1Riversong padded out into the forest. She scented the air. "Bone Marrow!" she called into the brush, "I know you're here somewhere! Somewhere like right. Behind. ME!" She spun around. Bone Marrow was seated on a fallen log, licking her dirty white fur.

"Good call," was all the she-cat said.

"Bone Marrow, I challenge you," Riversong meowed.

Bone Marrow stretched herself languorously. She yawned widely, revealing her blackening teeth and bright pink tongue. Finally she settled back down. The tip of her tail flicked. "You do?" she asked in mock sweetness, "Oh, dear. I'm frightened. How shall I ever defend myself against you?"

Rough, ragged-pelted warriors appeared all around Riversong and Bone Marrow. They all had ripped ears and scars. Some grinned at her. Their fangs were just as jagged as Bone Marrow's. They snarled and yowled anxiously, but none moved towards the former DuskClan warrior. Bone Marrow truly had total control over the AoDs. Riversong took a deep breath.

"I meant I challenge you to an honor-match. Do you understand what I mean?"

To Riversong's surprise, Bone Marrow stretched again and nodded. "Of course I do," she meowed lazily, "You and I fight, they leave us to it, winner becomes leader and holds the other's life in their paws."

Riversong forced her rising pelt smooth. "So...are you agreed?" she asked.

"I am, but not now," Bone Marrow replied, "You see, I wish to know the end result. You know, what we're fighting for. What will you gain from besting me? What am I allowed to ask for from you? That sort of thing."

"If I am victor, you will allow Pyre, Spark, and their kits to leave the Twoleg dump. You will also be forced to leave your position as leader of the Alliance of Destroyers."

"And if I win...?"

Riversong gulped. She gave Bone Marrow the answer Pyre had told her earlier that day. "My apprentice Sunpaw and I will live there with them until our deaths," she meowed.

Bone Marrow shook her head. "I don't like that part. No, I want this 'Sunpaw' with me. He sounds promising. I will only fight under the condition that if I win, you give Sunpaw to me and live with those outcasts."

Something in Riversong's heart screamed for her to yowl no. Sunpaw was all she had to live for. If she lost him... "I...I accept," she whispered after a few minutes' pause.

Bone Marrow laid a yellowy-white paw in front of Riversong, who placed a blue-gray paw on top of it. The pact was sealed. They gazed into each other's eyes. Finally, Bone Marrow spoke. "Come with me," she ordered.

Riversong was startled by this sudden command, but she obeyed, fearing for her life if she didn't. She followed Bone Marrow out of the clearing. The rest of the AoDs followed them. Bone Marrow's scrawny frame wove neatly between rocks and bushes. Riversong realized she was being led to the Alliance of Destroyers' camp.

She saw a battered tortoiseshell queen sprawled in the center of the camp, three unbattle-marked kits scampering over her, trying to catch her flicking tail. At the sight of Bone Marrow, she hissed, "Present yourselves!" The kits immediately sat up straight, their eyes wide with fear. Bone Marrow nodded to them.

"At ease," she meowed. The kits relaxed and went back to their game.

"You command with an iron paw," Riversong remarked.

"It keeps them uniform and respectful," Bone Marrow replied, not at all offended by Riversong's comment, "A good technique I learned from my father. 'Rule with fear or not at all' he always said."

Riversong noticed that all the others shrank away from Bone Marrow as she passed. Bone Marrow acknowledged their presence with a slight nod. Riversong padded after the yellowish-white she-cat until Bone Marrow stopped. She leapt onto a rock overlooking the camp and lay down, gazing down at the warrior below her. "As you can see, I take my role as ruler very seriously," she growled, "I will not submit easily, you understand."

"I didn't say you were going to," Riversong meowed, "Although I do thi–..." She broke off, scenting the air furiously. "Bone Marrow," she hissed, warning her enemy without thinking, "I smell a badger!"

"Oh. Him?" Bone Marrow sounded bored. "You needn't worry your pelt over him. He's harmless for the most part."

Riversong got to her paws and sniffed harder. She could smell badger clearly now. She followed the stench to a bramble thicket. The gray queen poked her head inside and gasped.

"Scars?" she cried.

The badger lifted his head to gaze grumpily at her. It was Scars! The same white lines traced their patterns across his body. He snuffled and blinked up at her. "Haf!" he snorted, "I remember you, Bluey. You were there when I killed Reddy."

"I was. And I know you didn't do it on purpose."

"You are right, Bluey," Scars growled, "Something bit my bottom. It hurt. I ran. I hit Reddy into the rock. Now Reddy is dead."

Riversong sat down and nodded. "Do you know who it was, or what they looked like?" she asked patiently. Talking to Scars was like talking to a kit. You needed patience and the ability to repeat yourself a good number of times.

"I remember scent," Scars replied gruffly, "And fur. It was...brownish-white. There was green in it too, but that may be eyes." He glowered at her. "You don't believe me, do you?"

"No, Scars. I know who bit you. I know who made you kill Fox–...er, Reddy," Riversong assured him, "I know you didn't want to kill him."

"Reddy was good cat-friend to me." Scars sounded hopeful. "I know you, Bluey, were good friend of Reddy's. Perhaps...you will be my cat-friend?"

"I will," Riversong meowed gently, "Scars, I need your help."

"What is it, my new cat-friend?"

"I need to bring the one who really killed Reddy to justice. If you can come and help me tell them what happened, I promise you'll be protected forever."

Scars stood up, rubbing his silver-striped muzzle thoughtfully. "You mean...no cats would hurt me?"

"I'll try and make it that way. Will you help?"

"The other cats must think I am murderer," Scars muttered. Riversong decided he was talking to himself. "If Bluey can prove them wrong, other cats will not hurt me. Perhaps..." He looked up. "I will help," he declared. Riversong rubbed her head against his broad shoulder. She caught a whiff of that awful stench and turned, knowing what to expect.

Bone Marrow.

"Having a nice chat with our resident badger, are you?" she asked, "It's time for you to go, Riversong. Ta-ta."

Riversong would have liked to protest, but she noticed a group of Bone Marrow's favorite warriors standing behind their leader. She nodded goodbye to Scars and allowed herself to be escorted back to Pyre and Spark's home. Once there, she cornered Sunpaw.

"They have Scars," she hissed excitedly. Sunpaw's tawny eyes lit up.

"Did you talk to him?" he demanded. Riversong nodded. "What did you say?"

"I told him I knew who really killed Foxpelt and that I needed his testimony to expose Wingfoot," Riversong replied, "He agreed. All I have to do now is beat Bone Marrow."

Sunpaw stared deep into her blue eyes as if scanning her thoughts. He could see worry about something, but what he didn't know. The reddish tom shrugged. "Well, I'm tired," he mewed, "Think I'll head to bed. When do you go head-to-head with Bone Marrow?"

"Two days from now. Do you think I can do it?"

"Riversong, what kind of stupid question is that? Of course, I think you can. I know you can!" He purred and rubbed his head against her leg. "Don't worry so much. You're fighting for StarClan in a sense. Foxpelt won't leave you to fight alone. He hasn't left us alone yet! Well, night!" Sunpaw padded up to their makeshift nest.

Riversong sighed and watched him go. She felt a pang in her heart. What if she lost? What would Sunpaw think of his beloved mentor who had offered him as a prize without asking him first? But what if she won? Then Scars speaks in front of Brightstar and Wingfoot is gone! Sunpaw and I can return to DuskClan and be heroes! A shiver of warmth crept up her spine. Riversong mewed to herself. She had to win. For Foxpelt, dead. For Scars, framed. For Sunpaw, cast from his birth Clan. For the place in DuskClan's ranks she had been forced to give up. For Pyre and Spark, forced to live in this rubbish dump.

For all the cats that would ever suffer from Wingfoot's lies and treachery, Riversong would fight.