You know, I kind of totally forgot about this fic. I've had the first bit of this chapter written for who knows how long, but then I got sucked into other stuff and just never came back to it. But I get the occasional review telling me to update even now, so I decided to actually do something for once. And now that I've gotten into it again, I'll try to finish.

Enjoy!

Sasha padded over the alley as the sun fell in the sky. She was early, she knew, but she couldn't help it. She hadn't told anyone where she was going, not even Aurora. She thought it was best that way. Now even if Scourge's posse questioned her friend once Sasha was gone, they wouldn't get anything out of her.

Her paws prickled and her stomach twisted in anticipation as night approached. She heard the tapping of claws in a nearby alley and flattened herself against the grimy wall, only to roll her eyes in annoyance as a cream-colored tom padded into her alley, his amber eyes searching. "Sasha."

"Get out of here, Caeser!" Sasha snapped.

He recoiled, and the fur on his huge form began to bristle. "What's wrong with you today? Does Scourge have you spying?"

"I-" Sasha began, and then stopped, liking that excuse. "Yes," she meowed. "Spying. That's it."

"On what? Those forest cats? But I thought they left."

"Well, he just wants to make sure that they have," Sasha mewed, perfectly nonchalant, and then added, "Have you seen them around?"

"No," he meowed, shaking his head. "Toby and Sylvia tracked them when they left. I heard that they got off the road trail into the grass around sunhigh."

Sasha's tail twitched. They could have doubled all the way back here in that time. It was possible. But she'd never know if Caeser didn't get out of here!

"Why don't you go pick on some kittens or something?" she meowed in exasperation. "Leave me to what I'm doing. Unless you want Scourge to catch us and rip both our ears off."

Caeser backed up. Despite how tough he attacked, he too was afraid of Scourge. Just like all the others. It infuriated Sasha, how so many of them- toms and she-cats alike- didn't have dreams of escape. Even Aurora seemed satisfied with what little she had. Was Sasha the only one?

She watched irritably as Caeser plodded off. He was so gullible. Like Bone, the only thing he had no trouble thinking about was unsheathing his claws. Sasha comforted herself with thinking that she'd soon leave him behind. Her mind landed on Tigerstar again. Tigerstar. She doubted he had trouble baring his claws, but she had a feeling that he thought, too. The forest Clan leader. What was he really like?

What's it like, in a Clan? she wondered. She thought it must be odd, living in a forest with leaves and flowers and fresh mice all around. Garbage was at least dependable to find...and she would be happy living without petals and moss in her fur all the time. Her paws itched as she thought of what it would be like to have grass beneath them, instead of the constant concrete that had toughened her pads.

Sasha shook her head and concentrated on her plan. She had decided that she would pretend to be escorting Tigerstar and Boulder back to the forest. Once they had cleared Scourge's land they would have to make a break for it. Her conversation with Caeser had been loud enough to convince any spy in the area that she was just following Scourge's orders, so they would have time.

Her paws prickled as she heard the sound of approaching pawsteps. Boulder and Tigerstar came up the alley, Boulder looking acutely nervous, Tigerstar almost expressionless. Quickly Sasha rose to her paws, claws unsheathed. She arranged her face so that she looked angry. "Hey! You're not supposed to be here!"

Boulder went through shock, fear, anger, and then understanding in about a heartbeat's time. He nodded and his tail whipped back against Tigerstar's chest, signaling for him to be silent. . Sasha noted that this seemed to annoy the much bigger forest cat.

"We just came back to speak with Scourge again," mewed Boulder, keeping up the charade.

"Tough. He doesn't want to talk to you," Sasha spat. "Come with me. I'll take you to BloodClan's limits."

"Don't think you can force us to do anything," Tigerstar growled.

Sasha let out a mrrow of laughter and looked over her shoulder, waiting until Tigerstar and Boulder followed her gaze. As they did so, several pairs of icy BloodClan eyes opened in the alley shadows. Unsheathed claws and reinforcing dogs' teeth scratched the pavement. The sound echoed, and even Sasha could not surpress a shiver as she meowed, "Do you really believe that?"

&&&

It was very odd to be simply walking out of the place she'd dreamed of leaving for moons. Sasha, in front of Boulder and Tigerstar, was having difficulty keeping a steady pace. Her paws tugged at her to run, to flee the Twolegplace and not look back. But that would surely alert Scourge's spies. She had to keep calm until the time was right.

"How do you forest cats ever get by?" she called to them behind her, carefully inflicting just the right mocking edge to her voice. "Where do you sleep without any shelter?"

"We have dens," Boulder meowed. His tone was eager as he spoke of his forest life, and Sasha realized how much he loved it, especially compared to the BloodClan territory he had left behind. "ShadowClan is sheltered by gorse and heather that keeps out wind and rain. Our enemies, too."

"That must be nice," meowed Sasha blandly. She tried to piece it together in her head.

Tigerstar took a few leaps forward until he was beside her. "In the Clan, we look out for each other." His deep, rumbling voice was like a challenge to look into his eyes, and Sasha did. "The queens take care of their kits, and we hunt for and protect the queens. The warriors train the apprentices and share duties guarding and feeding the rest of the Clan. And the leader--" and here he drew himself proudly up-- "he makes the decisions for the Clan, so that they may stay strong."

"And what if some cat doesn't like those decisions?" Sasha asked, still looking into his eyes. They were a dark scorching amber, the power and intelligence in their depths nearly taking her breath away.

He let out a rumble that wasn't really a purr and held up a paw with claws longer than any others she'd seen before. "Then you show that cat the error of their ways."

Sasha lashed her tail. "You don't seem like the kind of weak-willed cat who would risk his own life to save a rogue like me."

Before Tigerstar could reply, Boulder made an uncomfortable noise from behind them. Sasha whipped around to look at him. "What is it?"

She saw the regret in his eyes and her belly twisted-- what was it? What about this plan hadn't they told her? She could feel the golden fur rising on her neck, her claws sinking into the soil beneath her. "What is it?" she repeated, trying to keep her voice steady. "What haven't you told me?"

"Nothing." Boulder jerked his head up, avoiding her eyes. "It's nothing."

Sasha snorted. She knew he was lying, though she couldn't see how she would be able to get him to confess what about. Her eyes fell back on Tigerstar. Unlike Boulder, the massive tabby met her gaze. His long tail twisted in the air behind him, and the muscles were tense in his pelt. Almost like she was a juicy piece of fresh-kill, Sasha thought, and he was tiring of stalking her. All there was left to do was to wait for the moment when he could rip her throat out.

"Sasha!"

Sasha bolted upright from where she had been crouched in the undergrowth and, as she did so, the rabbit she had been watching lifted its head and sprang away. She let out a long, low hiss. "Boulder! Do you see what you did?"

"Nevermind that." The skinny gray cat leaped out of the bushes. His eyes were huge in his head, his fur standing on end. "Sasha, you've got to get out of here."

"What are you talking about? I already am, or have you forgotten that you were smuggling me out of BloodClan?" She, Boulder, and Tigerstar had paused from their journey back to the Clans to hunt, right along a road that Tigerstar called the Thunderpath.

"No, I don't mean that." Boulder took in a shaky breath. "You have to get away from Tigerstar and me. You can't cross the Thunderpath with us."

"Why not?"

"He...Tigerstar.." Boulder faltered, shuffling his paws, and Sasha's eyes narrowed. "Tell me, Boulder."

"The only reason...he had a plan..." His pale gaze was guilty, full of sorrow, and then Sasha realized, remembering the way Tigerstar had looked at her, the way such an ambitious cat had easily let him into her plans.

"He's planning on giving me back to Scourge."

Boulder lowered his head; nodded. "He thought it would make Scourge more willing to help him on his plans. I tried to explain to him that Scourge doesn't work that way, that it wouldn't make much of a difference what he did, Scourge still wouldn't trust him. But then he said he wouldn't let you come at all...I thought you deserved a chance."

Sasha's lip curled. She couldn't really be surprised; her escape had been too easy. Tigerstar had been all too warm towards her...she should have run from him as soon as they were outside of BloodClan borders.

"Are they following us now?" she demanded. "Scourge?"

"No. He has cats coming to survey the territory in a few days; I think they were planning on taking you back then." A shiver ran the length of Boulder's spine. "Sasha, I couldn't let them take you back...I know what they would have done...if it had been me..."

The queen's paws prickled as she thought of that. "They won't find me," she promised. "I'll run now."

"Good." Boulder looked up again. "But don't stay in Clan territory. Tigerstar has plans, Sasha...and if they work out, BloodClan will soon be sharing part of the forest with the wild cats. For a while, anyway. Then he plans to chase them back out."

Sasha's eyes widened. "Who dropped him on his head when he was a kit? How could he ever think he could beat Scourge?"

Though her words were incredulous, her tone was frankly admiring. She could believe it, could see it deep in her mind: Tigerstar, the first cat to ever conquer Scourge, standing tall beside his dead body. The image made her heart speed up and a tiny flame ignite in her belly.

"Sasha?" Boulder tipped his head sideways as he looked at her; she realized that he must have said something that she'd missed. "Sorry. What?"

"Aren't you going to leave?" Boulder danced uneasily on his front paws.

"Oh. Yes. Of course." Sasha cleared her throat, and without further ado turned and plunged into the undergrowth. She pelted in a zigzag pattern, deliberately hitting on puddles from the recent rain, wanting to confuse her scent. It occured to her that she could have thanked Boulder, but then dismissed the thought. It was too late for that.

She ran on for a long time, until the sun had fallen in the sky and the moon was brightening. Only then did she pause, falling to the ground in exhaustion and yet keeping her ears pricked behind her, listening for the mismatched pawsteps of a skinny gray tomcat and a huge tabby. She didn't hear them, just as she hadn't heard them the entire time she'd been running. Sasha wondered if Boulder had deliberately Tigerstar in the wrong direction, or if the Clan leader just hadn't tried all that hard to find her. For some reason this made her lip curl.

Tigerstar, she thought, resting her head on her aching and muddy paws. When she closed her eyes an image of the forest cat came to her mind. She felt the flame in her belly burn again, and in that moment she knew that she had not seen the last of him. She would make sure she hadn't.

Yeah, a lot happened at once...but I felt the need to kick-start it. :)