Cedarfur took the lead at the head of the patrol, but Bloodfang wasn't far behind him, trotting along eagerly. Tigerfang hung back, walking at a slower pace. Usually, Tigerfang would be at the head of the patrol, neck and neck with the red-brown she-cat. Today, she just rolled her eyes. It's so stupid, she thought, that these days we get excited over killing kittypets.

Not for the first time, Tigerfang found herself thinking about the old days. She was only an apprentice then, but still remembered the thrill of not knowing when the next battle would be. She remembered training with her father Froststar, mentor Quickflash, and Dark Forest cats, training to fight in the next battle. But then the battles ended. ThunderClan defeated all it's enemies, and they were at peace with ShadowClan. Still, Tigerfang trained, but there was nothing to train for.

Learning new battle moves was all well and good, but even that got boring when you had nothing to use them on. I wish there were warriors I could fight. Tigerfang and the other members of the Inner Circle had taken to scouting outside of ThunderClan territory, in search of rogues and kittypets to fight. But, as time went on, that became boring too. At least for Tigerfang. Peggy, Linda, Muffin, Rubble, Shrink, and Beetle. Those were all the cats that Tigerfang had killed. Three kittypets, three rogues. They were easy kills, the only cat that actually had put up a decent fight had been the loner Rubble.

And here we are, hunting kittypets once more. How boring. The patrol neared a wooden fence and sped up, so they'd make the jump. Tigerfang leaped, claws scraping the fence as she dug in, hauling herself up. She felt the grooves in the wood from the many times their claws had scored it. The ten cats thumped down onto the grass, finding themselves facing a wide twoleg den. The grass was short and fine, unlike the wild tangles in the forest. The twolegplace is so weird.

Bloodfang took the lead now, racing across the stretch of grass and up and over the other side of the fence. The rest of the patrol followed, and ended up on hard cream stone that stretched on forever. On one side was more patches of grass and rows of twoleg dens, the other was a thunderpath. A monster rumbled past, sending up a stinky cloud of grit and smog. Tigerfang narrowed her eyes. I hate the twolegplace. I don't understand why kittypets and rogues choose to live here.

Cedarfur swiftly took the lead again, crossing the thunderpath which was now quiet. The patrol followed him, and all ten of them squeezed under a sleeping monster. The ThunderClan cats had learned that as long as there were no twolegs in them, the monsters were safe to be around and wouldn't wake up. Still, it was unnerving to be crouched under them. "Last time we came here, I remember seeing a fluffy gray and white kittypet. He's only a few dens away from here," Cedarfur said.

"Then why are we here? Let's go get it," Bloodfang snapped, unsheathing and sheathing her claws impatiently. Cedar rolled his eyes but turned around, slipping out from under the monster. Tigerfang followed, and the patrol jogged down the white stone path. Soon, Tigerfang picked up the scent of cat. The patrol trotted up to a twoleg den, slightly raised above the ground. A fluffy gray and white kittypet was dozing on a soft looking twoleg object.

Stupid thing. It doesn't even know we're here. Kittypets have such dull senses. "I call this one," Bloodfang hissed excitedly, leaping up onto the twoleg den. The cat cracked open an eye, then yowled in surprised as Bloodfang threw herself on him. Tigerfang sighed, and turned away. The patrol would now split up, and find their own kittypets to terrorize. But Tigerfang didn't feel like doing that today. She padded slowly away from the group, thinking.

Sageweed? She called out in her mind. She waited. Nothing. Sageweed? Saagggeeweeedd? Third time was the charm.

Tigerfang? What do you want? You can't possibly want to learn a new battle move right now.

But maybe I do. Sageweed, I'm so bored. What is the point of killing kittypets like this? I want real warriors to fight.

That's why you fight in The Dark Forest.

I know, but they're dead. I want to fight live warriors.

Well, there's nothing I can do about that, Sageweed snapped. There are no live warriors left, besides ShadowClan, and don't even think about starting a war with them. And it's not like WindClan is a threat anymore. Tigerfang pricked her ears. This was new.

WindClan is still alive?

Sageweed was quiet for a few heartbeats. Clearly she hadn't intended to let this information slip.

Yes, a few survivors live far away from Clan territory. But don't go after them, you will die. You can't fight a whole Clan, doesn't matter how skilled you are.

How about all of ThunderClan goes after them? Excitement began to course through her veins. Imagine fighting real warriors!

Froststar would never let you. Maybe when you become leader some day, you can go after them.

When I become leader? You think I'll make a good leader? Sageweed let out a harsh laugh.

You are strong and skilled, I doubt any cat would challenge you. Doesn't guarantee you'll be a good leader, but a leader is what you'll be. Tigerfang thought about this. Froststar was her father, leader of ThunderClan, so it never really occurred to her to think he wouldn't always be leader. That she could be next in line.

Tigerfang frowned. But I'm not next in line. Shadeblossom is. Then another thought creeped into her mind. An evil, sinister thought, and she smiled.

******

Approximately a moon and a half ago....

An owl hooted in the distanced, accompanied by a chorus of crickets. Wishfeather sat in her den, sifting through her collection of herbs. The silvery she-cat had been lucky. After escaping ThunderClan territory with Swiftkit, she had found an old fox den that had long been abandoned. It had only been occupied by a grass snake, which Wishfeather had swiftly killed. Snake was not usually something she ate, but she had been starving.

For the next few moons, Wishfeather had fed Coldrose's kit a mush of chewed up prey and herbs. From there she could only pray to StarClan- if they still even listened- that Swiftkit would survive. Maybe StarClan still did really care, because miraculously, the kit survived.

There was a squeak, and Wishfeather turned her head to watch as Swiftkit bounded into the den, chasing a small black ground beetle. With a mew, the kit leaped, and landed with both paws on the beetle. With a purr of delight, Swiftkit picked it up in her mouth, and blinked happily at Wishfeather. "Ish a beehle!" she announced, voice muffled because her jaws were clamped around the bug. "I cosh ish fer you!" Wishfeather purred.

"Thank you, Swiftkit, but I'm still full from the squirrel we had this morning. You can eat it."

"Okay," Swiftkit replied, and there was a soft crunch as she bit down on the beetle. In reality, Wishfeather could already hear her stomach growling, but she had grown used to not eating as often. Hunting alone was hard, especially as a medicine cat who had spent the majority of her days holed up in the medicine cat den. And what prey she was able to catch, she gave to Swiftkit, fearing the little kit would stunt her growth because she wasn't getting enough to eat.

Wishfeather gazed at the gray and creamy white she-cat. Her stomach wasn't as round as she would have liked, but she told herself that this was normal, that she was growing rapidly and would fill out later. Plus, her mother was always lean and skinny, and Wishfeather guessed Swiftkit would be the same way. Swiftkit finished her beetle, shaking out her fur. The creamy white and gray was broken up by speckles of black, that made grooming her hard. Wishfeather would constantly mistake the spots for fleas and ticks. Swiftkit caught Wishfeather gazing at her, locking her light green eyes with Wishfeather's yellow ones.

"What is it?" Swiftkit asked.

"Oh, nothing," Wishfeather replied, turning back to the herbs. "Just want to remind you that it's getting dark now, so you have to stay inside the den."

"I know, I know. When the owl calls, it's time to go inside," Swiftkit replied. The kit began to lick the dirt that had gotten caught in her chest fur. Wishfeather snuck another glance at the kit out of the corner of her eye. She realized, now, that Swiftkit wasn't really a kit anymore. She was around six moons old, and should be an apprentice. She would have been an apprentice, if Froststar hadn't killed her mother and she still lived in ThunderClan. Wishfeather sighed. Now that she's an apprentice, I should probably tell her.

Swiftkit was pretty quiet and didn't ask a lot of questions. She seemed to just have accepted that Wishfeather was her mother, and that this life in the old fox den was the only life their was. She doesn't know her mother was killed by a bloodthirsty leader, and I had to leave her sister behind. Wishfeather shuddered at the memory. Suddenly, the dirt walls of the den felt like they were closing in on her. "I'm going to go make dirt," Wishfeather told Swiftkit. "I'll be back in a moment, stay inside."

"Okay, I will," Swiftkit replied, not looking up from where she was now grooming the base of her tail. Wishfeather trotted quickly out of the den, blinking into the growing darkness. The nighttime air was cool, a relief from the muggy green-leaf daytime. As Wishfeather walked, she thought.

Should I really tell Swiftkit? Maybe I don't have to. She can continue to live her life right here, safe, with me. I'll teach her the different herbs, and how to hunt. I can give her her name Swiftpaw, and when she asks why I changed her name, I can tell her that's just what happens when a cat turns six moons. But the logical side of her knew that wouldn't be possible. Eventually, when she becomes full grown, she'll want to explore the world. Most likely she'll just end up on ThunderClan territory. Either she'll be killed, or she'll find out her true history, and she'll hate me for lying to her.

Wishfeather tried not to think about ThunderClan. It made her heart ache. I wonder if there's any good cats left. Wishfeather stopped walking, and sighed. She didn't want to stray too far away from the old fox den. But when should I tell Swiftkit? Tonight? Tomorrow? The next day? How will I know if she's ready to know? What if she's not ready yet? Maybe I can wait until she's a full grown cat to tell her.

"I think you should tell her now." Wishfeather jumped, spinning around with a hiss. Behind her, sitting and facing her calmly, was Ivyclaw.

"Ivyclaw?" Wishfeather breathed, relaxing. "How are you-" she stopped, when she noticed the stars glittering in her fur. Wishfeather felt her throat closing up. "You- you're dead," she choked out.

"I am," Ivyclaw replied matter-of-factly. The tortoiseshell she-cat shrugged. "Honeyflower, Cherrynose, Mossypelt, and I, tried to attack Froststar with the remainder of WindClan. We failed. Froststar didn't lose all his lives, and his supporters came and killed us. We couldn't outrun them." Ivyclaw shifted. "But that's not what I'm here to talk to you about. We still have a chance of taking down Froststar. But you need to tell Swiftkit."

"Please- tell me. What's it like in ThunderClan?" Wishfeather asked.

"Not good," Ivyclaw sighed. "Froststar now has a group of cats called his 'Inner Circle' and they go out and kill kittypets and rogues for fun." Wishfeather pinned her ears back, horrified. "And since the cats who followed me against Froststar were the only ones willing to openly oppose Froststar, he has full control of the entire Clan. ShadowClan is the same." The tortoiseshell she-cat glanced in the direction of the fox den. "I'm glad you escaped with Swiftkit. Her sister is still alive." Wishfeather's ears pricked up.

"Swiftkit's sister is still alive?" she gasped.

"Yes. Her name is Silentkit. Seedpod was instructed to kill her, but he didn't want to. So Froststar has made him and his mate Oneflower raise her with their own kits, Birchkit and Heatherkit."

So Oneflower had her kits. I hope they did okay without me. "Wait," Wishfeather stopped Ivyclaw. "How is Sprucepaw? How did he become a medicine cat without me?" she asked.

"Cloudfrost," Ivyclaw replied. "ThunderClan took him and forced him to train Sprucepaw. On the night he became a full medicine cat, Spruceheart, Cloudfrost fled. He knew he'd be killed since the Clam didn't need him anymore. He's now living with the remaining cats of WindClan."

Wishfeather's head spun. This was so much to take in. Ivyclaw wasn't finished yet. "Silentkit was just apprenticed yesterday, to Bloodfang," she continued. Wishfeather cringed. Bloodfang was a cat determined to live up to her name. She wouldn't be a good influence on Silentpaw. "Wishfeather." The former ThunderClan medicine cat met the StarClan cat's gaze. "You need to tell Swiftkit. Tonight."

"But what will telling her change?" Wishfeather cried desperately. "I don't want her to be tortured by this information! I'm about to tell her her real mother is dead! Was murdered! She doesn't even know what that means!" Ivyclaw lay her tail on the silvery she-cat's shoulders.

"It will change everything. Because after we tell Swiftkit, she's going to go to ThunderClan." Wishfeather recoiled.

"Never," she hissed. "I love Swiftkit, so she's staying right here. I will not put her in harms way."

"That's not for you to decide," Ivyclaw snapped. "Swiftkit has a destiny. We will train her well, then she will go to ThunderClan, find her sister, and stop Froststar." Wishfeather opened her mouth to protest again.

"It's what Coldrose wants," Ivyclaw finished with a low growl. Wishfeather closed her mouth with a snap. "You owe it to her. Coldrose saved your life."

Wishfeather lowered her head. Coldrose had indeed saved Wishfeather's life. If it hadn't been for her, she'd be dead. What am I doing, arguing with a cat from StarClan? I'm a medicine cat. She sighed. "Okay, Ivyclaw, I'll make Swiftkit an apprentice and I will tell her. But what about training? I'm only a medicine cat. I can teach her to heal her own wounds, but I only know basic fighting techniques." Ivyclaw purred.

"Leave that to me. I may have failed to stop my brother once, but not again. I'll teach Swiftkit every move I know. And I won't be alone," she said. Wishfeather watched as two more cats shimmered into view. The first was a gray she-cat with black ears and a black tail. It was Willowlight, mother of Ivyclaw, Froststar, and Stormlight.

"I can't take it to stand here and do nothing as my son destroys the Clans. I'll teach Swiftkit everything I know, too." The next cat was a skinny silver tabby with a black spot over her eye, one white paw, and dull hazel eyes.

"I may not have been Coldrose's sister by blood," Poplarfrost began. "But my sister is what she was. I couldn't save her life, so I will do everything I can to save the lives of her kits." Wishfeather stared at the three starry she-cats in awe. I can do this.

"Thank you," she meowed. "I will tell Swiftkit now." The silvery she-cat turned around, slowly padding back to the old fox den. Heart thumping, she slipped inside. "Swiftkit?" she called out. The kit turned to look at her, blinking her bright lime-green eyes. Wishfeather let out a long breath. "I have something I need to tell you."