*laughs nervously* oh wow, it's really been like six months since I updated. Oops. 2020 drained my motivation to write for awhile but I'll be damned if I let this die, I have so much planned and worked on already!

...this chapter has been ~almost~ finished for so long, and I finally went back and polished it up enough to post. Next chapter is nearly there too and I PROMISE it will be posted soon and not six months from now xD

"Do you really think ShadowClan is stealing prey?"

Breezepaw sighed at the question. "I don't know. Maybe?"

It was the next day and she and Sunnypaw had been assigned to caring for the elders, so naturally they had all discussing what happened at the Gathering the night before. As much as she wanted to distrust Leopardfang's every word, she couldn't deny that it would also make sense for the ShadowClan cats to deny the accusations and lie to cover for their clan-mate. It had seemed to her at the time like Weedwhisker had been telling the truth, but there was no way to really know for sure.

"There's always some clan blaming another for prey theft this time of year," Voleclaw meowed from his nest, sounding thoughtful. The brown and white tom was the oldest cat in WindClan, perhaps even the whole forest, and though he rarely even left the elders den anymore, his amber eyes shone with the wisdom of a warrior who'd lived through countless seasons. "Sometimes there is truth behind the claims, and other times a clan just wants to blame someone else for their struggles."

"It sounds to me that Blackflower is going to be kept busy, at any rate," Seedfur added with a snort. "First all that trouble with RiverClan, and now possibly ShadowClan. Though I heard she finally has an apprentice now to help her out." The spotted tom had been Dawnlight's mentor, stepping down only a couple seasons ago when his failing sight made it too difficult to continue his medicine cat duties. His clouded, milky eyes always unnerved Breezepaw somewhat, but he was a decent enough cat despite being a bit rough around the edges.

"Well as long as they leave WindClan out of it, I could care less about the other clans' troubles." Amberfang grunted, stretching out in the fresh nest the apprentices had just put together for her.

"This season will be hard enough without them," Voleclaw agreed with a nod, flicking his tail.

"Well Hazelpaw called me a flea-brain the last time I saw him," Sunnypaw sniffed indignantly from where he was piling together all the old bedding for them to take out of camp. "I almost wish they would come and bother us just so I can show him…"

Breezepaw glanced up from finishing Cloudfoot's new nest, only to be wacked in the side of her head with a ball of moss. "You furball!"

The tom's amber eyes glittered mischievously. "That's what happens when you mess with WindClan!" As it to further prove his point, he quickly pawed together another bundle before hooking it with a claw and flinging it in her direction.

She managed to react in time to bat it out of the air and knock it back towards him, eyes narrowing playfully. "Maybe Hazelpaw was right. You are a flea-brain."

"Ah yes, the dreaded Moss Ball Attack," Cloudfoot meowed, whiskers twitching. "ThunderClan will never know what hit them."

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," a new voice called from the den entrance, and Breezepaw turned to see Dawnlight watching them, looking amused.

"Nope!" Sunnypaw chirped, waving his tail. "We were just finishing up in here."

"Good, I was actually hoping to borrow Breezepaw for a little while."

"Me?" The tabby blinked. "Why?"

"Don't look so worried," the she-cat assured. "I just wanted an extra set of paws gathering herbs."

"Yes Breezepaw," Seedfur meowed dryly. "Please go with her before she asks me. I fully intend to take advantage of my retirement and not leave this den until Newleaf."

"Finally getting used to the idea being an elder, eh?" Cloudfoot teased. "Being able to relax at last and let the young cats take care of everything. It's really quite refreshing." The black and white tom was the youngest of the clan's elders, not any older than Kestrelwing or Weaselfur, but had to retire earlier than most due to painful joint flare ups that had affected his ability to hunt and patrol. Despite this, he had clearly settled into the lifestyle easily enough.

Sunnypaw met her gaze with a sly look, before reaching out a paw and smacking the nearest moss ball straight at Cloudfoot's face.

The tom blinked, looking shocked for a moment as it bounced off his forehead, but then he gave a little snort of laughter. "Insolent little weasel, I'll remember that."

"Don't worry about it too much, you old badger," the tortoiseshell meowed cheerfully back. "Just relax and let us young cats handle it."

"What ever happened to respecting the elders for all our collected wisdom, huh?" Cloudfoot sighed.

"Wisdom?" Amberfang rolled her eyes. "You?" The ginger she-cat was the grumpiest of the bunch; and despite having to be nearly as old as Voleclaw, seemed too restless just sitting around camp all the time. She was even apparently known to occasionally sneak out of camp like a naughty kit to wander the territory, which only left her confined to her nest after due to aching joints of her own, much to the medicine cat's exasperation.

Breezepaw purred, whiskers twitching in amusement, before she turned back to Dawnlight. "Of course I'll come. If Sunnypaw's okay with it."

"Go ahead," her friend waved his tail. "We were nearly done anyway, I'll be okay clearing this out by myself."

She stepped forward to touch her nose to his, meowing a farewell to the elders, before following the ginger she-cat out of the den. It was just about Sunhigh and most cats were out of camp still on patrol or hunting, but Breezepaw spotted Larkstar dozing atop the Tallrock and Grasstail was sharing tongues with her mate Stormcloud outside the nursery while the kits played a short distance away. Their litter seemed to be trying to teach Palestripe's a game, but the younger kits were still less than a moon old and seemed more interested in just tumbling around with each other than paying attention to instructions, much to their older den-mates' frustration.

Mossypelt was sniffing around at the stale remains in the fresh-kill pile from the day before, and Breezepaw's own stomach rumbled at the thought of food, but there was little enough there that she pushed the thought away. She could always get something later when she and Dawnlight returned and the patrols had gotten a chance to restock the pile.

"So where are we going?" The tabby meowed curiously as they slipped through the gorse tunnel out of camp.

"To the twoleg barn near Highstones." When Breezepaw looked at her in surprise, the medicine cat clarified. "There's a patch of catmint that grows in the gardens there, and that's the best herb to treat greencough. The last few leaf-bares have been tough on WindClan, and I want to be well stocked if cats start getting sick."

"Oh." Every cat talked about how poor the hunting and weather was going to be for the next season, but she hadn't realized that sickness would be a problem too. "Is greencough bad?"

"It's just about the worst illness you could get," Dawnlight sighed, a troubled look in her green eyes as she turned and began padding up the moor towards the barn. "Cats can die, even with catmint and the medicine cats doing everything to save them. It's more dangerous for kits and elders, but it can kill warriors too. We lost three cats last leaf-bare to it, including Scorchtail who was deputy at the time."

"I didn't know that," Breezepaw murmured, tail twitching anxiously. The threat of ThunderClan starting trouble suddenly seemed trivial compared to this sickness. She suddenly fully seemed to understand what Bluetail really meant when he had said no sensible leader would want trouble in a time when the clans would be fighting to survive already.

"Don't let it scare you too much," the she-cat assured. "The life of a warrior is dangerous, no cat can deny that, but when we are together we are strong. StarClan has a path for every cat, and all we can do is serve our clan the best we can until it's our time to join them. But enough about that." Dawnlight glanced at her, seeming to hesitate for a moment before continuing. "So how are you and Snowpaw settling in?"

"Good!" Breezepaw purred back, glad for the change in subject. "I feel like I've already learned so much too. My hunting's gotten much better and Foxflower started teaching me how to fight!" Just the basics for now, and mostly defensive moves, but she was just excited to get any battle training at all.

"I'm glad," Dawnlight meowed. "I wasn't sure if clan life would be too different than what you were used to, but you certainly seem to have made yourselves at home."

"It's great here," the apprentice agreed. "I couldn't imagine ever having to leave now. Everyone here has been so nice. I mean, Shadepaw insists on being a pain in the tail, but she hardly even glared at me at all this morning! Maybe she's starting to like me." She snorted, amused at the very thought. And hedgehogs fly. "It's just like Mama always told us."

Dawnlight nodded at that, a thoughtful look coming across her face again as they continued on in silence. "Breezepaw," she meowed suddenly after a while. "Do you know who your father is?"

The tabby froze, eyes widening at the unexpected question. "I-" She stuttered out, but then just shook her head, lowering her gaze. "No, Mama never told us." She'd had a fragile hope of meeting their father once they came to WindClan, but no tom had yet come forward. With all the dangers that the warriors faced, she thought that maybe he had been killed, but no cat had even brought him up and she'd been too scared of the answer to ask. "Do you know?"

The medicine cat sighed. "No, Moonwing never told any cat. Not even Larkstar or Patchnose or the other queens… It's not uncommon for a she-cat to keep the father of her kits a secret, but she was particularly adamant that he did not wish to be named." Dawnlight looked away, her tail flicking. "And no cat questioned it; at least until it came out that she was meeting with a tom from another clan."

"What?" Breezepaw breathed out, a sinking feeling of dread filling her. She stared at the she-cat in shock, but as much as she wanted her to be wrong, things suddenly began making sense. "And is that why Eaglestar…?"

"Yes," Dawnlight sighed, avoiding her gaze. "She snuck out of camp one night and was found with him. When she returned and Eaglestar questioned her, she told him the truth and he exiled her on the spot."

The apprentice's mind raced as she struggled to process what all this meant. Moonwing had taken a mate from another clan, which would mean her kits were born with mixed blood. Me and Snowpaw are half-clan… But what did that even mean? She'd heard such cats mentioned in passing a few times and the general attitude towards them seemed pretty negative, which certainly didn't do anything to reassure her now.

"But you said.." she meowed hesitantly after a pause. "She was caught. So wouldn't that cat know who he was at least?" Her father could still be out in the forest somewhere; did he know they were here? She tried to think back to all the cats she had seen at the Gathering the night before, wondering if perhaps he had been among them, but with so many new faces none had really stood out. Which clan did he even belong to?

The ginger she-cat hesitated, but then shook her head. "No," she meowed firmly. "That's not for me to tell you."

"Why does that matter!" Breezepaw snapped back, her tail lashing as frustration welled up inside her. "And why did no cat even tell me anything? I've been in WindClan for nearly a moon and this is the first time hearing any of this!"

"Larkstar ordered us not to," Dawnlight answered softly, causing her to flinch back in shock. "She didn't want you to know, which was hare-brained and I told her that, but she wouldn't change her mind." She huffed at that, shaking her head. " There are many cats who probably would have told you if you'd asked, but I wasn't sure if you had."

"No," Breezepaw muttered back, narrowing her eyes. "I didn't." Everyone knew; Foxflower, Patchnose, Kestrelwing, Bluetail, the other apprentices… Everyone. And none had said anything. They all went on about how great a cat Moonwing had been, but couldn't even tell her kits the real reason she had been forced to leave her home, just because their leader forbade it. She had trusted Larkstar, and couldn't help but feel betrayed at the revelation.

"She meant well," Dawnlight sighed. "She wants you to feel at home here, and worried that you knowing you were half-clan would cause doubts." The she-cat met her gaze, and her meow was much more serious as she continued. "I understand that making you upset, but please don't let it affect your view of her too much. We're all going to need each other if we're going to make it through leaf-bare."

"I know, that's all any cat will talk about!" The tabby shot back, flattening her ears. "There isn't going to be enough food, it'll be freezing all the time and, oh, ThunderClan could decide to attack us at any moment!"

"It's more than that!" The medicine cat insisted, her green eyes pleading now. "Breezepaw just… Look out for yourself and Snowpaw, it's important."

"Snowpaw," she breathed, eyes widening as she realized that her sister wouldn't know any of this either. "I have to tell Snowpaw!"

Dawnlight bowed her head. "Yes," she sounded resigned. "Go on, I'll be fine on my own."

Not needing to be told twice, the black tabby turned and dashed off, feeling the she-cat's gaze follow until she disappeared into the tall grasses. Thoughts were racing through her head, but Breezepaw forced herself to focus. Snowpaw had gone to patrol along the ThunderClan border, and maybe if she was lucky she could catch her before they made it back to camp. With a final lash of her tail, the tabby steeled herself and took off down the moor.

Apologies for the cliffhanger hehehe. I hope it's not too totally unrealistic that Breeze wouldn't ask about their dad for a month of being in WindClan, but I tried to spin it in a way that would make the most sense for their situation. I just really wanted to do it this way for plot reasons. Any guesses where this might be headed? I've planted many little foreshadowing seeds because I think I am clever lol though those may not become obvious until later.

Snowpaw's "reveal" incoming next chapter, it should be fun ;)

Thanks for reading, let me know what you think!