Tigerclaw barely slept that night, unable to put his plan at the back of his mind long enough to doze off. Soon, in a matter of hours, the kittypet would be disgraced. Yellowfang would as well. ThunderClan would be his for the taking.

And Frostfur's kits... well, they'd probably be fine. Tigerclaw shrugged off any worries about the kits' rescue. The important part was making the kittypet appear to be a traitor and then everything else would fall into place. He'd volunteer to lead the attack on ShadowClan if necessary, and hopefully that would make him look like a hero and increase Bluestar's respect and trust in him. Then when he sabotaged Redtail the deputyship would be his for the taking.

And even though Lionheart was still around, Tigerclaw found that he didn't mind. This time he would be deputy, not Lionheart, and the golden tabby warrior would be a useful cat to have as a supporter. Perhaps he could make Lionheart his deputy at some point. Darkstripe's stupidity might put his leadership at risk, and now that Lionheart had finally stopped looking at him strangely, the golden tabby's influence could very well strengthen his support among ThunderClan.

Tigerclaw closed his eyes. The scene burned his eyelids: himself and Lionheart, standing at the top of the Highrock as leader and deputy, looking down upon the Clan. Tigerclaw raised his head to yowl something to the gathered group of cats. Lionheart nodded supportively as the rest of ThunderClan cheered...

He was basking in the image when, as though summoned by the thought, Lionheart sat down next to him. "Did you hear the good news? Brindleface kitted last night."

Tigerclaw grunted, and then figured he should say something. "That is good to hear."

"They will make fine warriors. You should see them."

Tigerclaw nodded. There was no way he would have time for such frivolities today, when so much was at stake. "Perhaps I will later," he lied smoothly. "There is still much to be done."

"Not taking Firepaw hunting again, are you?"

Tigerclaw froze. Does he know? If Lionheart discovered that Tigerclaw had ordered Firepaw to hunt in ShadowClan territory, his plan would be ruined. "I haven't taken him hunting that often recently." He forced his pelt to lay flat. "And it is much too busy to take him today."

Thankfully Lionheart suspected nothing was amiss. "Perhaps I'll take Firepaw out then, if you're too busy."

Tigerclaw shook his head; the kittypet needed to be in camp today! "No, I've been meaning to bring him hunting," he growled through gritted teeth. "I will take him later tonight, after the reinforcements on the camp wall are complete."

Lionheart dipped his head. "Why doesn't that surprise me?" Tigerclaw stiffened; was Lionheart suspicious? But when the golden tabby continued his tone was warm. "You've taken Firepaw's training very seriously ever since he has joined us. Even after Bluestar became his mentor you still spend a great amount of time instructing him."

Tigerclaw nodded. Of course he was taking an interest in the kittypet since he had no experience living in a Clan prior to his sixth moon... or that was what Lionheart probably thought.

Tigerclaw paused. He needed to play this very carefully. What should he even say now that would make him appear supportive of the kittypet but at the same time make it so Lionheart wouldn't question him when Firepaw's reputation was ruined? He imagined some possible replies.

Indeed, I realized early on Firepaw would need a great deal of support to be successful. I only wanted ThunderClan to not be weighed down by useless warriors. Tigerclaw scowled. This was probably not the best response.

Of course I needed to spend a great deal of time instructing the kittypet, as he has no warrior blood. And still, after my best efforts his stalking is only marginally better than a squirrel's. No, that wouldn't work either.

Tigerclaw narrowed his eyes. Lionheart was still waiting for a response. "If things continue the way they are, Firepaw will get a warrior name soon," Tigerclaw meowed at last. It didn't bother him to say that, since things weren't actually going to continue the way they were- the kittypet was going to be permanently exiled within a day.

Lionheart nodded. "Indeed, all the apprentices have made good progress."

Tigerclaw decided to go all in with his act; it wasn't like it would matter in the long term. "Join me tonight for a training session for the apprentices. Bring Firepaw, Graypaw, and Ravenpaw. Perhaps Dustpaw and Sandpaw too; all of them are very near their warrior ceremonies."

Lionheart nodded seriously. "I will ask Whitestorm and Redtail to come along, and if Bluestar consents, I would like her to join us as well. All five apprentices have made great strides in their training. They should all be assessed."

"Excellent." Tigerclaw shrugged away the mention of Redtail. Chances were the training session would never happen.

Lionheart got up to pad away, but stopped. "You know, Tigerclaw, Firepaw respects you more than almost any other cat in the Clan." Tigerclaw scoffed. "Truly, he does," Lionheart insisted. "It is good that you took such an interest in his training. When he becomes a warrior, he will have you to thank for many of his skills." Tigerclaw shifted his paws. Lionheart glanced up to see the position of the sun in the sky. "Speaking of which, I should see how Firepaw and the rest of them are doing. Perhaps I'll have Graypaw and Ravenpaw teach him how to fish before their assessment." Tigerclaw flicked his ear; Lionheart knew he had thought that whole training session had been an exercise in stupidity and had taken to mentioning it to annoy him. "Until tonight." With a friendly wink and a wave of his tail, Lionheart trotted away.

Tigerclaw watched him go. Hopefully Lionheart recognized the kittypet's lack of loyalty today, and Tigerclaw would no longer need to pretend to care about Firepaw. It was going to be nice when his Clanmates hated the kittypet just as much as he did. And once Bluestar and Redtail were out of the way, Tigerclaw would be leader, and Lionheart would be the greatest deputy ThunderClan had ever seen... well, aside from Tigerclaw himself, of course. Then with Lionheart's help, mainly the golden tom's reputation as a wise and loyal warrior, Tigerclaw would be able to take over the other Clans with little protest. He sighed; his plan was finally taking shape.

Cats continued to bustle about in the camp. Tigerclaw's attention swiveled to the far corner of the clearing, to the portion that contained the medicine den. Spottedleaf had a high chance of dying today, and Tigerclaw found himself in a dilemma. He could save Spottedleaf, and let the Clan think of him as a hero. But if he kept her alive she would be a staunch defender of the kittypet.

But there was one thing he couldn't ignore- as much of an inconvenience it would be to have a supporter of Firepaw around, it would be foolish to go without a medicine cat. If his plan came to fruition Yellowfang would be in exile from the whole forest, and where would that leave ThunderClan then? It would be a hassle to steal a medicine cat from one of the other Clans, completely ignoring the fact that Bluestar would never agree to the idea.

It was obvious what he had to do now. It wouldn't make him look heroic, but it wouldn't make him look bad either. Spottedleaf needed to live. Against his every instinct, Tigerclaw made his way to the medicine den, irritably flicking his tail as he went.

Hopefully the blasted shadow cat sees this. Maybe then she would stop bothering him about doing things the right way. If killing a Clanmate fell under the supposed 'wrong' way, then the opposite, making sure a Clanmate survived had to be 'right'... right?

Scoring his claws against the ground to announce his presence, Tigerclaw slipped inside.

The tunnel was pitch-black. "Tigerclaw? What can I do for you?" Spottedleaf's voice echoed back through the cavern.

"Do I always need a reason to visit my Clan's medicine cat?" he meowed smoothly. "Perhaps I just wanted to say hello."

"Well, that's certainly a first," Spottedleaf purred. "Knowing you, I figured you must have been on the verge of death to seek out a medicine cat. But I'm glad I was wrong." Spottedleaf's face emerged from the shadows first, followed by her tortoiseshell pelt and dappled tail that was bright orange even in the dim light. "How are the preparations going?"

"Well enough. Warriors are hunting, the apprentices are reinforcing the camp wall." Tigerclaw frowned as Spottedleaf dragged several piles of herbs into the light. "Your preparations are going well too, I expect?"

Spottedleaf nodded. "Yes, they are. I still have much to do, but Firepaw was kind enough to help me sort some herbs this morning, so that helped."

Tigerclaw snorted. Somehow every conversation today was ending up about the kittypet.

Narrowing her eyes, Spottedleaf tilted her head. "What has he done to make you dislike him so much?"

The fact that he exists is reason enough. Out loud Tigerclaw meowed: "He may look like he belongs with us, but he is a kittypet at heart. He has done many things that make it very obvious that he should not be a member of ThunderClan."

Spottedleaf picked up a leaf between her claws and sorted it into one of the piles. "Fine. Name one."

Tigerclaw scowled. There were so many instances of the kittypet's stupidity, why was he having trouble thinking of one now? This was the perfect opportunity to turn Spottedleaf against the kittypet. "He ruined Longtail's ear the very first day he arrived." Tigerclaw flicked his tail, nodding to himself. "Firepaw is lucky. If he split my ear in half I wouldn't have let him off so easily."

"Really? I'd expect a brave warrior like you would want a scar." Spottedleaf purred, flicking her tail at Tigerclaw's ear that split into a deep V shape at its tip. "You didn't seem too upset when you got that one."

Tigerclaw snorted; obviously gaining scars from battle was different than gaining one from an attacking kittypet. But perhaps Longtail's split ear hadn't been the best way to illustrate his point. Tigerclaw thought of another example, and opened his mouth to point out that the kittypet once fed a rogue before ThunderClan, but then he realized that that didn't happen this time.

Spottedleaf spoke up before he could come up with anything else. "He's really not so bad. Personally I think he will be one of the Clan's best warriors in time."

Tigerclaw grumbled under his breath. Of course she would think that.

"Have you anything else besides complaints about Firepaw?"

Bristling, Tigerclaw jerked his head.

She narrowed her eyes teasingly. "Then make yourself useful." She pushed a clump of herbs in front of his paws. "You can help separate these. Dock goes here, tansy here, mallow here." Spottedleaf motioned at the already sorted herbs with her tail.

Is she serious? He was a warrior, not a medicine cat assistant! Narrowing his eyes in distaste, he noticed how the bunch of dock leaves looked similar to a dark green leaf resting near his paw. Tigerclaw picked it up, and imagining Firepaw's face, slammed it into the pile. Spottedleaf's whiskers twitched. "It isn't necessary to be that forceful, but well done. That's right."

Tigerclaw sniffed. She was praising him as if he wanted to perform medicine cat duties. "Why is this even mixed up in the first place?"

"The apprentices helped gather them." How unsurprising. The kittypet was probably trying to impress his precious medicine cat, and somehow she was completely unbothered by the fact that he had added to her workload. "Here. Finish these." Spottedleaf swept half the unsorted pile in Tigerclaw's direction.

Rolling his eyes, Tigerclaw began to pick through the clump of leaves. Saving Spottedleaf's life wasn't supposed to involve getting roped into sorting herbs. This was demeaning, sitting around taking orders like an apprentice. He was tempted to pad away and leave Spottedleaf to possibly die, but as she began to flip her set of leaves over one by one, he shook himself. If everything went how it was supposed to, she would understand that the kittypet couldn't be trusted. And that would clear the way for her to become his trusted medicine cat when he took over the forest.

Suddenly Spottedleaf rose to her paws. "I need to put these outside to air out before the rain comes. I'll be right back." Picking up the herbs, she began to pad toward the entrance.

Tigerclaw twisted around to block her path. Spottedleaf couldn't leave now; she might end up face to face with her murderer! "Can it wait?"

"Don't worry. You'll get your chance to continue gossiping in a moment," she teased. "Feel free to stay."

"No!" Tigerclaw slithered back, shielding Spottedleaf from the entrance.

Spottedleaf dropped the herbs. "Is something the matter?"

Tigerclaw jerked his head. "Of course not! Why would anything be the matter?" He glanced around, trying to make himself appear less frantic. From Spottedleaf's frown, he could tell she wasn't convinced. "It is just that you deserve rest; you have been on your paws from dawn 'til dusk this past moon. Give me your herbs, and I will set them out to dry."

Spottedleaf gave him a jokingly impressed look. "I never thought I'd see the day that you would volunteer to perform medicine cat duties, Tigerclaw," she purred. "Why don't you take half and I'll show you how-"

"No!" Tigerclaw snarled. If Spottedleaf left the medicine den, he wouldn't be able to stop her from wandering off, and then she'd get killed just like she had the first time.

Spottedleaf narrowed her eyes. "What's gotten into you?"

A sudden yowl pierced the air. It's happening! Tigerclaw was about to run out of the den before he realized he didn't actually know when Spottedleaf had been killed the first time. Was it before or after Frostfur had called out the alarm? The medicine cat could still be in danger.

"Wait here!" Bounding out of the den and toward the center of the camp, Tigerclaw skidded to a halt.

Redtail had already begun giving orders. "Every cat, stop what you're doing! Warriors, patrol the camp boundary. Firepaw, search the apprentices' den; Graypaw, Ravenpaw, take the elders'; Dustpaw and Sandpaw, you take the warriors'."

Cats pushed past each other in their haste, their panicked meows contrasting with the deep calm before the storm. Yellowfang joined the search, and Tigerclaw prayed that she would follow the scent of her former Clanmate just like she had during his first life. Tigerclaw flattened his ears when he felt fur brush his; Spottedleaf had appeared at his shoulder. "Stay here," he growled, hoping the medicine cat would listen to him this time. He had to at least appear to be looking for the kits.

Meanwhile Redtail remained next to Frostfur while he attempted to comfort her with a calm tail flick. "Where did you last see them?"

"They were in the nursery!" the white queen meowed. "I only left them for a moment!"

Tigerclaw pretended to search for the kits, but kept his eye on the medicine den the whole time. Unfortunately, Spottedleaf had ignored his protests and slipped into the main camp. She was now padding back and forth in front of her den; Tigerclaw worried she would run off toward the back of the nursery right into Clawface's claws.

Looking away, Tigerclaw reflected that this was just as chaotic as it had been during his first life. Brindleface and Speckletail frantically raced along the edge of the camp, calling out the kits' names, while Goldenflower huddled over the remaining kits near the nursery. Firepaw ran out of the apprentices' den, meeting Graypaw halfway across the camp, and with a quick nod the two sprang back toward the apprentices' den, probably to search it again. Tigerclaw noted that Yellowfang was missing with a pang of relief.

An eerie wail ruffled his ear fur, and cats began to make their way to the origin of the sound. The fur on the back of Tigerclaw's neck stood up. Surely a cat shouldn't have died this time! Had Spottedleaf intercepted Clawface while he stole Frostfur's kits after all the trouble he went through to ensure her survival? He should have gone to the place he had found Spottedleaf the first time, not sat around and done nothing! Cursing inwardly, Tigerclaw raced toward the group of shocked cats. Pushing his way through the crowd, Tigerclaw had to prevent himself from recoiling in shock at the sight of his dead Clanmate.

There was a single bloody wound to the cat's neck. Tigerclaw stared, unable to believe what he was seeing, unable to believe that his plan had gone so wrong.

It wasn't Spottedleaf. It was Lionheart.