Hola! Sorry for the delay... AGAIN... I had a bit of writer's block... It's all cured :)

Recap: Ratpaw sets off to rescue Olivepaw from RiverClan. Frostpaw tries to stop him, but she ends up going with him. They find Cedarpaw, too, and they all go together. They reach RiverClan, and Blossomstar orders her cats to capture them. A fight breaks out, and in the midst of it, Russetpaw yells out to Ratpaw and runs over to try to help him. But without thinking, Ratpaw pins her down, calling out that if Blossomstar didn't release Olivepaw, he'd kill Russetpaw. Blossomstar tells him to go ahead when Minnowstar and her Clan appears. Blossomstar agrees not to fight today, and Russetpaw, furious with Ratpaw, tells him she doesn't want anything to do with him. They all go home and Minnowstar is furious. Later, Ratpaw and Frostpaw talk about Russetpaw.

Chapter 22

Dreams and Strangers

[Snowcloud]

The white she-cat opened her leaf-green eyes, letting out a huge yawn as she glanced tiredly around. When she saw where she was, a gentle smile came to her face.

She was in a clearing in a forest, long green grass blowing blissfully around her, red poppies spotted with dew. Tall trees reached up towards the white sky, their leafy branches rustling in the breeze. A crow called out somewhere. Snowcloud grinned to herself, eyes glowing. She was alone, but she knew that she wouldn't be for long.

Letting out a long sigh, she lay onto her back, enjoying the warm wind in her fur. She looked up at the sky, tail twitching thoughtfully.

She'd been here several times, now. She knew that she was only dreaming, but it was more than just that. Because here, she could speak to StarClan itself.

It had been several weeks now since she'd first learned about... the prophecy. "With Leafbare will come the Frost that will kill all." The first time she'd heard it, she'd hardly believed her ears. She'd been so confused. Frostpaw, her own sister, was going to destroy the Clans? But how, she had thought, she's only a medicine cat apprentice...

But that didn't matter, and Snowcloud knew that now. After all, Frostpaw had been through all her warrior training, and had decided to become a medicine cat at the very last minute.

And what about Icepaw? Had she really died because of starvation? It seemed unlikely. She had seemed fine a few days before. Perhaps it had been realistic for Icepaw to collapse, but to die? Didn't that seem a bit drastic?

A frown had fallen onto Snowcloud's face as she flattened her ears. Something wasn't right about Frostpaw, but no one else could see it. And as far as she could tell, Frostpaw was getting more popular. Ratpaw was getting closer to her, and so was Olivepaw (but not that Snowcloud cared about Olivepaw anyway). What was going on? Her whiskers twitched.

She heard pawsteps from behind her, and Snowcloud let out a sigh of relief. This was the only place where she could talk to someone without them judging her. She knew she couldn't tell anyone what she knew about Frostpaw. They wouldn't believe her. Not yet, anyway.

But when she got to her paws and looked over, she saw that it wasn't who she was expecting. It was a light brown tabby tom, amber eyes glowing, an unreadable expression on his face. Snowcloud had seen him here once before.

"Oh, hello," the she-cat mewed, ear flicking. The tom nodded to her, though he kept looking over his shoulder, as if worried about something.

"What's wrong?" Snowcloud mewed, raising an eyebrow. "You look afraid."

"Nothing," the tom grunted, looking at her. The she-cat wasn't convinced, but she said nothing more.

"There's something we've been discussing," the tom murmured. "Something that... we haven't told you."

"Is it about Frostpaw?" Snowcloud pressed, tail lifting in the air and claws digging into the soft ground.

"Not entirely," the tom said with a lash of his tail. "But it has to do with her. StarClan has discussed it, and we decided that you have to know the truth. Only three living cats know this, and none of them know it in its entirety."

"Well, what is it?" Snowcloud snapped, growing impatient. "Will you tell me already?"

The tom narrowed his eyes, but swallowed before saying, "I'm not going to tell you. I'm going to show you."

The she-cat stared at him, blinking and unsure how to respond. But before she had to, she began to hear a faint voice, whispering into her ear.

"Snowcloud... Snowcloud..."

Snowcloud whipped her head around, trying to figure out what was going on, but everything around her was starting to fade, the colors blurring together, the light in the sky going out. She was waking up.

"No," Snowcloud hissed. "Not yet... I have to... know the secret..."

But the next second, her eyes had flown open, and she was staring up at Furzetail, whose blue eyes shone a few whiskerlengths away from her face.

"Mom," Snowcloud grunted irritably, clenching her eyes shut. Why did she have to wake up then? She was about to discover something that only three other cats knew, but Furzetail ruined it.

Furzetail's whiskers twitched in amusement, but Snowcloud didn't find it funny.

"You slept in," her mother murmured. "Harestep's organizing a border patrol. He wanted you to come, so I came to wake you up."

Snowcloud let out a long sigh as she got to her paws, seeing that they were indeed the only warriors in the den. She was about to complain, but she realized that this would be the first time she got to see the entire ThunderClan territory. Because now, it belonged to Minnowstar, and today was the first official day that ShadowClan and ThunderClan were one.

"Coming," she mewed, in a bit of a better mood, though the thoughts of her dream didn't leave her head.

It was strange stepping outside to see the ThunderClanners sitting around the clearing, talking or eating what little food they had. Snowcloud's own stomach rumbled; she hadn't eaten since yesterday morning. Letting out a sigh, she padded over to Harestep, who was standing with Icewhisker, Ravenheart, Ratpaw, a gray and white she-cat named Rainspot, and Bumblestar. Or, as Snowcloud again reminded herself, Bumbleclaw. The tom was flattening his ears and staring at the ground. Snowcloud snorted lightly; he really looked quite pathetic, now that he had been stripped of his leader name.

Ratpaw smiled to Snowcloud, who bounded over to his side.

"Good morning," mewed Ratpaw, a sly grin appearing on his face. "Even though it's practically sunhigh..."

Snowcloud rolled her eyes and gave him a hard nudge. Then she smirked and said, "I'm surprised Minnowstar's even letting you come on this patrol. She seemed pretty mad about you, Frostpaw and Cedarpaw sneaking off to RiverClan yesterday."

Ratpaw shook his head exasperatedly, as if reliving the memory of his leader yelling at him. "I know. I wanted to see our new territory. She told me I could only go if I agreed to clean out the elders' den right when I got back."

"Alright, everyone," Harestep mewed, his eyes flickering over the group. "Bumbleclaw and Rainspot are going to lead us through the old ThunderClan territory and help us remark the borders. Let's go."

And with that, the group was off, the deputy leading them through the snowy trees. It wasn't snowing yet, but the sky was dark, and it looked as if it would any minute.

Ratpaw and Snowcloud walked together towards the back of the group. The she-cat glanced at him, raising an eyebrow and murmured, "I noticed that you've been spending more time with Frostpaw lately."

Ratpaw looked at her, frowning. "Yeah, she's becoming a good friend of mine. I don't see why you have to be fighting. I wish we could all hang out without it being awkward."

Snowcloud snorted softly, narrowing her eyes slightly.

"You just wait," she muttered under her breath.

Ratpaw looked at her. "What'd you say?"

"Nothing."

The tom raised an eyebrow, looking suspicious.

"Snowcloud, can you please just tell me what's going on between you two? I talked to Frostpaw about it already, and she has no idea what's wrong. It's like you're mad at her for no reason."

Snowcloud stopped in her tracks and stared at the tom, who was looking at her with surprise. "I have plenty of reason," she muttered bitterly. She blinked, for a second wondering if she should tell him about everything. Her dreams and what StarClan had told her about her sister. She felt, just for a moment, that maybe he'd understand her.

She narrowed her eyes slightly. No. Now that he and Frostpaw were friends, it was possible that he'd just tell her everything she said. That wouldn't do.

"I used to spend every second with her," Snowcloud said, looking away as they continued to walk after the group. "I just need time to myself."

Ratpaw narrowed his eyes, but he said nothing else.

Soon, the group had stepped into ThunderClan territory. Snowcloud looked all around her as they walked, green eyes blinking in wonder as she kept nearly tripping on roots. She let out a hiss when she almost fell, hitting her paw against a rock.

"Snowcloud, maybe you'll stop tripping if you actually looked where you were going instead of up at the sky," stated Ratpaw, whiskers twitching in amusement.

"Shut up," mewed Snowcloud, flicking her tail. "I'm trying to take everything in. Can you believe it, Ratpaw? All this territory... it's ours, now. All ours. We have twice as much territory as we did yesterday. Twice as much food."

Ratpaw didn't look so happy as she did. "But RiverClan's still much stronger," he muttered. "You heard what Blossomstar said. Anyone who didn't join with her by the end of Leafbare would be dead. She's bound to attack at some point. I'll bet she's planning something."

"Quit worrying," Snowcloud said, yawning. "From what I heard, the WindClan and ThunderClan cats weren't doing anything yesterday when you went with Frostpaw and Cedarpaw to rescue Olivepaw. That when Blossomstar ordered them to attack, they stayed away, all huddled together and not moving an inch. Maybe they won't be so willing to fight us if Blossomstar decides to attack."

Ratpaw looked at her curiously. "How did you hear about that?"

"I overheard Olivepaw and Cedarpaw talking about it," Snowcloud said swiftly. "Well, I really only heard Olivepaw."

"'Overheard,'" Ratpaw muttered. "Yeah, right."

"I wasn't eavesdropping!"

"Sure."

Snowcloud snorted as Ratpaw shot her a mischievous grin.

At the front of the group, Harestep was talking with Rainspot and Bumbleclaw, asking them questions. They seemed to be responding quite wearily. Snowcloud, after thinking about it, supposed that she couldn't blame them. After all, the name "ThunderClan" had basically just been erased, just like it had for WindClan.

The group carried on, and after a few minutes, Icewhisker stopped talking to Ravenheart and slowed down to the back of the crowd so that he was walking beside Snowcloud.

"Hello, Snowcloud," he mewed, clearly putting forth an effort to be friendly. Snowcloud glanced at him, understanding what was going on. It was clear that Icewhisker was getting closer to her mother, Furzetail, and that he felt as if he should be paying more attention to her children. She knew it wouldn't be long before Furzetail would tell her that they were officially mates. What if they had kits? Snowcloud blinked, never having considered this before. It wouldn't be just her and Frostpaw anymore.

"Hello," Snowcloud mewed politely, forcing a toothy smile. "How are you?"

"Fine," Icewhisker muttered, looking awkward. Sending her a glance, he said quietly, "I'm sure you've noticed that, well... Me and your mother are-"

"...Becoming more than just friends," Snowcloud finished with a flick of her tail. "Yeah, I know. It's pretty easy to see."

"Right," Icewhisker murmured, ears flattening a bit. "I was just... wondering if you were alright with that."

Snowcloud looked at him with a bit of surprise. "What, you're asking my permission?"

"I just want to make sure you'd be comfortable with your mother seeing another tom."

Snowcloud said nothing for a moment. She'd never seen her mother with any tom. In fact, she'd never really asked about her father, or really have given it much thought. All Furzetail told her was that he had died in a RiverClan conflict shortly after she'd gotten pregnant. After that, no one mentioned him again.

"...Of course I'm comfortable with it," Snowcloud said rather stiffly. Realizing this, she put forth a smile and said, "Furzetail seems really happy with you."

A soft smile lit up Icewhisker's face. It was a somewhat odd expression for him.

"Thank you," he murmured, looking away. "I'm glad you're okay with it."

"Of course."

After another awkward glance, Icewhisker picked up his pace and returned to Ravenheart.

"What was that about?" Ratpaw asked curiously, walking closer to Snowcloud. He had let himself trail behind to let them talk.

"Just Icewhisker talking about my mother," Snowcloud murmured. "Wanted to know if I was 'comfortable' with it."

"Are you?"

Snowcloud looked at him, wondering why she felt so surprised. "Of course I am." She blinked, realizing for probably the first time that neither of them really had fathers. She felt strangely connected to him for that.

Ratpaw looked at her and opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly the cats at the front of the group had come to a halt, and Ratpaw and Snowcloud ended up bumping into Icewhisker and Ravenheart.

"What's going-" But Snowcloud broke off.

About a dozen foxlengths in front of them stood a lone tom that she had never seen before in her life. He was a pale tan color, but his face, ears, paws, and tail tip were darker brown. He was tall and quite thin, and the only thing left of his tail was just a small stub. He stood in the snow, silent, his crystal-blue eyes gazing at the Clan cats, silence surrounding them. Snowcloud stared at him, and when he caught her eye, she felt a slight shiver travel down her spine. Of course, that could have been because of the cold.

Finally, Harestep spoke. "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

The tom didn't speak for a moment. He took a few steps forward, blue eyes glowing. Harestep flattened his ears, looking ready to attack.

The tom paused, glancing again at each of the Clan cats in a way that suggested he knew each of them personally. Then, he spoke.

"You're Clan cats, aren't you?"

"How do you know that?" growled Harestep, eyes narrowed.

The tom smiled slightly. "How? Everyone around here knows about the Clans. You lot are pretty hard to miss."

Icewhisker and Ravenheart glanced at each other. Rainspot was looking at him curiously as Bumbleclaw looked at the ground.

"You're in ShadowClan territory," Harestep pressed, tail lashing with evident irritation. "You can't be here. Leave now or we'll have to fight you."

But the stranger didn't look concerned. A small smile flickered on his face; it seemed a bit tired and almost, but not quite, sad.

"ShadowClan, eh?" the tom murmured, mostly to himself. "I was under the impression that ThunderClan lived in these woods." Snowcloud stared at him. He seemed to know a lot about the Clans.

"ThunderClan is part of ShadowClan now," growled Harestep. "You're wearing my patience, so unless you have any business with us-"

"Ah, yes. I suppose there's one thing worth mentioning," the tom said thoughtfully, flicking his stump of a tail. "Whether you want to listen is up to you. And somehow, I doubt you will." He shrugged gently, that odd smile still on his face. "Just remember that the problem doesn't lie in you. It doesn't even lie in your enemy." He blinked softly, shaking his head just slightly. The look he gave the Clan cats seemed strangely like pity. "What will destroy us will come from the outside, and it's something that none of us will be able to stop. Perhaps you should be spending less time fighting and more time preparing for the inevitable."

The Clan cats stared at him in a shocked silence. With a slight dip of the head, the mysterious tom abruptly turned, beginning to walk away.

"Wait!" Snowcloud called before she could stop herself, causing several others to flinch. "What's your name?"

The tall tan and brown tom stopped in his tracks, doing nothing for a few seconds until he finally glanced over his shoulder. He was smiling softly again.

"...Leo."

And with that, he turned and vanished, snow beginning to fall as if on cue, making Snowcloud forget all about her dream.

Sorry, kinda short chapter.

Review please? :) Get a Leo plushie?

Je vous aime.

TNT,

Pearleh