Chapter 5

The cats were worried sick about Greenheart. She lied on the ground meowing in pain. "Oh Greenheart she's hurt! Wait, were's Puddlejump?! Is he ok?!" Flamelight exclaimed.

"I'm in here." Puddlejump amerged from a rabbit burrow. He shook out the twigs in his fur.

"Are you kidding me Puddlejump?!" Flamelight growled. "You freak! You didn't even fight!"

Puddlejump lowered his head in shame. Rivermist hissed at him.

Greenheart groaned. "Please. Help. I'm hurt." Greenheart was bleeding out.

"We must find herbs for Greenheart! Pebblestorm, come and help me find some for her." Rivermist said.

Pebblestorm and Rivermist set off to find some cob webs and marigolds.

"Maybe we should we should find a rose for Windpaw." Rivermist said. "He looked sweet and I'm sad he died. He was a strong kitty."

Pebblestorm nodded in agreement. The cats sniffed out for some herbs.

Pebblestorm meowed. It caught Rivermist's attention. "Come." Pebblestorm mewed. Rivermist followed him behind the shruby trees.

A beautiful lake with white sand was in Rivermist's sight. "Want some fish? We'll still get the herbs, but Moon said Greenheart should be okay now that her blood is clotting. Let's get some lunch." Pebblestorm said.

Rivermist's eyes glowed in happiness. She jumped into the lake excitedly and looked for fish. Pebblestorm followed and splashed her. Rivermist giggled and splashed him back.

"You look like a drowned mouse!" Pebblestorm joked.

Rivermist smiled and said, "I'm not the only one." She purred and swam under the crystal clear water.

Rivermist caught a slippery, fat salmon. Pebblestorm quickly navigated some cobweb and marigold and they carried it back to camp. Rivermist noticed Moon wasn't there.
"Where's Moonshadow?" Rivermist asked causally.

"She wants to go find a rose to put on Windpaw's grave." Heatherwhisker replied. After Heatherwhisker informed them that she used to be a medicine cat apprentice, she told them which herbs they needed to help Greenheart. She only knew a tiny bit about herbs. Rivermist watched Greenheart nervously.

"I'll be okay!" Greenheart croaked trying to sound cheerful. I'm sure she'll be fine... But I can't help but to be concerned! Moon arrived back with a big bright beautiful rose.

"How's Greenheart?" She asked as she sat down.

"Good but we still haven't decided where to bury Windpaw." Heatherwhisker answered.

"Oh! I have an idea. Let's bury him in Flameclan territory. Leaving him out here wouldn't seem right besides the Flameclan wouldn't mind since Moonshadow is a Flameclan cat!" Flamelight meowed. Moon flattened her ears slightly in surprise. Oh no... If only I could tell them I'm not a Flameclan cat!

"Uhm, great idea.. Flamelight." Rivermist meowed slowly. Puddlejump and Pebblestorm carried Windpaw as they trekked to Flameclan land.

"And Puddlejump. Don't do anything crazy with the body please." Heatherwhisker meowed annoyance in her tone.

"Aw, but I wanted to throw it in the lake to see if it would float!" Puddlejump whined. Heatherwhisker rolled her eyes and growled. Rivermist was too worried to laugh at Puddlejump's stupidity right now. What if a patrol of Flameclan cats find us? They know Moon isn't a clan cat! She's always been a rogue.

Moon stared down at her paws as they entered Flameclan territory. Flamelight was suporting Greenheart from toppling over. Finally they found a good piece of Flameclan land to bury Windpaw. Heatherwhisker and Moon began to dig.

"Wait guys. Flameclan border patrol. Nearby." Rivermist warned.

"Why would it matter? If they do catch us, we'll just explain what happened. Besides, Moonshadow is a Flameclan cat!" Flamelight said.

Moon shuddered and continued to dig.

Littlefeather saw the cats digging in the distance and came to investigate.

"Hey you! What are you doing on Flameclan territory?!" Littlefeather growled. Moon's heart froze she felt a numb rage come over as she saw the Flameclan deputy. Darkthistle, Frostpaw, Scorchclaw, and Aspenpaw quickly ran over to join Littlefeather.

"Um hi. I'm Rivermist of Sunclan. We got in a fight with rogues and we found your apprentince!" she meowed awkwardly. "Unfortunately the leader rogue killed him. We are very sorry. We knew he was from Flameclan, so we wanted to bury him here."

"Do you expect us to believe that? Alright, if that's true do you have a Flameclan cat with you to prove it?" Little feather asked. Besides Windpaw's dead body? Moon thought.

"Yes! We have Moonshadow right here!" Flamelight chimed in. She flicked her tail in Moon's direction and Rivermist buried her face in her paw. Littlefeather's eyes looked over Moon. Moon held her breath.

"That's not a Flameclan cat! We exiled her a few moons ago! She's a rogue!" Darkthistle hissed. Frostpaw nodded her agreement. Littlefeather didn't say anything but Moon could see the anger in his blue eyes. Littlefeather lashed his tail.

"What do you mean?!" Heatherwhisker growled. "Moonshadow wouldn't lie."

Moon flicked her ear in surprise. If any cat had stood up for her we wouldn't have expected it to be Heatherwhisker!

"Oh really. Well then MoonSHADOW. Tell them the truth." Littlefeather growled shoving his muzzle closer to her face aggressively. Moon opened her mouth as if to say something but no words came out. Everyone looked at her expecting an answer. Oh sure, I'm a Flameclan cat. I'm not though.

"How dare you lie to me!"Greenheart growled. "How disrespectful to a Clan Deputy and to all of us! You are a fool and now you have put all of us in danger!"

"I'm..... I'm sorry guys. How could I tell you?" Moon whimpered. She flattened her ears guiltily.

"I thought I could trust you! I thought you were a friend after saving me from Rowan but now... I'm not so sure." Heatherwhisker snapped. Puddlejump nodded defiantly though Moon was sure Puddlejump didn't really know what was going on.

"You should know better Moon!" Flamelight yelled. Rivermist said nothing but flattened her ears and lowered her head not daring to look at Moon. How could they change their mind about me so easily? Did they even care at all before?

"You shouldn't be here Moon! This is Flameclan territory. I had to drive you out once and I'm not afraid to do it again!" Littlefeather hissed. Darkthistle unsheathed his claws and Frostpaw unsheathed her claws hesitantly.

"Let us fight Aspenpaw. You're too young to fight." Scorchclaw mumered to his apprentice quietly.

"But I want to drive the nasty rogue from our territory." Aspenpaw growled back to his mentor. Moon felt a sharp pang of grief. These cats used to be her clanmates. How can I fight them? Then again Littlefeather never cared if a cat was his clanmate or not. He just kills.

"Alright then. Let's do this!" Moon yelled angrily at Littlefeather. Littlefeather instantly sprang at Moon knocking her flat down scratching her flank. Moon lunged forward and grabbed his neck in her jaws. Littlefeather struggled and blindly swiped at her face. Moon lost the grip on his neck and began to scratch at his eyes. She ripped out one of his eyes and Littlefeather jumped off her yowling, stumbling backwards.

"An eye for an eye." Moon purred. Heatherwhisker was in combat with Scorchclaw. Puddlejump was trying to beat Aspenpaw, but of course, he kept slipping on leaves. Flamelight was trying to defend Greenheart from any swiping claws. Pebblestorm and Rivermist were side by side fighting off Frostpaw and Darkthistle. Littlefeather jumped over Moon and lunged at Greenheart. He knocked Flamelight out of the way and ripped Greenheart's stomach back open. Greenheart looked horrified and blood sprayed everywhere. Greenheart's eyes flickered.

"I don't want to die!" She screamed her voice full of agonizing pain. Then she fell limp and stopped breathing. Littlefeather triumphantly lashed his tail.

Darkthistle hissed and clawed Rivermist's flank. Rivermist hissed and bit him. Pebblestorm attacked Darkthistle's tail as it whipped back and forth.

Puddlejump rolled in the mud and tried to spray mud all over Aspenpaw. He backed away in disgust and confusion.

Littlefeather slashed his claws at Moon and left a large bleeding wound on her flank. She winced and stumbled back. Then, she stood up again and glared at Littlefeather.

"This is for Eaglekit!" Moon screeched. She slashed her claws at Littlefeather's face. Then she felt the same sensation as she did in the rogue fight. She felt another cat beside her fighting Littlefeather, but no one was there. This time though it was a happy feeling it gave her, instead of a dark feeling. It was as if sunshine was shining brightly on her heart.

"Eaglekit." She whispered. Without seeing her brother she knew the small kit was beside her right there just as he always was. She felt a rush of guilt and sorrow for her lost brother. Littlefeather kept attacking her but everytime he got a good swipe in she would dodge. She swiped her claws forward and pinned down Littlefeather. Her claws rested on his neck. If she dug her claws into his neck it would be a fatal blow. She felt blind rage simmer over. Her claws began to tighten their grip. Littlefeather's eyes flashed pleadingly. Blood began to drip out of his neck. The she stopped. Littlefeather hadn't had mercy for Eaglekit but she did have mercy in her heart. She let Littlefeather go. The tom quickly scrambled to his paws.

"Flameclan! Retreat!" Littlefeather yelled. The group of Flameclan cats quickly dashed away into the trees but before Littlefeather rushed away he paused for just a second.

"You Sunclan cats will regret this." He snarled and then he scurried away. Moon instantly hurried over to Greenheart's dead body.

"G-Greenheart?" Flamelight whispered. No cat dared to breath. There was an icy silence in the clearing. Finally, Pebblestorm dipped his head.

"She is dead." He mewed quietly breaking the silence. Rivermist lowered her head too.

"Oh Greenheart... She didn't deserve to die like this..." Heatherwhisker moaned remorse in her tone.

"This is all your fault! If you had told the truth in the first place then Greenheart wouldn't have died!" Flamelight screeched. Moon flattened her ears.

"You don't deserve to be in this group." Heatherwhisker added in. I didn't mean for this to happen...

"It's her fault Windpaw died too. She was standing next to Rowan. She could've stopped him but when have rogues shown any compassion for a clan cat?" Flamelight growled. Is this all they think of me? Just a rogue?

She looked around at the cats. Surely someone would stand up for her. She glanced at Flamelight but she still had rage in her expression. Heatherwhisker? The calico she-cat only growled. Puddlejump? Even the dumb cat seemed to have lowered his head. Pebblestorm? The tom just looked down at his paws. What about Rivermist? Certainly she will! Moon was shocked that when she looked at Rivermist the she-cat wouldn't meet her gaze. She simply stared at the ground in sorrow.

"I..... I couldn't tell you. I wanted to help Icepaw..." Moon trailed off helplessly.

"Then where is Icepaw? He isn't here last time I checked." Heatherwhisker snarled.

"Yeah!" Puddlejump added.

"You should be ashamed of yourself. We trusted you." Flamelight hissed.

"Yes!" Puddlejump agreed.

"Puddlejump, hush!" Rivermist whispered to Puddlejump. Annoyance flashed in her blue eyes.

They're right. It is my fault... I shouldn't have lied. In fact I shouldn't have gone at all... I'm a danger to this group.

"You're right. You deserve an explantion but please. Listen open-mindedly. Moons ago I lived in Flameclan with my littermate, Eaglekit. My parents had died right after Eaglekit was born so I had to take care of him. Then one day Eaglekit fell ill with green cough. He just couldn't shake off the sickness! Our medicine cat had died recently so there wasn't a medicine cat to take care of him. I tried to help him but I couldn't. I had to watch him slowly die. Each day it got worse. Littlefeather begged me to leave him and move on. I refused to leave my brother though. A moon later Littlefeather said this was the last time he was going to say it. I would either start helping my clan and continue my training as an apprentice or he would force me to leave. I didn't believe him. Then he marched away got the clan leader and got me in trouble! They told me to go on patrol or I would be kicked out of the clan. I decided if I had to because if I weren't there who would take care of Eaglekit? While I was hunting, Littlefeather took Eaglekit from the medicine den and decided to put the kit out of his misery. He convinced him to go 'swimming' in the lake. Eaglekit wanted to make me proud so he decided he would. I came just in time to see Eaglekit drown. I was so mad at Littlefeather! I tried to attack him but he rushed back to camp and told the clan leader that I has murdered Eaglekit and had tried to kill him too. Honeystar believed him and she banished me from Flameclan. There wasn't anything I could do. I'm sorry I thought it would be best if you didn't know I was a rogue..." Moon finally finished. She glanced around at the other cats.

"Leave. Now." Heatherwhisker snarled, her gaze cold. Moon was quiet for a few heart-beats then dipped her head and bounded off.

Rivermist started to chase her. "Moon!" she yelled. But Pebblestorm stopped her.

"Sorry. You have to let her go." He murmured.

Rivermist was depressed after seeing the rogue leave. She had grown attached to her even after a few days. Who would've guessed she would like a rogue so much? But no one else agreed with Rivermist. They were bitter and were glad that Moon had left. Even without Moon and Greenheart, the cats had to press on. Icepaw desperately needed rescued. All they had to do was find Rowan.