But I wasn't evil. I had a perfectly good reason for staying in contact with Rockpelt.

Well, of course I know that now. But I let my suspicions cloud my judgement...

Stormclaw bounded through the trees, feeling like he was flying. It felt so good to stretch his legs...he hadn't had a good run in ages. NightClan cats, after all, weren't built for speed. Still, Stormclaw couldn't help loving the feeling of the wind in his fur. Perhaps it came from his father. Silversky hadn't been born in NightClan, after all.

He pulled up at the border between NightClan territory and the rogue cats' land, purring like a kit as he glanced behind him. A light gray tabby tom shot him a faint little smirk, green eyes twinkling. "I almost couldn't keep up with you that time."

Stormclaw ducked his head, a little embarrassed at the warrior's comment. "I guess that means I'm getting faster, huh?"

" The warrior nodded proudly. "You are. StarClan's kits...I need to catch my breath."

Stormclaw very nearly shot back a snarky, teasing retort, but before he could, he heard another voice.

"Stormclaw?" His littermate, Wishcloud, stepped into the little clearing, passing right next to the other cat without seeming to notice his presence. She looked around, wrinkling her nose in confused curiosity. "Who are you talking to?"

Stormclaw flicked his tail nervously. "No one...I was just…"

Wishcloud rolled her eyes with a faint purr. "Bragging to yourself about your speed?"

"Sure…" Stormclaw ducked his head, embarrassed. While it was better to let Wishcloud, along with the rest of the Clan, believe that he talked to himself rather than reveal that he still had a friendly relationship with a Dark Forest warrior, that didn't mean it wasn't humiliating sometimes.

She twitched her whiskers in amusement. "Well then. I'll leave you to it. Don't let your head get too big." With a final, giggling purr, she disappeared back into the bushes she'd come out of.

Stormclaw waited until he couldn't hear her running pawsteps anymore before turning back to his friend's starless, ghostly form. "Thank StarClan she believed me...that one got close, Rockpelt."

Rockpelt nodded gravely, frowning a bit. "Too close. Stormclaw...you're a full-grown warrior now, not a kit anymore. Maybe...maybe it's time I go back...and stay there."

Stormclaw's eyes widened. "No! It's going fine the way things are now! Most of the time, no one comes out this way...it's safe to talk here, and anywhere if I'm alone." As much as Duskheart taunted him about supporting the Dark Forest, Stormclaw had grown close with some of the cats there during his kithood, before he learned just how dangerous the forest could really be. And with his father being missing for most of his kithood, Stormclaw had ended up forming a close bond with Rockpelt. The older warrior had been Silversky's littermate, and seemed to care about Stormclaw's well-being. He had been more of a father for most of Stormclaw's life than Silversky had ever been.

Of course, Silversky couldn't have been blamed for that. It hadn't been his fault that a stranger had pushed him into the gorge just at the edge of NightClan territory, sending him far downstream. It hadn't been his fault when the Twolegs found him, healed him, kept him prisoner for moons...and it hadn't been his fault he'd almost gotten lost in the large town and the thick forests beyond. But he'd been gone up until Stormclaw's third moon as an apprentice, and by then...by then, Stormclaw had found a father figure on his own.

Rockpelt hesitated a while, tail flicking as he thought. "Stormclaw...Cats are suspicious enough of you. They don't need more reasons to think you're disloyal to NightClan."

"Oh, please...the only cat who still thinks I'm disloyal is Duskheart, and he's always picking fights anyway." Stormclaw pointed out with a little shrug. "We've been meeting like this for moons...and this is the one time anyone's actually come close to figuring out that I still meet you."

Rockpelt frowned, clearly still not on board with this whole idea. "Fine. But this can't go on forever, little thundercloud. Someone will eventually catch you...and the way things have been going in StarClan, I wouldn't be surprised if NightClan was on edge enough to exile you just for talking to me."

Stormclaw tensed a little at the idea, but he tried not to show Rockpelt that he was worried. If he did, Rockpelt might keep insisting on cutting off communication. And no matter the danger, Stormclaw couldn't stand the idea of losing his father figure…

When he finally returned to camp, Stormclaw could feel the suspicious gazes of some of the other warriors following him. After all, he'd left camp hours ago, and hadn't come back with any prey. Even without Duskheart's influence, that had to be unusual behavior.

"Done racing yourself?" Wishcloud teased, smirking slightly. Stormclaw swished his tail.

"I wasn't...I was chasing a squirrel, Wishcloud."

She squinted at him, as if she didn't quite believe what he was saying. "Right. And that's why you were talking to yourself in the woods."

"Maybe he wasn't talking to himself." Duskheart rose from where he'd been sitting at the base of the Tallrock. "Maybe he was talking to someone else. Plotting against us, perhaps?" His amber eyes flashed with a menace Stormclaw had never seen before in his half-brother.

"There was no one else there." Wishcloud hurriedly reassured him, ears flattening in fear. Stormclaw's littermate had always been shy, and he could understand Duskheart frightening her. Sometimes Duskheart frightened him, and he was a trained warrior of NightClan and the Dark Forest!

"No one detectable." Duskheart lashed his tail, obviously unwilling to let this go. "But that doesn't mean there weren't star-cursed warriors there."

"Duskheart!" NightClan's deputy, Toothfang, hissed from the prey pile. "That's quite enough. Stormclaw is a loyal warrior. He doesn't deserve your suspicion."

Duskheart settled down, muttering just loud enough for Stormclaw to hear. "That's what he thinks."

Stormclaw sighed and tried not to let it bother him as he went to find something to eat. He knew he was loyal, even if Duskheart didn't. And obviously his Clanmates trusted him, too. He couldn't keep letting the older warrior get to him like that, he knew it. And yet somehow, despite his best efforts to ignore it, Duskheart always managed to get under his skin…

A/N: Turns out Stormclaw isn't quite the dark, evil menace Duskheart's been making him out to be…

Question of the chapter: Was Stormclaw doing the right thing, keeping in contact with Rockpelt?