Hey, everybody! Sorry for the wait. This chppie does not include our haughty little Goldkit: sorry about that! XP

I seperated this chappie into 2 parts because I felt that it was too long to be just one. Yea, thatz about it.

To all who reviewed: OMIGOSH I donot know how to thank you! Ten reviews, three chapters! Wow, you guys! I owe it all to you! XP

Enjoy! XP

pEaRLa

Silverpaw watched with huge, scared eyes as Rosepetal's body was carried through the horde of cats. She buried her nose into her mother's fur as Flamestar pressed her nose into Rosepetal's cold pelt.

It was simple: Rosepetal had gone looking for her alone when nightfall came, worrying about her apprentice's safety. She had been attacked, and by the looks of it she had been killed by the same cat that had murdered Wheatkit and taken Rabbitpaw away. Alarm had spread throughout ThunderClan: and Flamestar had sent a group of cats to go warn their neighboring Clan, WindClan.

"If only you hadn't gone alone," thought Silverpaw desperately as she stared at her still mentor. "It's my fault you're dead."

She hoped Goldkit was okay. The last thing she wanted was for her new friend to be cruelly slaughtered.

Silverpaw had ordered Goldkit to get back to her camp before she got hurt, and the creamy-colored kit had obeyed without objection; even though Silverpaw already knew that any cat who dared challenge Goldkit would find their ears clawed off.

But she wondered if her friend had gotten to camp at all.

"She's just got to be okay."

Flamestar had left her daughter and climbed onto of the rock-pile. Grief showed clearly in her eyes, but her voice was calm and steady as she struggled to find the right words. Her red-orange pelt shown clearly, making her look like a tiger in the moonlight.

"Cats of ThunderClan. It has been moons since the last attacks on our cats. At that time, young lives were taken," she paused for a moment, and Silverpaw knew her mother was lost in memories of her dead kit.

"But this time," she flicked her tail sadly to Rosepetal. "We have lost one of our most cherished warriors. Rosepetal will never be forgotten: she was a noble cat with the strength of StarClan, and I am sure she is now happy in their ranks. Joyheart, Mapletail, Silversky-you may proceed."

The three warriors lifted Rosepetal's body and gently laid her down. They began to dig a hole where she would be put to rest. Silverpaw couldn't bear it anymore.

With a sob, she wrenched herself away from the gazes of her Clanmates and dashed to the apprentice den, where she flopped down, exhausted. Her heart was weighed down with a sorrow she had never known. Her mentor was dead.

"It's not fair. Everyone I care about is being taken, one by one. It's as if the enemy knows who I don't want dead, and are determined to make them pay…" Silverpaw let out a thin wail. It was her second day as an apprentice. And her mentor-the warrior she loved and trusted-was now gone.

&&&

She stayed in her nest for what seemed about a moon until another cat came in.

"Silverpaw," said a quiet voice, and the gray apprentice lifted her head to see Nightpaw: the apprentice that had befriended her when she was still a kit. She stood at the tunnel entrance and calmly padded in, blue eyes sympathetic.

"What?" Silverpaw mumbled, unable to raise her head much longer. She let it flop back down again.

The black she-cat sighed and gave her denmate's ear a swift lick. "I'm sorry about Rosepetal. I know how much she meant to you."

"'Sorry' won't being her back."

"Hey, I taught you that line," laughed Nightpaw, touching Silverpaw's shoulder with her tail-tip. "Don't use it against me!"

Despite everything, Silverpaw let out a rusty purr.

"She's happy again!" gasped Nightpaw, faking shock. "Reality has reversed itself!"

"Oh, Nightpaw," mewed Silverpaw, shaking her head heavily, all her joy vanishing. "It's my fault Rosepetal's dead."

"No, it's not!" Nightpaw suddenly looked fierce. "Don't blame yourself, Silverpaw, or you'll end up like my father. No cat would blame you for getting lost on your first day!"

Nightpaw's father, Blackwing, had been driven mad with guilt at the death of his mate: Nightpaw's mother. He had killed himself when Nightpaw was merely a young kit; she had never known him.

"Rosepetal went looking for you: it's not your fault some mad piece of fox-dung killed her, either. Where were you, by the way?" Nightpaw's question broke through the gray apprentice's thoughts.

Silverpaw's aching heart suddenly flooded with fear. She couldn't let any cat know about her friendship with Goldkit…her Clanmates would keep her away from ShadowClan, and they would never see each other again.

Silverpaw shook her head again and turned her back on Nightpaw, not speaking for a minute that lasted a moon. The haughty black apprentice fell silent as well, though Silverpaw heard her sigh.

"You missed Snowpaw's warrior ceremony today," Nightpaw said finally, happiness for her old friend in her voice. "He's Snowstorm now."

"Nightpaw, with so many deaths, how do I even guarantee I'll become a warrior? I may never make it."

"Don't say that!" Nightpaw unsheathed her long, curved claws and sank them into the earth. "I swear, Silverpaw, I will not let any cat hurt you. I always look out for my friends."

"Goldkit would, too," thought Silverpaw, suddenly comforted. She had her Clanmates looking over her-and even a kit from another Clan.

She gave Nightpaw's ear a swift lick. "Thanks, Nightpaw."

"Hey, guess what? Crystalheart picked names for her two kits!"

"Really? What are they?"

"Shadowkit and Cloverkit. They're adorable!"

"I'd like to see them."

"Tomorrow, eh? Me and you will!"

The conversation turned to normal again as the mews of the two excited apprentices wove into the night.

However, none saw a brown-colored cat slink into the darkness, taking in every word the she-cats were saying. He now knew who the next target was.