Once again, I fail at getting new chapters out. This chapter will be one of my shortest so far, just because I need to get things moving a little faster. The next chapter will be much longer and very action-packed. Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter!

"Bramblestar, you need to calm down."

I jerked my head around so fast my neck cracked. "Calm down!?" He screamed. "Calm down!? Do you have any idea how much of a predicament I am in!? My warriors are gone. My son has run off for the billionth time. My whole Clan is in a panic. I just finished a meeting with a very insistent ShadowClan leader who is pressuring me to fight again. So no, Squirrelflight, I am not going to calm down!"

The ginger queen flattened her ears and hissed. "Don't scream in my face, Bramblestar."

"Then don't tell me to calm down when there's nothing to be calm about!"

"You think this is helping?" She hissed. "They can hear you, you know. These walls aren't soundproof. You're supposed to be their leader, and that means you need to keep your head on straight and lead them!"

"I am leading them, Squirrelflight!" Bramblestar's voice had risen to a shriek. "I'm not like Firestar! I don't lie to my Clanmates and tell them everything's going to be okay when it's not!

"Things will be fine! You have to believe that!"

"I have to believe, huh? Well let's take a look at where all this hoping and praying and believing has gotten us, then! We've got Twolegs practically shoving their fire-sticks down our throats. We've got a disobedient son who can't get it through his head that the code of the Clans isn't something to just be thrown around and manipulated. We've got a bunch of warriors who just decided I don't know dung about leading a Clan and that they should take the initiative. We've got a Clan tearing itself apart with fear. So no, Squirrelflight, I'm not going to go out there, put on a smiley face and say everything's going to be just fine. I'm done believing. I'm done hoping. I'm done praying. It's gotten us nowhere. Absolutely nowhere."

"So you're just going to give up and let these Twolegs destroy us all?"

"What kind of leader do you take me for!? Of course I'm not just going to sit around and do nothing! All I said was that I'm done praying to StarClan for an answer! They obviously can't - or won't - give us one. So I'm stepping up and doing my job. StarClan trusted me with the safety of ThunderClan when I took over as leader. I'm going to fulfill that expectation now. If StarClan won't help me, then I'll just help myself. Go and find Ivypool and tell her she is to visit Rowanstar immediately and tell him ThunderClan will be attacking these Twolegs tomorrow at dawn."

"But-"

"Do it!" He screamed. "Just do it, for StarClan's sake!"

Looking thoroughly disturbed, Squirrelflight hurried out of the den. I started pacing rapidly, my claws out. I started panting, fury surging through every part of my body and filling me to the brim. I was done. Done tolerating my son's disobedience. Done with these Twolegs. Done trying to comfort a Clan huddling in fear. Done with just about everything. It was clear to me that StarClan wasn't about to help us at all with these problems, so I had to do it myself. Again. Every time I turned around these days something else was getting in my face trying to ruin my life. First it was Tigerstar. Then the destruction of the forest. Then Hawkfrost. Squirrelflight's betrayal. The Dark Forest. The flood. And now this.

I was beginning to wear deep claw-marks into the stone floor of my den when a shadow fell over the entrance. Snapping my head up, I saw that it was Jayfeather. I'd asked him to keep an eye out for any signs from StarClan regarding this current problem. I called him in, and he entered slowly, his blind blue eyes fixed on me as if he could see.

"Any news?" I couldn't keep the excitement out of my voice.

He shook his head, and my excitement was immediately crushed. "Nothing at all. I tried asking some of the other medicine cats at the Moonpool, but nobody had gotten any news. I did find out some things about the other Clans, though."

I pricked my ears, suddenly very interested. "Oh?"

He nodded. "Mothflight was most willing to give me information. She said that Mistystar is completely ignoring the problem. She's carried on with the everyday life of a Clan cat and acting like the Twolegs at the Greenleaf Twolegplace aren't putting her Clanmates in danger at all, and she's showing no interest in rescuing her captured Clanmates. As for ShadowClan, Rowanstar is eager to address the problem, which is no news to you."

"You heard about the visit?"

He nodded. "Typical ShadowClan, if you ask me. Always jumping into the problem like fleas. Anyway, I found out something interesting from WindClan's side. Apparently their medicine cat was captured by those Twolegs."

I twitched an ear, not really caring. "That's nice, but it doesn't exactly help us unless Onestar's willing to fight for him, which I doubt seeing as you said he's getting down in his lives."

Jayfeather seemed surprised that I had taken his news update that way. "I'm not suggesting we go and rescue Stormstrike, if that's what you're thinking. I'm saying that in order to get to WindClan and capture Stormstrike, the Twolegs would have had to pass through our territory first."

Those words sent a chill through my bones. Why hadn't I seen that? "Do you know how long ago Stormstrike was captured?"

"No, but I imagine it had to be around the same time those Twolegs laid all those traps around our territory."

My claws scraped against the stone floor. "I hate this." I spat. "Constantly having to live in fear of a force we cannot easily combat. We could handle the flood and the Dark Forest, but this is starting to get out of control."

Jayfeather nodded gravelly. "What do you plan on doing?"

I looked away, warring with myself on whether or not I should tell him just yet about attacking the Twolegs again tomorrow. I decided not to after a few minutes of warring with myself, not knowing how he would respond. Jayfeather was one of the most unpredictable cats in all of ThunderClan. He might react indifferently, he might not. I couldn't know. So I simply told him I was thinking it over and dismissed him.

After spending an uncertain amount of time alone with my thoughts, I padded out onto Highledge. Down below, Ivypool was quietly organizing some patrols. I felt a stab of sympathy for her. Even after so many moons had passed since her sister's death, it hadn't gotten better. I wanted to comfort her with advice on how I'd dealt with my own familial losses. Except I couldn't do that. I had been happy when Tigerstar and Hawkfrost died. I'd been sad when Goldenflower had died, sure, but I'd never been all that close to her. So there was really nothing at all I could say in relation to my temporary deputy's problems.

I was beginning to slip into the depths of deep thought when someone came crashing into the camp, yowling their head off.

"Bramblestar! Bramblestar, we found him!"

It took me a minute to realize they were talking about Thornsting. I bolted down the path, and was soon joined by Firelight, Squirrelflight, and Sunflight. Sure enough, there he was. His fur was ragged, his eyes wild, and his claws unsheathed. His eyes darted around the camp, every one of his muscles stiff. Lionblaze, who had been the one to find him, leaned over and whispered something in his ear. Hearing whatever the older tom had said, Thornsting relaxed. Slowly, he came forward and nuzzled his family in greeting, who purred with relief.

At last, he came to me. I felt a surge of mixed feelings as I saw him. Anger, relief, joy. However, his fatherly instinct took over, and he found himself disciplining his son for his unruly, disobedient actions.

"What exactly do you think you were doing? I explicitly told you not to leave this camp on any more of your heroic missions, and what do you do? You run off and do the exact thing I told you not to."

Thornsting flattened his ears. "I'm sorry, Bramblestar. I was just trying to do my duty as a warrior."

I exchanged a glance with Squirrelflight, who nodded. I looked back at Thornsting. "Come with me, son." I padded out of the camp, Thornsting following close behind.

After a few minutes of walking had passed, I began speaking. "Thornsting, being a warrior isn't just about keeping everyone safe. You can't do that every second of every day. Even the most legendary of warriors couldn't always keep everybody safe. Cats die, and there's nothing anyone can do about that. When I gave you your name, you promised to defend your Clanmates and follow the warrior code. I have a lot of experience, Thornsting. When I give an order, it's because I know it will be for the good of my Clan as a whole. If I tried to protect each of my warriors one at a time, I would fail miserably. So instead, I work to protect everyone as a group. We lose some cats along the way, but the casualties are a lot lower than they would be if I tried protecting each cat individually. Can you understand?"

Thornsting took a few minutes to answer. "I guess I can. Yeah." He looked out across the now visible lake. "Bramblestar, can I ask you something?"

"Hm?"

"Do you ever get scared? Of the future, I mean."

I looked straight at him, not having expected that question to come out of his mouth. "I suppose every warrior does, Thornsting. Even the bravest ones get scared sometimes."

"So then being afraid doesn't mean you're a coward?"

"No, son, it doesn't. Being brave isn't about rushing into the battle first or being the one to start border arguments to 'defend your Clan'. Being brave is about standing up for what you know to be right and just. Being brave is following the rules our ancestors set down for us even when nobody else isn't. Being brave is about admitting you're scared once in a while. Cowardice is never admitting you're scared. Deep inside, everyone has fears. It takes the bravest of the brave to step forward and face those fears."

"So then technically you faced your fear of those Twolegs by fighting them that one time?"

I nodded. "Technically, yes." I paused for a moment. "Thornsting, why are you asking me these things?"

His voice was very quiet as he responded, "Because I'm afraid, Bramblestar."

"Afraid of what?"

He couldn't look at me. "Everything. The Twolegs. Their fire-sticks. Their dogs. Their traps." He paused for a long while. "Dying."

I lowered my head. "Every cat dreads the day they will die. But if it consoles you any, at least you can look forward to a great life after in StarClan."

He didn't respond to that. Instead, he started wandering down toward the lake. I followed him.

Neither of us said anything until we reached the shoreline. Thornsting sat down, staring out across the peaceful blue water. "How can anything so peaceful exist in a turbulent time like this?"

I halted beside him. "I've wondered the same thing for quite some time, son. But perhaps it is a sign from StarClan. A sign that no matter what we go through and what we lose, things will one day be peaceful again. They were after the war with the Dark Forest. They were after the flood. Things will be fine someday, Thornsting. We have to believe that."

"I guess so."

And so we sat, silent and lost in our private thoughts. I myself was through with believing, but I had to ensure my son continued to do so. He was still very young. He couldn't lose hope yet. He had a long way to go before he was a graying elder curled within a bracken nest in the elder's den. I had high hopes for him, as I did for all of my children. I hoped he would one day be leader of ThunderClan. Perhaps not right after me, but after the next leader. His tendency to think out of the box was a good quality in a leader, if harnessed correctly.

I was just beginning to move on to thinking about my hopes for Squirrelflight's most recent litter when I heard a lot of commotion somewhere close by. A lot of screaming, yelling, and the sound of fire-sticks going off.

Thornsting and I were on our paws instantly, rushing toward the sound. As we drew near and came into full view of the situation, we stopped dead in our tracks. Both of us gaped at the horrific scene before us, shock making our fur stand on end and every fiber in our body tense up. All I could manage to utter were two single words.

"Holy StarClan."

We all love ourselves a good cliffhanger, don't we? Expect the next chapter to be out sometime this upcoming week. And I actually mean it this time. Also, if you are looking for something to write but can't think of any ideas, check out my community. It's called Adopt-A-Story, and I've got a lot of stories in need of new authors posted up there. The link to my community is on my profile. I highly suggest checking it out, even if you aren't looking for a story. You might find something of interest that you really want to write about. If you have any stories that are up for adoption, please shoot me a PM and I'll look into adding them to the archive.