WARNING! IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE NEW ENDING TO CHAPTER 10, DO NOT READ ON! I REPEAT, DO NOT READ ON! I posted an alternate ending to chapter ten, and before you read this, you must read that!

Okay, nufff of that, I'm really tired, and I need to get read to go somewhere, so no review answers tonite guys. I'm sorry :( Next chapter, I promise!

On with the story!

Chapter 11

Rosepaw

Rosepaw had never experienced darkness like this. Warm and pressing, the blackness was almost tangible, wrapping itself around her comfortingly, like an old friend. She felt as though she was floating in oblivion, a space that had never known the presence of another creature. Suddenly, it was gone, replaced with the feeling of cool grass beneath her and a breeze fondling her fur. Tentatively, she opened her eyes.

In front of her sat a sleek gray she-cat with light blue eyes. Her white paws didn't touch the ground as she padded over, and her pelt was filled with stars.

"Hello, little one," she mewed softly, voice soft and pleasing. Rosepaw sat up, blinking as she looked around.

The sky was a cloudless, pale blue. They sat in a round clearing in a forest with trees that seemed to stretch to forever and leaves that were a vibrant green. Rosepaw couldn't help but relax, enjoying the feeling of seeing. Then, she began to wonder where she was and why she was there.

Memories began to rush back, Thornpaw, the badger. She remembered the blunt claws falling towards her and the brief spike of agony she had felt before falling to the tempting blackness. Rosepaw gasped, looking at the strange she-cat with wide eyes.

"Is this StarClan?" Rosepaw asked, fearing her answer. The she-cat dipped her head and Rosepaw shut her eyes, trying to keep herself from panicking.

"Am…am I dead?" Rosepaw asked hesitantly, opening her eyes again. The she-cat purred.

"No. The wound you suffered is severe, but not fatal. You are merely unconscious. We brought you here to tell you something important," the she-cat mewed, rising to her delicate paws. Rosepaw glanced at her, confused.

"We?"

"My name is Streampelt. And this is Stonepelt," Streampelt responded just as a huge gray tabby strode into the clearing. His pelt was shiny and also held stars, while his eyes were a burning amber. Rosepaw gaped at him.

"Stonepelt? My mother's mentor?" she gasped. The tom purred and nodded padding towards her and giving her a quick lick on the head.

"You look so much like your mother," he murmured, eyes glimmering with unshed tears. Rosepaw purred, rubbing her head against his jaw.

"My mother loved you so much. It's an honor to finally meet you," Rosepaw mewed. She felt a bond with this cat, an instant ease between them. Streampelt seemed to sense this as she looked on, eyes warm and approving.

"Rosepaw, listen closely," Stonepelt rumbled, drawing back. Rosepaw nodded, pricking her ears up.

"The feather shall tip the balance of good and evil. Shadows will come from where they lurk. Roses shall blossom, thorns will sharpen, and the clans will be plunged into darkness once more. Only two can survive," Stonepelt murmured, eyes blazing with a dangerous power. Rosepaw's eyes widened. Those words…

"What does it mean?" she asked, standing. Stonepelt merely shook his head, backing up. His eyes gleamed sadly and Rosepaw felt a cold ice beginning to seep into her veins.

"Please, Stonepelt, please. Don't make me go back to the nightmare," she begged as a cold darkness began to cloud her vision. The tom's eyes almost broke her heart, so filled with sorrow and pain.

"I'm sorry, little one," he whispered. His voice sounded in her ears as she began to fall.

"No!" she screamed before her world was plunged into an icy darkness once more.

Thornpaw

Thornpaw looked at his sister, horrified. The badger had swiped her across the clearing, and she had hit a tree before slumping down among its roots. She hadn't moved. The badger, seemingly bored by then, had lumbered off.

Thornpaw stumbled over to Rosepaw, tears pouring from his eyes as he looked at the bloody mess that was once his sister. Her white flanks were bloody and torn, filled with splinters and thorns. One paw was set at an awkward angle. Thornpaw leaned down, trying desperately to find a hint of life.

With an overwhelming sense of relief that left him light-headed, he saw her flanks rise and fall. Her breathing was shallow and barely there, but she was breathing.

Thornpaw collapsed by her side, licking the blood from her flanks gently. He grabbed a pawful of leaves and pressed them to her wounds, trying to stop the bleeding. Thornpaw began to call for help, not caring about potential predators. He was too weak from his own wounds to drag her by himself. After a few minutes of that though, he gave up. No one was going to hear him.

Looking down at her again, he rose painfully to his paws. One of his hind legs had been bitten and he limped to keep it off the ground.

Clamping his jaws in her scruff, Thornpaw began to drag his half-dead sister through the forest, towards home.

Every step, every breath was pure agony, but he kept his focus in front of him, fixing his sister's image in his mind. Her clear green eyes filled with fire, the way she hunted and fought, smooth and fearless. He needed to do this for her if nothing else. For Rosepaw. For his littermate, his one and only sister.

A rustling in the undergrowth caused him to jump, startled.

Featherpaw stood there, ears flat and eyes wide with shock. He had never been happier to see any cat in his life.

"Help," he croaked, legs trembling. For some reason, the she-cat hesitated. Her eyes flashed briefly and she seemed to struggle with something inside. After a few seconds though, she stepped forward and took Rosepaw's body in her jaws gently, nodding when she was ready. Taking Rosepaw once again, Thornpaw resumed his slow march through the forest.

Just as the ravine came in sight, and Thornpaw came to believe they might actually survive, his mother shot from the tunnel, calling frantically for her kits.

Thornpaw limped slowly from the undergrowth, biting back tears of pain and relief. His mother bounded towards them, a wail erupting from her. She leaned forward to sniff her daughter, searching for hints of life with a desperation seen only in mothers. Thornpaw and Featherpaw put the injured apprentice down gently and Thornpaw collapsed to his side.

"She's…alive. Barely. Badger. Mother, why is everything black?" he murmured, feeling his paws go numb as a warm blackness began to descend upon him, soft as a raven's shadow.

"Rose…" he whispered before succumbing to the shadows.

Thornpaw woke up to sunlight falling on his face. Blinking his eyes open wearily, he was aware firstly of his aching wounds. His head also pounded and his tongue was dry. Across from him lay his sister, deep in sleep. His heart ached just looking at her.

Her flanks were covered in cobwebs, as well as half her face. Her paw was wrapped in rushes and cobwebs and her whole body smelled strongly of herbs. The one eye that showed was closed and her flanks rose and fell all too quickly.

Remembering her nightmares, Thornpaw hoped she wasn't trapped in some never-ending hell. She'd gone through enough already.

Thornpaw groaned as he pushed himself up, shaking his head to rid it of its fuzziness. Poppypaw padded in softly, eyes lighting up when she saw him. Her pretty coat shone in the sunlight as she bent her head to inspect his wounds.

"You must be thirsty. You've been asleep for two days," she mewed softly, dipping a ball of moss into the small pool. When she brought it back to him, he drank thirstily, the throbbing in his head subsiding gradually as the water entered his body. He purred rusty thanks before twisting his head to examine his hind leg.

It was wrapped in cobwebs, but when he moved it, he only found it a little stiff. Pleased, he turned back to Poppypaw, glancing at his sister worriedly. Catching his look, Poppypaw dipped her head to hide the grief in her eyes.

"Barktail says she should wake up today. But…oh Thornpaw," she sighed, ears flattening. Thornpaw merely looked at her, confused to her sudden hesitation. The she-cat seemed to take a deep breath before continuing.

"She'll always have those scars. That part of her face, her flanks. She'll never be the same," Poppypaw murmured sadly, gazing at the younger she-cat sorrowfully. Thornpaw felt his vision blur and his throat close up. The world seemed to spin, and for a moment, he wondered if he was going to fall unconscious again.

His sister was going to be forever scarred. She was already treated different as it was, and now this happened. All because of him… Thornpaw wondered how much she could take before it was too much; all the prejudice, the discrimination, the narrow mindedness. He sighed, opening his eyes, having not realized they were shut.

Poppypaw sat in front of him, eyes shining with soft concern and worry.

"Thank you for keeping her alive," he choked out. The apprentice nodded before padding out, sensing he wanted to be alone with his sister.

Thornpaw got to his paws carefully, surprised to find them strong and steady. He padded to Rosepaw's nest and leaned down to give her a brief lick, feeling a powerful surge of protectiveness over her. She looked small as a kit again, curled up and deflated. At his touch, she stirred, her good eye blinking open.

"Thornpaw?" she mumbled wearily, voice rusty and weak. Thornpaw felt tears falling from his eyes as he mewed in response, "Here, Rosepaw. Always here."

His sister's eye glanced up at him, shining with gratitude.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"I should be thanking you. You attacked a badger for me."

"You dragged me through the forest with a bad paw," Rosepaw retorted, energy beginning to creep into her voice again.

Thornpaw was too choked up to respond, instead bending his head and pressing his cheek to her uninjured one. She purred.

"Before that badger hit me, you know what? I saw. For a few moments, I saw you, Thornpaw," she murmured. Thornpaw began to cry harder.

"Oh Rosepaw," he sighed, voice tight and slurred by tears. His shoulders began to shake with sobs.

"It's all my fault," he cried out, drawing back to look at her. He watched as she tried to sit up then lay back down, wincing.

"No, never. Don't you dare think or say that."

"But…"

"No, Thornpaw," she meowed firmly. He gazed at her adoringly. At that moment, he loved nobody and nothing more than his strong sister.

"You'll always be scarred."

"I know. I know," she sighed, shutting her eye briefly.

Thornpaw curled up beside her, fur brushing hers.

Gingerpaw and Featherpaw came bounding in. Thornpaw watched, amused, as Gingerpaw brushed his nose against his sister's cheek, eyes shining softly down at her. Rosepaw purred and gave him a quick lick on the cheek. Gingerpaw blinked in surprise, and then pure joy flooded his expression. Featherpaw's expression was more guarded, though she definitely seemed happy to find them awake…and alive.

"How do you feel?" Featherpaw mewed, brushing her muzzle against his flank quickly. Thornpaw blinked, surprised. He wasn't used to the hard apprentice showing affection.

"Better, for sure," he laughed. The tortoiseshell she-cat purred, eyes glowing with amusement and relief. In that moment, looking into her glowing eyes, Thornpaw felt something stir in him, something he'd never felt towards the she-cat.

Whatever it was, Thornpaw liked it, and as he purred back, he began to wonder if maybe there was something in the she-cat the others refused to see.

That night, Thornpaw lay beside his sister, admiring the way the moonlight shone upon her fur. Suddenly, she stirred, turning over so she faced him.

"Thornpaw?" she whispered, one good eye open and piercing.

"Hm?"

"Do you think I'll be ugly?"

Thornpaw blinked, struck by her question.

"Of course not. Rosepaw, your face could get torn away, and I would still think you're as beautiful as the moon," he mewed, stretching a forepaw so it touched her face gently. His sister seemed to blink away tears for a moment.

"Really?" she asked, sounding scared and insecure. Thornpaw cuddled closer to her, brushing his fur against hers.

"I promise, Rosepaw. You're beautiful inside and out, and any cat who says otherwise is a mousebrain. We'll heal together, you and I. I'll be by your side every step of the way," he murmured. Moments later, he felt her relax and her breathing deepen as she fell asleep.

Rosepaw suffered no nightmares that night.

AW, brother sister bonding moment :) I really like that peaceful ending, and I though you guys would enjoy it after the cliffie from last time. Anyway, review please!

~Ciao, Monkey~