Chapter 16

Tinyclaw felt rooted to the Thunderpath. There stood Bluefur, his enemy, his former mentor, and a danger to all who called themselves ThunderClan. There was no pretense or pretend here – she was an exile, a cot ordered to be killed on sight. And she had just killed two more ThunderClan cats.

"Tell me, Tinyclaw," she called from the other side of the Thunderpath. The sunset caused dark shadows to bleed out from the trees like dark tabby stripes. "Is chasing hapless cats to their deaths the best you can do for ThunderClan?"

Tinyclaw's snarl of rage was lost in the roar of another monster. Tinyclaw sprang at Bluefur, claws extended, catching her on the shoulder as she tried to dodge. Tinyclaw landed on his paws and whirled around, lashing out again and clipping her chest fur.

Bluefur was stunned by the sudden attack – Tinyclaw sprang again, bowling her down and getting a good grip on the blue-gray she-cat. He could feel every one of her ribs beneath her pelt. Exile had clearly not done her much good – but it certainly had not diminished her strength. Soon enough Bluefur had Tinyclaw driven against the ground, fighting for breath.

Tinyclaw yowled in pain as Bluefur's claws seemed to dig right into his bones. Bluefur leaned down, her blue eyes blazing as she hissed: "You mark me, Tinyclaw – I will kill you; but not after I have killed every one of your warriors!"

Fear roiled in Tinyclaw's belly, a cold rush despite the heat of the evening. Bluefur meant every word – Tinyclaw had no reason to doubt her, not with both Runningwind and Thornpaw dead not far from the Thunderpath. The fear made him suddenly aware of his surroundings – strange scents flooded the area, indicating more cats. But whom? There were no scents Tinyclaw recognized.

He saw a flash of dark ginger – he'd seen that she-cat before. She was one of Brokentail's rogues, driven away with her monstrous leader. Had Bluefur taken command of Brokentail's former forces? And beyond that… had Littlecloud and Whitethroat joined Bluefur instead of returning to their disease-ridden Clan?

Tinyclaw shook the thoughts away – there was no time for this. He forced his hind paws into Bluefur's soft belly fur, pushing her off of him. Bluefur must have underestimated Tinyclaw's growing strength thanks to practice – she all but slithered off of him, growling. Tinyclaw pushed himself to his paws just as Whitestorm and Mousefur broke through the undergrowth to meet Bluefur's allies in battle.

Darkstripe? Tinyclaw wondered. Where is he? He hadn't long to pick out the cats individually – Bluefur had grasped his hindquarters between her powerful paws and dragged him back to the ground. Tinyclaw groaned as he hit the dirt, but slashed with his claws against the dry ground. He did not hit Bluefur – but he sprayed up dust that fluttered into her vision. Bluefur reeled back, hissing.

Using the opportunity, Tinyclaw lunged through the dust, bowling her over again. Together they rolled, clawing and biting and scratching one another towards the Thunderpath. If Bluefur had any more threats or one-liners, Tinyclaw was keeping her focused on the fight instead.

Finally Bluefur summoned a strength Tinyclaw wasn't sure she had to push him off of her. Tinyclaw landed in the dirt, and before he could react a dark shadow folded over him – Bluefur had reared onto her hind legs, her claws and teeth bared for a final blow. Tinyclaw's limbs froze, unable to move.

Yet they did not seem to have to – just as Bluefur was about to crash down upon him, a shape burst from the undergrowth and slammed into Bluefur crosswise, bundling her away. A thickset, large, gray shape…

Graystripe!

Tinyclaw scrambled to his paws. Graystripe! With his friend's arrival came a full patrol of RiverClan warriors – Leopardfur, Brambleclaw, Blackclaw… slowly but surely the outnumbered ThunderClan cats were joined by their allies, and the rogues began to back off, shocked at the sudden burst of reinforcements.

Tinyclaw leaped, lunging at Bluefur. She and Graystripe were wrestling, scoring claws down each other's pelts. Tinyclaw joined in, pressing his side against Graystripe's as the two raised their forepaws and created a wall of claws that drove Bluefur into a clump of thorns.

Bluefur hissed, trapped – but all around her, her rogues were fleeing into across the Thunderpath and into the lands beyond. She glared at Graystripe and Tinyclaw, blue eyes furious flames.

"This isn't over," she hissed.

"You aren't going -"

Graystripe's proclamation was cut off as Bluefur swept her paw across the dirt. Dust sprang up, causing Tinyclaw and Graystripe to shut their eyes lest they be exposed. When the dust settled, Tinyclaw opened his eye a crack – Bluefur was gone.

"What a snake!" Graystripe coughed.

"It doesn't matter now," Tinyclaw grumbled. His claws itched to chase after her – but this was not the time. There was too much that mattered right now. "Graystripe… how did you…?"

"How did we know?" Graystripe grunted. "We heard you yowling from Fourtrees."

"He insisted on coming," Brambleclaw commented, his amber eyes flashing. Tinyclaw had to stop himself from staring so intently at Tigerstar's son, who was all but a copy of his father. Those intense eyes flickered over Tinyclaw. "Who knows what would have happened if we hadn't been here?"

Tinyclaw shook his head. He didn't want to think about it. Beyond, Leopardfur was helping Mousefur to her paws, and Blackclaw was pacing around Whitestorm. Both ThunderClan warriors were wounded, but they would make it back to camp just fine.

Once Mousefur was to her paws, Leopardfur threw an accusing glare at Tinyclaw. "That was Bluefur," she hissed. "Why was she fighting you?"

Tinyclaw swallowed. "That is none of RiverClan's business," he growled.

Leopardfur's neck fur bristled. "It is when those rogues could be a threat to RiverClan!" the deputy spat. She glared at Graystripe. "What do you know of this?"

Graystripe narrowed his eyes. "It's ThunderClan's business," he grunted. "I'm a RiverClan cat now."

Leopardfur opened her jaws, but Brambleclaw grunted, "Oh, leave it, Leopardfur. This was a chance encounter. I doubt those rogues want anything to do with us."

If Leopardfur cared, she didn't show it. She turned about quickly with a lash of her spotted tail. "Let's be off, then," she growled. Brambleclaw and Blackclaw trailed after her – but Graystripe threw Tinyclaw an apologetic look before joining the patrol.

When the RiverClan cats were gone, Tinyclaw realized that Whitestorm and Mousefur were staring expectantly at him. Tinyclaw pushed away thoughts of how it would be so much easier if Graystripe were still ThunderClan. No time for that now. "Go and see Runningwind and Thornpaw," he said somberly. "See if they're really…"

Whitestorm and Mousefur exchanged a glance. Mousefur looked particularly torn, her eyes welling with sadness. Both her brother and her apprentice. Great StarClan, Bluefur was a monster.

No matter what I do, sometimes it is not enough.

"I'll join your shortly," Tinyclaw offered. He looked out at the Thunderpath. "There's something I need to do first."