Swiftpaw took the place of Brightpaw in this AU, making him Thornpaw's brother! Frostfur had Thornpaw, Swiftpaw, Cinderpelt, and Brackenfur in this series. Speckletail is the mother of Brightpaw and Snowkit! I hope that helps clear it up a little!

Chapter 19

"Ravenpaw!" Tinyclaw purred. He pressed his muzzle into the sleek black tom's flanks.

"Tinyclaw," Ravenpaw greeted warmly. He returned the nuzzle, lingering with a purr. "It's so good to see you – and… and this can't be Sandpaw, can it? Tinyclaw, she's bigger than you!"

Tinyclaw flattened his ears. "That's not really an accomplishment," he reminded Ravenpaw curtly. Ravenpaw's whiskers twitched in amusement.

"It's Sandstorm now," Sandstorm corrected gently.

"Oh," Ravenpaw mewed. "I see – then Dustpaw is…?"

"Dustpelt," Sandstorm answered.

Ravenpaw's ear flicked. Tinyclaw could understand his mixed feelings – Ravenpaw and Dustpelt were littermates, but the two never got along and in fact, Dustpelt and Sandstorm often jeered and teased Ravenpaw. The fact that Dustpelt didn't seem too affected by Ravenpaw leaving was enough to show that they didn't have a good relationship. Dustpelt might feel differently now that Cinderpelt seems to be mellowing him out… Tinyclaw guessed.

"How is he?" Ravenpaw wondered.

"He's fine," Sandstorm replied. "He has his own apprentice now – it keeps him rather busy." Sandstorm peered at Ravenpaw with those green eyes. "He's changed, Ravenpaw. Just a little – but he's not the same Dustpelt anymore."

Ravenpaw swallowed, nodding. "I'm not the same Ravenpaw, either," the black tom said quietly. He cleared his throat, eyes flickering over to Swiftpaw. "Is this your apprentice, then?"

Tinyclaw tried to hide his wince. Sandstorm's reply made his stomach twist. "No," she said tonelessly. "This is Swiftpaw – he's Whitestorm's apprentice. I don't have an apprentice yet."

Silence hovered over them. A warm breeze ruffled Tinyclaw's pelt, and suddenly he realized that they were out in the open, exposed. His eyes darted about, scanning the undergrowth for any sign of Bluefur and her rogues. "What are you doing here, Ravenpaw?" Tinyclaw asked urgently.

Ravenpaw turned away from studying Sandstorm to tilt his head and meow, "I was looking for you, Tinyclaw."

"For me?" Tinyclaw wondered, frowning. "Why?" Whatever it was, it had to be important to bring Ravenpaw back to the forest – the young cat had fled ThunderClan as an apprentice to escape Bluefur. Being the Clan leader's apprentice didn't save him from being one of her targets – especially when he had witnessed Bluefur murdering Redtail. Tinyclaw and Graystripe had taken him to the edge of Clan territory, and Ravenpaw now lived in an old Twoleg barn with a ratter named Barley.

"A cat has come to live at the edge of my territory," Ravenpaw explained. When Tinyclaw looked confused, Ravenpaw went on: "I came across her while I was hunting. She was frightened and lost, and she smelled of ThunderClan."

Tinyclaw's heart almost stopped. Could it be…?

"ThunderClan?" Sandstorm echoed.

Ravenpaw nodded. "I asked her if she came from over the uplands, but she didn't seem to have any idea where she was. I took her back to her nest; she said she was living there."

Sandstorm spared Tinyclaw a glance before asking, "So, she was a kittypet. Are you sure you smelled ThunderClan on her?"

Tinyclaw swallowed, watching Ravenpaw. Please, StarClan, he prayed. Let it be Cloudpaw…

"I wouldn't forget the scent of the place I was born," Ravenpaw scoffed. "She didn't seem like the usual sort of kittypet, either – I think she was hoping I'd take her somewhere else. She didn't seem to like being with her Twolegs."

Ravenpaw looked at the patrol with a frown. "I couldn't get her scent out of my mind. When I tried to speak with her again, she was shut in – I haven't been able to talk to her since. I had to come and see what was going on."

Tinyclaw allowed himself to ask, "What color was she?"

His heart leaped into his throat as Ravenpaw answered, "Ginger and white, with a big, plumy white tail."

"That's Cloudpaw!" Swiftpaw decided immediately. "That has to be her!"

"Then you know her?" Ravenpaw guessed, amber eyes wide. "I was right?"

Tinyclaw barely heard Ravenpaw's words, or Swiftpaw's squeak of delight. Cloudpaw was safe, and closer than he thought! StarClan, thank you! Thank you! He didn't think he could thank them enough. He got to his paws and put himself right before Ravenpaw, eye to eye.

"Was she OK? What did she say?" Tinyclaw wondered. "Was she hurt?"

Ravenpaw's eyes seemed to boggle at the questions. "W-Well, she was real lost," he reminded Tinyclaw. "I couldn't get much out of her, she was so disoriented."

"Of course," Tinyclaw decided, nodding. He looked back to Swiftpaw and Sandstorm. "She was taken in a Twoleg monster, and she's never seen Highstones. She has no idea how close she is to home!"

"That would explain why she was so upset," Ravenpaw agreed. "She was -"

"Upset?" Tinyclaw repeated. "Was she hurt?"

"No, no!" Ravenpaw offered. "She just seemed really miserable. I thought it'd cheer her up to go back to her Twolegs, but that seemed to make things worse. I would have apologized if I could have spoken to her again – that's why I came here, to figure out what's going on."

Tinyclaw swallowed, looking down at his paws. I had hoped she was happy where she went, he thought. But… she's not. She's scared, and confused, and hurt and… Oh, StarClan…

"Did I… do the right thing?" Ravenpaw wondered, eyes flickering over the three cats. "Has this Cloudpaw been banished from the Clan?"

"No," Tinyclaw replied. "She was my apprentice – she was taken from the forest by Twolegs. She's my niece and I… I was beginning to think I'd never see her again."

Sandstorm turned her head to him, green eyes flashing. "What makes you think you are going to see her again, Tinyclaw?" she wondered. "She's living beyond our territory in a Twoleg nest."

"I'm going to go and get her!" Tinyclaw declared.

"Go and get her? Why?"

"You heard Ravenpaw, she's miserable!"

"Are you sure she wants rescuing?"

"Wouldn't you?"

"I wouldn't need rescuing!" Sandstorm hissed. "I wouldn't have been taking Twoleg food in the first place!"

Ravenpaw grunted in surprise – but he didn't dare interject.

"It would be good to have her back," Swiftpaw offered quietly. "We all miss her a lot." Tinyclaw hardly heard him – he was staring at Sandstorm, his tail lashing.

"You think Cloudpaw deserves to be there, all alone and unhappy?" Tinyclaw spat, his neck fur bristling. "Just because she made a stupid mistake?"

Sandstorm snorted. "That's not what I'm saying!" she growled back. "You don't even know for sure whether she wants to come back!"

"Ravenpaw says she's miserable!" Tinyclaw repeated. Yet a doubt flickered through him. What if Cloudpaw was just getting used to things?

"Ravenpaw only spoke to her once," Sandstorm reminded Tinyclaw curtly. She looked at Ravenpaw. "Did she look upset when you saw her through the window?"

Ravenpaw's amber eyes flickered between Tinyclaw and Sandstorm, looking conflicted. Finally, he admitted, "It was hard to tell – she was eating."

Sandstorm's green gaze whipped back to Tinyclaw. "You see?" she said, "Cloudpaw has a home, and she has food. Do you really think she needs rescuing? What about the Clan? We need you here, not going off to rescue someone who probably doesn't need it. I say leave her there."

Tinyclaw stared at Sandstorm, his heart clenching. But she had planted her paws, her eyes glittering with determination. She was right, and she knew it. With the threat of Bluefur in the forest he couldn't risk leaving the Clan – especially not for the sake of a cat who had proven herself to be a lazy, arrogant apprentice.

And yet this opportunity hadn't come out of the blue for nothing. Tinyclaw's paws twitched. His heart told him he had to try – without Runningwind and Thornpaw, the Clan needed warriors, and Tinyclaw still believed deep down that Cloudpaw could make an amazing warrior.

"You can stay, then," he told her. "I have to go."

"And what if you do manage to bring her back?" Sandstorm wondered, her tail bristling. "Will she be safe here?"

Tinyclaw felt a cold shiver run down his spine. Would he be bringing Cloudpaw back just so she could be another victim for Bluefur to target? And yet, deep down, Tinyclaw had already decided. "I'll be back by sunhigh tomorrow," he decided firmly. "Tell Whitestorm and Oakheart where I've gone – they'll have the camp until I return."

"You're going alone?" Sandstorm's ears pinned.

"I need Ravenpaw to show me where she is," Tinyclaw told her. "I can't expect him to hang around in the forest while Bluefur is on the loose."

Ravenpaw's entire being fluffed up with fear, his eyes striking wide. "B-Bluefur? On the loose?"

Sandstorm shot Tinyclaw a look.

"I'll explain as we go," Tinyclaw promised Ravenpaw. "The sooner we get moving, the better."

Sandstorm squared her shoulders, staring Tinyclaw in the eye. "You're not going without me, Tinyclaw," she declared. "It's a mouse-brained journey but you'll need all the help you can get against Twolegs or Bluefur or WindClan patrols – whichever we bungle into first."

Despite her words, Tinyclaw felt a surge of joy like warm sunlight on his pelt on a cold day. He blinked at her with more than gratitude, making her whiskers twitch. Tinyclaw turned to Swiftpaw and ordered, "Then you carry the message back to camp. Tell Whitestorm and Oakheart first – they know who Ravenpaw is."

Swiftpaw's eyes flashed with alarm – but he nodded. "O-Of course."

"Be careful, and go straight home," Tinyclaw added. Guilt weighed at his paws. Swiftpaw was a responsible cat but sending him alone in the woods after Runningwind and Thornpaw were killed not long ago? That fear of Bluefur lurking was in every cat's mind.

"I'll take care," Swiftpaw meowed. "Tell Cloudpaw that we're waiting for her and that we miss her and love her a lot." His eyes flashed with anxiety – but he slipped away and melted into the undergrowth.

Tinyclaw remembered his words, and pushed away his anxieties about Swiftpaw's journey home. Sandstorm and Ravenpaw fell into step behind him and Tinyclaw was reminded of all the adventures he'd taken with Ravenpaw and Graystripe, forays to the edge of the warrior code for the sake of ThunderClan. But as he led them through the woods the heat bore down on him, and Tinyclaw could not help but worry that he was leading them in a fruitless effort.

The three cats raced through Fourtrees and climbed up the slope to the uplands, wind blasting at their fur. They would follow the same route Tinyclaw and Tigerstar would have taken – straight across the uplands to the Twoleg farm that lay between Clan territories and Highstones. The air on the moors was unnaturally still, unable to carry their scents to WindClan patrols. The grass beneath Tinyclaw's paws was crackling dry, the heather in the distance nothing but sticks.

He chose a path that kept them as far from the WindClan camp as possible – it was easy to stumble into if one didn't know where it was. The ground here was usually peaty and wet, but now it was a dry, cracked mud, with all growth shriveled and brown.

"So what's happened with Bluefur?" Ravenpaw wondered in the silence, keeping at his pace.

Tinyclaw winced. He had looked forward to telling Ravenpaw that Bluefur had been exposed, that she and her plotting crony Darkstripe were driven from the camp but it seemed like there was only darkness to the news. Tinyclaw stumbled over the story of Runnginwind and Thornpaw's deaths with a heavy heart.

Ravenpaw squeaked in despair, stopping dead in his tracks. "She… She killed the both of them?"

Tinyclaw stopped, too, with Sandstorm halting a pace ahead to look back with sympathy. Tinyclaw swallowed and nodded heavily. "She leads a band of rogues now, and she's sworn to kill us all to get what she wants."

"But who would follow her?"

"Some of them are Brokentail's old friends, who ran with him in ShadowClan," Tinyclaw explained. He forced himself to revisit the battle, trying to think of the other cats he'd not recognized. "The others, I'm not sure. I don't know where they came from."

"So she's more powerful than ever," Ravenpaw decided darkly.

"No!" Tinyclaw insisted. "She's an outcast now – an exile! She has no Clan and no code, and she murders for sport. StarClan must oppose her! Without the support of the Clan and the warrior code at her back, there's no way she can defeat ThunderClan!" Tinyclaw breathed in sharply. He had spoken with a conviction he had not known he had. He felt Sandstorm's eyes on him.

"I hope you're right," Ravenpaw meowed quietly.

Me, too, Tinyclaw thought. He turned away and squinted his eyes against the sun as he resumed walking.

Sandstorm fell in step behind him. "Of course he's right!" she said assuredly.

Ravenpaw followed, tail low. "I'm just glad I'm out of it all," he decided. "I couldn't handle it."

"Don't you miss Clan life?" Sandstorm wondered.

"In the beginning," Ravenpaw admitted. "But now I have a new home, and I'm happy there. I've got Barley for company if I want it, and that's just fine with me. I'd take Barley any time over Bluefur or any cat shouting orders at me all day."

Sandstorm's tone chipped. "How do you know she won't come looking for you?"

Ravenpaw was silent.

Tinyclaw looked over his shoulder at them. "Bluefur may know you're alive, but she has no idea where you are," he reasoned. He gave Sandstorm a warning look. "Come on; let's get out of WindClan territory."

He increased the pace until they were streaking through the heather too fast to speak. He pointedly avoided the swath of gorse where he and Tigerstar had met Mudclaw's patrol, instead leading them in a large circle around the moor. The barren hillside was open to the sun, and Tinyclaw's black pelt felt as if it had caught fire by the time they reached the slope that led down to the Twoleg's territory. Twoleg nests and swaths of colored farmland dotted the lowland hills beyond.

"WindClan must be keeping out of the heat in their camp," Tinyclaw puffed, his pelt burning. "Let's hope we're just as lucky in the rest of this trip."

He led them down the slope until they reached a small copse of dried up trees. They still provided shade, and Tinyclaw welcomed the woodland smells over the heather and peat. High above a buzzard called, and Twoleg monsters roared in the distance. His legs ached and begged for rest – but Cloudpaw was forward, and forward is where he went.

Sandstorm's whiskers twitched as she looked about the area. Tinyclaw recalled that she had only been this far out of Clan territory only once, on an apprentice's mandatory trip to Highstones. Tinyclaw, on the other hand, had been out this way multiple times – both with orders and without. But it was Ravenpaw who was most at home in these woods, and he took the lead with a confident stride.

"We can't hang about here all day," Ravenpaw told them. "Twolegs like walking their dogs at about this time of day, and we don't want to run into them."

Tinyclaw nodded in agreement, following Ravenpaw as the black tom led them out of the copse and back into the sunshine.

Ravenpaw pushed through a hedgerow on the other side. Tinyclaw let Sandstorm through first, and beyond was a red dirt track that tickled Tinyclaw's memory. He and Graystripe and Oakheart had crossed this track on their way to bring WindClan home. Ravenpaw looked both ways before darting to the other side.

Sandstorm glanced at Tinyclaw, who nodded at her. She shot across, tail streaming behind her. Tinyclaw followed at a swift pace.

The barley ahead rose tall and brown. Instead of running around it, Ravenpaw cut straight through, weaving confidently through the crackling stems. Sandstorm and Tinyclaw hurried after him, stems brushing against their sides as they strove to keep Ravenpaw's white-tipped tail in sight. Tinyclaw was more than disoriented – there was nothing all around but golden barley, and the sky was cloudless and blue above. His heart thudded in his ears; he'd never be able to get out of here without help – he was more than grateful when the barley abruptly ended, and the cats were out in the grass again.

Tinyclaw looked around. They were making good time – the uplands were far behind, and Twoleg nests were ahead. Tinyclaw's nose twitched, and he glanced at Ravenpaw. "Your marker?" he guessed.

Ravenpaw nodded. "This is where my territory begins," he meowed, gesturing with his tail at the land ahead. There were hills and more fields of barley and strange green plants. Ditches and trees, too. Plenty of land for one cat to roam.

"Then Cloudpaw is near?" Sandstorm guessed.

Ravenpaw nodded. He flicked his tail towards one of the hills. "She's over there," he said, "just down that slope. There's a small Twoleg nest."

Tinyclaw opened his jaws to scent the air, curious – and his breath caught. The fur along his spine tingled, bristling, as an offensive odor caught against his scent glands. What was that?

Ravenpaw's nose twitched, and his tail flicked worriedly. His eyes widened in alarm. "Dogs!" he hissed.