Chapter 1

A moon had passed since the deadly battle between Frostwind and her rogues. The Clans were recovering from the battle. Stormsong sighed as she remembered what had happened that day. Spiderfang had died because of that battle. Because she was the one who brought the rogues to the Clans.

Sorrow clenched at Stormsong's heart when she stared at the freshly turned mound of dirt. Spiderfang's body had been buried close to camp. Grass and bushes were beginning to grow around the mound as if to preserve it. Ferncloud often came to the spot along with Dustpelt.

"He would have made a good leader," some cat had said when they returned from the battle.

She shook her head and tried not to think about it as she returned to camp. It was buzzing with activity as cats repaired or patched up dens. With leafbare coming the Clan wanted to prepare for the worst. Firestar had told her that the last couple of leafbares had been hard on the Clan. Cats had died because there was little prey or the cold had gotten to them. A shiver coursed down Stormsong's spine at the thought of dying just from the cold.

"There you are!" Stormsong tried to look pleased when she saw Squirreltail bounding towards her. The dark ginger she-cat's fluffy tail waved proudly in the air when she reached her friend. "Graystripe wants us on a hunting patrol."

"Don't we have enough fresh-kill?" Stormsong inclined her muzzle to the fresh-kill pile. It was full of prey, but that prey had been from the day before.

"He thought it might be good for...you know," Squirreltail explained with a sheepish shrug. "Besides, Brambleclaw's coming with us."

Oh great, now they get to act all moony around me, Stormsong thought with a roll of her eyes.

With a simple nod she padded after Squirreltail when Brambleclaw emerged from the warrior's den. The dark brown tabby had spent much of his time either arguing with Squirreltail or hunting with her. Stormsong wasn't sure why he even bothered spending his time with her. All they ever did was argue over who was better.

Brambleclaw's amber eyes glowed with amusement as he watched Stormsong struggle to keep up. Hunting with these two was like hunting with a lumbering badger. It just couldn't be done without losses.

"So I hear you can control fire now," Brambleclaw murmured when they reached the Sky Oak. When Stormsong's ears flattened his tail flicked from side to side. "Those kind of powers would come in handy during battles. I'm surprised Firestar hasn't given you an apprentice to train yet."

It's not like there are any kits to mentor, she reminded him silently. Ferncloud's kits had almost reached their six moons, but she doubted Firestar would let her mentor one of them. Besides,she wasn't sure if she was ready to handle any of Ferncloud's kits.

"Why don't we split up from here," Squirreltail suggested. "I can hunt near the Sky Oak while Stormsong can check Sunningrocks. Brambleclaw can check around the sandy hollow. There's usually some kind of prey hanging around there."

Squirreltail's eyes narrowed when Brambleclaw stalked away. Stormsong rolled her own eyes once more and bounded through the undergrowth.

She was thankful that her friend had told Brambleclaw off. If any cat knew about her abilities they would question why they were given to her. Of all cats to have powers that could destroy the Clans, it had to be her!

She remembered what Spottedleaf had told her before the battle started. She'd been given gifts. One was to control fire at will. The other was to see in the darkest of places. She wasn't sure how many gifts she had at the moment.

Dark gray clouds swept across the sky when Stormsong reached an opening of the trees. She knew that rain was on it's way. The scent of moisture filled the air, along with the rich scent of mice and shrews. Her mouth began to water at the thought of eating a tasty mouse.

Her heartbeat suddenly began to quicken when she heard a screech sounding from nearby. It came from the direction of Sunningrocks.

Blood roared in Stormsong's ears as she made her way towards the granite-colored boulders. She didn't stop until the yowling grew louder.

Stormsong's eyes widened in disbelief when she reached Sunningrocks. A large dark brown warrior was pacing along the river's edge on the other side of the border. She recognized his icy blue eyes anywhere. Pelt bristling with frustration, she was about to step forward when she heard the wail.

"Hang on Minnowpaw, we'll get you out of there!" It was Feathertail, one of Graystripe's kits.

She spotted what appeared to be a berry-shaped paw slipping out of the water as it churned violently. Stormsong felt her heart sink when she realized the young apprentice was drowning.

"Mousebrain we can't go in there, the current's too strong!" Hawkfrost spat when he dragged a screeching Feathertail away. "We need a branch or something for her to pull on."

Almost as soon as he had said it Stormsong grabbed a branch that had been cut down in a previous storm. The end of the branch looked like the claws of a badger. This was exactly what Minnowpaw needed.

She trotted towards the river with the branch between her teeth. "Will this work?" she asked. Her voice was muffled by the wood, but both cats understood her clearly.

Feathertail looked relieved when Stormsong threw the other end of the branch into the river. Minnowpaw was still struggling to get to the other side of the river. Stormsong was about to call her over when the apprentice grasped the branch's end with her teeth.

She was shocked at how heavy Minnowpaw was. The apprentice seemed so tiny against the river, but as she pulled she realized this wasn't going to work. Suddenly Stormsong felt strong teeth grab at the other side of the branch. Her eyes narrowed when she saw that it was Hawkfrost helping her out.

After what felt like moons of pulling the two had finally saved Minnowpaw. The small apprentice coughed out water when she made it to shore. Though her pelt was soaked to the bone she looked as though she would survive the ordeal.

"What in StarClan's name were you doing?" Stormsong demanded when Hawkfrost dragged her onto RiverClan's side of the border. "She could have drowned!"

"We were teaching her how to fish," Feathertail explained. Her voice was filled with guilt when she looked down at her paws. "I didn't realize the river was so full until we got here."

"So this mousebrain decided to try out her fishing skills while we were talking," Hawkfrost added harshly.

He glared down at Minnowpaw, whose tail was tucked between her legs.

"I-I-I-" She didn't finish her sentence when she collapsed on the ground.

"You'd better get a medicine cat to look at her," Stormsong murmured.

"I'll take her," Feathertail mewed.

She grabbed the apprentice by her scruff and began to carry her back to where ever RiverClan's camp was. Stormsong was left alone to face Hawkfrost as he stood on the other side of the river. His blue eyes were bright with curiosity when he gazed at her.

"Thank you...for saving her," he finally meowed when heartbeats of silence followed. "You didn't have to."

Stormsong's ears burned with embarrassment at his praise. She was about to say something else when a yowl sounded from behind her. She whipped her head around to see Squirreltail and Brambleclaw racing forward.

"Hawkfrost, what are you doing so close to the border?" Brambleclaw demanded.

"I was just about to ask you the same question," he growled back. "Don't stray too far over the border."

With that and a final look at Stormsong, he stalked off towards the direction Feathertail had gone.

"You didn't have to scare him off," she muttered when they were alone. "He was just thanking me."

"For what?" Squirreltail asked.

Stormsong knew better than to answer that question. Her heart felt torn between telling them the truth about Minnowpaw's lucky escape and keeping her encounter with Hawkfrost a secret. It was better they didn't know the amount of confusion that filled her head.

"Did you catch anything while you were out here?" Brambleclaw added when he eyed Stormsong's empty paws.

Once again her ears flattened in embarrassment. She had returned empty-pawed after all.

"Come on Brambleclaw, we caught plenty of fresh-kill," Squirreltail suddenly told him. "We can always divide it if we have to."

Brambleclaw's eyes narrowed into tiny slits before he nodded. Stormsong shot her friend a thankful look before bounding ahead. With Hawkfrost gone she could concentrate once again on the path ahead.

Maybe saving Minnowpaw wasn't such a bad idea after all, she thought to herself.

AN: Thanks to Foxbracken for your review! I plan on finishing this within a month or two. It hopefully won't take time away from my other stories ^^ I am still working on chapter two for Burning River and chapter three for FireClan's Story. Both should have chapter updates by this weekend though.