestar wasted no time starting the Gathering. He howled loud enough to wake those sleeping in ThunderClan; Shrewfur seated himself next to Swiftfoot and Light.

Lionblaze sat next to him. He leaned in towards Shrewfur. "Blackstar lost his last life. Look, Tigerfur-well, Tigerstar now- is there."Shrewfur felt his heart skip a beat. Lionblaze was right, he realized. It's time for us to act… Then what? Will Light make us return to StarClan? Is my second life over? There was no time to worry about that now. Now, the Clans had a bigger problem.

Firestar invited Tigerstar to speak. "I come before you all the new leader of ShadowClan. Blackstar tragically lost his last life-"

By your claws, I bet.

"-and I have assumed the leadership of my Clan with Flamepelt as my deputy."

A wide chorus of meows sounded below him. Some, especially the older ones, lamented the loss of Blackstar; a few small groups were congratulating Flamepelt and Tigerstar; the rest muttered uneasily about the leader's name, heritage, and appearance relating to the other Tigerstar.

Shrewfur thought for half a second how laughable it was that their greatest fear was in front of them, and they had no clue who it was him. But only half a second.

Firestar was clearly thinking of Tigerstar; his eyes were narrowed, and his tail twitched. He composed himself long enough to speak. "We welcome you… Tigerstar." He proceeded to talk about the events in ThunderClan; the other two followed him. Shrewfur barely heard him, though. He was too busy worrying.

"Should we tell Firestar about us?" He whispered to Swiftfoot.

"What?! Have you finally lost it?"

"Finally? What do you mean by-"

"That makes no sense at all, Shrewfur. What about Light? What will we say about her?" Swiftfoot whispered at the end; ThunderClan was starting to leave. The pair got to the back of the line and waited.

"He needs to know, Swiftfoot," mewed Shrewfur.

"We can handle this." Swiftfoot's tone said that the discussion was over, so Shrewfur growled softly and crossed the bridge. Not watching his footing, he nearly slipped once or twice, but he managed to not fall in.

StarClan, Shrewfur thought, what do you think I should do?

There was nothing they could do, of course. Shrewfur knew that first hand. Stars stared back at him with nothing helpful at all.

I've got to tell him.

I don't know if Shrewfur will tell him… Is that bad? XD I planned on extending their apprenticeship, but it would have been dull, so I moved the plot along.