Oh, crap…I've not a single clue what to do with this chapter…

WELL ENOUGH ALONE

"What's that smell?" Feathersong halted and scented the air, her petite pink nose twitching. Pebblepaw touched his muzzle to the ground and inhaled deeply. Feathersong turned to Whitefoot and Tigerstripe, the other young warriors on the dawn patrol. "Pebblepaw and I will follow the scent towards RiverClan territory. You two, follow it towards ThunderClan."

Tigerstripe and Whitefoot dipped their heads and bounded off.

"Stop!" Tigerstripe hissed, crouching down low. "I lost it."

No, you haven't, Whitefoot thought. I can still smell it. Maybe it's a fox! I want to be the first to know about a fox on ShadowClan territory! Then I'll definitely be a more respected warrior!

"Well then, maybe we should hunt, since leaf-bare is on its way," Whitefoot suggested. Tigerstripe nodded. "Yeah. And if we pick up the scent again, we'll track it."

Whitefoot lowered her muzzle and breathed in. Sure enough, the scent led right towards ThunderClan. "I'll be over here!" Whitefoot called to Tigerstripe, and dashed away.

The scent was of cat.

Of a loner.

Or a rogue.

Whitefoot trailed the scent to the abandoned Twoleg den that sat beside the stream that marked ShadowClan's territory. She crept inside, the scent flooding her senses.

A shuffling noise startled her. "H…hello?" Whitefoot whispered.

"Hello."

A blue-gray tom appeared from the darkness. "Who are you?"

"The question is, who are you?" Whitefoot demanded. "And what are you doing on ShadowClan territory?"

"My name is Pond." The blue-gray tom continued to have a calm, cool expression on his face. Whitefoot tried to be half as cool as he was being, but she couldn't help but laugh. "Pond?"

"My mother named me that before she died," Pond mewed, his voice or expression not altering.

"Oh." Whitefoot immediately felt sorry that she'd said that to him. "So…are you all alone in here? I mean, it's my job to drive out loners from the territory, and…"

"Yes, I am all alone, and I have been for my entire life." Pond's voice was edged with sorrow.

"Don't you get lonely?" Whitefoot asked curiously.

Pond shrugged and sat down, curling his tail over his paws. "I'm used to it, by now."

"Have you always lived here?"

"No. I traveled from very far away. I like it here, though. There is much more prey."

"Oh…" Whitefoot didn't want to chase him out. "Okay, I won't drive you out of the territory, but you have to stay here and not go out of this den! I'll hunt for you…if that's okay."

Pond smiled. "Sure. I like it here. That's very kind of you. Say, what is your name, anyway?"

Whitefoot grinned back. "Whitefoot."

"Pond, I'm back!" Whitefoot placed the starling and rat at her paws. "Pond?"

The blue-gray tom came bounding out from the darkness, just like he'd done for the past two moons after he'd met Whitefoot.

"Yum!" Pond purred. "I love starling." He wolfed it down in a few bites and swiped his tongue over his mouth.

"If you eat that fast, you're going to get fat and lazy!" Whitefoot joked. Pond batted her over the ear. "Hey!"

"I didn't say you were fat and lazy!"

Pond chuckled.

"Hey! Whitefoot!"

Whitefoot gasped and spun around. Feathersong and her brother, Jaywing, were dashing toward her. "Hide!" Whitefoot hissed to Pond, but it was too late.

"You caught the loner!" Jaywing meowed. "Kill him!"

"Kill him?" Whitefoot murmured. She turned to Pond, whose fur lay flat on his back but his eyes were wide as the full moon.

"Hurry!" Feathersong hissed. "Before he gets away!"

Hating herself for this, Whitefoot tackled Pond to the ground, her claws ripping into his shoulders. Pond gave a loud yowl and struggled from underneath her. He obviously didn't have any fighting experience.

Finally, after tussling for a while, Pond squirmed out from underneath Whitefoot and dashed away.

"Great job, Whitefoot!" Feathersong congratulated her, smiling widely. Whitefoot tried to smile half as big as the longhaired gray she-cat was smiling, but her heart was sinking.

"Pond?" Whitefoot called, dropping the starling onto the hard ground of the abandoned Twoleg den. It had been four sunrises since she'd had to attack her friend, and she was feeling terribly guilty and lonely.

She noticed a patch of blue-gray fur scurrying away from the den. Pond. Whitefoot snatched up the starling and raced after him. "Pond!"

"Pond." Whitefoot halted and stared at Pond, panting, as he stopped and turned around. "I'm sorry, Pond…I…they're my Clanmates! I can't let my loyalty to my Clan falter because of my friendship with a loner. We can still be friends, but what I'm trying to say is…I…I'm sick of Clan life, Pond."

Pond's ears pricked, but he stayed silent as he listened to Whitefoot.

"I…I'm tired of all the rules that you can't be friends with another Clan cat because you might run into them in battle, or that we can't be friends with loners…I…I love you…and I want to live with you…and travel with you…and have kits with you." All her feelings just bubbled out of her.

"Whitefoot…" Pond sighed. "I…I'm well enough alone."

He turned and padded away.

Weird ending…rushed ending…and unique at the same time. Poor Whitefoot and Pond! Hopefully there will come a chapter where I can continue writing about them. This was really long. ._. Oh well!

xx-Starfall-xx