So that was it. So that was why she had been feeling close to Finchpaw. Shadepaw knew that she had to confront them now but her paws wouldn't work. Her eyes were fixed straight in front of her, on Creekfall's ear. The tom had been with Talonclaw when she had brought her, Rustpaw and Finchpaw to the clan. He must have known about this and he had not told either her or Finchpaw. And Flamefur, who had kept the secret his whole life, her father. The information crashed down on her like a tidal wave and questions formed in her mind. Was there any other of her siblings still in CaveClan? Who was her mother?

Flamefur would know everything.

A voice carried by the icy wind forged into her thoughts. "Shadepaw? You look like you've seen a cat from StarClan."

Shadepaw blinked to see Finchpaw and Flamefur staring at her, curiously concerned. "S-sis-sister-fath-father," she stumbled.

Finchpaw looked at her utterly confused but Flamefur looked mortified. "I've got to go," he mumbled, before starting to pad away.

"No," she whispered. "Wait." She raced after him, catching him while he passed Creekfall. Ignoring the presence of the newly named warrior, Shadepaw looked the flame-pelted cat in deep in the eyes. "Father," she said, firmly.

Creekfall's eyes widened but, under his ritual, he did not speak. Flamefur sighed. "You always were bright Shadepaw. I knew you'd figure it out eventually."

A patter of paws signalled the arrival of Finchpaw. "What," the silver tabby gasped. "Is going on?"

Shadepaw turned to her. "Sister."

"What?"

"You're my sister."

"Shadepaw don't be ridiculous," Finchpaw mewled. "I can't be your sister. Flamefur is my father. He's not yours."

"He is."

Finchpaw opened her mouth to retaliate but Flamefur stepped between them. "It seems I have a bit of explaining to do," he mewed. "To you two and to Rustpaw. Shadepaw fetch him please."

Shadepaw nodded and raced off to the apprentices den. Once inside, she weaved her way over Lynxpaw and Lilacpaw to where her brother was sleeping. She prodded him roughly awake. Drowsily he lifted his head. "Shadepaw, what are you doing?" he snapped. "Some cats are trying to get some sleep."

"Come, no questions." Shadepaw was mystified at how powerful her voice sounded.

"But..."

"Come." She exited the den with her brother on her heels.

Stopping at the centre of the clearing, Shadepaw turned to her father. "We need to go somewhere outside the camp or some cat might overhear us."

"What in StarClan is going on," hissed Rustpaw.

Shadepaw spun around to look at her brother. "Flamefur has something to tell us."

"What?"

Flamefur looked into his apprentice's eyes. "I will tell you Rustpaw, just not here. As Shadepaw said we may be overheard." He looked around the camp. "We need to get out without Hollyfrost seeing us." He swung his tail to indicate the deputy sitting beside the main entrance. "We can't go out that way. Follow me."

He led them across the clearing, towards the warriors den. Shadepaw followed close behind. Behind her, she could hear Rustpaw and Finchpaw murmuring.

"What's going on?"

"I don't know."

"You don't have to be so snappy! I just thought you might know."

"Do I look as if I know, Finchpaw. I was all snuggled down in a warm nest when my caring sister decided to wake me up and take me into the freezing cold."

"It is cold."

"Mmm, I have a good mind to fix my teeth around Shadepaw's neck for dragging me out into this."

"Don't feel sorry for yourself, wimp. Think of Creekfall. He has to stay out all night in it."

"I know. I hope my warrior ceremony is in newleaf."

"No I can't wait that long, Rustpaw. I don't care if it's snowing, as long as I become a warrior."

"That's a good point. I need to be a warrior soon or I think I'll go mad. You know, I think maybe Lynxpaw will become one before me..."

Sighing, Shadepaw blocked out their voices, concentrating instead on where Flamefur war taking them. The ginger tom led them around the back of the warrior's den and through an opening in the tough lining of gorse that surrounded the camp. Shadepaw wandered how he had known about it. Once out in the forest, they crept through the undergrowth, their breath steaming in the night air. They walked for a long time, longer than Shadepaw would have liked and by the time that they stopped in a thicket of brambles sheltered from the wind, her paws were numb with cold.

Flamefur motioned for the apprentices to sit down and they did so, waiting patiently for him to explain why he had pulled them out into the trees at this hour. The ginger warrior took a deep breath. "Alright," he mewed. "I'm going to tell you everything.

"You may wish to know, before I start, that everything that I did was entirely my fault and it is in no way possible yours in anyway. I am truly sorry if this story causes you any discomfort and I have only one thing to ask of you and that is that what is said in this bramble patch stays in this bramble patch. Ok?" When the three of them nodded he continued, "I'll start now then.

"It was quite late in my apprenticeship when I first attended a gathering. As with most apprentices, I was ecstatic. I felt that it was one huge step towards gaining my warrior name. I went with Shrewfur, then known as Shrewpaw. The two of us stood on the top of the hill that leads into the Four Oakes and I didn't have a care in the world. So amazed was I by the size of the clearing and the amount of cats, that I got separated from Shrewpaw and banged into the leader of CaveClan, who was then Rushingstar. I did not show fear when he addressed me and this must of impressed him, for he went on the introduce me to his daughter, Scorchpaw, who is now Scorchstorm, deputy of CaveClan.

"Scorchpaw was really nice to me." Flamefur coughed and carried on. "Well, she was for a CaveClan cat. When the gathering ended we knew each other quite well. In the time between that gathering and the next, I frequently thought about her. When I was made a warrior alongside Shrewfur, I envisioned her during my vigil; the way her eyes sparkled and how the face that they lay upon glowed with radiance." For a moment, he stopped, as if drowning in his memories. "On my way to the next gathering, I prayed that she would be there.

"When we arrived, I could not pick her out. I became desperate and parted from Shrewfur in my haste to find her. We actually ended up bumping into each other at the edge of the clearing. She told me that she had been a warrior as well as me. To congratulate her, I was going to touch her ear with my nose but she shifted so I touched her nose instead. I don't know if it was on purpose or an accident but at the moment of contact we knew." The ginger warrior nodded. "We knew.

"From then on our life was a hurricane. Every two sundowns I snuck out of camp to see Scorchstorm and she was always there. She made the pressure of hiding our relationship worth it. I didn't even tell Shrewfur about us and I tell Shrewfur everything. I just couldn't make myself reveal my secret. I really didn't want to risk my friendship with him. One glorious leaf-green night she told me that she loved me and I was so happy. I remember the scent of her fur and the shivers that ran down my spine every time I saw her. We were two young warriors in love. We were in complete bliss... until the kits.

"One sundown, I went to meet Scorchstorm, who was now the deputy of CaveClan. This had added extra responsibilities upon her shoulders so I was not surprised when she did not come and see me. But then she never came. Leaf-fall turned into leaf-bare and she still did not come. So about half way through leaf-bare I went looking for her; in CaveClan territory. There, I became helplessly lost. I was lucky that she was the first one who found me. I could not believe my eyes when she waddled towards me, her belly swollen with unborn kits. She told me that Polarstar knew that they were my kits and so did a few of the CaveClan warriors and apprentices. She said that they and Polarstar had promised to keep it a secret as long as she didn't see me again. I tried to protest but she hissed at me and told me she would attack me if she ever saw me outside a gathering again. Then she directed me toward my territory and slipped away into the snow. It broke my heart.

"I did not see her again until the end of leaf-fall. It was after you, Shadepaw and Rustpaw, had been taken into WoodClan. I went to a gathering when you were about a moon old. There, Scorchstorm told me that she had had three kits and that two of them were with me now and that the other was dead, having fallen from the log-bridge with a CaveClan apprentice. I had already guessed that you were my kits, Rustpaw looks so much like me and Shadepaw has a striking resemblance to Scorchstorm, but I was saddened to hear that my other kit was dead. Then, she asked me how our kits were doing and I haven't spoken to her since.

"I watched you grow up and when it was time for your apprenticeship I asked Fallenstar to let me take one of you and for Shrewfur to take the other. I felt that Shrewfur was the only cat I could trust to look after my kit. Fallenstar was surprised at the request, for he does not know that I am your father, but he agreed. The only other thing that happened was Finchpaw's arrival in the clan and you already know about that so I guess I'm done. I want you to know that I am ashamed at my actions and I don't want them to ruin your lives in the clan. Also, as I said before, it is vital that this is kept a secret. Do you understand?" He looked nervously at his kits.

For a long time none of them said anything. Shadepaw was numb with shock. Scorchstorm was her mother; Scorchstorm the CaveClan deputy! She should have known. As Flamefur had said, she did look a lot like her mother. Why hadn't she noticed the resemblance before?

Beside her, Rustpaw took a deep breath. "Understand," he whispered. Then his voice grew. "Understand? It's not as if we're going to shout out that we are half clan." He was shouting now. "It'll just give Swiftclaw and Rootheart another reason to torment us." He sprung to his paws and strutted from side to side in an impression of the sly warriors. "Ooo I'm Rootheart. What are you doing here Rustpaw? You should be in CaveClan. And now I'm Swiftclaw. Hey Halfclanpaw what' ya doing here. Go back to CaveClan." Hissing, Rustpaw sat, staring at Flamefur with the intensity of a feral dog. His voice sank to a whisper again. "You have wrecked us."

Shadepaw laid her tail on her brother's trembling shoulder. "I know that it is Flamefur's fault that this has happened but think Rustpaw, if he and Scorchstorm hadn't got together then we wouldn't be here. We wouldn't be alive."

Rustpaw's eyes narrowed. "I wish that I wasn't alive. I wish I was dead."

Finchpaw gasped. "Don't say that Rustpaw. Would you have me or Shadepaw be dead?"

"No," he growled, still glaring at Flamefur. Then he straightened. "It's going to take a long time to forgive you Flamefur. But you are my mentor and a brave warrior so I am proud to call you my father."

Flamefur's eyes lit up. "Really?"
"Really." Rustpaw licked the ginger warrior's nose.

Shadepaw sighed, confused by her brother's sudden change of heart. A moment ago he had been willing to claw Flamefur's nose off. Turning to her father, Shadepaw asked, "So we have no other siblings still in CaveClan?"

"No."

Shadepaw nodded. "And Scorchstorm loved us very much?"

"Yes," mewed Flamefur. "It was hard for her to give you up."

"Then why did she?" Finchpaw spat. "If she had just kept us in CaveClan then Creekfall wouldn't have fallen off the bridge and things would have been a lot easier." She lashed her striped tail.

"I'm sure that Scorchstorm would have kept you if it weren't for CaveClan's customs," Flamefur sighed. "In the law of StarClan, it states that a CaveClan cat must never have any ginger on them. And Rustpaw... well." He gestured at his son's ginger pelt, before looking at Shadepaw. "Even you Shadepaw, with a bit of ginger on your tail, would not be accepted."

"Why couldn't she have kept me then?" said Finchpaw. "I have no ginger what so ever."

"I think that Scorchstorm wanted you to be together."

"Well we weren't together for the first eight moons of our lives."

"You are now."

Finchpaw nodded. "We are together." She draped her tail around Rustpaw and pressed her fur to Shadepaw's. Flamefur purred.

"So," meowed Rustpaw, pulling Finchpaw closer. "What now?"

"Well I hope that we can slowly adjust to the fact that we are family and maybe tell a few cats sometime," answered Flamefur. "But for now I think we should just carry on as normal."

Shadepaw nodded. "I think we can do that." Suddenly a thought struck her. "Do any WoodClan cats know about this?"

Flamefur shook his head. "No," he answered. "Only CaveClan cats."

"Who?"

"Well Scorchstorm, obviously, and Polarstar. There's also Talonclaw and Talltail. And Creekfall, though I suppose he's WoodClan now."

Shadepaw felt Finchpaw stiffen beside her. She turned to her sister. "What?"

The tabby apprentice was staring at Flamefur, horror spreading across her beautiful face. "Did you say Creekfall?"

"Well yes." Flamefur looked at her, confused. "He must have known. He did carry you across the log-bridge."

"But we promised never to keep stuff like that from each other," she wailed. Drawing away from her siblings, Finchpaw turned and bolted off in the direction of the camp.

Gasping, Shadepaw rushed after her with Flamefur and Rustpaw hard on her tail, hissing as the brambles pulled on her coat, leaving long scratches. Bursting from the thicket, she glimpsed her sister's tail disappearing behind a tree. She was impressed by the speed and stamina that Finchpaw possessed. It was more than she had now. Shadepaw felt her paws start to weigh her down. Her weeks out of training, with her shoulders injured, had taken a toll on her physical health. Her sister's tail bobbed in front of Shadepaw's nose and the long fur on it waved up and down as her ragged breaths hit it.

Finchpaw did not enter the camp as expected, choosing to go for the main entrance instead of the way that the four of them had exited the camp. Shadepaw gasped in horror as her sister bounded straight up to Hollyfrost, who squared herself in front of the hollowed-out tree trunk, yowling, "Finchpaw? What are you...?" She was cut off as Finchpaw crashed into her, both she-cats collapsing in a heap. For a moment the two of them scrabbled, before the apprentice freed herself, leaving the deputy sprawled on the floor. Shadepaw skidded to a halt and helped Hollyfrost to her feet. Not one moment had they been standing, before Rustpaw and Flamefur came pelting around the corner. Flamefur's eyes widened and, unable to stop in time, he collided with Shadepaw and Hollyfrost, sending them flying through the hollowed-out tree trunk and into the main clearing.

Shadepaw lay winded for a few seconds before Rustpaw helped her up. A couple of tail-lengths away Hollyfrost pushed herself to her feet, shaking dust from her pelt. "Flamefur," she growled. "What is the meaning of this?"

Flamefur's eyes widened. "Um, I..."

He never finished his sentence as a commotion broke out in the middle of the clearing. Finchpaw had sprung on Creekfall, pinning him in the dust by his muscular shoulders. "Creekfall," she yowled. "How could you not tell me?"

Creekfall, bound by his warrior vigil, stared at her, confused.

Cats started to file out from their dens, woken by the disturbance. Fembrook poked her head out of the nursery, accompanied by what looked like Dewkit. Swiftclaw and Daisypelt emerged from the warriors den and Fallenstar jumped onto the Oak tree. Shadowpaw rushed up to Shadepaw, mewing, "What's going on?" Shadepaw shook her head, unwilling to reveal her secret.

Finchpaw stared at Creekfall, hurt welling up in her eyes. "I thought we were going to tell everything to each other and I have never kept anything from you and now I find that you have kept this from me." Shadepaw tensed, sensing where the conversation was going. "How could you have not told me this?" Finchpaw went on. Shadepaw started to run. "How could you have not told me that Shadepaw was my sis...? Ooof." With a yowl, Shadepaw launched herself on her sister, ripping her from Creekfall. The new warrior's eyes were wide and his mouth hung limply open. Shadepaw could tell that he had heard what Finchpaw had said.

She pinned Finchpaw down. "You mousebrain," she hissed. "You almost told the whole clan that we're related."

"So what? Not as if I care." She kicked her hind legs up on Shadepaw's belly. Finchpaw's response was so vicious that Shadepaw found herself being flung a few foxlengths before she hit the ground. The silver tabby shot a sad glance at Creekfall, before bounding across the clearing and into the apprentices den. A single tear fell from her eye.

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