I never thought that I would have kits so soon after my warrior ceremony. Especialy with Tigerheart. My دل has been always looking up onto Bumblestripe since I left Tigerheart. But I had never realized that I had stayed with Tigerheart for too long. His face always popped up into my mind.

It was the time where Dawnpelt gave her thoughts about Jayfeather, accusing him of murder. This made me مزید nervous then ever, and I couldn't possibly understand why Tigerheart agreeded whith her. Yes, they were littermates, but when Tigerheart had warned her about the threat before the Gathering, he کہا he didn't agree. He didn't sound like he was lying at the Gathering though, so this is what I did next.


It was two nights after the Gathering, and I opened my eyes to find a dark night await me. Ivypool squirmed uncomfortably in her sleep while she was training in the Dark Forest. A chill went down my spine. Bumblestripe lay in his nest looking very comfortable, murmuring things in his sleep. As I padded out of the apprentice ماند, خلوت خانہ I thought I heard Bumblestripe say my name. I shook my head, he must really like me to say my name in his sleep, I thought.

Icecloud was on gaurd outside. I trotted up to her and meowed, "I want to do some night hunting, would آپ like some thing?" Icecloud, nodded gratefully and I padded out into the stilness of the woods.

I let my senses reach out and let my eyes scan around. I headed toward the ShadowClan border since that is where most of the prey has been lately. I found a nest of a robin where there were three little chicks with a mother bird.

I pelted through the undergrowth, noticing the distance between the nest and I were getting closer together. I past the stump meaning I only had a short way to run. I slowly crept into the undergrowth and hid myself from any weary prey.

A bird call sounded and three مزید followed, smaller though. Then silence followed. I felt my eyes widen in disbelief, those were my birds! I cast out my senses to see who had caught the birds. A familiar head looked up from his kill. It was Tigerheart, he looked up at the sky as if he knew I was watching him.

Quickly Tigerheart scooped up his fresh kill and bounded toward the border. I pelted foward, rage making my دل پمپ wildly. He was just up ahead, and in veiw.

I leaped onto his back and pinned him down. A soft sigh sounded, "Dovewing! I'm so glad to see you! We need to talk." I stared down to see a face with green eyes. A face with green eyes that were filled with tender love.

I felt my دل melt at his gaze. My paws slid down his back, and I looked at him joyfully. Then I looked at the prey beside him, and I rememberedd how he stood up for Dawnpelt at the Gathering. My دل turned icy cold.

I slashed out at him, claws unsheathed. I aimed a blow at his shoulder, it started to bleed but it was only a scratch. He doubled back and whimpered in pain. They way I acted probably hurt him مزید than the scratch.I stood over him and growled. In my mind I thought of all those nights I spent with him, and how he betrayed it just to agree with his sister. Even though he knew it wasn't true.

"Why did آپ agree with Dawnpelt at the Gathering?" I snarled. He fidgeted away from me towards the درخت and started to lick at the scratch on his shoulder. "You wouldn't believe me when I tried to warn you. I felt myself being swept with grief." His eyes hardened, "I went onto the lake ساحل to rest one night before the Gathering. And there آپ were, with another tom, chasing each other. Chasing each other the way آپ and I did when we were at the abandoned house. I thought I lost آپ forever, so I sided سے طرف کی my sister."

He paused to look at me to see if it was enough. I sat a tail length away and stared at him. I started to realize why Tigerheart sided with Dawnpelt, and how I regretted my night with Bumblestripe. He must be دل broken, I thought. But something told me I needed to get مزید out of him.

"Then why are آپ here, why do آپ still care?" My دل thumped wildly in my chest as I waited for an awnswer. He finished licking the wound I gave him and he padded اگلے to me. "It was because I hadn't had a moment where I didn't think of آپ ever since. I realized that آپ must of thought the same way when I noticed your face. آپ looked half grief-stricken at the Gathering." His soft eyes were inches from my face, "I realized that آپ still care about me."

I looked at him and felt my دل leap for joy. All this time, we had still loved each other, but we thought we were done with us. I brushed my muzzle against his cheek. "I do still care about you," I whispered.

Tigerheart purred loudly, and together we started wandering,fur brushing, going anywhere. I saw the scent line of ShadowClan and thought about my own Clan. The trees rustled over head and I looked up startled. It was only a سٹارلنگ, مینا flying away. Beside me Tigerheart gave a mreow of laughter. "Scared of a bird Dovewing? It's hard to get آپ scared." Tigerheart glanced at me, "So where are we going?"

I let my senses reach out and let it travel to the abandoned twoleg nest. I searched the area to see if anyone was around. A scuffle behind a plank of wood made me turn around. A pair of glowing green eyes looked out from the shadows. I gasped and came back to Tigerheart and he looked at me with concern. "Is everything all right?" He asked.

I nodded but in my head a wind of whipping thoughts chased eachother in my head. How had Ivypool gotten there so fast? How did she know to go there? Why had she gone there? I slowly looked up at the trees.

That سٹارلنگ, مینا didn't fly because it saw me and Tigerheart, it saw Ivypool. I looked at the sky through the branches. It was منٹ before dawn. Tigerheart seemed to notice the sky too and nodded in agreement. "That is why آپ gasped, the sun is nearly up. Well, goodbye Dovewing, same place tomarrow?" I nodded and watched him leave to his own side of the border. When he was out of ThunderClan territory, I began climbing the درخت where the سٹارلنگ, مینا flew away and instantly got a fresh whiff of Ivypool's scent.

I rememebred a training lesson that I had with Ivypool when we were apprentices. We were learning how to navigate through the trees. Ever since then Ivypool has been using it at every advantage. Even jumping ou of a درخت to catch prey in the air. Quickly I began to let my feet flow like the river, just gliding siletnly.

I began to reach the abandoned house and saw her crouching low in the shadows. I began to lightly peek down through a gap in the roof, thank StarClan there was only a claw of the moon out tonight, یا my shadow would have been so easy to find.

Slowly I picked my way across the branches until I found a branch that was stepping distance to the roof. I began to pad onto the rough and found it was easier to have my claws sheathed, unlike most wood. I padded toward the gap and peered down, I let my senses help me hear with that insane muttering.

"She should know the truth about Tigerheart, she should know! All he is is some little peice of بانگ food who did something to make them happy. Taking some ones herbs ins't a happy thing. If Dovewing and Tigerheart hadn't been in love in the first place, we would have never had to get rid of the cat mint. And he also made Firestar loose a life when he lied to his Clan about how ThunderClan was going to take over that-" Ivypool stopped babbling and looked up. She saw me, and I guess she saw the look of shock on my face.

I looked down at her suspicously, "What was that all about? Who is 'them'?" Ivypool jumped from her corner in the shadows and used the planks to come stand اگلے to me. "I didn't want to tell آپ myself. But, oh StarClan let her believe me." She looked down at me, and I actually saw sympathy in her eyes. Not the eyes that were always sleepy یا shocked, یا petrified. Just pure sympathy. Well, okay, not pure sympathy, they had a spark of anger. "Dovewing, I didn't want to tell you. But Tigerheart goes to the Dark Forest."

It took a couple of moments to let it sink in. As soon as it did a wave of emotions hit me. Ivypool seemed to have sensed this and lightly touched her tail to my sholder. "I know آپ are very upset about this Dovewing but-" I drew my self away from her and cried, "You don't understand what it is like to love somebody from the Dark Forest!"

I turned around to try to grab a branch. I grasped onto a branch, when my vision blurred, and I only saw a brown smudge for a trees. I struggled to grab a tree. "Dovewing, don't cry." I shut her out and groped on the rest of the branch. I felt my fore paws grab the تنے, ٹرنک and I clung, to it, and made my way down. I could hear the sounds of claws against bark. But I continued on.

When had Tigerheart started his training in the Dark Forest? The thud of my paws echoed through my head. Thud, thud, thud, thud. Did Ivypool know how much pain that would cause me? Thud, thud, thud, thud. I should have never let myself get swayed for those couple of seconds. Thud, thud, thud, thud. I came into a small grassy clearing. "Dovewing!" Ivypool's cry rang into my head. An abandoned لومڑی ماند, خلوت خانہ beside a درخت was ahead and I ducked into it. Ivypool streaked past.

I sat down inside the ماند, خلوت خانہ and curled up. I closed my eyes and thought, oh StarClan, what am I going to do?

Sunlight bathed into the entrance of the abandoned لومڑی den. Sleepily, I opened he eyes. It was dawn. I jumped to my feet, banging my head on on the سب, سب سے اوپر of the den, but I didn't care. I have to go to camp! I've spent the entire night out here! I thought. I ran out of the hole and used my powers to scan back to camp.

She was zooming threw the forest, when Bumblestripe's voice stopped her. "Dovewing has to be here somewhere! She would never let herself be taken سے طرف کی a Shadow Clan patrol!" Beside Bumblestripe was Ivypool, craning in her neck into every nook and cranny around her. Bumblestripe sniffed suddenly at the ground furiously, and beckoned Ivypool with his tail. Bumblestripe stepped back and let Ivypool smell. She lifted her nose. "Dovewing went that way." Ivypool meowed, nodding her head towards a thickened area of juniper bushes and a clump of borage. Bumblestripe raced though the bushes, and Ivypool went hard on her paws behind him.

I stopped my senses and came back to where I stood at the mouth of the لومڑی den. I was happy to know that they were looking for me. But I was also worried about all the سوالات Bumblestripe would be sure to ask.

A bird call sounded, and a flock of birds flew up into the sky though the branches. The vibration of pounding feet echoed in the ground, thankfully it was not as loud as it was when Icecloud had nearly died in the hole. Bushes rustled to my left, and I realized they were right behind the swath of leaves and quickly ducked deep to the back of the den. I laid down and slapped my tail over her nose. I closed my eyes and pricked up my ears for sound. I then decided to peak my eyes out from behind my tail, what harm could that do?

Bumblestripe burst out of the bushes, nose hard to the ground. His face was covered in گھاس when he sat in the center of the clearing. He shook his head and wiped off the remaining blades of گھاس with his paws. He looked around as Ivypool stalked out of a clump of bushes.

"She is in this clearing, it comes to a dead end here." Bumblestripe explained. Ivypool came up beside Bumblestripe. She sniffed the air and the گھاس for my scent. "She could've jumped off this path." Bumblestripe nodded in agreement, "I'll start checking the edges of the clearing on that side." Bumblestripe flicked his tail to the opposite side of the clearing from where I was, "You can do the other side." Ivypool bobbed her head and sniffed around as Bumblestripe bounded away.

Dovewing sat up, careful not to make too much movement. She creeped up to the entrance of the abandoned ماند, خلوت خانہ and stuck her tail out a pebble size far. "Ivypool!" I hissed through gritted teeth as softly as I could. I heard paw steps and Ivypool peaked into the den. "Dovewing!" She meowed, "I'm so sorry about last night, I never thought it would mean so much if I told you."

I tucked my tail back to me and padded to the back of the den. She is a sister, I thought, and sisters shouldn't say those things. She knew I loved him, she knew it would cause me heartbreak, yet, she did it. "Yeah right!" I replied. Ivypool came اگلے to me, "I'm sorry that I did that, but آپ can keep seeing him, right? I mean, he hasn't ever hurt you." I thought about this, then sighed, "You got me there. I'll come out."

I turned back to the light of the clearing and began my way to the entrance of the abandoned den. Ivypool rushed in front of me, "But for doing everything last night آپ must fling yourself a Bumblestripe." I went pushed my way around her, "I'll jump onto is tail from behind, and say 'got you'. Is that okay?" Ivypool nodded and I slowly made my way out of the den.

I jumped onto the درخت above the den, and slowly climbed up, trying not to make a single sound. When I reached a sturdy branch that had plenty of leaves to camouflage me, Ivypool crawled out. Bumblestripe lifted his head from some ferns, "Have آپ found her yet?" He called. Ivypool flicked her tail, "No" she lied. Bumblestripe sighed and went back to sniffing.

I slowly began to creep along the branches. The branch shifted over to another branch from another tree, and i slowly crept along that branch. I stopped near the beginning of the branch and hooked onto the tree, slowly I went to the other side of the tree, so he wouldn't see me as I scuttle down the tree.

I came up behind him. I pounced. Bumblestripe gave a squeal.
TO BE CONTINUED...