Lionblaze stared longingly at Cinderheart from across the camp, watching her chat with Mousewhisker and Foxleap. There was a moment where she stared back at him, but it was filled with nothing but hatred. 'But if I just believe them and think over what they said, if I join them, then Cinderheart will be my mate.' But Lionblaze couldn't bear to betray Leafpool. She had apologized to him about her wrong doing and made up for her crime, and never had she even thought of Crowfeather in a romantic way, nor looked. 'Not to mention that Raven is in the mist of wooing her,' he thought with a light snarl. He thought he had a right to have a say so in who wanted to mate his mother anyway. For now he was going to settle with not knowing anything.

Ah, speak of the devil. Raven was walking his way right now with Sakura by his side.

"Hi Lionblaze!" She piped eagerly, tail held high and waving just slightly.

"Hi," he murmured. The she cat tilted her head curiously.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he mewed, casting another longing look back at Cinderheart. Sakura turned around just in time to see her glare and hiss lightly before turning back to Mousewhisker. Sakura narrowed her eyes with a snort.

"Lovers spat?" She asked.

Lionblaze growled in frustration. "Go away will you? I can worry about my problems on my own!" Raven growled at him warningly, and Lionblaze was pretty sure the tom would take him on now even if he's injured.

"Anyway, instead of sulking I thought you would want to hunt with me."

Lionblaze glared at her. Wouldn't she just go away?

"Of course, unless you are afraid of getting beaten by a mere she cat, then I perfectly understand."

"Whoa whoa whoa, I'm not afraid of anything," he hissed, standing and glaring down at her. His eye twitched when she smirked.

"I tell you what, I'm annoying you right? Play a hunting game with me. If you win, I'll leave you alone. If I win, you will have to be my slave cat for a whole quarter moon."

Was she serious? He could hunt her fur off! Something in the back of his mind told him that she was a Moonclan cat, and that Cherry said that Moonclan cats were cunning, but he ignored it. He would do anything to get the she cat to leave him alone.

"Deal," he meowed gruffly.

"Good! Raven will keep score!"

"What's going on," Whitethunder, Cherry and Leafpool mewed at the same time as they walked over. Sakura grinned.

"We are doing a hunting game! First cat to catch the most prey in a certain amount of time wins!"

"And you are doing this with him," Whitethunder growled, giving Lionblaze a look that made the tom shrink inside. Cherry gave her mate an approving glance before looking at Raven.

"Are you alright with this?"

"Yes, I will be keeping watch of them." He mewed solemnly.

Autumnspot trotted over. "As will I!"

"Then that settles it, I will too." Whitethunder finished.

Lionblaze nearly groaned. 'They are so protective over their she cats. It's not like I'm going to do anything!' He fumed. "Let's get this over with!"

He turned and ran, stopping when Leafpool gave his shoulder a lick. "Show them how a Thunderclan cat hunts." Lionblaze was happy his mother had confidence in him, not that he didn't have any in himself because he had plenty, but it was heartwarming hearing it from his mother. It was heartwarming to have a mother to hear it from.

'And here I was thinking of a she cat over my mother! Mouse brain!'

"I will bring back the prey and give you the juiciest." He promised, and left out of the camp.

~ooo~

"The rules are simple, you have 15 minutes to catch as many prey as you can. The one with the most prey wins. No cheating, which means stealing the other players prey or scaring their prey away. And stay away from my daughter." Whitethunder finished intensely. Autumnspot narrowed his eyes at the ginger tom after Whitethunder's words, and said tom nodded.

'Like I want to,' he sneered in his mind.

"Alright," Raven started, pausing to lick his shoulder wound that was irritating him. He instantly regretted it after he tasted the herbs. "Yccck! Anyway, on your mark, get set, go!" And they were gone. Raven watched for a moment, and then he looked at the other toms. "Any bets?"

"Sakura," they instantly chorused. Raven hm'd. "Of course."

~ooo~

Lionblaze paced quietly under a bush, making no sound. He kept his tail just a hairsbreadth away from the ground and his paws touch the floor like a feather. He will win the competition. He spotted a thrush and grinned, circling so that he was downwind. He crept up to as close as he could then like lightning he struck out a caught it, the bird flapping his wings frantically. With a snap of his neck it was down, and he buried it near a tree. Soon he had himself a nice pile of prey: two thrushes, a blue bird, two moles and a squirrel.

'Times up,' he thought with a grin as he heard Raven's call. He yowled out, alerting them of his location.

The three toms trotted over to him with appraising looks. "For a Thunderclan cat you hunt nicely. I've seen your moves," Whitethunder mewed as he looked the prey over. 'He could've caught more squirrel,' came an annoyed thought.

Beside them something dropped inside a small pile of leaves. All toms yowled in surprise, trotting over carefully to peek into the leaves. Four squirrels lay there in. The distant sound of claws meeting bark made Lionblaze look up, and his mouth nearly dropped. Sakura was running through the trees! Run as though she was on the ground.

'Impossible! We have run through trees, but rarely!'

The she cat jumped down from a low branch, blackbird clutched firmly in her jaw. "Well? Who won?" She mumbled behind the feathers.

Whitethunder was a bit disappointed, though he was happy to see her load consisted of mostly squirrels. "Sadly, the Thunderclan cat won. Better luck next time kit."

"Awe!" She whined. Lionblaze rolled his eyes.

"You lost, now you have to leave me alone." He turned and picked up the squirrel and the moles, leaving the others for one of the toms to carry. Sakura carried the bird and a squirrel, and together the three returned to the camp with their prey.

~ooo~

Everyone was waiting for their return. Bramblestar looked annoyed. "Next time you decide to hold hunting competitions remind me so I can send out a proper patrol."

"Sorry," Lionblaze mewed. Leafpool trotted over to them, Squirrelflight and her kits close behind. "Who won?"

Lionblaze puffed out his chest as he purred proudly. "I did. I caught six to her five." More than half of the clan cheered, Leafpool's eyes gleaming proudly.

"Congrats Lionblaze."

"Take the kill to the pile. We will just have extra prey for tonight." Bramblestar ordered, though his eyes gleamed with pride as well. 'Way to represent Thunderclan, son.' It felt odd to think of Lionblaze as his son again. 'Well, I raised him. I should have some right.'

"I'm going to hunt sooooo much prey when I become an apprentice!" Flamekit squealed excitedly.

"Nu-uh! I am!" Sunkit stomped. Gingerkit protested as well, and both kits broke out into a fight, which ended with Flamekit chasing her brothers. Bramblestar sighed as he watched them. 'Pawfuls indeed.' Something flickered at the edge of his vision, and he turned his head to see Cinderheart and Lionblaze talking. By the looks of it, it wasn't good as Cinderheart pushed away the squirrel Lionblaze gave her and stalked off. Bramblestar's heart went out to the tom. 'He's trying.' Cinderheart and Lionblaze should have been mates by now anyway. 'I wonder what happened.' He thought absently as he went to the prey pile. He picked up a two moles for him and Squirrelflight and made his way to the nursery.

"If you keep coming here like that Bramblestar we just might start calling you a Queen." Poppyfrost joked.

Bramblestar purred lightly. "That would be very disturbing."

"And strange," Squirrelflight added, taking a bite out of the mole he gave her. She was giving him a look that made him uncomfortable, and for some strange reason he felt like he was in a dangerous zone. "Bramblestar can I talked to you outside of the den?" She asked politely.

Now his fur was definitely tingling. Her voice was just too polite.

'Starclan, Firestar, please give me a hint of what I did wrong,' he prayed before nodding grimly.

She simply closed her eyes and continued eating. Bramblestar did the same. When the pair was done Squirrelflight left the nursery, asking the other queens to watch her kit as she did. They went into the apprentice den, which was still empty. "Smells like Windclan in here," she muttered. Bramblestar sat in front of her and waited patiently. She stared at him for a long moment, tail wrapped neatly around her paws. The tabby tom did the same. Neither moved, and the suspense was really irking him.

"Squirrelflight," he started, but clamped his mouth shut at the fire in her eyes. Not good.

"What's this I hear about you thinking Leafpool is a going back to Crowfeather?"

Oh.

"I didn't think-"

"I also hear that you are going to exile her, maybe kill her."

"Squirrelflight, lis-"

"I sincerely hope that these rumors aren't true Bramblestar. You know Leafpool wouldn't do such a thing. Her loyalty lies with her clan."

"Well it didn't before," he mewed, and instantly widened his eyes. He'd said the wrong thing. If looks could kill he would surely be a dead cat.

"That was before, Bramblestar and you know it. If you are still referring to that then you must have believed there rumors haven't you."

'Maybe a bit,' he thought sheepishly. The look he must've given didn't make her any happier.

"Leafpool would never do such a thing and you know it! If you think in even the slightest way that Leafpool would do that then you don't deserve to be a leader?!"

Bramblestar's eyes hardened. "You doubt my leadership?"

Narrowed green eyes glared at him. "Maybe? Maybe not? I know a leader would listen to such foul rumors and believe them. He would investigate first to see if they are true. And you know they aren't true."

"And how do you know they aren't true?!" he challenged.

"Because my sister tells me everything, and right now her mind is far from Crowfeather."

"Would you believe everything your sister says?" Bramblestar challenged. Squirrelflight's eyes flickered.

"No, I do always check to see what she says is true, and there are times when I feel that she's telling the truth and she is! I felt it Bramblestar, and what I feel doesn't tell me lies, especially when it comes from the soul."

Bramblestar regarded his mate curiously, eyes narrowed as if he's trying to see through her and see her truth. He gave up with a sigh and closed his eyes. "Before you actually go off with these plans, please investigate first. If she really is doing them, then you can do what you please, just not kill her." Squirrelflight finished.

"Squirrelflight, I never said nor did I think about exiling her or killing her. You lecture me on rumors and yet you believe this yourself." Squirrelflight looked sheepishly at the ground. "I understand your concern Squirrelflight, and I promise to look more into it and let my leader instincts guide me. I do not want to make the wrong decision." He touched his nose to hers and purred softly.

Squirrelflight sighed softly. "Neither do I." She pushed herself closer to her mate, and Bramblestar purred louder as he wrapped his tail around her, resting his head on her head as she nuzzled his neck fur. The two stayed embracing each other for a while before horrified squeaks met their ears. Both parents turned to their kits, how were watching them with wide eyes.

"Eeeeewwww!"

Both of the chuckled, Squirrelflight padding towards them. "Alright kits, go back to the nursery. Let's go." They protested with whines, Sunkit being bold enough to try and dart right past her. Bramblestar caught him, and together both of them took the kits back to the nursery.

The day went and the night came, and all the cats in the clans went to sleep on full bellies. While sleep came restful to most, some didn't have the luxury. Some, being a grey tom in the medicine cats den. He slept peacefully, sides rising and falling as he snored softly. Two shadows walked into his den, green and yellow eyes glaring maliciously.

"We warned you," Killerfang sang, and both shadows had their faces split into a cruel grin. They vanished, and moments later Jayfeather started to twitch. His claws unsheathed themselves as his face scrunched up. Moments later, a small whimper escaped his throat. The nightmares have started.