A question answered that most of you have seemed to ask has to do with what was the promise Ice made to Nettlepaw. I'm so sorry that I didn't make that clear enough. She promised to look him in the eye. Nothing major.

Anyway, thanks for reviewing! I know this is short and poorly delivered. I didn't proof read. Nightstorm?

Nightstorm: Born of True Destiny does not own Warriors.

Chapter Forty-Four

A few days had past and she had Pine and Flare come to the center of the alleyway.

"Both of you had trained in different ways," she began, once the brothers had sat down before her. "One of you with a father, warm and easy-going, and the other with me, cold and brutal. Each of you grew and again, in different ways, and now the time has come for me to see it."

Flare laughed. "I'm sure you'll be very impressed with what you're about to see, Commander Ice," he said excitedly. "I've worked very hard."

"So have I," Pine put in, pleasing Ice as she noticed how he had grown in his confidence.

"I'm sure you both have worked hard," she told them. "But now it's time to see how hard. Last time you two met in a fight, Flare was the triumphant cat." She looked away from them and into the distance as if to stare into the memory of that fight. "Let's see if he will rise victorious for a second time."

"He won't," Pine growled eagerly. He turned to his brother, smiling darkly.

"Okay then," Ice replied. "Go."

For the first time, Pine was the first to attack, ramming into Flare's chest. Flare gasped painfully for breath as the impact knocked the wind out of him. He collapsed to the ground and heaved, the perfect time for Pine to wrestle him into place. He had him pinned for a while, and Flare seemed to recover from attack to swipe his paw through the air. Pine raised his head, watching the paw fly by his nose.

At the right moment, Flare's shoulder was exposed at Pine and the smaller brother lunged to grab it with his teeth. Flare rolled, taking Pine with him, and suddenly, Flare had the upper hand, holding Pine down with his front paws and clawing his belly with the hind. He dodged strike after strike, moving from one side to the other swiftly, until one blow came so blindingly fast, that Flare didn't even know it was coming until he was on the ground.

"Ha!" laughed Pine. "I win!"

"Not yet, you haven't," Flare snarled and he sprang from the ground, bowling his brother over in a flurry of flashing claws. Ice watched them longer and her ears flicked in the slightest surprise that blood was being spilled. That had happened before, but this was more out of anger and hatred than just the goal of a training session.

But she did not stop them.

Flare stuck his claws into Pine's hind leg with a clumsy grip. As Pine twisted and kicked, Flare recoiled, groaning at the wound just made in his flank.

"Where'd-Where did you learn to do that?" he asked, wincing.

"Ice, where else?" Pine replied cooly. "That's the thing about training with her: she'll make you better at everything. Everything. Give up yet?"

Flare had a deep look of uncertainty dancing in his eyes, like a pile of ash that still had a burning chip of wood within. It bounced up and down, like he was trying hard to decide. "Well..." He said after a while. "I-I don't want..." He trailed off under the piercing gazes of both Ice and Pine. "I give up."

Pine leaped with excitement. "Yes! I win! You hear that, Ice, I win!"

Ice gave him a dark grin that appeared to narrow his happiness. "Great job, I'm proud." Her gaze sliced through Flare. "You keep working."

"Yes," he responded, shaking, "Commander Ice."

She turned away from them. That would be the last training session she would ever hold, though she didn't need to let them know quite yet. She had working out how to tell the Alley Cats that she was abandoning them without a leader. She didn't need to let them down easily, she just needed to sound fierce, and keep it that way for once.

Nettlepaw sat off to the side, waiting for the announcement himself in case he needed to back her up, especially against cats like Slither. Then they would go, and they would leave behind the alley as if they were nothing to them.

She strode to the Twolegnest and climbed to the ledge, before sitting briskly and looking out to the alley. They all looked oblivious. Some licked their wounds they'd earned from training, others ate their prey and talked to one another, and some had already noticed she was there.

Ice yowled for the rest of them to hear.

As they congregated below her, she tried hard to conceal her smile. Ice let her gaze travel to Nettlepaw below her and was surprised to see how uncertain and scared he looked. She narrowed her eyes at him, and he must've felt them on the back of his head because he turned and stared at her with a pleading look in his amber eyes.

What's wrong? she mouthed, but he didn't seem to understand, and he turned back to the gathered cats before him.

She did as well, trying to concentrate on what she was about to tell them. "I have to say," she began, trying to sound as bitter as always, "You all have really improved since I first became your Commander. Really you have, it's no joke. Even though you all couldn't even begin to compete with me or Nettlepaw, it was rather fun to see how you've got better." She paused looking at the curious gazes each Alley Cat fed her.

"This is not a normal announcement. It is not to tell you a cat is joining our ranks or that we need to step up our game."

She saw Nettlepaw flinch below.

Ice looked down at him again angrily, and spoke again. "Nettlepaw and I," she spoke his name with warning, "have found a greater purpose for ourselves far, far away. We will be leaving the alley as soon as we are ready."

She couldn't believe the angry yowls of protest that boomed beneath her as she spoke. She had expected them to rejoice at her departure, because even though she was close to abandoning them, her ways would most likely be turned around.

Slither was the first to speak. "You are detestable!" she screeched which was followed by a roar of agreement. "Sure you are cruel and unforgiving to us all, treating us with prejudice and as crow food, but what right do you have to just leave us behind in the dust?!"

Ice parted her jaws to speak but she was cut off by Bolt's furious meow. "You scarred and had my sons wound each other just so you can betray and abandon us in the end? Who do you think you are?"

His words surprised her. He had followed her all this time, and now he was erupting with total wrath.

Zoey and Rosemary both rushed forward, yowling, and if Ice wasn't high up on the ledge, she wouldn't have reacted quick enough to escape them. Nettlepaw blocked their path to the ledge, and when Zoey raked her claws along his face, Ice jumped down, shoved them both away, nudged Nettlepaw forward and ran.

"Commander Ice!"

She skidded to a halt, paralyzed by the sorrow in that voice. For a moment she couldn't see him, but then she looked down, and standing there, confusion and sadness in his eyes, was Pine.

"Commander Ice, where are you going?"

"Out of my way," she snarled. She could hear the thump of paw steps behind her, and in desperation, flung Pine to the side with a powerful blow to his side and raced ahead, catching up after Nettlepaw.

Ice skirted the pond and a bed of cat tails and burst into the Twoleg neighborhood, Nettlepaw flanking her side. She ran until she was sure they had lost him, and then she stopped, panting.

The dark gray tom glared at her. "You idiot! How did you not think that they would try and attack us then?"

Ice's green gaze sliced deep into his and he looked away. "Don't even call me that again. We escaped, didn't we? And I doubt they'd come looking for us. What good would that do?"

Nettlepaw sighed. "I just hope it doesn't happen with the Clans."

Ice smiled at him. "Are you kidding? That was fun!"

He sighed again. "I'll never understand you."

"I'll never understand myself," she replied.

Bleh. I didn't like writing that. I'm sorry that it was rushed and sloppy and sudden and bad.

Nightstorm: And thus, her true writing talent shines through.

Me: Shut up! I can easily replace you for someone else as my OC.

Nightstorm: NONONONONONONONONO! You're good, you're really good at writing! Heh heh...heuh...ugh.

Me: Huh.

~Destiny (and Nightstorm)