A/N: In response to a couple of reviews I've gotten: in no way, shape, or form is this a Tiger/Fire ship story. Never was, is, or will be. The thing in Chapter 1's disclaimer about Tigerstar being Firestar's best friend was an offhand joke that some readers obviously took seriously. I put Firestar as one of the story's characters because he will play an important part later on, but I've since taken him off because some people were getting the wrong vibes. This fic is ShadowClan-centric, and the only romance is the love triangle between my OC and two ShadowClan warriors. Hope this clears things up, and now onto one of my favorite chapters!

Chapter 17. TigerClan

"These bones are gross," Rowanpaw opines. The ginger apprentice has got a point. Haulin' a big pile of bones all over the place ain't what I thought I'd be doin' when we followed Tigerstar into the forest.

"Quit complaining," Jaggedtooth snaps. "Our leader's word is law. That's the warrior code."

Keep your fur on, I want to say, but my jaws are full of prey bones. Besides, I don't reckon Jaggedtooth would appreciate me interfering with his apprentice, and we've managed to go the past two days without bickering.

Tigerstar and Leopardstar have decided to deepen their alliance, going farther than any leader has before and creating a single clan, to be led jointly by the two of them. Tigerstar has chosen a meeting place halfway between our two camps, so neither clan will be favored... or something. Why he wants us to bring these bones there remains a mystery. The idea of a single clan—no more fights over borders or prey—sounds wonderful. But will the other clans accept it? And do I trust Tigerstar to bring every cat in the forest together in peace? He'll be leader alongside Leopardstar, I remind myself. The RiverClan leader will balance him out.

We follow Blackfoot along a narrow stream, through some reeds near as tall as I am. The ground is wet and spongey beneath my paws. Eventually, the reeds thin out into a clearing, the late afternoon sunlight gleaming on Tigerstar's thick, dark pelt. I see why he picked this as a meeting place. It's big enough for both clans easily.

Tigerstar points his tail to the center of the clearing. "Create a hill from the bones you've carried from camp," he commands. "That is where the leaders of TigerClan will address our cats."

Why can't we use a rock or a piece of wood like normal cats? I think but am smart enough not to ask. I silently help the others arrange the bones.

"RiverClan is coming!" Cedarpaw calls as the sun starts goin' down.

"Well spotted," Russetfur praises him. The scratches on his shoulder have almost totally healed. I wish Lightningkit would be apprenticed already so she could witness this with me.

A tide of sleek cats pours into the clearing from the direction of the river, led by their golden tabby leader. Leopardstar holds her tail high in triumph, but some of her warriors ain't so sure about this. Their bristling fur, slitted eyes, and stiff postures remind me of how Deerfoot and some of the other ShadowClan cats reacted on our first visit to camp. There's no talking as we form a circle around the Bonehill. ShadowClan and RiverClan sit separately. We got a long way to go before we're one clan.

The cat sitting beside Blackfoot catches my eye. He's a broad-shouldered tom with blue-gray fur and bright blue eyes. He turns to say something to Blackfoot, but our deputy hisses and backs away, sittin' just as far from the other tom as he can.

"Has Blackfoot got a problem with… whatever the RiverClan deputy's name is?" I whisper to Flintfang.

The gray senior warrior curls his lip. "I guess you haven't heard. Stonefur and Mistyfoot are half-clan. Their mother was Bluestar, the former ThunderClan leader," he sneers.

"Why is that so bad?" I ask.

"Because taking mates from other clans is a betrayal of everything we stand for. Warriors should have pure blood. RiverClan's got a couple of half-clan apprentices too. They should all be driven out, if you ask me," says Frogtail.

"Well, those RiverClan cats are one up on me," I say dryly. "I ain't got a drop of clan blood."

"This isn't something to joke about, Nettlethorn," Frogtail snaps. Flintfang just looks uncomfortable.

Tigerstar leaps to the top of the Bonehill in a single bound. Leopardstar tries to jump up beside him, but there's barely any room. The she-cat stumbles precariously, sending a few small bones clattering to the ground. I swear I see contempt glittering in my leader's eyes as she steadies herself.

"This is a momentous night for every cat in the forest!" Tigerstar proclaims. "For seasons uncounted, we have lived as four clans, perpetually fighting over land and prey. These divisions have weakened us. Every leaf-bare, we lose warriors, kits, and elders to cold and hunger. The twolegs encroach farther into our territories every season. And yet we waste vital energy and resources fighting among ourselves. Aren't we all warriors? Don't we all follow StarClan and the warrior code?"

"Yes!" Blackfoot cries, and at his look, other ShadowClan warriors take up the call. I join in, 'cause what Tigerstar's sayin' makes sense.

"StarClan has chosen Leopardstar and me to be the catalysts of this great change. Together, we will form a new clan, stronger than either ShadowClan or RiverClan individually. We will combine our strengths and our skills until no cat in the forest or anywhere else can stand against us. We will bring back the days of our great cat forebears. We shall be TigerClan!" Tigerstar continues.

His vision of a single strong, united clan sweeps me off my paws. When my clanmates start yowling, "TigerClan! TigerClan!", there's nothing feigned in my agreement. When Tigerstar speaks like this, my ominous dreams seem unimportant.

Funny that he's named this new clan after himself, says a dry voice in my head that sounds a lot like Mama's.

"Leopardstar?" some cat calls from the RiverClan crowd. "Is he serious? Are we really going to… join ShadowClan?" He spits out the last words like trash from the very bottom of a dumpster.

"RiverClan needs to change if we're to survive. For far too long, we've depended too much on the river for our prey. Whenever it freezes or floods, we suffer. Just last newleaf, we lost two of Mosspelt's kits to the waters." She dips her head, her amber eyes still shadowed with sadness.

"As Tigerstar said," she continues, "we will be stronger together. With RiverClan and ShadowClan united into TigerClan, the other clans will not dare challenge us. We will be able to take Sunningrocks and any other hunting grounds that we need."

"Will you let ShadowClan cats tell us what to do?" someone demands.

"I don't fancy answering to one of those fish-eaters," Oakfur mutters.

"Tigerstar and I will be co-leaders of TigerClan, and at the next Gathering, we'll invite Firestar and Tallstar to join us in peace," Leopardstar meows.

A few more skeptical murmurs from RiverClan. But some warriors look eager, like the idea of a united clan appeals to them. I look for Mistyfoot, the she-cat I talked to at the last Gathering. She only meets my eyes for a heartbeat, but she looks far from comfortable with the situation. As she murmurs something to a tiny silver she-cat who must be her apprentice, I notice that the other RiverClan warriors are keepin' their distance from 'em.

"Most of us will continue to live in our original camps," Tigerstar says, and the clearing goes completely silent. Not even the most truculent RiverClan warrior dares interrupt him. "I will station two of my forest warriors in the island camp, to deter ThunderClan and WindClan. It may take them some time to see the wisdom of joining TigerClan."

"Will we get to see the ShadowClan camp?" calls a RiverClan warrior.

"The River warriors of TigerClan will have a chance to learn and hunt on all of our shared territory," Tigerstar meows smoothly.

That ain't a straight answer. Why are we keepin' cats inside their camp and not lettin' them do the same in ours? That don't seem like shared leadership to me. I look up at Leopardstar, but her face is blank.

"I know this seems strange now," says the RiverClan leader—or I guess I oughtta call her TigerClan co-leader now. "But within a moon or two, a season at most, we'll feel like we've always lived in TigerClan," Leopardstar says.

"I doubt it," some cat grumbles. But for the most part, the River warriors seem to accept Leopardstar's decision. All around the clearing, I see heads noddin' and tensed muscles relaxing. I gotta get used to thinkin' of these cats as clanmates. I don't hardly know any of their names yet. It'll be a fun challenge, I tell myself.

Blackfoot gets to his paws, drawing every eye. "Tigerstar, Leopardstar, I appreciate your vision to bring us together as one clan," he calls in the same clear, carrying meow that rings across the ShadowClan camp every day. "But I'm concerned that TigerClan will be threatened from within. We have four half-clan cats among us. How can we be sure their allegiance lies with TigerClan and not ThunderClan?"

Stonefur leaps to his paws like his tail be on fire, a snarl bubbling in his throat. "My sister and I, as well as our apprentices, have always been loyal to RiverClan, and we always will be! If any cat thinks otherwise, he or she can unsheathe their claws and challenge me like a real warrior."

"Our mother may have been a ThunderClan warrior, but we were raised in RiverClan. This is the only home we remember," Mistyfoot adds.

I wait for Leopardstar to defend her clanmates, but she just watches 'em shrewdly. Maybe she don't completely trust 'em either. But why would she make Stonefur her deputy?

"Your parents broke the warrior code," Wolfstep accuses.

"How can we know you won't be traitors too?" Stumpytail chimes in.

"Your blood is tainted by ThunderClan, and blood always tells," Blackfoot yowls.

"So what?" I'm thinkin' the words, but I don't realize I've said 'em aloud until the clearing gets real quiet. I'm talkin', you can hear a mouse's heartbeat quiet. All the TigerClan warriors be lookin' at me like I've just grown an extra head out of my tail.

I give my chest fur a few quick, embarrassed licks, but I reckon I might as well go on. "I know havin' a mate from another clan is against the warrior code, but what a cat's parents do ain't their fault. Not like they asked to be born half-clan any more than I asked to be a rogue, did they? My blood don't change my loyalty to Shadow… I mean TigerClan. Unless we got proof they done somethin' wrong, I say we all quit fussin' about it."

The stunned silence stretches out for a horrifically long moment. "Yeah, ShadowClan has no room to talk about cats born outside the clan!" yowls another RiverClan she-cat. "Your leader's a ThunderClan cat, for StarClan's sake!"

"It's different for you, Nettlethorn," Blackfoot blusters. "You don't have kin among our enemies. Better an honest rogue than a treacherous half-clan, that's what I say." Glaring at the RiverClan warrior who agreed with me, he snarls, "And how dare you question our leader's loyalty! StarClan chose Tigerstar to save ShadowClan from the sickness and unite every cat in the forest!"

What gives him the right to question her clanmates' loyalty, then? Why can't cats be judged on what they've done instead of somethin' they got no control over? Frustrated by the idiocy of it all, I lash my tail.

"But Tigerstar, your kits- hrmph." Jaggedtooth slaps his tail across my muzzle. One look at Tigerstar's unsheathed claws glinting in the moonlight, and I decide finishin' that sentence about his kits ain't a good idea. Besides, I got Nightwhisper and Jaggedtooth on my case now, and neither of 'em looks happy.

"Get your stinkin' fur out of my mouth, flea-brain," I snarl at Jaggedtooth. "Can't you wash for once?"

"Can't you be quiet for once?" Jaggedtooth hisses, and there's real venom in his voice, a loathing I haven't heard before.

"We been workin' for moons to make ShadowClan forget we weren't born here. Why you always gotta bring it up?" Nightwhisper snarls.

"'Cause I ain't ashamed of where I'm from. Are you ashamed of Mama, Mowgli?" I ask. My brother's birth name sounds strange and foreign on my tongue now, and for a heartbeat, I hate Tigerstar all over again for takin' Mama's first gifts from us.

"I ain't got nothin' to be ashamed of, but I'm not obsessed with the past," Nightwhisper hisses. "That's what Tigerstar says is the problem with all the clans. Forget all those stupid traditions. It's time for new ideas, new leadership."

"New ideas like bullyin' cats for who their parents were?" I snap. "Sounds like a stupid idea to me. And makin' all this fuss just 'cause of who had kits with who seasons ago is being obsessed with the past. It don't make no sense."

"Why are you so set on defending cats you don't even know?" Jaggedtooth asks, sounding genuinely bewildered.

"It ain't just about them," I hiss. "It's all this blood purity fox dung. I'm so sick of it. It's how you act that should matter, not which side of a border you were born on before you even opened your eyes. It ain't a big leap from goin' after half-clan cats to goin' after former rogues."

"Blackfoot's coming," Nightwhisper says sharply.

While we been arguin' (seems like we do that more and more these days), the meeting done broke up. Leopardstar has jumped down off the Bonehill and is huddled with some of her senior warriors. Stonefur hovers on the edge of the group, looking worried. We all dip our heads as our deputy approaches. I brace myself for an ear-clawing, but Blackfoot doesn't even look at me.

"Jaggedtooth, Tigerstar wants you and Ratscar to take the first shift on guard duty in the former RiverClan camp."

"Of course, Blackfoot," Jaggedtooth says eagerly. "How long will we be on guard?"

"Tigerstar and I need to work out a schedule, but we'll send another pair of warriors to replace you in two or three days."

Jaggedtooth bounds off to join Ratscar. Nightwhisper turns his back on me and follows Blackfoot somewhere. As I turn back toward the reed-lined path to what I still think of as ShadowClan territory, I find myself face-to-face with Mistyfoot.

"Thanks for sticking up for us, Nettlethorn. I didn't expect a ShadowClan warrior to do that."

"Yeah, well, ain't we all clanmates now? Besides, it's just common sense to judge cats based on what they do, not somebody else. That'd be like Tigerstar punishin' me 'cause Nightwhisper did somethin' wrong. Ain't like I needed a lot of brains to figure that out."

Mistyfoot gives me the strangest look then, part pity and part admiration. A heartbeat later, the expression disappears, and she rolls her eyes. "Blackfoot sure doesn't see it that way, and neither does Tigerstar. Speaking of which, I wouldn't want to be you when you get home. He looked furious."

"I'll be fine," I tell her with a shrug. "I've had cats mad at me before."

Leopardstar's calling her cats together. "See you around, I guess," Mistyfoot says, shooting me one last sympathetic look as she joins her brother.

"Chatting with your new half-clan friends?" Stumpytail jeers. He don't sound like the same cat I've shared so many meals and training sessions and even battles with. Definitely not the cat who's been gushin' to me about his kits for the last quarter moon.

"You'd know, Stumpytail, if you had any friends to chat with yourself," I say. I regret the petty words almost as soon as I say 'em, but I'm tired of every cat jumpin' down my throat just for speakin' my mind at a clan meeting.

"It'll be okay," Boulder says, falling in beside me as we head back to camp.

"Are you mad at me too?" I ask.

Boulder shakes his head. "It wasn't smart to speak out like that. You made Tigerstar look weak in front of our new clanmates. But you're still new to the forest, learning how things work here. In a few days, every cat will forget about it."

"But don't you agree it's wrong to judge cats for what their parents did?" How can he not believe this?

"Of course I think someone can be a loyal warrior no matter their blood. But what you and I think doesn't matter. Neither of us is clan leader."

"I know, but I didn't quit havin' opinions when I left town."

"Just try to keep them inside your head," Boulder advises, unintentionally echoing Tangleburr. He adds with a slight purr, "Or you can share them with me. I'm happy to listen to you rant and rave, if it'll keep you out of trouble."

Any hope that I could just slip into the warriors' den once we reach camp dies a quick, painful death. Tigerstar leaps onto Clanrock, and before I've gone three steps, he's callin', "Not so fast, Nettlethorn." Boulder presses his muzzle into my flank and runs his tail briefly along my spine before padding over to sit with his sister.

Remembering what I told Lightningkit about takin' her scolding like a warrior, I stand in the clear space before Clanrock and brace myself for a tongue-lashing. I won't let any cat see or smell my fear.

"How dare you stand before your clanmates after contradicting your deputy in public!" Tigerstar roars. "Are you proud of what you've done, Nettlethorn? Proud of embarrassing me and Blackfoot in front of all TigerClan?"

"No, Tigerstar," I say steadily and clearly, bending my head.

"I don't believe you," Tigerstar almost purrs. "You don't think you did anything wrong back there. You need to learn your place in TigerClan."

My paws are trembling despite all my efforts to stay calm. My throat clicks when I swallow, ain't no saliva in my mouth. I hate feelin' powerless.

"Get on your belly," Tigerstar orders.

"Say what?"

"On your belly, now, face in the dirt," Tigerstar orders, unsheathing his claws.

I gaze around at my clanmates, but most of 'em are checkin' out Tigerstar, the night sky, their own paws, anything but me. There's sympathy in Nightwhisper's green eyes, but he mouthes, "Just get it over with."

"Didn't you hear your leader?" Blackfoot snarls, cuffing me upside the head, claws out. The blow sends me reelin'.

Lightheaded with humiliation, I slowly lower myself to my belly before Clanrock. I press my face into the dirt, not carin' 'bout the grit gettin' in my eyes. I wish the ground would open up and swallow me.

"How should we punish a warrior who can't hold her tongue?" Tigerstar asks in an almost conversational tone.

"A day or two without prey should do the trick," Blackfoot suggests.

"Confine her to camp, make her clean out dens," Stumpytail meows.

"Dawn patrols for half a moon," Russetfur says.

"Don't let her go to Gatherings for the next few moons," Darkflower says.

"I have a better idea," Tigerstar says silkily. A cold, hollow pit of fear forms in my stomach.

The forest warriors of TigerClan (or whatever in the Dark Forest we're called now) lean forward, and in their glittering, eager eyes, I hardly recognize my friends and clanmates. "Since you find it so hard to be silent, Nettlethorn, I'm going to give you some practice. From now on, you will not speak unless Blackfoot or I address you directly. No cat will speak to you except to give you orders, which you will obey without question and in complete silence. You will not leave camp alone or without permission," Tigerstar meows.

My heart stops. I thought a punishment might be extra duties or a temporary demotion to apprentice status. Never in my darkest nightmares did I imagine something this cruel. Surely what I said wasn't that out of line?

Tigerstar is glarin' down at me, and I know he's just waitin' for me to protest so he can add more to my punishment. But I ain't gonna give him that satisfaction. So for once on this awful day, I do the smart thing and incline my head in acceptance.

"How long will Nettlethorn be forbidden to speak?" Nightwhisper asks. The shock and horror in my littermate's voice is some comfort. Despite our squabble, I know he don't wish something like this on me.

"Until I've decided she's learned her lesson," Tigerstar says smoothly. "This meeting is over."

The others scatter from his scorchin' gaze quick as mice from a hawk. I start to stand but don't make it all the way to my paws before Tigerstar knocks me back into the dirt with a powerful blow and hisses, "I didn't give you permission to rise."

I press myself into the ground, tryin' to look as small and beaten-down as possible. In that moment, I'm not a warrior, but the tiny kit Bone terrorized all those moons. I hate Tigerstar for it, hate myself. There's even a little hate for Nightwhisper, Jaggedtooth, and Tangleburr, who got me into this.

Tigerstar crouches beside me and murmurs, "This is the third time I've had to chastise you for defiant behavior. If it happens again, I'm going to assume you'd rather be a rogue than a TigerClan warrior and send you back to BloodClan. I'm sure that Bone you told me about can find a use for you, like he did your mother."

He starts to walk away, then flicks his tail toward a narrow gap under a thornbush, in the boggiest part of camp. "You sleep there until you act like a real warrior," he snarls.

I nod and' scuttle to my isolated sleepin' spot. The horror and vileness of his threat—far worse than when he threatened my life in the ThunderClan camp—makes me sick.

Get hold of yourself, I snap silently. I'm still in TigerClan. I'm still safe. Although I ain't sure those two words are as interchangeable as I thought before tonight. Boulder shoots me a swift, sympathetic glance, but our eyes meet for only a heartbeat before Russetfur calls his name.

I curl up under the bush. The ground is cold and muddy. I feel very tiny and alone without my clanmates all around me. Their scents and the sound of their breathin' has become a comfort. But now I'm an outcast in my own clan, curled up in a tight ball of paws and tail so no thorns can cut me.