Flamefur's POV:

Tears stung Flamefur's eyes as she stared into the strong gaze of Metalclaw. The grey tom stood before her in the Dark Forest, his eyes sad as he waited for her reaction.

"Metalclaw? What are you doing back here?" Flamefur asked, her voice cracking.

"NoName forced me to come here. She... threatened to kill you if I didn't join her." Metalclaw sighed. "I'm sorry.. Do you forgive me?"

Flamefur felt a stab of anger rush through her. "So that's why you left me. To join NoName." She growled and took a step back as Metalclaw tried to brush noses with her.

"I had to protect you, NoName would've killed you otherwise." Metalclaw whispered with flattened ears.

"Don't give me that nonsense!" She yowled. "We could've easily gotten away from her by leaving the territory and getting out of the Dark Forest's range! You're lying!" She lowered her head as she suddenly realised that Tigerstripe had been right. Metalclaw hadn't changed. He was still a Dark Forest cat. He was still evil... She gasped. "You killed Nebulafang didn't you?"

Metalclaw's eyes widened and he shook his head. "N-no I didn't!"

"You're lying! I can't believe I trusted you Metalclaw!" Flamefur hissed. "You're trying to lure me in! You're evil! You never changed! Tigerstripe was right... How could I be so blind?"

Metalclaw's eyes narrowed at the mention of Tigerstripe and he snarled. "That fox-heart exiled you!"

"Only because I foolishly stayed with you." Flamefur spat back and bared her teeth. "Leave me alone. I don't want you ever coming back. Don't come near my dreams or I will kill you."

"You can't-" Metalclaw was cut off when there was an outraged screech behind him. Flamefur spotted a pair of glowing white eyes lunging for the two of them and she let out a terrified scream. NoName!

Metalclaw yowled. "Run Flamefur! Run!" The grey tom shoved her away and spun around to meet NoName mid-flight. Flamefur stumbled and watched as Metalclaw easily pinned NoName and tore at her fur with his claws.

Flamefur gasped at how easy it was for Metalclaw to beat NoName. She relies so much on her shadows that she doesn't know how to fight properly! She gets her siblings and shadows to do the attacking for her! This is brilliant! I know her weakness! Her thoughts were stopped short when NoName's paw snaked around Metalclaw's neck. Whisps of smoke followed her paw and twisted around the grey tom's neck. He let out a horrified scream and his eyes flashed white for a heartbeat before he collasped, limp.

Flamefur felt her heart crack in two.

Is he dead?

NoName smirked as she got up off the ground, her bloody wounds blending perfectly with her red fur. "He's not dead, just unconscious. It's a new trick I learned recently..." She stepped closer to Flamefur. "Now, if you want Metalclaw to live to see another day, I suggest you leave now and never mention a word of this to anyone. I will assign Tyler and Strike to take turns watching over you to make sure you don't do anything behind my back." Then she turned and padded away, leaving Flamefur alone with the limp body of Metalclaw.

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Unfamiliar scents tore through Flamefur's nose as she groggily returned to the land of the living. She groaned and blinked her orange eyes open to see she was inside of a den. The remainder of the dream faded away into nothing and her mind focused on what was going in in real life. The den was empty, but the strong smell of herbs told her that she was in a medicine den. Panic surged through her and she struggled to her paws, shaking moss from her pelt. Tigerstripe has captured me! I'm going to be killed! Her thoughts were stopped short when she realised in a flash that she was not in Nutwhisker's den. This medicine den was on ground level, not in a cave.

Trying to stay as calm as possible, Flamefur sat back down in her nest and examined her wounds to see that they were covered with cobwebs. They didn't sting anymore and the throbbing in her hind leg, from a bite given to her by Darkfeather, was gone. A medicine cat must have healed her.

Flamefur carefully looked around, her mind working double time to try and find out where she was. She breathed in the scents around her and twitched her whiskers in surprise when she realised she was in Smallclan territory- it was hard to miss the strong smell of saltwater and fish. They must've found her by the border. Thank Starclan Tigerstripe didn't find me first.

"Hello? Flamefur?" The Smallclan medicine cat padded into the den, her golden fur glimmering in the morning sunlight that streamed into the den. Flamefur much preferred a den on ground level rather than underneath in darkness. She hated the medicine cave. At least the nursery- although it was still a cave- had soft moss covering the walls and floor and a small hole that let in sufficient light. "Are you feeling alright?" The medicine cat pressed, her grey eyes staring at her questioningly.

Flamefur coughed awkwardly and nodded her head. She cleared her throat and meowed, "Fine. Fine. What happened? Why am I here?" She was surprised to find that her voice was fairly strong despite her current physical condition.

The she cat chuckled softly and sat down, flashing Flamefur a lazy grin. "Well, Flamefur, you're in Smallclan camp. A border patrol found you passed out at the border and rushed you to me. From there, I tended to your wounds and made you a nice nest to sleep in." She added, "I'm Marigoldfur by the way."

"How do you know my name?" Flamefur narrowed her amber eyes curiously. She had never met Marigoldfur, so how did the Smallclan medicine cat know her?

"Oh, I remember you from the first gathering we had with Lightclan. You were the one that picked a fight with that Ravenclan tom right?" Marigoldfur tilted her head to the side slightly as she waited for Flamefur's confirmation.

Her flame coloured fur bristled and her skin grew hot. "Yes... That was me." She lowered her head slightly, cheeks flushed from humiliation.

Marigoldfur chuckled. "I thought so."

Flamefur shook her pelt to rid the shame and looked back up at Marigoldfur, a new look of determination on her face. "What will happen to me now?"

"What do you mean?" Marigoldfur raised an eyebrow.

"I can't stay here, I'm a Lightclan warrior." Flamefur meowed in a tone that implied that Marigoldfur should have known that already.

"Nonsense. You're an injured rogue. You're no longer a part of Lightclan- am I correct?" Marigoldfur mewed as she stood up to rummage through her herbs for something.

"How did you know that too? Are you spying on me?" Flamefur growled with a curl of her lips. How dare Marigoldfur stalk her! It was outrageous.

"No." Marigoldfur rolled her eyes, returning to sit in front of Flamefur. "Eat this." She pushed a poppy seed near her. "It'll ease any remaining pains but it's not a high enough dosage to put you to sleep." As Flamefur ate the seed obediently, Marigoldfur spoke again. "You smell much like a rogue. You barely have any trace of Lightclan scent except their blood on your fur."

Flamefur stayed silent as she swallowed the seed. Marigoldfur sure was observant. Then she looked up at her weirdly. "Were you watching me sleep?"

"Yes..." Marigoldfur murmured with a small mew of agitation. "But it was only out of pure curiousity, I promise!"

Flamefur rolled her eyes. "Am I really that interesting to look at?" She glanced down at her own pelt with twitching whiskers.

"Um..." Marigoldfur didn't know how to answer so she just stood up abruptly. "Come on, lets go meet Petalstar."

Flamefur pricked her ears. Petalstar! The she cat that caused so much trouble with Stormstar!

"I'd gladly meet her!" Flamefur grinned mischievously.

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