Tigerstar eyed the stone walls. He nodded, turning back to the warriors. "This one will work," He meowed. "The cave up at the top is mine." Leopardstar's ears went back.

"Tigerstar," She began. He turned to face her, interrupting.

"Don't worry you'll get a suitable den, too," he assured.

"I don't care about the dens," She continued. "Why do you want the leader's camp here? This is not the center of our territory." Tigerstar flicked his tail.

"We can't really be in the center, considering the water. This will become close enough." Mothwing gave him a curious look. What did that mean?

"There's that island," She put in. There was an island near where they had first arrived. A camp for the RiverClan cats had been set up there. Tigerstar curled his lip back.

"I am not swimming to my camp. Anyway, this will be close to the center eventually." He looked to Mudclaw, "Your cats will stay here until we have claimed the uplands. Make sure everyone is doing as they're supposed to." The tabby warrior dipped his head.

"Yes, Tigerstar." He stepped away as the leader signaled him to. It was the day after they had broken away from the outsiders. Camps had been formed in this territory. This camp was largely inhabited by the WindClan warriors now.

"I do hope this plan to take the hills isn't soon," Leopardstar eyed her fellow leader. "Our warriors need to heal." Tigerstar glanced at the tabby she-cat.

"The longer we leave Bramblepaw there, the more corrupted he is becoming," His tail flicked. "The longer we delay this, the stronger our enemy becomes."

"We outnumber them," Leopardstar reminded him. "Rusty is smart enough to know that attacking us would be fruitless." Tigerstar scoffed.

"You underestimate the little rat," He meowed. "He always finds a way to get under paw. Even back in ThunderClan, he was always sticking his nose into business that did not concern him – and Bluestar let him!" Leopardstar rolled her eyes as Tigerstar looked to Mothwing, "You know, he used to be charming. Blinding it how I did, was one of the best things I ever did. Ruining that pretty face helped cats see it for what it was."

"I am going to go check in with Tawnyclaw," Leopardstar meowed as she turned away. While Hawktalon was with the ThunderClan cats, Tawnyclaw was not in charge of ShadowClan yet. She would remain in the leader's camp. Tigerstar was still looking at Mothwing.

"Come. I have something to show you," he said. Mothwing rose to follow. What could he possibly have?

They headed across camp, to where the cliff rose high. Cats moved quickly out of their way before they came to a small cave, close to a path up to where Tigerstar's den would be.

"You won't need to be in the nursery." Surprise jolted through Mothwing. "You will have your own den – no need to jostle around with the other queens and kits!"

"Oh." She had yet to really talk to the queens about any of this, she had been looking forward to doing so. Littlecloud and Runningnose certainly did not know what it was like outside of a medical perspective.

Tigerstar was looking at her with bright, expectant eyes. "Thank you," She continued quickly. The leader nodded to the den.

"Go on."

She turned, heading into the cave. It was big enough for two or three full-grown cats. There was moss with the fresh scent of the apprentices on it. He must have ordered this to be made right away, Mothwing realized.

She almost jumped as something touched her back. Tigerstar had followed her in. The leader rested his head on her lower back. "It's away from the other dens so you won't be disturbed," His voice was strangely gentle. "Plus, I'll be right up top."

Mothwing forced herself to turn, licking her father's shoulder as she meowed, "Thank you."

She heard him breathe deeply, taking in her scent. A purr had entered his voice.

"Anything you need."

Leafpaw stretched, glancing back at her mentor. Barkface had sat back on his haunches, looking the new medicine cat den over.

"Our set up will do for now," He muttered. "Just need to find everything." Leafpaw nodded, sitting back down. They had been in camp since the night prior, the medicine cats had spent all day getting their den set up. Barkface looked to Feathertail, "Thank you for your help."

"You're welcome," Feathertail rose to her paws. "Do you want me to get anything to eat?" Barkface shook his head.

"We can get it ourselves – although, when you see Brambleheart, could you send him our way?" He asked. Feathertail gave him a puzzled look.

"Is he alright?"

"He's fine," Barkface assured. "I just would like to speak to him." Feathertail nodded and the medicine cat continued, "Will we be expecting you here later?" Feathertail stiffened.

"I was planning on sleeping with the warriors, actually." Her words came out slow. "I'll send Brambleheart this way." Barkface nodded.

"Of course. If you need anything to help you sleep, feel free to."

"Thank you."

As she left, Leafpaw looked at the tom. "Why do you want Brambleheart?"

"I don't believe he's gained much weight since he left TigerClan. As well, his wounds are still healing. I know every warrior needs to contribute their part but those needs to be his focus right now." Leafpaw nodded.

"Barkface, Leafpaw." Both turned as Tornear poked his head in. "Firestar wants to talk to us – Morningflower, too." Leafpaw was puzzled. Why Morningflower?

"Is it urgent?" Barkface asked. "We were expecting another patient." Tornear shrugged.

"All I know is he wants to talk now."

"I could check in with Brambleheart," Leafpaw looked at her mentor. "You could get Morningflower and I'll be over in a second." She had yet to talk to the warrior about Mothwing. This might be her chance. Barkface slowly nodded.

"That works." The medicine cat rose to his paws, heading toward the den's entrance. He disappeared after Tornear.

It did not take long for Brambleheart to appear.

"Hi, Leafpaw." She looked up as he entered. "I was sent this way?"

"Yes," She rose to her paws. "We just wanted to give you a once over – see how you're recovering." The warrior nodded, settling where he was directed. "How was working on camp today?" Leafpaw asked as she began to look him over.

"I did it," Brambleheart shrugged. "Spent most of the day working on the walls with Whitetail and Rockfall." Leafpaw nodded, pushing aside the ragged fur on his flank. The claw marks were still visible.

"Don't push yourself." The tom looked at her. Leafpaw's paw was on his shoulder now. Barkface was right, he had not gained much weight, not to mention muscle. "You're not as strong as you used to be – focus on gaining weight and healing. Strength will come after." A strange look came across Brambleheart's face.

"I'll eat more fish," He answered.

"And rest when you need to?"

"Yes, Leafpaw." She mewed her approval.

"Do you feel any different since we stopped walking?" Brambleheart had rested his head down.

"We're not walking all day. So, I suppose so."

"You're still tired?" He had been more tired than before, since rejoining the Clan.

"The whole Clan has got to be – TigerClan, too." His tail was beginning to twitch. "They're in worse shape than we are." Leafpaw nodded.

"Mothwing kept being around the medicine cats," She commented. "it's awful to see a queen go through that." The warrior meowed his agreement. Leafpaw paused as she finished looking the tom over. "What do you think of her?"

Leafpaw was not going to tell Brambleheart everything that had happened. He would certainly be against this agreement, regardless of what Leafpaw's decision wound up being.

"Mothwing's cool," His answer was low. Amber eyes looked at the she-cat. "So's Hawktalon. I imagine you had to have spoken to her, right?" Leafpaw nodded.

"A few times."

"I think she wants to be a medicine cat," Leafpaw's ears pricked at his remark. "I got an infection earlier on – she helped me, despite Tigerstar's orders not to." He shifted. "I think…that was the happiest I'd seen her. It's a shame, really, that she can't be one. I don't believe she wanted kits either."

"Why do you think that?" Leafpaw was surprised. Where did he get that idea from?

"First time we talked, she said that it was what Tigerstar had wanted." He revealed, "I don't think she had a choice in it – she never seemed pleased when it was mentioned." The fur on Leafpaw's back was rising.

She forced it down, "Why did she stay?" They had all seen Sasha. Brambleheart was silent for a moment.

"I asked Leopardstar once why she let him walk all over her," His voice was low. "And…it's not that she's fine with how TigerClan is, it's that she stuck. I don't believe most of the warriors truly believe in Tigerstar's words. It's that if they tried anything, cats would die. They think their Clans would. They're stuck, too. She is."

He rose to his paws, his tone changed as he muttered, "I had times where I could have run or killed him and I didn't." Something about him had shifted entirely during this talk. He looked shaken. "Can I go?"

"Are you alright?" Brambleheart nodded.

"I'm just going to head to sleep."

"Eat more and come by here in a few days, okay?" The warrior waved his tail in acknowledgment as he left the stony den behind.

Leafpaw turned, licking down her fur as she tried to settle herself before heading out herself. She took a deep breath when she left the den and headed quickly to the Tallrock.

The sun had just disappeared and the moon had begun to rise. Talking died down as she entered the den. Leafpaw settled next to her mentor. Firestar blinked at her from where he sat in his nest. Leafpaw was surprised to see Sandstorm laying at his side.

"Now that we're all here, let us discuss the matter in front of us," Firestar began. "I want to start tunneling again."

Meows rose at the leader's announcement. Leafpaw's ears pricked, surprised. That explained Morningflower's presence here. "Why?" Tornear asked. "Is that truly what we should be putting our energy toward right now?"

"Tunnels are the reason WindClan survived Brokenstar and dogs before. The only reason we got trapped by Tigerstar at Highstones was that we did not have these tunnels." The leader leaned forward, "I want it out of the old badger sett. I will not have our Clan be trapped again."

"We've been talking on this," Sandstorm spoke up. "I'm willing to do it – show Whitepaw how to, too. It's Greenleaf and we are in a better place physically than TigerClan even if they do outnumber us. This could be a good precautionary to what is to come."

"This is a bit before my time," Morningflower began. The elder looked at Barkface. "Outside of that one tunnel we maintained following Brokenstar, it died off originally when Tallstar and Barkface were apprentices." Shock jerked through Leafpaw as she looked at her mentor. That was right, Barkface was older than Morningflower. Barkface nodded.

"Tallstar was the tunneler, not either of us."

"But you know the stories," Firestar replied. "And this Clan has maintained a tunnel before." He shifted in his nest, "You both have some knowledge of how this works. Right now, I want one tunnel out of camp to the back of the territory with the occasional outlet. We can continue building as needed."

"What would our end goal be?" Tornear asked. Firestar looked at his deputy.

"How it was before," He responded. "We can use them to defend our territory and hunt." He looked at the older cats. "As you've said, tunneling was abandoned for seasons. I don't believe Tigerstar's warriors would expect this of us."

"How will we choose who will be tunnelers?" Barkface asked.

"I think five warriors is enough to complete this first project," Firestar looked to his mate, "Sandstorm's already volunteered herself and Whitepaw. I see no reason why we don't open this project up to the rest of the Clan. Once we've got five warriors, everyone else can continue above ground."

"And how are we going to settle their fears?" Tornear's tail twitched as he regarded their leader. "We're building an escape tunnel."

"We are bringing back a WindClan tradition," Firestar corrected. "Many of our warriors only knew the gorge. This is a way to reconnect with the old territories – with the WindClan of before!" He looked at Morningflower, "Elder's tales are certainly a way to get kits and apprentices excited about something." Morningflower dipped her head in acknowledgment and Firestar continued, "Warriors will follow suit. They want to serve their Clan just as well." Meows of agreement rose.

Leafpaw glanced at the others, her tail twitching. This was somewhat exciting. She had heard some tunneling stories before, but she had certainly never thought she would see it.

"I will hold a meeting tomorrow evening to further discuss this with the Clan." Firestar looked at Tornear, "We will go out and see where we should place these outlets in the morning." The deputy dipped his head and Firestar continued, "No one is to talk to anyone outside of this den about this before the meeting tomorrow. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Firestar." Voices rose.

Leafpaw followed Barkface and Tornear out as the meeting ended. She was surprised as the deputy followed them toward the medicine den. "I'm not against this idea," Tornear spoke quietly to Barkface. "But I am concerned this is built off of…fear for him."

"An escape tunnel is not overly fearful," Barkface responded. "Not in the situation we're in. He has a point – it would prevent us from getting under siege again."

"This is going to scare warriors and it's only the beginning." Tornear's tail twitched. "How long until we soak our borders with markers?" Barkface regarded the deputy.

"It won't come to that," the medicine cat said quietly.

"Crowpaw!"

The apprentice scrambled to his feet at the call. Mudclaw was looking at the young tom. "We're going hunting." Crowpaw nodded, heading over to his mentor. He could not help but spare a glance toward Tawnyclaw.

The warrior stood, watching a few cats build part of the wall. She did not pay him any heed. Crowpaw turned back, taking a breath. Tigerstar had not ordered anything. He shouldn't have.

He was surprised to see that Ashfoot was with them. He had not spoken with his mother recently. Crowpaw stayed back as they moved through the fern tunnel out of camp.

Crowpaw was not sure which direction they were heading but he opened his mouth, taking in the scent around them. He slowed in his step as the scent of vole overcame him. The others had to have heard it because the patrol stopped. Crowpaw hesitated, glancing at Mudclaw. The tabby looked at him with cold eyes.

"What are you waiting for?" Crowpaw nodded hastily before heading after the scent.

He moved around a clump of briars, his ears pricked for the sound of movement as the scent grew fresher. Crowpaw froze at the sound of movement. The tom crouched low, bunching his haunches up as he prepared to make the jump.

Crowpaw sprang, his claws extended as he landed on the vole. Its squeak was cut short as he broke its neck. Crowpaw let out a breath, picking the prey creature up and heading back to the rest of the patrol.

They continued on. It was when Crowpaw came back with his third piece of prey – a wren, dangling from his jaws, that he realized. He had caught more prey than either warrior. His time hunting with the other journeying cats had been useful in this regard.

Ashfoot paused in her step, looking at Crowpaw as they had begun to spread out. Mudclaw had disappeared and Crowpaw could still see hints of disappointment in her blue eyes.

"Keep this up," Her voice was quiet. "Prove your worth to the Clan. You have the opportunity to."

Crowpaw stared at her, shocked before he dipped his head. Determination filled him as he turned away. He needed to prove himself to TigerClan.

He needed to get back into contact with Leafpaw.

He started after the scent of a rabbit when a snarl sounded not far away. Crowpaw whipped around, racing toward it. He smelled the fox before he saw it.

Ashfoot's fur was on end. A mouse lay at her feet and she hissed at the affronting fox. Its teeth were born as it went to grab the mouse.

The warrior struck out and Crowpaw sprang forward, throwing himself at the animals as he yowled.

The fox whipped around, snapping at the apprentice. Crowpaw jerked, raking his claws down its side as he did.

The creature yelped, turning its complete attention to Crowpaw. Ashfoot snarled, launching herself into the fox's other side.

Suddenly a screech sounded as Mudclaw came barreling through the bushes. His claws dug into the fox's haunches. Crowpaw jumped back as it began to bark, allowing it to retreat.

As it disappeared, Ashfoot hissed. "You cannot see or hear anything until it is right on top of you in here!" Her tail lashed. Mudclaw looked to the warrior.

"It won't be long until we're back in the open," He assured.