Here's a 100%$ legit update, that definitely isn't a prank!

What! Speckledpaw almost screamed aloud. He didn't let his defences drop. "Everyone thinks you're dead," Speckledpaw risked a quick over his shoulders, checking to see if a third cat was waiting to pounce. Wirepaw was looking at the ground and not trying to attack him. But this isn'tpossible. The medicine cat of Grassclan had been brutally murdered at his mother's paws; Robinwave often spoke of how Stonestripe had slashed open her throat and left Mouseleaf to choke on her own blood. I should run.

"Some of them do, I reckon," 'Mouseleaf' laughed drily, twitching one of her large ears; she had long limbs and big ears, with the snout shape of a Grassclan cat too. That doesn't mean she's really Mouseleaf; everkits can look like that too. Many of Grassclan's ancestors had once been everkits, after all. "But most of them know brother dearest didn't want me around any more, or our sister."

And she had a lot of knowledge for a rogue; Robinwave had indeed been littermates with Mouseleaf and another cat who had managed the nursery and camp before betraying Grassclan in the last battle. "I don't understand." Had this cat got her knowledge from another Clan?

She looked ready to answer, but then she turned and looked up the cliffs, sniffing. "I know your shoulder is hurt, but it'd be far safer if we spoke of this away from here. There's always someone watching on Grassclan territory."

"I haven't known you for more than a few heartbeats, and he," Speckledpaw aimed his paw at Wirepaw, "attacked me and put claws to my neck. How can I trust you?"

"Uh, if it helps I'm really sorry!" Wirepaw cried, wide-eyed. Mouseleaf sighed.

"You don't have to come if you don't want to, but I think you should. You deserve to know the truth. You need to know what really happened in Grassclan."

Shesounded truthful. What should he do? It was inconceivable- the Grassclan medicine cat still alive, with a cat his age who seemed to be her nephew. It was more likely that it was a pair of rogues lying-but they looked like Grassclan cats, and everkits wouldn't be clever enough to weave such a lie. And Mouseleaf's pelt was the same rare rich brown colour as Robinwave's coat.

But still. She claimed Robinwave had kicked her out, something that didn't gel with the sorrow and rage in Robinwave's voice whenever he spoke of Mouseleaf, and she was saying he needed to know what really happened. It made him wonder if she was trying to turn him against Grassclan, like his mother had been. Could he trust them? How did he know they weren't trying to start a second Betrayal?

"I wouldn't mind you healing my shoulder. But I'm not willing to go against my Clan, if that's what you want," he said, voice full of caution and hostility.

Mouseleaf nodded. "I promise, you won't have to do anything that harms Grassclan. But you need to make your own promise; will you keep everything you see and hear later a secret? If you tell, it won't just be you that's in danger."

He considered her words, weighing them over in his mind. It won't just be you that's in danger. His twinging shoulder was what made up his mind. He could smell fresh blood oozing from it, parts of the bite marks bulging from the skin. He must be on the verge of an infection by now. He didn't really have much of a choice. "There's a storm brewing. We'll get you back by then, so any scents won't alert Robinst- Robinwave." He nodded at her words, taking his place at her side, making sure she was between him and Wirepaw. That cat could have his teeth in his throat in seconds.

They crossed the Boundary; it was a thin line of dense smell like every other boundary, and at first he could hardly believe he was out of Clan territory. The scents around him were similar, the sights no different. But after a few minutes of walking he noticed something that made him shiver. There were no cat smells, no trails that had been marked by the paws of many generations. This place was untamed, wild. No-one would hear or see him get killed, if these cats weren't to be trusted.

Speckledpaw's shoulder numbed fast. He'd pushed himself a lot; he could smell more fresh blood oozing from the injury. Honestly, it was a miracle that he'd been able to keep up for so long and that it wasn't infected.

The landscape got weirder. They were drawing close to square shaped fields; a hard trail that looked like a long flat rock snaked to the top of the cliffs, which had sticks and sinew blocking off the edge. "What are those?" he asked.

"This is a path. Clanless call the things at the cliffs a fence." A fence. Would Redpaw know what that was? She knew more about the wilderness than he did from all the stories she'd heard.

"How much further do we have to go?" Speckledpaw was aware of how far Grassclan was from him now, although he still had the sea and Waveclan near. If these cats weren't what they claimed to be…

"Not much further. There's some bushes where I'm storing my herbs." Wirepaw hesitated, looking up at her.

"Don't we need to get back? Mum'll be missing us," he whispered, completely audible to Speckledpaw.

Mouseleaf shook her head. "She can wait; I wouldn't be surprised if she shows up soon anyhow."

He felt frozen on the inside. Another rogue? One that had definitely played a part in the Betrayal? He would've ran for his life if it wasn't for his aching shoulder.

"We're here," Mouseleaf slipped into a patch of bushes and came out with herbs. Speckledpaw felt a bit of tension leave him; at least she seemed honest about her intentions. He could recognise the scent of the herbs, and the sting when she mushed them on the wound; it was identical to Frogfur's blend. Which was when she brought out the weird looking roll of white spiderweb and leaves.

"This is just a bandage," she said. Speckledpaw his ears pinned back like he was a frightened rabbit.

He pushed his ears up and attempted to look brave. "What is it for?" he snapped.

"It'll keep the poultice on, and dirt out," He winced, letting Mouseleaf work it around his leg tighter and tighter, her paws moving with a grace he'd never see before. "There. Does that feel better?" she said, backing away.

It did, he had to admit. The wind and light drizzle weren't stinging his wound, and the herb poultice had reduced to a pleasant tingle. He moved the leg up and down; the bandage was tight, but he could still move it well. "It is better, thank you," Speckledpaw spoke with a softer voice this time.

Wirepaw tensed. "Aunt-"

"Where have you both been?" Another rogue padded to the bushes; she had the same rumpled black fur of Wirepaw, with amber eyes. She stared at Speckledpaw, her eyes burning into his pelt. "You, you're..."

"This is Speckledpaw, Stonestripe's son. He had injuries that needed tending to," Mouseleaf said. "Nightflower, he's a bit nervous-"

"Stonestripe's son," Nightflower breathed. "I thought Robinstorm killed all the kits of the exiles. Were there other kits?" There was such desperation in her eyes that he spoke after barely thinking.

"Yes? I grew up with Patchedpaw, Redpaw and Ashpaw. There was Cowkit and Shrikekit too, but they were exiled. Redpaw, Ashpaw and I are the only ones left," Speckledpaw said. Nightflower deflated; had she wanted to hear other names, names that he'd never heard? Kits had died during the Betrayal, but they were not spoken of. It was a raw wound.

She took a deep breath. "You should come with us. It's not safe in Grassclan; if it can still be called Grassclan, that is."

Mouseleaf frowned. "The bridge is closed and his shoulder is hurt; he won't be able to get to safety. Besides, he wants to go back." He gave her a thankful look. This was one rogue who seemed to have his best interests in mind.

"Mouseleaf is right; I can't leave my kin without a word," Speckledpaw said, nerves increasing by the heartbeat. Nightflower and Wirepaw were not especially strong looking cats. But authority oozed from her, and he knew Wirepaw could best him. He blinked slowly, hoping it would show his lack of bad intentions. These cats seemed too eager to remain a secret from Robinwave.

Nightflower dipped her head. "You're right. I'm sorry Speckledpaw, I was getting a bit ahead of myself." She seemed disappointed. He cast a wary look at Wirepaw; he looked disappointed too! Has he gone from attacking me to wanting me to come with them? Weird cat.

"But I think you should stay for a bit longer; you need to learn the truth."

The truth. What could that be? His head hurt from the possibilities and a million questions, jittering around in a river of anxieties and suspicion in his head. "I would like to hear that; I've been lied to," he said after considering his response. The other cats nodded; Speckledpaw settled down. If they lied, he could always walk away and pretend he believed them.

"We were born in Grassclan, although our mother was an everkit before she discovered the Clan," Nightflower looked around at the bushes; it wasn't much shelter from the rain, and the herbs were getting wet. Was there a more secure place for the herbs and possibly other cats elsewhere? Speckledpaw turned back to Nightflower, who was ready to continue the story.

"It was a litter of four: Mouseleaf, Robinstorm and I had a sibling who was stillborn. There'd been greencough in the Clan and the nursery was vulnerable. Your mother was born around the same time and her own litter lost a kit, but after that Grassclan was fine."

"My mother had siblings other than Troutfur?" Speckledpaw had never considered it; were some of the Grassclan warriors also his kin?

"You wouldn't know them, unfortunately, but her mother Skynose had three litters; she was a keeper of the nursery," Nightflower said. A keeper of the nursery? If his recollections of Robinwave's family were right, Nightflower had also been a nursery keeper. Which might explain Robinwave's anger when it had been suggested they find a new keeper. Even if she's not telling the truth, I'm learning things from this. "There was Mistfang, Littletail, Dappledpaw and Ratbreeze."

"What happened to them?" He could remember that Troutfur had an apprentice sister who'd died, but the other three…

Nightflower's eyes darkened; she shook her head sadly. "Mistfang got caught up in a skirmish with Lakeclan a few days after earning her warrior name and died of an infected wound. Littletail and Ratbreeze both got caught up in the Betrayal and were killed. I'm not sure what happened to Dappledpaw, but we think she was killed shortly after the Betrayal alongside her mother."

The atmosphere inside the bush got awkward; Speckledpaw felt a strange sort of grief; he knew nothing more than the names of these cats, but he missed them. In another life he would've had an array of kin, yet in this life he would never know them. But do I want more traitor kin?

"We got along very well, being the only two litters in the nursery. We saw each other as siblings; we even thought we were for a while. Robinstorm was always the leader, and we'd always cause chaos together," recalling her kithood brought Nightflower no joy, he could tell from her numb voice.

"It changed when we were apprentices. We had new duties, we spent more time apart, and Harewave was sickening. No-one noticed at first, but that was when we started drifting apart. Especially Robinstorm. He was taken as an apprentice by the deputy at the time, Brackenwhisker. He became more demanding; he was a bit embarrassed our mother had been an everkit too. Stonestripe was the only one who could get through to him for a while.

That stopped after Brackenwhisker died; he was getting on a bit and when he got an infection from a rat bite he didn't make it. He got angry at Mouseleaf because she'd started training as a medicine cat and thought she should've done more. He was angry at our aunt Wavyfur because she became deputy and she thought she trying to replace his mentor. I don't know what happened exactly but they had a really big argument and stopped talking. Two cycles passed, we all became warriors, and Harewave died."

Nightflower tensed up. "That night, Wavyfur returned from her leadership ceremony as Twowaves. No-one was sure who'd she pick as deputy; there were many cats who could've made the cut back then, including Robinstorm and Stonestripe. When the time came, it was Stonestripe who was picked."

Speckledpaw flinched in surprise. All his life he'd been told Stonestripe was the bitter one, and that Robinwave was deputy. Was this really the truth? Had Robinwave lied to make himself look good? This had to be a lie.

Nightflower seemed to sense his doubt; her gaze became intense. "We all understood why; Robinstorm was a good warrior and many respected him, but he sometimes caused trouble and dragged his friends into it; he had a way of making cats loyal to him even when he was trying to do something foolish. He could be unfair to cats who didn't like him too; he would hold it against you if you ever stood up to him or told him he was wrong about something.

Twowaves ruled for a while, and she was a good leader. But there was unrest in Grassclan; Robinstorm slowly gathered a following that supported him no matter what, even when it meant ignoring Stonestripe or Twowaves. Twowaves died before her time," Nightflower's eyes clouded with sorrow. "The last cool season brought hunger and illness to all the Clans, which took many cats and weakened us.

Stonestripe had to wait a few days to go to the Black Island and receive her leader name; she'd just had a long kitting and been sick with whitecough."

"I thought it would be safer," Mouseleaf had started speaking, voice trembling. "But looking back we should've gone at once. Our brother claimed I knew she wasn't meant to be leader but I was too much of a coward to admit it; he was aggressive and so were the cats who supported him, claiming that letting her lead could destroy the Clan.

Stonestripe told Robinwave and his most dangerous supporters to leave camp and not come back without prey. We then left because Nightflower and Eclipseheart could keep the kits fed for a few hours.

We never got far. Robinstorm attacked with his followers…" Mouseleaf shuddered. "It was a terrible fight. Even cats who didn't pick a side were forced into it; even the nursery wasn't spared. Eclipseheart tried to rescue as many kits as she could, but Robinstorm's followers were not merciful, and she didn't have much help… Stonestripe insisted we leave; but before she could lead us away I was grabbed by the throat. She fought Robinstorm to save me; she died at my feet. Those on her side realised we had lost, and as many of us as we could ran away, and ever since we exiles have lived in the wilderness avoiding him. We rarely go this close; I'm usually the only one who dares, because I can hide my scent well and if I was discovered most cats don't want to hurt a medicine cat. And that is what happened to Grassclan."

The strangest thing to Speckledpaw was how he really didn't feel very shocked. If Stonestripe's betrayal was such a tragedy, why were the only brought up to make the senior warriors look good? Why were cats who were supposedly in the right always so cruel? And why would Robinwave have such a firm paw on the stories told in Grassclan if they made him look good?

If this is true, that means Robinwave is not a real leader, and he's a murderer; he killed my mother. And he'll notice I'm missing soon. I've been gone for a while by now.

If it's true. Maybe I'm just listening to a pack of lies told by rogues. He felt utterly incapable of deciding what he really thought, and both options made his heart pound.

"I know this must come as an awful shock to you," Nightflower said gently. The rain was coming down in fuzzy sheets, obscuring the cliffs.

"It does," Speckledpaw said. "I need time to think, and I need to get back before Robinwave notices I'm missing." Mouseleaf and Nightflower exchanged glances.

"We'll escort you back; make sure your scent is clear before you go back into camp," Nightflower said. "If you want to know more, Mouseleaf will meet you at the border in three days.

Speckledpaw nodded, and they walked back to Grassclan in silence.

See? I keep my promises!