"What a mouse-brained mistake for your kittypet friend to make. She talks too much for her own good."

Rowanpaw side-stepped out of the slanted falling rainwater, her footfalls sending up splashes in the swelling puddles underpaw. Her tail lashed as she stood tall in front of the medicine cat's den.

"I was right. Hah, I was right!" She laughed with glee, throwing her head back so that her pointy white teeth flashed.

"I knew you were hiding something. Other cats act like I'm stupid, but I knew you two were lying!

Enjoy the few minutes you have left to soak up the sunbeams, Crescentsky. You won't be the clan's perfect little warrior anymore, now will you?"

Her yellow eyes were splenetic. Great Starclan. Not her of all cats. Rowanpaw will do her best to cause a scene. Dread flushed her pelt.

"You two look pathetic right now. Good luck lying your way out of this one like you did when you 'protected the camp walls.'" She was still aiming her words at Crescentsky and Tinyflame.

"And some cats act like you're the saviors of the clans, pffaw!"

The clay enclave that was the medicine den stood shiny and wet behind the chestnut she-cat. Crescentsky had nearly forgotten it was raining. She stood there in shock, not knowing what to do. Not knowing the best way to silence her.

"How should we stop her...?" She mumbled at Tinyflame, but Rowanpaw was so close that she could easily overhear.

"It's either that, or we let her tell on us."

"Let me?" The chestnut she-cat curled her lip.

"You can't 'let me' do anything. I'll do what I want. And by the way, Crescentsky looks like a drowned rat that's died and come back to life again."

There was a complacent smirk growing more and more obvious on Rowanpaw's face, and within a few heartbeats she had said her final word.

"Bye."

The russet-brown she-cat dashed off, leaving the others standing there in shock.

"Get her! Stop her!" Tinyflame snapped, then lowered her volume.

"She's going to tell some cat!" Crescentsky hissed.

"She'll tell Jadestar and Sootface first. Or worse, Quietdew!" Cheetah exclaimed, haring off with her paws kicking up dirt.

Tinyflame and Crescentsky didn't stand there any longer. They took off after Rowanpaw's rapidly-fading scent-trail.

Crescentsky was surprised when it led straight past the warriors den and into the forest. She pulled up beside the others, gasped "She's telling a cat that's out in the forest!" then raced on.

"Maybe a patrol," Cheetah yowled, but the Riverclan tabby didn't waste any breath in replying. She had to reach Rowanpaw in time.

Her chest was already heaving. Her paws were struggling for the muster to keep running.

I never got those herbs. Thanks a lot, Rowanpaw! She growled out loud, lifting her head to scan the rises and dips of the land surrounding. Cheetah and Tinyflame's blurred forms slipped in and out of the trees beside her. They were keeping pace easily.

They soon lost Rowanpaw's scent-trail. The air was humid while the earth was moist and peaty. Out in the willow tree woodland, between the rivers on their territory- plants smelled sharper and richer than in camp; where the verdure from the onset of leaf-fall lay sprawling and yellow-browned.

Crescentsky cursed as her shoulders worked to slow and turn her pawsteps.

"The scent's no good," she snapped, anxiety plaguing her tone.

"Split up! Keep running until you find her!" She ordered.

What does Rowanpaw even expect to gain? Attention like some little newborn kit would want? Satisfaction at seeing us thrown out?

Just for the sake of drama, probably. I still don't know why she hates us. Crescentsky's tail managed to lash while she feverishly searched, suppressing the urge to give up. Her one good hindleg was wobbling.

I can only assume jealousy. And that's so petty.

She had no more time to wonder as she stumbled upon the she-cat, overtaking her as she attempted a quick stop. Both of them slid past one another, paws slipping on the wet leaves.

Rowanpaw found her footing first, trying to escape up the side of a gully to no avail. Wind rushed into Crescentsky's ears as she lept on top of her littermate.

The chestnut apprentice broke free but was tripped by Crescentsky's outstretched paws. The tabby-and-white warrior shoved her back down by the shoulders.

Rowanpaw yowled and scratched at her belly. The sting of her raking claws was nothing compared to the anguish surging through Crescentsky's infectious wound. She slammed her entire body against Rowanpaw's, skull ringing as she thrusted them both against the gully wall.

"Just let me up, you stinking furball!" Rowanpaw caught one of Crescentsky's ear-tips, ripping it.

"Use your claws, Crescentkit! Why won't you use your claws?" Rowanpaw taunted as she gained the upper paw and surged forward. Crescentsky fought to pin her again.

"Just stop!" She tried to rake her back claws against Rowanpaw's flanks in warning, but the angle was too awkward. Rowanpaw kicked hard into her belly again, laughing.

Winded, the breath whooshed from Crescentsky's lungs. But she kept her forepaws up and shoving.

"Why are you telling the clan? Tell me! Why do you hate us? We were going to tell the clan ourselves!" She hissed into her sister's face.

"Just be still and talk to me," Crescentsky had just enough time to get the words out before Rowanpaw flung her off. She couldn't find any real purchase without her front claws. The tabby warrior skidded backward into some nettle stems, and as they brushed against her face she cowered away, spitting.

"No. You're going to be exposed now! You've always been-."

Rowanpaw trailed off as some swampgrass stems rustled above their heads. Both she-cats craned their necks as a cat stepped to the edge of the embankment.

The cat was obscured by a sheen of sideway-falling rain. They bunched their shoulders in order to jump down.

"Lagoonstripe!" Crescentsky realized who it was a moment later. She wrenched her paws up and out of the sucking mud.

The experienced Riverclan warrior dropped her prey. "I was just on my way back from collecting my catch. What is going on here?"

Both sisters had disheveled fur that was streaked with ruddy-brown mud. Some of it was being washed away by the steady downpour, but Crescentsky could feel a thick swathe caked along her belly. And a blobby clot of it stuck was behind one ear.

"You two look awful. Especially Crescentsky. Your eyes are practically glazed over."

Every cat keeps saying how horrid I look. But all I can think about is how I feel it. She blinked slowly and stepped away from Rowanpaw. That squabble had drained the last of her energy.

"Well... We were arguing-" the Riverclan warrior tried to explain, her chest heaving as she calmed down.

"NO! She's lying again," Rowanpaw interrupted, her voice high and indignant.

"And I found out why she lies so much."

Lagoonstripe's emerald eyes flattened with boredom. They nearly matched the thriving evergreen shrubs all around them.

"Enlighten me, then." It was clear that the silver tabby didn't believe her.

"Cheetah said that Crescentsky has no claws! And from how they were talking, Tinyflame doesn't either. There was also some 'other thing,' but Tinyflame cut Cheetah off before she could finish. They were trying to hide it, that's why."

"Why were you even at the medicine cat's den? Were you spying on us?" Crescentsky couldn't resist a growl.

"I was not!" Rowanpaw snapped indignantly. "I was trying to ask Tinyflame if she had seen Vixeneye in her Starclan dream or not. I want to know if our mother is still alive."

Crescentsky couldn't find an answer. She didn't even know if their mother deserved Starclan, considering how she had abandoned the clans and her kits of her own free will. Who cares?

When the pattering rain was coupled with only silence, Rowanpaw went on harshly.

"Does this mean she can't be a warrior?"

Lagoonstripe was patiently waiting for them to finish. Her eyes had grown round with confusion.

When it was clear that Rowanpaw was done speaking, she turned and looked over at Crescentsky, whiskers dripping.

"Is this all true? I never took you and Tinyflame as the imaginative type, Crescentsky. What is real and what is lies?"

"You'll see when I'm proven right! Just hold her down and look. She couldn't even scratch me when we fought," Rowanpaw snarled.

"No cat ever believes me-" she began fuming, but Lagoonstripe raised her tail for silence.

Crescentsky tried to stand up straight. Her tail was twitching uneasily.

Lagoonstripe stands beside Jadestar as the highest authority in camp right now. What will she say, as Riverclan's acting leader? Would she throw Crescentsky out?

She thought she knew her well enough to assume that she wouldn't, but this type of circumstance was unheard of.

"I need to hear it from Crescentsky herself. Tell me the truth."

Her paws were nearly shaking as her heart raced with anticipation. "I-well, it's true, yes. I don't have any claws. They were taken out when we were captured by that Twoleg just under a moon ago. Tinyflame and I have been hiding it since then..."

Crescentsky wanted to gauge Lagoonstripe's reaction in-between speaking, but a forced ache began to close up her throat. She had to say what she wanted to say, and fast.

"I'm sorry. Just please don't do anything to Tinyflame. Let her stay as she is. She said she's actually happy to fulfill such an important role. She said she never thought she was worthy of getting such a high position in the clan, especially without her claws. My sister thought she was doomed to the sidelines. She said she doesn't have the talent and the confidence, but she does! She said Starclan told her that she does! So don't take that away from her!" Crescentsky's voice grew sharp and desperate.

"I-you can't throw us out. You won't!" Her tone hardened until the tabby warrior felt she would snarl in fury. But that wouldn't come out either, and so Crescentsky just ended in an awkward emotional choking sound.

"Rebellion won't help you now!" Rowanpaw snickered, but she hardly heard her. The Riverclan warrior was watching Lagoonstripe through apprehensive slitted eyes.