A/N Hello! Welcome to my ficcy! I haven't decided how long this will be… but longer than four chapters.

You guessed it, anonymous-cat- they will meet their mother in this chapter. Maybe not how you expect, but hey. Also, one of you (my mind slipped- who was it again?) mentioned Cinderpaw and Brackenpaw- I didn't really think about that until I read the review. I suppose, yes, but I'll tweak some things to make it seem more different. But I can guarantee Duskpaw will not get hit by a car (monster, whatever) and get her leg whacked up. :gives fresh-kill to both reviewers, along with a bouquet of irises: I ran out of roses, you see… meh kittypet must've eaten them! You can feed the fresh-kill to your kittypets, though cyber-mouse must taste awkward…

Disclaimer::has managed to scale tree and looks fearfully down at pursuing cats: Not good. Bad kitties! Yipes! Erin Hunter…. Heeeeelp! I don't own you guys, let me dooown! StarClan! Help me out!

(Begin Chapter Three)

Duskpaw pranced about in the woods, jumping on softly fall leaves. "So where do we go now, Ebonstreak?"

The black-striped cat scented the air. "I think I smell a ShadowClan patrol… we'd better check it out."

Duskpaw sidled up to her mentor, commenting, "StarClan, that stink smells worse than that foxdung we smelt a while ago!"

Ebonstreak purred with laughter. "That wasn't foxdung, that was Darkstripe coming in!"

Duskpaw wrinkled her nose and pawed at it. "I suspected so!"

"Let's go already," complained Grassclaw, his tail whisking from side to side. "I feel like fighting today!"

Duskpaw looked eagerly up at her mentor. "Can we? Fight, I mean?"

Ebonstreak shrugged. "Border fight- it's possible. What your father would say when you come back covered with bloody wounds I don't know… but let's go," she added, seeing the glare from Grassclaw, who was impatient. She began padding off towards the Thunderpath. Duskpaw ran to catch up, her body reinforced with adrenaline.

"Stop!" commanded Ebonstreak when they reached the Thunderpath. "This is very dangerous- if you hear a roaring, or feel a rumbling, back up into the forest!"

Duskpaw stared in awe at the Thunderpath- it was like a complete line of shadows that stretched so far she couldn't see where it ended. "It's so long!" she exclaimed, prodding the surface.

A fierce rumbling echoed, and Duskpaw leapt back, just in time for a monster to run by, black, round paws slamming the ground without lifting. "Wow!" breathed Duskpaw. "A monster…" her eyes showing curiosity. "This is a great patrol! So much excitement!" she said to a frowning Ebonstreak. "What's the matter?"

Ebonstreak flattened her ears back. "ShadowClan!" she hissed.

Duskpaw turned her green eyes towards the other side of the Thunderpath. Four warriors glared at them across the black surface. One of them, a completely black cat, stepped forward. "Ebonstreak, didn't you hear the last Gathering news?" he said, arrogance lining his silky voice. A warrior, but not quite senior, thought Duskpaw.

"No, I didn't," snapped Ebonstreak, amber eyes lighting with fury. "I was busy rebuilding the camp after a ShadowClan attack!"

Duskpaw remembered that- she was forced to stay in the nursery, elders protecting her. Duskpaw flattened her ears and hissed softly, just enough for Ebonstreak to hear. "What are we going to do?"

"Wait for Nightpelt to do something," spoke Ebonstreak lightly. "He might…"

Nightpelt lifted his head. "Brokenstar said the Thunderpath is ours- and yet yesterday I saw a hunting patrol chase two rabbits across it. Three days before that, I spied on two ThunderClan warriors hunting pigeons on it." Nightpelt stared at Ebonstreak. "Wasn't one of them… you?"

Ebonstreak hissed loudly, enough to make Nightpelt shrink back a bit. "The Thunderpath territory belongs to us!" snarled the she-cat. "That's why it was named the Thunderpath, not the Shadowpath! Many moons ago, when the four Clans met, it was decreed that this belonged to ThunderClan- no leader can change that now, especially not some ShadowClan leader who always is breaking the rules!" Duskpaw wondered what she meant- she had never heard of Brokenstar breaking rules, besides this- but had no time to think about it.

With a harsh screech, Nightpelt crossed the Thunderpath with two bounds and launched himself at Ebonstreak, tangling himself in her fur. Yowling, the other ShadowClan cats followed, each screaming to shake the ThunderClan cat's spirits.

A small but lithe cat slammed into Duskpaw, and she bowled over, dragging her claws into his body. He fastened his teeth into her neck- she flipped over and tore a small strip of fur away from him. He yowled, and bit Duskpaw on the ear, nicking away some cartilage.

Biting back pain, the apprentice saw an upturned stick and maneuvered the fight so he, unawares, rolled onto it, stabbing himself in the back. Screeching like he had been bitten by dogs, the cat fastened his teeth into the apprentice again, this time in the neck.

Another black shape hurtled out of the forest and slammed into the ShadowClan cat, knocking him off. Eyes dim with pain, Duskpaw saw a cream paw pressing down on the other cat's neck, who struggled vainly. The new cat was stronger than the worn-down ShadowClan warrior, who yowled without stopping.

The ThunderClan warriors were fighting, and it seemed like they were winning too- Nightpelt snapped a command to his warriors, who sped off across the Thunderpath. After a moment, the new cat lifted her paw and kicked the small black cat into the Thunderpath, where he struggled up and ran across.

The new cat, a she-cat, turned to Duskpaw, and the apprentice noticed that she had the same type of coloring as this cat- different color points, and an otherwise pure black body. Cautiously, Duskpaw stepped forward and said, "Thank you for helping me, but I don't know who you are…"

Ebonstreak was slowly getting up, and noticed her apprentice talking with the new cat. "Duskpaw!" she said. "Who-"

"I'm Peaches, and as you might've guessed, a kittypet," said the black and cream cat. "This kit's- Duskpaw, did you say- mother."

Looking up at the she-cat, Duskpaw felt admiration. "You're my mother? I expected some soft kittypet, not a warrior," admitted the apprentice, feeling slightly guilty she had the wrong idea about her mother in the beginning.

Peaches narrowed her eyes. "Someone already told you?"

Ebonstreak padded up, and flicked her tail to tell the others to stay back. Mousefur, a deep gash in her shoulder, huffed, but Grassclaw, his need for excitement filled, settled down and washed off a bloody paw. Realizing she had wounds too, Duskpaw counted three- her ear, a tiny cut on her neck, and a torn claw. Licking her right paw and drawing it over her ear, she managed to get off a large amount of the stench of the male cat who attacked her.

"Thank you for helping my apprentice, but if you're a kittypet, what are you doing out in the woods?" asked the black-striped cat curiously.

Peaches held herself up. "I came to see my son and daughter- Bluestar said I may see my kits at six moons, but I decided to come and see them instead of waiting for Rootpelt to come and show me." Peaches bent down and licked a part of the ear that Duskpaw was having trouble washing. "And this is my daughter… Duskpaw, you say? No longer Duskkit?"

Duskpaw lifted her head proudly. "I'm an apprentice now."

Mousefur called from her sitting place, "We'd better head back to camp- my shoulder wound isn't getting any better, and we need to tell Bluestar of this!"

Ebonstreak nodded. "Right. Come on, Duskpaw- Peaches, you can come too, since Bluestar is on naming terms with you." The shadow-colored cat turned and began a slow trot back into the forest, glancing over her shoulder to see if the rest of the patrol and Peaches came along.

Duskpaw walked alongside her mother, saying, "So are you really my mother?"

Peaches purred, "Yes, I am. I came and heard yowling, so I ran and saw a small kitten- kit- under attack, and instantly knew it was you." Peaches jumped over a log. "I'm stronger than most kittypets, so I easily fought that cat off."

Duskpaw heard a scrabbling in a holly bush, then a settling. "Wait," she murmured, and leapt into the bush, claws outstretched.

A squeak came from the bush, and proud Duskpaw emerged, a dead vole in her mouth. "He just slipped off to sleep!" she crowed. "Must be deaf, not to hear us tramping around!"

Peaches licked her daughter's shoulder. "Even so, you caught it."

"Duskpaw! Ebonstreak! Mousefur! Grassclaw! Bluestar wants you four to- StarClan, is that a kittypet?" A confused Lionheart was at the gorse entrance to the camp, Russetpaw rolling in the dust behind him. "What-"

Mousefur ran past him. "Doesn't matter, ask Ebonstreak," replied the dusky-brown she-cat. "Grassclaw and I will see to Bluestar."

The light brown cat looked startled, and then followed Mousefur. "What was that?" he mumbled. "Looks like I have to follow Mousefur again."

The cat whipped the other warrior's face with her brown tail. "Ah hush." They trotted off to Bluestar's den.

"Now who is this?" asked Lionheart, but Peaches was staring behind him.

"Russetpaw!" she exclaimed, and bounded over.

The apprentice got out of the dust and looked up. "Who-"

Duskpaw ran over, stirring up dust behind her. "She's our mother, Russetpaw!"

(End Chapter Three)

A/N Haha! Cliffhanger! Guess you gotta wait till next chapter! Muha!

Until then, read, review, and possibly check out my other stories!