The night dragged on for a long time after the LeafClan and StreamClan warriors left. Many cats gave her wary looks as they passed her, some like Burnheart looked worried. Eventually Poisonstar called Bloodrose to her den. She was expecting some kind of serious talk with her leader but all she said was: "your vigil is over. You may speak and rest now."

And then she dismissed her to the Warriors den, where Burnheart had a nest waiting for her. It was a very well made nest, comfortable and soft but try as she might, she could not fall asleep.

At about sunhigh she crept out the den and started walking aimlessly through NightClan territory. Her paws brought her awfully close to LeafClan territory, but she veered away just in time. If she met Swallowstrike today, or any LeafClan cat for that matter, a fight could break out.

She padded about the forest for a bit, catching one scrawny vole near the MountainClan border. She decided to eat it, after all, she had just completed her vigil. She lay in the sun for a while, enjoying the warmth on her cold pelt. She could've fallen asleep it was so peaceful. Then, she heard a noise coming from MountainClan territory. Her ear twitched but she felt too relaxed to move.

"Get up!" That voice in her head snapped.

Bloodrose blinked opened her eyes. She was looking into the eyes of a dusty brown tom.

"Swoopingeagle, she's awake!" He hissed.

Swoopingeagle? That's the deputy of MountainClan!

"Take her by the scruff, Acornfall."

Bloodrose suddenly jumped and ran forwards, onto MountainClan territory. She didn't notice the gorge right in front of her. She fell down the middle, scrabbling against the rocky cliff face. Then she fell into the icy water at the bottom. A light brown tom with dark stripes jumped in after her, and that was the last thing she remembered before everything went black.

...

"Give her some space, Amberdrop."

"Sorry Tranquilpeak."

"She's waking up!" A new voice purred.

"Yes, and she'd appreciate if she had some room to breathe! All of you who don't have to be here, get out. Stormpaw, fetch Greystar."

Bloodrose blinked. "Where am I?"

"MountainClan camp. Lucky to be here too, Longbrach could've died saving your life."

Just then, the cat Bloodrose knew to be Greystar entered.

"Well, hello there. I wondered if you'd wake up. You took a nasty fall into the river."

Bloodrose just looked at her. "Can I go home? Please?" She looked up, attempting to see whether it was still day, but only saw the roof of the cave.

"I'm sorry, I can't do that. Magpiestar will have quite a reward for me if I decide to let her know I have you. And, you're not going anywhere fast with your leg like that."

"Leg like what?" She looked down, and realized her leg was wrapped in a tight bind.

"It's broken," the young black tom who was Stormpaw meowed.

Bloodrose sighed deeply. "Why does Magpiestar want me?"

"All the medicine cats had a dream," Tranquilpeak answered her, "we were told that The Rose shall break, and we shall drown in the blood within. Magpiestar came to us after the gathering to convince us that you must be kicked out of the clans. We didn't because we don't believe the prophecy refers to you. But now that you're here, Magpiestar will reward us well for giving you up."

Bloodrose tossed uncomfortably in the nest made for her. It was made of twigs and feathers, which kept poking uncomfortably into her side. A fluffy red she-cat called Cherrysong was curled up in the nest beside her, and the twigs didn't seem to be bothering her at all.

She looked up when she heard paws steps coming towards her. The belonged to a grey tom with orange spots in his fur. His eyes were the color of leaves at the time of Leaffall. In his jaws was a mouse. He dropped it in front of her.

"What, the prisoner gets the smallest piece of prey possible? Thanks."

His eyes burned her pelt as he dropped another mouse in front of Cherrysong, who was still asleep. It was even smaller and thinner than hers.

"Actually, we believe prisoners should get the biggest piece of prey."

His voice sounded harsh but his eyes had a mischievous gleam in them. "It's nice to see you again, Respectpaw."

Respectpaw...Lightningpaw? Yes, it was him. That cat she had met on the LeafClan border when she was just a kit.

"Oh. It's you."

He purred. "It's Lightningtail now."

"Well, um, I'm Bloodrose. But I'm pretty sure you knew that."

He purred. "Look, I'm allowed to take you outside if you want. I don't believe you're in any condition to escape."

Bloodrose felt a splinter of hope. Maybe she would be able to get away, however disadvantaged she was.

"That...that would be nice. Um, look I feel bad about that last comment. Share?"

He nodded. Then smirked. "Okay. Thanks. Respectpaw."

...

Harsh sunlight hit her eyes as she stepped out the cave. It was obviously the day after she fell in the river. Had she really been unconscious for that long? She shuddered at the thought she might not have woken up at all.

The two cats walked in silence for a while. Briefly, Bloodrose considered bolting, but she knew that her leg would prevent her so she didn't even try. As she hopped from rock to rock, she wondered if there were any ghosts around the MountainClan territory. She got her answer soon enough. In the distance she could see a black cat, and it was obvious Lightningtail couldn't see it.

"So, now you've seen the territories for all four clans." He said awkwardly (by his standards anyway).

"Only very briefly in StreamClan. And I wasn't even supposed to be there."

His whiskers twitched. "I hope Greystar decides not to turn you in. I know that if Magpiestar finds out there could be major tension between LeafClan and us. But I think it's wrong to treat you as if you don't have a choice. If it were up to me, you'd be home with NightClan. Then no one would find out that we helped you, and you would be happy."

"Have you told this to Greystar?"

"Yes. But she's been told not to listen to my opinion too much. You see, if she does then others might think she has favoritism for me. She's my father's best friend. When he died... She sort of replaced him with me."

"That's not such a bad thing though is it? For you, anyway."

He shrugged. "I prefer not to talk about it." He looked at the sky. Clouds were rolling in. "We should hurry and get back. The weather can be very unpredictable and the mountain is dangerous when wet."

They got back just in time. Once her eyes had adjusted to the light, Bloodrose could see that everyone was sitting in little groups, grooming each other and having deep conversations.

"Oh my StarClan, Lightningtail! I want to be you right now!" Her voice sounded very familiar. She raced up to Bloodrose and sniffed her all over. "Oh, I'm so rude! My name is Amberdrop. I'm Lightningtail's oldest friend."

A cat snorted from behind. "Ehem!"

Amberdrop smiled apologetically. "That's my brother, Acornfall," then more quietly she added, "he's such a stupid furball."

Bloodrose smiled. She liked this friend group instantly. "Come sit with us." Acornfall offered. He seemed much nicer than when he had tried to chase after her and bring her back to MountainClan camp.

Sitting with them was Stormpaw, and an elder.

"This is Dustfoot, the best elder in all the clans!" Stormpaw introduced.

The old tom purred. "Well then Bloodrose, let me tell you a MountainClan story..."

Yet another plot twist. I am so good at these ;)

I'm going on holiday tomorrow. I don't know whether to be happy or sad though, because we're taking out dogs to the beach, but my best friend who was supposed to come got sick. I don't know when I broke a mirror while standing under a ladder as a cat walked past me, because *sarcasm* I am the luckiest person in the world!