Thoughts of her sister ran through her head the rest of the day. Riverheart completely ignored both Spottedleaf and Canyonridge when they spoke to her. She missed two mice and a vole on her hunting patrol. At the end of the day, as the sun disappeared and night closed in on them, she couldn't even find it in herself to eat. Though Oceanbreeze- her sister's warrior name that she had learned from Brightheart- was well hidden behind the brambles of the medicine cat den, Riverheart still felt as though those piercing green eyes were boring holes into her.

When she finally lay down in the warrior's den, Canyonridge's warm form curled up against her, she felt so tired she was unable to keep her eyes open at all. In her sleep, she dreamt. She dreamt she was back in the nursery of StormClan's camp, her nose and paws kneading at her mother's belly. Beside her, Oceankit did the same. They were warm memories, times that- despite her love for ThunderClan- she missed desperately. Cats here still seemed to think of her as an outsider, although she knew from Cloudtail that these suspicions would fade over time.

She woke to the sound of yowling. At first she was groggy, confused because it was still dark outside. Who would be waking her up at this time? Then she shot straight up as she recognized the yowling as ones of pain.

"Is that Riverheart again?" The grumble came from a mass of fluffy white fur.

"No," Riverheart replied, barely concealing the laughter that was making her shake. But she was wondering too where the noise was coming from. She stepped lightly over the waking warriors, and quickened her pace as the furious yowl came again.

She peeked around the exit to the warriors den. The air out here was crisp and sharp, the scents clear. It was cold, too. Winter was coming again. Then she spotted two cats writhing on the ground in the dim light given off by the moon and stars. Because of the stone walls that rose high above their heads, there was a shadow that covered the cat beneath the other. Her eyes focused in on the one on top though, whose pelt was shimmering in a pale reddish color. Firestar!

Riverheart bounded forward, not even realizing that she had moved. It was merely instinct to protect the cat who had let her stay in the Clan. She rammed into the two cats, her eyes shining with the light and darkness of battle. Firestar jumped away, and after a few claw marks into the other cat, Riverheart had it pinned beneath her.

With a snarl, Riverheart's blue eyes met the green eyes of the cat beneath her, who had gone limp.

"Riverheart!" the cat meowed. "It's me, Oceanbreeze! Let go!"

Again, Riverheart hissed. "Why should I let you go? You're an enemy cat!" Riverheart was fully aware of Firestar watching the exchange with curious eyes, and of the other pairs that were slowly creeping out of their dens into the clearing. She felt so strange all of a sudden, as though she didn't belong in ThunderClan anymore. But she didn't feel as though she was of StormClan, either. Her sister was pinned beneath her, the sister she hadn't seen in nearly nine moons.

Then she blinked. Had she only been with ThunderClan for nine moons? It felt like forever. And Oceanbreeze being here wasn't going to ruin that for her.

Oceanbreeze's eyes were a mixture of anger and regret. "I know you remember me, Riverheart," she mewed. The scent of StormClan was strong.

Riverheart merely looked up at Firestar. "What should we do with this cat?"

Before Firestar even opened his mouth, Leafpool came up, Jayfeather (A/N subject to change) following, waving his black-blue tail behind him. Ashfur was right behind them, his blue eyes narrowed.

"I'm sorry," Leafpool meowed in her light, sweet voice. "She must have escaped."

"She was headed towards the warrior den," Firestar said, his eyes never straying from Riverheart. Riverheart felt as though she were being stripped down, every thought she had every had being read like an open book by Firestar.

Finally he came forward, his eyes looking down at Oceanbreeze and darkening. This was the fearsome but noble and fair ThunderClan leader that every cat respected. I bet Oceanbreeze wishes she were never born, Riverheart thought darkly. The small part of her that hated StormClan was beginning to resurface. They had cast her out when she was just a kit. Was her own sister going to ruin everything she had built since then?

"What were you doing?" Firestar asked, his voice steady yet somehow harsh at the same time. "You are our prisoner. You were on our territory from a Clan no cat has ever heard of"- his eyes flicked to Riverheart and back to Oceanbreeze- "and were found eating our prey. And you won't even tell us what you're doing here in the first place!"

"I was…" Oceanbreeze shook under Riverheart's paws. Riverheart decided to sheathe her claws, feeling bad. "I'm supposed to be killing a band of foxes for my Clan… But I couldn't do it, and I couldn't return to my Clan. So I just kept going and I ended up here. Happy now?" Oceanbreeze growled this last part.

Riverheart was surprised to find that she could tell Oceanbreeze was lying. Firestar, on the other hand, seemed to buy it. He nodded and then turned to the young silver she-cat.

"Riverheart, relieve Ashfur of his duty in guarding Oceanbreeze." Or maybe he hadn't believed the lie. She nodded, flicking her tail in acknowledgment. She stepped away from Oceanbreeze, allowing the brown and cream colored cat to stand up and shake herself, sending dust and specks of blood to the ground. The blood looked black in the muted light.

Riverheart nodded at Ashfur as he passed her, his tail hanging low with exhaustion. Leafpool and Jayfeather led the way, though Jayfeather dropped back to speak with Riverheart.

"You're fearful someone will discover your secret," he murmured. Riverheart glanced at him sharply. Her muscles were tight with the tension for that very reason, and she was snappier than usual.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she retorted, slinking into the darkness of the medicine cat den after Oceanbreeze and Leafpool. She was taken aback at how very much she sounded like Spottedleaf only two moons ago.

Jayfeather didn't reply, but she felt his tail run lightly along her back for her comfort.

Oceanbreeze settled back into the nest she'd been given, while Riverheart took up position at the entrance of the medicine cat den, making the center of her attention Oceanbreeze only. There was no way she would escape again.

The mottled she-cat yawned, her jaws stretched in an enormous yawn. "So, that red cat is your leader?" Oceanbreeze said finally.

"Yes," Riverheart snapped. "His name is Firestar. And you lied to him."

"No need to be so feisty, I am your sister you know."

Riverheart narrowed her eyes. How could Oceanbreeze be so calm about all this? Of course, she could still go back to StormClan, since she'd been lying. If ThunderClan learned that Riverheart hadn't exactly been telling the truth all this time, she didn't know what they would do.

But at the same time, now that the fact that Oceanbreeze had said that out loud, Riverheart found herself more willing to except the fact this cat was really related to her. That she was her sister.

"You were lying though."

"Not really," Oceanbreeze meowed, licking her paw and drawing it over her ear. "I actually can't go back to the Clan."

"And why not?" Riverheart really wanted her gone.

Oceanbreeze narrowed her eyes back. "Why is it that you want me gone so badly? We're sisters!"

Riverheart immediately hushed her, fearful someone would hear. She glanced around behind her, looking to see if any cats had not gone back to their nests. Then she turned back to Oceanbreeze, n annoyed look on her face. "That's why I want you gone. You're from StormClan. And if anyone finds out you're my sister, they'll know I'm from StormClan, and that would be very bad."

"And yet I still don't understand why it would be a bad thing if they knew you were from StormClan."

"Because you have the same scent on you that the dead cats do!" Riverheart burst out. "ThunderClan haven't figured it out yet, but I knew that scent. Oh, yeah, that reminds me. Why have StormClan been killing off our cats?"

Oceanbreeze frowned. "Rippedstar said he and our Elites have been killing off some cats."

"Um, yeah!"

The mottled she-cat sighed. "It's been a harsh year. We're desperate. Winter's upon us again. And we need more territory."

"Not ours, you don't."

"All there is besides here are mountains!"

"I don't care! It's better than killing!"

Oceanbreeze let out another sigh, closing her eyes. When she opened them again, they were warm. She looked at Riverheart. "Can't we talk about this later?" she wanted to know. "I've missed you, you know. Both me and Wrenheart were torn up when Rippedstar made you leave."

Riverheart snorted. "Why do I not believe that?"

"Oh, come on Riverheart. Surely you missed us, too."

Riverheart shrugged her silvery shoulders. "Yeah, I guess I missed you two," she admitted. "But only you two. I hate the rest of StormClan." At this, Oceanbreeze winced. "Right, the prophecy," Riverheart mewed.

"Ah, no," Oceanbreeze said quickly. "The river is actually flooding, you know. It's been killing off our prey. Cats think that Rippedstar was wrong about you."

This was still fairly casual talk, but it sent Riverheart's mind reeling. Was she not involved in the prophecy at all? She'd spent so much time afraid that she would destroy her old Clan… Would StormClan take her back? But no, she would always be a ThunderClan cat at heart… There was too much odium towards StormClan to ever go back. Was there enough hate to destroy them, though? Riverheart looked into herself. Yes, there probably was. And it had not dulled over the time with ThunderClan. Perhaps if Oceanbreeze had come at least four more seasons later…

Oceanbreeze's voice brought her back. "Hello? Riverheart?"

"Huh?"

"I said, maybe your Clan could help us?"

Riverheart suddenly felt her neck fur rising. "Not even in StarClan's name!"

"StarClan?" Oceanbreeze looked utterly confused and a little hurt.

Riverheart suppressed a purr of laughter. "It's actually kind of funny you don't know about StarClan. " From the look on Oceanbreeze's face, she obviously didn't find it too funny, but Riverheart decided to change the subject with a wave of her tail.

"Why don't you tell Firestar everything you told me, and then see what he'll do to help?" Riverheart suggested. "He's normally very fair."

Oceanbreeze looked uncomfortable with the idea. "I still don't see why you can't."

Rumbles of amusement shook Riverheart. "I'm going to destroy StormClan. Remember?" Oceanbreeze also let out a purr of amusement. "Let's talk more in the morning. You should sleep."

Oceanbreeze nodded. "You can sleep, too. I won't go anywhere."

Riverheart shook her head. "No, I can't.

"Pleeeease?" Oceanbreeze pleaded.

Finally Riverheart gave in. She knew she'd probably get in trouble, but she was still tired from the night before when she hadn't slept at all and from fighting with Oceanbreeze. "You must be pretty tired," Riverheart meowed as she curled up next to Oceanbreeze.

Purrs of amusement. "You are one tough fighter, Riverheart. I'm really proud of you."

"Hey, you put up a pretty good fight," Riverheart replied.

Then they were silent. Riverheart felt her thoughts drift back to the short four months she'd spent with StormClan, curled up next to her sister as she was now. It was funny to think of how much they'd both grown since then. But they would always have at least one difference. Oceanbreeze was a StormClan cat at heart.

And Riverheart was a ThunderClan cat at heart.

She was woken the next morning by Canyonridge who told her he'd been sent by Firestar to relieve her. "Sleeping on duty?" he'd purred with amusement, although his eyes betrayed the suspicions he had at finding her curled up next to the rogue cat.

"Morning, Canyonridge," she mewed. She pressed her flank against his briefly, her tail flicking his ears. Then she wound around him until her head was level with his. "Did you eat yet?"

"Yeah, I did." The suspicion in his eyes were gone. They both knew that their friendship was slowly leaving and being replaced by something more. "I'll see you later though."

Riverheart nodded, ignoring the muffled snorts coming from Oceanbreeze. As she left, she winced when she heard Canyonridge tell her callously to shut up.

She went to the fresh kill pile and selected a small but plump thrush. She took it in her mouth and padded over to a sunny spot with smooth grass. She nodded to Firestar and Sandstorm when she passed his cave higher up in the rock walls.

Halfway through the thrush, Spottedleaf came over. She looked upset. Not only that, but she was fat once again. Riverheart suddenly felt a rush of sympathy towards her friend. Yes, she was being disloyal to her Clan by being with Northtail, but Riverheart loved her friend in her own way, and she didn't want to let that go.

Before she could say anything though, Spottedleaf had shook her head and plopped down next to Riverheart. "I'm sorry," she said. Her words were rushed as she said, "I miss us being the best of friends. I didn't mean for Northtail to get in the way of that. Can you forgive me for all that?"

Riverheart purred and touched Spottedleaf's muzzle with her own. "Of course I can. I should have supported you this whole time. I'm so sorry. Can you forgive me?"

Spottedleaf nodded, but she still looked far from being reassured. "Well, that was a nice little bit of time in which you're not mad at me." She sighed.

"What do you mean?" Riverheart meowed. She could see where this was going, but she really didn't want to believe it. Not one bit.

Spottedleaf took a deep breath and scrunched her eyes shut as though she were a defenseless kit waiting for a blow from a much, much larger enemy. "I'm having Northtail's kits."

Yeah, it has taken me a LONG time to update hasn't it? XD Well, here it is! And I've now got a plot line down, so don't you people worry!! Heh... So R&R!! Please?