hello hello hello!

i'm just going to go ahead and plug my new forum,,, the link is in my profile! It's called Fallenclan, and the roleplay should start up either soon/ it has started depending on when this chapter is posted.

I interrupt our regularly scheduled Rustpaw/ Beebounce freaking out chapters to bring you a moment of reprieve with Rushstorm.

(you guys,, you're not ready for next chapter haha)

Review Replies:

SilentsongOvO: heh, no spoilers - but you're fairly close! And he is just a stubborn little shit lol. And thank you!

Guest: Thanks! And yep. And no worries! It gave me a idea.

Crystalshine of lightclan:

That's just the way he works lol. creepy gremlin is perfect ahah

HE IS SO NAIVE. HE SAW THE FIRST CAT WHO LET HIM CHAT SHIT AND JUST ROLLED WITH IT LOL.

He'll work it out soon,, hopefully. And i love using flower language as u guys can probably tell! And thank u :)

Honeyferns:

Aww thank you so much! It will happen,, soon. And thank you! Please feel free to suggest more!

Mintflight0245:

Thank you so so much!

Anyways, onwards with the (day late) chapter!

Rushstorm was very confused.

There was something going on with Beebounce, and he had absolutely no idea what it was. He suspected it was tied to Rustpaw, but every time he brought it up, Beebounce changed the subject loudly.

It had happened seemingly overnight. One day; they'd been composing theories for Rustpaw's violence, and working out how it could be Brambleswipe, and the next Beebounce just didn't seem to talk about it. It was strange, how quickly he'd changed. And Rustpaw had changed as well. He'd changed his fighting style, and Petalpaw wasn't finishing training sessions bruised and slightly cut up.

It had just gotten even weirder after the kittypet's murder.

They'd buried her on Riverclan territory, and then the other kittypet had left. Rustpaw had seemed on edge throughout the whole burial, and Beebounce had kept glancing over at him.

It was perplexing. Beebounce was also apparently having his nightmares again, which was deeply worrying for Rushstorm. He couldn't remember how many nights he'd spent wide awake, lying in the apprentices den, listening to Beebounce's heavy panting. Once, Beebounce had screamed in the middle of the night, and Rushstorm had had to cover for him, and say that they'd heard a dog. Whatever Beebounce had been dreaming about to make him yowl like that… he didn't want to think about it. (Sometimes he did, and it made him feel worse.) (He'd known Honeywisp for only a matter of moons, and if she was killed in front of him... he didn't know what he'd do.)

It would explain why Beebounce seemed so tired, and why he didn't want to go to the gathering tonight. The gathering patrol was smaller than usual, Rosestar had wanted to leave behind warriors to protect the camp in case Petal's murderer came back. Rushstorm was going; and Fishclaw, as well as Rustpaw and Frostpaw. There were also some senior warriors, and the elders. Everyone else remained in camp.

Beebounce also seemed … detached. From him, from Frogtoe, from Fishclaw. It wasn't like he was avoiding them, he'd pad up to them at the fresh-kill pile and offer them a small smile. But he wasn't exactly talking to them either. He also seemed tetchy. On edge. Rushstorm had tried to comfort him - and he'd pulled away.

Still, he couldn't worry too much about it. He could see the gathering island up ahead through the trees. Fishclaw had raced ahead, in front of him and Rosestar to get there. Rustpaw and Frostpaw were quietly talking to Goldpaw just behind him. Rushstorm sniffed the air, and sighed. There was a strong scent of lavender and mint within the patrol; which he didn't like. Lavender always brought bees, every cat knew that. And the smell of mint was just too strong. Some mouse-brained cat had decided to roll in the stuff, probably to impress a cat at the gathering.

Well. That was something Rushstorm could understand, doing rabbit-brained stuff to get another cat's attention. (He still was surprised that he didn't drown.)

As they drew closer to the island, Rushstorm could see that the other clans were already there. Emberstar was already perched up on the tree, the Windclan leader clearly eager to get started. Rosestar turned to Rushstorm. "I have a bad feeling about this." She mewed, her eyes wide.

Rushstorm knew what she meant, there was a sick feeling building in his stomach. He nodded, and sped up. They reached the tree bridge, and Rushstorm clambered across it with ease. He could see Honeywisp on her own, Hareflight wasn't there. As a matter of fact… Windclan were missing most of their warriors.

Rushstorm walked over to the tree root, and was met with the glowering amber eyes of his brother. He stopped dead. What was Thornfall doing here?

Also as if he'd read his mind, Thornfall muttered. "I was made deputy. Fogstar wanted new blood."

Huh. That made sense. Fogstar was getting on in the years himself; the old Thunderclan leader was older than all of the other leaders combined. He had been made leader as a fairly young warrior; after Thunderclan's previous leader stepped down. He'd lead well, though. Thunderclan rarely fought with other cats, indeed, Rushstorm could only think of one major battle within his lifetime.

Rushstorm nodded. "Congratulations." He mewed, politely.

Thornfall dipped his head graciously, and tipped his head in. Rushstorm pricked his ears, and leaned closer. "Look." Thornfall murmured. Foxstorm glanced up, interested, before turning back to Shatteredfoot of Skyclan. "I believe you, about Hawkstar." He mewed, and Rushstorm's eyes lit up.

"You do?" He exclaimed, a fraction too loud. Thornfall glared at him. "Sorry." He mumbled.

"I do." Thornfall whispered. "The truth is, I didn't want to believe it. Hawkstar… he killed my best friend." He said, his voice low.

Rushstorm stared at him. He'd just remembered the one major battle Thunderclan had fought. It was when he was a young apprentice, and it was just before his first gathering. At the gathering; Fogstar had been yelling at Hawkstar about 'murdering apprentices.' If Rushstorm cast his memory back far enough… Starclan, he could remember a cluster of grieving Thunderclan apprentices. And at the centre of them, he could remember Thornfall.

Rushstorm didn't know what he'd do if he lost Beebounce. He'd be heartbroken if Fishclaw or Frogtoe died, but without Beebounce… he didn't think he'd be able to go on. Beebounce was the first cat to talk to him when he was a kit without treating him with suspicion. Beebounce had taught him how to fish properly as an apprentice when Cricketsong gave up on him. He was in love with him, but he was also his best friend. He was the cat who would always be there for him. He knew exactly how Thornfall felt; the poor tom had had his other half ripped out of him.

"I'm sorry." He murmured.

Thornfall shook his head quickly, and blinked, as if he was trying to clear his head of memories that clung to him. "It's not your fault. But being related to that fox-heart… it was the last thing I wanted to hear that day." He said. Rushstorm nodded, and opened his mouth to say something. He closed it immediately, because Emberstar had just cleared her throat loudly.

"Can we start the gathering now?" She asked, her voice wavering slightly. The other leaders nodded.

"A Windclan apprentice was murdered on the outskirts of our territory this morning." Emberstar suddenly called out. Her eyes were wide, and her tone sad. "His name was Firepaw. He is- he was my son." She said. She sounded so numb, so unimaginably sad.

Rosestar turned to her fellow leader. "Riverclan grieves to hear this." She mewed, her voice sorrowful.

Emberstar turned on her, her claws suddenly unsheathed, and her teeth bared. "You don't!" She snarled. "Because you killed him!" She hissed.

Rosestar backed off. "What?" She exclaimed. "Why would you think that?"

"His body was crawling with Riverclan scent! Even under the masking herbs, I still smelt it." She snapped. Rushstorm's eyes widened. Masking herbs? That could be anything, right? Not just mint and lavender. Not... what the Riverclan patrol had smelt like.

Rosestar shook her head. "There was a kittypet found dead in our territory. She too smelt of Riverclan. We thought there was a rogue living in our territory, and it had picked it up." She explained quickly. Emberstar blinked at her.

"Are you sure?" Emberstar asked.

Rosestar nodded. "None of my warriors are murderers." She mewed.

Emberstar took a deep breath. "Okay." She said, and the tension was sapped from the gathering. Rushstorm huffed in relief, and turned back to Thornfall. He was staring up at the tree, watching Fogstar speak intently. Rushstorm guessed he was waiting for Fogstar to announce his new deputy status.

Fogstar did, and Rushstorm joined in with all the enthusiasm he could muster. It was hard. The usual warmth of the gathering had been sapped with Emberstar's announcement, and the gathering just seemed to pass by as quickly as possible. At the end of it, Rushstorm raced to Honeywisp.

"Hey." He mewed breathlessly. Honeywisp turned to him, with big green eyes.

She sat down, clearly not noticing Emberstar already leaving. Rushstorm flicked with his tail towards the exiting leader and she shrugged. "It's fine, I'll catch up." She said.

He sat down next to her. "How are you?" He asked.

She sighed heavily. "It's been hard today. Poor Emberstar, she's been all over the place." She explained. "How are you?"

Rushstorm sighed. "Beebounce has been acting weird." He said, slightly pitifully. Honeywisp's whiskers twitched.

"How so?" She questioned.

"He won't talk to me, and when he does he gets all flustered. And- and I don't think he likes me touching him anymore." Rushstorm mewed softly. Honeywisp blinked at him, a small smile dawning on her face.

"Why do you say that?" She asked, the smile turning more mischievous. Rushstorm looked rather puzzled, but he continued.

"He like- stiffens up? And he gets really red." He mewed. Honeywisp burst into laughter. "What?" He asked.

"You absolute mouse-brain." Honeywisp managed to get out. "He likes you back, you idiot." She said, and Rushstorm stopped breathing.

"You- you what?" He squeaked.

"I said what I said." Honeywisp said smugly. "Look, I have to go." She mewed, standing up, leaving Rushstorm sitting there, shellshocked.

There was only one thing on Rushstorm's mind, and it was the words "He likes you back". He didn't know how to deal with it. Should he… ask Beebounce to court him? Nah, he'd probably scoff in his face. 'Court' was the dumbest expression he'd ever heard. But asking him to be his mate… that was way too forward. Just getting the feelings out there would be best. But how would he do that? Nothing too fancy. Just get him away from camp, and tell him how he felt. Make it somewhat fancy, if he had to. (He'd like to do that, actually) But to do that… he'd need help.

Rushstorm got up with a start, and raced to Fishclaw. "Fishclaw!" He exclaimed, and she turned to him, a knowing glint in her blue eyes. "I need your help."

beebounce: my nephew/ apprentice might be a murderer and i am also being blackmailed.

rustpaw: i am blackmailing, my main family figure is a killer, and i am also possibly also a killer.

rushstorm: I AM GOING TO ASK BEEBOUNCE OUT AND MY FAMILY LIFE IS GOING SWELL.

hope you guys all enjoyed this chapter! it's out a bit later than i wanted oops.

also - driven apart readers! another little reference in here :)