A.n: I told you I would post two chapters ^.^ This one is a big explanation to why Heatherpaw still hates Lionpaw to this day... and more hints to who Hawk's Shadow is if no one's guessed yet (I'd love to see the guesses in reviews)

I don't own any of the Warrior cats, minus the idea of Hawk's Shadow, who is currently mine. The Erins own it, and I don't get any profit, just happiness from writing this XD

Jaypaw had moved closer to the river, and my muscled tensed. My overwhelming fear that the small grey tabby would be sucked away by the roiling black water was telling me to grab his scruff and pull him away from the edge. But I reminded myself that Jaypaw was the farthest cat from an incompetent fool, and only watched as he sniffed the edge of the river, where mist rolled off in waves, covering the sides of the bank with minute water puddles. "Is the water always this high?"

The question caught me off guard, and my tail swept side to side as I looked at the river. I had thought that it looked too full… "Only after it's been raining." I mewed quietly. Was he afraid of getting swept away too?

"Does it get higher?"

Jaypaw was a confusing cat. 'Why does he want to know about the height of the river?' "I don't think so." My head fell to the side as I watched the tabby tom. What was he thinking of?

"These intruders might as well go home," Breezepaw's voice had a dark undertone. I rolled my eyes silently as I looked at his prickling grey fur. 'Stupid tom. Pride issues.' "We're looking for the kits. There's no need for them to help." I couldn't agree more, it wasn't ThunderClan's issue but…

"There's going to be a battle over them, or haven't you heard?" The she-cat snapped, and I attempted to drudge her name out of my memory. Berrypaw? Nah

"Can we stop chatting and get on with the search?" I snapped, frustrated between the lack of things getting done, and the fact that I couldn't pull up Lionpaws' sisters' name.

Breezepaw turned around to look at me, his eyes sharp with distrust. "What about them?"

I needed a reason, quickly. We would search faster and… "We may as well let them come with us, how are we going to carry three kits by ourselves?" My flippant tone made him prickle, and I knew that I would get an earful later, but until then, it seemed like I had convinced Breezepaw to let the ThunderClan siblings come with us. Without waiting for an answer, I headed in the direction Hawk's Shadow had been pointing out to me, attempting to be subtle. "We have to find those kits before any of our Clanmates get hurt." I knew Breezepaw would let them come if it helped the Clan.

Mews of agreement sounded from the ThunderClan side of the river as the three of them crossed. I sniffed the stagnant air daintly, knowing well enough that there was no scent to catch. A rustle of fur beside me and I turned discreetly to catch a glimpse of Hawk's Shadow. But instead, a dark pair of amber eyes caught mine and a soft voice whispered, "You better know what you're doing. We need to hurry." And with that, Breezepaw moved away to sniff the entrance to another tunnel. Though the words he said were harsh, I plunged back into the reality that three kits' lives were on the line.

"They haven't been this way," I ducked out of the tunnel and moved along, heading toward the narrow cleft that Hawk's Shadow had disappeared through. 'Hurry Heatherpaw' the words echoed in my head. Lionpaw attempted to approach me, but I turned my back and moved away.

Looking at the narrow tunnel again, I was surprised to see Jaypaw standing in front of it, whiskers splayed and ears pricked. "This way!" the grey tabby suddenly shouted, tail snaking from side to side in excitement. A stab of jealous made my pelt hot. I had been the one that knew which tunnel the kits were in. How did Jaypaw know?

I stalked over with the other cats, but the black she-cat got there first. Leafpaw?No… "He's right!" The cat mewed, peering at the ground. "There's a paw print."

Lionpaw was hot on his sister's heels, and glanced down at the tiny sign. "They went this way," he confirmed, and looked up at me, now standing just behind Jaypaw, with a moping Breezepaw by my side.

"Oh Lionpaw, what have we done?" I whispered so quietly that it was lost in the gurgle of the stream. The ThunderClan cat shook his head in sad astonishment. We had no clue what we had started when we first met each other in the tunnels.

"I'll go first," Jaypaw said quickly, and then looked surprised, as if he hadn't expected the words to come out of his mouth. Breezepaw, who had been working his way past me in order to take the lead a recover some dignity, froze. Then he snorted angrily, spitting out a few words. "You're blind!"

"And you can see perfectly well in the dark, I suppose!" Hazelpaw? No… I glanced between Jaypaw's stern face and the she-cat's sarcastic one and thought; you can see the family resemblance. I snorted along with my Clanmate. Breezepaw couldn't reply to the taunt though, and so, he backed away. I could tell from the look he shot the black cat that she would be at the receiving end of his claws before the rescue was over.

Lionpaw moved out of the way so his little brother could pass, and Jaypaw squeezed into the crack in the rock. The other cats filed in after him, and Breezepaw barged to be right on Jaypaw's tail. It had been as I expected, with the tunnel barely wide enough for one cat to walk one behind each other. The darkness was so complete that it made my fur tingle as I attempted not to think of how much rock and dirt were over our heads. My tail reached up to slide along the ceiling of the tunnel, which didn't make me feel any calmer.

"Can't you go any faster?" Breezepaw's edged mew sounded from near the front of the line, but it broke the oppressive silence, which was all that I needed to keep my sanity from scurrying away. There was no difference between keeping my eyes open or shut, and the fur on my flanks brushed again the smoothed rock walls.

Another unlimited time in the dark when Jaypaw spoke out again. "I'm leading, Breezepaw!"

"What are you talking about? I'm back here!" I could tell from Breezepaw's mew and the fear-scent that drifted behind him that he was more afraid than he was letting on. I wasn't one to talk, because I also was leaving a wave of my own rank scent along the rock behind me.

"Surprise," A sudden voice whispered behind me, and I attempted to turn around, though my ears brushed each wall quickly, and I couldn't bend all the way around.

"Hawk's Shadow?" I breathed, risking some words as the pawsteps ahead of me faded away.

"Heatherpaw, I know why Jaypaw was asking about the water," he whispered cautiously, even though his voice didn't carry at all.

"Why? It makes no sense. We don't come here in the rain because the rock is slippery and it's too easy to track us through the mud." I whisper, moping that the tunnel doesn't split anytime soon. But then Hawk's Shadow could guide me to them…

"He thinks that it will flood the cavern." Hawk's Shadows' eyes glinted with knowledge. "If he can grab the kits and return to ThunderClan, they can be the heroes of this battle. Haven't you looked at the way that Hollypaw and Lionpaw have looked at Breezepaw and you?"

I shook my head slightly. The two tomcats had definitely been tense around each other… but was Lionpaw really capable of planning… "Would he do that to me?" I mewed, stepping away into the ghost of Hawk's Shadow, away from the direction the other cats had been going.

"Think about it, Heatherpaw," Hawk's Shadow whispered sadly, "He chose his Clan over you. Wouldn't bringing the kits back be a way of protecting his Clan? And to leave you two down in the tunnels… Well he has everything against Breezepaw, and you broke his heart."

I shook my head, flattening my ears. "But what are you saying he'd do? Try and kill me?" My voice was growing louder, a disembodied wail that succumbed to the darkness and faded away.

"Wouldn't it be easier for both of you to be separated? As far away as possible? I know that your heart is breaking every time you are together… don't you think he feels the same? And to have to choose between you and his Clan would kill him." Hawk's Shadow wound his tail over my shoulders. "Wouldn't it just be easier for one of you to be… removed? He would feel guilty for a few seasons, but you and Breezepaw would have vanished. Your bodies may turn up, wherever the river eventually spills out, but who knows where that would be. No one would know what he's done…"

"Hawk's Shadow… what should I do?" Breezepaw was my only friend now… and he was far ahead with the three ThunderClanners… the ones that wanted to murder him!

"You can't let them know that I've told you what they're up to." He hissed urgently, attempting as best he could to push her forward. "You need to get the kits, and get out. As quickly as you can. Don't let them take them away from you."

"Lionpaw…" I choked, crouching on the floor like a small kit. How could he…? Would he…?

"You know where his true loyalties lie now, Heatherpaw. You have to protect your own Clan at all costs. And your kits above all." Hawk's Shadow growled.

I shook my head, wishing for the ice that had encased my heart just a few sunrises ago. Now I was a mess, something that I didn't know if I could pull back together. "I don't know if I can." I whimpered, rising to my feet though.

"Your Clan Heatherpaw, think about them. Harepaw and Breezepaw… Onestar and Crowfeather and Whitetail…Gorsetail is looking for her kits right now. You have to be strong for them. That's what being in a Clan is all about." The dark tabby hushed me quietly, and somehow brushed up alongside me in the narrow passage. "For me, Heatherpaw."

I looked up into his icy blue eyes, with the dark tabby stripes and the soft glow of his white chest. Yes, I would do it for Hawk's Shadow. He saved my life, and I would repay him. Forcing the sorrow out of my chest, I burned it away with the righteous anger of the ancient cats before me; the leopard's speed to chase down the prey, the tiger's strength to defend it, and the lion's warmth to nourish them.

"Hurry Heatherpaw."

It was all I need to spur me on, as my claws scraped the rock below me and I raced ahead into the darkness, I could feel Hawk's Shadow run with me, telling me when to dodge and duck, leading me to my destiny.

A.n: Ohz noz o.o Heatherpaw is being mislead! So close to being finished! Just a couple more chapters now XD

To start with, I had thought this would only be three chapters XD I was so wrong.

R&Rs make my day!