A/N: So, we're pretty much split down the middle as to whether or not Foxshadow went too far. Perfect!

AnonChan1: Pretty well! (A) Well, the thing about snakesrocks is that there are a lot of snakes and most aren't even that hungry so they never really attack cats unless they are threatened and, if you catch them after their done breeding, you can actually find it easier to kill them because they are super relaxed. They are a large source of protein. ShadowClan would be better able to explain it, since they tend to kill and eat all the animals most other Clans consider "dangerous" like rats and snakes or "disgusting" like snakes and frogs. (B) Yellowfang dislikes Foxy on principle, but is tolerating of her antics due to knowing Foxy only does it for the sake of kits. (C) Yup. (D) Foxy doesn't want to kill him but does want to scare him since she is convinced that is the only way to get him to respect her. Well... Also, I have a question about this; would it have been easier pill to swallow if Foxy had straight up just killed Darkpaw and been done with it? Would you still consider Foxy to be good? (E) Foxy does care about him only because he's her former mentor and also inhabits the body of one of Frostfur's kits.

BraveSeeker3: That sounds like a pain! I'll have to watch the whole thing some time. Too busy right now.

EVA-Saiyajin: (Ch16) Yeah, watery eyes or even teary eyes doesn't necessary mean they are actually crying or can cry. It's just how Foxy perceived them. Cats physically cannot cry. (Ch17) He's with RiverClan and Sliverstream now, so he's at least got his happy ending. I wanted him gone so he wouldn't be the deputy of ThunderClan. In fact, I didn't even want him to have an apprentice. He never struck me as the deputy type.

Emerald the Rain-IceWing: (FOR FIRST REVIEW) (1) I'm glad you don't think Foxshadow is morally in the right here. I would hate to think that she was 100% a good person. (2) I have not read it but I have seen the movie. I'm now resisting the urge to edit that scene. (3) No more mentor on apprentice torture. I promise! :) "Third time's the charm" was in reference to the fact that it had been the third time Foxshadow had done something about her apprentice... and for once got results (4) Darkpaw: "What in StarClan is a New Year?" (FOR SECOND REVIEW) (5) Nah, you're fine. I'm glad that you still think Darkpaw deserves it - Foxy was overreacting, which is enough for her to deserve some equally harsh criticism for it. Mad or not, a deputy/queen should not let her emotions put someone else in danger.

Vinejay - Vinewings of Airclan: Actually, Foxshadow doesn't know about that prophecy beyond being told by Mistleleaf that Brokenstar was the face of darkness. If anyone would name him that, it would be Bluestar. Also, snake does not taste like chicken - Foxy just thinks it does because a) she hasn't tasted chicken in a long time and b) she doesn't have human tastebuds anymore.

MagiMon: Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoy most of the changes I made!

Willowstorm of SkyClan: Omg, thank you! I'm so glad to hear from you again, too!

Yolo: Ask and you shall recieve! Her kits will come at the end of Rising Storm. I've plotted a book focusing on them, too.

Imprisoned Wings: Darkpaw is excited for a very different reason than other apprentices. I explain that a bit in this chapter.

lemon: Apparently my proof readings skills suck and I need to work on them, too. And nitpicking can be good in some instances, especially when it comes to editing and proofreading. If you ever feel in the mood, I'd really appreciate if you could point out all the flaws in grammar when you see them.


The night was cold and dark and terrible.

A loud clicking filled the air, like many blunt claws on the top of a monster. Terror filled him and blood pounded in his ears but when he forced himself to move - to run, to escape - the thick mud clung to his fur and he fell down, sinking deeper into the muck. The more he fought it, the more it sucked him down into the mud. A wail escaped him as the first wave of black, beady-eyed monsters swarmed down the other side of the ditch towards him. The mud rose around him until he couldn't even see his legs.

"None of this should have happened," a familiar she-cat hissed into his ear as a black wave of rats swarmed over him, suffocating him with their carrion-stench. "Foxpaw did this to you."

Then suddenly he was falling, branches whipping at him as he passed. He felt like he was falling forever and he instinctively twisted to get his feet under him. He caught a glimpse of his killer in the trees. Dark amber eyes glared at him from a scared face as the words of his mentor echoing in his mind.

"A warrior doesn't complain about his duties nor does he give them to someone else to do. He takes responsibility for his actions, respects and serves the Clan and does as he's told to the best of his abilities. Every time you fail to live up to this ideal, Darkpaw, you come one step closer to trying my patience and one step closer to me killing you."

Darkpaw jerked awake and scrambled to his paws, only to cry out as his legs collapsed under him from the pain. A horrified keen escaped him as he stared in shock around himself, half-expecting his murderer to be there, waiting for him. When no one showed, he relaxed in relief and grimaced as headache suddenly began pounding in his skull.

At the sound of his cry, a dark gray she-cat poked her head into the den. Darkpaw could smell her before he saw her, and he opened his eyes, squinting past the pain.

"Yellowfang?" he meowed, his voice sounding so painfully like a kits'.

"So you remember my name now," she meowed. She immediately shoved a bundle of herbs into his face. "Eat these."

Darkpaw squinted at the herbs, identifying thyme and a poppy seed among them. It took him a moment to remember what each did and he ate them almost gratefully, before succumbing to a long sleep.

When he jerked awake again, he was relieved that there had been no nightmares. He looked around for more herbs to eat and instead found a mouse. His belly growled at him and he immediately bent to eat it. The bones crunched deliciously between his teeth and he swallowed each bite slowly to savor the taste.

"Hey, Darkstripe!"

The black tabby jumped at the sound, not really registering the words, before he saw Mistleleaf and gave her a glare. "Don't sneak up on me," he half-growled. He forced his fur flat and tried to summon an air of indifference, looking disinterestedly away from Mistleleaf. "What do you want?"

The white she-cat blinked her mismatching eyes. "I can give you something to help you rest." She pushed some thyme towards him.

Darkpaw bristled, sneering. "I don't have anxiety."

"It will help you rest," she repeated, glancing down at the herb as she thought about it for a second. "You can't leave this den until you are healed and you want to get it over with as soon as possible, right?"

Unable to argue with Mistleleaf's reasoning, the dark apprentice gave a moody growl and bent to eat the thyme, ignoring the bland taste of it in his mouth. When he swallowed, he cleared his throat. "I suppose this means my training is going to be postponed."

Mistleleaf shrugged. "That's up to Foxface. She's the deputy now, you know."

The black tabby huffed a laugh at the insult and felt himself relax. "I'll have to remember that one." He lifted his head, a wave of tiredness washing over him. "She shouldn't have been the deputy. If Tigerclaw, was here, he'd be the deputy as is his right."

The white she-cat blinked. "Tigerclaw was a murderer and a traitor," she meowed carefully, as if repeating something she had heard over and over again. "He killed Redtail and tried to take over ThunderClan."

"Can you blame him?" Darkpaw growled. "Bluestar killed her own kits, Bluestar let a kittypet into the Clan, and then she allowed that rogue to kill me. I mean, my father. Now she parades around think she's some kind of a warrior."

The white cat had nothing to say this, her eyes wide with surprise, and she stared at him for a long moment before turning and leaving the den. Darkpaw didn't think to ponder on this and curled up in his nest, glad to not be surrounded by apprentices for one night.

When he woke up, a different white cat had entered the den and was curled up next to him. He recognize his son's scent immediately.

"Snowpaw," he meowed, irritated. When the white tom didn't move, Darkpaw jabbed his side with a paw and hissed. "Snowpaw!"

The tom blinked awake, his dark green eyes almost black. He looked at his brother and let out a yawn loudly. "Oh, hey, Darkpaw," he meowed. "I thought you could use the company."

Darkpaw resisted a growl, his face barely twisting in a sneer. "Don't you have patrol with Sandstorm?"

"She gave me the day off so I could be with you," Snowpaw meowed innocently.

"Of course she did," meowed Darkpaw, wishing said she-cat was here so he could claw her ears off. His thoughts turned elsewhere and his voice dropped into a more cautious tone. "Did she happen to mention if my own mentor wanted anything from me?"

Snowpaw squinted his eyes and slowly shook his head. "Not that I can remember." He frowned, his eyes furrowed in thought.

Darkpaw relaxed, before feeling irritated again. With Foxshadow outright refusing to actually train him, it would be moons before he could be a warrior again and Darkpaw was growing more and more fed up with the chores he didn't think he deserved to be doing in the first place. I have to prove myself to Bluestar or Sandstorm somehow.

"I hope we get a warrior assessment soon," he meowed, realizing belatedly that it would be very unlikely Foxshadow would let him participate. He flattened his ears.

"You think we're ready?" meowed Snowpaw, eyes wide. "We've only been apprentices for a halfmoon."

"Only that long?" Darkpaw meowed, surprised. He felt like it had been much longer. Doing nothing but meaningless chores had completely warped his perception of time. He let out aloud groan. "I'll never be a warrior at this rate!"

"You won't be a warrior at all if you keep falling out of trees," rasped a voice, and Darkpaw instinctively hissed at the ex-ShadowClan cat. The dark gray she-cat didn't even blink at him, her eyes studying him thoughtfully. "Your mentor wanted me to tell you that you'll be on medicine cat chores for the next moon."

"That's not fair!" Darkpaw meowed, before swallowing in shock.

Not fair? a voice that sounded a lot like Foxshadow's seemed to hiss into his ear. Not fair, Darkstripe, is you being reincarnated when there are many other cats who deserve it more than you do.

I deserve this more than anyone! he internally seethed. I should never have died!

"Life isn't fair," meowed Yellowfang. "Now, I expect you to help me with my herb stores so I can teach you what herbs you will be looking for when you finally leave this place."

"Fine," Darkpaw half-growled.

Seemingly satisfied, the old she-cat padded away into the darkness.

"All you ever seem to do now is chores," meowed Snowpaw. "Does Foxshadow hate you?"

Relieved that Snowpaw hadn't asked him whether or not he had actually done anything wrong, Darkpaw raised his head angrily. "She's jealous of my natural talent and the fact that I have ThunderClan blood. Rogues are like that."

Snowpaw looked unsure. "She just seems so nice all the time. She loved playing with us in the nursery, remember?"

"She played with us in the nursery?" Darkpaw had spent most of his time in the nursery sleeping. It was great to had so much free time, but now he was regretting it. Playing, after all, was itself a type of training exercise and, with Foxshadow refusing to train him and him being stuck on chores, he had no time to practice any of the skills of his past life and work his muscles.

"Yeah," meowed Snowpaw. "She would play with all the older kits and then when they were gone she spent almost every day playing with us." He gave Darkpaw's confused expression an equally confused look. "You don't remember?"

Darkpaw shrugged off the question as he became lost in his own thoughts. Why would Foxshadow become so interested in playing with his kits? "Did she play with Goldenflower's kits?"

"Yeah," meowed Snowpaw, "and she would always try to find ways so that we could all play together whenever she was too busy. We were all assigned to Clans, with Frostpaw in charge of one and Bramblepaw in charge of the other. Cloudpaw always ended up playing the part of Bramblepaw's deputy and Icepaw was always Frostpaw's. They always made me play Bramblepaw's medicine cat. It was fun but I wanted to be a warrior."

The black tabby looked completely lost as he listened to his son. How could he have missed that? "Didn't you guys wake me for any of it?"

"We tried, but you would always make us go away for disturbing your nap," Snowpaw meowed. "They stopped asking after a while and you just never said yes whenever I asked."

Darkpaw felt a pang of loss. But Darkpaw had never had any interest in being near Foxshadow, so rejecting the offer was the only choice he would have picked even if he had learned about this before becoming an apprentice. He hated that it came at the cost of whatever potential brotherhood he and his son could have had together. He knew this was somehow Foxshadow's fault.

"Well, of course I would," meowed Darkpaw, "if I knew Foxshadow was playing the part of StarClan."

"I supposed," meowed Snowpaw, sounding disappointed. He forced himself to be cheery, though. "Maybe we can train together. I'm sure Sandstorm and Foxshadow would love it. They always like training the apprentices."

"Foxshadow trains the other apprentices?" asked Darkpaw, suddenly angry. What about me!?

"Yeah," he meowed. "Bramblepaw says that she likes to check up on everyone's training as often as she can. She does it on patrols and stuff, which is why everyone keeps being switched around all the time."

Darkpaw seethed, suddenly wanting his son to understand his situation. "Why can't she just train me? I can get out of her fur faster!"

"She's probably just really busy all the time," Snowpaw meowed.

"If she was going to be busy all the time, why not just give me to another warrior?" Darkpaw clawed the ground, shredding his moss nest. "Dustpelt doesn't have an apprentice!"

Snowpaw looked uncomfortable and shrugged. "Maybe Foxshadow just thought you were special, somehow?"

Darkpaw's jaw snapped shut and he let out a low growl, hating that Snowpaw had landed perfectly on Foxshadow's reasoning. After all, if Foxshadow didn't know that Darkpaw and Darkstripe were one and the same, Foxshadow probably wouldn't have looked at him twice.

She's jealous that I'm alive! he thought.

"Darkpaw!" rasped Yellowfang, her voice noticeably cross. "Stop mewling with your brother and get over here! StarClan, I can't hear myself think with all your whining."

Snowpaw looked hopefully at his brother. "Maybe I can help?"

Before Darkpaw could open his mouth, Yellowfang stuck her head into their chamber and gave the white tom a glare. "You're brother isn't a kit anymore, Snowpaw, so go do some other chores. I don't need you distracting him."

Snowpaw immediately wilted, lowering his tail and flattening his ears. "Yes, Yellowfang."

The black tabby watched his son leave the den and suddenly felt abandoned, though he couldn't entirely understand why.

Yellowfang growled at him. "Now, Darkpaw!"

Darkpaw found himself obediently rising to his paws. Even as Yellowfang started to point out herbs to him that he already knew, his mind was getting further and further away.

You're going to be on apprentice duties for your entire apprenticeship, sneered Foxshadow's voice, and I'm not going to teach you a thing.

Darkpaw hadn't believed that was true until he had suddenly found himself four foxlengths up and falling from a tree. Thankfully, it hadn't been high enough to actually break his bones and he was experienced enough to correct his fall so his legs could absorb the impact, but from the way his muscles protested he knew he was lucky that Foxshadow hadn't waited for him to climb higher.

She doesn't have it in her to kill a kit or an apprentice, he told himself, but for some reason he couldn't bring himself to believe it. Next time she kicked him out of a tree, she might wait until he was two foxlengths higher.

Not fair is me having to sit here and train my own mentor who never even tried to train me. Tigerclaw and Lionheart put more effort in my training than you ever did and if it wasn't for either of them, I wouldn't be here.

With a jolt of shock, he realized that if he was going to train to become a warrior, he would have to do it on his own.


A/N: Darkpaw is down but not out.

So, I'm going to be updating at least once on the weekends or once on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I'm still trying to figure out how to work with my new schedule. Sorry for not updating in the last week, school started.

Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to leave a review!