Hey, all. Sorry for the missed update (yesterday), I totally forgot and felt terrible about it when I remember at like eleven last night. But I'm here now, so hopefully my favorite people in the world can forgive me =)

So thanks for checking out my newest chapter, I hope you all like how things are going. I'm glad to get to this chapter because- well, you'll see why. (:

Chapter Nine: Monsters

The night was dark, alive with the soft sounds of nocturnal beasts racing in the forest. Standing in a watery pool of moonlight, a pale lion spoke in a hushed voice to a lioness with blue-tipped fur. Her tail swept around her legs uneasily, and her eyes were troubled.

There came a low growl, and the two lions quickly looked over to see a small patrol of warriors plunging from the tall barrier surrounding their camp, padding over to their leader, tails drooping with exhaustion.

"We've searched the whole perimeter," the leader of the patrol, a dusty brown lion, spoke somberly to Snowstar. "Nothing."

Snowstar's amber eyes glowed in the dark, and he looked over at his mate, Bluefur. He glanced back at his warriors. "Thank you, Dustleg. Everyone has searched as much as possible; there is nothing else we can do."

Dustleg sighed as the warriors who followed him were dismissed, and soon he was alone with just his leader and his queen.

"Are you worried about your apprentice?" Snowstar rumbled, gazing down at Dustleg. It had been mere hours ago that Blackscar had raced into camp, saying that he'd been out with Brightpaw, and the cub had run off.
Blackscar hadn't said why his son had ran away, but he didn't have to, Snowstar knew exactly why: Blackscar had told Brightpaw the truth of his origins.

Dustleg blinked, tail twitching. "I am worried," he admitted. "But I think Brightpaw is fine. He got upset for whatever reason, and will be back in the morning."

"But the jungle is alive with terrible monsters that hunt cubs," Bluefur murmured, eyes dark with disappointment. She cared about Brightpaw, as she had raised him like a son, and was distressed that the last search party had returned with no sight of him.

Dustleg shrugged, looking at his paws.

Snowstar gazed at his warrior. "Tell me, my friend," he rumbled finally, ears flicking. "Why did you offer to mentor Brightpaw?" When Dustleg had come to his leader with the offer, two moon-rises ago, Snowstar had bit back the question, but now wanted to get his answer.

Dustleg blinked, and shook his mane. "I know he is half-Clan," he finally growled. "But he is sharp, and has promise to be a great warrior. It's not fair he is judged by his parentage."

"And yet you blame him as much as any warrior," Snowstar realized quietly. His tone was not accusing, but mild and curious. Bluefur listened with interest, eyes still sad.

Dustleg nodded, accepting Snowstar's words. "Yes... but I felt that, unlike other warriors... I could channel that blame. I could put it aside to train him properly." He looked at Snowstar. "Does that satisfy your questions?"

Snowstar was quiet, then nodded, and flicked his tail towards Dustleg, dismissing him. "Thank you, Dustleg. You should go and rest now; tomorrow will be an interesting day."

Dustleg bowed his head to his leader and queen, and quietly padded off towards the warrior's den. Bluefur watched him with pricked ears.

"Brightpaw is more accepted than he thinks," she murmured.

Snowstar looked at her, surprised and grim. He did not reply; just touched his nose to hers, and quietly left towards his den, wondering if Brightpaw would ever return.

* * *
Lionpaw didn't know how long he'd slept, when suddenly, a very wet, cold body was pressing against him, trying to get settled. His eyes flashed open and he let out a yowl as he shot up, hissing.

He stumbled over Cricketpaw and finally bowled into Buzzardpaw, who both let out cries of shock in turn and woke up, hissing, which managed to wake up Frostpaw and Rowanpaw.

"What the- you mousebrain!" Buzzardpaw snarled at Lionpaw. "Why-" His voice broke off, and he stared in surprise at the place where Lionpaw had woken up. In turn, their hisses died as they all turned heads to look at the striped body shivering in Lionpaw's nest.

"Brightpaw?" Lionpaw blinked, and hesitantly padded towards his friend. "You ran away!"

Brightpaw sat down, shaking himself off. "But now I'm back."

"Really?" Cricketpaw asked sardonically, standing up and yawning.

"Where did you go?" Frostpaw asked, eyes wide, as she stood next to her brother.

"And why did you come back?" Rowanpaw growled.

"Rowanpaw!" Frostpaw hissed.

"I ran away into the jungle. I- I think I ran farther than our territory... but I dunno." Brightpaw stared stonily at them all, and Lionpaw felt uneasy to see the older timid, quiet Brightpaw apparently dead, and this new unhappy
one in his place.

"Well, it's good you're back. Snowstar was worried," Lionpaw meowed, rasping a tongue over his friend's ear. No matter how Brightpaw acted, he was glad to see his friend home again.

"Nobody was worried, we were glad to be rid of you," Rowanpaw retorted.

"That's enough," Buzzardpaw spat. He looked over at Brightpaw. "I guess it's good your safe, but why come at night? And wake all us up?"

Brightpaw flicked an ear. "Yeah, sorry about that. I was just ready to come back."

Buzzardpaw sighed, and got to his feet. "Well, no use going back to sleep. I'd better inform Snowstar you're back. He sent search parties after you, you know," he tossed over his shoulder as his the older apprentice disappeared.

"Hey, Buzzardpaw, wait up!" Cricketpaw called as she trotted after her den-mate. The only cubs left in the den were Lionpaw, Frostpaw, Rowanpaw, and Brightpaw.

Rowanpaw sighed and shot a final glare at Brightpaw before curling back up. Frostpaw glanced apologetically towards her striped friend before settling back down and closing her eyes. Lionpaw gazed at her for a moment
before looking back at Brightpaw. "Were you scared, out there all alone?"

Brightpaw shrugged. "I guess, it was kinda scary."

Lionpaw bit his lip, staring in dismay at his friend. "What's wrong with you?" he blurted.

"Can you keep it down?" Rowanpaw mumbled.

Ignoring him, Brightpaw had no shame in meowing, "Blackscar took me out, and told me the truth about my parentage. I guess that's what you and Frostpaw tried to tell me when we were on that tour..."

Lionpaw blinked painfully at his friend, sadness swelling in his heart. "I'm so sorry," he murmured.

Brightpaw gazed at him, eyes serious. "It doesn't matter. I ran off because I was angry about what he said. But it's behind me." But from the deep grief in his eyes, Lionpaw knew Brightpaw's troubles were far from being behind him.

He sighed and reached over to press against his friend comfortingly, then recoiled, nose wrinkling. "Why are you so wet?" He shook himself, spattering a bit of water.

Brightpaw's eyes lit up. "When I was coming back, I came by the river. I wanted to take a swim. So I tried it out."

Lionpaw stared in amazement at his friend. "You swam? But you've never even done it before! How'd you learn?"

The cross-Clan apprentice just glanced at his fur, roughly licking his soaked pelt. "It's in my blood. I guess it just came naturally."

Realizing he was right, Lionpaw sighed, and shook his head. "Well, you'd better hope WaterClan doesn't declare war any time soon."

Brightpaw looked puzzled. "What do you mean?"

Lionpaw twitched his whiskers, eyes burning. "Think, Brightpaw. You've got kin in two Clans: and one day, you're going to have to choose between Clan and family in... battle."

* * *
The winds were growing cooler. The warm, peaceful season of summer was leaving the jungle, as a colder season approached.

It had been a whole moon since Brightpaw had learned of his torn heritage. Since then, there had been patrols to join, hunts to finish, elders to be tended to, and borders to be protected.

Lionpaw had watched as the bitter feelings towards Brightpaw had begun to fade; they were still obviously there, because on cannot turn around the blood flowing through a lion's body, but there were less hostile stares, less growls, less harsh words. Rowanpaw still hated Brightpaw, and Longfang was no fan of the striped cub, but things were different.

But other than the cross-Clan apprentice, life flowed like normal in LightningClan, and as Lionpaw came to know and trust every one of his Clanmates, he became more popular within his Clan, and it became clear that
Snowstar's son was sprouting well.

But like all sunrises, there are always shadows cast along the horizon.

Lionpaw was returning from a hunt with Cricketpaw and Buzzardpaw, and the golden-furred apprentice placed his kill on the fresh-kill pile. He stepped back, noticing the pile was rather low. He wondered if he should go out again.

"You've hunted well today," Buzzardpaw meowed, twitching his whiskers amiably towards Lionpaw. "The others can go out, but you don't have to." It was like he'd read Lionpaw's mind, and the apprentice felt his chest swell with a flicker of pride: despite his sometimes sharp tongue, Lionpaw had come to like Buzzardpaw, and was proud to have won the older apprentice's respect.

"Thanks," he mewed.

"But we could go out, couldn't we?" Cricketpaw meowed, glancing at Buzzardpaw. "I mean, the prey is low... and besides, it would be fun." She brushed her tail along his flank, and Buzzardpaw purred in agreement, as he and Lionpaw's sister padded away.

Lionpaw gazed after them in amusement, knowing the pair felt more than friendship for each-other, and was glad his sister was happy. Yet at the same time, he felt a prickle of jealousy in his pads- he wished he could find someone special like that.

Turning away, Lionpaw decided to try and find Amberpaw, as it was time to go check the elder's pelts for ticks. He padded towards the medicine-lion den, and prepared to duck inside the cool cave.

He slid into the dark shadows, and rasped, "Pebbleheart? Amberpaw? Are you there?"

There was a flash of eyes and he realized Pebbleheart was padding towards him. A stack of different herbs lay around the medicine-lion, and she looked curiously over at him. "Oh- hello, Lionpaw."

Lionpaw purred a greeting. He hadn't gotten much time to talk to Pebbleheart recently, and made a mental note to try and see her more often.

"Hello. I was wondering if you had some mouse bile for the elder's ticks? It's about that time to check again," Lionpaw added with a shudder.

Pebbleheart laughed as she padded towards him. Lionpaw realized he must have grown a lot over the past moon, because suddenly he wasn't feeling so short compared to the young medicine-lion. "I feel for you, it's a tough job."

"Tell me about it," Lionpaw agreed, sitting down and glancing around at her store. It looked a little messy. "Looks like you need some help around here," he mewed as Pebbleheart began searching for the mouse bile.

She glanced over at him, eyes gleaming. "Oh, well Amberpaw's been busy learning and tending to small wounds, and I told her I could keep the cave under control. But-" She shrugged.

"I could help you here and there, you know," Lionpaw offered, tail flicking.

Pebbleheart smiled gratefully at him. "That would be really helpful sometime, thanks," she meowed as she found the mouse bile and tenderly reached for it. Abruptly, the single ray of sunlight that reached into the den went black as something passed over the sun. The medicine-lion froze, and stared at the spot where the sunlight had disappeared. She slowly sat, eyes wide, fur bristling, as Lionpaw stared uncertainly at her.

The whole camp was suddenly darkened as a cloud passed over the sun. Everything became strangely dull, and everyone glanced at it, surprised but not frightened, like Pebbleheart was.

As sudden as the sunlight had disappeared, the light returned, and flooded over the camp, it's fiery golden rays blazing through the cold air. The light returned in the medicine-lion den, and Pebbleheart's eyes narrowed, claws sheathing and unsheathing.

"Pebbleheart? Are you okay?" Lionpaw asked quickly.

Pebbleheart's pretty face slowly returned to its normal gentle look, and she gazed at him, fur still bristling in places. "It was a sign-"

"A sign?" Lionpaw repeated, tail lashing. What did she mean?

Pebbleheart stood up, hastily giving her chest her a lick, eyes foggy. "A sign from StarClan."

Something chilled in Lionpaw's blood as he gazed intensely at her. "What did they say?" he asked in a hushed tone.

Pebbleheart swallowed, staring at him. "They s- said... Even monsters pretend to sleep."

Lionpaw blinked in confusion. "Even monsters... what? That makes no sense..."

Pebbleheart seemed not to hear him. "No... it can't be..."

In concern, the golden apprentice stepped closer to Pebbleheart, rasping a tongue over her ear comfortingly. "Calm down, it's alright."

"No, they- I think they know... Longfang-"

"Longfang?" Lionpaw narrowed his eyes. "They said something about the deputy?"

"Longfang?" Pebbleheart shivered, and gazed at Lionpaw. "Lionpaw, you must go. Here- remember your mouse bile. R- remember to wash your paws afterward." As Lionpaw gingerly took the mouse bile from the
medicine-lion, he couldn't help but inhale her sweet scent.

"Thanks. And- are you sure you're okay?" Lionpaw asked around the bile, nose wrinkling from the scent of it.

Pebbleheart shook her head. "I- I'm fine." She waved her tail in farewell, and Lionpaw reluctantly left, wishing he could stay and learn more. Even monsters pretend to sleep. Did StarClan mean to say that a monster- a bad lion- was in their camp? And even more... was it a deadly lion pretending to be innocent before another attack?