Here's the new chapter, as promised.

Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors.

"Some are born great; others have greatness thrust upon them."- Theodore Roosevelt.

"A new deputy must be appointed," Firestar drawled in an emotionless voice. "I say these words before the body of Brambleclaw, so he will approve of my choice." What followed was several tense moments of waiting, each cat that had ever had an apprentice looking at each other with anxious eyes.

"Hollyfrost will be the new deputy of ThunderClan."

Hollyfrost, still immersed in grief for her newly deceased father, thought she had misheard Firestar. She looked up at her leader, knowing that she must have imagined him making her deputy. After all, she had been a warrior for less than three days. Surely Firestar was not going to give such an important position to her?

Apparently ThunderClan thought the same way as they all were silent. They gaped at Firestar with expressions of shock. Even Sandstorm,who had stood resolute with entire loyalty to her mate, appeared horrified at his decision.

Please, let this all be a dream, Hollyfrost prayed. StarClan, please let Father's death and Firestar's madness be nothing but a nightmare!

But as much as the black she-cat tried to deny it, the entire situation was harsh reality. Cats were starting to get over their surprise now and most were throwing her ugly looks. Slowly their stunned features hardened into such a look of cold hostility that Hollyfrost would never think possible from her greatest enemies; much less her own Clanmates.

The same whispers were beginning to spread throughout ThunderClan again, except this time even the cats that respected Firestar the most were doing nothing to hide their displeasure. The whispers and glares began to swell into something monstrous; the quiet dislike quickly evolving into something much worse. Yowls of protests began to rise up, and Firestar did nothing to halt it.

"This is madness!" Spiderleg yowled. "You may have stolen my son's oppurtunity to become a good warrior by giving him to Hollyfrost, but who are you to force an inexperianced cat on the entire Clan?"

"She's hardly been a warrior for three moons!" Dustpelt snarled. "ThunderClan's future is already in jeopardy and you are driving us closer to that edge by appointing such a green cat deputy!"

"Hey!" Foxpaw protested. His claws slid out and he reflexively stepped closer to Hollyfrost, snarling at the crowd of enraged. "Don't insult my friend like that!"

Other voices broke in; Lionclaw's, Cinderclaw's, Poppytail's, as Hollyfrost's friends and family rose to her defense. All the shouting and yelling was escalating to a dangerous level that threatened to break out into a full battle at any moment. Still Firestar stood, watching the seen with impassive green eyes.

"Enough!" he bellowed at last. ThunderClan reluctantly fell silent. Most were still snarling, their claws unsheathed in preparation to fight. "My word is law and anyone who protests it is protesting the warrior code and StarClan. Hollyfrost is deputy, and that is how it shall remain."

Hollyfrost felt her fur begin to bristle as she felt the scorching eyes of her Clanmates upon her. Foxpaw was still bristling at her side, daring someone to say one nasty thing about her. She felt as if she was a rabbit trapped among a pack of starving dogs that were just itching to rip her apart, and the instinct to flee from her own Clanmates caused her heart to quicken.

"Firestar," she began in a respectful voice, hoping to appeal to both her leader and to ThunderClan, "I greatly appreciate being selected to be your new deputy, but Spiderleg and Dustpelt are right. I am a young warrior. Please, give the deputyship to a senior warrior that can handle the responsibility."

"You are modest," the ginger tomcat stated simply. "Youth does not dictate how good a deputy will be, and you have the potential to become the greatest ruler this forest has ever seen." He looked down at his grand-daughter, green eyes eerily empty. "Do you still think it sheer luck that I selected Toadpaw to become your apprentice?"

At being mentioned, Toadpaw crouched low to the ground. His amber eyes flashed warily, almost as if he were afraid of Firestar.

"No," Firestar continued, oblivious to the black-and-white cat's distress. "I was merely making you eligible to become deputy, in case Brambleclaw passed on before his time. I see now that my judgement as paid off and I now have a loyal deputy ready to serve me."

"Loyal?" Ashfur repeated quietly. "It sounds almost as if you don't trust ThunderClan anymore, Firestar."

"Bluestar," Brightheart whispered in a terrified voice.

"You're right," the ginger tomcat meowed simply. "I don't." He began to pace in agitation, looking coldly down at the sea of stunned faces below him. "My loyal deputy lies dead and the murderer must have been a ThunderClan cat. How can I trust anyone but my own flesh and blood to become deputy?" he challenged. "What if the cat I chose was Brambleclaw's killer and he murders me as well to become leader?"

"Then why not pick me to become deputy?" Cloudtail demanded. "Or Whitetail? Or Squirrelflight!? Or even Sandstorm? Why not pick an older, wiser relative instead of Hollyfrost?"

Firestar remained silent, although an odd light glittered in his leaf-colored eyes. "This meeting is over," he murmured quietly. "Hollyfrost will organize the patrols tomorrow and begin her new role as both mentor and deputy." And without leaving time for further argument that ginger tomcat turned and vanished into his den.

Murmuring to others, the crowd slowly began to disperse and head back to their dens. Only those closest to Brambleclaw remained in the center of camp to finish the vigil. Leafpool, however, after telling Jayfeather to remain by his father's side to carry out his vigil, quickly began to hurry to her den.

"Chamomile and thyme," she muttered to herself. "That ought to help calm Firestar down and make him see sense. And maybe just a bit of poppyseed too, to help him sleep this off."

Hollyfrost, still in shock about the unexpected turn of events, laid down by her two brothers and remained silent.

"It's okay," Jayfeather told her in an uncharacteristic gentle voice. He pressed a reassuring nose into Hollyfrost's fur. "Firestar's just a little bit mad because of his deputy's death. He'll be back in his right state of mind in no time." But his voice betrayed his doubt.

The black she-cat remained silent, curling up close to Brambleclaw's ice-cold body. She closed her eyes; allowing a dreamless sleep to claim her.

000000000000

For Lionclaw, the day after his father's death seemed unreal.

When the elders came that morning to retrieve Brambleclaw's body and carry it out into the forest to be buried in the secret place that only they knew about, Lionclaw had almost tried to stop them. A large part of himself didn't want those old cats to take his father away from him, although Lionclaw knew that Brambleclaw's body was now nothing more than an empty corpse.

Cats came to him that day to try and console him, but he just shrugged them off with complete indifference. Honeyfur in particular had shown a strong desire to try and comfort him, feeling like she could relate to Lionclaw because she had lost her brother, Molepaw.

"I don't need your sympathy," had been his cold reply. Honeyfur had gaped at him, startled that the loveable apprentice she had known had become so bitter and distant within such a short span of time. She had left in a huff, disgusted with the person Lionclaw had become. But Lionclaw didn't care much; he had felt oddly distant since Brambleclaw's murder.

Night couldn't come quickly enough for the new warrior, who was eager to escape reality and begin the journey that would ultimately lead to his revenge upon Brambleclaw's killer. When that time came Lionclaw found himself beginning the familiar trip down to where he usually met Tigerstar the moment he closed his eyes, eager to gain control over his power.

When Lionclaw arrived at the usual meeting place he found only Tigerstar there.

"Where's Hawkfrost?" he asked, looking around to make sure he didn't accidentally over-look his uncle.

"Hawkfrost will not be joining us tonight," the dark tabby answered. "He has business of his own to handle." Tigerstar crouched low, unsheathing his long claws. "Come, we have much to practice if you want to take revenge upon my son's murderer. Now try to use your abilities against me."

Lionclaw lunged at his grandfather, trying to harness the same power he had used back in the mountains. Trying to feel the same rush of invincibility that allowed him to take on a mass of enemies and escape with barely a scratch. For the briefest moment he felt something like that stir inside him, but a heavy paw connected to his head the next moment, shattering his concentration.

"Not even close to what you did in the mountains." Tigerstar was completely calm, unfased by the scowl that Lionclaw was giving him. "If you want to have your vengeance I suggest you work harder to master your abilities."

"I was trying!" Lionclaw snapped. "And I would have gotten it if you hadn't hit-"

"You should by now in real battles your opponent will not allow you time to prepare yourself," Tigerstar meowed. "If I had seriously been fighting you, you would have been dead before you released your abilities."

"But-" Lionclaw began.

"Again!" Tigerstar interrupted, this time charging at Lionclaw and catching him unaware.

And the training began.

00000000000

"I see that the mission went exactly as planned."

Hawkfrost's agent nodded. "The results were better than what was expected. Firestar has lost any sanity he still had and was mousebrained enough to appoint Hollyfrost deputy. A brilliant move on Tigerstar's part, making the kittypet give Toadpaw to Hollyfrost like that."

"It was not because of Tigerstar that Firestar made Hollyfrost a mentor this early in life. That decision was entirely Firestar's." The transparent form of Hawkfrost shifted its paws. "An unexpected event, but something that worked to advantage."

"Yes," the agent agreed. "It looks as if the kittypet was going mad even without intervention."

"Be warned to tread carefully, friend, this crucial point in time decides the fate of your Clan," Hawkfrost warned. "If Lionclaw is not ready in time when Hollyfrost becomes leader, the whole plan will be ruined."

The agent looked down at their paws, eyes dark. "I still don't see why we're including Lionclaw in our plans. Yes, he's very gullible and easy to fool, but he has the old fool's sense of honesty and righteousness. What happens if he finds out that you're manipulating him and he decides to tell Firestar?"

"Lionclaw is essential to the plan," Hawkfrost responded simply. "And as for him discovering our true motives, Tigerstar has that matter all under control."

"Any reason why Lionclaw is so important to the plan? Hollyfrost is the real figure-head and only she'll be able to persuade Jayfeather to see the truth about Firestar."

"Lionclaw, and Jayfeather as well, show unusual abilities given to them by StarClan." Hawkfrost said the final word with a sneer.

The informant's eyes widened. "Unusual abilities?" he repeated in awe. "Like the powers Leafpool and Squirrelflight have? I heard they have a special connection that allows them to know what the other is feeling."

"You shall see," Hawkfrost replied mysteriously. His transparent body tensed, sitting up straight and rigid. "Tigerstar wishes for you to continuing follow the orders he gave to you last time; lay low and do not arouse suspicion. If all goes well you'll find yourself Hollystar's trusted deputy by leaf-bare."

The informant nodded, watching the spectral form of Hawkfrost disappear until nothing remained. Then the agent turned away, a triumphant gleam in his eyes.

"See how great I am becoming?" the informant muttered to no one. "One day I might be Clanleader and it is all because I had the courage to do what you could not."

Hmm, it's a little short for my liking, but it'll do.