City of the dead
At the end of another lost highway
Signs misleading to nowhere
City of the damned
Lost children with dirty faces today
No one really seems to care

Then I remember the day that changed my life forever. Well, one of the days, at least...

"Stonefur, what's Tigerstar doing here?" I asked suspiciously, a feeling of dread creeping over me.

"Tigerstar's just around," he meowed evasively. "Probably just speaking to Leopardstar about something, you know, Stormpaw."

The same feeling stayed in my chest and rose to my throat when some of the ShadowClan warriors returned, their fur bristling, to Tigerstar's side from some place they had left to only moments before. They exchanged words and the warriors padded forward, Tigerstar in the lead.

I glanced to Leopardstar, whose eyes flickered down to the ground after meeting mine. Featherpaw had appeared beside me and was pressing against me, her fur fluffed out a bit.

"They're trying to get us to go somewhere!" she hissed into my ear.

Stonefur stood beside us protectively, his eyes following the warriors closely. "Do you warriors need something?" he asked, tail flicking with caution.

"Yes," meowed Tigerstar. He gave a smile that looked more like a smile. "You're to come with us." He leaned forward to Stonefur's ear. "I know of your mother. You're as bad as these half-Clan kits!" He moved back, the snarl still on his lips.

Stonefur held his head high. "Fine," he meowed. "But you're not to lay a single claw on these apprentices."

Tigerstar glared at the gray tom. "It's not your decision to tell me what happens," he spat. "Jaggedtooth, Russetfur, Blackfoot, take them to the guarded den."

The ragged tom nodded. "Yes, Tigerstar."

"Don't just tell me okay, Jaggedtooth, get them down there!" Tigerstar spat. "We only need loyal TigerClan warriors, no half-Clan cats."

My eyes widened and my fur bristled as Russetfur pushed me forward and Blackfoot pushed Featherpaw. Stonefur never left our sides, though, keeping a sharp eye open.

The ShadowClanners kept pushing us forward and I couldn't keep 'TigerClan' out of my mind. A joint between RiverClan and ShadowClan? It sounded like nonsense, really, with the way Leopardstar's attitude was. But, I finally concluded, it could happen, I suppose.

We finally stopped at a bed of reeds. It had a large hole for an opening and dipped into the ground. The cats pushed all of us in, Stonefur making sure that we both went in before him so the warriors could do nothing to us after he had heard Mistyfoot's hesitant meow from the underground prison. At the time, though, we had no idea what they had in mind.

Moons later, after TigerClan had become quite a bit stronger, and we weaker, Blackfoot returned. "Half-Clan tom and half-Clan apprentices out only," he spat. "Hurry up!"

Stonefur nudged us out and followed, then making sure he stayed at our side. Blackfoot took us up to the camp, where a huge hill made of bones had been constructed.

I heard a whimper escape Featherpaw's throat and Stonefur must have, too, because he pressed against her reassuringly.

Blackfoot made us stop in the middle of the clearing. "Stay there," he hissed, "and await Tigerstar's merciful judgement." His eyes flashed, letting us know that he knew we were in for trouble.

Though I hardly wanted to watch, I still did. I could feel a feeling of soon-to-be agony creeping into my heart.

Tigerstar stood on the huge Bonehill. Bones stuck out every which way, making it seem that the hill might have been a living skeleton. His eyes blazed down on us as the cats gathered.

"Cats of TigerClan," he began, "you all know the hardships that we have to face. The cold of leaf-bare threatens us. Twolegs threaten us. The other two Clans in the forest, who have not yet realized the wisdom of joining with Tigerclan, are a threat to us.

"Surrounded as we are by enemies," he continued, "we must be sure of the loyalty of our own warriors. There is no room in TigerClan for the halfhearted. No room for cats who might waver in battle, or worse still, turn on their own Clan mates. TigerClan will not tolerate traitors!"

Cats all around us broke out in yowls of agreement. Tigerstar just stood over us, his eyes gleaming with malice as he allowed for the clamor to continue for a few moments. He finally flicked his tail for silence. The noise stopped and he began again.

"Especially we will not tolerate the abomination of half-Clan cats. No loyal warrior would ever take a mate from another Clan, diluting the pure blood that our warrior ancestors decreed for us. Bluestar and Graystripe of ThunderClan both flouted the warrior code when they took mates from RiverClan. The kits of such a union, like the ones you see in front of you now, can never be trusted."

He paused and suddenly, voice strong, the huge white cat with black paws, Blackfoot, yowled, "Filth! Filth!"

Darkstripe, the traitorous former ThunderClan warrior, took up the cry, and soon the clearing was echoing the words. Tigerstar just stared out over the cats as he let the noise die in its own time, ShadowClan loudest and RiverClan fairly reluctant-seeming.

Featherpaw flattened herself against the ground and I followed suit, feeling extremely venerable. But, to my relief, Stonefur crouched over us, defiance on his face and in his eyes.

Finally the sound stopped.

"Half-Clan cats have been tolerated until now, but the time for tolerance has passed," Tigerstar meowed. "There is no place in TigerClan for warriors who owe allegiance to two Clans. How can we trust them not to betray our secrets, or even turn on us and kill us? Can we expect StarClan to fight on our side if we allow those who are not pure in heart and blood to walk freely among us?"

"No!" Darkstripe screeched, making me jump. He flexed his claws on the earth, making fairly large scratch marks, and lashed his tail in anger.

"No, my friends. We must get rid of the abominations in our midst!" Tigerstar yowled. "Then our Clan will be clean again, and we can be sure of the favor of StarClan."

Stonefur suddenly sprang to his paws. He stumbled for a moment, but finally mangaged to stay upright.

"No cat has ever questioned my loyalty," he snarled. "Come down here and tell me that to my face that I'm a traitor!

"Mistyfoot and I never even knew that Bluestar was our mother until a couple of moons ago," he insisted. "We have been loyal RiverClan warriors all our lives. Let any cat who thinks different come out here and prove it!"

I felt my heart swell at Stonefur's courage. His words were foolish right now; no TigerClan cat could care if he was loyal or not with the traitor standing on the Bonehill.

Tigerstar swiped his tail toward Leopardstar in anger. "You showed poor judgement when you chose this cat as your deputy," he growled. "RiverClan is choked by the weeds of treachery, and we must root them out."

Leopardstar just bowed her head, showing that Tigerstar had far more power than she. But it also made my heart flare with anger that she wouldn't protect her own deputy.

Tigerstar whipped his head toward Stonefur and I felt like I froze under his gaze, though it wasn't directed at me. "Stonefur, I will give you the chance to show your loyalty to TigerClan. Kill these two half-Clan apprentices."

Silence engulfed the clearing as Stonefur turned to face Leopardstar. "I only take orders from you," he growled. "You must know this is wrong. What do you want me to do?"

Leopardstar looked uncertain for a heartbeat and I prayed to StarClan that perhaps she would oppose Tigerstar to save Featherpaw's life and my own.

Then she finally meowed, "These are difficult times. As we fight for survival we must be able to count on every one of our Clan mates. There is no room for divided loyalties. Do as Tigerstar tells you."

Stonefur held her gaze for a moment more, which happened to be a glare of pure hatred, then he turned to face Featherpaw and me. Featherpaw shrank back under his gaze and I with her as I wondered what he would do to us.

But I gave Featherpaw a comforting lick and pressed close to her. "We'll fight him," I promised. "I won't let him kill us."

Stonefur must have known how much courage that took to say because he gave me a little nod, like the ones when we were out training and I caught a starling, or when I executed a battle move perfectly, and then turned to Tigerstar.

"You'll have to kill me first, Tigerstar!" he spat.

Tigerstar narrowed his eyes and flicked his tail at Darkstripe. "Very well. Kill him," he ordered.

A tremor of horror went down my spine. I wanted to very badly to leap to my paws and yowl for them to stop, to help my mentor just as Darkstripe hurled himself at Stonefur.

But I couldn't. I felt as if an invisible river had pulled me under and I couldn't resurface, so I just flattened myself to the ground more and watched helplessly.

Though Stonefur didn't look much like a match for Darkstripe, he was still a formidable warrior. He dropped backward so that instead of landing on Stonefur's shoulders, Darkstripe was faced with all four paws, claws extended to rip at his fur.

The two warriors were a clawing, screeching knot of fur on the floor of the clearing. The rest of the cats scrambled backward to give them space, still keeping the same eerie silence. Even Tigerstar, still crouched on the Bonehill, had an amused look on his face.

Stonefur fastened his teeth into Darkstripe's scruff and was trying to shake the dark warrior, but Darkstripe's greater size and strength were too much. He lost his grip and the two warriors sprang apart, breathing hard. Blood was trickling from a scratch above Darkstripe's left eye, and clumps of fur were missing from his flank. Stonefur's pelt was even more ragged, and as he shook one forepaw spots of blood spattered the ground.

"Get a move on, Darkstripe!" Blackfoot jeered. "You're fighting like a kittypet!"

That made me feel like there was still hope. If Stonefur could possibly fend off Darkstripe, could we escape?

But Darkstripe had no intentions of that happening. He hissed furiously and launched another attack. Stonefur slipped to one side and raked his claws down Darkstripe's side, and followed up with a blow to his back leg as the dark warrior crashed past him. Stonefur staggered from the force of the impact, but by the time Darkstripe regained his paws, he had recovered. This time the RiverClan warrior went on the attack, bowling Darkstripe over and fastening teeth and claws in his neck.

The hope dwindled as Tigerstar watched Darkstripe vainly trying to break free. The massive tabby flicked his ears at Blackfoot. "Finish it," he rodered.

The ShadowClan deputy nodded and flung himself into the battle. He bit Stonefur in the shoulder and draged him off Darkstripe, ducking to avoid his flailing paws. Darkstripe sprang on Stoenfur to hold his hindquarters down, while Blackfoot scored his claws across the blue-gray warrior's throat.

While Featherpaw and I watched with horror, Stonefur let out a gurgling cry that was cut short. Both TigerClan cats released him and stood back. Stonefur's body convulsed as blood welled from his throat.

A thin wailing that turned into a cry of triumph made me jump. Featherpaw and I were the only ones in the clearing to remain silent, our gazes fixed on Stonefur as we watched the last breath leave his body.

After Jaggedtooth took us back to Mistyfoot, Featherpaw darted up to her and pressed against her, whimpering quietly as I told Mistyfoot of the story.

"He died so bravely," I murmured after I was finished. My eyes flashed towards the ground as a wave of grief washed over me. I still couldn't believe he was dead... And Mistyfoot couldn't seem to believe it completely, either, or rather she didn't want to.

But we heard voices outside of the tunnel. The scent of crowfood wafted into it, and we all wrinkled our noses in disgust.

"I don't know you," Jaggedtooth growled. "Who are you and what do you want?"

"Think you know all the RiverClan cats, do you?" another voice meowed coolly. I knew he wasn't a RiverClan cat, though... "I've got a message from Tigerstar."

Jaggedtooth let out a grunt and I could hear him inhale the cat's scent loudly. "Great StarClan, you stink!"

"You don't smell so pleasant yourself," the voice retorted. "Do you want this message or are we just going to go on about how horrible we both smell?"

"Gon on, then," the ShadowClan warrior finally meowed.

"Tigerstar wants you to go to him at once," mewed the cat. "He sent me to take your place guarding the prisoners."

"What?" Jaggedtooth sounded disbelieving. "Only ShadowClan guards the prisoners! You RiverClan cats are too soft. Why did Tigerstar send you and not one of our own Clan?"

The cat must have had a plan, for he didn't hesitate. "I thought we were supposed to be all one Clan now." He sounded a little hurt, but he just kept going. "But suit yourself. I'll tell Tigerstar you wouldn't come."

"No, wait. I didn't say that. If Tigerstar wants me... Where is he, then?"

"Over there. He had Darkstripe and Blackfoot with him."

"Right," Jaggedtooth muttered. "But you stay out here till I get back. If I smell your stink inside that hole, I'll rip your fur off."

The pounding of paws above us told us that Jaggedtooth had fallen for everything the unknown cat had told him.

"Yes! They're in there!" a voice meowed a few moments later.

I strained my eyes to try to see who was ahead, but I knew when Featherpaw meowed, "Father? Is it really you?"

He huddled next to us and covered us with licks and gentle caresses.

A moment later, another cat joined us. "Mistyfoot! Thank StarClan we've found you!"

"Is that Firestar?" she meowed in her hoarse voice. "What are you doing here?"

"It's a long story," he meowed. "I'll tell you everything, but first we have to get out of here. Graystripe, are you ready?"

Graystripe mewed his consent to leave and we all headed out.

To keep this shorter, we were helped by a ThunderClan patrol and taken to their camp, where we were to stay.

Before the BloodClan battle that I'm sure you've heard of, Leopardstar asked Mistyfoot to be her deputy. She agreed and we all went back to RiverClan, to supposedly live out the rest of our lives... But now I carried the burden of really understanding death.