Well, not very many reviews on that last one… I only got one review… kind of disappointing. Even if you guys don't like it then reviews, and tell me please. There is a bit of Stone & Rose fluff in this one… well for awhile anyways, things kind of take a turn for the worse later on. As you can probably tell by the title.

Also, go look at my poll on my profile; I need more votes for Rosepaw's name.

Starbomb: Yeah, Rosepaw's earned quite a name for herself throughout the Clans! Haha!

Chapter 18: Death Rings

Rosepaw crouched in the rough green thicket. She made her paw steps nearly silently as only the occasional and slight crunch of something under her foot. She hid inside of a small bush, her sharp blue eyes fixated on a plump mouse that sniffed around on the brown soil. The sun warmed her red fur and gave her hope for catching this mouse.

After what had seemed like ages, the cruel leaf-bare had ended, and now New-Leaf was sprung upon the Clan. Rosepaw's life had turned for the better. Stonepaw had healed from Greencough, and now joined her on many occasions, including his first Gathering.

It had been four moons since Rosepaw's trip to see Minnowbreath. She had returned to her hunting patrol in time for them to think nothing was suspicious. However, she had told them straight up what she had done. At first, Iceblossom hadn't been too happy, but Petalwind accepted the catmint gratefully, using it to heal the ill cats.

Rosepaw snapped back into reality. The mouse was leaving. Rosepaw was becoming a senior apprentice, she couldn't return to Hailwhisker empty-pawed. They needed fresh-kill. Rosepaw bunched her muscles quickly. Quick as lightning, she snapped forward, killing the mouse on impact.

She snagged it up in her jaws. It felt good to have warmed grass underneath her paws. She padded to where she had buried a thrush. She quickly uncovered it and stuffed it in her jaws with the mouse.

"Rosepaw!" Rosepaw's head snapped up at Hailwhisker's voice. She quickly padded over to where her mentor sat with the rest of their patrol, Stormwhisper, and Leafsparrow. "We're going back to camp." Hailwhisker mewed.

Rosepaw nodded, following the patrol as they took off to camp.

They reached they shortly and Rosepaw enjoyed the happy scene that she took in. Swanwhisker's kits, Redkit, Ravenkit, and Leafkit were playing with Featherfoot's young and only kit. Her name was Silverkit, her father was Firestripe. Her siblings were stillborn.

Rosepaw smiled at the kits, she padded over and dropped off her prey in the fresh-kill pile. In return, she grabbed a shrew and padded over to the sunlight to eat it. She lay down, taking a bite into the shrew. Warmth flooded her mouth. She was finally gaining more weight from the harsh leaf-bare.

"Hey Rosepaw!" Rosepaw looked up from her feast to see Stonepaw gazing down at her cheerfully.

"Hi Stonepaw." Rosepaw mewed; she pushed the shrew towards him. "Do you want to share?" she asked him.

Stonepaw nodded eagerly. "Sure," he meowed, as he crouched down beside Rosepaw to share the shrew.

Rosepaw felt his short gray fur brushing against her own long fur. She could hear his breathing, feeling the muscles rippling underneath his pelt. He had grown a lot larger than her over the few moons, and his eyes were bright with joy.

Rosepaw let out her breath; she hadn't realized she had been holding it in while she had observed the changes he had made over the past course of moons.

Stonepaw finished the rest of the shrew shortly; he licked his jaws for a moment before turning to face Rosepaw and grooming her fur with long strokes. Rosepaw felt a flitter of emotions swirl inside of her. She leaned forward and groomed his gray fur. She felt as though she could hear her heart beat inside her chest, being so close to him.

"So how are things?" Stonepaw started up a conversation.

"Good." Rosepaw meowed calmly. A moment later she contemplated her answer. Good? What was I thinking? He'll think I'm a mouse-brain! "I… er…" Rosepaw stuttered, feeling his tongue rasp around her neck. "How are you?"

Stonepaw blinked. "Same old." He meowed.

Rosepaw nodded meekly and continued grooming him, feeling perfect calm inside of her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Flamepaw and Dawnpaw sitting near eachother, speaking. She also saw Lionpaw and Shinepaw just return from a patrol.

Is Lionpaw still seeing Larchpaw? Rosepaw wondered, pausing for a moment to stare after her ginger brother. He seemed in a good mood today, joking around with Shinepaw, his tail lashing back and forth in joy. Rosepaw couldn't determine it.

"Rosepaw! Stonepaw!" Rosepaw looked over near the fresh-kill pile where Stormwhisper gave out orders. The ThunderClan deputy padded over to the two apprentices. Her dark gray tabby fur glistened in the sunlight.

"You will both be joining me and Morningfeather on a border patrol." She meowed promptly.

"Right now?" Rosepaw asked.

Stormwhisper nodded curtly. "Of course." She mewed. "Come along, let's go."

Rosepaw got to her paws and followed the she-cat back to where her mother stood. Rosepaw felt a surge of determination flow through her. She wanted to show her mother what a good warrior she'd become, even if it meant just doing well on a border patrol.

Stormwhisper nodded to them, and the patrol headed off, starting at the land near the lake. Rosepaw pranced around near Stonepaw while her mother and Stormwhisper padded ahead, speaking quietly to one another.

Rosepaw fell in pace behind Stonepaw. The gray apprentice continued to pad along. With a smirk, Rosepaw leapt onto him. Stonepaw yowled in surprise, then seeing, who his attacker was, he rolled onto his back, kicking furiously at Rosepaw.

Rosepaw squealed leaping off of him. While the tom rose to his paws, Rosepaw charged into him again. Stonepaw gave a playful hiss, but didn't go down this time. He stood onto his hind legs, batting at Rosepaw with his big paws.

Rosepaw ducked down low and plowed into his belly. The two cats wrestled around, hissing and growling.

"Rosepaw!" Rosepaw froze and looked over to see her mother gazing at her horrified. Rosepaw felt embarrassment stick to her pelt like a burr.

"Sorry Morningfeather." She apologized. "We were just practicing our battle moves." Rosepaw ducked her head and trotted over to join Stormwhisper and her mother.

The patrol of cats headed on to the WindClan border. There was only a slight breeze, however, it was enough for Rosepaw to scent something. It was a kit. Rosepaw gave another sniff in uncertainty. A kit… what would a kit be doing?

Curious, she padded over closer to the WindClan border and perked her ears. She heard wailing. There definitely was a kit. She looked over across the yellow moor, squinting her eyes she noticed a tiny figure.

"What are you looking at?" Rosepaw was aware of Stonepaw's presence near hers. He was looking off in the direction she was, but didn't seem to be noticing anything.

"There's a kit." Rosepaw meowed, looking back to see Morningfeather and Stormwhisper join them.

"I don't see a kit anywhere." Morningfeather mumbled. The shape in the distance began to grow; the kit was getting closer now. Rosepaw could see it very clearly. It was a very light cream she-kit, appearing almost white, and it was yowling its head off.

Its head was thrown back and its mouth wide enough to see her little pink tongue inside. Her eyes were squinted as she mewled pitifully.

"Don't you see it?" Rosepaw meowed in frustration.

Stormwhisper nodded slowly. "I do see it." The deputy meowed. "I wonder what it could possibly be doing out of camp?"

Rosepaw shook her head slowly. "They train their kits." She murmured.

"They what?" Morningfeather meowed in disbelief as she stared at her daughter.

"They battle train their kits." Rosepaw repeated. "That's what they did to me when I was there anyways."

Stormwhisper let out a sigh. "To best wishes for that kit." She murmured, looking sympathetically after it.

"You can't possibly leave it there." Stonepaw meowed with an edge to his voice.

"It's off of our territory." Stormwhisper meowed back. "If we crossed it would only give WindClan a better reason to attack."

"You really aren't going to leave it there, are you?" Rosepaw meowed angrily. She knew what suffering the kits went through there. Their cats dying by the own claws of their Clanmates.

"What more can we do?" Stormwhisper asked, flicking her tail crossly.

"We can go over there and help it." Rosepaw hissed in return.

Stormwhisper blinked at her in surprise. "I won't have it." She meowed. "It would be too dangerous. WindClan has a very large amount of warriors there. Probably twice the amount that we have." She warned.

Rosepaw shook her head. "I don't care." She meowed. "We have to help it; we can't just leave it there!"

Stormwhisper held her breath for a moment. "Very well." She meowed. "Then go get it."

Rosepaw felt Stonepaw press his pelt against hers. "Be careful Rosepaw." He warned.

"I will." Rosepaw reassured him. With that, she pelted off onto WindClan territory. She glanced around warily. Something didn't feel right, but then again, it shouldn't feel like to intrude on WindClan's territory.

She reached the kit quickly. When it saw her, it quieted down. There was a pool of blood underneath it and fresh wounds all over its small body. Rosepaw's eyes softened when she saw it. She gave it a lick on its forehead.

"Don't worry young one." Rosepaw murmured gently. "I'll heal you right up." The kit seemed very young, maybe only half of a moon. Rosepaw grabbed it's scruff in her jaws. It didn't protest, just hung calmly. Rosepaw headed off back towards her territory.

A bloodcurdling scream made Rosepaw take off. She knew what was happening. They were after her. Rosepaw ran like her paws were on fire. She could feel the footsteps of other cats chasing after her, screaming in fury.

Stonepaw raced out to greet her. He tackled into a WindClan warrior. Rosepaw ran across the border, her mother and Stormwhisper fighting off the WindClan cats. Rosepaw set down the kit in some thicket. "Say here."

Rosepaw raced back into the battle. With a hiss, she launched herself into a thin tabby tom. The tom growled in fury. Rosepaw remained silent; she clawed against his body, releasing fresh blood. The tom screeched and plowed into Rosepaw, knocking her on her back.

Taking advantage of Rosepaw's exposed belly, he leapt on top of her, digging into her exposed flesh with clear satisfaction on his face. Rosepaw yowled and pushed him off with all her force. The tom stood there for a moment, stunned.

Rosepaw tackled into him, leaping on his back so that he was pinned on his stomach. Rosepaw clawed into his back, feeling a sharp protectiveness over the kit she had just rescued. She dug into him, his blood pooling out onto the grass. The tom screeched in pain and Rosepaw released her grip. He raced away.

Rosepaw looked around, assessing the situation. The ThunderClan cats were outnumbered. Rosepaw spotted her mother immediately. Morningfeather was pinned by a large WindClan tom. He tore into her with fury in his dark gaze.

Rosepaw gave a cry of fury and plowed into him. It only stunned the tom for one moment before he came at her full force. He plowed her over with ease. Rosepaw felt herself land on her back with a cry of pain. The cat leapt on top of her. He easily dwarfed her and he had a cold smile of satisfaction on his face.

Rosepaw felt blood curling beneath her. She felt the world going dark. No! She thought, struggling to be released from his grip.

Suddenly, the weight lifted off of her. Morningfeather had tackled him right off and was ripping into him mercilessly. "Stay away from my daughter!" she yowled, pure fury and hatred in her eyes.

Rosepaw struggled to get up, she still bled heavily. A shriek came from Morningfeather. Rosepaw flashed around to see the tom ripping her apart.

The light died in Morningfeather's eyes. What? Rosepaw felt frozen in fear. No. Her mother couldn't be… she just couldn't be. It wasn't possible. Rosepaw had already lost Brightpaw. Her mother was fine. She must be fine, she had to be fine.

The cat a top her looked up with satisfaction. Rosepaw narrowed her eyes. This tom would die. He would die a cold, hard death. He would die by her claw.

With a screech of fury, Rosepaw barreled into him, her wounds bled more profusely with her using so much energy. The tom fell down. Rosepaw didn't waste time. No time to waste. This cat had to die. He had no option. Silently, Rosepaw leapt on top of him and tore out his throat.

He died.

Rosepaw had killed a cat. She was too angry to think it over. She was glad he was dead. He deserved death. Rosepaw let him fall limp under her claws before racing over to crouch beside her mother.

A large gasp reached Rosepaw's ears. "Talonfox! He's been killed!" Rosepaw looked over to where the tom she had killed lay. There was a she-cat staring at him, her eyes wide. Rosepaw froze. Talonfox. That was the cat she'd killed's name. Talonfox, or the deputy of WindClan.

"Retreat! Retreat WindClan!" The she-cat cried, racing off and leaving Talonfox's body behind.

"Rosepaw!" Stonepaw raced over to his friend as the WindClan cats disappeared. Rosepaw remained crouched over her mother's body. Morningfeather was drenched in blood. Rosepaw knew her flank wouldn't rise again.

Her mother was dead.

"Oh StarClan Rosepaw! I'm so sorry!" Rosepaw heard Stormwhisper's cry but didn't respond to it. She just remained hunched over her mother. It was her fault she was dead. Everything was her fault. Every death was her fault. Blacktail's, Darkfoot's, Leopardheart, Brightpaw, Talonfox, even Clawpelt. It all came crashing down on her.

"I'll bring her body back." Stormwhisper meowed quietly. "Stonepaw, you go grab the kit."

Rosepaw felt a sudden anger smash into her. It was the kit… She had chosen the kit's life over her own mother's.

But now, Rosepaw felt nothing for the kit. The kit was useless to her.

Dead to her.