Sorry this took a while to put up, but from now on I'm going to be putting them up faster because I'm in a rush to get this finished and over with. So I might just finish writing a chapter and not edit it before I upload it, so please forgive me on that.

Lightpelt shook his fur as the cold rain fell heavily on it. He would have expected it to be snow instead of rain, but now he found himself thinking that snow would be better than the freezing rain. It was only because his leg was healing quickly and he was one of the few cats that wasn't sick that he volunteered to go on a hunting patrol. Flashfur and Mayheart with her apprentice, Lionpaw had joined him. The late afternoon sun down hopefully on them, but the rain showed no signs of relenting.

Since the morning, Honeyfur and Rabbittail had also fallen ill, and Lightpelt was worried for his sibling and his mother. With some of the earlier cases, such as Barkface and Redpaw, Foxnose was nearly sure that it was greencough. He was working hard to keep it controlled. Ironically, Tallpaw was getting plenty of practice at being a medicine cat. For being so young and spending so much time around the sick cats, it was a wonder she wasn't joining them yet.

Talon was also recovering quickly, his shoulder hardly bothering him now. He was now out hunting on his own, since his own ways of hunting differed so much from the cats' way. Although the majority hadn't really gotten over the fact that a dog was basically living with them, even if he didn't seem hostile, but the whole Clan was grateful for the extra prey that his odd hunting added to the fresh-kill pile. Kinkstar had given his consent when Lightpelt had asked if the dog could stay with them for the remainder of leaf-bare, trusting that Lightpelt could find a way to tell him. Most of the Clan had guessed that the two of them had some way of communicating, but they would never guess they were outright speaking to each other.

The patrol was nearing the river, and the ground became softer and marsh-like, the cold, watery mud seeping into their pads. Flashfur sighed.

"Well, at least we'll have enough water. Let's head back. We can pick up what we caught on the way." Lightpelt turned and followed him back through the mud. Flashfur's comment may have been correct, but he couldn't help but feel that the rain wouldn't last long before turning to snow. The sick cats wouldn't last long if the weather turned colder.

The four cats padded back into the camp with their meager spoils in their jaws. After depositing his pigeon in the fresh-kill pile, Lightpelt looked around and Talon hadn't returned yet. The calico tom sighed and padded over to see Foxnose. Moonfur had joined Redpaw and Barkface in the den.

"How are they?" he asked the medicine cat quietly.

Foxnose looked up wearily. "Not good. Redpaw nearly seems like he'll pull through, but Barkface is just getting worse. And I can't tell yet with Moonfur. Rabbittail and Honeyfur aren't staying with me yet, but I'm keeping them away from everyone else. But nearly everyone had a cough now. But there's good news. Kinkstar lost a life."

Lightpelt stared at him. "How is that a good thing?"

"Because he's getting better by the hour now. Once I'm sure he's completely recovered, he'll be joining the patrols. I'm worried that we won't have enough cats to do all the hunting and to watch the borders. I think the one you were just one was the only one that's completely healthy. Even Patchclaw's looking down now. But he's done a wonderful job taking over for Kinkstar." Foxnose was looking much happier by this time; Lightpelt guessed talking about the better things was giving him hope. "And then there's Talon. He's shown no signs of sickness, and he's been keeping the fresh-kill pile freshly stocked every day. I'm beginning to wonder if greencough has an effect on dogs."

Lightpelt shook his head, signifying he didn't know, then suddenly thought of something. "Foxnose, has Kinkstar said who's going to the Gathering tomorrow? I'd nearly forgotten about it." Lightpelt realized it would be the first Gathering since Sharpclaw had disappeared. It seemed like so long ago, not just one moon.

"You'll have to go talk to Patchclaw. I'm guessing Kinkstar's told him who's going by now." Lightpelt nodded and the medicine cat's words, and left the den to seek out the black and white deputy, the rain still pouring down on him. He found Patchclaw exiting the nursery, presumably from visiting Sleekheart. It wouldn't be long before her their kits were born.

He motioned to Patchclaw with his tail and walked over to him. "Has Kinkstar told you who's going to the Gathering tomorrow yet?"

"You, Mayheart, Wetstorm, Shortleg, Moonfur, Berrypaw, and Lionpaw." We don't want to take too many warriors as most of us are sick."

"Isn't Foxnose coming?" Lightpelt asked curiously.

Patchclaw shook his head. "No. He and Tallpaw are staying here to watch over the sick cats. She's really grown up, hasn't she? Sharpclaw would be pleased to see Foxnose had an apprentice."

Lightpelt turned his head to look at Patchclaw, remembering that Sharpclaw was the deputy's niece. But the black and white cat shook his fur as dry as he could and got up to leave.

"Oh well. If I know Sharpclaw, she'll want to come back. And I know she'll find a way to do that."

As he watched the deputy's retreating back, Lightpelt couldn't help but admire his certainness that Sharpclaw was coming. As the rain still fell on his fur, he walked off to get some rest before the Gathering. As he fell asleep listening to the rain, he saw Talon walking into the camp, carrying a few squirrels in his jaws.

Sharpclaw woke suddenly in the late afternoon, to see Kal dozing a little way off. The other two cats were nowhere in sight. When her friend saw she was awake, the tabby stretched and walked over.

"C'mon. I wanna introduce you to some of the other cats."

Sharpclaw followed dutifully after as the pair trotted out into the sunlight and Kal headed for one of the dens with the expectant queens.

"This is Que. She's my mother." She was motioning toward a light colored tabby, with even lighter stripes, which made Sharpclaw wonder how Kal had turned out so dark. Kal continued to introduce her to numerous other cats, such as Moc, Nov, Pak, and Jad, all tabbies. By the time the two of them were lying together in a patch of sunlight, Sharpclaw had many questions.

"Why are everyone's names so short?" was the first one of such.

Kal smirked at her. "Actually, they're our short names for our long names. My name's actually Kaltaluna." Sharpclaw stared at her in astonishment is such a strange name.

"Don't blame me! Our mothers aren't allowed to give us names because the toms give them to us, and then they call us by our short names. My mother's actually Quekatula. Hey!" she suddenly said. "I don't even know your name yet!"

"It's Sharpclaw."

"Sharpclaw, huh? Awesome name. Wish I had one like it."

"Maybe you will, one day." Sharpclaw said to her, hoping to raise her friend's hopes.

Kal turned to her, her eyes shining. "Yea, one day, I'm gonna run away and join Tassayo's Pride. There I'll be honored for escaping Katalion's Pride all on my own." Her voice sounded so full of hope that Sharpclaw found she could say nothing about the slim chances of ever escaping the Pride. She was certain that the black tabby already knew about her prospects of getting away, but it did nothing to dampen her mood.

"You'll just have to find a way to help me out once they send you over there."

Sharpclaw sighed. "What makes you so sure that they're going to send me over?"

Kal smiled at her. "Cause I just heard. Tassayo's Pride caught a prisoner too, not that you're being treated as a prisoner, but he's a tabby. So they've already arranged to swap you to tonight. But the swap shouldn't take place until late tonight."

But just then, Katalion's deputy, as Sharpclaw guessed he was, walked over. "I spoke too soon." she heard Kal mumble.

"You." the tabby said, pointing his tail in Sharpclaw's direction. "You are to come with us to meet Tassayo's Pride." With that, he turned and trotted back toward the entrance to the other side of the camp and waited there for her.

"Bye, Sharpclaw. I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too, Kal." Sharpclaw hadn't really known her for too long, but she had grown very fond of the younger tabby, and truly would miss her.

She muzzled her friend lightly and ran off toward the deputy waiting for her. He stared at her for a moment before leading her through to a group of toms waiting near the camp entrance. As soon as Sharpclaw had caught up to them, Katalion gave the signal and they were off. They traveled swiftly through the trees, eventually coming to a clearing in which a creek ran through the middle of it. Katalion stopped on one side of it, and his warriors lined up beside him. Sharpclaw was forced to do the same.

No sooner had they all sat down, than another cat stepped out from the trees on the other side. She was a pretty light tan color, with darker black and orange spots. With a start, Sharpclaw realized that it must have been Tassayo. She'd expected...well, she didn't know what she had expected, but this had certainly not been the picture in her mind. Tassayo sat down on the opposite side of the creek and flicked her tail once. More she-cats poured out from the trees, their small, lithe bodies lining up next to Tassayo. They looked small, but their bodies showed they were fierce and very fast. Sharpclaw could see no tabbies among them.

Before she knew it, Sharpclaw was being pushed forward. She was quite surprised, to say the least. She had expected the two leaders to say something to each other, even if it was only an insult. But she was jostled to the front and stepped out into the open in front the tabbies.

She kept her eyes downcast as she walked across. But when she stepped into the creek water, she became curious as to what the cat looked like who she was being traded with. She could feel his presence a few tail-lengths away, and she saw his shadow on the ground. He had also stopped. So she looked up. And her stomach dropped down into her legs. The tabby from Tassayo's Pride was Nightshade.

Spooky, huh? But come on, you couldn't expect me just to do away with Nightshade completely, now could you? So I simply had to make this mystery tabby be him.