Chapter 21

Hey guys!

I started reading over my story, and I've decided to try to make the chapters longer. At least 1,000 words a chapter.

From now on, line breaks will be used to mark transitions to and from Starclan or the Dark Forest.

Another thing- for you guys who think we can't write good romances: Go choke on a cookie or something. Because we can. Ha.

Also, if you guys have noticed the massive amount of typos that have been accumulating in the story, it's because I have to write most of it on my Kindle Fire. My computer is dying.

Thanks for all the reviews, too. They really help me get off my butt and write.

Alright, let's go!

I padded along behind the patrol, exhaustion and hunger finally beginning to eat at me. I couldn't wait to get back to camp and eat real food again. I thought of the disgusting slop the humans had tried to feed me and gagged. At least I had escaped before... the unthinkable. I shuddered as I remembered the helplessness I had felt when I was trapped in my own domain.

I kept walking along, the rest of the patrol ahead of me. Suddenly I heard a rustling in the bushes. I pricked my ears and smelled the air. Mouse. I crouched down, keeping as silent as I could possibly be, until I leaped. The mouse didn't have time to squeal. I threw it in the air and caught it with a killing blow.

I picked up the mouse and moved forward again. I saw that the patrol had stopped to wait for me.

"Nice catch," Lionblaze meowed. I nodded my thanks and continued walking along the worn path that led to camp. However, when the thorn tunnel appeared in front of me, I hesitated. It had been two days since I had last been in camp, and returning suddenly seemed very hard.

Berrynose saw me, and padded back over to me.

"Hey, don't worry," he meowed. "What's the worst that could happen?"

I swallowed my fear and padded on into the camp. I had expected to be immediately badgered with questions, but it seemed as though no one noticed me yet. I sighed in relief.

For about two seconds.

Suddenly one of the apprentices, Foxpaw, saw me pad into the clearing. The second I saw his eyes light up, an imaginary countdown started in my head. 3, 2, 1...

"It's Jaggedscar! He's alive!" Foxpaw bounded up to me, eyes gleaming with excitement. As he did, the few other cats awake began to react to his outburst

Thornclaw padded up to me and nodded. He then turned to Lionblaze. "Where did you find him?"

Lionblaze padded over to Firestar's den. "We found him by the Shadowclan border," he called over his shoulder. "A Shadowclan patrol was trying to pick a fight with him." He looked in Firestar's den. "Is Firestar here?"

Foxpaw shook his head. "He went night hunting."

Berrynose shrugged. "We''ll just have to tell him in the morning."

Personally, I was happy. It was late, and I didn't want to have to answer questions now. I was too tired even to eat. I thanked Lionblaze and his patrol for their help,and padded over to the warrior's den. I took a peek inside. I saw that next to Hollyleaf's sleeping form, there was an empty nest. I smiled and padded over to it. I sunk down into the nest and closed my eyes.

I woke up almost immediately. I groaned. Even as a cat, I couldn't get a good night's sleep? Then, I looked around. I say a few trees, and of in the distance I saw a slimy river flowing past. I bit back a yelp of horror. I was in the Dark Forest.

I looked around to see if Tigerstar was watching. After all, he had come to me in my first visit. But were no other cats here. I turned around to see what was behind me, and I gasped. I saw that the mist abruptly ended, and gave way to a place of sunshine and flowers. I realized that I had been there once before. Starclan.

A padding sound came into my ears, and soon I saw a shape coming up from the Starclan side. I watched as a slender tortoiseshell padded out of Starclan to stand next to me in the Dark Forest. I realized that it must be Spottedleaf. She stare at me in shock.

"What are you doing here?" she gasped in surprise. "You're the Fourth, you can't be with the Dark Forest!"

I hissed. "Keep your voice down! They might hear you."

Spottedleaf was bristling with rage. "How could you! Even after we told you that you're the Fourth, how could you?"

I looked around to make sure no one was watching. When I made sure that there were no Dark Forest warriors around, I padded into the Starclan side of the border. Thankfully, Spottedleaf followed me without asking any questions. I walked on until we reached a shaded clearing. It looked out of the way. Perfect.

I sat down, and gestured for Spottedleaf to sit as well. I took in a breath. "I'm training with the Dark Forest to spy. I'll find out what they're up to."

Spottedleaf, however, did not like my plan. "No," she said, shaking her head. "It's too risky. What if they find out you're a spy?"

I shuddered when I remembered all the horrible things that the Dark Forest warriors did. I didn't even want to think about what they would do to me if they found out I was a spy. "That's a risk I'll have to take."

Spottedleaf still looked worried, but at least now she obliged. "All right. I suppose it's too much too ask you to be careful?"

I grinned. "Come on, you've seen what I can do. Being careful is the least of my worries."

She smiled. "Well, then, get a good night's sleep. You might go back there tomorrow."

I sighed. "I know." I padded over to a small clump of ferns and fell into them. I closed my eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep.

I woke up to the sun hovering over the horizon. I groaned. No use trying to get back to sleep, it was too cold. I stood and stretched, trying not to disturb Hollyleaf, who still slept next to me. I padded out of the warrior's den. The weak sun struck my fur and began to warm me. I basked in its light for a second more, and then bounded up to the thorn tunnel. Thronclaw must have gone to sleep, because now it was Graystripe who was guarding the tunnel.

"Jaggedscar? When did you-How did you-" Graystripe spluttered. I shrugged.

"You escaped Twolegs once, remember?" I meowed. "I figured, if you could do it, so could I."

Graystripe nodded. "Does Firestar know yet?"

I shrugged. "Not sure. He was hunting when I got back." I looked around; the clearing was till pretty deserted. No one was awake yet. The fresh kill pile looked well stocked. I decided to go hunting later.

Graystripe shrugged. "I imagine he'll be waking up soon. Brambleclaw will tell him then." I saw Graystripe's ear twitch for just a second, so fast I wasn't sure I saw it at all. Was he jealous? I had always wondered if Graystripe held any hostility to the Thunderclan deputy. Personally, I had always felt that Graystripe would have been a better choice for deputy rather than Brambleclaw. That wasn't my place to argue, though.

Graystripe looked up toward the Highledge. "There he is now." I followed his gaze to the Highledge and saw Firestar emerging from his den. I watched as he stretched, the sun turning his pelt to fire. He jumped down the tumble of rocks and made his way over to the fresh kill pile. I looked to Graystripe, but he had already padded away to the warrior's den. I walked over to Firestar myself.

"Uh... Firestar?" I meowed cautiously.

Firestar looked up. "Jaggedscar? Oh, yes. Brambleclaw told me you were back." I sighed in relief. That made things a lot easier. But Firestar wasn't done. "When the rest of the Clan wakes up, I'll hold a meeting."

I nodded. "I was thinking of going out to hunt?"

Firestar nodded. "Okay, but I want you back here before the meeting. Just before sunrise."

I nodded. "Alright."

As I raced out of the thorn tunnel, I had only one feeling.

I'm home.

Sorry about the crappy ending, but I felt like this chapter was way too long. They will start getting longer, though. MARK MY WORDS!

I also felt like it was way too long since the last update. I'll try to have another one out sooner!

PEACE OUT