I apologize for this chapter. More of a filler chapter than anything...

Foxbracken: Yes! AH! I still feel all 'butterflies in stomach, walking on cloud nine' ish! Meh! XD And thanks! I kind of do too. Everytime I hear 'deputy', I think of a police officer! :/ And no problem! Thanks for Krivi and Kenji name-because-I-can't-name-them thing! :D

Yin and Yang: I still want to call you Starshine! Haha! Anyway, yup! Meh first kiss! :D and Yes! I love love love Florida! Usually we go to Alabama, but I like Florida better. I'm actually looking at a college down there. I really like the weather and programs :D

And in case ya'll didn't know, I'm Nikonkey's Co-writer. Go check out SKYCLAN'S RETURN and Serventclan. Give the stories some love! :D

Chapter 34: The Victims

Emberpad tossed and turned in his nest. His mother's soft breaths as she slept didn't soothe him like they usually did. With her diaphragm pushing against his side as she inhaled and exhaled, and her tail making him feel overheated, he'd never sleep. He pushed himself to his paws, carefully stepping over Silver's tail and the edge of the nest, down to the cool floor of the nursery. There, he curled up and soon drifted off.

Instead of his usual blackness, the world seemed to explode with color. Emberpad stood in awe as all around him was a large, cloudy-looking swath of stars. Fluffy white clouds tickled his paws. He laughed, reveling in the new, wonderful sight; a land of mist and shadows.

Suddenly, a black tom with a white paw appears. "Like what you see, kit?"

Emberpad nodded quickly. "Yes, sir, I do. This is the best thing…well the best thing I've ever seen!"

"It's the only thing you've ever seen." The tom purred.

"What is this place?"

"Oh, nowhere." The tom replied, looking at his claws. He flexed them a little before sheathing them and turning his attention back to the kit. "So, would you like to see all the time?"

"Would I ever!" Emberpad cried out, shaking with excitement. "Wait…can I ask something?"

"Of course." The tom smiled.

"Can I see what…Scarletbreeze looks like?"

The tom nodded. A reddish-brown she appeared beside the tom. She was even more beautiful than Emberpad could ever imagine. Scarletbreeze blinked her heart-melting green eyes, giving him a small smile, and he felt his heart drop out of his chest.

Suddenly, she faded away. Emberpad frowned, looking back at the tom. "You said I can see all the time?"

"Oh, yes. I can. Bring this Scarletbreeze with you to the cave above the sparkling one. That one is just an illusion. Follow Lunaclaw there, but be sneaky. She knows the way."

"Ok! I will! Thank you…um…what did you say your name was again?"

The tom shook his head. "It's no problem. But remember," the tom grew serious, "In order to gain, someone else must lose."

The clouds seemed to fade, and Emberpad felt oddly heavy. He saw the clouds disappear beneath his feet and he was falling. The ground rushed up to meet him and…

Emberpad woke up in a cold sweat. He hyperventilated for a moment, slowly getting his breathing under control. His eyes saw the familiar black, and he felt his heart clench in sadness. The voice of his mother caused him to turn his head in her direction.

"Honey, are you ok?"

"Yeah. Just a bad dream." He crawled back into the nest, feeling his mother wrap her tail around him again. When he fell back asleep, he kept thinking of himself playing among the clouds.

…

Scarletbreeze sat with Robinbreeze and Sunclaw as they shared their prey. They had found friendship through being outcasts in the clan, and they all knew their fate already. But for now, they would enjoy their freedom.

"When do you think Bloodclan will get here?" Sunclaw spoke with a mouthful of mouse.

"Dark Forest's sake, keep your mouth closed." His sister chuckled. Sunclaw blushed, and Robinbreeze laughed. "Anyway, I hear they'll be here before the competition…"

A silence passed over the three. "One more battle before we become what we will be." Scarletbreeze spoke softly. "Nothing but breeding machines." She hissed, disgusted.

Robinbreeze sighed. "I think we should run away, make an impact, a wreck of their mouse brained rules."

Sunclaw scoffed. "Don't talk of such treason. Besides, they'd catch us before we hit the border." Suddenly, he grinned. "And how could you leave your kit behind, Scarletbreeze." Scarletbreeze grinned, swiping at him.

"Emberpad is not my kit! He's just…" Scarletbreeze paused. She had only been helping Silver watch Emberpad for a while now, and it was obviuous he had a crush on her, but did she feel the same way? Did she want to gain the little tom's heart?

Suddenly, a masculine voice rang in her head. 'Someone loses in order to gain.'

She frowned. "Did you say something?"

"Yeah, that you totally like Emberpad!" Robinbreeze and Sunclaw laughed even harder. Scarletbreeze rolled her eyes, sighing with a smirk on her lips. Must have just been my imagination.

…

Lunaclaw was organizing herbs when Shatterbreeze stirred in her nest. Lunaclaw looked up from her pile of Feverfew to watch the she blink and slowly stretch her front legs, her paws kneading the ground. Shatterbreeze yawned then smiled. "Hey, Lunaclaw. I feel a lot better. Can I go back now?"

Lunaclaw chuckled. "Let me just look at your eye and make sure." After a careful inspection to make sure everything had healed, Lunaclaw nodded. Shatterbreeze grinned and bounded out of the den. Light sparkled in the clearing. Warm rays of sun seemed to flow through her pelt, putting her in a happy mood.

And then she saw him.

Stoneclaw.

She'd been avoiding him after that night, yet he'd always seem to pop up, wheather it was to check on her, and when he did, she'd pretend to be asleep, or bring her prey she didn't eat. And now, when he padded up to her.

"Hey, Shatterbreeze, um…."

"What do you want?" She snapped, immediately on the defensive.

"I just wanted to tell you, it wasn't me when…it was-"

"Do you know how mouse brained that sounds? Who was it then? And don't you dare say Star!" she hissed.

"But it was!" he cried, somehow sounding surprised.

"Unbelievable." She huffed, trotting away. She frowned when she found him following her.

"No, really! He has this friend, who's all shadowy, and he leaps into my back and-"

"Alright, enough. You're just jealous because Star actually cares and I like him better. It was your fault for clawing me. You're a kit if you can't learn to take responsibility for your own mousebrain actions." And with that, she ran away, leaving a fuming Stoneclaw.

"At least I have a better mentor than you! I'll kick your tail in a quarter moon, spoiled brat!" He called after her, stalking away.

Shatterbreeze barely heard him. Instead a voice filled her ears with a sickly sweet voice. 'One must have someone to choose and put another in unbearable pain.'

Just to let you kind of know who the prophecies are about.

Lunaclaw: OMG I'm dying to give you spoilers! Ugg! I can't hold it any longer! Stoneclaw- *Gets tackled by Shatterbreeze*

Shatterbreeze: No spoilers! *Ties up Lunaclaw and shoves her in a Twoleg cat holder* There. That ought to do it.

Lunaclaw: Help meh! DX

Shatterbreeze: Review! :D