So sorry for the slow update...second month of school, with boatloads of homework...XPWhy must teachers ask to go to bed early and relax

before testing, and then give you so much homework and assignments that have to be stressed over?

Well,enough of my personal life. I warn you, readers, that I won't be updating as frequently as I have been over the summer, due to this terrible curse that schools call HW...

I promise, though, that my chapters will be fat and juicy ones when I do update, no short chapters at all(or at least that's my highest goal)!

In other words...happy reading, and please, tell me what you like...

in a review!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Warriors.

Chapter2

RiverClan

Tinypaw stood, wincing as pain shot up her legs. Fishsplash sat not far away, observing her struggle with unblinking brown eyes. He wrapped his tail around his paws.

"Again. And act like you mean it this time." He mewed, and stood as Tinypaw took a weak stance. Fishsplash jumped at her, and she attempted to slide under him and out again, but instead ended up flailing her limbs as Fishsplash sat on top of her, crushing the air out of her body. She managed to squirm from under him, only to be met with a fierce blow to the head. Tinypaw gave a small yelp as her legs were taken out from under her, and felt her paw bend the wrong way.

"Ow!" Tinypaw exclaimed, licking her forepaw tenderly. It throbbed beneath her small pink tongue. Fishsplash stood over her, face contorted in a snarl.

"I told you to give it your best effort!" He turned and stalked away from her, sighing in frustration. Though he spoke with a sharp tone, Tinypaw knew that he was secretly triumphant. Ever since she had become his apprentice, he had been giving her advanced warrior training that wasn't meant for her age; only eight moons.

Fishsplash flicked his tail slowly back and forth. "That's enough for today. I'll meet you back at camp." He stood again and padded away, leaving Tinypaw, alone and injured, in the empty training clearing.

Tinypaw let out a huff, and gingerly got to her paws, making sure her forepaw was off the ground. She limped back through the reed beds, and arrived back in camp.

"There you are!" Swallowpaw panted as she ran up to her younger sister. "I was looking all over for you." She glanced at Tinypaw's injured paw.

"Training." Tinypaw mewed tiredly, answering Swallowpaw's unspoken question.

"Wow. You've been training for four days nonstop now, haven't you?" Swallowpaw stated, and Tinypaw nodded. Swallowpaw helped her to the medicine den, then announced she was going hunting; once she was gone, Tinypaw saw Mistpool emerge from the shadows of the medicine den.

"Hi, Mistpool." Tinypaw mewed gloomily, lying down.

"Hello again, Tinypaw." Mistpool meowed, no emotion in her purr. She inspected Tinypaw's paw as she held it out. "I already knew you were coming."

"How?" Tinypaw asked.

Mistpool paused. "...Fishsplash told me you tripped over an overturned rock in the clearing while you two were practicing." Tinypaw slit her eyes. That's what he wants you to believe, she thought with menace. He did the same for... Tinypaw shook her head.

Mistpool returned to her, carrying yarrow in her jaws. Tinypaw sighed as the juices sunk into her paw, immediately feeling better. Mistpool gave her some water, and cleared Tinypaw to go.

Tinypaw turned to leave, and bumped into Sandkit, now Sandpaw, who had gone to collect herbs.

"Oops. Sorry Tinypaw." Sandpaw mumbled, milky eyes turned toward the ground.

"That's okay." Tinypaw assured him. Sandpaw had been recently apprenticed to Mistpool, eagerly accepting something other than a life in an elders' den. Tinypaw passed by him, looking back to see his tail disappear into the depths of the medicine den.

Tinypaw padded to the fresh-kill pile, worn out by her training. She devoured a mouse quickly, burying the bones. A mew from the apprentices' den made Tinypaw flick her ears, and she looked behind her and saw Echopaw trotting toward her.

"How was training?" Echopaw asked her as he sat down. Tinypaw growled.

"Terrible." Tinypaw mewed silently. She wasn't sure Echopaw had heard her.

Echopaw shuffled his paws, looking uncomfortable. "Um, Loudheart was wondering...do you want to go patrolling?"

Tinypaw looked at him, thinking. Patrolling would take her mind off things... "Sure." She stood, and followed Echopaw to the entrance to camp.

Once she was out, her paws immediately traced the path to the ShadowClan border, but Loudheart gently steered her toward WindClan. Tinypaw felt disappointment rise in her, but she shook it away quickly. Loudheart looked puzzled, but didn't question Tinypaw's strange actions. Tinypaw was secretly ashamed of herself; why was it that every time she was out of camp, Tinypaw sought comfort from Skullpaw?

Tinypaw remembered when they had first officially met, at her first Gathering. She had been so frightened of him then, afraid that he would come after her because she had spied on him before at half-bridge; now, Tinypaw knew him as one of her closest friends outside of the Clans. Especially after all of their time spent together when ShadowClan was recovering after the fire. Tinypaw shook away her thoughts, clearing her mind. No use thinking about past things.

They continued on, and soon the stench of horses, dung, and hay reached Tinypaw's nostrils. Reeds along the riverbank soon changed to grass, and she stopped as Loudheart marked the borders. A fresh scent of WindClan blew towards them, and another patrol trotted over to them. Tinypaw recognized Silverpaw and Sunfeather, but the rest were unfamiliar.

Loudheart bristled. A dark ginger tom trotted right up to the border, eyes slit with hostility. Tinypaw had forgotten; RiverClan hadn't had much of an alliance with WindClan during the fire.

"You'll be going now, I assume?" the tom mewed sourly. Loudheart stood her ground.

"Not before you." Loudheart retorted. Tinypaw peeked over Loudheart's shoulder to look at Silverpaw, but noticed with worry that his expression was passive and cold. Tinypaw took a step back.

Loudheart and the tom stood in front of each other, both without emotion crossing their faces.

Finally, Loudheart sniffed, "Come on. We've already made our mark." Loudheart turned around and flicked her tail; the rest of the RiverClan patrol silently followed, leaving WindClan to crest the hills and moorland back to their camp.

As they walked on, Tinypaw noticed that they were near the cape; she could scent the lake to her right, and with a jolt of memory looked at the jagged cliff jutting out of the ground and into the lake.

Tinypaw slowed, and moved to the back of the patrol; soon, they were out of sight, and Tinypaw was alone on the cape.

Tinypaw slowly trotted over to the cliff, looking down gingerly at the large, sharp rocks below; the lake water sloshed around the rocks, making them slick with water and algae.

Tinypaw gulped and shivered. This was the last sight Creekpaw had seen before tumbling to her death at the very point where Tinypaw was standing now. A cool breeze whipped around Tinypaw, stirring her fur and making it blow in different directions.

"Beautiful, huh?" Tinypaw jumped, which sent pebbles scattering down to the rocks below. She whipped around angrily, and faced a small ginger tom behind her.

The tom looked at her and blinked slowly. "I'm sorry. Did I startle you?" He sounded genuinely surprised and serene, as if they were standing in a quiet forest with plenty of shelter instead of a roaring cape. He smelled to Tinypaw like the Horseplace, but he was far from being a common Horseplace cat. He had slivery scars across his pelt, and shining emerald eyes that stared intently at Tinypaw as if he were examining a mildly interesting insect.

Tinypaw slit her eyes and took a couple steps forward. "Who're you? You aren't RiverClan or WindClan."

The tom laughed, and something stirred in Tinypaw's heart; why did he sound so familiar? "Quite right, my dear. You've been trained well." Tinypaw wasn't flattered. He had avoided her question.

"You didn't answer me," Tinypaw mewed slowly. "What's your name? Where're you from?"

"Demanding one, aren't you." The tom meowed, and Tinypaw detected a growl of annoyance in his voice. He sighed and shook his head. "Fine, then." The tom looked thoughtful for a moment, studying Tinypaw. "...I'll answer your questions...if..." The tom stared into Tinypaw's eyes, and she held back a shiver of fear.

Everything inside Tinypaw screamed, run! but, for some reason, she couldn't move; like the tom's gaze had rooted her to the spot.

There was a long pause; the tom finally slit his eyes. "All right. I'll make you a deal. I'll answer your questions if you answer mine."

Tinypaw shook herself and mustered a nod. No! her head screamed; Tinypaw didn't know what had come over her...

The tom chuckled and turned his back to her; he began to walk away. As he was walking, he turned around and called over his shoulder, "Go to the half bridge this evening, at sunset. I'll be there." With that, he disappeared in the reeds.

Throughout the rest of the day, Tinypaw pondered her strange encounter. She knew immediately that he was bad news; she felt that in her heart. But he seemed so serene, she couldn't figure out his personality. What would it hurt if she met with him?

Then again, she thought with a shiver, she had that vague sense that she had seen him before, if only for a minute or two. And his laugh...

Tinypaw shook her head. She padded over to the entrance to camp, then stopped. She began to pace in front of it, looking occasionally at the sun sinking lower and lower into the sky.

Finally, after a good amount of pacing and thinking, Tinypaw let out a frustrated sigh and sat down roughly. Swallowpaw, Bubblepaw, Laureltail, and Runningbreeze padded over to the entrance, getting ready to leave for the evening patrol.

Swallowpaw looked at her sister, puzzled. "What's up, Tinypaw?" She asked.

Tinypaw stopped her grumbling and looked up. "Nothing. I'm fine." Tinypaw muttered; she knew her sister was smarter than believing that excuse.

Just as Tinypaw thought, Swallowpaw didn't look convinced. After a while, she mewed, "I know that you're troubled now, and I want you to know that I'm here to talk to. You don't have to give me such a lousy explanation." She nudged Tinypaw playfully.

Tinypaw smiled. "Thanks. I'll keep that in mind." Swallowpaw nodded in approval, and left for the patrol.

Soon, the camp clearing became emptier and emptier as cats turned in for the night and took up watches. Tinypaw yawned, and saw that the sun was starting to stain the sky rose and deep scarlet as it set over the horizon. If she was going, it would have to be now.

Tinypaw looked around, and saw that no cat was out except for her and one apprentice, who was dozing already beside the medicine den. She made sure that he was looking the other way before quietly slipping out of the entrance and into the night.

Tinypaw felt the ground under her paws, still warm from the heat of the day but cooling fast as the light faded. She breathed deeply, scenting water vole and the fresh river nearby. She longed to leap in it, to feel the cool water against her pelt, but she was on a mission.

Tinypaw padded quickly to the ShadowClan border, sniffing carefully for any stray monsters on the MonsterPlace grounds. After finding there were none, she trotted over to the half-bridge just as the first stars were appearing in Silverpelt.

Tinypaw slowed as she approached, a tingle of memory staining her mind as she looked at the half-bridge; the water level was lower now because of the dry season, but the bitter memories of that one encounter still haunted Tinypaw to this day.

She remembered the scary ginger tom, with the rat-breath and the sharp teeth...

She reached the corner of the half-bridge that would bring her to the meeting spot, and hesitated. If she rounded the bend, she would finally get some answers. But she could also be seriously hurt. Tinypaw shook away that last thought.

Tinypaw mustered her courage, turned the corner; and gasped.

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