Elsi: I really didn't want to write any more of this for a while...and then I woke up this morning and wanted to write NOTHING ELSE. Typical.

Elsi: So, here are two more chapters for you! I hope you guys actually appreciate these updates...

Elsi: I don't own Warriors. Enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 9

Ivypool

On the night of the full moon, Ivypool went to the Dark Forest without being called.

She stumbled into the dark grass, shaking her head. Where was Hawkfrost? He was always in her dreams…he never left her alone. Ivypool took a deep breath and found his scent in the air. With a smirk of satisfaction, she stalked through the woods, her ears perked. This was some sort of test, wasn't it? Well, Ivypool was a warrior now. She would most certainly pass anything he had to throw at her.

Ivypool began to hear voices – a trick? One of them was Hawkfrost, sure. Another sounded familiar as well – Tigerstar! And who was the third? Taking a deep breath, Ivypool pressed to the grass and closed her eyes, focusing on hearing what was being said.

"What's our next step, then?" It was a tom's voice, and Ivypool was sure that she knew it well. One of her training mates, of course. "I did what you asked me to do."

Ivypool identified the voice then, and her entire body tensed up in hatred. Tigerheart. The stupid tom that kept getting in her way, through Doveheart and through everything else. What did Hawkfrost and Tigerstar both want with him? A pang of jealousy caught her by surprise.

"This is good," Hawkfrost said. "Now that ShadowClan and ThunderClan have split apart, we can begin working to take ThunderClan down."

Ivypool tensed entirely. Take ThunderClan down? They were making ThunderClan better! What was this about taking them down?

"Will that really help ShadowClan?" asked Tigerheart.

"Of course," Hawkfrost explained. "ThunderClan is ShadowClan's biggest rival, after all."

"The plan will proceed," Tigerstar said quietly. Silence fell from the other two, and a shiver ran up Ivypool's spine. She took a few hesitant paw-steps forward, attempting to get a glimpse of their conversation, but bushes and dark trees blocked her still. "The shadows will continue into the real world, taking away all the abominations. ThunderClan will crumble, leaving only our trusted soldiers. From there, we can sneak into this world and return. Victorious. Do you understand now, Tigerheart, what you must do?"

Silence extended over the forest for a few seconds, and Ivypool's eyes went open. Her entire body felt frozen in confusion. Was that really the plan? To destroy most of ThunderClan? What happened to her, then? What about Doveheart and Whitewing and her family?

"I understand, Tigerstar," said Tigerheart in a low voice. Ivypool gritted her teeth and attempted to scoot forward. Something was happening in silence, and she needed to see it.

"Hawkfrost," said Tigerstar suddenly. "Did you call your apprentice here?"

"No," Hawkfrost said in surprise. Ivypool gulped – they meant her. A very strong instinct told her to run, but Ivypool just dug her claws into the ground and waited. She wasn't afraid of Hawkfrost or Tigerstar! They were dead, and they were on her side – the side that would make the Clans better. What had she to be afraid of?

Suddenly, Hawkfrost's face loomed before her.

"How did you end up here?" he asked in a sneer.

"I dreamed," answered Ivypool, narrowing her eyes. "Just like I always do." Hawkfrost nodded thoughtfully and pulled away, his tail whacking her on the nose.

"Come on, then." Reluctant, Ivypool stalked after him, her stomach churning. They had told Tigerheart a different plan than they had told her…did that mean they were lying to Tigerheart? Or was she the one being lied to?

When he saw her, Tigerheart gave her a sharp tilt of the head, making Ivypool want to snort. Who did Tigerheart think he was, anyways? He had made that battle between their Clans happen, and it was all thanks to Doveheart and these meetings.

Hold on a minute. How had Ivypool missed that? ShadowClan had, in fact, known their patrol schedule, which was something that Tigerstar and his ranks had ordered to be known. It was so they could call each warrior at corresponding times to train together. And they all knew techniques from different Clans by now. Had all of that been…to help ShadowClan attack ThunderClan? Would WindClan be next? Ivypool unsheathed her claws slowly, forcing herself to meet Tigerstar's eyes instead. The giant tabby lounged on a large, flat rock, staring down at Hawkfrost, Tigerheart, and Ivypool. If he noticed anything about her that was different, he would think it was for fear.

It wasn't for fear. It was for anger, and suspicion that she had been misled.

"Good," Tigerstar said to her. "You're a warrior now. Congratulations. You fought well in the battle."

"The battle that you planned," said Ivypool. Tigerstar nodded carefully.

"It is all part of the plan," he said. "Which you heard, I assume." At her mew of confirmation, Tigerstar stood, stretching his long claws on the rockface with a dreadful screech. Then the huge tom jumped down from the rock, towering over her.

"You understand, don't you, Ivypool?" he asked. "You understand the plan."

"You told me we were making the Clans great," Ivypool said. "You never said anything about destroying ThunderClan."

"What a sweet kit," Tigerstar called to Hawkfrost. He glanced back. "We would be cleansing ThunderClan of its liars and corrupt hearts. Replacing them with good, stable leadership." Tigerstar rested his tail on Ivypool's shoulder as if he was her friend, but the look in his eyes was a threat. "Leadership like you."

"What does 'coming into this world' mean?" asked Ivypool. Tigerstar raised his eyebrows and smiled a little bit, looking even more menacing.

"Isn't it obvious?" he asked. "We need to have a presence in the real world, Ivypool. You and Tigerheart and the rest of our soldiers can give us that strength. You can bring the Clans back to glory. Just…trust us."

She held those eyes for a few moments, part of her buying into the argument, and part of her terrified. That had been a lie – so what else was a lie? What were these dark cats really planning to do? Ivypool settled herself then; she had settled into this training routine, and she wasn't planning on leaving anytime soon. Whatever the plan was, she would find out the hard way. Maybe it was still going to work out in her favor.

"I'm with you," said Ivypool quietly. Tigerstar grinned carnivorously and stalked back up to his rock.

"Good," he said. "Hawkfrost, take Ivypool and Tigerheart to train with the others. Tonight is a night of accomplishment!"

"Every night is a night of accomplishment here," Tigerheart said to Ivypool in a cautiously cheerful voice. Tigerstar gave an approving nod, and Hawkfrost took the lead, pulling them away.

They walked in silence, but Ivypool was screaming on the inside. Jayfeather and Lionblaze and Doveheart…when they had found out, they had been so worried. Something about this place worried them, and it had broken Doveheart's heart to hear that both she and Tigerheart were involved. Surely that was justified, and Ivypool thought that she was starting to see what Jayfeather meant in the words Tigerstar has no allies. Still…everything Tigerstar said made sense. StarClan had been delivering messages to kittypets and warriors who had broken the code for ages. She had to do something about that. It was her duty to ThunderClan!

What was really going on in the Place of No Stars, as Lionblaze called it?

"So, Ivypool," Tigerheart said, giving her a glance. "Now that I know you're committed to the cause, do you think you could put in a good word for me? You know…with Doveheart? She's a big help, and…"

"Never," spat Ivypool, recoiling. He was using her! He was actually using her! "Doveheart is my littermate! I'm not going to betray her like that."

Hawkfrost whirled around.

"The cause comes first," he reminded her. "You're on our side now. If Doveheart is mingling with those abominations, we need to save her quickly. She has information that we could use."

"That's my littermate!" protested Ivypool. I'm not dragging her into this mess!

"No," Hawkfrost said. "We are your family now. You're one of us, and now that you are, you cannot back out. Not for your fluffy littermate, not for anyone." He picked up the pace, and Ivypool chased after him and Tigerheart, watching those huge shoulders bounce up and down. Hawkfrost wouldn't let her help Doveheart. She would be in danger.

What did it matter? Doveheart was annoying. She had always looked better than Ivypool, and Ivypool was sick of her acting like she was – she wasn't! Now, Ivypool was the smart one, the quick one, the strong one. Doveheart had no place in her life anymore.

She's my littermate, Ivypool said internally. No matter how much we fight, she's still my littermate. I want her to be happy.

And she would never be happy with Tigerheart!

XXXX

"Good!" called Hawkfrost as Ivypool rolled out of the way of Breezepelt's strike. "Good work. Both of you."

"Yes," agreed Brokenstar, appearing and twining around Breezepelt. "They're almost on the same level, Hawkfrost."

"Ivypool will never be as good of a warrior as I am," said Breezepelt coolly. Ivypool opened her mouth to retort when Hawkfrost cut in, blocking her from seeing Breezepelt as he marched forward.

"Ivypool has proved her loyalty, and she improves every day," he said in a low, dangerous voice. "I am not sure if taking a mate is the best way to accomplish our goals, Breezepelt."

The black tom's ears flattened, and he sneered.

"I have no mate," he said.

"Hawkfrost brings up a valid point," said Brokenstar, unsheathing his claws suddenly, Ivypool took a step back, not believing what she was seeing. What did having a mate have to do with anything? Granted, she would never have expected it of Breezepelt, but…

"The little warrior is too close to you," Brokenstar went on. "She is becoming a weakness. It would not be wise for you to speak to her in the near future."

"Sunstrike is…not my mate," Breezepelt said sharply. "She's just a warrior that follows me around. Leave her out of this."

"You should do well not to involve her in the first place," said Brokenstar. "She's the daughter of some cross-Clan love affair, no doubt. Such beasts should not be permitted to have any place in your life."

"She's just another cat," said Breezepelt. "I'm fighting for WindClan, remember?" He puffed up to his full size, and Ivypool took a step back.

"Either you uninvolved her from your life," said Hawkfrost, interfering. "Or we do the work for you. Your little she-cat is a distraction, and she will not be a good addition to our ranks." Ivypool's throat went very dry, and her claws dug into the earth beneath her. Breezepelt took a step away from Brokenstar and Hawkfrost, his amber eyes full of betrayal.

Then Ivypool knew. Breezepelt was getting too close to someone that the cats here considered to be a distraction. If he didn't be careful, they would kill her…just for the risk of losing him as a warrior. And if they could kill Breezepelt's family, they could most certainly do the same to any of them.

That meant Doveheart.

"And what of you," Brokenstar asked through a sneer. "Inseparable from your littermate? I worry about your relationship becoming too…"

"Doveheart means nothing to me," Ivypool said in as cool a voice as she could find. She narrowed her eyes at Brokenstar, as if daring him to make a jab at her. Meanwhile, her heart hammered away in her chest. This was dangerous now. "All my life, she has overshadowed me. Not anymore."

"Ivypool knows where her loyalties lie," said Hawkfrost, giving a suggestive glance to Breezepelt. Ivypool met the WindClan cat's eyes and saw the fear that rested in her own heart. She was in too deep, but that was alright. She would just keep going. ThunderClan could still be saved.

"That's enough training for tonight," Brokenstar said, and even as he said the words, the world started to go fuzzy. Ivypool felt something nudging her awake. She shook her head…

And when she did, she sat up in her nest in the warrior's den, stirring Bumblestripe beside her. The tabby tom blinked open his eyes and fixed them on her, but Ivypool was too in shock to care. Then, Bumblestripe poked her with a paw to catch her attention.

"You're bleeding, Ivypool," he hissed, standing up. "How did that happen?"

Ivypool looked down in guilt, finding that her foreleg was coated in blood. She shook out her pelt, smiling to comfort Bumblestripe.

"Thorn," she mouthed, so as not to wake anyone else. But the tabby warrior was already marching out of the den, flicking his tail to indicate for her to follow. A little afraid of what was going to happen, but admitting that her injuries from last night did hurt, Ivypool followed him into the moonlight.

Once they emerged, Bumblestripe took a good look at the wound. Ivypool jerked her leg away, licking some of the blood away.

"It was probably a thorn in my bedding," she said quickly.

"That's a pretty bad injury for a thorn," he pointed out. Ivypool shrugged. "You should have Jayfeather check that out."

"There's really no need…" Ivypool began, starting to panic, but Bumblestripe nudged her forcefully in the direction of the medicine den, hitting one of her bruises. She winced, and he gasped.

"What have you been doing every day?" he asked crossly. "You look like you just fell into the hollow!"

"I'm fine," insisted Ivypool, but by that point, Bumblestripe had marched into the medicine den. Ivypool groaned aloud; the last place she wanted to be was Jayfeather's den. He would try to lecture her again about her decisions, and Ivypool didn't want to hear it.

Then she remembered the encounter with Hawkfrost and Brokenstar and Breezepelt, and Ivypool reconsidered Jayfeather's words. He would try to help. Well, she didn't want to endanger Doveheart or anyone else that she trusted…but maybe he could still help to shed some light on the situation. She had never really found out why he was so afraid of the Dark Forest, anyways.

Jayfeather's eyes were big and cloudy as always, but he recognized her right away, despite the overwhelming smell of sick cats. Ivypool nearly choked on the scent.

"Thank you, Bumblestripe, but you can go," Jayfeather said curtly. Bumblestripe glanced hopefully towards the back of the den, perhaps looking for his sister. Jayfeather didn't miss it. "Briarlight is asleep. You can visit her later." Nodding curtly, Bumblestripe departed from the den, leaving Ivypool with the medicine cat and his patients.

"So…" Ivypool said awkwardly. "Slept on a thorn, I think."

Giving her the most withering look a blind cat could give, Jayfeather dragged Ivypool to the back with his tail. He slipped around Briarlight's nest to the storage, leaving Ivypool to sit in awkward silence beside Briarlight. Left with nothing to do but watch her sleep, Ivypool turned to Briarlight. Her position was so horrific, with those hind legs straight back – she really was an abomination. Ivypool swallowed that automatic label, considering the compassion that Bumblestripe and the rest of Briarlight's family showed her. If she ever became horribly injured, would anyone still love her?

The fear of being forgotten was soon overshadowed by the realization hat she would be crippled, which would make her an abomination. That would be most unfair – it wasn't like this was Briarlight's fault! But she was still a target, just like…Jayfeather.

As she considered him, the medicine cat brushed towards her, beginning to clean her latest injuries with a wet piece of moss.

"First time you've actually come to me," Jayfeather grumbled.

"I didn't exactly have a choice," Ivypool said, automatically making her voice into a sharp growl. "Bumblestripe saw me bleeding and freaked out." She humphed to show what she thought of that, but Jayfeather didn't react.

"You should get used to that now that you're sleeping in a den with many more cats. They'll notice your scrapes and bruises."

Ivypool began to get desperate. For the first time ever, she wanted to hear one of Jayfeather's lectures. There had to be a reason behind his blind fear of the Dark Forest and of Hawkfrost's lessons, right?

"I'm training to better myself and the Clan," Ivypool said stubbornly.

"I'm very glad you believe that," Jayfeather said. "I hope you will realize that what you're doing is the opposite."

Help me understand, Jayfeather! Ivypool gave him a withering look that he couldn't see, but Jayfeather didn't miss the sentiment.

"Tigerstar wants only a few things, and he has always wanted only a few things," Jayfeather said through a mouthful of leaves. "First, revenge on ThunderClan for accepting Firestar and not letting him become leader. Second, revenge on StarClan for locking him up in that horrid Place of No Stars. Third, control over the Clans themselves." He glared up at Ivypool now, and even without sight, he could see right through her. "Fourth and most dangerous, immortality and a return to the living world. And you're giving him that."

The new information spun around in Ivypool's head, making her dizzy. So Tigerstar was looking to hurt both ThunderClan and StarClan. That made too much sense, especially given his arguments that StarClan supported the abominations, that ThunderClan was made of abominations…that ThunderClan needed to be cleansed. Immortality…control…how would he achieve those things? Ivypool shuddered internally, remembering Tigerstar's other sentiment: coming into this world. Jayfeather was warning her. And Jayfeather was right. She was in danger – they all were in danger!

We are your family now. You're one of us, and now that you are, you cannot back out…not for anyone. Hawkfrost's words, and as much of a warning as Jayfeather's pleas. Ivypool was in danger from all directions, and now that Hawkfrost had a hold in her head, and knew what she cared about…

Ivypool recoiled from Jayfeather, making her decision. He looked nearly surprised; he probably thought that he was actually getting through to her.

"You're wrong," she forced herself to say. "You know nothing. You're living in the fantasies of a kit! And I'm stronger than you." Ivypool saw Jayfeather's mask of anger descend over his face, and she shook the rest of his leaves away from her. "I know what I'm doing. With Hawkfrost's help…the Clans can be rebuilt."

"Fine," said Jayfeather. "You go on believing that. I will wait."

You will wait for a long time, Jayfeather, Ivypool thought sadly. She was too far into the plans of the Dark Forest to back out now. And she had to protect ThunderClan and her family…even if that meant giving herself up as sacrifice.

Elsi: This was a really awkward transition for me to write, and I'm not sure I got the whole shift of loyalty thing right. Between this chapter and the last Ivypool chapter, I hope I did it justice. I probably didn't do quite good enough of a job, but it probably serves. Besides, Ivypool is never exactly clear on what side she's really on in my mind. Well, she's not really sure what her next steps should be. I should phrase it that way.

Elsi: In other news...I do go back to camp tomorrow, which might stop me from going on an Elemental rampage. Something always does. So, this is probably the end of my rampage. I would like it, however, if my rampage could be rewarded. Would you guys mind telling me what you think of the last rotation of chapters by dropping me a review? That would be awesome! Thanks, guys!