A/N: Woohoo! Finally got the next chapter done haha

Brian.H.H- Haha I love my cliffhangers xP

Wyldclaw- Thank you for the reviews! Glad you're enjoying the story so far! :)

Chapter Nine

"Cinder! Thank StarClan it's only you," Shadowheart mewed in relief.

Cinder didn't look as relieved. In fact, her blue eyes were as cold as ice. "I asked what you were doing here, Shadowheart."

She never calls me by my Clan name! Shadowheart stared at his sister in dismay. Blackflame brushed up beside him, his gaze unreadable. "So you're Cinder."

"What's it to you?" she growled, staring at him with a wary look in her eyes.

"That doesn't matter right now," Firelight snapped. "We don't have much time so just listen for once, will you?"

The rogue shot a sharp look at Shadowheart. "What is this about?"

Shadowheart took a deep breath, steadying himself. "I came here because there's something you need to know. S-Something I should have told you sooner."

Cinder narrowed her eyes. "And that is?"

"Cinder, Hawk and Lily...they're not our parents," Shadowheart tried to explain. "Our real mother was named Silversky, and our father is named Stonetail. Both of them...both of them are Clan cats. We were never rogues."

The fur along Cinder's spine bristled. Her eyes were sharp with disbelief. "What are you talking about?" she hissed. "Has living in the Clans caused your brain to reduce to nothing but thistle-down?"

Shadowheart shook his head, willing for his sister to understand. "Of course not! Cinder, I know this isn't easy for you to hear. But what Hawk has told us is wrong! He stole us from our mother when we were too young to remember! Our real mother died because of him! And our father didn't even know we were alive until yesterday."

"And why should I believe you?" Cinder challenged, her lips drawn back in a snarl. "Why should I believe any of this nonsense?"

"Because the cat who saw it all happen raised me," Blackflame answered, his gaze meeting Cinder's. "He used to follow Hawk, but left when he saw what he did to Silversky. In fact, he saved me from near death and raised me in the twolegplace."

Cinder's eyes widened. "What are you saying?"

"I'm your brother," Blackflame replied, blinking slowly. "When Mole—the cat who raised me—died, I came back to find my family. I know this is hard to-"

"Lies!" Cinder spat, turning her angry glare on Shadowheart. "You may be desperate enough to belong to the Clans, but I'm not!"

Shadowheart stared at her in shock. "What? Cinder that's not true! Can't you see that Hawk has been lying to us this entire time?"

Blackflame stepped forward, eyes sympathetic. "Cinder, please-"

"Stay away from me!" Cinder snarled, swatting at him. "Neither of you are any brothers of mine! Now get lost before I call for Hawk himself!"

Firelight's eyes flashed with anger. "Why you-"

Shadowheart quickly cut her off. He stared desperately at his sister. "Cinder, I know you don't really feel that way. Please just listen to us!"

"Never," Cinder growled coldly. "Now go. You don't belong here, and never will."

Before he could argue, she turned and charged off into the woods. Blackflame started to go after her, but Shadowheart quickly stopped him. Pain gripped his heart, and pierced it deeper than any thorn. He had hoped Cinder would understand, but he underestimated the strength of her loyalty to Hawk and the rogues. It now seemed impossible to get Cinder to see the truth. Tail drooping, Shadowheart let out a weary sigh of defeat.

Firelight was the one to break the silence. "Well, that could have went better."

"What do we do now?" Blackflame asked.

Shadowheart shook his head. "There's nothing else we can do. Cinder has chosen her path."

Frowning, his brother brushed up beside Shadowheart in comfort. "She will see. Give her time."

"We need to get moving," Firelight urged them. "We can't trust that Cinder hasn't told the rogues that we're here."

Blackflame dipped his head. "Yes, you're right. However, there is somewhere I'd like to go before we returned to camp."

Shadowheart lifted his head. "Where's that?"

"I want to go back to the twolegplace, where I grew up," Blackflame replied, starting to climb down the rocks. "I want to make sure the cats I was raised beside are safe."

Firelight bristled. "Are you crazy?" she called down after him. "That place is teeming with twolegs and monsters!"

"I know that place better than you know the forest," Blackflame glanced over his shoulder. "And if you don't want to go, that's fine. But I need to make sure they're all safe."

Shadowheart brushed up beside Firelight. "No, we'll go with you. I can't let you travel there alone, not after finally getting to meet you."

"Oh sure, and we can become kittypets while we're at it!" Firelight muttered under her breath.

Blackflame purred. "Thank you. I promise we'll be back in camp before they miss us."

Giving a disbelieving snort, Firelight climbed down after him. Shadowheart glanced back at the trees where Cinder disappeared, frowning. Why did she have to be so difficult? Just what had Hawk done to make her change so drastically? Deciding this wasn't the time to dwell on his sister, Shadowheart joined Firelight and Blackflame at the bottom of the cliff. Blackflame led them both alongside the thunderpath, his pawsteps confident. This must be like home to him, Shadowheart realized, flinching every time a monster roared past them.

The moor began to disappear behind them, and ahead of them the path opened up to brightly colored twoleg nests with fences. The ground underpaw turned to hard stone, and the thunderpath had narrowed and turned into multiple different ones. Monsters were sitting quietly against the stone path, while others cruised slowly along. Blackflame strode on without hesitation, leading them through winding paths. A twoleg nest nearby had a stretch of grass in front of it, with a twoleg holding a strange green branch that sprayed water. Shadowheart blinked at the unusual sight.

Suddenly, a flurry of barks came from the back of the nest. A large brown dog exploded from behind the twoleg and came charging at the cats with sharp fangs. Firelight let out a shriek of surprise, unsheathing her claws as she prepared to fight. Shadowheart joined beside her, his back arched in a hiss. Blackflame however seemed calm, and sat as the dog approached them. What is he doing? He's going to get killed! Shadowheart shot Blackflame a panicked look, ready to leap to his brother's defense. However, the dog came to a halt a mere tail-length away, pacing the edge of the grass angrily.

"What is it doing?" Firelight asked, still watching the dog warily.

Blackflame's eyes were glittering with amusement. "For some reason this dog doesn't leave its twoleg's garden. It just suddenly stops right here."

Now I've seen everything, Shadowheart thought. "W-Well let's get away from it then. I don't trust it to stay there for long."

Purring, Blackflame continued on. Shadowheart kept his senses alert until the dog's snarls had faded away completely in the distance. Firelight looked just as uncomfortable, her fur fluffed out and ears alert at every sound. Blackflame suddenly veered left, disappearing through a hole in a wooden fence. Shadowheart exchanged a glance with Firelight, before squeezing in after his brother. Beyond the fence, was a field surrounded by twoleg nests. Twoleg litter was scattered around the field, and a large tree sat in the middle. Blackflame looked around expectantly, his ears pricked.

"Ginger? Flower? Harley?" he called out. "Are any of your here?"

"Even the names here are weird," Firelight muttered to Shadowheart.

A pale ginger tabby peered out from under a stack of twoleg rubbish. Her green eyes widened when she saw Blackflame. "Blackflame! I hadn't expected to see you so soon."

Curling his tail up in delight, Blackflame bounced over to her. "Ginger! It's great to see you're okay."

Touching noses with her, Blackflame turned his gaze to Shadowheart and Firelight. "This is my brother, and his friend."

Shadowheart dipped his head as he approached. "It's nice to meet you. My name is Shadowheart."

"And mine is Firelight," Firelight added curtly.

Ginger twitched her ear. "I see they have the same strange names as you," she remarked to Blackflame.

Blackflame sat down, looking around. "Where are Flower and Harley?"

The older she-cat's eyes clouded. "Harley...he joined those rogues when they came recruiting cats. Flower went after him to bring him back, but it's been two days."

"What?" Blackflame jumped to his paws, eyes wide with outrage. "How could Harley just follow Hawk? After everything Mole told us about him?"

"Flower and I tried to reason with him," Ginger sighed in defeat. "But he refused to listen. He thought things could be different."

Digging his claws in the ground, Blackflame lashed his tail. "I need to go after him. Who knows what could happen to him if he stays!"

Shadowheart blinked. "Blackflame, we can't just go into rogue territory!"

"You lived there before right?" his brother turned to him. "You can lead me there. I can't let Harley stay there!"

Firelight shook her head. "It's too dangerous. Last time we were there, we barely escaped. I was almost blinded."

Blackflame bristled. "You don't understand! I was raised beside Harley and Flower. They're like my littermates!"

Closing his eyes, Shadowheart took a deep breath. It was clear his brother was determined to find the twolegplace cats. And really, was he wrong to be? These cats had been Blackflame's family before he came to the forest.

"Shadowheart?" Blackflame was staring at him with pleading silver eyes.

Opening his eyes, Shadowheart gave a slight nod. "We'll go. I'll lead you to the gorge to find your friends."