Congrats, , you have won the Brightheart plushie!

This means a new plushie! A Rusty plushie to whoever writes the best review!

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Tawnystorm

"You have to be faster than that, Briarpelt!" I said smugly. She spat out sandy dirt and hissed.

"You may be fast-" She lunged at me without warning. I hit the ground at the last second, rolling onto my back. She spun, a dark brown blur, just as fast. Joints locked, she reared onto her hind legs and moved to smash her forepaws into my exposed belly. But my legs were longer. Kicking out as she came down, my hind feet caught her in the belly. I had only meant to knock her back, but sudden inspiration came to me. Sliding my feet down to her hips, I pushed my paws against the place where her legs met her back, at the same time pressing my forepaws against the lower part of her chest. I pushed up, raising her into the air.

It was priceless, the look on her face. She was shocked to find herself airborne, her paws scrabbling at the air. Grinning, I shoved hard and tossed her forwards, over my head. She squealed and hit the sand. I flipped to my feet, but fell over because I was laughing so hard.

She stared at me, not sure whether to attack me or laugh or just sit there stunned. She finally gasped "What was that? Since when did you start making up your owns moves?"

I shrugged. "It thought it would be funny, and believe me, it was. But I only tried it cause I knew your legs are shorter and it would work."

She shook her head. "Let's go get some fresh-kill."

Back in camp, we were both munching squirrels when Rainheart padded back into camp, looking slightly out of breath. She was carrying some herb in her mouth, which made her smell like flowers. But she passed by me, and I could smell something underneath the flowers… I knew that scent! That was Gale!

I was instantly suspicious. What was she doing with Gale? Had she snuck off the territory? Or had he come back here? The thought of him being here gave me mixed emotions. My first instinct was Rogue! Drive him off! But that wasn't right. Not just some rogue. Gale. I wanted him here.

A disturbing new thought forced it's way into my mind. If Gale was here… She would've told someone. She's one of the cats who never break the rules. Isn't she? If she didn't tell anyone… That means she went off on her own to see him. A flash of anger flooded through me.

For the rest of the day I worried, tormenting myself with pointless questions. I couldn't ask her, then she'd know I knew. By nightfall I'd decided. I would go and find Gale myself. My paws itched to race off, but I would wait until Moonhigh.

Which is taking it's time coming! I yowled silently to myself. I tossed and turned, earning an irritated growl from Cinderheart.

Finally I couldn't wait any more. I slipped out into the moonlight, my marbled ginger fur glinting. I darted away into the dark forest.

First things first, I put distance between myself and camp. When I stopped running, I noticed just how dark it was. My night vision wasn't enough to see through all of the shadows, and it felt as if things were lurking all around. I would say it was scary, maybe even terrifying, if I was the kind of cat who felt fear. Still, every twig snap set my fur on edge. How did ShadowClan cats do this?

I realized something important. I had no idea where Gale was. My only hope was to try and follow Rainheart's trail backwards.

It took me a while, and by the time I picked up her sent I had almost given up. But the trail gave me new hope. Trotting along rapidly, I followed her sent up the path to the old Twoleg nest.

She didn't stop there, though. She went on past that, farther than anyone almost ever did. But I didn't follow. I smelled Gale.

I slipped silently into the nest. The dark, spooky woods had nothing on this chilling spot. I'd been here in the daytime, but at night it wasn't the same place at all.

Where was Gale? I knew he was here. I looked around from my crouched position. The black shape above me nearly made me scream in alarm, but I realized it was just Gale and not some terrifying monster about murder me in a bloody fashion.

I studied his sleeping form. He was stretched out on a beam in the rafters as if it were a tree branch. If I wasn't looking for him, I would never have known he was there.

"Gale!" I whispered loudly. He bolted upright, nearly falling off. He looked around wildly before seeing me hiding in the corner. I stood up quickly. I wasn't afraid of anything. Especially not the dark.

He bounded from beam to beam and landed on the floor with a puff of dust. "Tawnystorm?" He mewed curiously. "What are you doing here? Come to chase me off the territory again?"

"No." I didn't like the reminder. "I-" What was I doing here? I hadn't thought of what I'd say to him. "Just… Visiting?"

He smirked. "Right. Because now is an excellent time to visit a cat." I bristled. He was talking to me like I was some misbehaving apprentice! I started to retort hotly, when he suddenly asked, "How did you find me?"

He narrowed his eyes when I hesitated. Internally steeling myself, I said, "I followed Rainheart's scent back here."

"Rainheart. Yes, we accidentally met up a few fox-lengths away from here." He said.

I thought through this. One, he's lying and it was no accident. Two, it was an accident for him, but not Rainheart. Three, it was just an accident. I suspected it was two, possibly one. Almost certainly not three.

Gale stretched out on the floor. "So." He broke the silence. "I guess this means you're not going to tell on me?"

"I could." I answered, amused.

"But you won't." He said, far too sure of himself.

"Why not?" I laid down facing him.

"We would no longer be able to have these lovely, what did you say, visits?" He grinned, dead right.

Grimacing, I peeked at his face. His amber eyes glowed as they stared back at me. Wait a minute… A feeling of dread was creeping over me. Why are his eyes glowing? They would only glow if light was shining on them… LIGHT! The shriek of revelation inside my head was loud enough to make jump. Outside, sunrise had turned the clouds pink.

"I need to leave now." I spoke calmly, even though my heart was pounding.

"So soon?" Gale asked in mock worry.

"Yes. The dawn patrol will be leaving any minute." Plus I have to get rid of your scent before I go back to camp.

"Goodbye, then. And good morning." He said, yawning. Good luck, he wanted to say but didn't. I could feel it hanging in the air unspoken.

I nodded once and, feeling brave, rubbed against him quickly before sprinting away, not looking back.

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IMPORTANT A/N: If you like this story and feel strongly about who should win, you NEED to take the poll on my profile page! I don't know if you can, but please don't take it more than once. AND REVIEW!