Lostheart and Greysight told them everything. They told them about Scar's strength and bizarre nature, including the circumstances of his death. More importantly, however, they told the clan that Scar had been controlling Roseclaw, and later, Raggedear. They told them about Wetfrost and how Scar had admitted to killing him, leaving out no details in their theories.

Darkpelt had remarked that both she-cats had finally gone mad and had come up with such a fantastical story in their desire to make Roseclaw innocent, but it was at that moment that Raggedear and Moonfur appeared, with Pineneedle trailing behind, to back up their claim.

After mentioning Willowstar's strange talents and the behavior of the three cats when they had entered their camp, Darkpelt couldn't find the proper words to try to deny it. There was nothing he could say against the proof that they had witnessed firsthand.

"That worthless piece of foxdung... he was trying to pick us off one by one!"

"Yes, that is what we believe." Lostheart replied, "Though we can't really say why."

"This is worse than we thought." Darkpelt continued. "I knew it was a threat! Now we definitely have enough reason to believe that those two cats won't just leave us be, you heard what the short one said!" he growled, giving a pointed look toward Raggedear and Thistleprick.

"I don't understand why Wren would be with cats like that..." Was all Thistleprick could say in reply.

"From now on, no one leaves camp by themselves. For safety purposes, everyone should go in pairs of two, and for apprentices, you must be accompanied by a warrior to leave camp." Greysight meowed. The others nodded in agreement at this new policy. "And be extra attentive."

"The Gathering is only a few sunrises from now, we need to tell the other clans about those two cats. They'll be able to help us by looking out for them on their territories as well, and they might just be able to run them off if they're discovered." Moonfur added.

When they were finished and had answered the clan's questions as best they could, Darkpelt finally turned toward the dark tabby who had sat listening in on their clan meeting, being watched by almost everyone.

"And what about him?" Darkpelt groused. "Where does he fit into all of this?"

All eyes fell onto Pineneedle who glared in response.

"I was wondering that myself." Greysight muttered. "You said you don't know them, but how can we trust you? Why would they even help you? Did you make friends while you were banished? Or did you promise them something in return, like our territory!?"

"You DarkClan cats really are stupid." Pineneedle growled, rising from his sitting position. "So it looks like I'll have to tell you again, I don't know them! And now that you know who really killed your little apprentice, you have no reason to keep me here against my will! If there are a pair of psychotic cats out there who are bent on destroying your clan, that's your problem, and I'd rather not stick around to see how it pans out, as satisfying as the sight would be." he snorted. "I'd rather not be attacked because of a simple misunderstanding. I'm not a DarkClan cat, and I'd rather not be 'destroyed' on the idiotic assumption that I am one."

Lostheart blinked at this and she watched him, catching his angry gaze for a brief second.

"Regardless, you could be in just as much danger as any of us, for all we know." Lostheart meowed. "Do you really want to go out there by yourself, knowing those two cats are out there? You saw them with your own eyes."

Pineneedle's tail lashed as he stood there, with no problem now that his leg was mostly healed and he could obviously put weight on it.

"What do you mean?" he hissed. "'Out there' is a whole lot safer than being in here at the moment, and I already told you, I'd rather not die over a stupid misunderstanding."

"...But half of your blood is DarkClan blood, Willowstar was a DarkClan cat."

Pineneedle's eyes widened suddenly for a brief moment and his fur bristled as he flattened his ears back at the DarkClan cats.

"Don't talk about my father!" he growled lowly. "You mousebrains have no right! None! So don't say something like that again or I'll rip your tongues out myself! Besides! How would they even know that?"

Pineneedle was grinning arrogantly now, but there was hesitation in his gaze. Lostheart's words had gotten to him it would seem, and even the former TreeClan deputy looked somewhat fearful despite his effort to mask it.

Moonfur met his look with a calm, almost sympathetic, look of her own. She remembered the way Scar had spoken about her and her life, her family, fears, and hopes.

"I don't know..."

Pineneedle's eyes widened and he gritted his teeth, his eyes jumping from cat to cat.

"What's it matter? Just let him go! His leg is fine now, and we no longer have any reason to keep him here. So if he wants to go, fine! We don't need the likes of him in our camp!" Greysight hissed, her words bringing on several meows of approval from Darkpelt, Thistleprick, Roseclaw, and the apprentices.

Pineneedle took a step back. "W-wait! You can't throw me out now!"

"I thought you were just saying how much you wanted to leave." Greysight snorted. "You were banished from the clans as punishment, from your own clan! It goes against the warrior code for you to even be here now!" Her anger and hatred toward the lofty tom who had repeatedly tortured her and her clanmates as an apprentice was bubbling over. "You. Were. Banished. No cat in all the four clans wants you here, and you know why!? You're a disgusting, conceited, pretentious, lowlife! You sat idly by while your father sucked the lives out of your own clanmates, cats who, for some unearthly reason, probably thought you were their friend!"

Pineneedle's mouth began to open, but he was cut off by Greysight.

"No! Shut up! I can't even listen to you talk, and I don't want to hear it! I don't want to hear you try to tell me that they were happy to do it, that it was their duty or some other load of foxdung! You enforced Willowstar's tyrannical rule and treated your clanmates like dirt! You kidnapped my clanmate with the intention of killing her, you attempted to kill my friend, and you murdered innocent kits from your own clan! That's why you were banished! You're a sick, revolting, brainwashed cat, and nobody wants you here, but there are several cats who would want you dead!"

Greysight's breath came out in short angry puffs through her nose and her throat suddenly felt sore from her shouting; her body had visibly shook with anger as she spoke, and even now she could feel a slight tremor in her legs.

There was a long silence until Darkpelt spoke up after her.

"She's right. Mintleaf healed your leg, DarkClan owes this worthless cat nothing! He's lucky he even received treatment after we caught him trespassing on our territory, stealing our prey no less!" Darkpelt stepped forward from the group and stalked toward Pineneedle who took another step back, looking panicked now from the glares that were sent his way from the DarkClan cats.

"It'd be my pleasure to chase him off our territory myself!"

"You fools-!"

"Stop."

The cats in the clearing were silenced by a loud, calm voice.

Lostheart was standing and had gotten everyone's attention.

"We're not chasing Pineneedle away, we can't do that."

"What!?" Darkpelt replied, a look of surprise on both his and Greysight's face. Pineneedle only blinked and continued to watch the exchange.

The cats in the clan looked surprised as well, namely Amberpaw who had been looking forward to watching Greysight and Darkpelt chase the former deputy away after what he had done to her. He had hurt her when he dragged her away from DarkClan territory; she had been terrified, screaming for help though no one had heard her, and she had watched as Pineneedle attempted to kill her beloved mentor, nearly succeeding in the process.

"Why are you protecting him!?" Greysight meowed, astounded.

"You're not our clan leader!" Darkpelt hissed. "You can't tell us what to do!"

"And neither are you." Lostheart replied evenly, her capable eye moving to look at Darkpelt. "In this clan, we make decisions together."

Darkpelt narrowed his eyes and his snowy, flecked pelt bristled slightly. "Pineneedle was banished from the forest. We've already broken the warrior code by keeping him here against Thrushstar's decree, continuing to do so would be to continue to break the warrior code, and if Thrushstar or TreeClan were made aware, the newly re-built relationship between our clans would suffer." He reasoned.

"You're right, we would be breaking the warrior code, and the other clans would likely react poorly if they found out, but right now this isn't about the code, it's about doing what's right."

Moonfur's eyes widened slightly as she heard Lostheart's words and she suddenly found herself watching the black she-cat more closely, expectantly.

Branchpaw whispered something to Warpaw and the clan looked unsure of what Lostheart was saying, but she needed their support.

"We're not murderers. Isn't that in the code as well?"

"The code says that a warrior does not need to kill in order to win their battles, but that rule is not relevant here. Besides, it no longer pertains to Pineneedle as he lives outside the warrior code." Darkpelt returned.

Lostheart's mouth was set in a thin line as she continued, addressing everyone as she spoke. "If we send Pineneedle out there by himself, there's a chance that he could die."

"So what!?"

"Do any of us really want to live with that on our conscience? If he died, and we were the ones to turn him away, that would be the same as killing him ourselves. We would be responsible."

"You forget that there's also the chance that he would be fine."

"And there's also a chance that he wouldn't be. I know it's hard to look past...the past, but we don't need to become killers. We're not like him, you said it yourselves, didn't you?"

Silence met her words.

Moonfur recalled her father's words; he had said it was important to follow the code at times, but it was more important to make decisions, not based solely on the code, but on what was truly right, not just what they felt was right. But what was truly right?

"We've experienced times like these before when we've had to look past the code." Lostheart continued, her voice wavering a bit when she spoke next. "The word of a clan leader is law. But when Sunstar ordered you all to leave me in TreeClan's camp when I was wounded, you didn't. You disobeyed his direct order."

"That was different, Sunstar's order was- It wasn't ri-" Darkpelt fell silent suddenly, not wanting to finish his sentence as he realized what he was going to say. This did not go unnoticed by the other cats and Lostheart allowed herself to relax a bit.

"Doing what's right can be difficult, and it may not always be what we want to do, but it means treating other cats fairly... Even when they don't deserve it. Once we can be sure that the threat of those cats is gone, we can send Pineneedle into his rightful banishment, but for now he should remain as our prisoner."

"I agree with Lostheart."

The clan looked on at Moonfur in surprise.

Pineneedle had kidnapped and tried to kill her daughter; and Lostheart too couldn't have forgotten Pineneedle's cruelty toward her, but both she-cat's were willingly choosing to spare him, an act which made the clan begin to think very deeply.

Moonfur and Lostheart's eyes met, both with their mismatched colors, and Moonfur smiled slightly.

"I trust her judgment."

"I as well." Raggedear meowed from beside Moonfur.

After both her mother and mentor had spoke, Amberpaw released a small, shaky breath and she spoke up.

"Me too." After saying it though, she felt very pleased with her decision.

Warpaw and Branchpaw agreed next after their sister, followed by Mintleaf and Roseclaw, and then Thistleprick who sighed as he did, still seeming a bit unsure, but willing to cooperate.

Only Darkpelt and Greysight had yet to speak, and they had already been outvoted.

Seeing that this was the case, Darkpelt complied finally, despite how willing he had been to fight Lostheart.

"Fine." he growled, turning to look toward Pineneedle.

Lostheart was watching Greysight, but the blind she-cat remained silent, giving no inclination as to how she felt.

"Now that that's decided." said Moonfur, "Everyone remember the new rules, and we'll prepare for Gathering."

The meeting ended after that and the cats dispersed a bit. Darkpelt and Mintleaf accompanied Pineneedle back to the medicine cat den while Darkpelt discussed with her that he'd like her to relocate her sleeping arrangements at night.

Lostheart approached Greysight who had yet to move.

"Greysight? Are you okay?"

Greysight's frown deepened but she did finally move, rising to her paws.

"Yeah, fine. I'm just...angry. I know that everyone is right, but I can't help it." she muttered.

It was sundown now and cats were beginning to return to their dens early. Mintleaf would be staying in the warriors den, as would Roseclaw during the nights while Pineneedle slept in the medicine cat den. The warriors would alternate who would guard the entrance, they decided, and Roseclaw volunteered to go first.

Darkpelt had protested this, saying that she was a medicine cat, but doing so brought on Roseclaw's temper and she declared that, although she was a medicine cat, she was more than capable of taking care of herself, saying that she wanted to do it. Perhaps as some sort of repayment she felt she owed the clan.

In the end, Darkpelt had begrudgingly agreed, but had warned her to yell out loudly if she was attacked as they were only sleeping across the way, and Greysight would be sure to awaken. He decided to guard the camp entrance that night, another duty that would be rotated amongst them and the apprentices, who were more than capable now, he thought gruffly.

Raggedear had intended to follow Thistleprick into the warrior's den to sleep too, but Moonfur had stopped him as he was about to enter.

"Raggedear?"

He turned.

"Could we talk?"

The tom blinked in understanding.

Together they padded toward the tree tunnel, catching Darkpelt's attention as they did so.

"We'll be right back." Moonfur told him.

Darkpelt didn't reply as he watched them, not really caring to, nor wanting to, get involved in the pair of cats' business. He almost rolled his eyes. Almost. The desire was certainly there.

Moonfur and Raggedear walked through the tree tunnel in silence, listening to the sounds of the forest that erupted at nightfall, namely the chirping of insects hidden to their eye. Little lightning bugs also floated amongst the brush, their bodies flashing on and off serenely, twinkling like little stars, Moonfur thought.

They didn't go too far from camp at all, and they never intended to. Moonfur just wanted to talk someplace private where they wouldn't be overheard by one of their clanmates.

She stopped walking, hearing Raggedear do the same behind her, and she turned to face him.

He blinked as she did this, Moonfur not realizing the strange expression she wore, and so when she looked at Raggedear, she paused, blinking herself before an unwilling smile grew on her face. He looked like a kit , the way his eyes had grown so large.

She laughed and shook her head once she realized she was confusing him, and probably making him uncomfortable as she did so.

"I'm sorry!" she breathed between a laugh. "It's just- your face."

She wondered if Raggedear would feel insulted or get angry with her, but much to her surprise, the tom slowly offered her a lopsided smile. It was a look she rarely saw on his face, but it looked good on him.

"You should see your face." he meowed.

Moonfur smiled back, her laughter having subsided and she swallowed once. He was probably waiting for her to say something, she noted, after she had been the one to invite him out here. But now that they were actually there, staring at each other, Moonfur suddenly felt very awkward and she cursed the butterflies in her stomach; it was ridiculous! They had spoken several times before. Of course, this was really the first time they had had a good chance to speak since their fight.

"I'm glad you invited me out here, I've wanted to talk to you. Unfortunately, Pineneedle made that kind of impossible..." Raggedear meowed.

"O-oh.."

He nodded.

Inwardly smacking herself for being such a wimp, Moonfur steeled herself and continued.

"I'm glad too. I just wanted to apologize, for everything. For yelling at you, and for even thinking you would have hurt Wetfrost... I'm sorry."

Raggedear shook his head. "I'm the one who should be apologizing, it's my fault that any of this even happened. I never meant to make trouble for any of you, in fact, I've been trying to avoid it."

"It's not your fault!" Moonfur retorted hotly. "Scar manipulated us! He and those other cats are the ones to blame." Of course, Moonfur also realized that one of those 'other cats' was Raggedear's brother. Her pale gray fur had bristled slightly and she stood stronger then.

"...Thank you, Moonfur."

It was the first time someone other than Thistleprick had said such a thing.

Moonfur blinked at his soft tone of voice and her fur began to lie flat.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you, and for saying all those cruel things...and for whatever other cruel things I might have said." He added, knowing all too well the nature of the other cat that existed in his mind. "I thought that leaving was the best choice to keep everyone safe, but I couldn't have been more wrong. I left you alone, and you were attacked."

Moonfur chuckled a bit, what Raggedear felt was half-hearted, and she flicked him on the shoulder with her tail. "Again, not your fault. You were only doing what you thought was right. And I can take care of myself, I've been doing it for forever.

"...But I guess even strong cats like me have their weaknesses. I'll admit that I've always been more...sensitive than most." Admitting it out loud to Raggedear, and more so to herself even, pained Moonfur. She averted her gaze at that moment, feeling ashamed.

"I can relate."

A flick on her shoulder.

Moonfur looked up, meeting his yellow gaze with her own mismatched one and saw that gentle, lopsided smile on his face, but it didn't last too long.

"You must miss your mate."

"I do." Moonfur admitted, though she was surprised by Raggedear's sudden mention of Ice. "Sometimes... But I know that he's in peace now, and I'm not alone."

A brief silence stretched between them.

"That's good."

"It is..." Moonfur agreed, noticing the way Raggedear now looked away from her. "I like to think that he'd be happy for me, I know he would be. All he ever wanted was for me to be happy. And I am happy. Here in this forest with DarkClan, my kits, and...with you."

Raggedear stiffened upon contact, not having realized that Moonfur had crept closer to him. The pale she cat cuddled close and clenched her eyes shut, pressing her forehead against the space of Raggedear's neck, beneath his chin. She was afraid, even more after she felt him stiffen, but it was not Raggedear she was afraid of.

Slowly, she felt Raggedear release a quiet breath through his nose, but he did not speak or back away from her. His scent filled her nostrils, and Moonfur felt warm pressed against him. Her voice was muffled in his fur, but he could hear her speaking clearly.

"I love you Raggedear. Please, please don't try to leave again... My mother left me, my father left me, Ice left me... I don't want you to leave me too..." She sniffled despite herself and finally backed off, avoiding eye contact with him. "I'm sorry if I got snot all over your fur..."

She was cold now as the cool night air washed over her.

"What...me?" Raggedear's voice was a whisper, and Moonfur looked at his face. She couldn't read his expression; her pelt burned with embarrassment, but she nodded.

"I don't mean to burden you with my feelings... I'm sorry, especially if you don't feel the same way- I mean, I understand." she muttered quickly.

"No!" Raggedear replied quickly, making her jump. "It's-it's...not that. I just can't believe it... That a cat like you could...me?" It almost seemed like he was talking to himself.

"Why me?" His voice was quiet, apathetic. "Look at me. I'm a mess. I can hardly even take care of myself, and I'm not...normal. I'm not...stable. My ear has been practically torn to shreds, I'm dangerous, a liability-"

"You're gentle and kind, and honest. Because I trust you, because you're smart and loyal, and handsome. Because I like being around you." Moonfur answered easily, her gaze soft now. "...Why do you loathe yourself so much?"

It had taken her a little while to realize, but it was true. Raggedear was always sure to trust others, but never himself, he was never happy with himself. It was when he switched personalities too, he would go on and on about how worthless he was. She didn't understand.

He shrugged in silence, and Moonfur decided that she would just have to be the one to prove him wrong.

"You're an incredible tom. You saved my daughter's life and you've been a great mentor to her, you've always looked after your brother, despite the way he can get on your nerves, and you saved my life. Not only that, but you're an amazing fighter, and you can do that special move, the one your brother hasn't even mastered yet!"

She thought that her words would help reassure him, but something she said made his eyes darken a bit.

"I don't deserve your love, Moonfur. You're the most beautiful she-cat I've ever seen, and I do love you, but a cat like me...doesn't deserve this."

"Doesn't deserve what? To be happy?" Moonfur replied, a bit of her temper showing through. "And just who tells you that?" Moonfur asked, knowing that Raggedear wouldn't be able to mention a single cat in camp who would agree- not including Pineneedle, of course. He didn't count.

"The voice in my head, he does."

Moonfur's eyes had widened slightly and grew sad; she opened her mouth to speak, but Raggedear continued.

"He's not wrong either. I've done...unforgivable things."

The tom in front of her looked completely broken.

"Everyone makes mistakes..."

"No." Raggedear shook his head. "Not like this."

"Tell me, please." Moonfur implored, looking into his dull, tired eyes that made him seem older than he actually was.

Raggedear sighed and gave a brief nod, before he sat back down, knowing that Moonfur would think less of him, but it was for the best. If she knew, she would understand.

"I've killed cats, before we came here." he admitted, though Moonfur had expected as much. "I was five moons old the first time."

Five moons? Moonfur could hardly believe it. He had killed a cat when he was still so young?

"In Twolegplace, cats mainly lived in large family groups, though they usually consisted of a couple of outsiders as well. Our father was the leader of the gang, so of course, Thistleprick, Wren, and I had to deal with his expectations more than any of the others, including our cousins. It was...strict. It didn't seem so strange then, but looking back now, I realize just how...bad it really was." His eyes had a sort of faraway look to them.

"We had to get up early and train every day. If you woke up late, if you skipped out on training, you were beaten. After we were old enough to live without our mother's milk, we were no longer allowed to see her, and our father would beat us if we asked about her, even if we mentioned her. Life was about survival and nothing more; we had to defend our block from outsiders, which just really means we had to defend our food. Only the strongest are able to eat in Twolegplace, and there are cats starving. We had food because our family was large and strong, but we weren't the only ones, other gangs occupied other sections of Twolegplace, and fights broke out frequently for bits of territory. Wren was the smallest, he had the hardest time keeping up with our father's demands... If we disobeyed him, or made him angry, we had our own special form of punishment, outside of beatings and starvation. He called it river punishment because he would take us out to the river just outside of Twolegplace, outside of our territory, and repeatedly plunge and hold our heads down in the water. He was too strong for us to fight back, so we had no choice but to suffer the punishment, and it was the worst punishment.

"He trained me harder than Thistleprick and Wren, I suppose it was because I showed more promise in fighting. Then, when we were five moons old, he sent us to chase off a group that was hanging around outside our territory. It was our first task, so it was a big deal. Succeeding meant we would finally be seen as adults, though we were far from it. Failure wasn't an option. But Thistleprick and Wren were afraid, they weren't ready, and they still hadn't mastered our family's special move. I wanted to protect them, so I snuck away early with the intention of chasing off the cats on my own. It was such a stupid idea." Raggedear remarked bitterly. "I had a big head after all my training, since I was the best fighter out of the three of us.

"My memory of the incident itself is...fuzzy, but I remember finding them, there were three. We fought, and I could have died." He twitched his mangled ear to catch her attention. "That's when I got this. But somehow, I guess I succeeded because when Thistleprick and Wren found me, they also found the bodies... And I was covered in blood. That was the first time it ever happened, Thistleprick told me that I had really scared them, but they managed to take me home. Our father was impressed though, as much as he could be anyway.

"You saw me kill that cat on our territory that one time, but I've hurt others too in our travels... Cats who have attacked us, dead. Innocent cats as well, though Thistleprick swears that he stopped me from hurting those ones, but I'm not sure if I believe him... The real reason we left isn't because of my problem, or because Thistleprick and I snuck away. We lied to all of you... We left because... Because our entire family is dead...and...it's all my fault."

Raggedear fell silent now, staring at the dirt beneath his paws through half-lidded eyes full of regret and deep pain. Moonfur could tell from the way he had spoken that Raggedear had tried to make their home life seem better than it actually had been, but really...it had to have been awful.

Raggedear looked up suddenly, surprised by the sound of a quiet sniffling. When he looked up, he was shocked to see Moonfur with a steady trail of tears dripping slowly from her eyes and across her fur.

"Moonfur, don't cry for me..." This words sounded sympathetic, sad.

Her eyes snapped open, watery and mad.

"Why not!? Someone should, and you can't! Here I am, complaining about my life, when you've been through so much more!" she cried. "I'm going to cry all I want!"

Raggedear, though touched by her display, didn't want to watch her cry, so he gently flicked her with his tail again.

"It's okay." he reassured her solemnly.

"I'm the one who should be telling you that!"

He smiled slightly and Moonfur cursed inwardly, speaking with her shaky voice.

"I'll only stop crying if you agree to accept that you are loved." she said with determination.

Raggedear let out a small sigh through the breath of his nose and he considered it. Then he stood up and stepped forward, touching his forehead to Moonfur's.

"Okay..."

She felt his warm breath on her face.

"But only if you accept my love in return."

She sniffled.

"Deal."

AUTHOR'S NOTE

And with this chapter we have broken 100K, Hoorahhh. I don't know why everything I write is so darn long. I'm sorry.

OH THE FLUFF. OH THE QUESTIONS. WHAT SHALL HAPPEN?

Lost