A/N: I'd like to thank Sparkie for the idea of a non-clan group of cats to oppose the alley cats.
Also, Pandean, I hope I got Grim at least partially right in this chapter.
AlleyClan
Grim's eyes surveyed the fighting cats before her eyes, her paws both itched, yet hesitated, to jump into the fray.
She wanted to fight for the cats she learned to call her family, she wanted to protect her territory, and drive out those intruding forest cats.
There was one small issue though, that issue was her daughter, whom she had given to a group of forest cats. She hadn't wanted her to live this life, a life surrounded by angry cats who just wanted to cut into something with their claws.
"Most of these aren't even forest cats!" Snakepaw hissed, before a large black and brown tabby tom jumped on him.
Grim let out a small growl, and pounced on the tabby, raking her claws down his flank. He let out a loud howl, and turned around to face her, she barely managed to to duck away from the blow of his giant paw, before delivering one of her own, that slashed across his cheek.
"Who are those cats?" Snakepaw spat once the tabby had run off.
Grim shook her head.
"I don't know, I've never seen them before."
She then let out a small gasp, as she saw a familiar light red pelt running her way.
Redpaw!
She wanted to tell her to stop, to stay right where she was, and to not join the fight, but she couldn't. If anyone in her clan found out that she had a daughter with someone who wasn't part of their clan, she shook her head, she didn't want to think about what they'd do to her, or her daughter.
Beside Redpaw was a small light brown tom, a reddish brown tom with black legs, a larger black tom with white spots, a white she-cat with black spots, and a brown tom with a darker brown tail.
They've come to fight, she realized with a sinking feeling, that she might have to fight against her daughter after all.
She watched as her daughter's small group disbanded, and they went off in all directions.
Thankfully, Redpaw did not come towards her, instead, she started battling with Shattered Mouth, a young cat with broken and jagged teeth.
She knew she should be rooting for her clan mate, but she couldn't help but to feel a surge of pride, when Redpaw pinned Shattered Mouth down.
"You're lucky WaterClan isn't here, it would suck having to fight against your own clanmates, traitor!" the red and black tom spat at Snakepaw, who hissed in return, and jumped on him, gripping the fur of his neck in his teeth.
For what seemed like days, the fighting carried on, until nothing but yowls and wails filled her ears.
Then, it was over.
She looked around, seeing mangled bloody bodies lying in the wake of destruction. Her heart pounded in her chest, as she searched the area for Redpaw.
Then, she spotted her, sitting down, and wailing beside the body of the light brown tom who had come with her.
She longed to go and comfort her, but she knew she couldn't.
Instead, she gave her one last longing glance, before turning away, and padding off with what was left of her clan.
WaterClan
"Everyone who is old enough to catch their own prey, please gather around the long log!" Bass-star yowled.
Thistleburr's ears perked slightly, her leader was actually starting to sound like a leader. His meows sounded more confident, and when she padded up to the long log, he saw that he was standing with his head up, and his chest out.
He actually looks like he belongs there, she thought to herself, wondering if Blackfur and his followers felt the same.
She hoped so, then maybe they'd think twice about their plan.
"It has come to my attention that Driftdust is no longer able to mentor Bramblepaw-"
"He wasn't able to mentor him in the first place!" Blackfur spat, cutting the leader off.
"So, I have decided to ask Thistleburr if she would like to be a mentor for Bramblepaw," Bass-star meowed, either not hearing what Blackfur had said, or just choosing to ignore him.
Thistleburr's eyes then widened, as she realized what her leader had said, he was choosing her to mentor Bramblepaw? She couldn't believe it, she hadn't even been a warrior that long, and did she even want to mentor him? If it had been any other apprentice, she would have jumped at the chance. However, this was Bramblepaw, a cat who seemed to go along with whatever plans his father had in mind. A cat who just stood there when he killed Cloudstream.
There still could be hope for him though, perhaps she could use this as an oppourtunity to get him off of the path of darkness. Maybe, just maybe, she could convince him to tell Bass-star about what had happened to Cloudstream, after all, Blackfur wouldn't kill his own son, would he?
"Outrageous!" Blackfur spat as Thistleburr slowly walked up to Bramblepaw.
He regarded her with a glare, and brushed her off, when she went in to touch noses with him.
"I should be Bramblepaw's mentor, I'm the best warrior here, he's my son!" Blackfur continued to rant.
"I don't know if you should mentor anyone Blackfur, because the last time I checked, you don't really have a good track record when it comes to your apprentices," Bass-star meowed evenly.
"It's not my fault Snakepaw decided to leave the clan, he did that on his own free will!" Blackfur spat.
"No matter, I've made my decision, that is the end."
Bass-star jumped off of the long log, and padded back to his den.
"I'm glad Bass-star picked you to be Bramblepaw's mentor, I know you'll do great," Drifdust meowed, padding up to her.
This was the first time that Thistleburr had actually seen Driftdust since he learned the news about Cloudstream, and his appearance shot a pang through her.
His dull brown pelt clung to his scrawny body, and his golden eyes, which used to glitter with mischief and excitement, were now empty and lifeless, as though all the light inside had been snuffed out.
"Thank you Driftdust," she meowed.
He nodded at her, before retiring to his den.
Thistleburr turned her attention to Bramblepaw.
"Come on, we're going hunting."
"No," he spat, turning away and sitting down defiantly, "I'm not doing anything you tell me to.
"You have to, I'm your mentor," she meowed, trying to keep from losing her temper. After all, she didn't want to make things worse than they already are.
"I said no, now leave me alone."
"Fine!" she spat with her fur bristling, "If you don't want to help hunt, then you can go hungry tonight!"
He jumped up, and faced her, with his ears back, and his back arched.
"You can't do that!" he hissed.
"You want to bet? I can go and talk to Bass-star right now."
"Fine, fine, let's go hunting, but I won't like it," he spat.
"I don't care if you like it, it is your duty to your clan to go hunting for them when your mentor tells you to," Thistleburr meowed sternly.
She knew she shouldn't be so harsh on him, not if she wanted him to come to her side, but she didn't know of any other way to get him to listen.
As they padded towards the river, he kept mumbling about how WaterClan wasn't actually a clan anymore, not with Bass-star and Driftdust in charge. Thistleburr tuned most of what he said out. After all, it was mostly his father talking, not him.
She had just started to sit down, to begin her fishing, when she heard the unmistakable mewlings of a kit.
Did one of Icerunner's kits somehow get out of the nursery, she wondered, as she nosed around, trying to find the source of the noise.
That's when she spotted it, a small blood covered she-kit, lying beside an even smaller blood covered she-kit.
She let out a small gasp, when she realized that the smaller of the two kits was dead.
What are they doing out here? She wondered, they weren't from any clan that she could smell, and they didn't seem old enough to be travelling alone.
"Oh look, two rogues, we shall call them Bloodkit and Deadkit," Bramblepaw meowed.
"We're not naming them that!" Thistleburr spat, surprised at her apprentice's insensitivity, sure his father was a jerk, but that didn't mean that he had to stoop so low as to poke fun at dead and injured kits.
"I'm sorry," he looked down at his paws, "I sometimes make bad jokes when I'm afraid."
Thistleburr stared at him with surprise, this was the first time she'd ever seen any real emotion from him, most of the time, he just acted however his father acted.
"Come on, we will take the living one back to the camp, and see what Bass-star decides, and then we'll come back and bury the other one," Thistleburr meowed.
To her surprise, Bramblepaw didn't argue, maybe bringing him to her side would be easier than she thought.
She then picked up the small kit in her jaws. Her heart nearly dropped, when she noticed how limp she was, as though she was preparing to go to StarClan too.
She just had to hope that she wouldn't, and that Ripplestorm and Thornpaw would be able to help her, and that Bass-star would be willing to take her in, despite her not being a clan born cat.
She knew that the rule about non-clan borns would have to change, if WaterClan ever wanted to stand a chance.
