Frostfire choked on some thick gray fur as she tried to scream. Ashflame dragged her away, his tail covering her jaws. Frostfire flailed as he thrust her into the lake, then pulled her spluttering form out quickly. "What in the name of StarClan?" she snapped, coughing out water.

"Shh!" Ashflame warned. "Let's get out of here. Then we can talk." Before Frostfire had a chance to respond, Ashflame turned and bounded away. Frostfire took one look back at the clearing and raced after him. She paused once Ashflame stopped.

"Why did you bring me to the ShadowClan border?" she complained, but she didn't really mind; she just wanted something to complain about.

"Why did you bring me to the ThunderClan border?" an overly high-pitched imitation came from the ShadowClan side. Darkclaw, his apprentice Smokepaw, and Whiteleaf padded over to the border, and Frostfire was pretty sure that it was Smokepaw who had spoken. She whirled around, stalking dangerously close to the border and growling in the gray-black tom's face.

"Say that again, you load of fox-dung!" she spat.

All her anger at Nightclaw spilled out.

Somewhere behind her, she felt Ashflame's teeth in her tail, trying to pull her back. "Frostfire! Stop!"

But of course she didn't. Smokepaw let out a falsely sweet purr. "All right. Why did you-" Frostfire cut him off by leaping straight for his throat. The apprentice let out a scream as her claws scored a gash down his neck, but he kicked out. Frostfire didn't even budge. This is too easy. The tom's thick gray fur became black, and his blue eyes turned to the green eyes of Nightclaw.

"You!" she spat, dragging her claws down his flanks. "You murderer! Traitor!"

A new force dragged her off the tom, and Frostfire blinked to see Ashflame standing over her. "Are you all right? Do you know this tom?" Ashflame released her to let her stand up, then pointed with his tail toward Smokepaw, who lay on the grass, blood bubbling at his throat.

"What? No." Frostfire looked away to hide her horror.

Across from her, Darkclaw looked as though she had turned into a monster that somehow left the Thunderpath, and Whiteleaf's tail was lashing, though even she looked terrified. "Then why did you call him a... murderer?"

Whiteleaf let out a hiss. "I believe you attacked an innocent apprentice, Frostfire. And that doesn't go unrepayed." She exchanged a glance with Darkclaw, then leaped at Frostfire. Frostfire jumped back, startled, but her claws still raked across her shoulder. Frostfire flung herself at Whiteleaf's neck, then jumped at her head, bowling her over.

Whiteleaf struggled beneath her, gasping for breath. "I thought he was another cat, okay?" Frostfire snapped. "It's... complicated."

Darkclaw stood up, then gazed at her, his amber eyes meeting her blue ones. "I believe you, actually. I don't know why."

"Well, I don't!" Whiteleaf snapped, but Frostfire dug her claws into her chest. "It may have been an accident, but what are you going to do about it?"

"Nothing!" Ashflame snapped, padding up to Frostfire's defense. "You already gave her a scar on her shoulder, and it's not like Smokepaw will die. I don't think his wounds are too bad, anyway!" He nudged Frostfire. "Let her go."

Once the ShadowClan cats had marked the border and left, Frostfire turned on Ashflame. "Yeah, that was a wonderful place to talk!" she spat sarcastically.

Ashflame took a step back. "I don't know what's gotten you so worked up, to do that to an apprentice, but-"

"I though he was Nightclaw!"

"You... what?" Ashflame stared as though she had gone mad. "That was a gray apprentice with blue eyes," he mewed slowly.

"I know! It was just a haze, okay?" Frostfire sheathed her claws. "Can we please drop it?"

Ashflame swiped playfully at her ear, and she ducked instinctively. "It's too late for you to do anything, isn't it?" he mewed. "Brackenstar's dead, and Nightclaw is the new leader." Frostfire dipped her head, then licked her chest in shame.

"I didn't know he would take such drastic action so fast," she muttered.

"The question is, what are you going to do about it?"

"I don't know!" Frostfire snapped. "So his deputy will obviously be Tawnywhisker, who believes that all of Nightclaw's actions, even his murdering, treacherous ones, are for the best. And Tawnywhisker is almost as bad as Nightclaw; the only difference being that he may not have killed as many cats."

"That's the problem. And then ThunderClan will fall!"

oO0Oo

Frostfire dropped a sparrow and a small pigeon on the pitifully small fresh-kill pile. It was leaf-bare, and to make up for their long absence, she and Ashflame had gone hunting. She padded over to Ashflame. "I guess we know what's going to happen, then."

Sure enough, heartbeats later, Nightclaw and Tawnywhisker padded into camp, dragging Brackenstar's limp body between them. "Brackenstar is dead!"

The clan poured out of the different dens, into the clearing, while Nightclaw leaped onto the Highledge. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the Highledge for a clan meeting!" He didn't need to say anything. The clan was already there. "Brackenstar is dead, and he was killed by a passing rogue while he, Tawnywhisker, and I were hunting near the Twolegplace."

Yeah, right.

"I am now the new ThunderClan leader," he mewed, with a touch of pride. "And I will lead this clan to greatness. Also, it is time to appoint a deputy. I say these words before StarClan, so that the spirits of my warrior ancestors will hear and approve my choice. Tawnywhisker will be the new deputy of ThunderClan. Tawnywhisker, you have proven to be a loyal and strong warrior. I trust that you will support me in all my decisions."

Frostfire shivered as Tawnywhisker dipped his head. "I will."

Frostfire didn't join in as the clan cheered for the newly named deputy. "Tawnywhisker! Tawnywhisker!"