A/N: I've been updating like crazy, very proud of myself. Thank you Lifepaw for reviewing, and the same goes for WildCroconaw, when you get to this chapter ;) I wish more of you would reviewing, because I know the two of you didn't each visit my story 141 times in the last two days, so there are more of you reading this right now! Well, at least you're reading it if you're not reviewing. School gets out next week, so if all goes well, I can write all day once summer comes around. My goal is to finish this fic before school begins for next year, but I'm not altogether sure I want to because I love this story so much! I'm sorry this chapter is a bit shorter than the others, but oh well.


Russetfur sat down slowly at the edge of ShadowClan territory. The thunderpath that divided her territory and Tigerclaw's loomed in front of her, seemingly endless. But not just going in the direction of WindClan, but across as well. The endless stretch of hard black Twoleg stuff that would forever separate herself and the cat she...The cat she loved. Russetfur admitted it to herself now; she loved Tigerclaw, as he said he loved her.

Which was why she was sitting here. The fact that she loved Tigerclaw was why she had limped and staggered to the edge of her territory despite her wounds, and it was also why she sat on the border instead of crossing. Her heart wanted nothing more than to run across the border to be with him; her heart didn't care if she betrayed her Clan, her heart didn't care what any other cat in the forest thought, and her heart didn't care if she abandoned her Clan completely, as long as she could be with him, somehow, someway. Her mind told her, in contrast, that if she crossed the border now, her whole life could fall apart. She would lose her friends, her apprentice, her family... And her position. Foxheart had gotten to be deputy now, but Russetfur was the one that nearly died fighting for her Clan. She could end up deputy someday, but not if she went to Tigerclaw.

Was her ambition enough to keep her away from her love? Russetfur didn't think so, but her ambition combined with losing her friends and family, any respect she had gained over the moons in fighting for her Clan... Lose Tigerclaw? Or lose everything else? The answer seemed fairly obvious on that level, but it was so much more complicated. Every inch of her loved Tigerclaw. She loved the confident way he walked, the light in his beautiful amber eyes, his overlarge paws, that he was just as ambitious as her. She loved the stupid grin he showed only when he was around her, the particular timbre of his voice, that he was brave enough to travel into ShadowClan territory just to see her. She loved his laugh, that he would cock his head to the side when listening to the leaders speak at the Gathering, and the comfort of his muzzle in her fur. How could she give all that up, even for her friends?

Russetfur closed her eyes for a long time, her internal battle raging and causing her pain tenfold stronger than any wound could give her. Her dark green eyes finally opened when the roar of a Twoleg monster sounded. As it got slowly closer, coming from the direction of Twolegplace, Russetfur wondered for a second if she should jump out and get herself hit. It would solve a lot of her problems- all of them, in fact. But as the monster rattled past her place of painful vigil, the ShadowClan warrior was running as fast as she could in the opposite direction.

The dark ginger cat reached the camp only to be met by Raggedstar. "There you are! You know you weren't supposed to leave the camp yet.. Or even the medicine den, actually." Russetfur shrugged helplessly. "Well, come on, it's time for Dustpaw's warrior ceremony." Seeing her look of shock, Raggedstar tipped his head to one side. "Didn't she mention it?" The warrior shook her head, and Raggedstar nodded. "Oh well."

"May all cats old enough to catch their own prey please gather beneath Highbranch for a Clan meeting!" the ShadowClan leader called as he leaped into the tree. The Clan gathered below him, and Dustpaw sat herself beside her mentor, a wide smile on her face. Russetfur tried to smile back, but the pain she was feeling right now overshadowed the happiness she felt for her apprentice. "Three apprentices proved themselves during the battle with ThunderClan. They are Brownpaw, Vinepaw, and Dustpaw. Brownpaw, as you know, is still being worked on by the medicine cats. He might not live through this, I am sorry to say. But Vinepaw and Dustpaw can now receive their warrior names."

"Vinepaw, Dustpaw, you have proven yourselves before StarClan, so I would be most surprised if a no came from the following question: Jaggedtooth, Russetfur, are your apprentices fit to be warriors?" Russetfur and Jaggedtooth nodded affirmatively in response, and Raggedstar continued. "Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior names. Vinepaw, from this day forward, you shall be known as Vinesplash. StarClan honors your cleverness and nobility. Dustpaw, you shall now be called Dustfang. StarClan honors your ferocity and loyalty." He and the new warriors exchanged gestures. "Vinesplash! Dustfang!" he cheered, the rest of the Clan following.

Russetfur cheered along with them, but her heart only hurt worse for her apprentice's happiness. It was stupid, but the warrior wished she could be so carefree, so happy just to be a warrior. She knew she should be more proud of her apprentice, but she was so caught up in her own problems that she couldn't even be happy for her own apprentice to be forced a smile as Dustfang came over, and nuzzled her warmly, but the moment she walked to the camp entrance for her vigil, Russetfur walked out of camp again, ignoring her muscles' complaint.


It was slow, painful going for Russetfur with her wounds and her internal pain, but her paws carried her towards Twolegplace fairly quickly. Darkness was setting in now, though it hadn't even been dusk when she left camp. She just kept running until Charlie's fence came into view. She leaped upward with a tremendous effort once she was close enough, but didn't quite make it. Taking a deep, raspy breath to calm herself, Russetfur launched herself upward again and made it, though she tipped precariously on the fence and had to jump down to the flat Twoleg thing ungracefully with a loud thunk.

Russetfur looked around, but Charlie wasn't in the yard. She cursed, knowing he must be inside with his Twolegs. Not giving up though, she leaped to the sill of a square Twoleg substance that she could see through, like water. Sure enough, Charlie was being held by a Twoleg a little ways inside the Twoleg nest. Desperate, Russetfur mewed loudly, not really caring if the Twoleg heard. It did, and walked over on its pair of clumsy legs. It peered at Russetfur with its enormous face before lifting up the see-through substance somehow and letting Russetfur step forward. Throwing caution completely to the wind, she did, despite Charlie's look of panic.

The Twoleg set Charlie down on a surface a little ways below where she stood, so she stepped down there herself. "What are you doing, Russetfur?" Charlie meowed worriedly. "My owners might take you!"

"Charlie... I honestly wouldn't even care right now." she told him honestly, and his frown only deepened.

Looking into her eyes, he asked, "What's happened?" His concern only made the sadness that had already taken over her mind grow further.

"Everything's happened, Charlie..." she began, before telling him everything. To get all of it off of her chest was an enormous relief, but the hole where her heart should be still ached and throbbed with pain. Her friend comforted her, licking the top of her head.

Blinking, he said, "That... I'm sorry, Russetfur. But I promise, as your friend, I will always be here for you. I swear it." Russetfur smiled, and an uncontrollable need took over her mind. She leaned forward, glad the Twoleg had left the area while ago, and licked his cheek. She licked his fur, his face and his neck in a way that showed more than a grooming between friends. She stepped forward, still licking his soft, white, long fur. Her eyes narrowed seductively, but Charlie cleared his throat and backed up a step.

"What's wrong?" Russetfur asked confusedly.

Charlie, looking incredibly uncomfortably, answered quickly, "Russetfur, I like you, I do. You're my best friend, but we can't do this. It wouldn't be right. You love Tigerclaw, not me. I can't do this with you. I'm sorry." he apologized. Harsh rejection filled her head and her heart. It stung like fire and made her throat close up and she felt like crying again. Looking into his eyes for one more, pain-filled moment before leaping out of the nest, out of his yard, and away.

Russetfur didn't care where she went, as long as it was far away from Charlie and everything he represented now. Her wounds, Russetfur knew were going to be worse than ever with all this running and jumping, but she had to get away from that place. Time found her skidding to a stop at the Thunderpath that she had sat at earlier, thinking about Tigerclaw. This time, though, Russetfur hardly hesitated before dashing across the border, towards the cat she loved, towards Tigerclaw, who she needed so much right now that she wouldn't stop if StarClan itself charged at her.

There was a pocket of strong-smelling tansy a couple of tail-lengths inside the border, and she paused for a second to roll in it, disguising her scent. It wouldn't do for Tigerclaw's scent to be found by ThunderClan cats mixed with hers. She moved more slowly towards the center of the territory, where she assumed the camp would be, nearly silent as she stepped through the shadows of ThunderClan territory. Russetfur came to a ravine, which all the strongest scent trails led to, and she very cautiously stepped down the rocks.

Russetfur started to curse when she saw that there was a cat standing guard at the entrance to what must be the camp, until she saw that the cat was completely asleep. Holding her breath, the dark ginger warrior tip-toed past the sleeping warrior, into the ThunderClan camp. The camp was completely deserted, all the cats having gone to sleep in their dens. Still, she pricked her ears to listen for any waking cats. Only snoring sounds ruffled her ear fur, so she closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath. The most cat scent came from underneath a bush, which Russetfur figured was the warriors den.

She steeled herself, saying to herself mentally that she had gotten this far, she could get a little further. She stepped into the warriors den and saw that Tigerclaw slept near the middle, but all the cats were sound asleep, so Russetfur carefully stepped over them, moving slower than ever. Miraculously, she made it to Tigerclaw. He slept soundly, and her heart swelled with the sight of him lying there, dreaming of StarClan knows what, serene. She almost hated to wake him. She put her tail across his mouth and leaned her face near his ear to breathe, "Tigerclaw. Wake up." A pair of amber eyes blinked open in the darkness.