Here we go! Chapter Four! Quick note, I might not get Chapter Five posted in time. Between three new stories, Turtle Warriors, Dragon's Sanctuary and trying to write up Rosestar's Rise, and then throw in the holidays... I haven't worked on it in a while. I will try to get Chapter Five written up in time though!

Review Replies:

Lionkit03: Thank you! That means a lot :)

Flamewishesyouamerrychristmas: I like them too :) Hmm... We shall see, won't we? I love that guess!

Thegeniusyoshi: Thanks! I'm glad you're liking it! ^_^

Without further ado, Chapter 4!

Chapter Four

Shocked, pained yowls rose from the Clan. "How did this happen?!" a pale grey queen yowled.

"That's my mother, Willowpelt." Greypaw hissed.

Ravenpaw staggered and stood there, still panting. He didn't speak, head hanging.

"Oh come now, Ravenpaw! Speak!" Longtail yowled.

"How friendly of you, Longtail!" Rosepaw yowled sarcastically. She stepped forward and meowed softly to get Ravenpaw's attention. "I've barely met Longtail and I already know he's a jerk." Rosepaw's meow drew a furious hiss from Longtail and a few amused chuckles, Ravenpaw among them. Rosepaw plunged on. "I know you don't know me, but it's okay. You don't have to be afraid. You're home."

Rosepaw's words obviously soothed Ravenpaw. He took a deep breath and breathed, "Thank you."

Rosepaw stepped back as the massive dark brown tabby darted forward. Tigerclaw was his name, if she remembered right. "Come, Ravenpaw. Tell us the rest." Tigerclaw purred.

"We met five RiverClan warriors on Sunningrocks. Swiftriver was with them." Ravenpaw meowed shakily.

"Swiftriver!" Greypaw gasped. "She's the deputy of RiverClan, Crookedstar's daughter and one of the best warriors in the entire forest! Oh, if I'd have been there, I'd have—" Greypaw was silenced by a furious hiss from the grey elder that had also sensed Ravenpaw. Rosepaw turned back to listen to Ravenpaw.

"Redtail warned them off, warning that the next RiverClan warriors would be sent off with wounds to remember. Swiftriver—Swiftriver didn't back down." Ravenpaw paused to draw in breath and to rasp his tongue over his shoulder wound, which was still bleeding. "Then, Swiftriver yowled to attack and Redtail ordered us to attack too. I couldn't really see well but I think I saw Swiftriver pin Redtail. He threw her off and then—" Suddenly, it all caught up with him. Ravenpaw's eyes rolled into his head and he collapsed on the ground.

Tigerclaw gently licked his apprentices head. "Spottedleaf!"

From the fern tunnel sprinted the dark tortoiseshell that had been sitting beside Greypaw earlier. She sprinted to Ravenpaw's side and gently nosed Tigerclaw away. Spottedleaf examined the wound and looked up. "It's okay, Tigerclaw. His wounds aren't fatal. But I need to treat it before it does turn fatal. Please, gently carry him to my den." Spottedleaf sprinted ahead while Tigerclaw gently picked Ravenpaw up and padded after her.

Rosepaw's attention was caught by a mournful yowl. Everyone stared as a sleek black and grey tabby tom staggered into the clearing. In his mouth was the still form of a small cat, his bright ginger tail glowing in the sun. Greypaw dropped into a crouch. "Redtail!"

"Darkstripe, explain." Thistlestar ordered, blue eyes misting with grief.

Darkstripe gently set Redtail down. "He died with honor, killed by Swiftriver as we defended our territory. I couldn't get to him fast enough… but I did avenge him by killing Swiftriver." Darkstripe paused. "I doubt we'll see RiverClan warriors at Sunningrocks again, at least not for a long while."

Rosepaw glanced at Greypaw. The long haired grey tom's eyes were glazed with grief and pain. She turned at Tinypaw's sigh. "Not how I expected my first day."

Finally, all the cats stepped forward to lick Redtail's fur and mew hushed words to him. Tinypaw turned to Greypaw. "What are they doing?"

"We're sharing tongue with him, one last night. His spirit has joined StarClan, and this is our way of sending him off safely." Greypaw explained, his voice hushed.

"StarClan?" Rosepaw tipped her head.

"It's the spirits of our ancestors. They formed StarClan back when all the Clan's first formed. They watch over us from the stars. You see them in Silverpelt or the stars at night. Each star is a warrior. Tonight, Redtail will be among them again. Excuse me for a moment." Greypaw stepped forward to rasp his tongue over Redtail's ear and murmur words to his dead deputy one last time. He then stepped back as Thistlestar stepped forward.

After sharing tongues with his dead friend for a while, Thistlestar lifted his great head. "Redtail was a great, brave warrior. His loyalty could never be doubted. For many moons, he's stood by my side and his judgment was what I relied on the most. He was never swayed by self-interest or pride. He would have been a great leader."

"There are a lot of extra sad cats here tonight." Greypaw sighed. "Dustpaw, that dark brown tabby tom over there, was Redtail's apprentice. They were really close. Sandpaw, that pale ginger she-cat, was Redtail's daughter. Willowpelt, my mother, and Spottedleaf were his littermates. And Thistlestar and Redtail had been best friends, and Redtail had been like a son to Thistlestar." Greypaw bowed his head. "I'll miss Redtail."

"What are they doing now?" Tinypaw asked as Sandpaw, Dustpaw, Willowpelt and Thistlestar crouched or lay beside Redtail's body.

"Spending one last night with him. Only cats that were closest to him spend it with him." He paused. "So why don't I finish showing you the camp? We can go see if Ravenpaw is awake."

"He is awake." Meowed a soft voice.

The apprentices turned. "Hi Spottedleaf." Greypaw meowed.

"Hello, Greypaw. And it's nice to meet you, Tinypaw and Rosepaw."

"Nice to meet you too!" Tinypaw meowed.

Rosepaw dipped her head. Spottedleaf repeated the gesture and then continued. "You may see Ravenpaw. Tigerclaw was with him when I left." With that, she turned and padded over to her brother's body, sinking down beside him.

"The medicine den is over this way." Greypaw meowed.

He led the way to the medicine den, the entrance being the fern tunnel. Upon entering the fern tunnel, the air instantly turned cooler. Greypaw halted and settled down a respectful distance from the tunnel and a nest. Rosepaw entered the medicine clearing next, followed by Tinypaw. Rosepaw sat next to Greypaw and Tinypaw settled down next to her. She looked around, curious. A large rock with a big crack down the center stood on one side. Peering into the shadows of the rock, Rosepaw could see a nest, some neatly piled moss and multiple herbs. A small pool was opposite of the rock, and nests dotted the clearing on all sides. In one of these nests lay Ravenpaw. The massive form of Tigerclaw crouched next to him. Tigerclaw acknowledged Greypaw, Rosepaw and Tinypaw with a dip of his head, but continued talking to Ravenpaw. "I should have been with you." Tigerclaw muttered.

"You were resting your shoulder." Ravenpaw meowed. "And you trusted Redtail enough to send me with him. He did protect me; he fought off the cat that gave me this and sent me back to camp."

"I suppose I'm over reacting." Tigerclaw admitted. "But you're like my son, just as much as my apprentice, so that doesn't help."

Ravenpaw purred. Greypaw leaned close to Rosepaw and Tinypaw and meowed quietly, "They have a really close bond. Father-son some say and Tigerclaw pretty much just confirmed that." He paused. "Oh, and if Tigerclaw seems gruff on the outside, don't take it to heart. He's really kind and caring underneath. You just have to get his trust."

Rosepaw and Tinypaw nodded.

"These are the new apprentices?" Tigerclaw suddenly stood over them.

"Yep!" Greypaw chirped.

"I'm Rosepaw and this is my brother Tinypaw." Rosepaw meowed.

"Thistlestar spoke fondly of you two. He said you would make good warriors, and from the fight with Longtail, I can see why he says that." Tigerclaw meowed. "You used cunning to your advantage, Rosepaw. You have the air of a cat with amazing strategy. Tinypaw, you have the air of a cat with amazing battle skills. You certainly surprised me and Longtail!" He smiled at them. "I will watch your progress with interest." He left the medicine den, four completely surprised apprentices staring after him.

"Whoa." Ravenpaw finally meowed. "That was unexpected."

"No kidding!" Greypaw breathed.

Tigerclaw suddenly stuck his head through the den. "I forgot one thing. I want to thank you, Rosepaw, for helping Ravenpaw out." He left.

"Okay, I get the feeling that is not normal Tigerclaw behavior." Rosepaw meowed slowly.

Greypaw and Ravenpaw shook their heads in response. Greypaw suddenly remembered why they were here and padded closer to Ravenpaw. Ravenpaw purred. "Hey, guys."

"How ya doin'?" Greypaw licked his friend's ear.

"I've been better, but this isn't the worst wound I'll ever get." Ravenpaw grunted. He looked at the new apprentices. "I've heard your names but we haven't met formally. I'm Ravenpaw."

"I'm Tinypaw." The tiny black tom meowed.

"And I'm Rosepaw, his sister." Rosepaw purred.

"Nice to meet you!" Ravenpaw purred. "Thanks for helping me relax back there, Rosepaw."

"Longtail's a jerk and everyone else was too stunned to do anything. Can't blame them, poor cats." Rosepaw sighed.

"You almost act like you know what it's like to lose a loved one." Ravenpaw narrowed his eyes.

Greypaw blinked. "Two very observant cats right here!"

"Tell me about it!" Tinypaw grumbled.

Rosepaw glared at them playfully and then turned back to Ravenpaw. "I nearly lost Tinypaw once. He's really been my only family, so it hit me hard."

"It's just been you two?" Ravenpaw asked.

"Well, not exactly." Tinypaw amended. "We're close to our half-brother, Rusty, and our half-sister, Princess."

"Not what I meant exactly, but that works."

"Oh! No, growing up, we had our mother. Our father, whom we share with Rusty and Princess, would come around sometimes. Then we had our other littermates, our brother, Socks, and our sister Ruby. But they were worse than Longtail." Rosepaw added with a growl.

"Whoa." Greypaw exclaimed. "That's bad." Ravenpaw nodded in agreement.

"Socks and Ruby formed their little group of the two of them and Rosepaw and I formed ours with just the two of us." Tinypaw sighed. "Mama hated the rivalry between us, but I think she liked them more than us."

"That's sad." Greypaw meowed.

"Honestly, I didn't care." Rosepaw sniffed. "I had Tinypaw and our father. That's all I needed." She smiled. "And now I have an even bigger family, so I'm content."

Ravenpaw smiled and yawned. Greypaw got to his feet. "We'd better go and let you rest." He meowed.

Rosepaw nodded and Greypaw left, Tinypaw padding after him. Rosepaw brought up the rear, and she glanced back to find Ravenpaw staring after her.

This chapter brought about Tigerclaw's personality change in Rosestar's Rise, as well as who the new RiverClan deputy is, since Oakheart is in ThunderClan. As I said on my profile, Swiftriver is completely made up.

QotD: I'll be asking this one quite a bit, maybe for Rosepaw or someone else. Out of the cats listed, who would you like to see Rosepaw become mates with? Thistlestar, Tigerclaw, Longtail, Runningwind, Whitestorm, Lionheart, Darkstripe, Dustpaw, Greypaw, Ravenpaw, Stonekit, or any other tom I missed other than the elders and Oakheart?

AotD: I love way to many of them in Rosestar's Rise. I can't even list them all. My Tigerclaw is a favorite though.