Look guys, I kept my promise and updated in a week! :D

Recap: After Willowfall's exile, Blossomstar asks Minnowstar to join with RiverClan. Minnowstar refuses, and a battle begins. Olivepaw ends up killing Tanpaw, a RiverClan she-cat. Many others die as well, like Bluepelt and Harestep, which enrages Minnowstar but forces her to admit defeat. Blossomstar declares that there is now only one Clan: RiverClan.

Chapter 32

Loners

[Willowfall]

A cold wind blew and rustled the bare branches above the light gray she-cat curled up against the trunk of a tree. She shivered, curling into a tighter ball. A crow called out shrilly; Willowfall blinked open her eyes.

It was morning, but the sun was behind the clouds; it looked as if it would start snowing any minute. The she-cat winced, her head pounding as she stumbled to her paws. She looked around, for a moment confused and wondering where she was. She was in a forest... Had she fallen asleep in ShadowClan territory, instead of her den?

But when she realized how unfamiliar the forest seemed, that's when she remembered. She wasn't part of ShadowClan anymore. She'd been exiled the night before. She was a loner.

She let out a long sigh, shaking her pelt and sending snow flying off of it. The scenes from the night before were replaying in her head. Snowcloud appearing and telling everyone what Willowfall had done... Minnowstar's reaction... How she'd tried to justify her actions but no one would listen to her.

She had kept running until she'd been sure she had left Clan territory. Exhausted and not knowing where else to go, she'd curled up beside a tree and fell asleep after several hours.

She flattened her ears, looking around. She was desperately trying not to let fear and hopelessness grip her, but... it was the middle of Leafbare. There was hardly any food. And she wasn't much of a fighter; how was she supposed to defend herself? And all her herbs... they were back at camp. If she got hurt, she'd have to find a new stash, and in this weather, that was pretty unlikely.

She began to walk. She didn't know where she was going, but then again, she didn't have anywhere to go. The only thing that was on her mind now was Snowcloud. How... How did she know...? Perhaps Ratpaw and Olivepaw had told her. But why, why did she have to announce it in front of the entire Clan? And in front of RiverClan? Why had Snowcloud seemed so keen on ruining her life?

She blinked, suddenly remembering the way Blacktail had stopped Minnowstar from attacking her. She narrowed her eyes, trying to push that thought away. The last thing she needed right now was to think about Blacktail.

She froze, scenting a squirrel nearby. Swallowing, she bent low to the ground and crept forward; she spotted it on the root of a tree, grooming itself. She inched forward, staying low to the ground... It kept grooming itself...

She took another step forward, and just as she was about to pounce, it suddenly lifted its head and stared right at her. It turned and began to dart away.

"No!" breathed Willowfall. Desperately, she began to chase after it, but after a few seconds, it slipped through a hole in the ground between two roots.

"Foxdung," she hissed, irritated. She'd been taught to hunt, but she never got as much practice as the warriors did. Her stomach rumbled, and she flattened her ears.

"...You were approaching it from the wrong direction," a voice suddenly mewed. Willowfall jumped and quickly turned around, claws flexed, heart racing.

Several foxlengths away, perched upon a log, was a tom. He was quite tall and thin, but he looked fairly well-fed, and Willowfall couldn't see his bones. His fur was a pale tan color, except for his face, ears and paws, which were dark brown. His tail was, too, but the only thing left of it was a small stub. He had crystal-blue eyes that were blinking softly at Willowfall, a small smile on his face. He was quite handsome.

Willowfall stared at him, stunned. Whoever this cat was, she didn't know him.

"W...Who are-"

"You see, you were stalking it in the direction of the wind," he mewed as he jumped from the log and landed neatly on his paws. "The squirrel scented you before you even had time to jump. If you want to catch prey, then you have to move in the opposite direction of the wind."

Willowfall just stared at him, blinking a few times, not quite sure what to do.

"Anyway, you're not going to have much luck in this part of the woods, anyhow," he continued, glancing around. "That squirrel is the first animal I've seen around here in a while. Other than you, of course."

"Okay, just... Who are you?" breathed Willowfall, shaking her head. "And as much as I appreciate your time, I don't need lessons on how to hunt-"

"You're a medicine cat," the tom interrupted. "You never learned much about hunting, did you?"

Willowfall took a small step back, shaking her head. "How... How did you..."

The tom smiled. "I'm sure you have a lot to talk about, and I do, too. So why don't we go somewhere warmer and-"

"I'm not going anywhere with you," growled Willowfall. "You're going to tell me, right here and right now, how exactly you knew that I was a medicine cat."

The tom sighed, though he didn't seem impatient, and that small, slightly lopsided smile was still on his face.

"Just a hunch."

"Do you know about the Clans?" Willowfall pressed, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, I do," he replied swiftly. "Though I wouldn't find that too surprising. All the loners around here know about you lot."

"So you're a loner, then?"

He smiled. "Always have been, always will."

"Well, it... It was nice to meet you, but I've got to be on my way," Willowfall murmured, turning and beginning to pad away.

"And just where do you plan on going?"

Willowfall paused, a deep frown on her face. She narrowed her eyes, staring at the ground for a few moments.

"You're hungry, aren't you?" the tom pressed, taking a step forward with a flick of his stubby tail. "Come with me. I'll find you something to eat. I know exactly where to find prey-"

"I don't need your help," Willowfall shot back, glancing over her shoulder. "If you don't mind, I'd rather continue on by myself. Thank you for the offer, but I really need to go."

She didn't wait for him to respond before she kept walking briskly. A small part of her was complaining that she didn't follow this tom and get some food, but how could she trust him? How could she trust anyone anymore...? I guess I won't need to worry about that, now that I'm a loner, she thought darkly. She glanced over her shoulder to make sure the tom wasn't following her, but he was nowhere in sight.

She sighed, flattening her ears as she kept walking. She went through her options in her mind. She knew she couldn't go back to Clan territory, even though she was more likely to find prey there. She blinked softly. In the mountains, there was a tribe known as The Tribe of Rushing Water. She'd only heard about it in stories and had never seen these cats- in fact, she didn't even know for sure that the tribe still existed-, but if she found these cats, then...

She lowered her eyes. And why would anyone accept a loner like her? A murderer who'd been exiled?

She tried pushing those thoughts away, putting all her focus onto finding food. The wind blew coldly, ruffling her fur. She shivered, lowering her head.

Frostpaw...

She paused when the apprentice's name popped into her head and just stood there for a moment, mouth open slightly. She could picture it perfectly; last night, the way her apprentice had looked at her. How her blue eyes had been huge with disbelief and astonishment and sorrow... How she'd refused to look away, how she'd been silently begging Willowfall to deny everything.

She always looked up to her... And in a way, Willowfall looked up to her, too. She was so energetic and passionate about medicine. But not only that- she had a gift. StarClan had given her a gift. Willowfall envied her, almost; not because she had something StarClan had never given to her, but because she seemed so innocent. Like she never had any troubles. Everyone liked her. Everyone, it seemed, except for her sister, Snowcloud.

She kept walking. The tall, bare, dark trees looming above her seemed cold and unwelcoming. A second later, she felt something cold land on her nose; looking up, she saw that it was beginning to snow.

Flattening her ears, she kept walking, shivering slightly.

A minute later, she paused, staring at the ground in curiosity. In the snow was a set of pawprints... But they were bigger than a cat's. By now, the snow was falling steadily. Whoever had left the prints, it must have been recently.

When a cold gust of air blew, a scent suddenly came over Willowfall that she was almost entirely unfamiliar. It was an animal, and it was close by. But it wasn't a cat. It was only vaguely familiar; where had she smelled it before...?

And then, out of the corner of her eye, something moved. Fur bristling, she whirled around.

Appearing from within several dead bushes came a black and white large animal. It had stripes on its face, a long snout, tiny, beady eyes, and long, black claws...

The she-cat tensed, eyes widening. It was a badger.

She had only seen one once in her life; moons ago, when she was just a medicine cat apprentice. She'd gone searching for herbs with her mentor and had come upon a patrol of warriors fighting off two of them. They'd been vicious and quite powerful; the warriors had sustained several bad injuries. That was the only time she'd ever seen one in the Clans' territory. But here she was, by herself, face to face with a badger that was probably more skilled at fighting than her. And what if there were more nearby?

The second it saw her, the badger pulled back its lips and let out a low snarl as it began to quickly lumber towards her. Willowfall lashed her tail, claws flexed as the larger animal approached, raising its paw to strike her.

She leaped out of the way, and before she had time to think, she lunged towards the animal, lashing her claws against its flesh. A few drops of blood splattered onto the snowy ground as the animal let out a loud growl, whipping around to face her. It towered over her, and Willowfall could practically feel its breath against her. For some reason, her fight with Emberheart flashed before eyes for just a moment. How they had gone out into the woods in the middle of the night and the way she had spat at her and accused her of murdering her son. And then, she'd suddenly attacked her, claws flexed, eyes glowing in the moonlight, a crazed look on her face. No, not crazed. It'd been more complicated than that. However much Emberheart had hated Willowfall, no matter how many threats she had made, a part of the medicine cat, though she almost hated to admit it, could understand Emberheart's feelings perfectly. Losing a child like that... And now, Emberheart was dead. But she wasn't with Badgerkit. She learned that when she'd met his ghost the night she'd tried to drown herself. She almost felt pity that even after death, they couldn't be together. She wondered why they couldn't.

In that moment, Willowfall had been so caught up with her thoughts that she'd barely noticed when the badger lifted its claws again, ready to strike. But by the time she had registered what was going on and before she could dodge it, she felt a strong, hard blow against the side of her head. The next thing she knew, she was on the ground in the snow.

Her head was pounding so painfully that she could hardly see. Everyone around her was white and fuzzy, and there was a dull ringing in her ears. Her heart was racing; she felt it slamming against her chest. She felt confused, and a second later, darkness began to envelop her, her eyes half-closed.

"...Willowfall..."

She blinked softly. Had someone called her? Or had that just been her imagination?

And then, for just a split second, she saw the figure of a cat before her, looking down at her with bright blue eyes. Who...?

Her eyelids flickered, and half a second later, everything was black.

. . .

She was walking through flames...

She was bloodied and battered...

She was looking around at all the glinting eyes staring at her...

She was with her kits...

She...

Willowfall slowly blinked open her eyes, a dull pain still burning in her head. She shifted her weight and looked down to see that she was lying not on the snowy ground, but... in a bed of hay.

Alarmed, she lifted her head and looked around, her eyes widening at what she saw.

She wasn't out in the forest anymore. She was in a large room with wooden walls and ceilings; there were no windows. All around were huge stacks of hay; nothing else. Just hay.

Confused, the she-cat clenched her eyes shut, trying to remember what had happened...

"Oh, you're awake," came a voice suddenly. Willowfall's eyes flew open and she jumped to her paws, fur bristling. She winced a bit at her headache.

The voice came from a tan and brown tom with bright blue eyes and a small, stumpy tail... The tom she'd met in the forest earlier. He had a small smile on his face as he took a step towards her.

Warily, the medicine cat stepped back, claws flexed.

"What's going on, here?" she demanded breathlessly. "What is this place?"

"You should sit back down," the tom said, flicking an ear. "You were sure wiped out."

"What are you...?" That's when she remembered. There had been a badger in the woods. It had struck her, and... She guessed she must have passed out... And the tom that she saw... Had that been him?

"You were there," she murmured. "That was you, wasn't it? You... saved me from that badger."

"I just happened to find you, is all," he replied, sitting down. "You don't have any other injuries, but you were out for a long time."

"Yeah," Willowfall murmured. "My head's still killing me."

"Well, you shouldn't move around too much for the time being," the tom said, getting back to his feet. "Rest here for a while. I'll get you something to eat, you must be starving."

"W...Wait," Willowfall muttered, glancing around. "I... What is this place...?"

The tom smiled lopsidedly. "This is an old barn. It was abandoned ages ago; now it's just me. It's perfectly safe, and there's usually a lot to eat around here."

"You live here?" she asked, blinking. The tom smiled.

"You seem surprised. Wait here, I'm going to go find some food."

Willowfall smiled very faintly, nodding her head slightly. She watched as the tom padded off and began to trot down a set of stairs. This seemed to be the attic.

She sighed, sitting back down, realizing how lucky she was that this tom had been there when she could have been killed. But she still felt a bit uneasy. Had he followed her...?

She stiffened, suddenly remembering something. Right before she had blacked out, the tom... had said her name... How did he know her name? She hadn't told him before, had she? No, she didn't think so...

A wary feeling came over her. Somehow, this cat knew about her. And he seemed to want something. She bit her lip, her mind churning. Should she try to sneak out? Or should she wait here and hear what he had to say? She flattened her ears, letting out a sigh. Her head was pounding.

Just a minute later, the tom reemerged from the staircase; a mouse was dangling from his jaws. Padding up to her, he put it at her feet.

"Eat up," he mewed. "Don't worry, I just ate. It's all yours."

She eyed him uneasily before looking down at the mouse. It was plumper than anything she'd seen since Greenleaf, and it looked delicious. So, despite herself, she quickly began to eat.

Neither of them said a word until she was finished.

"That's one perk of living in this place," the tom said, a soft, calm smile on his face. "There's almost always-"

"How did you know my name?"

The tom looked at her, surprised, before he laughed lightly.

"What? I don't believe you told me your name."

"No," Willowfall murmured, looking at her paws. "I... I remember. Right before I lost consciousness, you were there, and... And you said my name. I'm sure of it."

A frown fell on the tom's face; he flattened his ears and looked away.

"Tell me!" Willowfall pressed, lashing her tail. "And don't tell me it was 'just a hunch.' Just... Who are you? How do you know my name, and that I'm a medicine cat?"

The tom let out a long sigh and smiled slightly.

"You're right," he mewed. "It's rather rude of me that I didn't introduce myself properly. My name is Leo; it's nice to meet you."

"Leo...?" Willowfall echoed, frowning, trying to remember where she'd heard the name before. Then she lifted her head and looked at him, slightly puzzled. "You... You're the cat that a ShadowClan patrol ran into, aren't you?"

He smiled slightly. "Could be."

"You... seem to know a lot about the Clans," Willowfall said quietly. "And about me. Now tell me how you know me."

Leo smiled at her, a little sadly.

"I had a vision about you. I knew that I was going to find you." He laughed lightly, shaking his head. "You don't believe me, I'm sure," he said. "And that's fine. But that's the truth. That's how I know your name."

She stared at him, for a moment nonplussed.

"So, what, you can read the future...?"

"Sort of," he replied. He raised his head to the ceiling. "Though I can't control it. The visions I get are random and can come at any time."

Willowfall narrowed her eyes, not entirely convinced. "Well, what else do you know about me, then? What else did the future tell you?"

Leo lowered his gaze to meet hers. He was smiling, and could surely sense Willowfall's disbelief, but he nonetheless continued.

"I know that you were the medicine cat of ShadowClan and were exiled for murder."

Willowfall stared at him, no longer sure how she was supposed to react. She shook her head slightly.

"And you know this...?"

"Because you told me," Leo replied. "Or, you will, anyway."

"You're crazy," muttered Willowfall. But that only made Leo chuckle lightly, shrugging.

"You're not the first cat who's told me that."

"If you can read the future," Willowfall said slowly, "then... Do you know what happens to my Clan? What happens to me?"

Leo's smile immediately vanished, and a dark look lingered on his face for just a moment.

"No, I... I don't know," he murmured, turning away. "I'm sorry."

Willowfall narrowed her eyes, but before she could say anything, Leo turned back to her, his smile back on his face.

"Anyway," he said, "stay as long as you want. This barn is pretty close to the Clans' territories, but you'll be safe here. No one will find you."

"...Thank you," Willowfall muttered quietly. "I appreciate what you've done for me. But I really shouldn't stay."

"At least stay until morning," Leo said. "The sun's already set. No use going out into the dark forest when you don't even know where you want to go. Besides, it's best if you rest from your encounter with that badger."

"It's night already?" the she-cat asked softly. There were no windows; it was impossible to tell. "By the way... Did you really fight off that badger by yourself? You don't even have any injuries..."

Leo just smiled slightly as he got to his paws.

"I'm going to get some sleep," he said, stretching. "I'll be over there. Wake me up if you need anything."

Willowfall watched with a small frown on her face as he turned and began to pad off towards a nest of hay a bit further off.

"...When you came to ShadowClan," she called after him, "you said something... You said something was going to happen to the Clans. Something inevitable. Leo, do... Do you know what's going to happen?"

The tom stopped walking, for a second motionless and silent. After a moment, he looked over his shoulder and smiled softly.

"...You're just going to have to wait and see for yourself."

And with that, he settled down in a bed of hay, curling up with his back to Willowfall, who stared at him wordlessly.

I mean it was so long ago that you probably don't even remember when Leo first showed up but anyway lolol asdfas

Thanks so much for reading, y'all (: Leave a review and I'll write you your own personalized poem! x3

Till next time,

Pearly