A/N: Glad to see Morningcloud's ceremony was liked; I was hesitant to include it. This chap's pretty tranquil; you'll get some nice action in the next update.

Chapter Nineteen

"What is that?" Softpaw exclaimed, stepping forward, interested.

"Quiet!" hissed Sunfire. "And get back here!" she added. Softpaw bounced backwards, unaffected by the rebuke.

Sunfire flicked her ears. Glad as she was to be mentoring Softpaw, the tawny apprentice needed constant watching. Was I like this with Lightningstar? "It's a badger. Whenever you see one, don't go near it and tell a warrior where you saw it."

Softpaw frowned, peering at the black-and-white creature that lumbered through the undergrowth. "It looks too bulky and slow to put up much of a fight."

"When they're provoked, you'll think otherwise. They're not the most elegant creatures, but when they're mad, they wreck havoc."

Softpaw nodded, then sprang into the air, her claws reaching for a small, white butterfly. When it fluttered out of reach, she frowned with concentration, wriggled her rump, and leapt for it again, this time snagging a wing. Thumping back to the ground, Softpaw waved her tail happily as she stood over her catch.

Sunfire purred, mildly amused at the gleam of pride in her apprentice's eyes. Only on her fourth day of training, Softpaw had proven herself to be fearless and determined, refusing to abandon a task until it was complete. A fine warrior once she's trained. Sunfire knew such determination could also put Softpaw in danger, especially in battle; the she-cat might keep fighting no matter how outnumbered she was.

Sunfire saw a rabbit crouching under a bush a few fox-lengths behind Softpaw; resisting the natural impulse to go after it, she waited to see if Softpaw would detect it. Sniffing the air, Softpaw turned around and saw the rabbit snuffling at the ground; its scent blew over to them,so it had not noticed them.

"Can I catch it?" whispered Softpaw excitedly.

"Go ahead. Remember the proper stalk."

Flattening herself, Softpaw pulled herself towards the rabbit, stepping lightly, freezing when it turned toward her. Sunfire thought she had a chance until the wind shifted and the rabbit scented her, flashing its tail and bounding away.

In a tawny flash, Softpaw bolted after it, her paws kicking up dirt and dead leaves. Leaf-fall had begun, and some saplings had already shed a few leaves. Sighing, Sunfire stood, ready to follow Softpaw–she wasn't trained well enough to be safe on her own yet–when a sharp snap sounded behind her. Turning around, Sunfire strained to see a flash of fur; the wind blew her scent towards whatever was behind her. Shadowfur? Hawkclaw? A dark gray foreleg appeared from behind a tree, followed by a long, thin body.

"Sunfire." It was a statement, not a question, and he looked straight at her, his emerald eyes glittering.

Instinct propelled her forward, knocking the tom down, pinning him to the ground. Hissing a warning, Sunfire, was about to give the intruder a bite to think about when she took in his face.

It could have been her own, save for the fur color. Ear, eye, and muzzle shape, exact same eye color...she knew him. "Alexander," she said, trying not to stumble over the strange, almost foreign, name. Her loner father here, calling her by her name. How does he know me?

"Could you retract your claws?" he asked politely.

"In theory, yes. In reality, no. I'm a ThunderClan warrior; my duty is to defend my territory."

She didn't know why she was purposely hurting her father; he wasn't bothering to fight back and looked like he had no intention of stealing prey.

He was about to reply when Softpaw burst from the undergrowth, the rabbit dangling from her jaws. She saw Alexander and dropped the rabbit. "Is he an intruder? Are we going to bring him to Lightningstar?"

"No," Sunfire said. The desperate look in her father's eyes told her that right now, only she could hear what he had to say. "We're going to let him talk." Loners never entered Clan territory without reason; he must have something to say. Sunfiresheathed her claws and stepped off him, allowing him to rise. He licked his shoulders where her claws had drawn tiny pricks of blood. "How do you know me?" asked Sunfire. "You've never seen me."

He looked at her. "Roseleaf visited me in a dream and told me," he said, sounding unsure of his own answer. "I saw you standing on a hill, and she told me your name and that you were my daughter."

Softpaw interrupted. "But he's a loner! StarClan don't send dreams to loners."

Alexander looked at Softpaw. "Is this your kit?"

"No. My apprentice." Sunfire felt strange talking to her father; she was four seasons old and had never met him. Two instincts fought inside her: one said to protect ThunderClan territory and drive him out; another said he was her kin and should not be harmed.

"StarClan," he said suddenly. "I remember Roseleaf talking about them. They're your ancestors, right?" Sunfire nodded, and then realized her father probably had no idea Roseleaf was dead. He continued: "But if Roseleaf appeared to me in a dream, then–"

Sunfire finished it for him. "She's dead. Moons ago." She almost growled as she pictured Hawkclaw running away from her body. Meeting Alexander's gaze squarely, she murmured, "She wanted me to tell you that she loved you." Mild grief washed over Sunfire for her dead mother, then passed; she had long gotten used to the fact that Roseleaf was no longer alive.

Her father made a strange keening noise, lowering his head to the ground. Lashing his tail, he stayed like that for almost a minute before he raised his head. His eyes were dull, but he said, "I should have known, after she stopped coming. After you became an apprentice, she would see me sometimes, tell me how you were."

A soft wind blew through the forest, like a sigh of regret and loss; Sunfire thought she caught the sweet, flowery scent of her mother, but decided it was the nearby wildflowers. "Why are you here?" she asked him sharply.

He sighed. "I know the troubles the Clans are having. I know of the Tribe, and of the black fox and black tom that command it. I know they are using fear to 'encourage' cats to join their ranks. They have entered my land more than once." Softpaw started to say something; Sunfire nudged her. She wanted to hear this. "I can help the Clans," he said, meeting her gaze. "I can go to the mountains, lend the Clans eyes and ears. When I know something, I can report to your leaders."

Thunder rumbled overhead; thick, dark clouds were rolling in, heralding a storm. Sunfire considered. It would benefit the Clans to have a spy in their ranks, and naturally the Tribe would not suspect a loner to be helping Clans; in the forest, there were Clan cats and those who were not, and the two groups rarely mixed.

"Why do you want to help the Clans?" asked Sunfire. "You have no ties of loyalty to StarClan or the warrior code."

His eyes blazed, and Sunfire saw how she must look when challenged. "Regardless that I have never met you, Sunfire, you are my kin. I love Roseleaf, a Clan warrior." Sunfire noticed he didn't use past tense when mentioning Roseleaf. Rain began to fall, gray and cold. Good. It would wash away his scent.

"I'll tell Lightningstar a loner has offered to help us," she said, and nodded to her father. Seeing her dismissal, Alexander nodded in return and ran off as the rain began falling in thick sheets, his pelt disappearing through the drops. Sunfire wasn't sure about this; could one cat be a spy for so many?

As Sunfire beckoned to Softpaw, who picked up her rabbit, the faintest image of Roseleaf flickered before Sunfire. Her amber eyes glowed before she vanished in the downpour.

;-;-;-;

"He offered to help the Clans because he has one Clan kit?" Mudspeckle looked incredulous. "How can he be much help? Nero and Shadowfur aren't stupid; they'll know he's up to something."

"One cat can shift the balance of everything," countered Lightningstar.

Sunfire sat beside Mudspeckle, Darkcloud, Snowwind, and Quickriver; Lightningstar had called the deputy and senior warriors to his den after Sunfire told the Clan Alexander's offer of help. Sunfire thought it was worth a try; maybe he could convince some Tribe cats to side with the Clans.

"But will WindClan and ShadowClan accept help?" asked Snowwind. "ShadowClan are proud, and WindClan are many. Do they–"

"WindClan's closest to the mountains," cut in Sunfire. "You've been to the past few Gatherings, they're being attacked like mad. We've had a big break from the Tribe. I'd say Hickorystar would be more than ready to accept any help."

"The Clans need to band together," put in Darkcloud. "If the forest is to have eyes in the Tribe, all Clans should be informed of coming danger, not just us. If the Clans are to survive, we must join our numbers."

Quickriver, oddly, had been completely silent; like Sunfire, she almost always had something to say. Then she spoke up. "The Gathering's in a few days. Why don't we tell the other Clans of this loner's proposal then? That way we don't have to endanger our own pelts by strolling into their territory."

Sunfire turned to Lightningstar. The old leader was nodding slowly. "I will not turn away a cat who offers to help the forest remain in StarClan's paws." With that, he flicked his tail in dismissal.

;-;-;-;

"It just seems dangerous to be so...trusting. He made a good choice when he gave Morningcloud a place to stay; she's been nothing but a boon to the Clan. I trust Pinefur not to harm us.But what if trusting the loner is the one wrong move?"

Sunfire shifted, pressing her flank more firmly against Icestorm's. "We can trust him. I'm not saying that because he's my father; it's intuition." Really, she knew that if trusting Alexander was a bad move, Firestar would have told her something. She had faith in ThunderClan's past leader.

Icestorm made no comment, only rasped his tongue over her ear. Sunfire purred, taking a deep breath of the cool night air.

"The shadows come."

Sunfire stopped herself from jumping; the words had been spoken directly into her ear. A flicker of flame-colored fur hovered above the lake for a moment: Firestar. The shadows come? With a needle of anger, Sunfire knew.

"They're coming," she whispered to Icestorm.

He ceased licking her cheek. "Who? I can't scent anybody."

Sunfire stood, peering into the shadows behind her, then across the smooth surface of the lake. "Shadowfur and Nero. They're coming."

Icestorm frowned and stood, the nearly-full moon glinting off the silver in his coat. "Where?" As he said it, a breeze stirred the trees and sent neat ripples across the lake. Sunfire turned to the reeds that marked the start of what had been RiverClan's territory, a growl rumbling in her throat. Two pairs of eyes flashed, orange and ice-blue, then winked out. Fox- and cat-scent drifted over to Sunfire and Icestorm.

Icestorm crouched, his muscles tense. "Let's go after them. They won't just let us sit here unharmed."

Sunfire deflated, yet the anger lingered. "Don't bother," she said. "They're gone."

Icestorm met her gaze, his eyes unreadable. "They'll be back." He said it with certainty.

;-;-;-;

They come creeping out of darkness, and to darkness they return. -Heather Alexander, Nightblades