Berryleaf looked at Badgerpath and Batwhisker, opening and closing his mouth out of shock. Then, without a word, he spun around and sprinted into the woods.

"We can't let him get away like Shadeflight!" Batwhisker exclaimed. He chased after the ginger tom. Badgerpath followed.

Badgerpath sprinted through the leaves and the trees, following the sound and scent of Batwhisker and Berryleaf. He eventually heard a cry, and an angry growl. He came upon Batwhisker pinning Berryleaf to the ground, hissing.

"Batwhisker, wait! We can't kill —" Badgerpath began, but it was too late. The black tom had already ripped open Berryleaf's throat.

He moved away from the ginger tom, and turned to look at Badgerpath. He cocked his head to the side, and his eyes glinted with a sinister light.

"Well, you might not be able to kill. I, however, find that I am very capable of it," Batwhisker retorted. He leapt at Badgerpath, claws unsheathed, tackling the deputy to the ground.

Badgerpath clawed back at Batwhisker, hissing. "Berryleaf was the medicine cat apprentice, I should have known that he wouldn't kill a clanmate!" Batwhisker growled back at him, and with a clean swipe, slashed through the black-and-white tom's neck.

Batwhisker stepped back from Badgerpath's body, and cleaned the blood from his paws. Without looking up, he flicked his tail towards the tree line.

"You can come out now, Shadeflight. We should probably bury these bodies," he mewed nonchalantly. His sister padded out of the trees, and together, they began to dig into the ground.

Once they had buried Badgerpath and Berryleaf, they returned to the camp to bury the others. They had to carry each one individually, and by the time they had finished burying the cats, the sun had already begun to set.

Batwhisker sat down in front of Shadeflight in the warriors' den, happily twitching his tail. She looked at him with a guarded expression.

"So now what?" she asked. He glanced out of the den entrance, then back at her.

"Well, we sleep tonight. Then, I was thinking that we could move on to PineClan," he began. His excitement began to grow, and he paced around the den. "Blend in for awhile, maybe a few moons of peace. Then, we repeat the process. After we kill them, we move on to BrushClan. Of course, we'd have to hide our identities. There are two siblings in PineClan that look like us, Blackfur and Ebonyshine. Blackfur has some scars, but I believe we can replicate those" Shadeflight listened to him in horror, as he continued to reveal his plans.

"We enter PineClan under the names Bat and Shade. Then, we kill everyone, even the cats who are exiled. Once we've killed all of PineClan, we move on to BrushClan as Blackfur and Ebonyshine. Repeat the process of murder. Finally, we end up in StreamClan. We made a mistake with letting cats get away. We'd have to kill them a few moons before we even enter the clan. Trust me, though, it will work," he declared. He looked at Shadeflight, eyes blazing passionately.

Shadeflight shook her head, and shot up. "No! I thought we were done, Batwhisker! I thought once we had killed all of LeafClan, you would be done with your revenge for . . . for whatever you think the world has done to you!" Batwhisker's hackles raised, and he stepped closer to her.

"I was giving you the benefit of the doubt when I didn't kill you after the charade you pulled during your exile," he growled. They both glared at each other, stepping closer. "But I'm not afraid of killing you. So either support me, or die".

Shadeflight let her hackles fall, and hung her head. She nodded once. "You're right, I'm sorry. You're my brother. No one knows you better than I do". She stepped forward, and he placed his head on top of hers. He opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off. "That's why I have to do this". She leapt up and latched her teeth onto his throat, causing him to start pushing away from her.

She let go, blood soaking her muzzle, and Batwhisker dropped to the ground. The black tom looked up at her accusingly, then his eyes glazed over and he stopped breathing.

Shadeflight sat down on the ground, panting breathlessly. Batwhisker was dead. She had killed her brother. Nausea and guilt grew in her stomach. She had to bury him.

The black she-cat dragged his body into the forest by the scruff. It was difficult. Eventually, she managed to dig him a grave, and roll his body into it. Then, when she was done covering his body up, she disappeared. Shadeflight was gone. She was just Shade now. And she would never hurt another cat again.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Many moons later, the four refugees had adjusted to life in StreamClan. Oakpaw and Bluepaw had a tough time the first Moon of their apprenticeship. However, the two other apprentices, Silverpaw and Gorsepaw, helped them through it.

Their mentors were kind as well. Bluepaw got a dependable, if slightly boring, tom, named Grasspelt. Oakpaw's mentor, Splashlight, was a cheerful, optimistic she-cat.

They changed as well. The two apprentices were still friends, but they slowly grew apart. Bluepaw, to the surprise of everyone, became extremely charismatic and helpful. He seemed to fit in StreamClan better than he ever had in LeafClan. He grew closer to Silverpaw, a cheerful, silver tabby she-cat.

Meanwhile, Oakpaw became less so. The loss of almost his entire family made him brooding and a loner. He focused more on his stealth than the other aspects of his training. While Bluepaw excelled in swimming and fishing, he hated water, to the point that he avoided it as much as possible.

Gorsepaw, a cheerful, loyal tom, was the only one who could get through to him. Gorsepaw was a large apprentice, the son of Creekstar, and extremely good at fighting. He could have chosen Bluepaw and Silverpaw instead — in fact, Oakpaw told him to. But he never did.

The warrior ceremonies of Silverpaw and Gorsepaw came first. Silverpaw was declared Silverbreeze, for her speed and agility. Gorsepaw was named Gorseclaw, for his excellence at fighting.

Half a moon later, Bluepaw was given his. He was given the name Bluestream, for his extraordinary swimming and fishing abilities. Soon, Oakpaw was the only apprentice left.

Oakpaw felt lonelier than he had before during that moon. His only consolation was Gorseclaw, who continued to stay by his side. Gorseclaw even cheered just as loud as Sedgeheart when he was named Oakshade.

Sedgeheart and Feathersong never adapted as well as Bluestream did, but they managed it better than Oakshade. Sedgeheart was an average warrior in StreamClan. She didn't excel at anything, nor did she anger anyone. She never took another mate, after Brackentail had died. However, she did make new friends, and bonded more with Feathersong.

Feathersong considered Sedgeheart her best friend. The dark brown she-cat was the only other surviving she-cat from LeafClan. She even visited Feathersong in the nursery, when Feathersong had Grasspelt's kits.

Unlike Sedgeheart, Feathersong was able to move on. She knew that Badgerpath had failed to protect Willowpaw and Ivywing, and their relationship hadn't been going as well as it had previously. When Badgerpath became deputy, he started spending less time on family and more time on his duties. So, when she joined Grasspelt's group of friends, she let the relationship grow.

Grasspelt was everything she had been looking for in a mate. He always made time for her, he was kind to everyone, and he was probably the most dependable cat in the clan. Grasspelt was Grasspelt, and that was all she needed him to be.

When Feathersong and Grasspelt had their first litter of kits, he visited her in the nursery daily. Then, one day, he came in holding a newborn kit. It had been left at the border by a cat that disappeared into the shadows, and his patrol had picked it up.

That was when she chose to be a permanent queen. Her long fur made it difficult to swim, and she wasn't used to the StreamClan style of fighting. The color of her fur made it hard to hunt as well. But when she saw that helpless kit, she knew that she could take care of him better than any of the other cats. And so she did.

Grasspelt fully supported her decision. StreamClan, apparently, was often brought homeless kits. They bordered the twolegplace, and mothers would carry their kits to StreamClan to let them live the life of a clan cat. They knew that the twolegs took away their kits, and they didn't want that.

Meanwhile, Bluestream and Silverbreeze grew closer. Almost all of the clan expected them to become mates, and they did. The two young warriors would eventually have kits as well.

What the clan didn't expect, however, was what happened next. Gorseclaw, who had been Oakshade's first friend in the clan, asked him to be his mate. And Oakshade accepted. Some of the cats were confused, and some didn't like it, but none of them said anything. Creekstar supported her son's relationship, and that was that. They even adopted one of the young kits that was brought to the clan, by the black cat who faded into the shadows.

Sedgeheart accepted Oakshade's relationship as well. That brought them closer than they had been before. In LeafClan, Oakshade had been closer to Brackentail. But this showed him that his mother cared about him just as much.

Bluestream, like the other young warriors, was fine with it too. And when he became deputy, it cemented that attitude for StreamClan. Both of the cats in leadership supported Oakshade and Gorseclaw — that caused the idea to spread to the rest of the clan.

And what happened to the LeafClan territory? A new group of cats arrived in the area. They had no name — they had forgotten it. All they knew was that they had been traveling for generations. So, with the approval of the other three leaders, they became LeafClan.

And so the balance was restored. And Shade, who watched the clans return to peace from her place on a hill, turned around and faded into the shadows.