EVER SINCE MOUSETAIL watched the patrol leave the camp, she mouthed the same words over and over again: "StarClan protect them." She wanted to help badly, but she knew she couldn't, no matter how much she cared about the cats who went back to that wretched place.

     Mousetail sat at the lip of the nursery, staring at the ground, lost in her own thoughts. She looked up when she heard another cat approaching her. Surprisingly, it was Frozenfang. "Hi," she greeted Mousetail, sitting down beside her. "Worrying about Dovesong?"

     "How'd you guess?" Mousetail asked good-humoredly. "Yeah, I am. I'm also worried about Skystorm. I tried to convince him not to go, but he went anyway. I'm scared he's going to get hurt."

     "I get that. I'm scared for Cloudsky, too. But I guess wherever Spottedsong goes, they go too. At least, that's what Cloudsky told me," Frozenfang mused.

     "I guess. But Skystorm is going mostly because he knows how much I worry about Dovesong. Not just now, but always. She's a mess." Mousetail let out a dry mrrow of laughter. "But I guess it's because of Spottedsong, too."

     "Yeah. I also get how you worry about Dovesong. But however much you worry, it won't help things. Whenever she gets something solved, she gets another thing to worry about. And sometimes it's her fault." Frozenfang didn't sound scolding at all; she sounded enormously amused. Her eyes sparkled and her whiskers quivered as she spoke. "But anyway, I hope all this goes well."

     Mousetail nodded. "Definitely."

     After a long moment of silence, Frozenfang asked, "Do you think this will all end someday?"

     Mousetail gave her a long, thoughtful stare. "I haven't thought about that. But if it does, I doubt you and I will be alive."

     Frozenfang shrugged. "Hopefully not. I want to see them get what they really deserve."

     "Saying rebellious things against them isn't going to help," Mousetail pointed out.

     Frozenfang sighed. "I know. I just . . . it makes me so mad that they hurt me and the cats I care about so much and I can't do anything to help," she meowed with such sadness it made Mousetail's heart heavy.

     "That must be hard, caring about cats from two Clans, and each of those Clans hate each other," Mousetail reflected.

     "It is. And having a friend that ran away is hard, too. Moonclaw was a best friend for a long time—since we were kits, even—before . . ." Frozenfang's words trailed away.

     "Before what?"

     "Before she found out I was lying to her," Frozenfang responded, not meeting her gaze. "I never forgave myself. She was so heartbroken after that day, and I don't think she has stopped thinking about it. Maybe she was glad she left, because so many cats in that Clan betrayed her."

     "Really? Why? She was one of them, wasn't she?"

     "By blood, yes. But not by heart. She was always different. Not just because of her powers, but because she was kind and cared about everyone, even FrostClan. And that didn't make many cats happy," Frozenfang explained. "She gave me hope for change. I'll never forget that."

     "How did you betray you?" Mousetail asked.

     Frozenfang looked at her, her eyes clouded with remorse.

     "If you prefer not to talk about it, that's fine," Mousetail told her quickly.

     "N-no, it's fine. I like talking about myself," Frozenfang added with forced cheerfulness. "My sister, Nightshade, who was a 'paw then, was in this group that wanted to find out what was 'wrong' with Moonclaw. I joined them just because I was a foolish apprentice and because Nightshade was there, too. I immediately regretted it. One night, when we all met with Whitestar, the leader before Sorrelstar, who was the leader before Cypressstar, Moonclaw overheard everything. She never forgave any of us after that."

     "Oh, Frozenfang, I'm so sorry," Mousetail murmured.

     Frozenfang flicked her tail dismissively. "Don't be. It won't fix anything. I'll live."

     "I know, but that's awful. Have you tried to make it up to her?"

     "I've tried, a long time ago, before she left, but every single time she didn't even bother to hear my entire apology. She always snapped at me and then walked away before I could answer. She hardly ever talked to me unless she needed to. The same thing went with her father, Shadowstrike, and Nightshade. She had a good reason not to talk to Nightshade, though. She's pure evil," Frozenfang meowed.

     "Why don't you try again?" Mousetail pressed.

     "We both lead totally different lives now. It's not any use. Besides, she keeps herself isolated from everyone now," Frozenfang responded sadly

     "She does? Huh. She seems really friendly," Mousetail said, tipping her head to one side.

     "I guess. I haven't talked to her since forever," Frozenfang replied. "I don't really want to try to talk to her again. Like I said, we've both moved on. I hardly believe she even thinks about me anymore."

     "Sure she does," Mousetail assured her. "The Gathering isn't too far from now. You can—"

     "I heard she went missing," Frozenfang interrupted her. "I doubt she's coming back anytime soon, never mind the next Gathering."

     "Oh." Mousetail looked at Frozenfang guiltily, knowing she was the one who provoked the gray she-cat's sadness. "Sorry." Mousetail and Frozenfang fell silent.

     Movement and sounds of paw steps from the camp entrance caught Mousetail's attention. She looked up and saw the patrol coming back in, Dovesong and Lynxstar at the head. Mousetail walked excitedly over to them and greeted Dovesong with joy. They touched their noses to one another's in greeting. The rest of the patrol separated. "I'm so glad you're okay! What happened when you were there?"

     Dovesong's eyes clouded, as if she didn't want to be reminded. "Do you remember Shadowheart? Tawnyflight's mate?"

     "Of course I remember Shadowheart," Mousetail replied. What had happened to Shadowheart? What did he have to do with this?

     "Cypressstar was angry that he was on my side, so he killed him. He said Shadowheart betrayed him and his Clan too many times. He used it as a threat, too, to get me to talk. It worked," Dovesong added grimly.

     "That's terrible! Why would he kill his own Clanmate?" Mousetail asked, her voice trembling.

     Dovesong shrugged. "Who knows why those crow-food-eaters do anything? Cypressstar is pure evil; I doubt he had any good reasons to kill Shadowheart. And I doubt he even buried him properly."

     "Have you told Spottedsong and her littermates?" Mousetail hated to think about Skystorm and how grief-stricken he would be when he got the news that his father died. "They didn't even know him, did they?"

     Dovesong shook her head sadly. "Do you want to tell Skystorm? I can tell Spottedsong and Cloudsky," she offered.

     "Sure." Mousetail's gaze drifted to where Spottedsong was leading Gorseberry, who was leaning heavily on her, toward the medicine den. "You should check in with them. What happened to Gorseberry, anyway? He looks fine to me."

     "I healed his flesh wounds, but the inside will take some time to heal," Dovesong explained. "We should both go."

     "Sure. Welcome back." Mousetail touched Dovesong's cheek with her nose with sisterly affection and join Skystorm, who was standing beside Cloudsky while Cloudsky greeted Frozenfang. "How was it, Skystorm?"

     Skystorm jumped a little before he turned around. "Hey. You scared me."

     Mousetail purred and touched her nose to his cheek as if to say I'm so glad you're okay. "That's okay. It could have been worse. How was it? I saw what happened to Gorseberry."

     "Yeah." Skystorm heaved a disappointed sigh. "It was bad. Luckily Dovesong was there to save him before we lost him. Though I think he's still not doing much better besides the fact that he's not bleeding anymore. That's the most important part."

     Mousetail held his gaze for a long time, knowing that she should tell him about Shadowheart. But she couldn't bring herself to do it. She didn't want to be the one to break his heart like that. "I'm glad no one else is hurt."

     "We got a few scratches, but I can live with that," Skystorm agreed. "Do you need to tell me something? You just have that look on your face."

     Of course I do. "I can tell you later. It would be terrible for you to get such news when you just got back from a life-threatening mission."

     Skystorm gazed into her eyes imploringly. "I don't care how terrible it is. You can't torture me like this!" he added dramatically.

     Mousetail flicked her tail over his muzzle teasingly. Are you sure about that? "Fine. You just have to promise not to make a huge deal out of it."

     "What? I would never," Skystorm told her with a sly smile.

     Seeing him so energetic made her even more guilty. How could she possibly tell him this without making him too sad? No, that wasn't possible. Shadowheart was his father. "Okay . . . Cloudsky needs to hear this, too," she added with a glance at the white tom.

     Cloudsky had overheard and looked over his shoulder curiously. "What do I need to hear?"

     Frozenfang looked at her curiously, too. Mousetail looked at each of the cats one at a time before she inhaled deeply and meowed, "Dovesong told me that your father, Shadowheart, was killed."

     Skystorm went silent, his eyes glazed over with immense sadness. Frozenfang looked at her paws while Cloudsky leaned on her miserably. The four cats didn't talk for a long time before Mousetail stepped forward and nuzzled Skystorm in an attempt to comfort him. "I'm sorry," she murmured. "I know you never knew him . . ."

     "Tawnyflight let us meet him when we were kits. I don't even remember his voice, but I remember how kind he was, how happy he was to see us. He would have been an amazing father," Skystorm explained quietly. "What happened to him?"

     "All Dovesong told me was Cypressstar killed him to get Dovesong to talk. And because Shadowheart was a traitor to MoonClan," Mousetail explained. "I doubt there was even a good reason for Cypressstar to kill him."

     "Yeah. Does Spottedsong know?" Skystorm asked.

     "Dovesong said she would tell her. I don't know if she has. Should we check?"

     Skystorm and Cloudsky both shook their heads. "Even if she hasn't been told, she still needs some space. She's devastated that Gorseberry could have died back there."

     "Sure. That's fine." Mousetail fell silent yet again, overwhelmed by her own grief and guilt. Every time another cat died, she thought: How can I live knowing that so many cats are dying and getting hurt because of that tyrant Clan?