(A/N: Not much action in this chapter, but an important conversation. The beginning of the climax is coming. Big things will happen in the next Streamflower POV. There's probably three-four chapters left for this installment. Expect big things. Secrets revealed and some...not revealed.)

Chapter 20

Swallowflight pelted through the forest, snow flying out from underneath her paws. The snow was now about as deep as a starling is high, and the cat's paws crunched over the icy ground. The air was frigid, but she didn't feel it. She was running too fast, ignoring the sting of the artic air against her eyes and nose.

Approaching the line of pine trees that dotted the ShadowClan border, the she-cat slid to a halt. The air was still and silent. No noise permeated through the forest. No breeze tore through the bare trees and no birds sang their merry tune. She glanced around, her eyes darting in every way, looking to see if trouble loomed nearby. There was nothing there, however. ShadowClan's scent had faded. A patrol had not been by since before sunhigh.

Sighing, Swallowflight felt her shoulders sag. She was hoping that a patrol would be there. She needed someone to talk to, and definitely not someone from ThunderClan. She wanted Newtclaw, but after her fight with Bramblestar and Ivypool, she thought any ShadowClan cat would do.

Maybe I could just join ShadowClan, she thought to herself. No, that wouldn't work. Rowanstar already knows Newtclaw still likes me. He'd never let me join- he'd just give me a lecture on the stupid warrior code!

"Hey, Swallowflight, come back here!" a she-cat's voice shouted from behind her.

Swallowflight whirled around. Ivypool was running towards her, her white-and-silver pelt fluffed up against the cold. "You don't want me to talk, so just leave me alone!" the black she-cat hissed.

The deputy slowed down, shaking snow out of her face. She circled the warrior, gazing at her with serious blue eyes.

"What is going on with you?" she meowed, her voice level. She did not appear to be as angry as she had been in camp.

Swallowflight raised her head. "Nothing is going on! I was raising fair points about the infallibility of StarClan."

Ivypool narrowed her eyes. "I know what you were saying, but where is that coming from? You've been doing your best to follow the code and be a good ThunderClan warrior since that whole Newtclaw problem. You've been doing more patrols than the other warriors, you stay out extra late on hunting patrols to bring back more food, you watch the kits…and now you're what? Running away? And disagreeing with the warrior code? Those ideas didn't come to you just today. You had to get them from somewhere."

"I just think the warrior code is outdated and that we're all more civilized than the Clans were all those season-cycles ago," the warrior mewed, "and StarClan has a track record of making terrible mistakes. If they're supposed to be wise and powerful, then they should have the power to deny deputies the right to lead if that deputy does not deserve it."

Sighing, Ivypool closed her eyes and shook her head. "I see what you're trying to say. I'm not disagreeing with you that StarClan has put some bad leaders into place. But they are not all powerful. They don't have a say in whether a deputy should not get to take over the Clan when their leader dies. Our code dictates that law- and the code was thought up by living cats, not StarClan. They're bound by our code just as we are."

"But don't you see how wrong that is?" Swallowflight cried. "They have no power! They have to live by an outdated code, too! It's all wrong and messed up- every bit of it!"

The deputy opened her eyes, staring into Swallowflight's with a gaze so intense the warrior had to look away. "It's not all wrong, Swallowflight," she meowed. "The code has good points. We should protect kits, whether or not they're from our Clan. We should feed elders and kits before ourselves. How can you say those rules are messed up?"

"They are!" Swallowflight hissed. "We shouldn't need rules to tell us it's wrong to hurt kits! We know that without the code! The old Clans were barbaric and backwards. They needed those rules, we don't."

"I want to know where these ideas are coming from," Ivypool meowed, her voice hardening. "Is this about Newtclaw? Tell me the truth!"

The warrior unsheathed her claws, digging them into the deep snow. "This is not about Newtclaw!" she wailed. "Why can't you just let that go?"

The deputy glanced toward the pine trees only a few tail-lengths away. "If this isn't about Newtclaw, then why did you run straight to the ShadowClan border?"

"I don't know!" Swallowflight cried. "Because I did!"

"You can't even come up with a good answer," the deputy growled. "I know this is about Newtclaw. You can't hide it."

Swallowflight shook her head angrily. "This isn't about Newtclaw!"

"Then what is it?" Ivypool hissed.

"It's about my father!" the warrior cried. Immediately she regretted her outburst. Of course she had ran to the ShadowClan border because she wanted to see Newtclaw. Of course she still loved him. It was her father that had convinced her it okay for them to be together, but still…she didn't want her Clan knowing he visited her dreams!

The deputy's eyes widened, clearly surprised about the answer. "Onestar?" she gasped. "How is this about him? You've never even met him!"

You're wrong about that! Swallowflight thought. She shifted her paws nervously. "I…um…I don't think he should have been sent to the Dark Forest."

"How would you know he's in the Dark Forest?" Ivypool mewed. She stared at the black she-cat for a long moment. Suddenly her eyes widened, realizing what must be happening. "You're not…you're not seeing him in your dreams, are you?"

"So what if I am?" Swallowflight meowed. "He's my father. He wanted to get to know me, and I wanted to get to know him."

The deputy flicked her tail nervously, not sure how to respond to the warrior. "Onestar is in the Dark Forest because while he was alive he did terrible things. Hasn't Nightcloud told you how he made her a prisoner? He allowed for her to very nearly be killed. Because of him both Breezepelt and Eaglekit are dead. Your brothers are dead because of him!"

"That's a lie!" Swallowflight hissed. "He's told me the truth! He said Nightcloud didn't want us kits. That she tricked him into thinking she loved him! He only wanted to be a good father and when my mother ran away he only wanted to get us back! Onestar wanted to be a good father and Nightcloud wouldn't let him!"

Ivypool's eyes widened. "Well, now I know why you haven't been speaking to your mother." She snorted, shaking her head. "Don't you think if what Onestar was telling you is true then he'd be in StarClan? If he'd done nothing wrong then he would not have been sent to the Dark Forest!"

"StarClan makes mistakes!" Swallowflight growled. "They do it all the time. My father should be in StarClan."

"You're being lied to, Swallowflight," the deputy meowed. "Don't listen to him. He's steering you wrong."

The warrior shook her head. "No, it's all of you who are steering me wrong. He's made me realize the truth about StarClan and the code. It all makes sense now."

Ivypool stared at the warrior for a long moment. After a long hesitation, she sighed and stood up. "Come on," she meowed quietly. "Let's go back to camp."

"What are you going to do with me?" Swallowflight asked, preparing for the punishment that was sure to follow- a punishment she knew she didn't deserve.

"Nothing," the deputy sighed. "I have a feeling we're going to be having a long conversation with Bramblestar…"