A/N- This is the chapter where we find out if Silverpelt escapes! It's tense! Please R&R!

Disclaimer- I do not own warriors, but i can be tired of writing this out, it's not as if i've got a detention or something!

Chapter 5

Suddenly, four more twolegs with bright yellow pelts charged into the den, holding shiny sticks. The yellow was so bright, it hurt Silverpelt's eyes. The twoleg with the claw charged at one of the yellow-pelted twolegs. There was a loud bang and the claw-holding twoleg fell to the floor. The remaining non-yellow-pelted twolegs raised their front paws. The yellow twolegs grabbed them and bound their front paws. One yellow pelted twoleg unbound the straps holding Silverpelt in place. It tried to pick him up but he bounded off the table and out of the entrance too quickly.

Silverpelt ran. He ran as fast as he could. He knew where he was and he knew how to get back to the Thunderclan camp. He skidded to a halt at a Thunderpath. The hard grey surface was wet with the rain which lashed down heavily on Silverpelt's fur. A monster sped past. The wind it created ruffling Silverpelt's sodden fur. Then, the Thunderpath was clear and he charged across it. He was almost at the other side when a monster raced towards him. The sprinted as fast as he could and it only touched the tip of a hair on his tail. He stopped, his sides heaving. It was pitch black, he was out of breath and he still had to make it through Shadowclan territory undetected.

Redpaw woke with a start. His dream! Silverpelt was in danger! Redpaw already knew that he had disappeared after twolegs attacked the group when they were at fourrocks, but this danger was worse. He had scene what had happened in the large den and had also seen what had happened next, but then, he had woken up. He had no way of telling if Silverpelt was still doing fine. He would still have to cross Shadowclan territory. There had been some Shadowclan cats in his dream, and they may let him pass, but if he came up against Tigerpelt…

Redpaw didn't know what to do. Should he keep silent, and wait to see if Silverpelt returned? Silverpelt may die. Should he tell the clan and have them send a rescue party? Shadowclan may take it as an attack and wage war. Should he go out alone? He may be caught and killed and even if he did find Silverpelt, could he help him? He slunk out of his den and sat down heavily as the first light of dawn crept over the horizon. Orangestripe left the warriors den. She looked sad. When she spotted Redpaw she walked over and sat down next to him. She bent her head down and stared at her paws.

"I thought he would have come back by now…" she said, "Have you heard anything?"

"Well…" said Redpaw. He was about to carry on when Whitestar walked out of his den. He took some of last night's leftover fresh kill and went back inside his den. Orangestripe had not even noticed him. She looked completely depressed. Her ears drooped. Her whiskers drooped. Her back drooped. She was thoroughly miserable. But now Redpaw knew she wasn't alone. When Whitestar had walked out, he had looked sad too. Redpaw had had no idea how much Silverpelt's disappearance would affect the clan. Icepaw would be the most upset. She had been blaming herself yesterday.

"It's my fault we left home. If we'd never come I wouldn't be his apprentice and he never would have taken me to fourrocks!"

Redpaw looked at the sky. It was red. Blood will be spilled. he heard a voice say. A message from Starclan!

"Orangestripe?"

"Yes, Redpaw?"

"I had a dream last night. It showed what happened to Silverpelt. He was alive when I woke up but…" Orangestripe sprang to her paws. Her whole posture had changed. Now she was alert and ready to face any danger to rescue Silverpelt.

"What are we waiting for?" she asked, "Lets go!"

"Wait!" cried Redpaw, but it was too late. She was already bounding out of camp. He scrabbled after her, out through the entrance. She sped away, through the woods. Redpaw was having a hard time keeping even five foxlengths behind her. He wasn't used to this. I'm a medicine cat apprentice, he thought, I don't usually do this sort of exercise. That's warrior's stuff. He sped up slightly, his muscles protesting and closed the gap slightly. Orangestripe bounded across the stream and stopped in the clearing at fourrocks. She wasn't even out of breath.

"Where did they go?" she demanded.

"The twolegs took him that way" said Redpaw, pointing at Shadowclan territory with his tail.

"Their trail of destruction should be easy to follow. Did they go near the Shadowclan camp?"

"I don't think so."

"Good, we should be safe then."

"What happens if Shadowclan finds us?"

"We run like the wind or we're fresh kill."

"Oh. I had hoped it would be a more, y'know, 'Oh, you've come to save your friend. Run along and save him then!' sort of a situation."

"That's not how the clans work, and you know it."

"There were Shadowclan cats in my dream…"

"Doing what?"

"They had been caught too."

"That still doesn't mean they'll let us pass."

"But…"

"We have to go!" She lead him away, up through Shadowclan territory. Redpaw couldn't help remembering the message, Starclan, his dead warrior ancestors, had shared with him this morning as he had gazed at the clouds.

Blood will be spilled.

Silverpelt looked up as the first light of dawn crept over the horizon. He shook his head. The cats in camp would be waking up by now, thinking he was dead. The last day had seemed to fly by, but now he was alone, trudging along a small stony twoleg path, time seemed to slow down to a crawl. Nothing was happening and it seemed to Silverpelt that it was only slow for him. He arrived at the rear of a large twoleg nest. He could just see the shallow, thin river up ahead that marked the furthest border of Shadowclan. The looked up at the high wall that surrounded an area at the back of the nest. Silverpelt wondered if he'd get a better view from up there. Suddenly, a cat appeared on the top. She was brown with a white belly and black splotches on her coat.

"Hello." she said, "I'm Poppy. You must be one of those wildcats who live in the forest. What are you doing so far away from home?"

"Far away?" asked Silverpelt, "The border's only over there."

"Yeah, but you never go past the river."

"So, I might just be the exception." Silverpelt started to walk away.

"Wait!" wailed Poppy, she spun around quickly, "Have you seen Daisy and Lilly? I tried to scare them, stop them going away, but they left and I haven't heard from them. I'm desperate!"

"Yes. They're living with us now. They weren't happy here."

"Oh, they were never happy locked inside! That's why they ran away! Joined some other wildcats. Then they returned. They'd been banished. Oh, my babies! They're not safe!"

"They said they were born in those clans and taken by twolegs!"

"No! wailed Poppy, "They're my daughters! They're father was one of your clan cats. Loudstorm, I think. But that was many months ago. Are they safe?!"

"They're fine. Icepaw will be blaming herself for my disappearance but Mousepaw will be doing fine."

"Eh? Icepaw and Mousepaw? Oh, wait. Daisy said they had new names."

"I'm Icepaw's mentor. Silverpelt."

"Mentor?"

"I'm teaching her how to hunt and fight."

"Fight!?"

"She is already very skilled though and I think she will do very well. She has a few, unique, gifts."

"What are they?" asked Poppy, interested.

"Well Icepaw has an amazing memory and an incredibly keen sense of smell. Mousepaw has a sharp sense of smell too and brilliant hunting skills. They are way ahead of any cat their age. By the time they're warriors, their skills will be unrivalled by any cat."

"Oh that's wonderful!" cried Poppy, "But I guess you had better run along, the patrol has just passed." Silverpelt spun around. He took several steps forward and sniffed. She was right! A patrol had just passed. She had saved him. Her sense of smell must be as good as her daughter's.

"Thank you." he said. She nodded and leapt down off the wall. Silverpelt carried on, the fresh forest air filled his lungs and made his whiskers twitch with joy. He leapt across the river, using a stepping stone in the middle. There shouldn't be a Shadowclan patrol for a long time, and by then, Silverpelt would be long gone. He hurried through the pine forest. More than once he smelt a pair of Shadowclan cats and changed his direction to avoid them. He had just changed direction again when he tripped. He fell to the ground with a thud on the edge of a slope. Suddenly, the ground crumbled away and he skidded down the slope, through a gap in some gorse, and into the Shadowclan camp.

The two cats paused. Orangestripe was worried.

"We should have found some trace of him by now. What if he's dead? Oh, Redpaw! What if he's dead? I'll never see him again!" Redpaw was distracted though. The light was reflecting off a pool of water in a strange way. It seemed to be calling him. He heard a familiar voice.

"Redpaw." it called softly, "Come here. Starclan have something to show you." He walked over to the puddle and gazed into it. What he saw next shocked him. He saw Silverpelt trip, fall down a slope and into the Shadowclan camp. The picture faded and Redpaw left his trance.

"Orangestripe!" he howled, "Silverpelt has fallen into the Shadowclan camp!"

"What!?" she shrieked, "Did Starclan tell you this?"

"They showed me in this puddle."

"Come on then!" she shouted and skidded away.

Silverpelt looked up, dazed. He saw cats all around him and smelt an overpowering stench of Shadowclan. This must be their camp. he thought. Two strong cats grabbed him and hauled him across to underneath a ledge. A sleek black tom with shocking blue eyes leapt onto it.

"What is this?!" he asked, surprised.

"He rolled into the camp, Icestar." said the cat holding Silverpelt on the left.

"Although, what he was doing in Shadowclan territory in the first place is a mystery." said the other cat holding Silverpelt.

"Then I suppose we should kill him." said a dark ginger cat, who stalked into the clearing. Silverpelt looked around at him. It was Tigerpelt! The grip on Silverpelt tightened. Where these two really going to kill him? Icestar leapt down off the ledge.

"Stop!" he shouted. They had been about to kill him! "We must first know what this cat is doing here." he turned to Silverpelt, "Well?"

"I was captured by the twolegs." said Silverpelt, "I was returning home."

"Nonsense!" growled Tigerpelt, "The twolegs have only been in Shadowclan territory. "I say he's a spy. Otherwise, how would he have known about the twolegs. We never mentioned them at the Gathering."

"That is true." said Icestar, "very well. Kill him."

"Stop!" yelled a cat, sprinting into the clearing, "He was captured!" Silverpelt twisted round. It was Leopardstorm!

"He was?" said Icestar.

"Yes!" she said. "At fourrocks. There are two Thunderclan cats out there looking for him! They're heading to the camp!" Just then, Orangestripe and Redpaw burst into the clearing, hissing and spitting. Tigerpelt leapt forward, blocking their way to the captured Silverpelt.

"Tigerpelt, stand down!" shouted Icestar, his cool blue gazing piercing Tigerpelt's. Tigerpelt looked for a moment like he would ignoring his new leader and rip the Thunderclan cats to shreds, but then Icestar won and Tigerpelt stalked away.

"Thank you." said Orangestripe, sitting down. "We have come for Silverpelt."

"Take him. Tigerclaw, Swifttail." said Icestar, signalling for the two cats to release Silverpelt. Silverpelt turned and walked towards his friends. He was almost there when a large ginger shape bowled into him. It bit him in the shoulder. The shape snarled. Icestar hissed and leapt at it. The power in his skinny body surprised the attacker and it let go of Silverpelt. He ran over to his friends and stood behind them. He wasn't afraid but it made sense for him to be nearer the entrance. The attacker turned and hissed at Icestar.

"I told you to let him go, Tigerpelt!" spat Icestar.

"I swore I would rip him to shreds!" he snarled.

"And what good would that do?" asked Icestar, "They would attack us, blaming the whole clan. They would slaughter our tiniest kits. Do you really want that for your new clan?" Tigerpelt hissed once more, then turned and slunk away, into a den. A tiny kit poked it's head out of what must be the nursery.

"Who's that?" it squeaked. It stepped out of the nursery. Four more kits stepped out behind it.

"Specklekit. Go back into the nursery." The small brown kit with darker flecks looked glum. It turned and padded away.

"Hollykit." A dark ginger kit turned away.

"Gorsekit, Rainkit." A mottled brown kit and a pale grey kit both went.

"And Thistlekit." The last kit, who was silvery-white, bowed his head and went back inside.

"Kits!" sighed Icestar. "You may leave now." he said to the Thunderclan cats. The three cats all turned and left, scrabbling up the slope. They padded away, towards the large river that separated Thunderclan and Shadowclan's territories.

"How did you find me?" asked Silverpelt.

"I received some messages from Starclan." said Redpaw. They crossed a log that had fallen across the river and continued on through their own territory. Suddenly, they heard a hiss behind and a cat bowled into Silverpelt.

"Shadowclan!" it cried.

"Wait!" shouted another cat, who ran into the clearing. He pulled the cat off Silverpelt. Whitestar and Tawnypelt followed them into the clearing. Swiftpaw hissed at Silverpelt. Greystripe cuffed him around the head.

"You stupid furball!" he hissed, "That's Silverpelt!"

"It's not my fault he smells of Shadowclan!" protested Swiftpaw.

"Yes, why do you?" asked Whitestar. Silverpelt looked at his leader. I was taken away through Shadowclan territory. After I escaped I had to return back through it." Whitestar nodded. Silverpelt hoped he wasn't mad.

"Come." he said, "You must all be hungry."

A/N- Now please R&R!