AN: Hey everyone, I know it has been a very long time and I am so sorry for not updating more frequently. I promise that I will try better to get more chapters up on a timely basis. Until then, please be patient

Without further ado, enjoy!

Graypaw glanced at Mistpaw as his sister bowed her head over the lifeless body of Frailwhisker, searching for some sign that she was alright. He had found it odd when he was a kit that she and the elder had spent so much time together; sometimes he would awaken just as the sun was rising and found her chatting eagerly with the former medicine cat. Part of him was jealous of the attention Mistpaw had given the elder, but his happiness at seeing her becoming more interactive with their clanmates subdued his envy. Now it was like he was witnessing his sister revert back to a depressed kitten.

His paws moved on their own and guided him to the she-cat's side, his tail curling around her in comfort. She raised her head to look at him and he was taken aback to see almost no signs of sadness save for the tear stains around her eyes. Even so, she pressed herself against his side and sagged there tiredly. They remained like that for a few heartbeats before he thought it right to speak. "I know you and Frailwhisker were close," he mewed quietly.

She nodded, her whiskers brushing against his and sending shivers down his spine. Silence lapsed around him to the point where he grew tired of staring at Frailwhisker's lifeless form and turned his eyes towards Silverpelt which had just begun to appear in the black sky. His eyes wandered about aimlessly until he saw a flash of white streak across the sky. In shock, he blinked at turned his full attention to the stars. Just as before, a flash of white streaked across the sky faster than any cat.

"Mistpaw, look up."

She raised her head again and looked at him curiously then turned to face Silverpelt. Her gasp was all the confirmation he needed that she had listened. All across the sky, streaks of white flashed across the sky then vanished just as quickly as they had appeared. As the sight continued above them, Graypaw managed to glimpse their clanmates; those who had decided to attend the late night vigil turned to look at the sky and gaped in awe. But the look on Mistpaw's face was all he could really see. Her once downcast orange eyes had brightened to the color of the sunrise and her entire being seemed to become lighter, as though a burden had been lifted from her shoulders.

The silence of sorrow that had shrouded the camp lifted into a silence of amazement and wonder at the spectacle above them. Soon enough, the streaks slowed then stopped leaving only the Silverpelt they all knew to brighten their night. He sighed in annoyance when no more streaks dashed across the sky, but a voice beside him drew his attention.

"Maybe that was Frailwhisker saying good-bye and wishing us luck," Mistpaw whispered.

As much as he wanted to be mad that she was still hung up on Frailwhisker's death, he knew that it was an improvement compared to how she had been before. Instead of complaining, he let out hefty sigh and nodded. "Maybe."

Leaves colored various shades of reds, browns and yellows littered the forest floor as the patrol made their way to the RiverClan border. Lilyfur cast her muzzle around, mouth open to catch any new scents as they passed by the river. Graypaw watched in fascination as the she-cat went to the shore of the rushing water and glanced at the mud that clung to the sides. "What is she doing?" he asked quietly, "I thought we were checking for scents not herbs."

Thrushwing looked down at his apprentice and sighed in irritation. The apprentice had to bite his tongue so a retort couldn't escape his mouth. This was one of the first times Thrushwing had torn himself away from his kits and acknowledged that he even had an apprentice to mentor. In all that time that Graypaw had been stuck in camp, Mistpaw and Snowpaw were already learning battle moves. He couldn't help it that he hadn't learned much since his mentor was such a lazy kittypet. And now his mentor acted like he was a nuisance.

Eventually, Thrushwing cleared his throat to speak. "She's checking to see if any cats have climbed up the bank. Unlike the ground in the forest, the ground around the river is muddy and captures paw prints of those who come out of the river."

Graypaw bobbed his head slowly as his brain wrapped itself around the idea.

"Or going in," Lilyfur added.

Now that confused him even more. Why would any cat from ShadowClan go into the river voluntarily; he had a hard enough time wondering how RiverClan could stand getting their fur wet like that. Silently, he admitted that he had enough trouble dealing with the rain dragging his fur down, so going into a river was out of the question. Then he realized something. "Have ShadowClan cats gone into the river before?"

Lilyfur and Thrushwing exchanged a look that seemed to ask if either of them should answer. He watched the silent exchange until his mottled mentor turned to him. "There was a she-cat once that crossed the border into RiverClan without either leader knowing and met with a tom on the other side. The two were mates who met in secret and eventually had kits. The she-cat took her kits to meet their father and got into an argument with her mate about where the kits would be raised. When she made to leave, the tom gave a signal and she was ambushed by a patrol of RiverClan cats."

Apparently deciding that he had answered his apprentice's question, he turned and began to make his way back into the trees. Graypaw stood there stupefied before charging after his mentor in a rage. Not only had he been reluctant to tell Graypaw the story, but he had neglected to finish it. He raced past the mottled tom and halted just in front of him. The tom came to a stop and glared down at him, his annoyance clear. That made Graypaw's fur rise in anger, but he tried to keep his temper under control. "You didn't finish the story," he growled lowly. "What happened to the she-cat and her kits? ShadowClan would never allow RiverClan to get away with that!"

Thrushwing snorted and forced his way past Graypaw, throwing a response over his shoulder as he went. "I'm not some story-telling elder, kit, I'm a warrior who is supposed to be training our leader's kin and bring honor to the clan but I can't do that if my apprentice constantly pesters me with questions that have nothing to do with serving our clan and upholding the warrior code." Graypaw shrank back as his mentor's words became louder and more annoyed with each passing heart beat.

An uneasy quiet settled over the patrol as mentor and apprentice locked gazes to see who would turn away first. Ultimately, Graypaw couldn't handle staring into Thrushwing's cold blue eyes and he lowered his head. His mentor huffed and began back to camp. As soon as he was a fox-length away, Lilyfur went to Graypaw's wide and glanced at him. "I'm surprised that he snapped like that," she meowed.

He nodded slowly, unsure what the she-cat was getting at, but was grateful when she began to lead him back to the camp. When Graypaw pushed through the brambles and into camp, he winced at the sight of Thrushwing speaking with Featherstar. Lilyfur noticed the commotion too and steered the tom towards the apprentice den. At a tail-length from their training ground, Graypaw gave the she-cat a thankful look and bolted for the den.

Wolfpaw and Mistpaw lifted their heads as he entered, his sister smiling at him as he approached. "Good thing you're here," Wolfpaw said. The tom moved to he was touching shoulders with Graypaw. "Mistpaw and I were just talking about trying out a new battle move we learned about teaming up against an enemy and-"

"And you were wondering if I would be the enemy?" Graypaw gave his denmate a look that asked if he was serious.

The shaggy furred tom blinked in surprise then shook his head. "No, no, Mistpaw already volunteered to be the enemy." Wolfpaw gave him an odd look. "I was wondering if you'd team up with me, or are you busy?"

Graypaw grimaced when he realized how irritable he must have been coming off as to his denmates. "I'm sorry, Wolfpaw, I thought you were asking me to…. Sorry, I'm just really frazzled right now," he groaned.

He watched as his sister arched one eyebrow in question, but one shake of his head sent it back to its original position. With a sigh, he began to tell them what had happened during the patrol and ended with how Thrushwing was now talking with his father. "I don't know what he's gonna tell Featherstar, but I just want to know what happens to that she-cat and her kits from the story," he concluded.

Mistpaw looked as though she was up in the sky with the clouds, obviously not listening to him anymore. To his shock, when she spoke, it wasn't quite what he had expected. "Badgertail told me a moon ago that ShadowClan and RiverClan got into a big fight a long time ago," she said. "He didn't give me any details about what caused the fight, but it may be worth asking him if he knows the story."

Both toms just stared at the gray she-cat with gaping muzzles. He had to admit, he had thought Mistpaw had her head in the clouds when he had been retelling his day but now he knew that she was searching her memory for a way to help. And she did.

"Do we know where Badgertail is right now? I'd like to ask him sooner rather than later," he meowed.

He watched as Mistpaw took on the same dazed expression as before and bowed his head in dismay when she shook her head. "I haven't seen him today," she admitted lamely. Just as Graypaw was about to curl himself into his nest and hope that the day had been a dream, she spoke again. "But I did overhear Splotchpaw saying that he had gone to the medicine cat's den because his ear was annoying him. That doesn't mean he is there now, but it is worth a look-see."

The three exited the den with Graypaw bringing up the rear in fear of seeing his father looking for him. He relaxed when he realized that both his father and mentor had vanished from the camp, preferring to speak in the privacy of a den. Together, they made their way to the medicine cat's den and made their way inside. Over by a wall full of small cinches was Hollypetal, sorting herbs and tossing out wilted leaves, while Firewhisker spoke with the gray-and-white tabby they had been looking for. Graypaw let out a sigh of relief at the sight of the tom and began forward only to be halted by a glance from Firewhisker.

"What are you three doing in here? It doesn't look like any of you are hurt," the tom said.

From her herb sorting, Hollypetal looked up and smiled at the three apprentices before standing and joining her mentor. Now that two cats were facing them down, Graypaw felt as if his reason wasn't that important after all. "I-that is we- came here to ask Badgertail about a story Thrushwing was telling me earlier," he explained, bowing his head in shame.

The gray-and-white tabby lifted his head curiously then moved to stand on Firewhisker's other side. "It depends, really," he muttered, "on what story you are talking about."

For the second time, Graypaw told what had happened during his patrol and how Thrushwing had neglected to tell him what happened. "Mistpaw told me that you said something about a fight between ShadowClan and RiverClan that happened a long time ago so I thought you might know if the story and the battle are connected."

Badgertail had pricked his ears as the story had gone on and now flattened them as he thought about how to respond. He shifted his paws uneasily and toyed with a scrap of moss as he began to speak. "I know the story you're talking about, for StarClan's sake, I lived it." The tom suddenly looked seasons older as if remembering the event had aged him. "I was only an apprentice when that she-cat, her name was Lightheart I think, took her kits out of the camp to meet with their father on the border of RiverClan. His name was Marshclaw and he was the son of RiverClan's former leader, Mallowstar, and he wanted the kits to be raised in RiverClan. Lightheart and her kits were captured and taken to their camp. When Miststar, our leader at the time, heard about what had happened she went about planning an assault to retrieve the queen and kits. A great battle ensued.

"In the end RiverClan failed, Mallowstar lost one of his lives and Marshclaw being hurt so badly that he had to retire to the elder's den early. Lightheart and her kits were returned to ShadowClan where those little ones grew up to be some of our finest warriors." He paused and looked at the three oddly. "I thought you would have known this story?"

Graypaw looked to his denmates, but only received confused looks. It was Mistpaw who spoke up and asked the questioned they all wondered. "Why would we have known the story?"

Badgertail let out a chuckle that shook his entire body. All the cats, Firewhisker and Hollypetal, included looked at the tom oddly as his laugh died and he gasped for breath. When he looked up to see their faces, he became confused and sat up straighter. "Are you serious? You aren't pulling my tail?"

Slowly, the three shook their heads and backed away from the tom as if he was a hungry fox. "Well, you should know it because your mother, Mintleaf, was one of the kits that started this whole battle."

Well, that's a cliffhanger that I'm gonna have to deal with later. This sort of chapter will happen every so often where the story is told from either Graypaw or Snowpaw's POVs just to make it a bit more interesting.

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Ouka