Hey, guys! ^.^; Here's to a new chapter of UU! :3

Sooooo, here's the deal. I need to know: which scenario would you prefer?

Scenario One: Petalpaw talks to Thorn; all is good.

Scenario Two: Petalpaw talks to Thorn; he decides to torture her, but only enough so that the marks are not visible to anyone else - and if she tells anyone, he'll kill her.

Scenario One will probably move the story along faster, I will admit, but... Scenario Two just seems so tempting! ^.^;

Any ideas for me here, guys? :3

In any case, enjoy! ^.^;

Chapter 3

I gasped quietly, stepping past Darkflower and Rabbitstep further into the hole, despite their obvious protests against the action. The guards at the entrance to the prison tensed, obviously wondering why I was so crazy as to go towards Thorn, when I had specific orders from my leader and many other cats not to.

I paused, undecided, just outside the entrance to the prison, and Thorn chuckled.

"Relax," he murmured, so that only I could hear. "I wouldn't dare try anything here."

I believed him. I knew him well enough to know that even he wouldn't try rising up against a Clan full of good fighters, especially since he wasn't really that proficient of a fighter himself. Besides that, he could just be here to collect information, in which case he wouldn't risk anything, anyway. As long as the Clan believed that he was safe, and not a threat, they would continue talking normally, and Thorn with his sharp ears would undoubtedly pick it up.

"I believe you," I replied back curtly. "But now is not the time for things like that. If you can promise you won't hurt me, I'll get the guards to lock you and I in this cell and we can talk."

Thorn chuckled drily. "And what would be the use of that? I have absolutely no reason to injure you. It wouldn't be… all that convenient to my plans."

"And just what are your plans, anyway?" I demanded.

Thorn didn't answer. He simply looked past me, up into the light that marked the entrance of the camp. It was clear what he was waiting for. Since I didn't see any way past it….

"All right." I sighed. "Close the door." I motioned at the guards to do so, and the moment I did, Rabbitstep and Darkflower both rushed forward.

Rabbitstep, in front, meowed urgently, "Petalpaw, you can't do it! He'll kill you!"

I simply stared at him levelly and said, "No, he said he wouldn't. And I believe him."

"Petalpaw, you can't trust him!" Darkflower protested.

"He's a cat of his word," I meowed calmly, although all this thought and the protests of my guards were personally wreaking havoc on my emotions. Now, although I had earlier thought this was a good idea, I wasn't too sure….

But then my resolve hardened. I stared at Darkflower with a gaze like steel as I meowed, "If I say that we can trust him, then we can trust him. I know I can, at least. Besides, what would he have to gain from hurting me?"

She suddenly gasped. "You mean he's—"

That was about as far as she got, however, before I reached up and silenced her with a paw. "Shh!" I hissed, glancing furtively backward at Thorn.

Darkflower recovered herself rather quickly, collecting herself and murmuring to me, "So, do you mean that he's spying on us?" in a rather nervous little voice.

"Yes, seems that way," I whispered back to her. "But I don't want the camp to know! I'm not sure myself, and I need to go and ask him to confirm my suspicions."

"But why should we let him continue?" she asked me. I paused, brought up short. That was actually a very good question—why should we continue letting him spy on us?

"I don't know!" I whispered, flattening my ears. "But I think we should give him the benefit of the doubt—because, after all, I'm not sure, and…."

Darkflower straightened up suddenly. "Fine," she meowed abruptly. "Go! This information could be crucial to the survival of the Clan."

I wondered why she had changed directions so abruptly, but it was at least in my favour and at this point I didn't really care; I mean, hey, at least she was actually giving me what I wanted! I simply flicked my tail at her, and motioned to the guards with a jerk of my head to close the den up as I padded into the murky darkness.