Mosspaw

I was halfway to the outside border, but a cream tom landed on me and pinned me to the ground.

"What are you doing? Why are you out here so late at night?"

Shellpaw. "I could ask you the same thing." I wriggled out from under him.

"Well, you were sprinting towards the border like your fur was on fire. What's going on?"

Branchstar hadn't made the news about me public to the rest of the Clan, but it was only a matter of time before Daisypaw told someone, and word spread fast.

"You'll hear about it soon enough. Something bad happened to me, and I can't do anything to stop it without dying, but I know everyone will consider me a freak. No one but Branchstar will see my side of things, and the whole Clan is going to side against me. I'm leaving early to spare everyone the trouble. Besides, why do you care?"

"I…" Shellpaw hesitated. "Look, if Branchstar is willing to keep you in the Clan, everyone else has to go along with it, because the Clan leader's word is law. I know you can come back, and everything will be fine. I don't know why you hate me, but I don't hate you, and I know you belong in RiverClan."

"You're kidding, right? I don't like you because you're stuck up and full of yourself. If you could just stop paying attention to yourself for a minute, you'd actually see that the Clans don't revolve around you and that there's more to life than what's on your agenda! Now if you excuse me, I'm going to-"

"I'm sorry."

I paused. "What?"

"I know I've been a real jerk to everyone, especially you. And I'm sorry about that."

I honestly didn't know what to say. Shellpaw was the last cat I'd ever expect to hear something like this from. And I stood there in dumbfounded silence for a long time. Too long, I guess, for Shellpaw.

"Is… everything okay? You haven't come up with a retort, or even just a normal response."

"I need some time to process. Everything's been so hectic since the battle with ShadowClan, and… I guess I just need to leave. Thank you," I added, "for your apology, but I really must be going-"

"What if I came with you?'

Again, I stood in silence for a little too long. Shellpaw cleared his throat, and I shook my head. "You're not coming. I don't even know why you would want to. You shouldn't have to leave your Clan because of me."

"I could help you. I bet having someone else to help you get by is better than going it alone."

"The answer's no, Shellpaw."

"Mosspaw." Shellpaw lowered his voice almost to a growl. "I feel bad for what I've done and I am trying to make it up to you. I understand that you can't tell me everything, but I want to find a way to help you."

I looked around, thinking quickly. "Wait. There is something you can do for me. I know you want to come, but I need you to stay in RiverClan. It'll be a huge help to have someone on the inside."

Shellpaw clearly wasn't happy about it, but he sighed. "Of course. What do you want me to do?"

"That would require a bit of backstory."

As I told him everything, his eyes widened. Honestly, I didn't expect to tell him as much as I did, but when I was done, Shellpaw had gasped so much he was starting to run out of breath.

"So what do you need me to do?"

"Well, Leopardscar did make it very clear that Ottertail and the rest of them were tricking everyone else into believing that they had a promise of leadership. If they were to find out otherwise…"

"They'd turn on Ottertail and make sure he never rises to the top." Shellpaw smirked. "Works for me. Let me know where you end up, okay?"

"Yeah. Of course." We went our separate ways. But I had no intention of talking to him ever again.

Oakpaw

Sure, the expulsion from my Clan stunk. But there was nothing I could do about it. I wasn't even that attached to the cats in SkyClan anyway, and on the bright side, Pantherstrike wouldn't be able to use me as easily.

But I figured that the best thing to do right now was to find the others. Safety in numbers, right? They'd understand what I was going through better than any other cat in the forest. Because I was closest to RiverClan, I set out to find Mosspaw. The others would be fine because they were either trained warriors or given the ability of invincibility.

As I approached the border between SkyClan and RiverClan, a patrol rushed forward, growling.

An apprentice sprang forward. "Just what do you think you're doing?"

"Cool it, Graypaw." I recognized Cinderlight from the Gatherings I had been to. "What do you want?"

"Um… Can I speak to Branchstar?"

Graypaw scoffed. "Why should you have the right to demand to talk with Branchstar?"

Cinderlight and the other warrior, Fishsplash, shot him a glare. "Calm down. A few days ago, you were still a kit."

"And you." Cinderlight leaned forward, close enough to smell the stench of fish. "Who are you? I can tell you're from SkyClan, but I can't say I know all of the current SkyClan apprentices."

I blanked. Obviously, I couldn't say my real name, so I scrambled to think of another. "I'm, uh, Rainpaw."

Wrong answer. "I may not know every apprentice, but I do know Rainpaw. And you are not him." He leaned in even closer. "And there is only one apprentice in SkyClan that would need to hide his identity."

Something in Graypaw finally clicked. "Wait. That means you're one of the…"

"Yes, Graypaw. Try to keep up. So I suggest you get out of the Clans while you still can, 'Rainpaw,' or I'm sure there's someone out there who will deliver you to the border in pieces."

"Oh, leave him alone, Cinderlight." Behind him, Ottertail emerged from the forest. Cinderlight's eyes widened.

"Fishsplash. Take Rosepaw and Graypaw on the rest of the patrol. Let me deal with this." The senior warrior shot him a look, but Cinderlight matched it with another. Fishplash shrugged and ushered the apprentices back into the forest.

"You traitor," Cinderlight growled, leaving my face and striding forward until he was in Ottertail's. "You don't have any control over me anymore. Not after Shellpaw told us everything. You better hope for your kits' sake that-"

Ottertail rolled his eyes. "I was just following orders, Cinderlight. Now, if you excuse me, I need to speak with my friend Oakpaw."

"Friend?" But Ottertail shooed him away and led me along the border.

"So Oakpaw. I need your help."

"Of course you do."

"I've… misplaced our friend Mosspaw."

Internally, I groaned. "I don't think that word means what you think it means."

"I don't care. Now, come on. Let's go find her. And just to be clear," Ottertail added, turning to face me, "This is not a request."

Frantically, I tried to think about something to ask him, to distract him, anything. "Cinderlight mentioned kits! I didn't know you had kits. What are their names?"

"Drizzlekit and Rustkit. But that doesn't matter to you. Now, let's get a move on before we get caught by another patrol."

Adderkit

Smoky and I crossed the Thunderpath quickly. As we leaped over the last stretch, a monster rushed past from our right. We turned around and looked back at the ShadowClan territory.

"Hello there, Smoky." A patrol had appeared behind us.

Barely giving them a glance, Smoky replied, "Frostflower, Spottedpelt, Sunfoot. Nice to see you."

One of them rushed around us and blocked our path. "Can we help you?"

"Not at all, Frostflower. The two of us are just passing through because we need to leave the Clans. Soon enough, we'll be out of your fur. Good day!" He turned to leave, but Sunfoot stopped him.

"Hold up. Smoky, do you know who this is?" She gestured to me, frowning. "This fugitive-"

"I know, I know. Adderpaw isn't harmful, you know. All he can do is heal himself."

The last cat frowned. "One, Sunfoot, they're on our territory! That should take precedence over the specific cats in the travelling party. And another thing, how do you know what Adderpaw looks like? He must have been made an apprentice days ago, so he's never been to a Gathering so you wouldn't have met him…"

Sunfoot looked at me again. She snapped, "It's my job to know, Spottedpelt. I am the deputy, after all." I don't know why, but that answer seemed to satisfy the two of them

"And another thing," Frostflower added, "If you need to leave the Clans so badly, why didn't you go the other way? It's closer, not near the Thunderpath, and, you know. Not on our territory."

"Ah. Well, I do have some friends who can help our situation. They're just on the other side of ThunderClan territory. Good day," Smoky repeated firmly, and guided me along the Thunderpath. Strangely enough, not one of the cats in the patrol followed to try and kick us out, but Smoky didn't seem to notice anything peculiar.

Adderkit

"Hey, uh, Smoky? It's dark. Do we happen to be close?" Silence. "So, who are these mysterious friends you have?" Still no response.

I was beat, but Smoky didn't seem to slow down, even after all this time we'd been walking. He quietly led me down the Thunderpath, all the way to the edge of the gorge between WindClan and RiverClan. Now, the two of us were making our way along, a few tail-lengths from the edge. But Smoky was barely taking enough care not to fall.

Luckily, ShadowClan was really the only Clan that had the skill or even cared enough to send out night patrols, so we hadn't run into any cats since the ThunderClan patrol that hadn't followed us. Well, I guess that wasn't quite true now, because I saw the silhouette in the dark of a figure, creeping in the grass.

"Smoky?" He turned when he noticed the panic in my voice. "I don't think we're alone."

Sure enough, a silver she-cat pounced and pinned me to the ground. "Intruder! What are you doing in WindClan territory?"

"Still enforcing WindClan law, Streamripple? I thought you got kicked out like the rest of them."

"Streamripple? Can you do me a favor and get off of me?"

As she let me get up, she asked, "Adderkit?"

"Paw."

"Right. Well, Briarstar did kick me out. And replace me with Tangleheart. But I figured, if I showed off how useful my ability could be to WindClan, they would be willing to take me back in again."

"We're sorry about that," Smoky replied dryly. "Now, we really must be going-"

"Wait, Smoky. Can your mysterious friends help her too?"

Streamripple perked up at the idea of getting help. "I won't be any trouble," she promised.

"Fine," Smoky groaned reluctantly. "But we really need to get going. It's dark, and we're not very close."

Mistyclaw

"You tricked me, Mistyclaw. But in the wake of your destruction, Sunfoot was sincere. While you deceived me, she genuinely wanted to help me. And that is why… I love her."

I woke with a start. Alderstar and Sunfoot? No. Too much pain. But Leopardscar designed my visions to always show the truth about the future.

And while I had never come to terms with my feelings for Alderstar, it was still extremely painful. Now, it was too late. I was too late.

"They deserve each other," I spat.

"Who does?" Badgerbranch peeled away from the shadows, limping, and I flinched.

"StarClan, Badgerbranch. For a cat with three legs, you can move really fast, really quietly."

"Yes. But who?"

"Oh. Uh, no one."

Badgerbranch gave me a look, but he shrugged. "Alright. We're moving today. Any longer and we risk detection from the Clan. Come on." He helped me to my feet and ushered me out of the den through the back exit.

The hollow tree was bigger than I expected it to be. Badgerbranch had taken the liberty to create a nest, which didn't even take up half of the space.

I expected him to tell me to rewrap my wounds, get some rest, and leave, but he settled down on the ground next to the opening. Calmly, he asked, "Who deserves each other?"

"Wouldn't you like to know." I tried in vain to turn over, but I could only make it so far without falling back down.

"I would. Very much. That's why I asked." When I didn't respond, Badgerbranch added, "I don't know if you believe me, but I find your abilities fascinating. If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to learn more."

"Please, Badgerbranch. Not right now. Maybe sometime later, but just not right now."

"Okay. Get some rest." He got up and left, and I closed my eyes. And when I fell asleep, I wasn't plagued by any more visions.

Oh my wow, it's been a while. So sorry!

Thank you to those who reviewed!

Cactopus-I love the hashtag!

Fastbreeze37-Yep, they're starting to come together. Exciting, isn't it?

Thanks for reading! Please comment if you have any questions or feedback.