Congrats, Rainpath, you won the Rusty plushie!

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

Also, I apologize for all the grammar mistakes in the last chapter, I know there are many. In fact, writing this sentence I made two mistakes that I had to fix. I guess I'm a bad speller.

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Rainheart

The mouse scurried inches from my nose as I stalked it, unnoticed. I leapt lightly, landing and pinned the mouse to the ground with my small white paws. My tail twitched in satisfaction as I gently picked up the struggling little thing in my teeth. I padded away, carrying it in my mouth. Crouching on a clump of moss, I dropped it and let it run, nearly out of reach before snagging it again with my claws. I did this several times for fun, before picking it up by its tail. Padding back in the direction of the others, a voice suddenly snapped at me.

"Rainheart, stop playing with that mouse! Kill it at once!" Squirrelflight grumbled, pushing past a fern. She carried a dead blackbird in her jaws, and stared at the still-wriggling mouse with contempt. "Prey is to be eaten, not treated like a kit's play thing!"

Burning with shame, I spit the mouse on the ground and bit it.

Falconwing glanced at us, amused. "As if you didn't do the exact same thing when you were young? I've heard the elders talk; apparently you were loads of trouble!"

"Don't listen to Brightheart and Ferncloud, they'll tell you anything." She retorted.

Falconwing rolled his eyes. He was a younger warrior, twin brother of Brindlestripe. He was lean and long-legged, with pale sandy fur and thin brown tabby stripes. Interestingly enough, his eyes were different colors, the right one a brilliant blue and the left a duller brown. He picked up two squirrels and we padded back to camp.

Sundown arrived. A slow fire burned through me, starting deep inside and spreading through my skin to the tip of my tail. It grew as the moon rose. Instead of feeling sleepy, it made me twitchy, flicking my tail and kneading the ground. Seeking privacy behind the nursery, I closed my eyes and breathed deeply. I forced all my muscles to relax, collapsing onto the soft ground.

Organizing my thoughts, I asked myself, as if another cat was speaking, Why do you feel like this? I don't know… Okay then, Rainheart, what do you want to do? Understand… Then what? I think… I want to go for a walk. I hated to ask, because I already knew the answer. But I wouldn't lie to myself. And why do you want to go for a walk?... I want to see Gale.

I winced internally. I shouldn't want to see him. I shouldn't to lie to my Clan. I shouldn't break the warrior code. I hated that.

But I already had. I let him stay. I did. It went completely against the code, but I did it anyways. Why?

Go back to your nest. Go to sleep. Don't do anything you'll regret.

I flitted into the forest.

Gale, Gale, Gale, Gale, Gale! I sang in my head. The darkness was my ally. While many things hid out of sight, I could too. I was a shadow, a silent black shape. Some cats didn't adapt well to the night, preferring to keep their enemies in sight, even if it meant exposing themselves as well. But you didn't have to fight if your enemies couldn't find you.

I ran all the way to the place where we met, panting by the time I got there. Gale scent was undetectable, mixed with wildflowers. He was near, though. I could feel it.

The fire that was in me before had changed to electricity that hummed through my veins. No longer twitchy, I was… excited.

Flexing my claws, I climbed like a squirrel into a young cedar tree. Perching on the lowest branch, I examined the nearby area. It was still, a light breeze making the flowers sway. Then I saw a flicker of movement. Behind a large oak tree several paces away, a dark catlike shape moved stealthily through the brush. Grinning, I sprang from the tree as if I had wings.

I bounded straight up to Gale. He was padding away, but he must've heard my approach. I was barely a fox-length away when he noticed me, whirled, and slammed into me, pinning me to the ground. I laughed breathlessly, which was strange considering I was pinned by a cat much larger than me, nose to nose with hostile eyes and bared teeth.

"Oh!" Gale said. He jumped off me like he'd been sitting on a fire. "Rainheart, I didn't realize it was you! I'm so sorry! You surprised me, and well, its instinct."

"Of course. It's my fault for sneaking around in the dark, anyways." I mewed. His expression was still worried. "I'm not hurt." No, I wasn't hurt, far from it. My heart was thumping like crazy. Everything I was doing was wrong, but it felt so right. Never had I been so reckless.

Gale picked up a mouse. He must have dropped it when he attacked me. I trotted along by his side as he led the way towards the old Twoleg nest. "Hunting?" I questioned.

He nodded. "I've been sleeping most of the day. Last night one of your warrior friends came by for a 'visit'." Something about the word seemed funny to him.

But I stopped in my tracks. "A warrior found you? Who? Why? What happened? Did you-"

He interrupted my interrogating. "Yes, Tawnystorm." A split second thought flashed through my head. Not Tawnystorm! She'll attack him, and if she can't chase him off herself, she'll get help! She's exactly the kind of cat who'd think fighting rogues is fun. He continued before I think anything else. "She tracked me and caught me asleep in the nest. She apparently just wanted to visit, but I don't think she'll tell anybody." He smirked. "At any rate, we talked for a bit until she ran off at dawn. If I can be so easily found, then it's better to hide during the day."

I stared at the ground, wishing it held the all the answers. But this was a waste of time. I shoved the questions from my mind. "I'll catch a snack, and then we can eat."

"I'll wait." He dropped the mouse and sat, curling his tail around his paws.

Slipping into a hunting crouch, I crept around a tree trunk to see another mouse sniffing for seeds. It died instantly.

Padding back with my warm kill, Gale looked up. "That was quick. I thought my mouse would be cold before you got back. You must be a good hunter."

I kept my eyes on the mouse. "Thanks." I mumbled, my fur prickling. I started eating.

Gale joined me, sinking is teeth into his prey. We ate quietly for a while. I didn't want my whole mouse, and Gale hadn't eaten anything all day, so I let him have the rest when I was finished.

For a long time after that, we stretched out in the Twoleg nest and talked. I told Gale all about life in the Clans, and he told me about his time as a rogue. He said he was born not far from here, by the Endless Water. When I asked him what that was, he told me it was a place of great salty water that stretched on forever.

"We have a different name for that place. For the Clans, it's known as Sun-Drown place. My leader and his mate went there once, a long time ago." I recognized it now. We'd all heard of it.

"Sun-Drown place. Odd, but fitting. The sun falls into the water every night, but it survives to rise again."

"What's beyond the Endless Water?" I wondered.

He laughed. "Nothing. That's why it's called the Endless Water. I suppose somewhere the water might end, but if it does, there's certainly nothing beyond it. My mother always told me, the Endless Water is the edge of the world. You cannot cross it, because you can walk forever in either direction and it won't end. Endless, as I said."

"It's the edge of the world?" I asked in a hushed voice. He nodded solemnly.

I thought about this. I'd never considered the fact that there might be an end to the world, or that it was so close. I was quiet for a long time.

Gale broke the silence. "That's where my name comes from. My mother named me for the gales and gusts of winds that blow around over the water and sand. I saw one once, but it was no ordinary storm. It is beautiful and terrifying at the same time."

We talked until the clouds turned pink with sunrise. Gale's stories were enthralling, and he seemed equally fascinated by my tales of the Clans. But the sun forced me to leave. I departed quickly, but just before I left, he called out. "Rainheart, wait. I can't come to your camp, but if you want to find me, I plan to stay in the nearby area for a while."

I nodded. "I'll be back soon." Yes, I was reckless. I hope I don't regret this.

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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!

Also, I have just realized in the last chapter it didn't save when I added in the name of the winner of the Brightheart plushie. So, the winner is Nightshimmer! Thanks for all your reviews!