Here's the next exciting chapter of Tallstar's life... You get to find out why Tallpaw is so important to his leader.

Chapter 4

Tallpaw sat in the lonely apprentices' den. Sadly, he was the only apprentice there. Sagefur had her kits recently, one was all black and the other was a tortoiseshell like her mother. But they wouldn't join him anytime soon since they were hardly a moon old.

The young apprentice looked out of the den and stared at the warriors doing their daily jobs. He sighed and went deeper into the den to rest his head on the shady, soft, mossy floor. Breezystar was always busy with Clan affairs and hardly had any time for him. He thought he was never going to become a warrior.

He drew in a breath, but before he could let it out, he heard a soft voice sound out from behind him.

"Tallpaw?" she mewed.

Tallpaw released his breath and turned his head. It was Breezystar. He lifted himself from the ground excitedly and trotted over to the large silver she-cat. He looked up at her face hoping for her to say something exciting. When he saw her face, the expression on her told him something else. Sadness filled her eyes, Tallpaw was confused. What was going on?

"I must speak to you. I have no one else to talk to." She mewed. Tallpaw said nothing. He made a quick nod. Breezystar turned away and began to make her way out of the gorse tunnel. She twitched her tail signaling that he should follow, Tallpaw slowly did.

Once they were out of the camp, Breezystar turned towards Tallpaw.

"Come with me, I want to show you something." She meowed. As she walked, her pace began to get faster and faster until she was running at full speed. Tallpaw sprinted forward, he stretched his long legs and pushed them forward. He tried to keep up, but his leader was faster.

"Wait!" Tallpaw squealed as he began to lose sight of his leader. He was too small to see above the tall grass. Suddenly an idea came up in his head. "Rabbits hide in tall grass! To run fast and to see where they are going they have to leap!" Tallpaw recalled. With a powerful leap, he jumped over a large heap of grass but there was no sign of Breezystar.

"I'll do it again." Then he made another large leap. He thought he saw a movement ahead of him but he wasn't sure. He took another leap, and another. Pretty soon he was leaping like a rabbit.

Suddenly he caught sight of a silver tail. He kept on leaping forward, catching a glimpse of the silver tail after each leap. Finally he had caught up with the silver tail. He was only one leap away from running side by side with his leader. With a large heave, he sprang up into the air, kicking the dirt up from behind him. He landed right on top of Breezystar. The silver she-cat stumbled onto the ground, rolling a few lengths then she came to a full stop. Tallpaw was right next to her, a bit dizzy.

"You caught up." She panted. "No one has ever caught up with me before. How did you--" she tried to finish, but she took a deep breath instead.

"I couldn't see you so I began to leap like a rabbit." Tallpaw mewed. He took several large breaths. Breezystar purred with pride.

"You're a very intelligent cat, young Tallpaw." She mewed. Tallpaw gracefully dipped his head. The silver she-cat licked his ear and purred. After a few moments, Breezystar lifted her head and looked up at a tree.

"We're here. This is the place I wanted to show you." She mewed. She slowly crawled out of the tall grass and sat by a tree standing alone. There were no other trees around it, only the river and grass. "This is the Lone Pine. It stands alone, I like to come here when things get too stressful back at camp."

The black and white apprentice padded up to the Lone Pine and sniffed it. It was peaceful. All he could hear was the water in the river running down stream and a few birds chirping. He could feel the wind against his chest as it blew right past him.

"It's beautiful here." He mewed. He gazed up at the white clouds slowly moving across the sky.

"Tallpaw, I want to talk to you." She mewed. The tone of her voice seemed different, it didn't sound as happy as before. The apprentice looked over at his mentor and walked over to her.

"Yes?" he mewed.

"I'm scared Tallpaw." She mumbled shamefully. "I'm so scared." She wailed. Tallpaw was shocked to hear his strong leader say such weak words. The young apprentice didn't understand why she was so scared.

"What are you scared of?" he asked. There was a long pause.

"I never wanted to be leader, Tallpaw." She mewed, breaking the silence. She closed her eyes and sighed. "I wanted to have a mate and kits. I wanted to fight for my clan like a normal warrior."

Tallpaw curiously listened. "Then what made you leader?"

Breezystar gazed up into the blue sky. "My best friend was deputy, but he was killed by Longstar, the Riverclan leader. His last words to me and our previous leader were to let me be deputy. He said he could trust me and that I can take care of this clan and lead it well."

"You didn't have to accept your role as deputy." The young apprentice mewed.

Breezystar's blue eyes hardened. "Don't you understand? I loved him, and I wanted to fulfill his dying wish." She mewed. A sad wail followed after that.

Tallpaw paused and stared at his leader. He was confused, young and didn't understand what true love was. His strong, brave leader seemed to be helpless at the moment.

"Why are you telling me this? I'm just and apprentice." Tallpaw wondered. Why would she tell him all her fears? Why not her deputy?

"You're the only one who'd understand! You're like a problem solver…You're the one who'll--" Suddenly she stopped. Her mouth was still open but nothing came out. After a few moments, she closed her mouth and turned away.

"Look at your tail, Tallpaw." She mewed quietly. Tallpaw shifted his gaze from her to his tail. He curled his long tail then uncurled it.

"I don't see anything." He mewed.

Breezystar turned towards him, her gaze remained stern and serious. "When you were born, a cat from StarClan sent me a message. A long tail means a long life, it'll also means balance. That's what our medicine cat thinks it signifies."

"I don't understand. Why would Goldeneye think that?" He mewed.

"Tails are what balance each cat when they climb trees, run or hunt. You have the longest one out of all the clans, Tallpaw. The balance between all four clans lay in your paws. The cat who sent me the message said that there would be something that would make all the clans chaotic. If the clans are uncontrollable many will lose their lives. The StarClan cat said you're the one who'd balance the clans." She explained.

"Me? But I'm just an apprentice." He gulped. Just thinking about the four clans becoming chaotic made his heart beat faster. "How am I supposed to balance the four clans? I don't understand…I don't…" Tallpaw began to panic. "What if I fail? What if…" But before he could finish, a wail of help interrupted him.

"Help! Riverclan is attacking! Breezystar, we need you!" the cat meowed from the tall grass. Breezystar sprang forward, Tallpaw followed right behind her. Tallpaw gasped as he saw a bloody gray tabby tom lying on the ground.

"Swiftpelt?" Breezystar wailed. "What's going on?"

The young tabby tom lifted his head. "Longstar…." He gasped. "He attacked camp…kits, queens, elders….they're all in danger. Longstar brought a large patrol, most of our warriors are on hunting patrol and Sunhigh patrol…and….only a few warriors left in camp. Lionclaw sent me…I was attacked on the way here by some Riverclan cats who followed me…attacked…" his voice began to fade.

"Swiftpelt?" Breezystar mewed. The young tom's lifeless eyes remained open. He stopped breathing, he lost too much blood to live. Tallpaw gasped again. Swiftpelt was still a young warrior, he felt a pang of fear and sadness for the young warrior. Tallpaw glanced at Breezystar's clouded eyes.

"Tallpaw, I must return to camp. Find our patrols and tell them to return to camp immediately!" she ordered. Without another word she grabbed Swiftpelt's scruff and began to pull him back to camp.

"You have to leave Swiftpelt here for now, the clan needs you." Tallpaw mewed. Breezystar glared at him for a second.

"You're right. When you find one of the patrols bring a cat with you and bring back Swiftpelt's body. His body will probably be safe in the tall grass." Breezystar sighed.

Tallpaw nodded and dashed off to find the patrols. As he ran, he started to think about what Breezystar had said earlier. He must balance the clans…but what does that mean? Tallpaw felt a cold chill run down his body as he thought of that. He was only an apprentice…how could he balance all four clans?

"Balance…" he mumbled as he ran. "…balance…"

Yay! Another chapter done! Next chapter is when the battle scenes come in and all that excitement and stuff..oh..yeah, there will be a-- well I don't want to give it away. Anyways...you know who I'm obsessed with now? Brackenfur (my love), Thornclaw (my dreamy boy), Spiderleg (The cutest, silliest and funniest kitty ever! I love him!), Sootfur (He's the forgotten sibling of Willowpelt's litter. But I still love him!), Onewhisker (he's a softy and I love him), Crowfeather (he's just so cute when he rants about small things!)and last but not least TALLSTAR! My cute, brave kitty whom I will always love! I also like Rainwhisker and Ashfur...but wow, they'rereally popular in the fanfics, unlike Sootfur...why do people always forget about him? -cries- I'll always be his loyal fan! WOOT! Don't be surprise if you seea oneshot of Sootfurby me...I've noticed he's never mentioned in the fic or the series!poor littleSootfur...grrrr! I should post all this stuff on my profile...I am so hyper right now...anyways, stay tuned for the nextchapter!