I decided to put this chapter up at the same time as chapter 5 to make up for delaying for so long. Sorry guys!

Lightpelt was lying around outside of the warriors den, thinking about Sharpclaw as the rain still fell lightly. He couldn't help but think that it was quite unlike her to just run off without warning. He sighed and had been about to go and visit Sleekheart and Moonfur in the nursery when Flashfur walked over to him.

"Hello, Flashfur. Feeling alright?"

The bright red cat nodded sullenly. "I just don't understand why she would do it. She seemed a little depressed, but I never thought she'd run away. When we first came to the Clan, she seemed so eager to stay, and now she's gone."

A thought crossed Lightpelt's mind. "What if she didn't really want to leave?"

Flashfur stared at him, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well, none of us expected her to run away, so maybe someone, or something, took her away."

Flashfur looked as if he was considering it. "Maybe, but it just doesn't sound like something like that could happen. What would've done something like that?"

Lightpelt sighed with resignment as he thought of everything that could've taken a cat away. "Another cat, maybe, or even a badger, a dog, or possibly a Twoleg."

Flashfur stared long and hard at Lightpelt. "But wouldn't we have found signs that she struggled? Sharpclaw isn't exactly the kind of cat to let herself be taken."

"I know, but I just can't let myself think that she ran off on her own. Why would she do that? She seemed perfectly happy here."

"I don't know, Lightpelt." Flashfur said, bowing his head. "I just don't know. But you might want to go tell Kinkstar about your idea. I don't know how, but it might help."

Lightpelt nodded and trotted off to Kinkstar's den, feeling very confused and downhearted.

Sharpclaw slunk forward, her stomach nearly on the ground, making no sound at all. The rabbit sitting only several feet in front of her made no indications that it sensed her, and it merely continued eating. The black cat stepped forward again, making sure to step over a twig in front of her. But as she looked back up at her prey, her hind foot stepped down on the twig, and the rabbit sat upright. Sharpclaw jumped forward, but it was too late. The rabbit bolted away, too fast to be followed.

Sharpclaw mentally cursed herself. Having to hunt for herself and another was beginning to take a toll on her. Nightshade could walk and run well enough, but the deep scratch that still shone brightly on his face interfered with his hearing. He couldn't catch a thing when he was hunting, so Sharpclaw had to take care of him. She knew she could leave him and go off on her own, but somehow she felt bound to him, and secretly, though Nightshade would never know, she enjoyed his company.

Sharpclaw knew that in a few days time, he would be able to leave. She had been looking forward to that time, but now she realized that she would be alone again. She would finally be rid of him, able to continue by herself and find a new place to live. But at the same time, she would be lonely again, with no one but her shadow to keep her company.

She suddenly shook her coat fiercly, making the white mark on her chest shine brightly, and she scoffed at herself. She was making the whole thing complicated. In only three days time, they would go their separate ways, and she wouldn't think twice about Nightshade. She purred contently and ran off to hunt again.

Upon returning to the Talltree, Sharpclaw saw Nightshade gathering moss and leaves into a small pile. Dropping the mice she'd caught in-between two roots, she walked over to him.

"What are you doing?" she asked, peering over his shoulder at the pile he'd accumulated.

He glared back up at her, giving Sharpclaw the impression that they weren't on speaking terms quite yet. She'd been about to walk away when his voice came, sounding exasperated.

"I'm making a moss bed. Sleeping on the ground smushed in-between roots isn't exactly comfortable."

Nightshade finished nudging the leaves up close to the tree trunk and carried the moss on top of it. Sharpclaw had to admit it did look comfortable, but she wouldn't make one herself. She didn't want him to think that she'd copied the idea.

Sharpclaw looked up at the sky. The sun was beating down on them from the middle of the sky. She'd spent all morning hunting. She deserved a nap. Her gaze turned from the sun to the enormous tree looming up beside her. She stood up and jumped onto the branch that the Clan leaders usually sat on at Gatherings. It did have a perfect view of the field in front of it, and there were four perfect indentions in the bark. The black cat was suddenly hit with a jolt of realization at the fact of how ironic the situation was. Ever since she'd joined the Clan, she'd dreamed of becoming a Clan leader. It would be exciting to lead a whole Clan, to care for every single cat within it.

And now she was sitting here, finally on the branch, as a runaway. A rogue. She'd left her Clan, deserted them, and she wasn't going back. How could she? They'd never liked her, and they definitely wouldn't take her back now. She shook herself quickly and jumped up to a higher branch. From there, she could see down to where Nightshade was curled up on his moss bed, and all the way out to the meadows that bordered WindClan's territory.

She closed her eyes and remembered when she was a kit, and she and her brother would always run out play in those meadows, carefully by their foster mother, Marie. Sharpclaw's memory sped up and she then remembered how months later, she and her brother were once again playing in those same fields, though now they were older. And then even more months later, she saw herself sitting alone in the field, only about a week ago, before she'd left, mulling over herself and remembering just as she was doing now.

Sharpclaw opened her eyes and her visions popped away, to be replaced by the high view from her branch. The black cat shook her head and closed her eyes again, though this time not to bring back memories, but to sleep as the light raindrops fell upon her fur.

I think you guys know the drill by now. Three reviews, and you'll know what happens next.