Weaselfur of WindClan stiffened. "ThunderClan." He hissed.
Owlwhisker padded up next to him. "Are you sure?"
"Yes. I can smell them."
"So can I." Crowfeather added, tasting the air carefully. "Only one."
Breezepaw snarled. "Then let's finish this."
The cats followed the trail until they saw her. Breezepaw didn't wait for orders. He pounced on the black she-cat, who snarled in defiance and whirled around under him, claws unsheathed. Breezepaw leapt back, surprised at the dark fury in this cat's eyes.
The rest of the patrol raced forward, and had the cat surrounded in seconds.
She looked around at them. "You want to die today, Clan cats?" She hissed. "Then try and stop me."
Crowfeather recognized the strange voice. "Lightningpaw!" he exclaimed.
She snarled at him. "That's my name." She replied, hate in her eyes.
"What are you doing on our territory?" Owlwhisker demanded.
"LEAVING!" She spat.
"That's not going to happen." Breezepaw spat.
Crowfeather nodded. "We're taking you to see Onestar."
Lightningpaw glared at him. "Do you always have to see your leader to make decisions?" She spat. "Oh, Onestar." She mocked. "Should I eat a mouse or a sparrow? Oh, Onestar, should I go outside the camp or stay in all day? Oh, Onestar, should I hope for rain or hope for the sun?"
"ThunderClan is no better!" Breezepaw snarled.
"But I AM NOT THUNDERCLAN!" Lightningpaw hissed. Dark hate and fury blazed in her amber eyes. "I AM A ROUGE!"
"Onestar." Crowfeather dipped his head in respect. The ThunderClan apprentice held her head high.
Onestar blinked. "Leave us."
Crowfeather obeyed, and Onestar was alone with Lightningpaw.
"They tell me you believe yourself to be a rouge." Onestar said calmly.
"Because I am." She shot back.
He sighed. "But we know that isn't true. You are a ThunderClan apprentice, are you not?"
She snorted. "I am a warrior by rights, but ThunderClan denied me that." Her eyes locked on his. "You would run too."
Onestar's mew took on a startled tone. "You rejected the Clan that took you in? The only one that WOULD?"
Her claws dug into the ground. "I reject them because I am not one of them. I never have been. I never will be."
Onestar looked at her for a long time. Finally, he spoke again. "I will have a patrol take you back to the ThunderClan border." His tone was decisive, and by all rights should have ended the conversation.
But Lightningpaw wasn't in the mood. "No. I will not go back to the place that rejects me. Take me to the end of your border. Fine. But I will NOT go back there. If I have to fight every cat in your Clan."
Onestar chuckled darkly, his amused purr filled with an unnamable emotion. "You would die if you took on a whole Clan."
"But I would take some with me." She replied. There was no emotion in her eyes to convey that she was lying. She would truly do what she said.
For a long time, there was silence. Then, Onestar spoke again. "Very well, rouge. We shall take you to the edge of our borders. You will leave and never return, or we will regard you as our enemy."
She nodded, blinking her gratitude. "I don't plan on coming back."
He nodded back.
Lightningpaw walked to the entrance, stopped, then turned back. "And Onestar?"
He looked at her.
"If you have to mention this…" her amber eyes locked on him. "Use my real name. It's Lightningscar."
Jadeheart stretched as the sun rose in the sky, signaling a new day. "Finally!" She moaned, shaking dew from her pelt.
Stormcloud purred, coming over to her. "Tired?"
"You could say that."
Bushface's eyes were focused on something else, something far away, as though he could see something they couldn't. "I wonder where Lightningpaw is." He said quietly.
Jadeheart's heart sunk. "How should I know?" She tried to act defensively, but her mew fell flat as she remembered again that Lightningpaw wouldn't have left if it wasn't for her.
Stormcloud pressed his nose to her cheek. "It wasn't your fault." He said soothingly.
Jadeheart looked at him for a long time, then walked into the camp. "Maybe it isn't."
Bushface and Stormcloud exchanged a long, meaningful look before following her.
"Here." Crowfeather said. "This is as far as we go."
Lightningscar nodded. "Thank you, Crowfeather."
He looked at her for a long time. "You don't have to leave." He finally whispered.
She looked into his eyes. "But I do."
As the other cats began to pad back to the camp, Crowfeather turned to Lightningscar one final time. "Before you go…" He paused. "Can you tell me… how Leafpool is doing?"
She looked at him. "She's fine." She replied, confused. "Absolutely fine."
He swallowed and nodded, then turned and followed his Clanmates.
Lightningscar shivered, then padded off.
"Right!" She whispered to herself. "Where to next?"
Bright eyes stared out at the black she-cat.
"Are you sure?" Someone asked.
"Of course!" Another hissed. "That's a Clan cat! I'd recognize that scent anywhere!"
Darkshadow sighed. "Very well. We attack on my command."
The Other liked his lips and pulled them over his teeth. "This cat will DIE." He hissed.
He turned back to where he'd seen the cat only heartbeats before. The area was empty. His eyes widened. "Where did she…?"
"Hi." A voice sounded behind him. The Other felt sharp claws dig into his back, a heavy weight crushing him to the ground. The she-cat's teeth were at his throat in a split-second.
Darkshadow whirled to face the Clan Cat, but she dug her claws deeper into The Other's back. "Not one more pawstep!" She hissed. "Or he dies!"
Darkshadow looked at The Other, who let out a small whimper. He nodded slowly.
"Good." The black she-cat nodded approvingly. "Now. Why, exactly, do you want to kill me?"
Darkshadow said nothing.
"Right." She dug her claws ever deeper into The Other's pelt, until he could no longer take it, letting out a sharp gasp.
"Because you're a Clan cat." Darkshadow replied, snarling, as though he didn't want to say it, but knew he must.
She nodded slowly. "And what's wrong with Clan cats?"
Darkshadow looked at The Other. "They think they own the forest. They are WRONG." He hissed.
She looked at him for a long time. "Agreed." She leapt carefully off The Other, who scrambled to his feet.
Darkshadow's eyes widened. "Agreed?"
She nodded. "I am no Clan cat."
"Don't lie." The Other hissed. "You have their stench all over you."
"But I've given up Clan life." She replied. "They didn't exactly accept everything about me."
The Other snarled, unable to believe her, but Darkshadow nodded slowly. "It would explain the voice." He told his friend.
The Other's eyes widened. "You can not seriously believe…"
Darkshadow didn't give him time do finish. "What's your name, rouge?"
She purred. "You're learning. My name is Lightningscar. And yours?"
"Darkshadow." He replied.
The Other glared at her until Darkshadow prodded him with a sharp paw. "I'm The Other." He spat, clearly unwilling to share even that information."
Amusement filled Lightningscar's strange voice. "Well, Other, you need to work on your battle moves."
The Other snarled, but didn't challenge her. Truthfully, he didn't dare.
Firestar, Onestar, Leopardstar, and Blackstar all waited until silence filled the area.
Onestar spoke first. "WindClan has only one thing to report. A ThunderClan apprentice on our territory."
Shocked hisses and gasps filled the area. Firestar's eyes widened.
Onestar spoke over the cats. "We only report this to let the Clan know that she is safe."
The protests ended immediately, curiosity prickling through the air.
Jadeheart swallowed, a lump in her throat.
"She told us she has gone rouge." Onestar continued. "Lightningscar is no longer a Clan cat, and if she crosses our territory again, we shall treat her as an enemy."
Many of the cats nodded and murmured in approval.
Firestar dipped his head respectively to the WindClan leader. "Thank you, Onestar. We did not know what had happened to her."
Something was bothering Jadeheart. Suddenly, she realized. "LightningSCAR?" She asked, the word escaping her quickly, before she really realized that she was speaking. Her pelt burned with embarrassment.
Firestar, however, took this as a valid question. "It is true." He told Onestar. "Lightningpaw left us. She hadn't received her warrior name."
The surrounding cats broke into confused whispers and mummers.
Onestar nodded slowly. "She gave herself the name. She insisted we use it."
Outraged mews filled the clearing.
"She's not a warrior!"
"She can't just CHOOSE a name!"
"She's breaking the warrior code!"
"THIS is what happens when ThunderClan accepts kittypets!"
Jadeheart dug her claws into the soft dirt, desperate to speak. Firestar looked directly at her, and nodded, as though he'd read her mind. "One of our new warriors, Jadeheart, was Lightningscar's sister. If you'd kindly listen to what she has to say, I believe it could help us to understand her reasoning…" He gestured for Jadeheart to speak.
Jadeheart swallowed as all four Clans silenced, listening to what she wanted to say.
She took a deep breath, and began. "Lightningpaw was… uncomfortable with Clan life. She'd always believed that people hated her for her kittypet roots." She looked around at some of those who had accused her sister of this in the past. "I'm not sure she was wrong. But then again, I'm not sure if she was right."
She swallowed, and began again. "She wanted to leave the Clan. I told Firestar of this fact."
Firestar seemed mildly surprised that she'd decided to tell the whole story, but he allowed her to continue.
"In return," Jadeheart went on. "Firestar told Lightningpaw that she was never to be a warrior."
Shocked gasps filled the clearing.
"But Lightningpaw had decided to stay. It was an unnecessary fear. She was furious with us, and left immediately." She closed her eyes. "Lightningpaw wanted nothing more than to be made a warrior. She hoped that it would help her belong with her Clan." She opened her eyes. "I believe that she chose a warrior name for herself, not because she wants to belong with ThunderClan, but with her new Clan." At this, she looked at the other cats. "The loneliest Clan of all. A Clan of rouges." She looked at the ground. "I believe Lightningpaw is gone. And in her place is this rouge. Lightningscar."
Darkshadow took Lightningscar to his camp, much to the displeasure of The Other.
As they burst through some brambles protecting it, a clearing opened up to them.
"Oh." Lightningscar whispered.
Darkshadow purred. "This is OUR version of a Clan camp. To beat an enemy, one must think like an enemy. Be like that enemy, without truly becoming them."
"I can see where that can get confusing." She said, looking at the other cats in the clearing, who were staring at her, more surprised than confused."
"Darkshadow!" A dark mew roared. "You bring a Clan cat HERE?"
Darkshadow flinched as he turned to the cat who had spoken. "She is a rouge now, sir."
Lightningscar turned to face the cat Darkshadow was speaking to. He was a large, black tom, with very faint brown and grey spots. Bright green eyes shone as they looked at her. His shoulders were broad, and the muscles under his pelt showed clearly through his fur.
He looked at her. "A rouge?" He demanded, disbelief in his voice. His strange, yet familiar voice. Lightningscar didn't speak. She couldn't. This large cat took the words from her.
"Yes, sir." Darkshadow replied.
The dark tom padded up right next to Lightningscar, his nose not a mouse-tail length away. His hot breath blew into her face as he spoke. "Well, rouge. I am Darkblood. Once a warrior of ShadowClan. And if you are truly a rouge, than you will not mind telling me your name."
Lightningscar purposely disguised her voice as she spoke, making it sound as much like a ThunderClan cat's as possible. "Lightningscar." She replied.
He snarled. "You were from ThunderClan, were you not?"
She nodded, not trusting herself to speak, not daring to reveal her strange voice.
"Then why have you come here?" He demanded.
"Why did you?" She shot back. She refused to be intimidated.
Darkblood nodded approvingly. "I left ShadowClan when I was an apprentice, giving myself a warrior name when I felt I was ready."
Lightningscar nodded. "As did I." She knew that even ShadowClan probably wouldn't choose a name like Darkblood for any of its warriors. "They did not accept me."
His watchful green eyes stared deep into hers. "Why?" He demanded.
"Kittypet roots." She replied simply. She didn't want him to hear her voice, so she kept her answers quick and simple.
He nodded again. "Of course…"
She looked at him for a long time.
"Do you wish to join us, Lightningscar?" He demanded.
She nodded once more. "I believe so."
"Why?"
She looked at him. There was no longer any doubt in her mind. His eyes were exactly like Jadeheart's. His broad shoulders belonged on Bushface. His watchful gaze, and the way he spoke, were both Stormcloud's. His pelt was hers. And his voice was the same as all four of them.
"Because I believe you are my father." She replied, her amber eyes bright. "Sir."
