Two rows of felines were facing each other, pelts bristling, narrowed eyes. A brown tabby tom made the battle cry and the two rows rushed towards each other and began clawing and kicking.

         A small cream tom was battling a gray tabby molly. Being far too under-sized he was immediately shoved into the river, showing no remorse the gray tabby left him there to drown, thinking he could swim. If he had been allowed to train a bit more, and not under the cruel reign of Minnowstar, maybe he would've survived.

         "Stupid fox-dunging flea-brained," Foxface spat, prodding the ground. She was reliving the horrific scene where her first apprentice, Honeypaw was killed in the vicious battle against Thrushclan. Honeypaw, who was only three moons old, with barely any battle-training, was forced to participate. He was then unintentionally killed.

         Foxface's anger at Minnowstar's ignorance had caused her to spit out an outburst of insults at her inconsiderate leader. Minnowstar, of course disregarded Foxface's desperate attempts to stop apprenticing underaged kits.

         The warrior dragged her paws into the leader's den for her last attempt.

         Minnowstar stared at Foxface wearily and rolled her eyes, "What is it?"

         "We can't keep making kits apprentices at only three moons! Do you see how many lives have been lost!? It's not helping, just harming."

         "Well what do you suggest? Wait till they're six moons, and let us all starve and die because we don't have enough cats?" Minnowstar blatantly accused.

         Foxface bristled, "What I suggest is that we stop letting cats die for unneeded causes. We lost half our warriors to a disease our medicine cats could have prevented. We lost almost all of our apprentices because they were too young!"

         Minnowstar flicked her tail dismissively, "We lost them, because they were too weak. I have no room for weak cats in this clan."

         "How can you be so cold-hearted and nasty!"

         "Watch where that's coming from," the leader sneered.

         Blinded by rage, Foxface didn't back down, "I don't care who you are! HOW COULD YOU BE SO CRUEL!"

         "You better watch that tongue," Minnowstar was getting to her paws.

         "And I hope you get mauled by a bunch of raccoons!"

         Minnowstar threateningly began inching forward, lashing her tail, "I have had ENOUGH! I will not be spoken to with such disrespect from my clanmates!"

         "I wish I wasn't your clanmate," the ginger molly muttered under her breath.

         The leader grinned, "Perfect, your wish can be fulfilled. I banish you from Shadeclan."

         "What!?" Foxface yowled, "You-you can't do this to me!"

         "I'm the leader if you've forgotten. I can do whatever I want."

         "Fine!" flattening her ears to her head, Foxface stalked out of the den, and out of camp. Every-cat's eyes were on her, but she ignored them.

         She sprinted into the thin forest, dashing between the aspen trees and all the way to the river. She navigated her way to the crossing point where the river was narrow and there was a large stone placed in between. She readied herself and bravely leaped forward onto the slippery stone. Not even thinking, or bracing herself, Foxface attempted to jump onto the solid land. Her paw slipped on the rock and she stumbled forward, landing face first into the river.

         In shock, Foxface flailed her limbs in a desperate plea for air. Her eyes stung from the sudden impact of gushing water and she squinted to get rid of the burning sensation. She gargled out a spout of bubbles, her lungs ached for air. She had only learned to swim, when; and only when, she was ready. She wasn't prepared to slip. Crimson water began exiting from her maw and she gasped at the sight of blood. The struggle only became worse, the current of the water was too strong to fight. Memories of her apprentice dying flooded in. Is this what Honeypaw felt like?

         Suddenly, something gripped on to the fur near her neck and began tugging. With all its might, it heaved her out of the water just enough so that she could take in air. Her wave of panic subsided and instinctively, Foxface paddled in the water to keep herself afloat. She pushed and retreated her paws through the water to reach the shore and pulled herself out. She shook her pelt violently, managing to dry out her fur a little.

         The loner tom who had helped her awkwardly shuffled his paws, "Uhh, you were drowning so-"

        "Thank you," Foxface panted, she managed to give him a weak smile of respect. She observed the loner more clearly and murmured, "I remember you from somewhere..."

         He looked away, "Blackbird. My name's Blackbird, I umm, live around these parts."

         She gasped in realization, "You're the rogue that Minnowstar ordered to drive out right?"

         At the sound of the leader's name he hissed, "You're a part of her clan! What are you doing here? Are you going to threaten me to move even further!" The nervous expression turned to one of anger.

         "No! No!" Foxface quickly interjected, "I was exiled for protesting against Minnowstar's ideas."

         "So now she's banishing her own cats," he grumbled, his voice laced with venom, "You're soaking. Follow me."

         Silently, the two felines stalked their way through the thin aspen forest until they reached a very small open space. Blackbird led her into a tree captivity which was given a little shelter like den on the outside as well. He shuffled some moss, lichen, and ferns around to fix up a quick small nest for Foxface. He gestured towards it and Foxface dipped her head slightly in gratitude before resting. He flung a scrawny shrew to her and apologized.

         "That's all I have right now. Prey doesn't run as well around these parts. Too much two-leg disturbance."

         She was about to reject the shrew and insist that he eat it instead but a sharp pang of hunger kicked her stomach and she couldn't resist the delectable scent of shrew wafting up her nose. She slowly took a bite and scanned her surroundings. Blackbird seemed like a nice cat, maybe they could be like survival buddies?

~•~•~•~•~

         It had been a few days and Blackbird and Foxface had grown accustomed to each other. They weren't exactly friends, but the two were loyal. They knew neither would survive long without the other.

         Foxface entered the cavity, carrying some grass and ferns in her maw. The weather was growing colder, and warmer nests were always welcome.

         As she began arranging the plants for her nest, Blackbird gave her a longing look, "Are you ever planning on getting revenge on Shadeclan?"

         "Why would I do that?"

         He gave her an expression of puzzlement, "They banished you!"

         She corrected, "Minnowstar, banished me." She paused and nestled into her nest, "I would love to get revenge on her. To sink my claws into her throat and take away one of her Starclan forsaken lives." She unsheathed her claws and admired them, "Her actions killed my apprentice."

         "Would you though?"

         "I don't know. She could hurt me more. She could take out her anger on the clan. She could hurt you. What if she drove us out even further?"

         He gritted, "Don't have the guts? She deserves to die."

         "Perhaps," she dismissed. Foxface didn't want to continue the conversation so she flicked her ears as a signal and rested her head gesturing that she wanted to sleep.

         Blackbird nodded and curled up himself.

         Soon, Foxface drifted off into dreamland. But it wasn't a very peaceful sleep. She was in a dark void, as voices echoed around her.

         'I have no room for weak cats in this clan.'

         'She deserves to die.'

         'I don't know battle training though.'

         'I banish you from Shadeclan.'

         'Promise that this will be alright?'

         'Would you though?'

         The loner quaked in shock and her eyes rapidly woke. She gave herself a moment to breathe. Those voices. Minnowstar. Blackbird. Honeypaw... Sometime new burned in Foxface's stomach. A new kind of anger. It wasn't the anger that would protest against the leader. It wasn't the anger of her apprentice dying. It wasn't the anger over her exile. It was the anger to kill. Foxface didn't just imagine herself taking Minnowstar's life, she wanted to. Her paws itched in fury, they tugged for her to have blood on her name. She looked outside, still sunfall. Perfect.

         She retraced her steps to the Shadeclan border and waited. A patrol would come by soon to remark the borders. Exactly what she needed. Foxface stuck her muzzle in the air and tracked it for any scents. Rootfur!

         The young warrior walked up to the river and gazed across before turning to survey the rest of the border. Foxface begins to step out of the bush, but the sudden sound alarm jolts Rootfur and the warrior exclaims, "Who's there? Foxface? That can't-"

         "Shhh!" Foxface snapped.

Rootfur stared at her bewildered, "What are you doing here!?"

         "None of your business."

         The cream molly leaped onto Foxface and easily pinned her down, "It is my business if it involves my clan."

         "Fine whatever," the loner dismissed, "I'm here to take one of your fox-dunged leader's lives."

         "Of course. What a surprise, Foxface is out murdering someone else."

         The ginger she-cat bristled, "For the last time, it was not my fault that Honeypaw died!"

         "You could've trained him to be better in battle!"

         Foxface tried to kick the clan cat off, "He was given to me four sunrises before the battle. How much training do you expect he could learn?"

         "You-you could have somehow at least tried to save him!" Rootfur was now almost sobbing. "You were his mentor, you could have done something! And he was my brother..."

         A pang of sympathy for the young cat struck Foxface and she simply just dipped her head, "I'm sorry. But that's what I'm here for. I don't want more apprentices dying like Honeypaw. If Minnowstar's-"

         Rootfur silenced her with her tail and softly mewed, "Tell me what to do."

         Foxface stared at her in disbelief but quickly responded, "Bring Minnowstar here. Don't let her suspect you though, please."

         "Got it!" she turned around and started sprinting back to camp.

         "And Rootfur?" she heard the warrior freeze at her name, "Thank you."

         A couple of minutes later Foxface heard the Shadeclan leader trampling her way through the forest towards the river. Minnowstar glared up at the sky and grumbled, "Where is this stupid raccoon den that Rootfur was rambling about. This better not be another false alarm or she'll get it!" The leader looked across and around the river for several moments before jerking, "Rogue scent... Foxfa-"

         Minnowstar's words were cut off by Foxface pouncing onto the leader. Being undersized, and caught by surprise, Foxface was easily able to overpower the leader. The loner forced Minnowtar's head underwater. She clutched the leader's scruff by her claws firmly and used her weight to hold down Minnowstar. The leader struggled under her grip for a few minutes before going limp. She was losing a life. Foxface took that opportunity to leave the body there and flee. Returning with a new life meant that Minnowstar would be back with vigorous strength gifted by Starclan. Foxface leaped across the stepping stones and returned to Blackbird. She took a deep breath before entering the den again.

         The tom stirred from Foxface's heavy panting and noise. He slowly opened his eyes and grunted, "Where have you been? Looks like you were fighting a wolf."

         The ginger she-cat's pelt was filled with little twigs, leaves, and dirt. Tufts of it were sticking out and her chest had a slight cut. She stared at the tom, eyes wide, "I did it. I killed her."

Soooo, finally another chapter. Enjoy!