Woo, new update~ I forgot to put up ANs earlier so...here they are. XD

Onto the story~

The moon was bright and full as a silver eye as Cranepaw ran alongside Racingpaw. The shadows weren't as deep here as in ShadowClan territory, where the dark pines kept out most of the light. Here Silverpelt shone down fully, and Cranepaw could pick out every blade of grass in his path.

He was surprised that he was allowed to go to the Gathering tonight. After Silversong's death, he'd shown no interest in anything—not hunting, not stealth training, not even eating. He knew his ribs were a bit more prominent than they should be but he liked it. Hunger kept him on guard. It kept him focused.

And he would certainly be focused tonight.

Fourtrees was empty. Raggedstar flicked his tail and the ShadowClan warriors dispersed to their usual positions, sitting half-shaded from the moon, their eyes alight as they waited for the other Clans. Raggedstar himself leapt to the top of the Great Rock, Cloudpelt prowling around below him.

Foxheart had been killed a few days previously in a rat attack at Carrionplace. Cranepaw had been absolutely positive that Brokentail had something to do with it, burning with the desire to report him to Raggedstar, but it had fallen through. Brokentail had been with Nightpelt himself on the ThunderClan border, checking out the scent-markers there.

Just because he seemed contrite didn't mean he didn't do it, Cranepaw thought. Besides, raw desire was in Brokentail's eyes in the few heartbeats between Raggedstar's eulogy to Foxheart and his appointment of Cloudpelt had given him away: he wanted to be deputy, despite him only having an apprentice for a pawful of days. He'd looked furious when his father hadn't chosen him for deputy.

Cranepaw glanced over to where the dark warrior was crowded close to Blackfoot, their heads bent together as they whispered. Brokentail caught Cranepaw's gaze and held it, his orange eyes burning, until Cranepaw had to look away, feeling ashamed.

Nightpelt was beside Cranepaw suddenly, bending to whisper into his ear, "Remember, don't give away anything to the other Clans. You can talk to them but don't say anything about ShadowClan. Keep it simple."

Racingpaw puffed out his chest. "Shall I tell them how I snuck onto WindClan territory two days ago and caught a rabbit?"

Cranepaw and Nightpelt laughed at that but Crowtail, who had happened to pass by at the wrong time, whipped over to her apprentice.

Cuffing him hard over the ear, she growled, "You better keep that to yourself, or you'll worry about plucking ticks off of StarClan's warriors!"

"Geez," Racingpaw muttered, rubbing his head crossly as Crowtail walked away. "You'd think she'd have warmed up to me by now. Sour old rat."

Nightpelt said sternly, "Racingpaw, as a warrior of ShadowClan, I have to tell you that you shouldn't talk that way about your mentor. Raggedstar picked her especially for you." Then, after a quick glance over his shoulder, he added in a lower tone, "But if I'm speaking as myself, I would have to agree that Crowtail is a sour old rat, as well as a bumblepaws. But of course, as a warrior of ShadowClan, I couldn't say that, could I?" He nodded once to them before walking away, stately as ever, to talk to Ashfur and Brightflower.

Racingpaw watched him go, exhilarated glee on his face. "Did I ever tell you that you have the coolest mentor ever? Seriously, I don't think Nightpelt could get any cooler if he was soaked to the skin in the middle of leaf-bare."

"That's quite the extensive metaphor," Cranepaw said.

Racingpaw turned to him, surprised. "Are you angry at me?"

"No."

"Are you angry at someone?"

"No."

"Are you angry—"

"Racingpaw, I'm not angry at anybody."

With a little less concern and a lot more teasing, Racingpaw bounced from paw to paw, scuffing up clouds of dust. "So if you're not angry, you must be happy, right? Or sad, or excited, or gleeful, or depressed, or—"

"Or annoyed! Because some bigmouthed rabbit thief won't stop blabbering!" Cranepaw pounced onto his back, pushing Racingpaw into the dirt. They scuffled for a little bit before Crowtail made an angry gesture in their direction, her pale eyes cold and cutting as ice, and they quickly parted, laughing.

And that was one of the many reasons Cranepaw was so fond of Racingpaw. Even if his friend knew he didn't want to talk about something, he wouldn't push it. Racingpaw, in his Racingpaw way, would change the subject and make it fun.

There was a ripple of motion as ShadowClan warriors perked their ears, falling into defensive alertness. Cranepaw followed their gazes to see a wave of cats come streaking down the side of the hill into Fourtrees. They smelled like mud and salt.

RiverClan, Cranepaw thought. His eyes slid over the warriors, trying, as he always did, to pick out any similarities between them and himself. One of them was his father. Was it the tough deputy? The black warrior? The tom with green eyes and a pale pelt?

He tried to convince himself that it didn't matter and it didn't: he didn't need a father. He needed to find out who had killed his mother.

A small dark tabby apprentice was sitting off to the side by himself. He was looking to the south ridge, his nose twitching.

"Wait here," Cranepaw said to Racingpaw, who was eyeing a battle-scarred tom with acute interest, obviously dying to ask him how he managed to get so many.

"No problem," Racingpaw said easily, starting towards the tom.

"Are you waiting for WindClan?" Cranepaw asked as he trotted up to the apprentice, sitting down beside him. Their shoulders didn't line up; Cranepaw had to tip his head down to look the apprentice in the eyes.

The apprentice looked surprised. "How did you know?" he asked, a bit of a quiver in his voice. He looked young, maybe a bit younger than Cranepaw himself. It must have been his first Gathering.

Cranepaw shrugged, trying not to look like he was prying too much. Cats seemed to shut down at that, and if he wanted information, he had to play it safe. "You just looked it, I guess. Do you have friends there?"

"Yeah, I do," the apprentice said. "Up until one moon ago, I lived in WindClan. This is my first time at a Gathering since then, so I haven't seen my Clanm-my former Clanmates in awhile."

Cranepaw's fur bristled in surprise. "Tallstar let you leave that easily? He didn't even try to stop you?"He thought back to the Tallstar he'd seen, around a moon ago now. He seemed cold and half-starved, concerned over the fate of his Clan. Perhaps it had been easier for him to let a few apprentices go to feed the older cats.

"Well, I...I wouldn't say that," he answered hesitantly. "The real problem came with trying to get Crookedstar to accept me. I finally just finished my trial period yesterday."

"That's a shame," Cranepaw said, aiming for sympathetic and hoping he was achieving it. "I'm Cranepaw by the way. ShadowClan."

"Owlpaw," the apprentice said, looking a bit relieved. "RiverClan. Barely."

Cranepaw laughed. "How have things been in RiverClan? Anything out of the ordinary? Besides your joining, of course," Cranepaw said lightly. He watched Owlpaw closely for any trace of doubt or suspicion. If he could get this apprentice to talk, he could find out so much about RiverClan. After all, if what he said was true and he really was halfClan, he shouldn't have any lingering ties to RiverClan yet.

"Well enough." Owlpaw sounded cautious. "Nothing strange. Why, is there something in particular you wanted to know?"

Cranepaw paused for a moment, hating himself for failing so quickly. Deciding to get right to the point, he asked, "Do you know about Silversong?"

He hoped against hope that something would trigger Owlpaw to tell him anything but he looked confused. "Who? Is she in RiverClan? I haven't met her before."

Cranepaw felt bitter disappointment. "Oh. No, she's not in RiverClan. That's fine." He shook himself, trying to clear away the gloominess clouding his thoughts. "No, I was just wondering. It had something to do with patrols. Does Crookedstar send warriors into Fourtrees for patrols?"

"All the way here? Absolutely not. Why would he bother when Fourtrees is a neutral place? There's no one to defend from over here."

No one would be defended there, Cranepaw thought darkly. But even as much as he wanted to believe that RiverClan had killed his mother, he couldn't. It just wasn't true.

So that left one last option. Now if only he could prove it.

Owlpaw's voice cut across his thoughts. "Do you have some kind of connection with RiverClan?" he asked, sounding a bit nervous again. He was shifting from paw to paw. "Since you're asking about them and all, I mean."

Cranepaw felt a bit of surprise. After so much gossiping from the loudmouth Littlebird, he could have sworn that the entire forest knew of his history—especially a cat from RiverClan, no matter how recently. "I'm…halfClan, too. My father is from RiverClan."

"Really?" Owlpaw sounded so excited that Cranepaw was a bit taken aback. "Who is he? I could give a message to him if he isn't here tonight, if you like."

Cranepaw turned his head away. "Not anyone I know or anyone I care about. My mother never told me who he was. Thanks anyway, though."

"Oh," Owlpaw said. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…" He cut off, his head going to the side, his mouth dropping open as he drank in scent.

Half a heartbeat later, Cranepaw scented it too: WindClan had arrived.

Owlpaw was looking wistfully at the sleek-pelted warriors, so Cranepaw said, "Go ahead. Go see your friends. Maybe I'll see you at another Gathering."

"It was nice meeting you," Owlpaw said, his paws already carrying him towards WindClan. He nodded. "I hope we can meet again soon." He ran away, disappearing into the pale pelts of WindClan, and Cranepaw turned away, not entirely disappointed anymore.

The pale young leader Crookedstar had leapt up beside Raggedstar. They barely looked at each other, their backs bristling. Clearly no love was lost there, Cranepaw thought. Timberfur had obviously passed on ShadowClan's message for their leader.

Tallstar made his way more slowly to the Great Rock, shoulder to shoulder with the black deputy Deadfoot. Coiling his legs beneath him, he sprang up onto the rock, stumbling a bit. His claws scraped along the surface of the rock as he struggled. After a moment, Crookedstar took pity on him and pulled him up while Raggedstar watched coldly, his eyes gleaming.

A RiverClan warrior clicked her tongue. "Look at that," she whispered to the WindClan queen beside her. "He didn't even try to help."

Cranepaw heard it and held his tongue, though with difficulty. It wasn't Raggedstar's place to be the WindClan leader's keeper. ShadowClan weren't supposed to worry about the other Clans, not unless they were on ShadowClan territory. Then they'd only have to worry about how much blood there would be beneath their claws before the trespassers were out.

Racingpaw came up to Cranepaw, his eyes bright. "You will not believe the stories I heard from this cat Rapidstrike," he said. "He's been in more battles than Crowtail!"

"Oh really?" Cranepaw asked, trying to delve completely into this new conversation. Anger at others doubting Raggedstar had rubbed him the wrong way.

"Oh yeah. RiverClan's fought against ThunderClan like a hundred times over Sunningrocks. They just won it back three moons ago, he told me. Well, before they lost it again to ThunderClan like a few days ago."

"He told you that?"

Racingpaw nodded eagerly. "He was so cool, Cranepaw. I'll introduce you to him next Gathering."

Cranepaw felt a small bubble of relief beneath his ribs. Something to look forward to, he thought. "Sounds good."

ThunderClan arrived shortly after. Sunstar leapt agilely to the top of the Great Rock, landing with grace that made Cranepaw a bit jealous. His deputy Tawnyspots settled into his position at the base, sitting close to Deadfoot. He looked ill, his fur patchy. As Cranepaw watched, he sniffled.

"Looks like ThunderClan will need a new deputy soon," he whispered to Racingpaw.

Racingpaw was looking over the throng of new warriors, their scent deep and musky, tainted by their territory. "They won't have to look far. ThunderClan look strong. Look at that one near Brokentail!"

He nodded to a dark brown tabby. He had a fresh scar across the bridge of his nose, which made him look even more fearsome. Brokentail had settled in comfortably with the tom, and he and Blackfoot were talking easily with him.

Racingpaw sighed blissfully. "They are too impossibly cool."

"You say 'cool' too much." Cranepaw settled onto his belly, ready to hear the news of the forest. He wondered if Raggedstar would say anything about Silversong. He must, he thought. It's the most important news for ShadowClan.

"As soon as you find an alternative, I'll be glad to hear it."

Crowtail shot them an ugly look as she walked by, headed to a closer spot. "If I hear you two whispering, I'll put you on mouse bile collection for a moon!"

Racingpaw nodded quickly to her, waiting until her back was turned to mimic her words outrageously. When she spun around angrily, he pretended to yawn widely, his tongue curling.

Cranepaw barely could stifle his laughter.

Sunstar yowled, signaling the beginning of the Gathering. The crowd fell silent at the sound, each cat leaning forward in the darkness, their eyes bright flashes like lightning.

The medicine cats sat in a close group together, each with their face upturned to the moon. Even Runningpaw, sitting shoulder to shoulder with WindClan's new medicine cat apprentice, looked serene and peaceful and untouchable in a way Cranepaw had never thought him. One with StarClan.

Sunstar said, "I will begin. ThunderClan's prey runs well this moon. We are well-fed and strong. Our new expansion to our territory has fed our queens and elders quite well." His eyes flashed to Crookedstar.

"Sunningrocks," Racingpaw muttered.

Crookedstar, to his credit, did not even twitch his whiskers at that. He looked at Sunstar calmly, awaiting his turn.

Sunstar narrowed his yellow eyes a bit. "We have new additions," he went on, sweeping back to the crowd. "Bluefur has recently given birth to a litter of three strong kits. Soon to be strong warriors."

A murmur of appreciation went up.

"We have a new warrior." Sunstar's eyes went to the corner of Fourtrees closest to ShadowClan. "Tigerclaw is now a warrior."

Cranepaw followed his gaze. It was the same dark tabby Brokentail had been talking to earlier. He stood, his chest puffed out with pride, his eyes gleaming. He had dark amber eyes, which looked nearly black in the darkness. After a moment in which the Clans repeated his new name a bit, as if they belonged to ThunderClan too, he sat down next to Brokentail and Blackfoot, continuing to watch the proceedings silently.

He looked to Crookedstar but Tallstar stepped forward. "WindClan are thriving," he said, despite the obviousness of his bones through his fur. "But we have detected scents of ShadowClan near the border. Raggedstar, can you explain this?"

Raggedstar kept his face clear of emotion. "That is news," he agreed. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Yeah," Cranepaw agreed, whispering to Racingpaw. "I guess when he told us to hunt freely in the moors he was just joking."

Crowtail's ears twitched and they fell silent, not willing to risk boxed ears or worse—a report to Raggedstar.

Tallstar said sleekly, "You might want to keep a closer check on your warriors, Raggedstar. If they think they can enter WindClan territory without repercussions, they are mistaken."

"You are mistaken, Tallstar, if you believe my warriors would waste time on your desecrated moorland."

"Desecrated!" Tallstar's eyes flashed. Below him, Deadfoot growled low in his throat. "You'd do better to watch your mouth when you speak of one of StarClan's chosen Clans!"

Raggedstar shook his head. "Forgive me, Tallstar. I meant no disrespect. I didn't mean to imply you were a liar."

"A liar?" Tallstar narrowed his eyes. "I don't follow."

Raggedstar turned his shoulder, sharing a glance with Cloudpelt. He said, "Well, you said that you were thriving. Unless looking like roadkill classifies as thriving..."

ShadowClan warriors laughed at the spluttering look of disbelief on Tallstar's face. Cranepaw joined in, feeling a bit bad when Owlpaw caught his eye from a dark mottled WindClan apprentice's side. Cranepaw shrugged it away. He was ShadowClan. He was proud. That was all the explanation he needed.

"We also have a new warrior," Raggedstar went on, ignoring Tallstar's furious hiss. "Stumpytail has earned his warrior name."

As with Tigerclaw, the Clans chanted Stumpytail's new name, though WindClan stayed coldly silent.

Stumpytail, in his usual fashion, didn't seem to notice. He lifted his chin, drinking in the praise, while Clawpaw watched with undisguised jealousy from beside him.

Frowning just slightly, the ShadowClan leader turned to Crookedstar. "I also must announce with great sadness the death of one of our own. Silversong was found murdered on the border of ShadowClan and Fourtrees a few nights ago."

Now the Clans broke their silence. A single gasp went through the clearing, enough that Cranepaw felt the chill of the silence within his bones.

"But she was so young!" Tawnyspots said, his expression aghast.

"Too young to go, I say," a ThunderClan queen murmured to her neighbor, who nodded easily.

Cranepaw felt his eyes seek out any looks of guilt from RiverClan but they all looked regretful, turning to their Clanmates with drooping tails and ears.

He felt the strength of their gazes as they turned to him, their fishy scents catching the breeze, foreign and salty. Obviously his parentage was known on both sides of the border.

"ShadowClan will seek out who did this. Silversong's death will not go unpunished." And to Cranepaw's shock, he turned a fierce eye on the WindClan leader, his lip curling. Was he accusing Tallstar of the murder?

"You better watch yourself, Raggedstar," Tallstar growled, but he backed away from the larger leader; Raggedstar looked triumphant.

It was Crookedstar's turn. He prowled forward, his shoulders moving smoothly beneath his pale pelt. He looked odd, his face twisted into a permanent grimace. Cranepaw wondered why RiverClan would follow such a weak-looking leader, especially since that injury probably taxed him in hunting.

"RiverClan are doing fine this moon," he said, his mew deep and powerful. "We have a new apprentice joining us. Owlpaw."

A murmur of surprise rose up.

"A new apprentice?" Stumpytail muttered, his voice carrying in the silence of the clearing. "How is that possible?"

"Crookedstar, please tell us about this…interesting new development," Sunstar said, his eyes already seeking out the new apprentice.

"Owlpaw has come to join us. He is a good, strong addition to the Clan." Crookedstar turned his face away. "That's all the news from RiverClan."

Sunstar looked surprised at the sudden end to the conversation but didn't say anything.

Tallstar, sensing the end of the Gathering, leapt to the bottom of the Great Rock, cast one foul look back up at Raggedstar, before saying, "This Gathering is over. WindClan, to me!"

Cranepaw watched through the throngs of warriors as Owlpaw followed his WindClan friend to the border, stopping at the edge of the hill, and watching wistfully as the rest of his former Clan disappeared into the night. Cranepaw felt a hollowness in his chest as he watched the apprentice turn to his new Clanmates and head back to their territory.

He supposed he could have made the same decision, to go to RiverClan and try to find his father. But the idea of tasting vengeance was far too strong for that, and his pride wouldn't let him leave ShadowClan. They were in his blood, in his brain. He couldn't cut away ShadowClan from himself as much as he could cut away his own heart.

Racingpaw, easily distracted, had bounded over to Raggedstar's side and was asking a rapid peal of questions, his tail flashing from side to side as he jabbered.

Cranepaw watched for a moment, amused. Then something caught his eye.

The new ThunderClan warrior Tigerclaw was just leaving Brokentail's side, coming out from the thick bushes they'd been sheltering in. What was that about?

Without giving himself time to reconsider, Cranepaw darted for the bushes. Tigerclaw's body held open a cleft spot in the thorns and Cranepaw wriggled in, feeling the thorns bite into his shoulders.

Brokentail didn't wait long after Tigerclaw had left to speak: "He'll work out perfectly."

Blackfoot didn't sound so sure. "When?"

"When I'm leader. He'll be a great asset, Blackfoot. You just wait."

"I'm still not sure about this, Brokentail," Blackfoot said, his voice a bit shaky. "After how Raggedstar looked at you during Cloudpelt's appointment… I think he suspects you."

"Yes, and because of that little rat Cranepaw." There was a sharp sound and Cranepaw imagined, heart hammering, that Brokentail had lashed out with his claws at the bushes. "I can't go anywhere without him following me. He thinks I'm responsible for his pain. Poor pitiful him." He laughed once, an ugly sound.

Cranepaw could barely hold himself still. He was shaking with rage. How dare Brokentail speak about him like that? He was a strong and proud member of ShadowClan.

Blackfoot went on as Cranepaw fumed, and he actually leaned a bit closer to hear. "…but that's the problem. And I don't like how you made me lie to Raggedstar. I'm loyal to you, Brokentail, but ShadowClan comes before friendship."

"It will all be worth it soon," Brokentail replied smoothly. "When you're the deputy, you'll be eating your words now."

"I just don't think it's worth it." Blackfoot sounded defeated then, and Cranepaw imagined him with flattened ears. "All these…lies and secrets. It's not right."

"Put your heart out of this, Blackfoot," Brokentail said, his voice almost lost among the calls of Raggedstar to ShadowClan, gathering them up to head back home. There was the sound of Brokentail standing. "It'll make it a lot easier."

"What?" Blackfoot demanded. "More murder?"

The word went through Cranepaw like a claw.

Brokentail didn't miss a beat. "If you think of it like that, it might be difficult. Try thinking of it as…relocation. We'll get rid of the problem cats and go from there. We'll sweep through ShadowClan like a wave, and scrape all the useless warriors out. ShadowClan will be strong again. If you'll be with me."

Blackfoot sighed tightly. "I'm with you. But I don't want any repeat of that last bit of business. I don't like to get my paws messy. If you're going to…relocate…someone, at least let it be from another Clan."

Brokentail laughed. He slid out of the thorn bush right in front of Cranepaw, stretching each long dark leg as he went. His orange eyes flashed. "Don't worry," he assured Blackfoot, nudging his friend's shoulder. "There won't be a repeat of the Silversong business. That's nice and neat and out of the way now."

They left, hurrying to catch up with Raggedstar, who was waiting at the top of the hill.

Cranepaw was left behind, stuck in place, his legs like ice. He felt frozen all over, his eyes unblinking, his heart beating very quickly in his chest. A film of red danced down over his eyes, blinding him momentarily as a single thought went through his head, over and over again, like the sharp cutting cry of a hawk.

I'm going to kill Brokentail.

Yaaaay~ Revenge~ My favorite theme ever. X3

Thanks to you guys who are reviewing. And to you who are not reviewing-please do! I don't bite, I swear! And I definitely like to get feedback on what you like or what you think is frickin' weird. XD

Anyhoo. You go on about your day. Yes yes. ^.^

R&R~

Shadow