Sorry I haven't updated in a while ajsldkfjal blahhh blah blah.

Recap: Olivepaw is worried about Cedarpaw, who hasn't woken up yet. Later in the night, Olivepaw wakes up to ind that Willowfall is gone. Curious, she sneaks out of camp and has a vision of Cedarpaw attacking her. She soon discovers Willowfall and Emberheart talking, and she listens to them, who are unaware that she's there. Emberheart threatens Willowfall, telling her she knows about her kits and that she should leave ShadowClan if she cares about them at all. They end up fighting, and when Olivepaw looks over the next moment, Emberheart is dead. Olivepaw runs back towards camp, but she slips in the stream and loses consciousness. She wakes up under Willowfall's care, who explains to her what happened, but shows no signs that she knew Olivepaw had seen her kill Emberheart. Olivepaw begs Cedarpaw to wake up.

Chapter 8

Another One

[Ratpaw]

It was night, snow falling steadily as a dark shape darted through the forest. It stayed low to the ground, trotting past the trees, snow clinging to his dark gray pelt and amber eyes half-narrowed.

He had a feeling of worry and dread that he could be caught, but he tried to push it away, finding that a smile had crept onto his face. Exhilaration pulsed through him as he ran through the night, cold wind blowing his fur. An odd, familiar scent rose around him- ThunderClan. He was nearing the border.

A second later, he broke out from the trees, taking a step onto the old Twoleg path that separated the two territories. Everything was completely still and silent. He blinked softly, tail twitching as he looked around. There was no one in sight. He was alone.

He shivered in the cold, flattening his ears and lowering himself to the ground. He briefly thought about the possibility that a ThunderClan patrol should find him. Or, worse- a fox or a badger. So far from camp, no one would be able to hear him if he was in danger.

His thoughts dispersed when he heard a rustle from the bushes on the opposite side of the trail. He tensed, waiting, and a moment later, a small shape appeared. It was a ginger she-cat, green eyes glowing faintly, barely visible in the darkness. She looked at him for a moment before she smiled shyly, stepping forward.

"Hey, Ratpaw," she murmured, trying not to grin as widely as she was.

The tom smiled, taking a step forward, tail held high. "Hey, Russetpaw."

She grinned at him before sheepishly looking down.

"I wasn't sure if you'd remember," she admitted, shuffling her paws.

Ratpaw blinked. "Remember what?"

"To meet me here..."

He laughed lightly, shaking his head. "I was the one who asked you to meet me here, remember?"

She smiled softly, nodding her head. "I remember. You asked me at the Gathering last week." She blinked a few times, lifting her gaze to him. She frowned. "Why were you talking to me so much, then?"

"At the Gathering?" he mewed, slightly puzzled. He shrugged, tilting his head. "I don't know, I... I thought you were interesting. And you looked... alone. So I thought I'd talk to you."

She smiled a little, nodding thoughtfully. "It was fun," she murmured. "I don't have many friends in ThunderClan, so it was nice to talk to someone." She looked at him, their eyes meeting before she grinned a little, looking away. "I'm glad we could see each other. I thought we never would again."

Ratpaw frowned, taking another step towards her. She lifted her head in slight surprise, but she didn't move away. "Of course we can," he said quietly, smiling slightly. "And I hope we will. There's so much going on in ShadowClan right now," he added with a sigh, shaking his head. "With Reedfur's death and everything, everyone's been so tense. It's nice to get away from all that and be able to talk to someone like you."

Russetpaw blinked softly, as if not quite understanding but nodding a little anyway.

"I'm sorry about Reedfur," she murmured. "I remember seeing him during patrols and at the Gatherings. It seemed like he was really admired..."

Ratpaw nodded stiffly, not wanting to talk about it. He hadn't come here to talk about his own problems that he was trying to forget about.

"I heard about Honeystar," Ratpaw said quietly, changing the subject.

She frowned, nodding. "Yeah," she murmured. "Everyone was shocked. And not only that, but before she died, she made Bumblestar the leader, not Sagewhisker."

"Bumblestar," Ratpaw whispered, noticing the change she'd made in his name. "So he already got his nine lives?"

"He left a few hours ago," she answered. "He hasn't come back yet." She sighed, shaking her head. "And now that Sagewhisker's gone, nobody knows what to do. The rest of the Clan... They don't really like Bumblestar. They don't think that he's capable of running the Clan."

"Because he's a kittypet?"

"ThunderClan's always had a bad reputation for taking in kittypets," Russetpaw mewed quietly. "A long time ago, the Clan was full of them. And one of them was the leader." The she-cat sat down, wrapping her tail around her paws and lifting her head to the snowy sky. "But the leaders after him wanted to change that. They stopped taking in kittypets."

"Then what about...?"

"Honeystar found Bumblestar in our territory, half dead. He'd run away from his Twoleg nest and was attacked by a dog. She took him in out of pity, and Onespot helped him recover. And then..." She frowned, looking at her paws.

"And then...?"

"They fell in love."

Ratpaw looked at her curiously. "And that's why she let him stay?"

"Y...Yes. And now, no one is happy that he's leader instead of Sagewhisker. A few cats even left ThunderClan with her."

He shook his head, settling himself down beside her. He looked up at the clouds, snow falling gently onto his face. He noticed that they were getting thinner as the snow was reduced to a flurry, and now, he could see a small patch of sky.

"Seems like nothing's going well for any of the Clans," he muttered. "I heard that RiverClan is beginning to starve, so they're trying to take WindClan territory."

"Leafbare is the hardest," Russetpaw said quietly, moving towards him just slightly so that their pelts were almost brushing. Ratpaw noticed. "I hope everything will be alright."

"It will be," the tom murmured, not sure which of the two he was trying to convince.

They sat for a few minutes in silence, but it didn't feel awkward. It felt, somehow, as if they'd been friends forever and that there wasn't any need for words. Russetpaw smiled softly, lowering her gaze.

"I should go... Bumblestar is bound to be back soon, and I shouldn't miss the naming of the new deputy..."

"No, of course not," said Ratpaw, blinking as he stood up. They looked at each other, waiting for the other to speak.

"...Do you want to meet me again tomorrow night?" the she-cat asked quietly, frowning as if she was expecting him to say no.

But Ratpaw grinned and nodded. "Same time, same place?"

"Sounds good," she purred, turning and bounding off into the darkness, a bounce in her step.

Ratpaw watched her go silently, an askew smile on his face. He felt happy.

Letting out a sigh the minute she was finally out of earshot, he turned and stepped back into his own territory, shivering in the cold.

He was so focussed on thinking about her that he was hardly paying attention to where he was going as his mind automatically began to lead him back towards camp. Though they'd only spoken twice, now, she seemed... different than any other she-cat he'd met. Certainly more different than Snowpaw and Frostpaw, who were always loud and outgoing.

That's what made Russetpaw so sweet, he thought. She seemed so pure and kind and innocent. Of course, Ratpaw was aware that he barely knew her. His mother had always told him not to judge a cat by a first glance.

But, still; the moment they'd seen each other a week before during the patrol... She must have felt something, too, or else she wouldn't have come. Right?

No, Ratpaw, a voice in his head seemed to tell him. You can't have anything to do with her. She's from another Clan.

It's not like we're doing anything bad, Ratpaw reasoned with himself. I barely know her. We're hardly friends.

But what if it leads to romance? the voice asked. You know that it's completely forbidden. It's against the warrior code. Nothing good will come of it.

You don't know that, Ratpaw thought. Maybe nothing bad will come of it, either.

The voice seemed to shut up.

He could soon hear rushing water; he was nearing the stream. He paused for a moment, glancing around to make sure he was going the right way. He'd been so preoccupied with his own thoughts that he wasn't so sure.

He sighed, his footsteps silent in the snow as he approached the running water. It trickled peacefully though the woods.

Tiredly, he placed a paw into the water as he began to cross- but he quickly recoiled when he felt something soft beneath his foot.

Taking a step back, Ratpaw blinked before leaning forward to get a closer look. A moment later, he let out a choked gasp, his eyes flying wide open as he stumbled backwards, nearly tripping on his own legs.

In the stream, a cat lay on its side, almost completely submerged in water. Its mouth and pale green eyes were wide open, its lips curled as if in shock. Its body was covered in scratches, its fur matted, its limbs twisted beneath its own body. It was unmistakably dead.

After a moment of trying to get over the shock, the apprentice hesitantly took another step forward, looking closer.

It was Emberheart.

"Oh, StarClan," he breathed, shaking just slightly. What in the name of StarClan had happened?

His eyes suddenly widened, and he leaned forward, examining the back of her head. There was a dark mark on it, as if it had been struck.

Just as he thought.

An image of Reedfur passed through his mind, and with horror, he came to a realization- Emberheart had died just the same way as Reedfur had. She'd slipped into the stream, hitting her head, and...

StarClan, what could he do? He had to tell someone, of course, but he wasn't thinking straight. What if they didn't believe him? What if they thought he had killed her?

No. That was ridiculous. Emberheart had been one of the Clan's best fighters; he'd never be able to beat her.

But still, he couldn't believe it. Two cats had died a week apart, both in the same way. It hardly seemed at all likely.

And yet here he was, standing before Emberheart who was laying motionless in the stream.

Within three seconds, he realized that he was now running towards camp, panting as his heart beat loudly. He couldn't believe that she was really dead. He'd known her all his life; though, they'd never really talked.

But he didn't care. The fact was that he had just found her dead body in the water.

A gust of snowy wind swept past, ruffling his fur as he ran. He was trying to imagine how they would react. How Minnowstar would react.

He suddenly stopped in his tracks. What if they asked him why he was out in the woods, alone? How would he explain that? He wasn't full of himself, but he knew that he was the apprentice most respected by his superiors. If he were to tarnish that reputation... No. He could be exiled if they found out what exactly he'd been doing. Minnowstar wasn't one to take punishments lightly. StarClan knew what could happen to him.

He swallowed, letting out a shaky breath of air as a shiver ran down his spine. He glanced around the dark, snowy forest, wondering what he should do.

He shook his head; even if he didn't tell everyone about Emberheart, they'd be sure to discover her sooner or later, right? If they didn't by nightfall, then they'd be sure to send out a search party. They'd be sure to find her. There was no need to put himself in any sort of danger to tell them something they were bound to discover within a day, anyway.

He began to relax, if only just slightly. He began walking again, his pace slower this time. He found that, despite the horrific discover he'd just made, a tiny smile was on his face. When he realized this, he quickly wiped it away.

The scent of many cats washed over him; he'd reached camp. Staying close to the ground, he began down the shallow slope and into the hollow. He spotted Icewhisker and Briarclaw on the opposite side, but they apparently hadn't seen him. He wasn't even sure if they were awake.

He let out a relieved breath of air, slowly creeping over to the apprentices' den.

But on the way, he spotted a cat passing by- it was his sister, Olivepaw. Her head was low, and she was headed towards the medicine cat den.

She lifted her head, and their gazes met; her pale green eyes glowed dimly, a grave expression on her face. Ratpaw was sure that she was trying to tell him something, but before he could do anything, she turned away and continued on, ears flattened and tail twitching. Something was wrong. Maybe he should have followed after her, but by then, she had already vanished into Willowfall's den.

He sighed, slipping into the apprentices' den. It seemed empty without Olivepaw and Cedarpaw.

Settling down by Frostpaw and Snowpaw, he closed his eyes, his mind going back and forth between Emberheart and Russetpaw until he fell asleep and dreamed of them.

So, not that exciting of a chapter, but eh. Too tired to care. The little Ratpaw and Russetpaw scene is important. :)

Review and get a Russetpaw plushie!

TNT,

Pearly. :)