Hey, readers. I'm back with the third chapter =D Thanks to all who reviewed, and I hope you enoy this next chapter, it's one of my favorites.

Disclaimer: Erin Hunter owns everything about Warriors!!

Chapter Three: The Traitor's Son

The bitter rain had driven most of the warriors to their dens, and only Snowstar and his deputy, Longfang, were out in the cold, discussing something quickly near the leader's den.

At the sight of his little brother, Snowstar pricked his ears and lifted his head, long tail curling in surprise to see the tiny cub in Blackscar's jowls.

Blackscar shivered, and began striding across the wet camp ground to face his brother. As he drew closer, Longfang, the huge, muscled lion that Snowstar had recently named his deputy, glanced around and stepped aside, baring his long, gleaming teeth at the sight of a strange cub.

"What has happened, brother?" Snowstar rumbled as Blackscar drew near the Clan leader and came to a stop, dropping the motherless cub at his paws.

Blackscar gazed into his older brother's face. As apprentices, every Clan warrior had known little Snowpaw was destined for greatness; he proved them all right, growing into a handsome, strong, wise, popular warrior who soon claimed spot as deputy, and finally leader.

Despite the driving rain, Snowstar's mane still looked handsome and feathery, and his pale golden fur, almost white, made him look like a ghost in the dim light of the rain. His glowing amber eyes peered cautiously at
Blackscar as he searched his kin's face, and for perhaps the hundredth time in their brotherhood, Blackscar bitterly reflected that Snowstar was everything he wasn't.

"Answer him, mousebrain!" Longfang spat. He sensed that something was wrong, and wanted to find out what it was. As Blackscar flicked his eyes to the deputy, he saw how his broad shoulders were painted dark by his deep mottled coat, and he looked fierce and handsome under the beating rain dripping into his cold yellow eyes.

"Calm yourself, Longfang. He heard me," Snowstar replied coolly, a hint of a growl in his voice. He, too, wanted to know what was wrong, as he flicked his tail uneasily.
Blackscar swallowed hard, and glanced down at the cub. "This is... my son," he whispered.

Curious eyes were gleaming from all the dens in their camp, and a few young warriors were stepping cautiously into the rain to get a closer look at the scene unfolding before them.

Snowstar's amber eyes widened, and he twitched his whiskers. "Is it a cross-Clan?" he asked quietly. Blackscar's heart was pounding, and he was surprised Snowstar didn't swipe at him; instead, he felt much more pain at the look of shock and grief washing over his leader's- brother's- face.

Blackscar felt like a pathetic apprentice under Longfang's furious, slitted gaze. "Yes," he managed to reply in a hushed tone.

Snowstar's eyes were pools of regret and flits of anger. "Who is the mother? Why is the cub not with her?" he demanded. Blackscar flattened his ears and bowed down towards his son.

"The mother is... Littecloud of WaterClan. But-" Blackscar'ss voice caught as he finally revealed the truth after moons of slipping away, of lying, of fright for being discovered. And he didn't want to say Littlecloud was dead. It just... made it bitterly real, as if the words cemented the horrible truth. But he felt them dragged out of him. "She died giving birth to our children. There were two others, but they weren't strong enough." Blackscar's voice was
hoarse, and he couldn't bring himself to meet his leader's eyes.

Snowstar's silence was shocked. Getting closer now, thunder rolled and angrily rattled the gray heavens. There was a crack of lightning as golden claws raked the air, illuminating the shadowed camp for a brief second, washing them all in it's wild light.

Out of the grass and mud came the Clan, walking slowly, eyes glinting in the dim light of the rainy sky. Blackscar glanced around quickly, ears flattening, as LightningClan spread out in a half-circle around him.

"You deliberately took a mate from another Clan?" Snowstar growled, eyes bitter as he slowly acknowledged what had to be done.

Soft hisses and yowls of shock rose from the surrounding lions, and Blackscar shivered as their mouths gaped in snarls and their tails lashed.

"I fell in love. You cannot say love is wrong, Snowstar!" Blackscar whispered, feeling pathetic and small under the angry gaze of his brother. Fool. Fool. I should have run away.

"But this love is against the Code," Snowstar rumbled, face creasing in deep sadness. He shook his mighty head, gazing at his Clan. "So this explains why you were gone so much. And look what has happened." He stared at the crying scrap of fur beneath Blackscar's paws. "A dead WaterClan queen, and two innocent lives gone forever, because you selfishly thought the Code didn't matter."

Furious roars came from LightningClan, and thunder snarled in the sky, lightning flashed, empowering Snowstar's words. "No! I know the Code matters!" Blackscar cried desperately, flinching.

"Traitor!"

"Fool!"

"Exile!"

The angry roars and yowls came from the lions Blackscar had grown up with, respected, fought beside. And now they were turning their backs on him. Because of love.

"Silence!" Snowstar called, his angry voice rising above all of their's, as it rang out around the camp, and silence quickly came over the furious lions.

His amber eyes swept over every lion and lioness in his Clan, and finally, the rain still drizzling, thunder softly clapping in the endless gray skies above them all, he looked back towards Blackscar. Longfang stood tensely at
his leader's shoulder, eyes bright, teeth bared, as if he was dying to leap at Blackscar's throat.

"What should I do to you, Blackscar?" Snowstar rumbled. Blackscar shivered as more soft snarls came from the lions around him, and a few claws flashed, teeth glinting. They hissed, eyes training on the small cub between his forepaws as Snowstar spoke again. "And what do you suggest I do about your son?"

"It's blood is worth nothing, Snowstar!" came an angry voice from the Clan. Eyes trained on a lion with a sleek brown coat and burning yellow eyes. "It will forever be lost; it will not understand true loyalty!"

At the lion's angry words, another lion snarled, his shoulder-blades shivering, as his eyes trained on Blackscar's son. Blackscar opened his jaws, teeth cracked and brittle, and lowered himself closer to his cub. If nothing else, he would die to protect his son. He was all Blackscar had left of Littlecloud. Another pang of grief stabbed the dark warrior as he thought of his lost forever love.

"I agree," Snowstar said quietly. He rose his voice. "Dustmane is right. This cub will always be torn between loyalty to his father's Clan and his mother's Clan; do we really want warriors that have a paw in two worlds?" He turned towards Blackscar.

Trembling, Blackscar slowly stood up, ears flattened. "But every warrior deserves a chance at honor; we can teach him to be loyal to LightningClan!"

"We taught you to be loyal to LightningClan," Longfang retorted through the silver fall of rain. "But look at you now!"

Blackscar snarled, and Longfang reared up, feet landing powerfully into the mud, as his eyes glittered, ready for a fight.

Snowstar growled furiously, leaping in between his brother and his deputy. "Stop this. We cannot fight amongst ourselves!" he told them severely.

"He is not one of us. He is a traitor!" Longfang snapped. "Let me drive him off, Snowstar. It's all he and that cross-Clan scrap deserve!"

Blackscar pulled his lips back into a snarl, despite his racing heart.

"Listen to me!" Snowstar rumbled, pressing his tail against Longfang's chest. He blinked, and suddenly, he had controlled the anger and shock in his churning amber eyes, and was peaceful again. There was not a noise in
the rain-soaked clearing. He could hear the rain gently falling in the jungle around them.

"This cub," the great leader said quietly, "may be cross-Clan. But it is not his fault. I will not let my deputy or anyone hurt it." He paused, sighing. "Blackscar... you ignored the warrior code. You lost your loyalty to your Clan. It is
on your conscience that a great WaterClan queen is now dead, as well as the two dead cubs that did not survive the birthing." He hesitated, and Blackscar's body was low to the ground, shaking with grief. His leader's words
caused more pain than any claw could inflict.

"But we make mistakes," Snowstar went on in a soft voice. Hisses and mutters of disapproval came from one or two lions, but the others stayed stonily silent, respectfully listening to their leader. "Yours may have been grave, but I know you had no idea how much pain you would cause. And... you are my brother. I will not drive you from the Clan."

Blackscar felt an enormous burden instantly lifted from his heart. Thank StarClan... He couldn't believe how kind his leader was being. And from the disbelieving hisses from LightningClan, neither could they.

"What about my son?" Blackscar murmured, slowly straightening up, ears still flattened. Longfang spat something under his breath.

Snowstar blinked, and gazed down at the cross-Clan scrap shivering at his brother's paws.

"He will never be a part of my Clan," Snowstar said finally, voice hard, and eyes turning cold. "I will not harm him, Blackscar, but he is no warrior of mine."

His words lashed Blackscar's heart, and his deepest fear was confirmed. His son was rejected by the Clan. Oh, StarClan, no...

"I'm sorry, brother," Snowstar spoke again, all his former coldness gone, as he growled softly. Blackscar met the great leader's gaze, and saw deep sadness reflected in those amber eyes. "But he just can't ever be a true
warrior."

"Finally some sense!" a lion muttered loudly.

Blackscar ignored the warrior, and sadly dipped his head, cold rain dripping from his matted mane. "I understand," he said hoarsely, heart thudding in disappointment. I'm so sorry, Littlecloud... so sorry...

Awww!! Poor Blackscar! *tear* Ah, well. I'm loving how this story is going... and please tell me your thoughts on it! I have to say, I was depressed and went into my emo corner when I saw how many people have visited compared to how many people reviewed. Ha, but seriously, review!! You really have no idea how healthy it is for me... then I can go into my happy unicorn and rainbows corner... haha that sounds so weird... Anyways, thanks for reading, peace!