A/N: Whoo, it's been a while. I'm really sorry. My internet's been out twice, plus the whole first week of school, which was fairly nutty, to say the least. However, I got m'self some new headphones, and I've got a playlist all ready, so it's writing time! R & R R R (Ha ha that means: "Read & Review Russetfur Rising" Isn't that cute. xD ) OKAY, a note - since Dawncloud's already dead in my fic, though she isn't at this point in canon, let's pretend Nightpelt, Ashfur, and DUSTFANG were the ones to meet up with Yellowfang... And I know the first two's ages are totally off... Oh well.


Blackfoot entered the camp, his fur clinging tightly to his skin with the rain. In his mouth he carried a small kit. Clawface and Icetalon followed, the former carrying a kit with a torn ear and the latter with two kits in his jaws. They mewled in fear, though the gray one that Blackfoot held also squirmed and swiped at him with dull, tiny claws.

Russetfur watched from the mouth of the nursery, her eyes hollow and blank. Falconkit crouched between the queen's paws. The pair of them watched as Brokenstar hurried over to them from his den without really taking in the scene. "Blackfoot, Clawface, Icetalon! You got the kits!" their cruel leader's words barely reached them, sounding faint and meaningless to their ears, to their damaged minds. "Well done, my warriors. Take them behind that bush by the apprentice's den. Guard them, as ThunderClan may very well try and take them back. Boulder, Nightwhisper, Jaggedtooth, help them guard the kits. If ThunderClan does not come for them by moonhigh, take them to the nursery. Russetfur will care for them." The dark ginger she-cat blinked as he said her name, but she did not look up. It seemed safer to pretend she remained in a reverie.

"Blackfoot, you have proven your loyalty to me through this act, and I believe I did make the right choice in making you my deputy." The huge tabby tom told his deputy, and the mostly white tom stood tall and proud. He really believes he's doing what's best for ShadowClan. Russetfur's mind noted absently. After all, a Clan leader's word is law. That is as decreed by StarClan. But why, WHY did they grant that monster nine lives and the name of a leader? Russetfur looked at him in disgust. He is evil. She didn't truly believe that any cat was pure evil, but she did think Brokenstar was damn close. Then she remembered his kithood, when Lizardfang would nip him, and would deprive him of milk just because he was not her real son, and Russetfur could see a little piece of why this terror of ShadowClan was the way he was.

Clawface walked directly past, and Russetfur noticed that his claws were coated with blood and a few strands of tortoiseshell fur. A quick glance behind her confirmed that Poppyfeather, Hazelkit, and Grasskit were unharmed (though the mother bore stale wounds from the first raid), so Clawface must have attacked a ThunderClan cat, as those three were the only tortoiseshells in ShadowClan. With a stab of horror, Russetfur wondered if he had killed a kit, but the fur was not kitten fur, and was fairly long for how old those kits were. No, he had injured an adult cat. Perhaps it was the mother of those four kits. All the possibilities were grim, but even more grim as Russetfur remembered that ThunderClan's medicine cat was a tortoiseshell. Attacking a Clan's medicine cat was taboo, and if Clawface had violated that unspoken law, ThunderClan would fight them all the harder when they came for the kits.

Time seemed to stand still, rain pouring endlessly from the gray clouds. Minutes had to have passed, even hours had passed, perhaps, as lighting flashed in the sky again and again, deafening thunder closing in around the camp like a swarm of enemy warriors. At some point Falconkit had leaned against the older she-cat's foreleg and fallen asleep for the first time in days. Russetfur had drifted into a half-sleeping stupor, but both of them jerked awake when an achingly familiar yowl ripped through the silence.

"We have captured the kit-killer, Yellowfang!" Nightpelt had called, and Russetfur's eyes grew huge. She had missed the sound of the black-furred tom's voice more desperately than she had realized. His bright amber eyes gleamed in the semi-darkness, his body just visible when another fork of lightning jolted across the sky. Ashfur and Dustfang flanked him, and he had ShadowClan's medicine cat by the scruff. The three warriors were very thin, but hard muscles still flexed in Nightpelt's neck while his fur hung dull and limp from his now bony frame.

Russetfur's pulse jumped into overdrive as her former apprentice let go of Yellowfang's scruff as ShadowClan cats poured from the dens, and she screeched, "Now!" The four of them leaped onto the guards. Her ears flattened against her head as the cats wrestled and writhed in the muddy earth. She extended her claws, muscles tensed, but she held still. How much help could she be in this state- long overdue for her kits coming, and even if she was fit for battle, which side would she fight on. Her heart told her to fight for Nightpelt, but her mind remembered Brokenstar's promise to kill her kits if she betrayed him- kits that could come at any moment.

Then ThunderClan scent filled her nostrils and their warriors poured into camp, snarling and hissing. A bright ginger tom shot past the den and leaped onto Boulder. The former rogue clawed at him, but soon ran screeching into the bushes. Russetfur's breath was coming fast now as her eyes searched desperately for Nightpelt, for Dustfang, and for all her Clanmates. ThunderClan could very well kill them, they were so hungry and weak. The dark ginger queen's own fear-scent reached her, and it only made her feel more terrified. She couldn't move if she wanted to. Then Snowkit- Snowpaw, attacked the ginger apprentice or young warrior that had defeated Boulder, and Falconkit cried out in fear, "Don't!" But the ThunderClan cat only batted him away before being attacked by Clawface.

Russetfur's eyes moved away from their fight, seeing Nightpelt struggle under the weight of Jaggedtooth's heavy frame before he was rescued by a white-furred ThunderClan cat. Jaggedtooth was sent sprinting away, and Wetfoot, the tom's brother, followed after without a thought, though he bore no serious wounds. A loud screech made Russetfur's head turn, and she saw Yellowfang, pinning Brokenstar down.

"I never thought you would be harder to kill than my father!" he snarled, and Russetfur flinched.

Yellowfang cried, "You killed Raggedstar?"

Taking advantage of her shock, Brokenstar twisted and threw her off with a cold glare. "Did you not recognize my fur between his claws? He was a soft and foolish leader. He deserved to die."

Russetfur's mind reeled. Brokenstar had killed the noble leader that had replaced her father. Brokenstar had killed his own father, and felt that he had deserved it? "No!" the former ShadowClan medicine cat hissed before asking darkly, "And Brightflower's kits? Did they deserve to die, too?"

The dark tabby sprang and pushed Yellowfang into the wet ground with his claws. Those kits were weak. They would have been of no use to ShadowClan." he snarled, leaning closer to her. "If I hadn't killed them, some other warrior would have." Brightflower yowled in despair from somewhere near the warrior's den. "I should have killed you when I had the chance." he spat. "It seem I have some of my father's softness. I was a fool to let you leave ShadowClan alive!" the leader opened his jaws to kill her, but that same ginger ThunderClan cat barreled into him foolishly.

He landed on the edge of the clearing, snarling, "Don't waste your time, apprentice! I've shared dreams with StarClan. You will have to kill me nine times over before I join them. Do you really think you're strong enough for that?" It was obvious that if it was just the two of them, the ThunderClan cat would be defeated quickly, but ShadowClan and ThunderClan warriors alike stepped forward in defiance of Brokenstar's rule. Brokenstar saw that his warriors were gone, and he was surrounded.

With a vicious snarl that Russetfur couldn't make out, the tyrannical ShadowClan leader disappeared from camp. Nightpelt's voice came a moment later, in response to something the white warrior of ThunderClan had said. "Leave them. If they dare to show their faces here again, ShadowClan will be strong enough by then to tackle them alone.

"The kits!" An unfamiliar voice called, and the ThunderClan cats rushed over. Briefly, Russetfur saw that Mousefur, the she-cat who had nearly killed her after Foxheart was made deputy, cuddled up to the other kits, while Yellowfang looked over the kit with the torn ear.

Nightpelt came up to the patrol of warriors, and told them calmly, "You helped ShadowClan rid itself of a brutal and dangerous leader, and we are grateful. But it is time you left our camp and returned to your own. I promise your hunting grounds will be free of ShadowClan warriors as long as we can find food in our own territory.

"Hunt in peace for one moon, Nightpelt. ThunderClan knows you need time to rebuild your Clan." The white warrior told him, before turning to Yellowfang. The aggressive she-cat decided to remain a part of ThunderClan, and Russetfur couldn't help but mentally growl, "Traitor!" She had lived with ShadowClan almost her entire life, served them as a warrior and a medicine cat, and she decided to live with another Clan, now, when ShadowClan needed all the warriors they could get. The ThunderClan cats left, taking the four kits with them, and Russetfur's fur finally laid flat.

She took in a large breath, realizing she had been holding her breath for the last part of the battle. Falconkit wrapped her small tail around Russetfur's foreleg, and she nuzzled the kit in response. She wasn't happy exactly, but incredibly relieved that Brokenstar was gone, and that her kin were okay. In fact, it didn't seem there were any casualties.

"Is he okay?" squeaked Grasskit from behind Russetfur. Knowing immediately who she meant, she searched through the throng of cats and found him. He appeared to have only a few small injuries.

"Whitethroat is fine." she meowed, and Poppyfeather closed her eyes in relief. Paws splashed close to the nursery, splattering mud onto Russetfur's muzzle. As she blinked and started to wipe her muzzle with a paw, bright amber eyes made her pause. "Nightpelt..." she said in a tiny voice, barely audible.

The eyes normally alight with humor hardened into ice as he gave her a glare that chilled her to the bone. "Russetfur." he spat through gritted teeth. "You are not welcome in this camp. You are a supporter of Brokenstar and his crimes. Leave ShadowClan." When she didn't move for a minute, stiff with shock, he sank his teeth into her shoulder, ripping a clump of fur out. "Get out of my Clan, traitor!" The pain made her jump to her paws, but she was shaking with fear. Betrayal and something akin to hatred glowed in his eyes, and he bit her again, this time near her spine. "I said get out of here! I won't have traitors poisoning this Clan anymore! Get out!" he cried, fury making him unsheathe his claws.

Letting out a shuddering breath, Russetfur snatched up Falconkit and ran towards the camp entrance. She paused, panting, and looked back, and Nightpelt charged at her. Fear making her paws fly, she dashed away from camp, not knowing where to go. She soon had to stop again, for she could not run very far at all as pregnant as she was, and looked behind her to see Nightpelt's dark form turn away from her in the distance, and go back into the camp.

She ran and walked and paused many times, too numb to cry or to speak, Falconkit still dangling from her jaws. A rush of despair suddenly hit her, and her limbs trembled with the agony of knowing she couldn't return to the place where she was born, where she had trained and where she had become a warrior... A ripple went through her stomach, followed by an sharp pain, intense enough to make her cry out around Falconkit's scruff.

"Oh no..." Russetfur said as her legs buckled and she fell to the ground, releasing the small black she-kit onto the earth. "Oh StarClan, not now!"