A/N: Big big thanks to reviewers! The fact that there are people who keep reviewing, and that new reviewers keep coming, really gives me a reason to continue writing! Seiren no Kaze, your guess is correct; we will be seeing more of Pinepaw. While she is not part of the prophecy itself, she will play a critical part in Sunpaw's life.

Chapter Nine

"Morning," Sunpaw hissed, trying to get the she-cat's attention. It was three nights after the Gathering, and Sunpaw finally had the stroke of luck to have a chance to talk to the Tribe warrior.

"Hmm?" murmured the gray she-cat sleepily.

"Morning!" Sunpaw said again, this time more irritably. She'd had a long day, and had nearly clawed off Shadowpaw's ears earlier.

"Sunpaw?" The she-cat's accent turned her name into 'Sanpaw'. Morning's amber eyes glowed in the moonlight.

"Yes. Me. Look, I need to ask you something."

The Tribe she-cat pushed herself up. "You may ask me, but keep well in mind I am a coward."

Sunpaw couldn't see how that mattered, but she plowed on. "The vixen who's commanding your Tribe. What is she called?"

Fear flashed in Morning's eyes. "I will not speak the name. It is against the custom of the Tribe to speak of things we fear, for the speaking draws them close."

Sunpaw didn't know if that was cowardly or smart. Either way, it wasn't the answer she was looking for. "Right. Then can you tell me if she has a name like we do? 'We' being the Clan?"

"More like a Tribe member, one would say."

"Like a Tribe member's full name, or their shortened name?"

"She is called like a Tribe member's shortened name."

I suppose that gets me someplace, Sunpaw thought. "Can you give me a word that means something close to the vixen's name?" she asked Morning.

The gray she-cat looked carefully around before answering, as though she were afraid someone would hear her. "Locked," she said, her voice barely audible.

"Locked," Sunpaw repeated, her tone carrying no inflection of a question. Morning gave many short, quick nods. Restraining sighing with great difficulty, Sunpaw nodded. "Thanks, then." Just as she had turned to go back to the apprentice's den, Morning's voice stopped her.

"Wait." Sunpaw turned and padded back over to stand in front of Morning again. "I feel I should tell you this. Before I ran away, the Tribe of Endless Hunting visited me in sleep. Speaking quietly, they said to me that sun would help me find my way."

It took a few moments for Sunpaw to register her words. "You think they meant me?" Morning gave more short, quick nods. Searching for the right words, Sunpaw meowed, "To take a leaf from Icepaw, I'll say that it may be better to wait before you reach any conclusions."

As she turned away for the second time and slipped into the apprentice's den, Sunpaw thought about what Morning had told her. Locked. What in the name of StarClan did she mean?

;-;-;-;

Sunpaw padded alongside Rainpaw and Sparrowbeak, following Lightningstar and Mudspeckle. Shadowpaw walked flanking the Clan deputy, looking, as he did every heartbeat of the day, arrogant. The six of them made up the sunhigh RiverClan border patrol, and Sunpaw wanted something to happen. The air was warmer than it had been, and thicker, and the whole day had been quiet and sleepy. It was as if the forest was holding its breath, waiting for something nameless.

A soft breeze swept through, carrying scents of the surrounding area. Mouse, rabbit, and RiverClan, though the latter was to be expected this close to the border. And something else, Sunpaw thought, lifting her nose in the air. The faintest trace of something...almost rearing up on her hind legs to fully catch it, Sunpaw identified the scent with a small jolt.

"Fox scent on the breeze," she announced to the patrol. The others all stopped and raised their heads as she had done; Rainpaw and Mudspeckle nodded in agreement, but Shadowpaw turned to Sunpaw and snorted.

"No, there isn't. That's RiverClan."

The breeze grew stronger, as did the fox scent it carried. A kit could pick it up, Sunpaw growled silently. Out loud, she spat at Shadowpaw. "Fine. Keep telling yourself that. When it comes walking out of the bushes, I'm going to laugh."

"Sunpaw," warned Lightningstar. Giving Shadowpaw a scorching glare, Sunpaw stepped to her mentor's side.

"There's also Tribe scent," meowed Mudspeckle. The mottled brown tom turned to Lightningstar. "Do we stand and fight if they come, or do we go back to camp?"

Lightningstar opened his mouth to better identify the scents. "There are four cats and the fox," he said. "We are three warriors and three strong apprentices. If they intend to attack us, we will meet them." Sunpaw glanced at Rainpaw; her gray-tailed friend feared the fox more than any other cat in ThunderClan. Rainpaw's pale blue eyes held their usual worried look, but she stood with her muscles tensed and claws slightly unsheathed.

After more than a minute of waiting in silence, a nearby holly bush rustled. Like a liquid, the black fox slipped smoothly out from behind the bush and stood before the six ThunderClan cats. The sun broke through the trees, creating a pool of light around it. From either side of the holly bush stepped two cats, their eyes glinting. All four cats were built like Morning was: short-bodied and muscular, with stocky legs and wide paws.

Sunpaw suppressed a shiver.These Tribe cats were built for combat, and she wished that Jaywing had come along with the patrol. For a moment, both groups stood in silence, each staring at the other. Then the fox spoke.

"I know you, Lightningstar, leader of ThunderClan." The vixen had a voice that sounded similar to the shrieka tree made when it wasbeing ripped up from its roots. It made Sunpaw's neck fur stand on end, and she felt Rainpaw shudder next to her. "Also Mudspeckle, Sparrowbeak, Shadowpaw, Rainpaw, and half-blooded Sunpaw." Great StarClan, does she know every cat in ThunderClan?

"Leave our forest now," said Lightningstar, "and we will not attack you."

The midnight-coated vixen gave a high-pitched bark of laughter. "We will not leave, Lightningstar. The forest is ours for taking."

"Leave," said Mudspeckle, taking a step forward to emphasize his point.

The fox's eyes glittered. "This land is ours," she said, also taking a step forward. "And the Tribe will chase every Clan cat over the mountains if we must."

"You underestimate us," Sunpaw said, and the vixen's eyes locked onto her. "We will not flee. If you mean to battle us, each Clan will stand and fight."

The vixen gave a barking laugh again. "Then each Clan will be destroyed." As she said the final word, she flicked her bushy tail. The four Tribe cats who stood flanking her sprang as one at the ThunderClan cats.

Sunpaw and Rainpaw leapt to meet one of the Tribe cats as one. Sunpaw recognized the cat as the dark brown tom that had been present when the Tribe invaded the ThunderClan camp. Snarling, she raked her claws down his flank as Rainpaw darted around him, nipping his legs.The Tribe tom danced from paw to paw, trying to smack Rainpaw, but the white apprentice was built for speed, and she easily dodged his attempted blows.

The tom whipped around and slashed at Sunpaw's shoulder. His claws met with her flesh, and when he pulled back, a deep cut extended from Sunpaw's shoulder to halfway down her foreleg. Snarling, Sunpaw sank her teeth into the tom's leg, cuasing him to pull away, only to run straight into Sparrowbeak.

A noise rose above the snarling of the cats, a high-pitched noise that was halfway between a bark and a howl. Sunpaw saw the fox standing with her muzzle in the air, emitting the strange sound. Almost instantly, a stream of more Tribe cats flowed from across the borderline that separated ThunderClan and RiverClan territories.

"Seven more of them coming for us!" screeched Mudspeckle.

"Sunpaw!" called Lightningstar. She saw him crouching on the ground. "Run back to camp and bring more cats!"

"I can fight!" Sunpaw insisted.

His eyes blazed, and for the first time, Sunpaw saw anger in them. "That was not a request, Sunpaw, that was an order from your mentor and leader!"

Sunpaw was fired up from the battle, and she had half a mind to refuse. Common sense as well as instinct to obey her Clan leader won, however, and she dipped her head quickly, tore away from the fight, and pelted for camp.

She ran faster than she ever had, becoming less a cat and more a golden-red bolt shooting through the mid-newleaf forest. Her paws pounded on the ground so hard pain lanced up her legs, but she did not slow her pace. In one gigantic leap, she was down the rock steps that led into the camp. Startled, every cat who was present hissed, thinking for a moment she was an intruder.

Her flight had left her gasping for breath, and she could hardly stammer out, "St-tar Lake. T-tribe and fox. Need w-warriors." Darkcloud, who was nearest, turned to face the Clan and called out names, which Sunpaw barely heard. Her heart thudded so hard she thought it might burst out of her fur, and only when she saw Darkcloud looking at her expectantly did she realize he was waiting for her to lead the way.She turned and ran back along the path she had taken, leading the Clan to the battle.

The fight was still going strong, and Sunpaw knew she had gotten the patrol to them just in time. Without pause, she charged into the fox's flank. The force of her body knocked the vixen flat, and she sank her teeth into the deep black fur. Before ten heartbeats had passed, a Tribe cat sank her teeth into Sunpaw's scruff and hauled her off their leader. The cat who had removed Sunpaw from the vixen ran her claws over the apprentice's face. Yowling, Sunpaw recoiled, and her attacker rammed her head into Sunpaw's ribs.

Sunpaw lay on the ground, all breath gone from her body and unable to draw more. When she managed to suck in air, a strong fish scent washed over her scent glands. RiverClan?

A RiverClan patrol rushed in to help, sending droplets of water spinning from their pelts. The Tribe, startled by the sudden arrival, tore away from the two Clans. As they fled through the trees, away from Clan territory, the vixen lingered. Her cold stare swept past every cat and landed on Lightningstar.

"Remember my purpose, Lightningstar. If the Clans do not surrender, the Tribe will destroy you, one by one." Deliberately, she turned and vanished into the bushes.

Once she had gone, Lightningstar, his flanks heaving, turned to face Waterstar. Dipping his head, he meowed, "ThunderClan thanks you, Waterstar."

The silver tabby returned the gesture of acknowledgment from one Clan leader to another. "We have been allies in past moons, Lightningstar, and your Clan has helped mine. I see it as only fair to return what you have done for me."

Lightningstar nodded, and he looked at each RiverClan cat. The only one Sunpaw recognized was Pinepaw; she raised her tail in greeting to the mottled she-cat. Pinepaw returned the greeting, but hurried after Waterstar when she turned to swim back across the lake.

After the last RiverClan cat had slipped into the water, Lightningstar beckoned with his tail.

"We must go back to camp and tell the rest of Clan the Tribe is back."

"But Lightningstar, what are we going to do?" asked Mudspeckle. "If we could convince the other Clans to join together, maybe we could fight against them. The Tribe has already proven that they're...well, incredible in battle. While all four Clans banded together would give the forest strength in numbers, skill in combat almost always wins over numbers."

Lightningstar shook his head. "I don't know, Mudspeckle. Perhaps StarClan will give Treeshadow a sign at the quarter-moon."

The Clan deputy nodded. "StarClan will. They wouldn't abandon us if we were in trouble."

Sunpaw hoped he was right.

;-;-;-;

"The most we can do right now is speed up the training of the apprentices and keep careful watch," Lightningstar told the Clan from the Hightree. "Treeshadow, have StarClan given you a sign at all?"

"Nothing, Lightningstar. I have had no dreams."

The black-and-white tom nodded. "For now, we can only wait. This Clan meeting is over." He jumped down from the Hightree and went to talk with Treeshadow and Mudspeckle. The rest of the Clan broke off into small groups, murmuring about what was to come. Sunpaw, who had been told to stay with Treeshadow for the remainder of the day, turned to Morning.

"Did the vixen say anything about gathering more cats outside of the Tribe?"

"You mean like recruiting cats to fight with her? No. She said nothing of the sort when I still lived with the Tribe."

Sunpaw nodded. It bothered the gray she-cat to just mention the Tribe or the fox, and nothing would really be gained by asking her questions about the Tribe anyway. Slowly, she extended herinjured foreleg and began washing the blood off her fur.

;-;-;-;

Sunpaw stood in the forest. It was moonhigh, and the trees cast shadows all over the ground. Slowly, each shadow grew and twisted, gaining shape and depth. As she watched, Sunpaw saw each shadow become a fox with a pelt black as night. Her heart pounding, she was unable to move as the dozens of foxes circled her, barking and snapping their jaws. Suddenly, all the foxes but one vanished, and from behind the one that remained came Shadowpaw.

Was it Shadowpaw? This tom was older than the black apprentice, and almost as large as the fox it stood beside. But as the tom raised his head, Sunpaw saw the dark orange eyes and knew it to be him. The two black figures, fox and cat, stood watching Sunpaw. There was a flash of blinding light; Sunpaw closed her eyes against it. When she opened them, Shadowpaw and the fox were gone. In their place stood a different tom, his flame-colored pelt shining in the moonlight.

"Beware the shadows."

Sunpaw jerked her head up to see the first streaks of dawn showing on the horizon.

;-;-;-;

Wise men don't need advise. Fools won't take it.

-Anonymous

A/N: I know somebody said the quote I included for this chapter. I know it. I've practically been bashing my head trying to think of who, but it will not come to me. Next chapter up soon, I hope.