We're still in the Apprentice's Quest, but Blackstar isn't a pushover

I may have copied and pasted stuff from the actual books again. Oops. Don't sue me Erins.

As I was reading over Thunder and Shadow I realized how much I actually really hate Needletail. No, partially fixing a mess you made doesn't make you fully redeemed at all. Rot in hell honey ;)

This took four whole pages to write? Geez that never happens.

I wish people would review; wishful thinking at this point ;-;

Firestar swam down to the bottom of the lake, where he and the other leaders decided to meet every half moon or so, kind of like the medicine cats. He spotted Mistystar and Onestar laying the the sand, their tails half buried under it. Onestar seemed distant, most likely thinking about the rogues that had attacked their camp.

They just couldn't have peace could they? Alderpaw, Sparkpaw, Cherryfall, Molewhisker, and Sandstorm had been sent to find Skyclan once again(and he was vehemently against Sandstorm going, but he couldn't stop her lest she shred his ears) and had come running back as fast as their paws could allow, citing that the gorge had been taken over by a rogue group. The same rogue group that had followed them back and was now apparently terrorizing the clans.

A lot of his time was spent worrying about Leafstar and Skyclan. Were they alright? What exactly happened at the gorge? How could have Skyclan been chased out, again?

"Everything okay?" he asked tentatively.

"They took us completely by surprise," Onestar muttered bitterly. "I couldn't save Furzepelt in time."

"We can't save everyone, even with our powers," Mistystar meowed gently. She looked over to Firestar, "So how are those kits doing?"

He brightened up, always happy to talk about something more uplifting, kits being a prime example. "They're lively, always playing with each other and the other kits. We're treating them well; everyone loves them." Alderpaw had apparently been guided by Starclan to find Twigkit and Violetkit. They were the key to clearing up the sky, which he was definitely sure was Skyclan.

He wasn't a mouse-brain. He remembered the body shapes of Skyclan and the two kits had it all in spades. He was slightly concerned that the two would grow up more attached to Thunderclan than their actual clan. When Skyclan finally showed up, would they want to return to their birth clan or stay with their caretakers?

Speaking of Skyclan...

"Once Blackstar gets here, I'm going to have to tell you all something that might pertain to the prophecy." The two lifted their heads to gaze at him confused.

"You just know what the prophecy is about," Onestar asked suspiciously. "Why not tell us while we were debating what it meant at the gathering last time?"

"Because the subject is complicated and we didn't have all night. Now we do."

They heard grumbling coming up to them and watched as Blackstar buried his tail into the sand, looking none too happy. "What's up with you?" Firestar asked.

"You all have any ideas how to deal with unruly and rebellious apprentices?" The other three leaders blinked, not at all seeing that coming.

"You having trouble with those apprentices of yours again?" Onestar snickered. Blackstar glared at him, "This isn't funny. They've somehow gotten it into their heads that Shadowclan needs to return to its glory days, back when we were feared instead of showing kittypet softness." They could almost hear the air quotes throughout his rant.

"Do they understand that Shadowclan's glory days were full of kitnapping, kit-killing, chasing out other clans, sickness, and killing anyone that generally disagrees with the leader?" Firestar asked dryly. Being human for so long made them all jaded. Humans were much more volatile than cats were. Sure Tigerstar could be compared to a few select humans, but those few humans had done actions even worse than anything Tigerstar could have come up with. They made him look cute and cuddly in comparison.

Blackstar snorted, "It's not just them, it's some of the younger warriors to. They've been feeding the apprentice's heads with stories from our "glory days" and now they think we've grown too soft. It's like they're disappointed that Shadowclan isn't starting a fight every few days." He rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Needlepaw is the ringleader, the disrespectful, disobedient little brat," he hissed out.

"Oh and those rogues formed a camp right beside our and the Thunderclan border too," he said nonchalantly.

Onestar gave a growl, "And you haven't chased off those murderers why?"

"We're planning an attack. But they had the gall to come into our camp twice asking to join the clan; they even brought prey from our own territory as a weird welcoming gesture." Firestar twitched his whiskers into a frown, as did Mistystar and Onestar. They remembered the last time a rogue had wanted to join Shadowclan.

"We oh so kindly escorted them out, saying we didn't need rogues hunting in our own territory," he said sarcastically, "Then Needlepaw had the absolute guts to ask what was wrong with rogues hunting in our territory,"

They all gave hisses of shock and surprise, "Is she mental?" Onestar asked incredulously.

"Oh, that's not all, I've got more."

As the patrol disappeared through the bramble tunnel, Needlepaw crossed the clearing. She kicked the prey toward him. "What are you going to do with this?" she snarled. "Throw it out with the rogues?"

Blackstar glared at her, "We don't treat prey like that. Of course we're keeping it, it was caught in our territory."

"We'd catch more if we had clanmates like them." Needlepaw flicked her tail toward the entrance. "Why didn't you let them join?"

He rolled his eyes, "Because the last time a sketchy rogue joined us, we lost our faith in Starclan and started acting like rogues ourselves. We will not lose our way again." Some cats nodded, clearly remembering Sol and all the trouble he brought.

Needlepaw's pelt bristled along her spine. "You still turned away three strong hunters. Why?"

Tawnypelt padded forward, her stern gaze raking Needlepaw. "That's enough!" she snapped.

"It's not enough!" Strikepaw marched forward and stopped beside Needlepaw. "We have a chance to make Shadowclan powerful again."

Yarrowpaw whisked her tail. "Aren't you tired of agreeing with every thing Thunderclan suggests? Don't you wish we could hunt where we please instead of where the other Clans tell us we can hunt?"

Blackstar flexed his claws, slightly incredulous at the apprentice's audacity to challenge him in front of the whole of Shadowclan. "Do you want war with the other Clans?"

Strikepaw flattened his ears. "We want to choose our own path, not follow the path of other Clans."

"What you want doesn't matter!" Blackstar hissed. "I am ShadowClan's leader. I decide what's best. Taking in strange cats who have proved they are dangerous is not good for any Clan. And news flash, all the clans follow the warrior code. We are no different."

"Not for weak Clans like Windclan or Riverclan," Strikepaw snarled. "But we are Shadowclan. With cats like those, we could rule the whole lake!"

Blackstar narrowed his eyes and his lips twitched into the beginnings of a snarl. Rule the whole lake? He really wanted to hurl some ice at these foolish apprentices. He walked up to the apprentices, his pawsteps silent as he loomed over them, "The warrior code will be followed. StarClan is watching us. Respect for our ancestors will guide our paws."

The silver she-cat glared at the Shadowclan leader. "You want us to obey a bunch of dead cats!" She nodded toward the pines looming over the camp. "Look at the living world. It has every thing we need. We can push our territory as far as we like and take whatever we want. Who cares what StarClan thinks? Their lives are over. It's our turn to live."

Behind her, Beepaw, Juniperpaw, and Sleekpaw yowled in agreement.

Dawnpelt and Crowfrost stared at them in horror, as though they couldn't believe that their own kits would turn on their Clan.

Blackstar met Needlepaw's gaze coolly. "Spoken like a true Dark Forest cat," he commented. Everyone gave a gasp at his comment. "You want us to return to our glory days? Fine, let me tell you about our "glory days" since I was there for most of it. We were feared because the leader I was deputy under stole and killed kits. We were feared because that same leader chased out an entire clan for land we didn't even end up using. We were feared because Tigerstar killed those who disagreed with him or didn't have pure clan blood. Is that how you want us to be remembered? Kit-killers and murderers?"

She held his gaze equally, which angered him. This kit had no respect for authority. "You can live according to our rules, or you can join your rogue friends and live like one if you wish to so much," he said with a heated hiss.

"Never." Needlepaw lashed her tail. "I'm sick of living in a Clan that only cares about peace. The rogues would have made us strong. If you want me joining them so badly, then maybe I will!"

Around her, pelts spiked. Blackstar gave her an uncaring look. He shrugged, "Okay then. From now on, you are an enemy to Shadowclan." His eyes started glowing pure white, his anger drawing in moisture subconsciously and using the water droplets to form small, sharp shards of ice directed at her. She gave a gulp and backed away slowly, just now realizing who she pissed off.

Sleekpaw and Juniperpaw jumped up and joined Needlepaw, but their eyes and scents betrayed how scared they were.

"You can join Darktail and his group and live out your lives like rogues, just like you wanted. Then when you realize how much rogue life isn't as glamorous as you think it is, maybe I'll allow you three to come back. If I feel like it, that is," he meowed airily.

He barred his fangs at them, "Now get out."

As they left, he turned to the rest of the clan, "Anyone else want to make their delusions known?" No one spoke up. He did however see the other apprentices give him looks of fear and glance out at the camp entrance, probably wishing they had joined their friends.

"Why come to us for advice if you've already thrown them out?" Firestar asked.

"Because I can see some of the youngest warriors and the other apprentices look like they were agreeing with the morons. I have to drill respect into the warrior code, Starclan, and authority in general into their heads again."

"You're not seriously letting them join these rogues are you?" Mistystar gave a meow of confusion.

"The heck I am. They're staying here. Not like these rogues will be camped out much longer, we're going to drive them out tomorrow." They all gave meows of relief, knowing that Blackstar had things handled. One good thing about being underwater: no one could overhear them if they were sharing plans or things that needed to stay private.

"Well, now that that's settled, I might have some insight into what the prophecy means," Firestar said.

"Let's hear it," Blackstar mumbled, trying to relax. Being here with others who understood him in their current form was nice. The water always felt pleasant to them.

"So, remember back in the forest when Sandstorm and I left Thunderclan for a moon or so and left Graystripe in charge?" The cats nodded, remembering that Graystripe gave some excuse about Firestar being called away by Starclan.

"Well, I got contacted by another part of Starclan that was asking me to put Skyclan back together again."

"Skyclan?" they asked in unison.

"Apparently Twolegs destroyed their part of the territory and the other clans refused to give them territory, effectively kicking them out."

"Somehow, I can believe that," Mistystar grumbled.

"You know what Bluestar said to me? She gave the worst ever excuse I ever heard. She said that there were only four trees at Fourtrees, therefore there was room for only four clans, not five."

The other leaders stared at him as they processed what he said. Blackstar and Onestar gave out curses,

"What the fu-"

Spoiler: Shadowclan successfully chases out the rogues and all of Shadowclan stays put. No Face-Heel turns here. As for Sleekwhisker, Juniperclaw, and Needletail? Who cares about them lol. They get to live their lives without any rules to follow- lucky them! Whether they crawl back to Shadowclan remains to be seen.

Darktail is driven out, but he's not done yet. We still need Onestar to flip him the proverbial bird first.

Tell me how I did.