A/N: This one… well, this one took me ages to find, actually. I had it written, I just misplaced the notebook it was in. But here it is now!

Chapter 9

Demonpaw padded after Feralclaw, doing his best to keep up. Angelpaw was a tail-length behind her own mentor, and Stormpaw was tagging along as well.

The trees began to thin as the cats walked further and further.

"We've never been out here before," Angelpaw whispered to the other two. Demonpaw touched her flank comfortingly with his nose.

"Don't be afraid."

Her tail whisked over his ear as if to say she was perfectly fine, and the small party continued to move into the open grass.

The tangy stench of the Thunderpath soon reached the apprentices' nostrils.

"Ick!" Stormpaw choked. "What is that?"

"The Thunderpath," Feralclaw growled. "We must be extra-careful."

They crept to the very edge of the shining black surface, looking in both directions. A moment later, Demonpaw felt a faint vibration under his paws.

"What—" he began, then stopped. He could feel the rumbling growing a little bit stronger, and his ears picked up a faint roaring sound.

Stormpaw had no interest in the Thunderpath at all; he bounced back into the grass and gazed around, his head snapping about sharply as he took in the surroundings.

"Can we hunt here?" he mewed. "I'm hungry."
Blizzardfoot nodded, and the apprentices spread out in the field.

By sunhigh, they had fresh-kill buried all over the grass and Demonpaw had forgotten about the rumbling sound.

"Well done," said Feralclaw, licking his shoulder fur. "The Clan will be well-fed for a few moons. But first we must finish the patrol."

They edged up to the Thunderpath again, and suddenly there came a rumbling even louder than before. Demonpaw flicked his ears, trying to figure out what it was.

"Get back," mewed Feralclaw sharply, backing away himself.

"What is it?" asked Stormpaw, craning his head to see over the others down the line.

"Get back! That's an order!"

Demonpaw obediently crouched in the grass as an enormous monster came into view, rushing toward them. His tail lashed with worry, and his neck nearly cracked when a rabbit shot past. It stopped in the middle of the Thunderpath, and Angelpaw charged after it.

"Wait, Angelpaw!" His paws scrambled for the black surface as she flew past, but Blizzardfoot grabbed his scruff.

Angelpaw turned when she heard him call, but she stopped dead as the monster bore down on her.

"Angelpaw, NO!"

Demonpaw's anguished yowl was drowned by the monster as it kept going, spewing ugly black smoke from its tail end. Demonpaw threw off Blizzardfoot and scrabbled onto the Thunderpath.

His sister was a broken and bloody mess. Her sides heaved gently, and her wide eyes found his own. "Demonpaw…"

"Please, Angelpaw," he whispered, touching his muzzle to hers. "Don't die, please, you can't…"

Her tail twitched feebly and she blinked her eyes slowly at him. "Demonpaw… I love you…"

"Don't say good-bye," he pleaded, rubbing against her and getting his whiskers wet with blood. "You don't know, you could live…"

Angelpaw sighed. "Don't make this harder," she whispered hoarsely. "We both know…"

Her eyes closed. Demonpaw sprang to his paws and buried his face in her flank, where a wound was bleeding freely and making a dark pool on the black road.

"Demonpaw," Stormpaw said softly, and Demonpaw realized the other apprentice was standing next to him. But he didn't want anyone to be with him now. He whirled and glared at Stormpaw, and the gray apprentice gasped at the sight of Angelpaw's blood on her brother's muzzle.

Demonpaw leaped wildly from the Thunderpath and ran back through the trees, ignoring his mentor's demanding voice. He ran until his paws ached, and even then he pressed on. By the time he collapsed in exhaustion, the territory was completely foreign to him.

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A/N: How emo can I get? I come back to post the most depressing chappie in my history of fanfictions… ah well. Flame me if you want to. I'll try really hard to get some more up over Thanksgiving break.

Ash