You thought I was dead? You thought i had quit? Thought I had crawled into a hole and never come out again? Well you're wrong! I have returned, and I present to you this rediculas six-page chapter!

Goldenfeather: Wow...

Purple-Arsenic: Yeah, I really didn't want to make a super cliche story, so i tried an emotional journey instead. And you'r right, Dark River sucked, and so did Twilight and Sunset.

Qzil: Well, you never really know...

She Who Sulks In The Shadows: I know, I feel terrible from them too...

Foxstar: Me neither, she's a good character

CinderDreams: Yeah, I always wanted a character named Rain in one of my stories, and it's good, because she's the antagonist.

Starfrosts' Spirit: No problem.

Warm sunlight touched my toes and eased me out of my sleep. I lazily opened my yellow orbs and blinked softly. Brownleaf was still curled in his nest, his graying side rising and falling softly. I straitened up and stretched, pulling at my legs and shaking bits of moss from my fur. Those dreams last night, had I really been sharing it with the murderer of Frostfoot and Blackstripe?

I have heard of great leaders obtaining dreams from StarClan before they were even warriors, Firestar of ThunderClan, Cloudstar from long-gone SkyClan, and even Darkstar, the leader of ShadowClan before my father. But those were dreams from StarClan, and were sent to them, this dream was more of a crossover with another one, and I soon began to explore the idea of sharing dreams with cats other then Rain the Rogue, perhaps Darkflower or Brownleaf.

I was interrupted from my thoughts when Brownleaf let out a small grunt and pushed himself to his paws. I took a step back and watched he stretched, fluffing up his pelt. He stretched his jaws in a long yawn, revealing yellow teeth that were used to crush berries instead of bones and were unused to tearing through flesh and muscle.

"Is being a Medicine Cat so different then being a warrior?" I found myself asking suddenly. Brownleaf looked over to me irritably. And I lowered my gaze and flattened my ears to my head, "I mean… Do you think that the position of a Medicine Cat and warrior are very different?"

Brownleaf let out a grunt of a reply and turned his back, sniffing irritably like the old grump he was. With a pause I turned around and headed out of the den, casting my yellow eyes around the clearing. I found it heart and heartbreaking then, searching the ShadowClan camp for someone I knew was never going to be there again, my dark-pelted uncle and friend was gone forever. Perhaps I would never accept it fully.

"Snakeheart," I heard a voice and saw Bluestorm beckoning me with her tail, around her were several other warriors preparing for border and hunting patrols.

"I want you on a hunting patrol," she meowed, "Go along the RiverClan border, and be careful," I looked up, surprised, and Bluestorm narrowed her ice blue eyes, "I mean it, Snakeheart." I hesitated, then slowly nodded and turned, leaving the camp without even eating breakfast. I guess I wasn't feeling hungry at the moment.

As I crossed the camp I accidentally bumped into my father on his way out of the nursery. I murmured an apology and continued towards the entrance of the camp, but Smokestar flicked his tail and barred the path in front of me.

"I heard from Brownleaf that you visited the nursery," he meowed slowly. I narrowed my eyes and felt the fur along my spine prickle, "Diamondshine says that you were pretty harsh to her, about miracles and whatnot." I let my claws sink into the ground now, preparing for what he was going to say next, and "I don't want you to be near the nursery anymore."

Every bit of rage that had ever fallen into my body now erupted towards Smokestar. With a hiss I slashed out at him, catching his jaw and forcing him sideways, scoring a deep cut in his jaw. He stumbled, unprepared for the attack and shocked. After a moment he regained his sense of authority and scrambled back to his paws bristling and spitting.

"I am your leader," he hissed, "Your superior in rank and skill, don't you dare attack me."

"Leader? Superior? What happened to father?" I snarled back, "What happened to 'I'll love you so much it will be like you never even lost your mother'. What happened to 'I'll be your mentor, and we'll be closer then any other father and son'? What happened to calling me 'son' in private?"

"Don't you dare talk back to me!" spat Smokestar, "I'm your…" his voice trailed off

"You can't even say it!" I cried, feeling something in my chest tear, "you're such a weakling and a coward I'm ashamed of even calling you my father."

"A-ashamed?!" gasped Smokestar pulling back. Feeling a newfound courage swell in my chest and I took a threatening step towards him.

"Brownleaf was right; Blackstripe would have made a better then this coward who stands in front of me." I spat on the ground and whirled, stalking through the mess of cats that had surrounded us. Smokestar was in the center of the cats, looked back at me as I irritably swished my two tails and prowled out of the cats like a member of TigerClan. No one stopped me, they all knew I had the best reason to explode at the leader, and had witnessed Smokestars indirect abuse towards me ever since I was an apprentice.

After a while of stalking through the forest in the direction of the RiverClan border, I felt a familiar presence sweep around me, and the fresh scent of heather wafted through the bushes, whirling around me. I stood, closing my eyes and letting my claws sink into the ground. Heather was one of my favorite scents, introduced to me while on patrol with Blackstripe when I was a new apprentice. It was a bittersweet scent now, and I turned, knowing who was going to be in front of me when I opened my eyes.

"Rain,"

I meowed slowly and coldly, narrowing me eyes. Rain said nothing and stood quietly in the clearing, her dark eyes seemed to swallow me up and spit me out at the same time, and only the tip of her long tail twitched on the end of her small body. Like in my dream, we didn't attack each other, but instead looked for a long moment into each others' eyes. I could tell she was examining me, watching every twitch of my ears and brush of wind against my fur; she was waiting for an attack, a revenge-bred attack that was an excuse to kill another cat. But I didn't move, and, like her, examined my foe. She was a little more ruffled then when I had first seen her, and had a long scratch down her flank. It wasn't bleeding, but was raw and sticky. Other then that she had a heather flower between her claws, perhaps there by accident of there to taunt me of Blackstripes' death.

"You're a clever cat, Snakeheart," she meowed, "I'm sure you can uncover what I am doing."

"What are you doing?" I meowed slowly. Rain narrowed her dark eyes.

"Figure it out," she meowed softly, a small smirk sprouting on her face, "Or else I'll keep taking from you. Everything you love, and everything you desire."

"You killed two warriors of ShadowClan in one day, and told me to carry a message on to my leader about cats known as Nettleheart and Patchtail, and how they would be avenged. Who are Nettleheart and Patchtail?"

Rain didn't answer at once, and instead raised her head slightly, tensing the sleek muscles along her side, and turned to walk away. I felt anger pulse through me, who did this cat think she was? A goddess sent by StarClan? At that moment I felt the weight of rage pressing down at me, urging me to fight, to tear this pathetic, Clan-less she-cat to pieces and avenge the deaths of Frostfoot and Blackstripe. But I couldn't bring myself to even unsheathe my claws as her small body vanished through the bushes. She paused though, just before she left eyesight, and turned slightly, just like before in the dream.

"Ask Brownleaf," she meowed softly, and for a moment, I saw a pang of eternal sadness in her eyes, "He knows everything."

And with that, she was gone.

I continued making my way to the RiverClan border after that, I couldn't help it. After my meeting with Rain in my dreams and in my reality, I needed someone to talk to and to listen to me. Petalpaw was too distant for now, and she had her warrior name, probably being courted by some handsome tom in her own Clan by now and choosing whether or not to have their kits in leaf-bare or newleaf.

Finally I arrived, sniffing the air around the Thunderpath expectantly, as if Bluepaw would pop up from the other side and greet me. She didn't though, and I stood for a long time at the border, looking over it longingly. There was only a small separation between us, a scent marker, a fierce rivalry, and the loyalty to our own clans, but perhaps we could make it work. Perhaps we could actually love each other and be with our clans at the same time.

The sun was beginning to set, and I had still not seen Bluepaw nor caught any prey. Many cats would be angry at me tonight, but I wouldn't eat, even if I had gotten any prey. I swished my two tail tips dejectedly as the shadows grew long, and turned to head back into my territory when the bushes on the opposite side of the Thunderpath rattled. Bluepaw burst across the Thunderpath, staggering and fur slicked with sweat. Catching sight of me she stumbled in my direction, panting hard, and collapsed in the moist earth next to me.

"Bluepaw?" I asked, surprised, "Are you alright?" Bluepaw was shaking, her blue eyes closed and her sides heaving. She looked up at me, and I realized she was crying. Carefully, I tried to prey her off of my side and stand her up, trying to help her regain her paws, but she let out a whimper as I pulled away, leaning forward and pressing the side of her face against my dark fur.

"Please…" she whispered, closing her eyes, "Let me stay here, just a little longer…" she let out a small sob, "Please tell me it's alright," she whispered hoarsely, "Tell me that everything is going to be alright, and that everything will be okay." I was a little shocked at her request, and almost pulled away, but Bluepaw continued to press into my side.

"Please tell me that," she whispered, "Even if it is just a lie."

I sighed, then leaned over and licked her ear friendly, "It's alright," I murmured her in fur; "You'll be alright."

When Bluepaw finally clamed down enough it was nearly Moonhigh, and the scents of the night were beginning to trickle into the world. Bluepaw shook out her fur, it was messy from her sweat, but it would clean out eventually. Her eyes were swollen too, from her crying, and my side was messy from where she had cried on my flank repeatedly.

"What happened?" I asked carefully, afraid that I would reopen her newly closed wounds. Bluepaw didn't break down though, and instead padded away to the edge of the Thunderpath and sat down. She lowered her head and let out a small sigh.

"I became a warrior yesterday," she meowed slowly, and I pricked my ears, surprised, "My warrior name is Bluefrost, and my cousin became a warrior too, he's now called Broadstream." She looked up to the stars now, "Today when we had finished our silent vigil we went out hunting together, like how we did when we were apprentices. But Broadstream changed now that he has his warrior name, and kept taunting me when I missed prey. Broadstream was always my closest friend, and I told him he was hurting my feelings, but he didn't stop. He kept calling me worthless to the Clan, because I wasn't a good warrior or hunter."

"Why?" I asked, intending for the question to be more like 'why was Broadstream doing that'. Bluefrost took it a different way though.

"I'm blind in one of my eyes," she meowed slowly, lowering her head again, "It took my mother ages to convince my leader that I was strong enough to train as a warrior, and I became an apprentice when I was seven moons old. Broadstream is a full two moons younger then I, and he and I became warriors at the same time. Because of my blindness I can't judge distances as well, and I had trouble stalking and hunting prey. Fighting was different though, in battle practices I would get beaten horribly because I couldn't tell how far away they were."

"Are you let that get to your head," I murmured, finally understanding. Bluefrost nodded.

"The only thing I'm really good for is bearing kits and going on border patrols." She meowed softly, "And you can tell that the entire Clan only thinks of me as that. Our leader and my father, Shadestar, even confronted me when I was an apprentice and said that probably the most useful thing I could do for the clan was to become a full-time queen. He even said that Broadstreams' mentor, Darkwind, had said he would be my mate. I told him I wanted to patrol and fight, but Shadestar just laughed and told me to think about it a mate."

I dug my paws into the ground now, it was hard just to listen to what Bluefrost had gone through, let alone know it was really happening. I padded up along side of her, and Bluefrost opened her mouth to continued her story, but instead I swept my tail around her, and pressed into her lean frame gently.

"No more," I murmured softly, "Because if Shadestar gets you to do anything ever again I'll come rescues you," Bluefrost said nothing but closed her eyes, and I pressed my body even closer to hers, "If he does, just come here, come right to the border and wait for me here. We'll figure something out, alright? Even if we have to leave the Clans."

"Yeah…" she whispered, leaning against me, "Yeah…"

A soft breeze whispered past us, and I almost caught the haunting words of Rain on the wind.

"I'll keep taking everything you love and everything you desire…"

I pressed closer to Bluefrost and tensed, I would never let Rain get Bluefrost. Never.

Woah... major advance of the Blue x Snake there, Flower. But, no matter, I think I pretty muched shoved Petalpaw out of the picture of this one. However, despite all of her rejectedness, I will pair her up with another cat in her own Clan. Aint that wonderful?

NOw... for the poll question...

which do you perfer, forbidden romance or non-forbidden romance?

Personally, I choose non-forbidden, despite all of the Blue x Snake in this story. Oh well, I guess I'm doomed to live my life as a hipocrite -sighs-