Sparkpaw padded through the forest alongside Quickflight and her apprentice, Bearpaw. "So you're saying the last time you saw him was around here?" Quickflight asked, sniffing the air.

"Yeah," Sparkpaw mewed. "He looked upset, and told me to go back to camp."

"I don't see why this is important. He's a full-grown warrior, he can take care of himself," Bearpaw scoffed. He recieved a cuff on the ear from his mentor.

"He's been gone three sunrises, Bearpaw. There are foxes and badgers out here that can kill a warrior easily. Remember Gorseclaw?"

Sparkpaw had heard of Gorseclaw. He was a warrior who had gone missing the night she was born, and was found dead by the frozen lake. Larktail had loved him, she had heard, but he broke her heart the night Sparkpaw's mother had come. Sparkpaw had heard whispers that Gorseclaw had fallen in love with her mother almost as soon as he found her half-dead in the rain.

"Fine," Bearpaw sighed, padding after the two she-cats. "I still think he's okay, though."

Instantly, Quickflight flicked up her tail for them to stop. Bearpaw crashed into Sparkpaw, who almost knocked over Quickflight.

"I think there's a scent trail," she whispered. Sparkpaw and Bearpaw crept after her silently, aware of the danger they still could be facing. Quickflight led them through a mass of bushes, stumbling out into a small clearing.

"StarClan above," she breathed out. Sparkpaw padded out behind her and saw what she was seeing. Foxclaw. Lying on the ground. Dry blood. Dead.

Ever since Foxclaw's being discovered dead, almost every cat in the Clan was as cold as ice to Sparkpaw. Foxclaw's mate, Stormwind, didn't talk to her at all. Occasionally one of Stormwind's kits would attempt to talk to Sparkpaw, and the queen would pull them back with nothing but a stern paw and a glare. Eventually, Sparkpaw cracked, when even the kind medicine cat apprentice Jasminefur threw her a reproachful look.

"Why does every cat in this StarClan forsaken place hate me?" she yowled. To prove her point, she leapt to the top of the Scorch Rock and addressed the whole of FireClan. "I didn't kill Foxclaw!"

It felt good to say. "I didn't, I didn't, I didn't!" she snapped. By then, cats were beginning to gather. "I didn't kill him!"

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Goldkit, perfect little Goldkit, watching her solemnly, yet curiously, from the nursery. "Why don't any of you think she did it? Look at her, with her innocent little amber eyes! Maybe she's not as perfect as everyone seems to think!"

Complete silence. Sparkpaw could feel the twisted glee running through the Clan. They were glad. Glad that Sparkpaw had finally outed herself as the villain everyone was absolutely certain she was. Glad that Goldkit was there to save them.

The silence was broken by Goldkit herself. "I'm only a kit," she mewed loudly and clearly. "And you, an apprentice, is saying I'm a murderer?"

Her eyes were wide in a pity-me expression. The whole Clan exploded, shouting things at Sparkpaw, hateful things. Fury filled Sparkpaw, and her vision was clouded by a red haze. She lunged over the rock at the nearest cat. Dapplepaw. She slashed at her pelt, claws unsheathed, inflicting the damage that Dapplepaw had poured on her over and over again. There were no hateful shouts now. It was still loud, though, loud with the loudest and most terrible sound: shocked silence laced with fear.

"Leave."

Ashstar's voice boomed from the Scorch Rock. Sparkpaw fell off Dapplepaw, who once again scrambled back, this time with real, bleeding wounds. Jasminefur rushed to her side, glaring at Sparkpaw.

Sparkpaw stood, breathing heavily. She was only faintly aware that her claws were stained with blood.

"You heard me. Leave. There's no place for you here- rogue."

"Fine!" Sparkpaw snapped. "I don't like it here. I never have. But let me tell you this." Her eyes burned with passion. "Goldkit over there is no prophecy cat. Because there isn't a prophecy! I'm… not… evil!"

With those last words, she stormed out of camp, starting with an angry pace which quickly evolved into a crazy, lopsided run.

Finally, she collapsed, too tired to run anymore. She faintly recognized FrostClan scent, but that didn't really matter anyway. But when she heard two voices a little ways away, she scrambled up a tree and sheltered in the branches.

The voices revealed themselves to be two kits, prancing through the brush. They must have snuck out of camp, Sparkpaw thought with some satisfaction. They were a little tomkit and she-kit, and they were giggling and pushing each other around. Sparkpaw decided, rashly, to give them a little scare. She dropped out of the tree, causing an impressive amount of leaves to shower around her. The two kits looked petrified, and she bared her teeth. They screeched and scrabbled backwards. Sparkpaw, unable to contain her amusement, fell back and laughed out loud. She finally got up, chest heaving, and saw the kits still staring at her.

"What?" she asked roughly. The she-kit stepped forward daringly.

"You're on FrostClan territory, and you're from FireClan," she said, her voice trembling. Sparkpaw shook her head. "No, I'm not from FireClan."

"Yes, you are!" the tomkit exclaimed. "You're Sparkpaw. Our brother Pebblepaw saw you at a Gathering."

"Did he now?" Sparkpaw asked, beginning to turn. All of a sudden, she scented something on the north breeze, something that she hadn't noticed…

"Get down!" she growled, lunging at the kits and pushing them into a nearby bush. They squeaked with protest, but quieted when a huge dog crashed into the clearing, right where they had been standing. It turned around wildly, momentarily thrown off the trail. Just in time, a Twoleg ran through the trees, yowling at the dog. It knelt down and tied a colorful vine around the dog's neck, and led it away. The dog was still barking viciously.

When she was sure the dog was far away, Sparkpaw slid out of the bushes. The kits trailed out after her, shocked into silence.

"You saved us!" the she-kit exclaimed finally. The tomkit just sat there, staring in the direction that the dog went.

"Yeah, well, I wouldn't have had to if you had stayed in camp like kits are supposed to," Sparkpaw pointed out.

"But you did," the tom said insistently. The she-kit dipped her head maturely.

"Thank you, Sparkpaw."

The apprentice met eyes with the two kits. They were so young… "You're welcome."

The moment of trust gone, she flicked them away with her paw. "Now get back to camp. Your Clan must be worried sick about you. And don't wander off again!" she called over her shoulder. "And don't mention me!"

But the kits had already dashed off, and gave no sign of hearing her.

Sparkpaw began to walk in the opposite direction of the two Clans, now that she had a rough idea of where they were. Finally, when it seemed that her paws were about to fall off, all cat scents but her own had faded. She was in a large, grassy field, and in the near distance she could see a row of Twoleg dens. Behind her, toward the setting sun, was the forest and the two Clans. In the other directions were faraway blue mountains. Sparkpaw sat down with a huff, her eyes flicking between the ways to go. Back to the forest wouldn't work. She would have to cross the borders again, and she was trying to leave the Clans behind. The mountains would probably have water and prey, but they were so far away, she wasn't sure if she could make the journey. The Twolegplace wouldn't do either. Unless…

She had heard that kittypets lived in Twoleg dens. That was out of the question. Sparkpaw couldn't stay cooped up with Twolegs for the rest of her life. But some cats, she had heard, lived in abandoned Twolegplaces or on the streets, and got food from different Twolegs every day. After all, every cat knew that most Twolegs would set out food for any cat who came around. That wasn't such a bad plan, after all. Sparkpaw wouldn't have to hunt a lot, and she wouldn't be trapped with Twolegs.

She resolutely took a paw-step in the direction of the Twolegplace, then another. That was her plan. That was her life from now on.