Right, people. I think Sparkheart has gladly vanished. If you might have noticed, her last review was under Mooncloud's name. That was an accident. Apparently, Sparkheart is Mooncloud's friend, and she hates warriors.

Thank you for everybody who dissed Sparkheart! XD No, just kidding…

Chapter Twelve

"Glacierclaw, wake up."

A sharp claw prodded me. I was so sleepy I almost thought it was Bramblestar, waking me up to start training. But it was Thymefoot, a dark-pelted tom. He glared at me with sharp blue eyes.

"All the apprentices are already up," he snarled.

Oh. Oops. "Er," I meowed awkwardly, "my Clan is used to getting up at different times."

Thymefoot merely grunted and stalked out of the den. I sat up and gave myself a quick wash, then followed him. The camp was awake with busy cats. I noticed that their Clan was much smaller than the cats I lived with, and I felt a pang of sadness as I remembered every one of them. Will I ever be able to get home? I wondered.

"Glacierclaw, there you are."

It was Reefpaw. The small blue-gray apprentice padded forward and swished her tail. The other three apprentices – Crystalpaw, Diamondpaw, and Dartpaw – were behind her, looking bored.

"Pantherclaw said that you'd assist us in our training," Reefpaw told me.

"What?" I stared. "All four of you?"

She nodded. "Our mentors are busy helping the Clan."

I swallowed and meowed, "All right, sure." I had wanted to see how Dragonheart was, but I guessed she'd be fine. "How long have you been in training?"

"Dartpaw's been in training for four moons," replied Crystalpaw, nodding to each cat in turn. "Diamondpaw and I have been in training for three, and Reefpaw for two."

So they probably have memorized their territories by now, I thought. I'll just see how well they hunt and fight. "Is there a clearing nearby?"

"Yes, it's where we usually train." Crystalpaw flicked her tail. "I'll show you."

The white she-cat turned around and pelted into the forest. I followed quickly, the other three behind me. Crystalpaw stopped suddenly when the trees parted to reveal a grassy clearing. I stalked forward.

"Perfect," I meowed, turning around to face them. "Dartpaw, I want to see how well you fight."

I had chosen Dartpaw because he was the eldest apprentice. To my surprise, the gray tom scowled and meowed,

"Do I have to? My paws hurt."

I hesitated. I had never had to deal with a rude apprentice. "Yes, you do have to," I replied. "If you want to become a warrior, which, I'm sure, every apprentice does."

Dartpaw shrugged. "Being a warrior means there's more work." But he padded forward reluctantly and faced me.

I launched at the surprised tom. He squealed as I tackled him aside. I saw him leapt at me, but I leapt nimbly to the side and brought him down with my huge silver paws.

"Always be ready," I told him, setting him free.

Dartpaw stood up, looking angry. He stood on his toes and dodged out of the way of my next attack. I nodded my encouragement and kept after him, swinging my paws at his legs, trying to trip him. Dartpaw leapt into the air and landed on my back. I fell to the ground, unbalanced, and forced my back into the forest floor.

"Oof!" Dartpaw grunted as the wind was knocked out of him. He instantly let go of me. I got to my feet calmly and faced him.

"Good strategy, Dartpaw," I meowed. "But pay attention to a cat's size." Dartpaw didn't say anything, but limped over to the apprentices and sat next to them, looking gruff.

I trained all four apprentices until the day started to get light. I sent them on a hunting mission after fighting, and all of them brought back lots of prey. The Clan was quite impressed with the progress that their apprentices had made, and their respect for me soon grew. Afterward, I was determined to see Dragonheart. I had heard nothing of her condition from the medicine cat, whose name I had already forgotten.

I headed over to the medicine cat's den and noticed a young, small ginger she-cat sitting close to the entrance, washing herself. She pricked her ears when she scented me approaching and meowed,

"Aren't you Glacierclaw?"

I nodded. "Yes, that's me." I wondered if I'd have to ask what her name was and if she'd be insulted.

But I was saved. "My name is Glistenheart."

I dipped my head respectfully. "How is Dragonheart?"

Glistenheart shrugged. "She is older than I am, but she is strong. Your friend Dragonheart will be fine."

"Good," I meowed, terribly relieved. "How long will it be until she recovers?"

"I gave her some clove and cobwebs. She'll be fine by the next sundown."

Clove? I thought. I had never heard Leafstorm use that type of herb. Maybe the Twolegs had made it become extinct in the forest.

"You can see her," added Glistenheart, stepping aside. I nodded my thanks and walked into the den.

The black, gray, and ginger she-cat was giving herself a wash. A long, gruesome gash ran down her side and between her eyes. I watched her lick the blood off of it and padded forward.

"Hi," I began. "How –"

"That Glistenheart might be young, but she's really cranky," grumbled Dragonheart. "Why are you still here, anyway? In this Clan? I wouldn't want to stay with the Clan that nearly ripped me to shreds, thank you."

I sat down next to her and curled my tail around my paws. "They didn't know what you were," I pointed out.

"Yes, but they didn't recognize the stench of Twolegs on me, did they?"

"Twolegs aren't around here," I meowed. "They don't even know what Twolegs are."

"Oh." Dragonheart looked down at her paws. "Well, they should have been able to recognize the smell of the forest and many cats." She scowled and looked down at her pelt. "I'll be scarred forever," she complained.

Yup, she's fine, I thought, but didn't dare say anything.

Instead, I meowed, "We're going to help them against LeopardClan, aren't we?"

"Why? It's not our problem." Dragonheart returned to licking herself, keeping her ears pointed toward me. "They can deal with it on their own."

"Yes, but these are our ancestors. Well, not exactly our ancestors, but ThunderClan's, and all the others. I honestly think we should help them."

"Fine by me; I mean, we don't have anything better to do." Dragonheart shrugged. "I mean, I guess we're here until Flowertail decides to bring us out."

"She must have been under Flamestorm's orders," I meowed.

"Well, duh. You think Flowertail goes around sucking people into the Moonstone for fun? Of course she was under Flamestorm's orders. I mean –"

"Glacierclaw, get out of here!"

It was Glistenheart again. She was dragging a long-haired ginger tom that I recognized as Auburncloud, a young warrior. A bloody gash was on his hind leg. I ducked out of the medicine cat's den as quickly as possible, getting out of her way. In the center of the camp, I noticed that Pantherclaw and Reefpaw were yowling at each other. I pricked my ears forward to hear.

"Great StarClan, Reefpaw, what were you thinking, you useless furball?" snarled Pantherclaw.

Reefpaw didn't back down. I admired her courage. "It wasn't my fault I couldn't shake that LeopardClan warrior off me! I had no way to go help Auburncloud!"

"If I recall, Glacierclaw showed you how to shake an opponent off of your back during your training lesson!"

I padded quickly forward, stopping a few feet away next to Crystalpaw. "What happened?"

"Pantherclaw, Reefpaw, and Auburncloud met, like, six LeopardClan warriors in our territory." Her green eyes were rimmed with sadness. "Auburncloud was attacked by three of them while Reefpaw was fighting one cat and Pantherclaw two. Apparently, Reefpaw wasn't strong enough to get rid of the cat who was attacking her, so she couldn't help Auburncloud."

I spat. "And that is her fault?"

"Apparently." Crystalpaw rolled her eyes. "Pantherclaw is so cruel."

I turned my attention back to Pantherclaw and Reefpaw.

"You'll be spending the next five days caring for Woodwhisker, and –"

"Woodwhisker?" repeated Reefpaw, wrinkling her nose in disgust.

"Yes, Woodwhisker," snarled Pantherclaw.

I suddenly noticed a large ginger tom padding over to them. He looked almost like Firestar. The tom stepped between them and mewed,

"Pantherclaw, I do not believe this is Reefpaw's fault."

The dark-pelted tom glared. "Ha! You're just sticking up for her because she's your apprentice, Foxheart! Are you embarrassed about how your apprentice dealt with an intruder?"

Foxheart didn't look at all crushed. "I have no reason to be mortified about Reefpaw. Maybe you are embarrassed, Pantherclaw, because she is your daughter."

The black tom hesitated and sent Foxheart a scathing look before padding away. Reefpaw's mentor bent to touch noses with his young apprentice.

"Reefpaw, you are a fine apprentice," he murmured. "Do not listen to Pantherclaw."

The blue-gray she-cat nodded nervously and gave her chest fur a quick lick. "Am I really useless?"

Foxheart looked stunned. "Of course not," he replied.

"But I can't even drive off the oldest warrior. I can't make any intruder run away."

"Everyone has their advantages," meowed Foxheart. "You are a wonderful hunter, Reefpaw, because you step lightly because of your size. You brought in the most fresh-kill, didn't you?"

Reefpaw looked away, embarrassed. "I suppose so," she murmured.

Foxheart nodded and padded away, leaving Reefpaw looking slightly happier. I watched Crystalpaw hurry over to her and flick her friend's flank with her tail. I was glad that Reefpaw had someone as cheerful as Crystalpaw for support.

"So, Dovepaw, why are you the one who brought us all together?" I asked curiously.

Dovepaw looked at me with green eyes. "I am…StarClan's link," she replied. "I know what each cat in StarClan is thinking, even more than a medicine cat."

"I've never heard of something like that before." Squirreltail eyed her suspiciously.

"Someone always has to be StarClan's link, and sometimes it is not a leader or a medicine cat." She blinked and paused. "Firestar was an example. He was receiving prophecies as a kit. Perhaps I am ThunderClan's future leader."

That would be strange, I thought.

Elmheart nervously licked a gray paw. "So how will we defeat Flamestorm?"

Dovepaw purred. "If I simply told you that, then it would be to easy," she meowed. "StarClan wants to test your skills as warriors."

"So you'll help us, but you won't tell us what to do," mewed Squirreltail, looking frustrated.

Dovepaw nodded. I pricked up my ears when I heard the sounds of approaching pawsteps. I recognized the smell before the cat appeared – it was Hollytail, her white fur streaked with blood. She was so terrified that she didn't even notice Elmheart trespassing on ThunderClan territory.

"WindClan is attacking the camp!" she gasped. "We need help!"

Squirreltail nodded. "We're coming." Hollytail flicked her tail and dashed back to camp, her fur fluffed out with fear. "Elmheart," added Squirreltail, "you'd better go back."

The gray warrior nodded in understanding and swam across the river with ease. "I'll be back to help," he promised.

I was so glad that Elmheart was easy to get along with. If he was as rude as Graytail, then things would be much different.

"I'll help defend ThunderClan to," whispered Dovepaw, stepping forward.

"No!" I hissed, beginning to travel to the camp. "You were just made an apprentice. Glacierstar hasn't even given you your first fighting lesson yet! You'll be of no use to us."

Dovepaw closed her eyes. "I am not useless."

Before my eyes, Dovepaw's white fur melted into a silvery gray, and her green eyes became icy blue. She grew until she was almost my height. Dovepaw now looked like my shadow. My blood turned to ice as I realized who she had transformed into.

"Mistycloud…" I whispered, nudging my sister's soft pelt.

"I'm still Dovepaw, Ebonyclaw," she meowed softly, but her voice was that of my familiar sister's. "I'm just borrowing her body for fighting."

"Look." Squirreltail stepped between us. "This is all very nice and all, but can we please concentrate on saving our camp from WindClan?"

I nodded, and raced side by side with my sister, Mistycloud. I didn't understand how Dovepaw could have borrowed her body, as she said, but I didn't care. The three of us burst through the camp entrance, panting and breathing hard, to find the camp filled with snarling, tusseling cats.

Squirreltail ran into the battle as soon as she arrived with us. She launched her powerful body onto a larger gray tom, throwing him off Powderstripe. The ginger she-cat gave his tail a nip, and he ran into the bushes, yowling. Squirreltail too vanished into the thick tide of fighting cats.

I raced to help, Mistycloud by my side. I grabbed onto the scruff of a cat who had tried to slash me. He hissed and leapt onto my back, trying to throw me off balance, but I was faster. I ducked from beneath him and gave a swift swipe to his foreleg, knocking him down. I bit down on the tip of his ear and he screeched in pain and raced away.

I looked around the clearing for Crowstar and realized that without our leader and deputy, what were we? We might not even last. I gave another WindClan warrior a bloody gash on its side and the cat retreated. I finally spotted Crowstar battling Spiderpelt close to the nursery. The black tom was badly hurt – a long slash ran down his leg and his mouth was bleeding, probably from a scratched tongue. As I rushed forward to help, Crowstar gave Spiderpelt a finishing blow to the head and tossed his body aside.

I leapt at the gray tom. He yowled in surprise as I barreled into him, knocking him over to the forest floor. The two of us tusseled fiercely. I felt his claws rake my stomach and I pushed him away, biting his paw. Crowstar snarled and ducked away from my mouth. I gasped as I felt his jaws meet my throat.

With a gurgled cry, I shoved him away, feeling tufts of my fur go with it. I rushed onto Crowstar's side and slashed with all my power. The dark gray tom yowled ferociously and scrambled to his feet, backing away. I waited tensely, watching him, wondering if this was a trick.

But Crowstar pulled his head back and screamed, "WindClan! Retreat!"

I was amazed. We had managed to defend our Clan even without Glacierstar and Dragonheart. Beaten and bloody, the remaining WindClan warriors backed up to their leader's side.

"I won't forget this," hissed Crowstar. He paused and glanced around the clearing. "Where is Glacierstar? I have to tell your Clan something she might enjoy hearing."

No cat answered him. We stared at the ground, feeling lost. Skyfoot and Barkstorm glanced at each other, wondering what to say.

"She's missing?" Crowstar sounded surprised. "Or dead?"

"She's not dead," Fangmouth insisted, stepping forward and ignoring a hiss from Branchtail. "She just…disappeared."

The dark gray tom kneaded his claws against the ground, wincing at the wounds I had given him. "Well, I think you'll want to know," he whispered, "that one of your warriors fell in love with one of WindClan's."

Shocked mews echoed throughout the clearing. I stared at the leader, stumped. Who had done this? Which cat?

"Snowfrost was working for me," continued Crowstar. "She was the mate of this cat. She wanted…" He hesitated, considering. Then, "She wanted to hurt his Clan." His eyes gleamed. "So Snowfrost lured this tom to her territory, hoping to see him again, when his apprentice followed him. Snowfrost attacked this apprentice, who, I learned, later died."

I froze.

Time stopped.

Mistycloud!

He was talking about Mistycloud…the cat who Mistycloud had been following was the one who had sentenced her to her death. I looked around the clearing for my sister, but only spotted Dovepaw by Creekpaw.

"W-which cat was this?" stammered Amberfoot.

Crowstar purred with laughter. "Glacierstar's own son," he hissed. "Nightcloud!"

Rows and rows of eyes turned to stare at the horrified black-pelted tom. We were so stunned that we didn't notice the WindClan warriors leaving the camp. When I learned that it was Nightcloud's fault that my sister was dead, I swear I saw red. I flew through the air at the tom, scratching his flank with everything I had.

Skyfoot grabbed my scruff and pulled me back. He threw me to the side and hissed, "Don't attack your own warriors!"

"Traitor!" I yowled at Nightcloud. "You killed Mistycloud!"

The rest of the Clan hadn't realized this until now. They were glaring at Nightcloud with almost the same intensity I had.

"What will we do with him?" whispered Burrowfoot.

"Drive him out!" I screeched. "Send him into exile! Flay him if he comes back!"

Squirreltail stepped forward, swishing her long ginger tail. "I say drive him out," she hissed.

"It's not your decision," snapped Creamwhisker. The younger tom leered defiantly at the she-cat. "It's Glacierstar's."

"Well, she's not here, is she?" snapped Squirreltail. "I'm the senior warrior here, and I say get rid of him."

Normally, I didn't like the hot-tempered Squirreltail that much, but right now I deeply respected her opinion. I joined in with Graytail and a few other cats, yowling for Nightcloud to be chased out of our forest.

The black and silver tom watched with empty amber eyes. I felt no pity for him at all. Leafstorm abandoned Spiderpelt's side, who was just barely breathing, and stalked over to Squirreltail with Blizzardpaw just behind her.

"Squirreltail, think about this," she whispered. "Nightcloud has always been a good warrior. He –"

"He's a traitor!" I screamed.

" – he helped our Clan in many times of trouble. Besides, if you'll remember, Graystar had done exactly the same thing with a RiverClan cat."

Squirreltail still didn't change her mind. She chased Nightcloud out of the territory herself, so angry with what he had done. The smaller black tom raced from the camp, not uttering a sound.

I think there'll be about one or two more chapters before this is finished. I want to write that Whitestorm fic soon. Also, I don't know if there'll be a sequel to this fic – there'll be an in-between thing, with what happened between TTW and this fic, but I don't know about a third one.

Anyway, please review!