Okay here's the new chapter. it was asked that i put in the allegiances back in for characters that have been forgotten during my lack of updating, i will try not to take so long to do the next chapter.

ALLEGIANCES

THUNDERCLAN

Leader: Bluestar- blue-gray she-cat, tinged with silver around the muzzle

Deputy: Tigerclaw-big dark brown tabby tom with unusually long front claws

Medicine cat: Yellowfang- old dark gray she-cat with a broad flattened face

Warriors: Whitestorm - big white tom

Apprentice, Sandpaw

Darkstripe - sleek black and gray tabby tom

Apprentice, Dustpaw

Longtail- pale tabby tom with dark black stripes

Runningwind- swift light brown tabby tom

Willowpelt- very pale gray she-cat with unusual blue eyes

Scourgeclaw- small black tom with one white paw, ice blue eyes

Apprentice, Falconpaw

*Goldenclaw*- golden brown tabby tom

Fireheart -handsome ginger tom

Apprentice, Cinderpaw

Graystripe - long-haired gray tom

Apprentice, Brackenpaw

Apprentices: Sandpaw- pale ginger she-cat

Dustpaw - dark brown tabby tom

Swiftpaw - black and white tom

*Falconpaw*- golden brown tom with black stripe down back ice blue eyes

Cinderpaw -dark gray she-cat blue eyes

Brackenpaw - golden-brown tabby tom

Queens: Frostfur- beautiful white coat and blue eyes

Brindleface - pretty tabby

Goldenflower - pale ginger coat

Speckletail - pale tabby, and the oldest nursery queen

Mossflower - white she-cat with gray patches, bright blue eyes

Mousefur- small dusky brown she-cat

Elders: Halftail - big dark brown tabby tom with part of his tail missing

Smallear- gray tom with very small ears. The oldest cat in ThunderClan

Patchpelt- small black-and-white tom

One-eye- pale gray she-cat, The oldest she-cat in ThunderClan. Virtually blind and deaf.

Dappletail- once-pretty tortoiseshell she-cat with a lovely dappled coat

SHADOWCLAN

Leader: Nightstar - black tom with amber eyes

Deputy: Flintfang - silver gray tom

Medicine cat: Runningnose- small gray and white tom

Warriors: Stumpytail- brown tabby tom

Apprentice, Brownpaw

Boulder- silver tabby tom

Wetfoot- gray tabby tom

Apprentice, Oakpaw

*Stonetail*- light gray tom black tail

*Amberpelt*- ginger she-cat

Apprentice, Pinepaw

Brightflower- black and white she-cat

Littlecloud - very small tabby tom

*Mousefang*- brown and white she- cat

Apprentices: Brownpaw- small brown she-cat

Oakpaw- small brown tom

Pinepaw- gray and white she-cat

Queens: Dawncloud- small tabby

Darkflower- black she-cat

Tallpoppy- long legged light brown tabby she-cat

Elders: Ashfur- thin gray tom

WINDCLAN

Leader: Tallstar- elderly black and white tom, very long tail

Deputy: Deadfoot- a black tom with a twisted paw

Medicine cat: Barkface- short-tailed brown tom

Warriors: Mudclaw- mottled dark brown tom

Apprentice, Webpaw

Tornear- gray tabby tom

Apprentice, Runningpaw

Onewhisker - brown tabby tom

Apprentice, Whitepaw

*Graywind*- mottled gray tom

*Spottedwing* - tortoiseshell and white she-cat with green eyes

Apprentice, Shrewpaw

Apprentices: Webpaw - dark gray tabby tom

Runningpaw- light gray tabby she-cat

Whitepaw- small white she-cat

*Shrewpaw*- dark gray tom

Queens: Morningflower - tortoiseshell she-cat

Ashfoot- gray she-cat

Elders: *Littlebreeze*- dull gray tom

*Rockfur*- scarred dark gray tabby

*Swift-tail*- a light brown tabby she-cat with black tail

RIVERCLAN

Leader: Crookedstar- a huge light-colored tabby tom with a twisted jaw

Deputy: Leopardfur- unusually spotted golden tabby she-cat

Medicine cat: Mudfur- long-haired light brown tom

Warriors:Blackclaw- smoky black tom

Apprentice, Heavypaw

Stonefur- large, broad-shouldered gray tom with amber eyes and battle-scarred ears

Apprentice, Shadepaw

Loudbelly- a dark brown tom

Silverstream- slender silver tabby

*Darkstorm*- huge black tom with blue-gray eyes

*Icestream*- gray and white she-cat

Mosspelt- tortoiseshell she-cat

*Pebblestorm*- mottled dark gray tom

*Honeystream* - light brown she-cat with green eyes

Apprentice, Logpaw

*Trout-tail*- light gray tom with fluffy tail

*Shellfur*- mottled light gray tom

Apprentices: Heavypaw- thickset heavy tabby tom

Shadepaw- very dark gray she-cat

Silverpaw- silver tom

*Logpaw*- brown tabby tom with long, thick tail

Queens: Mistyfoot - dark gray she-cat blue eyes

Elders: Graypool -a gray she-cat with patched fur, scarred muzzle.

CATS OUTSIDE OF THE CLANS

Smudge- black and white tom

Barley- black and white tom that lives in barn close to forest

Brokenstar- long haired dark brown tabby, former leader of ShadowClan

Blackfoot- big white tom with black paws blue eyes, former deputy of ShadowClan

Clawface- battle-scarred brown tom

Ravenpaw- sleek black cat with white tipped tail

Princess- a light brown tabby with distinctive white chest and paws.

Ruby - gray she-cat amber eyes

Socks- black tom with white muzzle paws and tail tip

Kana- brown and cream marbled tabby she-cat , blue eyes

Talon - dark brown tabby tom with a white chest, amber eyes

Cloudkit- Princess's firstborn kit, long furred white tom

Bone- large blank and white tom

Brick- ginger she-cat with a patch of fur missing on back green eyes

Snake- gray tabby tom

Ice-gray tabby tom

Dagger- large dark brown tom with a white tail tip with amber eyes

Chapter 17

Scourgeclaw, flung himself into the air, landing onto Falconpaw's shoulders. Falconpaw rolled onto his back to try and pin Scourgeclaw beneath his body and Scourgeclaw leaped away from his apprentice and stared at him, carefully analyzing his apprentice's maneuvers. He saw that Falconpaw's training was coming along well, he was getting stronger every day and he patiently listened to whatever Scourgeclaw had to say. 'He still has a bit more training to do, but he'll be a warrior soon, even before his own brother in my opinion.' Scourgeclaw thought to himself as he watched his apprentice, he knew that Longtail was training Falconpaw's brother, Swiftpaw but hadn't ever seen the two of them out training. He twitched his tail as a signal to stop Falconpaw's next attack.

"That's enough for now, let's head back to camp, you and can eat and rest when we get there." Scourgeclaw meowed, padding off in the direction toward the camp. Falconpaw wordlessly followed and Scourgeclaw could see just how tired his apprentice was. They had been out early in the morning hunting and right after had brought Falconpaw to train in the Sandy Hollow. He knew his apprentice was tired and figured it would be a good time to let his apprentice rest. He was also anxious to check on a certain she-cat in the nursery. With that thought in mind he picked up his pace back to camp, with Falconpaw right on his tail.

As they entered camp, Scourgeclaw watched other cats trying to warm their fur in the sun, or leave on patrol and depositing their catches on the fresh-kill pile. He watched Falconpaw break away from him to help his brother, Swiftpaw, drag moss into the elder's den. Scourgeclaw watched them for a moment then headed for the fresh-kill pile pulling out a surprisingly fat thrush and carrying it toward the nursery. He meowed a greeting into the den as he carried the prey into the nursery. Speckaltail curtly nodded to him as he passed her. Frostfur meowed a quick greeting keeping her eyes on her remaining two kits, who Scourgeclaw knew would be joining their brother and sister as apprentices soon, he gave her a brisk greeting as well, Brindleface purred a greeting drowsily, Scourgeclaw noticed her three kits were sleeping peacefully and realized she was trying to get as much sleep as possible before they had her on her paws again. He quietly returned the greeting before padding up to Mossflower who was speaking quietly with the newest nursery queen. Mossflower meowed a brisk greeting, keeping one eye on her kits that were growing stronger and bigger each day. He quietly watched as the two kits tried to stalk her swishing tail, before turning his attention to the queen beside her. He placed the thrush in between her paws, looking expectantly at her.

"Am I so helpless that I cannot even fetch, my own prey now?" the queen grumbled fixing Scourgeclaw with a glare. Scourgeclaw snorted, his tail twitched behind him exasperatedly.

"Who says I brought it for you? I know you have too much pride to take prey so easily. How do you know I didn't bring this for Mossflower?" he inquired with a teasing purr, looking into the queen's eyes.

"You would let me starve?" the queen glared, tail swishing in agitation. Mossflower rolled her eyes and gave a loud snort.

"Mousefur, just eat the thrush, I know you're hungry you were just saying that you were going to go to the fresh-kill pile for prey anyway. Honestly I'm surprised the two of you are even mates, you hardly act like it." Mossflower finished giving the two a harsh stare. Mousefur silently picked up the thrush that Scourgeclaw had brought her, meowing a quick thanks to Scourgeclaw, before pulling off the feathers and gulping down the piece of prey.

Mousefur had joined the queens in the nursery not too long ago announcing that she was with kits. The Clan had been thrilled to hear that there would be more kits in the nursery soon, which also meant more warriors in the near future. Mousefur herself was very close to having their kits as she had hidden her pregnancy well. It had been Yellowfang's own keen eye and sharp tongue that convinced Mousefur to move into the nursery with the other queens. Scourgeclaw watched his dusky brown mate finish her fresh-kill, licking her whiskers clean and purring contently in her nest. She rose and brushed her muzzle against Scourgeclaw's, purring softly. For once Scourgeclaw felt a little embarrassed, he still wasn't use to getting affection and sometimes shied away from it, but he let Mousefur continue to brush her pelt against his own.

Mossflower purred as she watched the two from her nest. She knew as well that Scourgeclaw wasn't the affectionate type and preferred to show his kindness in other ways. It occurred to her that Mousefur didn't often show affection to anyone including her own brother, Runningwind, she wondered briefly if her sudden need to give affection came from her pregnancy. She wasn't able to give it much thought as she felt tiny teeth dig into her tail tip. Mossflower whipped her head around to see her daughter, Birdkit, had latched her jaws firmly into Mossflower's tail. She carefully pawed her away from her tail and meowed for her to get her brother, who was currently sneaking up on Brindleface who was sleeping peacefully along with her kits. Birdkit lowered herself into a semi crouch and pounced onto Bluekit who let out a little squeal as he and his sister began to tumble watched her kits wrestle with each other for a little before turning her attention back to Scourgeclaw who was starting toward the entrance of the nursery.

"Hey Scourgeclaw" she meowed quietly; Scourgeclaw halted and glanced at her curiously. "Have you seen Fireheart today?"

"No, I haven't. Do you wish to speak with him?"

"No, it's just he hasn't been down here to see me recently. I know he's busy with Cinderpaw and his other duties, but even you make time to come down here and at least say hi once in a while, even more so now that Mousefur's here." Mossflower meowed with a little sadness in her voice. She wondered briefly if the lack of the fiery warrior's presence had anything to do with Spottedleaf. She along with Scourgeclaw, could tell that Fireheart's feelings for the former medicine cat had been more than just simple friendship and she wondered if the knowledge that both his brother and friend had mates and kits, either here or on the way, was too painful for him to bear. She was shaken from her thoughts by Scourgeclaw's answer.

"I understand, I'll tell him to come visit you, after we go hunting today." Mossflower blinked at him in surprise. Mousefur was just as surprised as Mossflower.

"I thought you already went hunting today with Falconpaw?" Mousefur meowed curiously from her nest.

"Yes I did, but Fireheart insisted that we hunt together today since we haven't hunted together in a while. So I agreed to go with him as soon as her returns from training with Cinderpaw and Brackenpaw, since he's taken on both their training." Mossflower nodded understandingly. She knew all about Graystripe's incident in the river the a few days ago, but only because Scourgeclaw was able to sneak into the nursery and tell her about it after, Fireheart had told him about it. It saddened her that the fiery warrior hadn't told her what happened personally.

"Well don't over work yourself; we don't need you getting sick." Mousefur meowed. Scourgeclaw rolled his eyes, but nodded to Mousefur as he padded out of the nursery. As Scourgeclaw emerged from the nursery he caught a glimpse of fiery ginger fur near the entrance to the gorse tunnel. He looked over and saw Fireheart, Cinderpaw and Brackenpaw. He could tell that the two young apprentices' were becoming great hunters by the size of their catch, as he padded over to the three.

Fireheart was the first to notice Scourgeclaw, and his eyes brightened considerably, He quickly sent the apprentices to their den and turned to Scourgeclaw and meowed a greeting to his brother.

"Hey Scourgeclaw are you ready to go?" asked Fireheart, eagerly to his brother.

"Yes we can go now, where are we going to do our hunting?" asked Scourgeclaw curiously. Fireheart purred softly as he looked at his brother.

"Around the pine forest, I have something I want to show you." Fireheart meowed the last part softly. He saw Scourgeclaw's look of curiosity grow more suspicious. Fireheart turned toward the entrance and padded out the gorse tunnel beckoning with his tail for Scourgeclaw to follow him.

They raced through the forest, heading far into the pine forest. Fireheart could see Scourgeclaw's confusion as he continued to lead them further away from the camp and deeper into the pine forest.

They soon were approaching the twolegplace, where Scourgeclaw became very suspicious. He glanced at his brother wondering where the fiery warrior was taking the two of them. Scourgeclaw briefly wondered if Fireheart had been sneaking away from camp to see Smudge, his old friend from his life as a kittypet, the thought agitated Scourgeclaw a little, Smudge had become a useless lump of fur now that he was a gib, instead of a tom, he didn't want Fireheart to start slacking off for his kithood friend, but as they reached the twolegplace, Scourgeclaw realized that they weren't anywhere near Fireheart's old twoleq nest, if fact Scourgeclaw had never seen the fence, that Fireheart was jumping onto, before today. He leaped after his brother, climbing into the tree that was in the garden as his brother began to approach the cat-flap that led into the nest.

"Fireheart, why are we here? What's going on?" he hissed agitated glaring fiercely at his brother.

"It's okay Scourgeclaw just wait a moment." Fireheart meowed softly. Scourgeclaw watched Fireheart meow toward the twoleg nest and look expectantly at the cat-flap. Scourgeclaw watched surprised as a pretty light brown tabby she-cat with a distinctive white chest and paws, emerge from the nest and meowed a friendly greeting to Fireheart. He could also see that this she-cat was pregnant. 'Is this she-cat his mate?' Scourgeclaw wondered as he watched the two, from his pace in the tree, but quickly dismissed the thought. Scourgeclaw remembered that his brother had had feelings for Spottedleaf and didn't think he would move on so quickly after her death and also he realized that this she-cat was very close to kitting and would have had to have gotten pregnant when Spottedleaf had been alive. He didn't have much time to think about it as Fireheart called him down to greet the she-cat. Sighing deeply Scourgeclaw leaped from his place on the tree and padded over to stand beside his brother watching the she-cat carefully. He saw that while the she-cat looked a little surprised she didn't seem hostile or threatening. Scourgeclaw looked at Fireheart expectantly.

"Well, aren't you going to introduce me Fireheart?" he meowed carefully. Fireheart nodded quickly turning to the she-cat.

"Princess, this is Scourgeclaw, I told you all about him." Fireheart meowed quickly. Scourgeclaw twitched his tail nervously not liking that Fireheart had been discussing him with this she-cat. Fireheart then turned to him with an excited look in his eye. "Scourgeclaw this is Princess, our sister." Scourgeclaw stared at his brother in shock and looked at Princess again with new eyes. 'Our sister?' he thought briefly as he looked at her. He then remembered the conversation he had had with Fireheart when he first met his half-brother, and remembered Fireheart briefly mentioning Princess' name when he told him about their kin.

"It nice to finally meet you Scourgeclaw, Fireheart told me all about you and I'm happy that he isn't alone in the clan." Princess meowed gently. "Oh I hope you've been getting enough to eat your so thin like Fireheart." Scourgeclaw could hear the worry in her tone as she looked him over.

"I'm fine, and I do get enough to eat I'm the proper weight for a forest cat." Scourgeclaw meowed. Princess nodded understandingly.

"Yes Fireheart told me, I'm so proud of both of you. I don't think I could live out there I the forest. I'm happy here with my housefolk." Princess purred softly. Scourgeclaw couldn't help but compare her to his own littermate Ruby. His sister hadn't been half as supportive of him as Princess was and he barely knew her. "I've heard your mate is expecting kits soon, I'm sure they'll be beautiful. You must be excited."

"I am and I see your close to kitting yourself." He meowed calmly giving her a warm look. She purred softly in response looking affectionately at her swollen belly.

"I can't wait until their born; it will be a relief to see their beautiful pelts and eyes." Princess mewled softly. Scourgeclaw nodded quietly, he didn't miss the look of affection shared between Princess and Fireheart, and he had a warm feeling that was absent whenever he had been around his own littermates.

The ThunderClan warriors stayed with Princess a bit longer before they decided it was best to leave before it got too late in the evening and they still needed to hunt for prey so the Clan wouldn't get suspicious.

After managing to catch a few mice and a vole, the two warriors made their way back into camp to drop the prey into the fresh-kill pile. Fireheart pulled out a shrew from the pile and went to lie down in the in a spot close to the warrior den. Scourgeclaw pulled out a mouse from the fresh-kill pile and looked around. Whitestorm was sharing a squirrel with Willowpelt, Goldenclaw was sharing tongues with Runningwind. Longtail just came into the entrance with Darkstripe and Dustpaw right behind them. Scourgeclaw knew they were returning from dusk patrol. Tigerclaw emerged from the warriors den to greet the returning patrol. Scourgeclaw watched him with narrowed eyes barely containing the growl in his throat. He noticed that Graystripe wasn't anywhere to be seen and figured the tom was in his nest. He padded up to his brother and settled down next to him to eat his fresh-kill. Afterward finishing their fresh-kill they entered the warrior's den and Scourgeclaw saw that Graystripe was missing, but he ignored it for now and curled up into his nest to sleep.

Scourgeclaw was nudged awake by Fireheart, prodding him in his side. Scourgeclaw cracked open an eye to stare questioningly at Fireheart.

"Tigerclaw wants to speak to the two of us." He murmured. Scourgeclaw narrowed his eyes; he stretched out of his nest and glanced around spotting Graystripe in his nest, he figured the tom had moved somewhere to take a nap the day before, and with that thought he silently followed his brother out of the warrior's den. Scourgeclaw glanced around the clearing, quickly noting that it was misty and he could just barely see across the clearing. He could just make out Tigerclaw sitting beside Whitestorm near the Highrock. The two warriors padded over to the ThunderClan deputy. Whitestorm meowed a greeting to the two warriors, who returned the greeting and dipped their head to Tigerclaw.

"Bluestar wants to give Cinderpaw and Brackenpaw a hunting assessment. "Tigerclaw growled. Fireheart looked at him with curiousity.

"Why do they need to be assessed so soon?" FIreheart asked curiously.

"She wishes to check their progress to make sure they are getting enough train, also we need to decide if Brackenpaw needs a new mentor."

"Graystripe is only got a cold; he should back to training in the next few days." Scourgeclaw meowed icily. Tigerclaw stared at the dark warrior with cold eyes.

"That's not helping Brackenpaw's training, I know that Fireheart has been taking them out every day, but we need to make sure that they are both getting the proper amount of training. Bluestar also wishes for Falconpaw to have an assessment as well." 'Yes because we're just kittypets, we couldn't possibly train good warriors.' Scourgeclaw hissed inwardly.

"With Cinderpaw's enthusiasm we should eat well tonight."Whitestorm meowed with amusement.

"Fine, where should we have the assessment?" Fireheart meowed, forcing Tigerclaw to turn his gaze back on the fiery ginger warrior.

"Send them around Tallpines, have them hunt till sunhigh."The ThunderClan deputy growled out.

"Wouldn't Sunningrocks be better?" Fireheart asked, "The warmth from the sun could help with the fog."

"It's too dangerous to send them there, RiverClan have been scented around there the last few days, and the fog will be a good challenge to test their hunting capabilities." Tigerclaw growled out, Fireheart nodded in agreement, then he and his brother headed off toward the apprentice den, when they were out of earshot Scourgeclaw snorted and Fireheart lashed his tail growling fiercely.

"I bet the only reason we're having this assessment is because the two of us aren't clan-born." Fireheart hissed under his breath. Scourgeclaw nodded and glanced around the clearing once more.

"Come on let's get the apprentices, the sooner we get them out hunting the better." Scourgeclaw meowed quickly. Fireheart nodded and padded toward the apprentice den with Scourgeclaw on his heels. When they reached the apprentice den, Fireheart stuck his head in and called for the three apprentices. The first one out of the den was Falconpaw, who glanced at Fireheart a moment then focused his gaze on Scourgeclaw, who motioned for him to come and sit beside him. Brackenpaw and Cinderpaw were out the den in the next moment.

"Today the three of you will be having a hunting assessment." Fireheart told the three apprentices. Cinderpaw almost couldn't sit still in her excitement, looking like she was ready to race into the forest, Brackenpaw also looked excited but he was more contained then his sister. Falconpaw however looked more indifferent, though FIreheart could see a confident look in his gaze.

"It will be a little challenging in this fog, but we are confident that each of you will do well."Scourgeclaw meowed. "You will hunt near Tallpines, Fireheart and I will be watching you, we'll be watching how you handle the fog and your techniques."

"You'll be hunting till sunhigh, you may leave whenever you like, but remember it's not a race so take your time." Fireheart added. As soon as Fireheart had finished his statement Cinderpaw raced out of the camp entrance, with Brackenpaw trailing behind her sighing a little. Falconpaw glanced at his mentor for a moment before charging after the younger two apprentices. Fireheart and Scourgeclaw watched them go a moment, and then followed them at a slower pace.

"I'll watch Brackenpaw first, and then I'll move on to Falconpaw, that way you can keep an eye on Cinderpaw for a while, then you can check on Brackenpaw." Scourgeclaw murmured into Fireheart's ear. Fireheart agreed as they pushed their way through the gorse tunnel to chase after their apprentices.

Scourgeclaw watched carefully as Brackenpaw pounced onto a shrew, delivering a quick bite to the small creature then burying it into the ground. He followed silently behind the golden brown apprentice, keeping to the shadows, but following closer then he would had the forest not been cloaked in a layer of mist, knowing that the misty air would help hide his pelt and scent. It wasn't long until Brackenpaw came across a thrush and he quickly caught and buried the bird into the ground. Scourgeclaw had seen the apprentice already catch three other pieces of prey and was certain the tom would pass his assessment without fail. With that thought in mind Scourgeclaw silently padded off to find his apprentice.

As he backtracked to find Falconpaw's scent, he heard a few voices talking not too far away. As he got closer he saw it was Fireheart talking to Cinderpaw. From what he could make out Cinderpaw had come up to FIreheart to ask how they were doing on their assessment. As he watched the two of them, he let his gaze fall on Cinderpaw again. 'If she is trained well, she could become his mate, I'll have to watch her training carefully.' Scourgeclaw thought briefly before reminding himself that he needed to check his own apprentice's training and once more allowed himself to be engulfed into the fog that cover the forest.

Okay that's it for this chapter. Things have happened in this chapter, Scourgeclaw got to meet Princess, and Mousefur is his mate… It surprised me too…Well let me know what you think.