Hey, so we're not dead and this fic is going to continue. The reason this is so absurdly late is that I (Stormrush) have been dealing with pretty intense personal problems, and also I just have a whole bunch of character flaws. The next chapter should be up in a much more timely manner; unlike me, Cloudysky has something resembling time management skills.

Written by Stormrush

Clarity broke in Nightpaw's eyes like sunbeams breaking from behind a wall of clouds. Nightpaw recoiled at Stormwing's words. "I... I can..." she stuttered. "I'm the greatest warrior who ever lived! I beat Blackstar! I'm going to save the Clans!"

"Nightpaw..." Beechstar began, taking a cautious step toward her.

She blinked rapidly. "Nightpaw," she repeated. "Night... star? The prophecy said..." Nightpaw shook her head, as if to dispel a haze from her mind. "The name doesn't matter. Does it?"

Mudwhisker's heart broke for Nightpaw. Somewhere deep inside her, an ember of sanity still burned. And sometimes flickers of the cat she could have been showed through. He thought back to the first time they met, and suddenly he was ashamed. Underneath the madness, there was a core of optimism and determination and the will to set the world to rights, but he hadn't cared to look. Just like every other cat.

When he risked a glance at Jazzstar, she looked a thousand moons old.

Nightpaw's agonized cry jerked his attention back to the scene in front of him. Her face bore an expression of abject despair. When Beechstar took another step toward her, she bolted, making both toms yowl in alarm. Her tail disappeared between two patches of was a heartbeat of baffled silence. Then Beechstar and Stormwing dove after her, calling her name.

Nightpaw paid their voices no heed. Faster than any apprentice should be, she leapt over logs and rolled under bushes. Every stride brought the toms closer to Nightpaw, but unlike them, she never seemed to tire. Once Stormwing pounced on her and tried to pin her down, but she eeled out from under him and was gone.

They're going to catch her, Mudwhisker reasoned to himself. They have longer legs, and even if they lose her they can track her scent. But when had logic ever applied to a situation involving Nightpaw?

When the first drop of rain splashed on Nightpaw's nose, all Mudwhisker could think was, Of course.

The two toms made a valiant effort, but Nightpaw was simply too slippery. Mudwhisker, racing alongside her, heard their pawsteps fade into silence as the rain began to trickle, and then to pour.

Then Mudwhisker noticed the direction they were heading, and a stone settled in his stomach.

The stench of ShadowClan slammed into him like a stone wall, but Nightpaw didn't seem to notice. She sailed over the border without so much as a twitch of her whiskers. Around them, the territory grew darker and rougher.

The rain-dampened scent of a ShadowClan cat hit him three heartbeats before Nightpaw was bowled over. Before Nightpaw could regain her footing, a dark ginger tom leapt on her, rolled her onto her back, and pressed his paw to her throat. Nightpaw froze in shock.

"ThunderClan invaders!" shouted the ginger tom.

Ivystar trotted up behind him, tailed by a dappled golden she-cat. She peered down at Nightpaw. "A single apprentice," she meowed. "Quite the invasion force."

"A spy, then," said the ginger tom, still glaring at Nightpaw as though she had eaten his kits.

Ivystar swatted his ear. "Let her go, Redcloud. Nightpaw is about as subtle as a rabid badger. If Beechstar were going to send a spy, he'd at least send a competent one. Besides," she added after a pause, "she needs to be able to breathe if we're going to interrogate her."

Slowly and with great reluctance, Redcloud climbed off of Nightpaw. She coughed twice and sucked in a breath before she sat up.

Ivystar sat down and curled her tail around her paws. "Sorry about him," she mewed as Redcloud bristled even further and the golden she-cat laid her tail across his back. "He's an eager one." She leaned in a little. "But more to the point, what are you doing here, kit?"

"I'm sorry!" cried Nightpaw, looking as subdued as Mudwhisker had ever seen her. "I didn't mean to!"

"Cross the ShadowClan border, you mean?" Ivystar flicked her tail dismissively. "Well, no cat's perfect." She pointedly ignored Redcloud's disbelieving hiss.

NIghtpaw puffed up a little, as if offended. "That's not true. StarClan is."

Ivystar tilted her head in the way good-natured cats often did while talking to Nightpaw. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Well, they give us all this help and stuff," mewed Nightpaw, eyes wide with sincerity. "Without them we would be lost."

Ivystar's head tilted even further. "True enough, but I'm still not sure why you're here or what StarClan has to do with it."

"Oh, really? Why?" meowed Nightpaw.

Now even Redcloud had traded his murderous look for one of confusion. If Ivystar titled her head any further, Mudwhisker feared it would fall off.

"I think we need to start this conversation over," she mewed slowly. She moved a little closer and crouched down to sniff at Nightpaw, like a medicine cat checking for illness. "Nightpaw, why are you-"

"WHAT?" yowled Nightpaw, jumping to her feet. All three ShadowClan cats sprang back in surprise. "WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO? MOLE STRAEP ME?"

Before Mudwhisker even turned to look at her, Jazzstar answered his question. "No, you did not mishear her. She said 'mole straep.'" Her tone was dry as dust. "No cat knows what it means. Believe me, I've asked."

Evidently Nightpaw believed it to be a terrible crime. Ivystar opened her mouth, but Nightpaw cut her off. "No," she hissed. Her fur had puffed out so far she might have been mistaken for a hedgehog. "I don't need another tom after me! I have enough problems right now anyway!"

There was a pause where no cat spoke. Then Nightpaw shouted, "NO!" again and dashed for the ThunderClan border.

The ShadowClan cats were too stunned to follow. After a moment, Redcloud croaked, "What in StarClan's name was that?"

"I have no idea," mewed Ivystar, almost admiringly, "but that kit is going places."

"Why would you say that?" meowed the golden she-cat, looking somewhat traumatized.

"I've never known any truly great cat who wasn't at least a little crazy." Ivystar's whiskers twitched. "And that little fuzzball is the craziest cat I've ever met."