A/N: Thank you for all of the cats! They were really useful, and I already have the bad-guy picked out. Also, thank you HawkfrostLover945 and abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz for letting me know about killing those cats.

Disclaimer: Do I really have to do this every chapter? Oh well… I don't own anything in this story except my own characters. If I owned Warriors, it would be very different. :)

OoOoO

I gulped and tried to back up. I crouched down low, wishing I had listened to Sharpclaw and not come. I hid my fear-scent and kept my fur flat.

Tangle muttered to pale ginger cat with darker stripes and flicked his tail. She nodded and turned to me. One of her eyes had a long scar across it. I thought it was a little disgusting, but that was okay, seeing as she was an enemy.

The she-cat raised her hackles and bared her fangs. Uh-oh. I backed up, preparing to run at a moment's notice, but she reacted first. The ginger leaped towards me and was sprinting at top speed. I spun around and tried to escape, but wow, was she fast! She overtook me soon and tackled me to the ground.

"Ow," I grunted as we thudded on the ground, dust flying into the air.

"Get up," the ginger snarled.

"Mouseclaw, be a little nicer. This kit was one of our kind not long ago; we should treat her hospitably," Tangle ordered.

The she-cat narrowed her eyes and growled. I scrambled to my paws and licked my chest nervously. I hated being a captive; it went against my personality completely.

A massive black and dark gray tom was sent to me. He narrowed his creepy, icy gray eyes and unsheathed his impressive claws. I flattened my ears and snarled.

"Just come with me," he sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Why?" I spat, trembling slightly but still wanting to keep a tough front.

A mottled ginger tom with dark amber eyes padded up now. I glanced over his shoulder and gasped. The cats were spread out, and I was amazed by the number of cats. It was more than double the size of SkyClan!

"She-cat," the ginger tom commanded, "come with us. We outnumber you by a lot. It would be logical to just obey us."

"Let me think about that…. No!" I snapped bravely. The mottled tom pulled his lips back in the beginnings of a snarl when the larger, darker tom cut in.

"Leave her Blaze; she's not worth it."

"Shadowstalker, you don't know what you're talking about," Tangle yowled.

Shadowstalker shot a glare at me. I crouched down and arched my back. I didn't like having the gazes of so many cats on me; it felt as if they were burning my pelt off.

"Pantherpaw, I knew you would get in trouble." I pricked my ears. Was that…

"Sharpclaw!" I meowed joyfully as I whirled around.

I was filled with merriment (of a sort) when I saw almost all of SkyClan standing behind Leafstar and Sharpclaw.

Sharpclaw lashed his tail, and his fur bristled. He shot a glare at me, then his gaze softened and he flicked his tail for me to stand beside him. I scrambled to obey, actually glad to receive a command.

"Hey, Tangle, were you too afraid to come after me? You had to attack my apprentice instead?" Sharpclaw taunted.

"I'm not afraid to fight you, Sharpclaw of SkyClan," Tangle growled. "I told you this was my land, and these cats are going to help me assert myself. I will be ruler of this territory and beyond."

"Yeah right," my mentor scoffed. "You don't have the leadership abilities."

"But some of these cats do, and I am very good at giving… advice," Tangle retorted smugly.

"You would manipulate us?" the cat Blaze snapped.

"Yes," a strangely patterned brown tom growled. The word that came to mind was… marble. His eyes flashed. "I agree; we trusted you, and all you wanted to do was control us through other cats to accomplish your own twisted desires?"

"I don't think 'twisted' is the correct word," Tangle replied, not caring about the reactions of the rogues.

"Get out," a strangely-patterned black tom growled. "Get away, Tangle, before we rip you to shreds."

The ragged tabby's eyes narrowed furiously. They locked on me, and I think I saw a glint of anger and maybe even some longing in them. But then an uncomfortable gleam sparked in them—a spark of an idea.

"As you say, grand ruler," Tangle mocked. He dipped his head to all of us and bounded away, laughing manically.

"Thank you," I murmured after a few seconds.

"It's what a Clan does, Pantherpaw," Sharpclaw meowed. I was surprised to hear kindness in his words. "We look out for each other. I even had to argue with Echosong to make her let me come. My paw isn't fully healed yet, you know. You might be the reason I die tonight of infection."

My head jerked up in shock. My eyes were wide, and Sharpclaw must have noticed the look on my face, for he twitched his whiskers happily.

"I'm just joking," he explained. I was so caught up in my conversation with my mentor that I hadn't noticed what Leafstar had been saying to the rogues.

"Please come," she finished as I tuned in.

"Where and when, again?" a cat called out.

"Here, at the quarter moon after the full. It give you time to think about it. I would like it if all of you attended," my leader responded.

The rogues began muttering to each other. I glanced up at my dark ginger mentor, and saw that all of his attention was diverted on the large mass, at least until he twitched his ear at me and winked inconspicuously. I felt a purr rising in my throat, but I pushed it down. Now was not the time to be distracted by handsome toms.

What? Did I just call my mentor handsome? No way! Not me! But I did… I was very confused…. How could I have feelings for Sharpclaw?

"Stop looking at me like that!" Sharpclaw snapped. I blinked and shook myself. "We're leaving."

Indeed we were. Or, should I say, the others were. They weren't waiting for us. Wait, no… a tortoiseshell she-cat was waiting—Cherrytail, I recalled. I think Leafstar called her that. She flicked her tail at Sharpclaw, who nodded to me to follow.

I glanced over my shoulder and gazed at the rogues. I remembered my life as a loner, but it was only a couple of days ago that I joined SkyClan. I had been very nervous, but I had been pretty pressured, too. These cats had been gathering for a while, I guessed. Come to think of it, I had smelled different kinds of cats a while ago, before I even noticed the Clan.

"Pantherpaw, pay attention to the world around you!" Sharpclaw reminded me as he swiped my paws from under me. I stumbled and smacked his face with my forepaw.

Sharpclaw was a little unprepared for that, and I'm happy that my claws hadn't slid out because that would have been a bad mark. My mentor raised his head nobly and returned to his marching gait. I rolled my eyes and sighed, thinking of how toms are so weird.

"Yo, she-cat!" a tom's voice—around my age—yowled. I turned to see a mostly black tom with ice-blue eyes bounding up to me.

"My name's not 'she-cat,'" I snarled, offended by the nickname.

"Okay, whatever. Are you in this Clan thingy?" he asked, ignoring my retort.

"I don't know; who am I taking to, and why should you care?"

"Pantherpaw, let's go," Sharpclaw growled. "This rogue will find out enough on his own."

The rogue tom narrowed his eyes and whirled around. I growled and sheathed and unsheathed my claws. Those rogue toms better not hit on me in the Clan, or they would feel my claws!

"Pantherpaw, don't overreact. He's a young tom, and you're… well, you're… um…." Sharpclaw stammered, confident at first but rapidly losing it.

Was he trying to say I was pretty? "Thanks for the attempted compliment," I meowed, hoping he didn't recognize the puzzlement in my voice or on my face. He let out a breath and turned again to continue, but we were already by the fallen tree.

"That took you a while," Echosong commented, a little amused.

"Yeah, well, stuff happened," Sharpclaw muttered. I shook my head and began to pad towards the apprentice den.

"Pantherpaw!" Leafstar called. I looked to where the noise came from and saw Leafstar standing like a lone tree in the middle of a field on the Rockpile.

"Yes, Leafstar?" I yowled up to her.

"Come to my den. Just follow my scent if you can't remember," she added. I grunted and trotted to her den, recalling the route well enough.

"Leafstar? It's Pantherpaw. Did you want something from me?" I announced.

"Yes. Come in, Pantherpaw."

I ducked through, into the dark cave. Leafstar was sitting in the middle of the den on a nest of moss. She gestured with her muzzle for me to sit down. I did, and began washing my face.

"Pantherpaw, I wanted to talk to you about the rogues." She paused. If she was expecting a reaction, she didn't get one and so continued. "I'm worried about your response to having so many cats come. Most of them are about your age, I think, and I don't know how you would feel. You were quite reluctant to join with just us here, but now we are about to double the size of SkyClan. Are you comfortable with this?"

"Why should it matter if I'm comfortable if the Clan is stronger?" I drawled, slowly moving my paw away from my ear.

"Everybody in the Clan is important. Do you understand that? Even you."

My eyes flew open from their drooped position. "Even me? Even me?" I hissed. "You say that as if I'm not worthy to be here. Am I worthy to be here? I'm not worth much, am I?"

"That's not what I meant, Pantherpaw," Leafstar cut in angrily. She seemed frustrated enough by my conclusion. "I think you don't have any self-confidence or self-esteem. From what I've seen, you keep putting yourself down."

"Yeah, right, that's why I brag so much," I groaned sarcastically.

"Yes, it is," the tabby leader replied. "You want to raise yourself up to make you think differently, but you can always put yourself down again. You are starving for praise. What happened? Why are you like this? Did you experience something as a kit?"

"That's none of your concern!" I snapped. She had hit a soft spot for me. "You don't need to know my past!"

I leaped to my paws, not realizing that my fur was bristling. I whirled around and stormed out of the den.

"You are excused," Leafstar howled behind me, but I wasn't paying attention.

I sprinted out of there as fast as I could, hoping no cat would see me. I slipped on my way, near some rocks, but all I really got was a scratch on my flank where I couldn't see. I continued my way through the large camp. I didn't really know where I was going, but my paws led me to the medicine cat's den. I don't know why, but I felt that Echosong and Sharpclaw were my only friends in the Clan, even though I'd only been there for a couple days.

"Pantherpaw?" Echosong padded out. "Is Leafstar finished with you?" She sniffed me."Are you okay?"

"I was finished with her," I growled, ignoring the last sentence. The pretty she-cat understood.

"Come on in. I don't have anything for you to do."

"Make her get herbs!" Sharpclaw joked from further in.

"Be quiet, Sharpclaw," Echosong shushed. "Pantherpaw is going through some trouble."

"What's wrong?" The deputy poked his head out from behind a wall, it seemed. His ears were pricked and his eyes were alert.

"A conversation gone wrong," I explained.

"Oh. Do you want to talk about it?" he asked, concern obvious in his voice.

"No thanks," I replied. "Just sitting here is fine."

"Okay. Echosong, when do you suppose I'll be able to do warrior stuff again?"

"Around the time of the meeting," Echosong meowed, sniffing herbs.

"Before or after?" Sharpclaw laid down on his mossy nest and licked his paw.

"Before. And stop licking your paw! I don't want anything to happen to it."

"It itches!" Sharpclaw complained angrily.

"I don't care; leave it alone."

"What am I supposed to do, then?" he growled.

"Sleep," the silver tabby suggested simply. "I have a feeling you need rest."

"I'm not tired," SkyClan's deputy grumbled.

"You sound like a kit," I laughed. I had had a feeling that Sharpclaw would perk me up, and I was right.

"Did I hear happiness?" Sharpclaw teased. I flattened my ears and pretended to be hurt.

"Well, that was harsh. I can be happy."

"Sure you can," he replied.

I yawned and bent my spine to stretch. The dark ginger deputy gazed at me he entire time, no emotion showing in his eyes. I finished my luxurious, relaxing movements and stared at my paws self-consciously.

"Echosong," I meowed. "I feel kinda strange."

"What's wrong, Pantherpaw?" she asked concerned.

"I-I feel… I feel kind of… weird," I mewed in a daze.

I had a feeling my eyes were rolling to the back of my head, and I was trembling frighteningly. I staggered to the side, and the world seemed to spin around me. I wasn't able to think, and the last thing I remember before blacking out was Sharpclaw's concerned face and his yowl.

"Pantherpaw!"

OoOoO

That cliffhanger sucked, didn't it? I'm sorry for not updating in, like, a month, but there was a lot going on for me. Oh well. :D I promise to update soon (and have a non-sucky chapter like this one)! Oh, btw, I'm not taking anymore cats, so… sorry if you posted one after I finished the new allegiances and didn't see this. I can change the stuff later. Sorry. Anyways… yeah. I know what's going to happen now, and I don't have a writer's block anymore! Yay!

Yeah, I'm done now. Thank you to all of my reviewers for making me want to continue. (Especially my first flamer, FlameFlameFlame666. I was expecting one sooner.)