Hey all! Sorry its been so long since I added a new chapter, I have been so busy with work and school. I am also working on a story for a scholarship I am applying for and would love some extra feedback if anyone is interested in peer editing it for me. Send me a private message if you are interested!

Enjoy!

Ravenpaw

"Make sure you take it easy tonight, I don't want you to over exert yourself so soon after you have healed." Morningdew said, her eyes fully of concern as she sniffed at the scar on my leg. "Im fine mother, I have to get my strength back." I reassured her and she looked from me to Silverpaw, "You two be careful." Silverpaw shrugged, "Father is practically the leader of Windclan, what could happen?" A flash of panic flashed in our mothers eyes so fast I thought it was a trick of the light, she nodded a small smile brightened her face. "Your right, I am probably just…over thinking things. Give my greetings to Lemonshade dear." She said turning back to me, "Invite her over for more meals, I would love to get to know her better." A nodded, faking a grin for her until she turned to join Lionblaze and Birchfall on a hunting patrol.

"What was that about?" I whispered to Silverpaw as we made our way to the Windclan border. "What?" he said obliviously, "You didn't see that look in her eye when you said "what could happen?" she looked almost scared." Silverpaw waved his tail lazily, "Mother is always like that, you are her precious baby tom!" he mocked, giving me wide concerned eyes. I glared at him, "I was born before you were you know."

"Maybe, but I am bigger and stronger and way better looking." he said, jumping over a fallen log with ease. I chose to walk around it. "Of course, you are the cutest badger I have ever seen." We both laughed then and enjoyed the cool breeze as it snaked through our pelts. "Thank you for coming with me tonight." I said as we reached the moors. "I figured you needed an extra paw. Besides I wasn't joking about my assessment, do you think you will get to do yours the same time?" I wasn't sure, I had been in the medicine cats den for almost a moon healing from the rat fight and in that time I had missed so many lessons. "I hope so, maybe if we show our father our skills tonight then he will speak on my behalf to Bramblestar." I suggested as we wove between the grass. I kept my ears perked for any noises, "Good idea, I wonder if he will even be there. He hasn't been giving many lessons lately because of all the extra work he has to take on." Silverpaw said, keeping himself low on his paws to keep his large form out of sight.

"I am sure he will be. He wouldn't miss a lesson with us, he never has." I said mostly to reassure myself, I know our father is the Windclan deputy soon to be leader but I still wanted him to see how skilled I was. He and Morningdew had done so much to keep us as close as they could and I would never forget the sacrifices they both made for us. I would spend the rest of my life trying to make them proud of the warrior I was going to be. "Don't think I am going to let you show me up brother." Silverpaw nudged my shoulder when we broke through the thickest of the grass. Ahead of us I could see the outline of cats in the distance waiting for Lemonshade's lesson. I could see Deerpaw and Mosspaw sitting next to Crouchfoot and Oakpaw. Shadowclan had Goosepaw and Brackenpaw with their mentors Tigerheart and Wildclaw. Lemonshade sat in the middle of the group speaking with Heronwing and Raincloud who had Softpaw and Berrypaw speaking softly by their sides. It appeared Silverpaw and I were the only representatives from Thunderclan and to my dismay Nightfang was nowhere in sight. "I guess I wont have to." I whispered back as we got closer, "Im sure he is on his way." Silverpaw responded confidently and when heads turned to see our arrival he called out, "Good evening friends. Whos ready to chase some rabbits?"

"Do you even get rabbits in those dense trees?" Oakpaw said jokingly as he and Silverpaw touched noses in greeting. "More than you think, are you ready to see how fast a Thunderclan cat can move?" I smiled as the two exchanged banter and my eyes caught Softpaw who smiled brightly at me and gestured to a empty spot next to her. I smiled back and made a bee line to where she sat, a passed Brakenpaw and Goosepaw as I walked and the two Shadowclan apprentices quickly grew silent as they watched me pass. Curious….maybe I should greet them and- "Hey you, I was wondering how long you were going to make me wait." A bright voice broke through my thoughts and Lemonshade pushed her face forcefully into mine, poking me in the eye with a whisker. "Sorry love, I wanted you to pine for me." I said recovering the sloppy gesture with a smooth turn of my cheek onto hers.

We smiled at each other and in the corner of my eye I saw Softpaw look at her paws uncomfortably. A pang of regret twisted my stomach, "Are you ready to begin?" Lemonshade said twisting herself to block my view of Softpaw. "Of course, it is only part of the reason I am here." I said with a wink and Lemonshade made a youthful giggle. Silverpaw made a fake gagging gesture with his tail and Oakpaw, Deerpaw and Mosspaw chuckled along with him. "Alright every cat line up over here and I will explain how a proper Windclan warrior tracks, hunts and catches a rabbit." I moved with Silverpaw and when we walked past Brackenpaw and Wildclaw a herd one of them hiss, "Half clan mange pelts." Silverpaw spun around before I registered what they said, "What did you call me, tick muncher?"

Brackenpaw and Wildclaw stared defiantly back at us, "We didn't say anything?" Brackenpaw said, fear dusted his eyes, "Yeah, do you have bees in your brain or something?" Wildclaw glared his claws scrapping the ground. "Silverpaw, just ignore them." I hissed when every cats eyes locked on us, "Figures that a Shadowclan cat wont stand behind their words. You got something to say to me you fox hearts!" Anger burned in my brothers blue eyes making them look like comets. "Is this how Windclan lets their guests be treated? How dare you insult Shadowclan when we have done nothing wrong!" Wildclaw said loud enough for all to hear as he looked at Lemonshade accusingly. Lemonshade looked at me her golden eyes clouded with confusion. Quickly I nudged Silverpaw with my shoulder, "Just ignore them, we cant engage Shadowclan right now it would ruin everything." I whispered, Silverpaw hissed in response his pride refusing to let him back down from the taunt.

"Whats going on?" Lemonshade said pushing in between us and the Shadowclan cats. "Its nothing, we must have misunderstood them is all." I said with a apologetic smile in Wildclaw's direction, I head-butted Silverpaw harder this times and he finally began to let me lead him to the other end of the line of uneasy cats, his eyes never leaving Wildclaw's and Brackenpaw's. "Im going to rip their tails off." Silverpaw threatened under his breather as we sat a bit further from the group. "They did that on purpose don't you see? They are trying to get under your fur so that you would attack them so they could look like victims." I said laying my tail over his shoulder reassuringly. Silverpaw was still tense and bristling with anger but I could feel him breathing deeply to steady himself. Lemonshade kept looking our way as she began her lesson and guilt nipped at my paws. This was her first lesson and Silverpaw and I were embarrassing her in front of all of these cats, I would have to make it up to her some how.

Maybe if I caught a rabbit tonight I could repay her for the one she shared with me earlier. "Who wants to give it a try?" she said, her eyes bright when a few cats waved their tails and my heart warmed. She clearly loved teaching even if not all of the cats belonged to Windclan, Berrypaw and Heronwing were picked to demonstrate the crouch she showed us and her tone was so gentle when she corrected them.

"Any questions? No? Alright, lets get started. Everyone grab a partner and follow me. Starclan willing we have some rabbits out this late but if not your partner and yourself will take turns being the rabbit." Lemonshade said as we began to pick partners, Oakpaw padded over to Silverpaw asking about what happened with Wildclaw and Brackenpaw who had decided to pair together and watched us carefully from the rock they stood by. "Wildclaw is such a mousebrain isn't he?" Softpaw said making me jump at her sudden appearance. She chuckled lightly, "Im guessing you will be the rabbit then?" I felt a flush in my cheeks and I shook my fur out to cover it up. "I doubt I would taste as good." Softpaw laughed again and I found myself almost enjoying the cheerful sound. Unlike Lemonshade, Softpaw seemed to share my sense of humor and even enjoyed being around me. Not that Lemonshade didn't but, well, she didn't seem to enjoy it as much as Softpaw did. "Did you want to be partners?" I asked looking at Lemonshade who was thankfully talking to Goosepaw and Tigerheart and was out of earshot.

"I remember you preferring to do lessons by yourself." She said with a raised look, referencing the lesson I brushed her off on when my father was teaching us to climb steep slopes without injuring our claws. "I didn't want you to see me embarrass myself when I inevitably fell on my face."

"Well I promise I wont look when it happens this time." She said slyly with a wink and we both laughed. "Are you ready Softpaw?" Berrypaw said pushing up beside us. "Oh actually Berrypaw I was going to pair with Ravenpaw. He did ask first." She said looking at me hopefully, Berrypaw gave me a sideways look and I could see obvious worry in them. He leaned down to whisper in his training mates ear and she rolled her eyes, "If you want to give into forest rumors then fine but Im not going to let that stop me from making friends. Come on Ravenpaw, we have rabbits to find." Softpaw got up and stomped away from Berrypaw who watched us nervously as we moved into the taller grasses to practice.

"What was that about?" I asked trying not to sound to eager. "Berrypaw thinks you are playing with me." Softpaw said shaking her head with annoyance. "I know you and Lemonshade are mates and I am fine with that, it doesn't mean we cant be friends right?" she smiled and kept walking, I found myself taken back by her honesty. Did she really not care about Lemonshade and me? Maybe Wishpaw was wrong about her liking me, I mean I wouldn't want to be friends with Lemonshade if she was with another tom….right? I shook my head hard to clear my thoughts, none of this mattered the point of me befriending Softpaw was to get information about Sneakhearts plans and if Riverclan was involved. I had to find out fast before our relationship got any more complicated.

"Do you smell any rabbits?" Softpaw said, sniffing the air. I perked my ears and sniffed deeply. The moors smelled of grass and wild herbs and I found I really enjoyed the openness compared to the shelter of the trees. I looked around for a minute and didn't see any rabbits. "Not yet, maybe we should move a bit further down the hill." I suggested taking note of our height, maybe our shadows were scaring away the prey. "Good idea, lets go this way." She said waving her tail behind her as she slunk low to the ground and stalked through the rustling grasses. I followed her closely and I could pick out the darker shades of ginger in her creamy coat. Focus you mouse brain.

"Ravenpaw!" Lemonshade called, jumping on to a nearby rock and spotting me in the high grasses. "There you are, I was looking for you." I stood up from my hunting crouch to meet her gaze as she jumped from the rock and moved swiftly to where Softpaw and I stood. "Oh, I didn't realize you had already found a partner." She said, giving Softpaw a forced smile. "Well I though it would be better to practice with someone who wouldn't be bias to my obvious talents." I joked getting a cuff behind the ear from Lemonshade. "Really? you think you can catch a rabbit so easily do you?" she turned to Softpaw who watched our exchange with rye amusement. "Have either of you found anything yet?"

"Not yet, I was just about to suggest we separate and do the mock hunt like you told us. I doubt we would have been able to sense a rabbit through all of this grass anyway. I don't know how you Windclan cats do it." Softpaw said with a shrug. Lemonshade seemed taken back by the Softpaw's openness and didn't respond right away as if she was expecting a snide remark but when none came I said, "Well, grass isn't much harder to hunt in than the trees, you just need to focus with your ears instead of your eyes."

Softpaw nodded but her gaze didn't look very confident, "Here Ill show you." Lemonshade said, looking at me. "How about you be the rabbit and I will hunt you, then Softpaw can see how its done." I agreed with a shrug and pointed to the rock where Lemonshade had stood moments ago, "Go wait there and watch." All of us separated and I dashed into the grass, finding a hidden spot and brushed the grass with my tail the way a rabbits ears might and waited for Lemonshade to find me.

Lemonshade

I decided to make a wide circle around where Softpaw's perch and where I knew Ravenpaw must be hiding. I didn't need to crouch low since the grass was hiding my position and I let the wind blowing through the grasses hide my movements as I closed in on Ravenpaw. I checked to see if Softpaw was watching and to my irritation she wasn't even looking in our direction. "Hey, if your not going to watch then why did you even bother coming to my lesson." I growled over the wind and her head whipped around with shock, "Oh sorry Lemonshade, I didn't mean to its just I noticed two cats moving towards the others and I-"

I sprang up, "Other cats? Where?" I hurried over to rock and jumped up beside her, almost pushing her off. "Over there." She pointed her tail to the west and when I narrowed my eyes I could see two dark shapes moving through the moor like shadows. It was Nightcloud and Breezepelt, what were they doing sneaking up on my lesson like this? "Its just my other clanmates, now pay attention." I said ignoring Softpaw's unsure look and jumped down, I was about to retake my position when I herd a distinct yowl from behind us. "Look, its Silverpaw! He is being attacked!" Softpaw howled, frozen to her spot. Before I could move, Ravenpaw dashed out of the grass with lightening speed not even bothering to wait for us. "Ravenpaw, wait!" I called trying to follow him but the dust he kicked up as he ran slowed me down.

Shaking the dirt from my eyes I could hear more cries in the distance and knew I had to hurry. Softpaw waited for me and when we made it back to the others I froze in horror, Nightcloud and Breezepelt where attacking Silverpaw while Brackenpaw and Wildclaw blocked Ravenpaw and Oakpaw. "Get out of the way before I rip your whiskers off!" Ravenpaw hissed, his hackles raised and his blue eyes blazing. "Make us halfclan rat! Or is your father the only one without a back bone!" Wildclaw hissed back, Oakpaw looked confused and frightened and Silverpaw was no match for two senior warriors. "Nightcloud, Breezepelt what are you doing? What is going on!" I shouted, hurrying to stop Nightcloud who had dug her claws into Silverpaw's hind legs while Breezepelt swatted at his face. I grabbed Nightcloud's scruff but she batted me swiftly across the nose with a sheathed paw and I saw spots in my vision, "Stay out of this." She growled, turning back to Breezepelt who now had Silverpaw clamped onto a forepaw and was twisting like a trapped weasel.

I was about to jump in again but a commanding howl broke through the chaos. "In Onestars name I order you to stop!" every cat froze as a large shadow filtered down on us and I turned to see Nightfang, silhouetted in the sun making him look 10 times his size. His furious orange eyes glared down on us like a wolf among sheep, "Release my son, NOW!" Nightcloud and Breezepelt stopped their assault and let Silverpaw get to his paws. The silver tom was bleeding from a scratch over his eye and I could see streaks of blood in his fur but nothing seemed fatal, though you wouldn't guess he was hurt at all by how tall he stood. The blue eyes he had inherited from his mother burned with a seething rage and for a moment I thought he would spring at them but instead he moved away a few tail lengths away.

Nightfang dashed down the slope and stood between them, his fury still evident in his lashing tail, "Care to explain why my father and grandmother are attacking their kin?"

"He is no kin of mine!" Breezepelt hissed, staring through Nightfang as if he were from another clan. Nightcloud looked at Breezepelt sharply before addressing her deputy, "This Thunderclan cat was trespassing, we were only defending our territory."

"Tresspassing? There is no trespassing anymore Nightcloud." Nightfang said coldly, I moved to his side, "They were not trespassing and you know it! I was hosting a lesson that Onestar himself approved." Nightcloud and Breezepelt didn't even look at me but stared at Nightfang with contempt, "I know you don't approve of the new laws father but you cannot disregard the wishes of your clan leader and Starclan. I will not allow it!" Breezepelt flashed his fangs, "You would allow others to learn Windclan secrets so that they could hunt our prey to extinction, do you want us to starve!"

"There is more than enough prey in Windlcan. Even if there wasn't we have a pact with the other clans for aide if anything was to-"

"Spoken like a true traitor. I taught you to fight like a warrior, not bow down to the fantasies of Starclan." Breezepelt interrupted, I flinched at the hatred in his eyes. I knew that Breezepelt and Nightcloud didn't like the new rules but I had no idea that they hated their own kin like this. "Windclan is not bowing to anything, it is change Breezepelt, we all deserve to be at peace." Nightfang said firmly, if he was hurt by anything his father was saying he certainly didn't show it. "You will ruin us all!" Nightcloud shouted, standing with Breezepelt. Nightfang took a deep, calming breath but his eyes still flared with anger. "Go home. I will discuss punishment with Onestar so until then I don't want either of you to leave the camp."

Nightcloud and Breezepelt looked as if they would protest but even they couldn't ignore a direct order by the clan deputy. Stomping past him they slunk back to our camp, Breezepelt shot Silverpaw a glare as he limped by. I watched them leave and thought I saw them exchange satisfied looks back at me but I couldn't have been sure as Nightfang began speaking again, "I think its best if we sent everyone home now. You can host another lesson after the gathering tomorrow." I nodded grimly understanding his view. "Its probably a good idea. Should Silverpaw see Kestrelflfight?" Nightfang looked at his son who turned away, wiping the blood from his face. Ravenpaw hurried to his side and began sniffing at his wounds, "Are you alright?" Nightfang asked joining his kits and looking them both over.

"Im fine." Silverpaw growled, not looking his father in the eye. "I will ask Kestrelflight to come see to you." he offered but Silverpaw shook his head, "I can make it home besides I don't want to anger your clan any further." Nightfang's eyes filled with shame, "I am sorry that happened to you son but I promise that not every cat in Windlcan feels as my father does, you are half Windclan after all you are always welcome there." Silverpaw looked up with disbelieving look, "As welcome as a summer drought right?" Ravenpaw nudged him, but the large apprentice didn't take back his comments. Even I began to feel shame in my clanmates for how they treated our deputies kits. "I will see you home at least." Nightfang said, moving to help Silverpaw up but Silverpaw pulled away, "I told you I can make it home fine on my own." A small hiss escaped his throat and Nightfang looked truly hurt as his son pushed passed him and Ravenpaw and stalked back towards Thunderclan.

"Hes just upset because you saw him get his tail handed to him." Ravenpaw said, trying to make Nightfang feel better but it didn't seem to work. Nightfang's shoulders sagged and I moved to rub my head on his shoulder in comfort. Ravenpaw gave me an odd look but I ignored him, "Don't worry, he will be fine." I soothed, rubbing my nail down Nighfangs back the way he used to do to me when I messed up on a lesson. Nightfang looked at Ravenpaw, "Make sure your mother is alright, I may not be seeing her for a few days until I can sort this out." And with a grateful look at me he gave his son a lick and turned to leave. I watched him go and nodded a goodbye to Ravenpaw, "Why didn't you tell me." he said so low that I almost didn't hear him.

"Told you what?" I turned back to look at him, his eyes hard and his whiskers still. Confusion began clouding my thoughts when he finally said, "Why didn't you tell me that you were in love with my father?"