"Russetfur?" he murmured around her tail. She stuffed her tail in his mouth to quiet him, but nodded, a smile spreading across her face. He gave her a 'was that really necessary?' look, but got silently to his paws regardless, spitting out her tail. He twitched his own tail towards the exit, but Russetfur noticed a flicker of a smile on his face. She was still trembling from fear of being in the enemy camp, but being with Tigerclaw evaporate most of her fear. What am I saying? Russetfur thought. I'm not a love-struck apprentice, so why do I sound like one?

Tigerclaw led her out of the camp, taking a slightly easier rout up the ravine than the one she had originally picked, and into the depths of the forest. Only once they were a good distance from camp did he slow down and speak. "Russetfur... Why-" he started, but she didn't let him finish.

"I love you." she said, and it felt simply glorious to be able to tell him that. She jumped ahead to stand in front of him, looking into his glowing amber eyes.

He breathed a sigh of relief. "You do? I know I said that I knew you did, but I wasn't sure... " Russetfur dipped her head, meeting his eyes seriously.

"I do. I love you, Tigerclaw, even though we're from different Clans." she said, and he leaned forward to touch noses with her.

"I love you too, Russetfur." he told her. "At the Gathering, your apprentice said something, and I thought you might be dead. Raggedstar didn't say anything, so I figured you were probably just hurt, but I thought for a while that maybe you were..." he trailed off.

"I'm alright now." she murmured, her heart warming at his concern for her.

Glancing up and down, he argued, "Not really. You're covered in cobwebs from nose to tail, and I can tell that some of those wounds are still bleeding. I could kill Redtail and Mousefur for doing this to you, I really could."

"Join the club." she muttered. "You saved my life, Tigerclaw." she said in a more serious tone. "I was ready to go to StarClan, and I would have, too, if you hadn't made me stay."

The dark tabby smiled. "Well, I'm glad I did." he said, licking her cheek. "And I was only returning the favor, you know, saving your life. You saved me when I was a kit."

"'Course I remember. We never would've met if that fox hadn't tried to attack you." Russetfur replied.

"Wouldn't that have been better, though? If you never met me? StarClan knows you'd be better off in love with a cat from your own Clan." he said sadly, longing in his eyes, as if he wished he were born in ShadowClan.

Russetfur shook her head vehemently. "No. Maybe I would've been better off, but I couldn't have lived without you now that I have known you."

"And I you," he replied with another smile.

The ShadowClan warrior sighed. "That's good to hear; I think you're the only one. Even my apprentice- sorry, my ex-apprentice, Dustfang, hated me for a long time simply because I knew a secret about her."

"What secret?" Tigerclaw asked curiously.

She looked down at the leaf-covered ground. "Her father was a ThunderClan cat." Russetfur reveled in the irony- that she herself was now with a ThunderClan cat, talking about Dustfang's parentage.

"Really?" Tigerclaw said, surprised. "Who?"

The ginger she-cat hesitated for a moment before answering truthfully, "Fuzzypelt."

"Huh." the ThunderClan warrior responded. "He's a decent cat. But even if this Dustfang hated you, surely your family-" Russetfur cut him off for the second time that night.

With a dark chuckle, she interrupted, "No. Foxheart was appointed deputy, like you probably heard at the Gathering, and I got... Well, insanely jealous. I told her to piss off when I was fighting erm, Redtail. So not my family."

"I think you'd do a better job as deputy than Foxheart, personally." he answered sincerely.

Russetfur snorted. "You'd be the only one."

"Russetfur." he said as he got to his paws suddenly. "I'm sure cats in your Clan also think you would make a better deputy. One day you'll be the leader of ShadowClan, and I of ThunderClan. We'll be Russetstar and Tigerstar, and our kits will be deputies, and we can always be together in secret." He stared up at the stars as he spoke, daring StarClan to challenge his vision, painting a glorious picture of a wishful future.

The ShadowClan she-cat stood up beside him, tilting her head to the sky as well. He was a full head taller than her, but when he lowered his head, they seemed almost the same height.

The tom leaned forward and licked her muzzle, then her cheek, his tongue traveling down to her chest and belly. She stepped back nervously, but he stepped with her. "Tigerclaw- no." she said, a quaver in her voice.

"What's wrong?" he asked between licks.

Russetfur stepped back several pawsteps this time. "I'm not ready."

"Don't you love me?" he asked with wide, hurt eyes.

Unwilling to watch him suffer, but firm in her decision, the she-cat said, "Of course I love you. We've been over this. But I'm not ready."

"Russetfur, this is what love is about!" he said impatiently, a spark of indignancy n his gaze now, clouding the hurt.

Again she shook her head. "No, it's not. Love is about trust, and caring, and-"

"So you don't trust me then?" he asked.

Russetfur narrowed her eyes with a sigh of frustration. "Don't do this to me, Tigerclaw. I do trust you. And I do love you. But I am. Not. Ready. And no matter what you say, I will not be ready. In the future, probably. Now, no." she almost-snapped.

Tigerclaw closed the distance between them. "Russetfur, I've won you fair and square. You love me, I love you, and this is what happens when two cats love each other!"

Russetfur lifted her chin to look directly in his eyes. "Tigerclaw." she said in a dangerous voice. "You don't "win" me. I am not a prize for you. I am a she-cat, and I am not ready for this."

The huge tom snarled, unsheathing his claws. Russetfur did not shrink away, but a small voice in the back of her head was telling her to run, fast as she could. "Too damn bad!" he spat, and he deftly leaped so he was standing over her. The she-cat tried to sprint away, like the voice told her, but he was too fast- he caught up with her before she had gotten five pawsteps and pinned her down with brute strength.

"Get off of me!" Russetfur spat furiously. The voice in her head was in complete panic mode now- was he really going to force himself on her? With the thought, she struggled harder, but in her weakened state, she could barely move him, let alone escape. She sank her teeth into his leg, but he ripped his leg away like it was nothing.

"I love you Russetfur! I'll have you as my mate!" he growled back, getting into position without releasing her.

Her breathing sped up so that she was nearly hyperventilating with fear. "Tigerclaw!" Russetfur fought harder, biting and clawing with all her might, but nothing affected him. "Please!" she screeched and writhed in pain. "Stop it! You're hurting me!" Her yowls turned to sobs."Tigerclaw stop!" She paused for breath before screeching so loud that it hurt her ears, "HELP! PLEASE! SOMEONE HELP ME!"

Her screams pierced the air, but Tigerclaw led them too far from camp for anyone to hear. No cat heard Russetfur's yowls. No cat could save her.


Russetfur lay bleeding in the forest, her dignity shredded like her body. She had passed out from the pain somewhere in the middle of it all, and she only woke now. She could see that dawn was not far off, and she knew that she had to get back to her own territory before she was seized by the ThunderClan dawn patrol. The last thing she wanted was to be anywhere near Tigerclaw.

The name wrenched her heart. How could he have done this to her? Was this all that he really valued her for? Did he even really love her, or was this all he wanted? Each question drove an icicle, sharp as his claws, into her heart, but she had to start moving. She shakily got to her paws. It took a lot of her strength just to do that, she was so weak and so battered. Russetfur took several steps forward, but had to pause after just those. I'm not going to make it! She feared, but the thought gave her strength.

I'm going to get out of here. I will get out of here, because I refuse to be near that slimy, disgusting, selfish, hateful, violent, dirty, revolting, angry, stupid, lying, fox-hearted scumbag! Each insult led her another step, and she spat on the ground, bloody though it may have been, in derision. The sky was lightening every heartbeat, and Russetfur pushed herself to go faster and faster. Come on, you old bag of bones. You can do this. Russetufr thought to herself. Again the irony struck her - she was the one that nearly died in battle with ThunderClan in her own camp, only to come here and be- yeah. And now she was forcing herself to flee, tearing her wounds and straining her muscles even more.

Russetfur could hear the Thunderpath, and the sound made her feel light and some semblance of near happiness. She pushed herself to keep going, to reach the Thunderpath without stopping, and she just made it. She carefully parted the plant with her nose to go into the tunnel underneath the Thunderpath. Her legs were shaking terribly now, and she tripped midway through the tunnel. She lay there for a while, entirely unable to get up again. Finally, she regained enough of her strength to get out of the tunnel. The ShadowClan scent markers were the most welcoming smell she had ever scented. Knowing there was no way she could make it to the camp, she collapsed beside a small shrub, just big enough to shelter her from the cold wind that was blowing.

Far too soon, she was awoken by a jeering call from the other side of Thunderpath. "Hey ShadowClan!" called a gray ThunderClan tom with long, untidy fur. "Taking naps on hunting patrol, are you? And I thought RiverClan was lazy!"

"Hey ThunderClan!" she called back weakly, unable to resist responding even as tired as she was, "Ever groomed yourself? I can smell you from here! And just look at that fur. Didn't your mommy ever tell you to wash?" The small cat behind him, probably a young apprentice, snickered. The warrior turned on him furiously and he shrank back fearfully.

Looking back at Russetfur, he replied lamely, "Well I can smell you from here too! And you stink!"

"Do I even need to dignify that with a response?" she called in response to the poor joke, but the warrior and apprentice were already walking away. She could've sworn the apprentice looked at her almost admiringly though. Before she could pass out again, a shout came from her own side of the border.

"Russetfur!" called a familiar voice, and the she-cat's tail lifted. It was Nightpelt!

She saw that he had Frogclaw, Blackfoot, and Wetfoot with him, and opened her mouth to answer, but she couldn't summon the energy, and her head fell to the ground once more. Her whole body was trembling and quivering, and her fresh wounds started trickling blood again for all the movement. "Russetfur! What happened to you!" Nightpelt asked as he neared.

"Dog..." she lied through her teeth in a small murmur.

Nightpelt sniffed her over. "Blackfoot! Help me get her back to camp- Runningnose needs to fix her up, fast." The huge white tom came over unquestioningly, for once.

"Frogclaw, Wetfoot. Finish the patrol." he ordered. "Come on, let's lift her." he added. Russetfur felt them start to move her body, but she was unconscious before they even started walking.


A/N: Wow. Poor Russetfur :( I'm sorry this had to happen, but it's truly integral to the story. I worked really, really, really hard on making this chapter T-rated, but I'm not altogether sure if it worked. So, I am terribly sorry if this is too...risque... for you, nothing I can do about it because I can't really make it any less revealing than this. Anyway, reviews are appreciated, and one question: Was Tigerclaw super OOC in this chapter? I felt like he was, but I am not totally sure. Might be my imagination.