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Description
"Great StarClan, what happened to you?" Nightfall gasped.
A while ago, Fireheart and Greystripe had been given their own apprentices - Cinderpaw and Brackenpaw. Longtail had also been given another apprentice, named Swiftpaw.
Greystripe and Fireheart padded towards her, and Greystripe was soaked to the skin.
"He fell through the ice in the river," Fireheart rolled his eyes. "He had to be pulled out by a RiverClan cat!"
"Clumsy," Nightfall purred, licking at Greystripe's sodden fur.
"I was ch-chasing after a vole," Greystripe shivered, pressing against her. "And I d-didn't realise how the-thin the ice was."
"Thanks for that," Nightfall muttered, as the river water started to soak into her own pelt. "Go on, go see Yellowfang. I'm she'll have something better than my fur to warm you up."

A few days later, Nightfall was out hunting with Longtail and Swiftpaw. She'd gone off in search of a mouse she could smell, and soon she spotted it among the roots of a tree.
Sliding instinctively into the hunter's crouch, she stalked through the undergrowth towards it. She was just about to pounce on the mouse when the bushes rustled and it ran off. A ginger cat burst through the leaves.
"Fireheart?" Nightfall tutted, rolling her eyes. "You just scared off that mouse! It was the first prey I'd found all morning."
"Sorry," Fireheart said sheepishly. "But have you seen Greystripe?"
"I thought he was back in camp," Nightfall shrugged. "Recovering from that cold he got from falling in the river."
Fireheart shook his head. "He's not there now. I was following a scent trail."
Nightfall raised an eyebrow. She hadn't noticed Greystripe's scent. She lifted her head and tasted the air. "You're right," she gasped. She must've been too intent on tracking the mouse to notice. "I think he went that way," she looked in the direction of the scent, towards the river. "Maybe he wanted another swim."
"I doubt it," Fireheart shook his head. "You know how thick his fur is. He hates getting it wet."
"Fair point," Nightfall shrugged. "Well, I'll leave you to go cat-hunting. I'm gonna try and hunt down that mouse."

Later, Nightfall padded into the camp with a rabbit and the mouse. Brackenpaw was lying outside the apprentice's den so she padded over and dumped the rabbit at his paws.
"Have the elders eaten yet?"
Brackenpaw shook his head.
"Here you go, take them this," she nudged the rabbit towards him. "It'll save you going to the fresh-kill pile first."
"Thanks, Nightfall," he mewed, and grasped the rabbit in his jaws.
I wonder how he's faring since Greystripe's stuck here in camp with a cold, she thought. Or is he?
She ate the mouse, buried the remaining bones, and then headed into the warriors den. Greystripe was curled up on the far side, his breathing slightly ragged. His eyes opened a slit as she curled up next to him.
"I'm surprised you're still tired after resting up all day," she commented, waiting for a reaction.
"This cold's leaving me drained," he murmured, shifting slightly in his nest, then closing his eyes and falling back asleep.
"He must be tired," Nightfall muttered under her breath, before resting her head on her paws.

Storm clouds loomed ominously overhead as Nightfall ran. She had no idea where she was, but it seemed somewhat familiar. She was running up the side of a small valley. Thunder boomed behind her, but as she tried to look back she realised that she couldn't. Nor could she stop running. Then the whole sky lit up as a lightning bolt hit the ground behind her.
Her fur bristling with shock, Nightfall jolted awake.
It was pitch black. No storm, no valley, just lots of sleeping cats. She was back in the warriors den.
That's when she noticed Greystripe brushing his way out of the entrance. She was abut to call out to him, when she realised he looked edgy. It had been a few days since he'd supposedly been missing from camp and she was curious as to where he was going.
Making sure she didn't disturb any of the sleeping cats - especially Fireheart - she crept over to the entrance of the den and peered outside.
Greystripe had vanished.
Maybe there's just an innocent explanation, Nightfall thought to herself, squeezing out between the brambles. Then, tasting the air and realising his scent was headed for the nursery, she changed her mind. Maybe not. Where's he going?
She padded over to the nursery and sniffed. Greystripe had gone behind it. Trying not to make any of the ferns rustle as she did so, she squeezed through and noticed a gap in the barrier.
A secret way out! her suspicions grew. She climbed through the whole and set off along the scent trail.

Not long after she'd left camp, Greystripe's trail led to a patch of strong-smelling ferns.
"Trying to disguise your scent, huh?" Nightfall muttered. "Good thing I can still follow the stench of these."
She followed the strong herb smell until she reached the sandy clearing. She doubted Greystripe would've taken Bracken paw out for training, especially not in the middle of the night or by sneaking out of camp. She considered to herself for a moment as to where he could be going.
The river? Why is he always going off there? I didn't know he wanted to learn to swim.
She continued along the path, following more her eyes than sense of smell. As she came close to Sunningrocks, she heard some voices.
One of them sounded like Greystripe. She couldn't hear what he or the other voice was saying, but he sounded happy.
And that's when she realised the other voice seemed vaguely familiar. Whoever it was, they weren't from ThunderClan - and it sounded like a she-cat.
Not even thinking, Nightfall burst through the undergrowth and out into the clearing.
"Greystripe!" she wailed.
Immediately the grey warrior span round from where he had been sitting with a silver she-cat, his eyes wide with horror. "Nightfall!?"
The other cat just flattened her ears to her head defensively. Nightfall recognised her an instant.
"Silverstream?" she gasped, remembering her from gatherings. "You… you've been sneaking off to see a RiverClan cat?"
Greystripe, still frozen to the spot, said nothing.
"But… but… how could you!?" she cried, not sure whether she sounded angry or upset. "It's against the warrior code!"
"You won't… you won't tell anyone, will you?" Silverstream asked nervously.
Nightfall didn't reply, but she could feel the fur along her spine bristling in fury.
"You wouldn't dare," Greystripe gaped.
"Why shouldn't I?" Nightfall flicked her tail.
Greystripe jumped forward, his claws sliding out and his fur bristling till he was almost twice his size. Nightfall jumped and backed up against a tree in shock.
"Nightfall, if you tell anyone about this…" he snarled. "I swear I'll kill you."
"But… but you wouldn't!" Nightfall cried. "We've been best friends since we were kits! I thought I meant something to you. I thought… I thought…" her voice trailed off till it was hardly any more than a whisper. "I thought you loved me."
"No," Greystripe hissed his eyes cold. "You don't mean anything to me, Nightfall. You never have! Now just promise you won't tell anyone!"
She pressed herself closer to the tree.
"PROMISE!"
Nightfall slid out her claws and slashed them across Greystripe's face. As he turned away, she ran for it.
She could hear the sound of his paws behind her as she weaved her way around the trees as fast as she could in a blind panic. She couldn't believe Greystripe had betrayed the clan - or her.
Slowly the pawsteps started to fade away, but Nightfall didn't stop running until she was sure the grey cat was nowhere nearby. Glancing around, she realised she was nearly at Fourtrees. She didn't think she could bear going back to the clan right now, so she headed for the gathering place.
She padded swiftly across the silent clearing. She looked around for a bush, when she noticed a small cave at the back of the great rock. Her paws made no noise on the grass as she sped over to it and squeezed inside. Then she collapsed in a heap and cried, silently pouring her heart out.

Everything was quiet as the small WindClan patrol neared the end of the ShadowClan border. Tallstar was at the head, closely followed by Onewhisker and Mudclaw.
The WindClan leader marked a tree that showed the start of the boundary with RiverClan and ThunderClan, when he heard a noise from Fourtrees. His fur beginning to bristle, he wondered whether it might be a fox or a badger. But as he listened harder, he realised it was the sound of a cat.
He padded back over to his patrol. Onewhisker looked half-asleep and Mudclaw let out a loud yawn.
"I'll finish the patrol," he told them. "You two can go back to camp and get some rest. I know you've had a long day hunting today."
"Thanks, Tallstar," Onewhisker sighed with relief.
"You'll be okay on your own?" Mudclaw checked.
"Hey, I'm a clan leader, not an elder," Tallstar said pointedly.
"Fair point," Mudclaw shrugged. "Well… thanks." He dipped his head and the two cats padded tiredly away in the direction of the camp. Then he turned and headed for Fourtrees.

"Nightfall?"
The ThunderClan she-cat had the fright of her life when a shadow appeared in the entrance of the cave.
"Stay away from me!" she hissed, backing up against the back of the cave, assuming it was Greystripe.
"Whoa, hey! It's only me," the cat said, taking a weary step into the cave, the light shining onto his back, meaning Nightfall could see the colour of his pelt.
"Tallstar?" she gasped in disbelief. She suddenly realised what a mess she must look and hurriedly swiped a paw over her tear-stained face.
"What's the matter?" he murmured.
"You wouldn't understand," Nightfall sighed, lying down and resting her head on her paws.
"You never know," Tallstar purred, settling down on the hard ground next to her.
"Long story short," Nightfall grunted. "My best friend just threatened to kill me."
"What?" he gasped. "They were joking, right?"
"You should've seen him," Nightfall rolled her eyes. "Only way I could escape was by slashing him across the face."
"But… why?"
Nightfall looked the WindClan leader in the eye. "You won't tell anyone, will you? It's just, if other cats find out, he probably really will kill me."
"Cross my heart," Tallstar shook his head.
Nightfall felt the fur along her spine bristle once again, though this time not in fear. "Well… I found him sneaking out of camp… and when I caught up to him he was with this RiverClan cat, Silverstream. He asked me whether I was going to tell anyone and… then he told me that I meant nothing to him. And he threatened to kill me."
"You loved him, didn't you," Tallstar asked sympathetically.
"Maybe that's all I am," Nightfall sighed, deliberately not answering his question. "Nothing."
"You don't mean nothing to me."
Nightfall's eyes flew wide open and she looked up at him in surprise.
"I… I mean…" he stammered, searching for words. "Well… you saved me when you were a kit. Any other kit would've just run away from the badger and stayed away. But you actually came back, and because of you I didn't lose a life."
"I… guess…" Nightfall smiled. She hadn't thought of it that way before. "That was why you came looking for me when I was attacked by the rats, wasn't it?"
"In a way," Tallstar purred. "Go on, you should get some rest. I'll keep guard and make sure we don't get attacked by any badgers in the night, eh?"
"What about your clan?"
"I let Onewhisker and Mudclaw go back to the clan. They looked half-asleep on the border patrol," he smiled. "I won't be missed much. Anyways, I'm sure you'll feel better in the morning."
Nightfall curled up against his side. "I think I feel better already," she purred, too quietly for him to hear.

Description
"Great StarClan, what happened to you?" Nightfall gasped.
A while ago, Fireheart and Greystripe had been given their own apprentices - Cinderpaw and Brackenpaw. Longtail had also been given another apprentice, named Swiftpaw.
Greystripe and Fireheart padded towards her, and Greystripe was soaked to the skin.
"He fell through the ice in the river," Fireheart rolled his eyes. "He had to be pulled out by a RiverClan cat!"
"Clumsy," Nightfall purred, licking at Greystripe's sodden fur.
"I was ch-chasing after a vole," Greystripe shivered, pressing against her. "And I d-didn't realise how the-thin the ice was."
"Thanks for that," Nightfall muttered, as the river water started to soak into her own pelt. "Go on, go see Yellowfang. I'm she'll have something better than my fur to warm you up."

A few days later, Nightfall was out hunting with Longtail and Swiftpaw. She'd gone off in search of a mouse she could smell, and soon she spotted it among the roots of a tree.
Sliding instinctively into the hunter's crouch, she stalked through the undergrowth towards it. She was just about to pounce on the mouse when the bushes rustled and it ran off. A ginger cat burst through the leaves.
"Fireheart?" Nightfall tutted, rolling her eyes. "You just scared off that mouse! It was the first prey I'd found all morning."
"Sorry," Fireheart said sheepishly. "But have you seen Greystripe?"
"I thought he was back in camp," Nightfall shrugged. "Recovering from that cold he got from falling in the river."
Fireheart shook his head. "He's not there now. I was following a scent trail."
Nightfall raised an eyebrow. She hadn't noticed Greystripe's scent. She lifted her head and tasted the air. "You're right," she gasped. She must've been too intent on tracking the mouse to notice. "I think he went that way," she looked in the direction of the scent, towards the river. "Maybe he wanted another swim."
"I doubt it," Fireheart shook his head. "You know how thick his fur is. He hates getting it wet."
"Fair point," Nightfall shrugged. "Well, I'll leave you to go cat-hunting. I'm gonna try and hunt down that mouse."

Later, Nightfall padded into the camp with a rabbit and the mouse. Brackenpaw was lying outside the apprentice's den so she padded over and dumped the rabbit at his paws.
"Have the elders eaten yet?"
Brackenpaw shook his head.
"Here you go, take them this," she nudged the rabbit towards him. "It'll save you going to the fresh-kill pile first."
"Thanks, Nightfall," he mewed, and grasped the rabbit in his jaws.
I wonder how he's faring since Greystripe's stuck here in camp with a cold, she thought. Or is he?
She ate the mouse, buried the remaining bones, and then headed into the warriors den. Greystripe was curled up on the far side, his breathing slightly ragged. His eyes opened a slit as she curled up next to him.
"I'm surprised you're still tired after resting up all day," she commented, waiting for a reaction.
"This cold's leaving me drained," he murmured, shifting slightly in his nest, then closing his eyes and falling back asleep.
"He must be tired," Nightfall muttered under her breath, before resting her head on her paws.

Storm clouds loomed ominously overhead as Nightfall ran. She had no idea where she was, but it seemed somewhat familiar. She was running up the side of a small valley. Thunder boomed behind her, but as she tried to look back she realised that she couldn't. Nor could she stop running. Then the whole sky lit up as a lightning bolt hit the ground behind her.
Her fur bristling with shock, Nightfall jolted awake.
It was pitch black. No storm, no valley, just lots of sleeping cats. She was back in the warriors den.
That's when she noticed Greystripe brushing his way out of the entrance. She was abut to call out to him, when she realised he looked edgy. It had been a few days since he'd supposedly been missing from camp and she was curious as to where he was going.
Making sure she didn't disturb any of the sleeping cats - especially Fireheart - she crept over to the entrance of the den and peered outside.
Greystripe had vanished.
Maybe there's just an innocent explanation, Nightfall thought to herself, squeezing out between the brambles. Then, tasting the air and realising his scent was headed for the nursery, she changed her mind. Maybe not. Where's he going?
She padded over to the nursery and sniffed. Greystripe had gone behind it. Trying not to make any of the ferns rustle as she did so, she squeezed through and noticed a gap in the barrier.
A secret way out! her suspicions grew. She climbed through the whole and set off along the scent trail.

Not long after she'd left camp, Greystripe's trail led to a patch of strong-smelling ferns.
"Trying to disguise your scent, huh?" Nightfall muttered. "Good thing I can still follow the stench of these."
She followed the strong herb smell until she reached the sandy clearing. She doubted Greystripe would've taken Bracken paw out for training, especially not in the middle of the night or by sneaking out of camp. She considered to herself for a moment as to where he could be going.
The river? Why is he always going off there? I didn't know he wanted to learn to swim.
She continued along the path, following more her eyes than sense of smell. As she came close to Sunningrocks, she heard some voices.
One of them sounded like Greystripe. She couldn't hear what he or the other voice was saying, but he sounded happy.
And that's when she realised the other voice seemed vaguely familiar. Whoever it was, they weren't from ThunderClan - and it sounded like a she-cat.
Not even thinking, Nightfall burst through the undergrowth and out into the clearing.
"Greystripe!" she wailed.
Immediately the grey warrior span round from where he had been sitting with a silver she-cat, his eyes wide with horror. "Nightfall!?"
The other cat just flattened her ears to her head defensively. Nightfall recognised her an instant.
"Silverstream?" she gasped, remembering her from gatherings. "You… you've been sneaking off to see a RiverClan cat?"
Greystripe, still frozen to the spot, said nothing.
"But… but… how could you!?" she cried, not sure whether she sounded angry or upset. "It's against the warrior code!"
"You won't… you won't tell anyone, will you?" Silverstream asked nervously.
Nightfall didn't reply, but she could feel the fur along her spine bristling in fury.
"You wouldn't dare," Greystripe gaped.
"Why shouldn't I?" Nightfall flicked her tail.
Greystripe jumped forward, his claws sliding out and his fur bristling till he was almost twice his size. Nightfall jumped and backed up against a tree in shock.
"Nightfall, if you tell anyone about this…" he snarled. "I swear I'll kill you."
"But… but you wouldn't!" Nightfall cried. "We've been best friends since we were kits! I thought I meant something to you. I thought… I thought…" her voice trailed off till it was hardly any more than a whisper. "I thought you loved me."
"No," Greystripe hissed his eyes cold. "You don't mean anything to me, Nightfall. You never have! Now just promise you won't tell anyone!"
She pressed herself closer to the tree.
"PROMISE!"
Nightfall slid out her claws and slashed them across Greystripe's face. As he turned away, she ran for it.
She could hear the sound of his paws behind her as she weaved her way around the trees as fast as she could in a blind panic. She couldn't believe Greystripe had betrayed the clan - or her.
Slowly the pawsteps started to fade away, but Nightfall didn't stop running until she was sure the grey cat was nowhere nearby. Glancing around, she realised she was nearly at Fourtrees. She didn't think she could bear going back to the clan right now, so she headed for the gathering place.
She padded swiftly across the silent clearing. She looked around for a bush, when she noticed a small cave at the back of the great rock. Her paws made no noise on the grass as she sped over to it and squeezed inside. Then she collapsed in a heap and cried, silently pouring her heart out.

Everything was quiet as the small WindClan patrol neared the end of the ShadowClan border. Tallstar was at the head, closely followed by Onewhisker and Mudclaw.
The WindClan leader marked a tree that showed the start of the boundary with RiverClan and ThunderClan, when he heard a noise from Fourtrees. His fur beginning to bristle, he wondered whether it might be a fox or a badger. But as he listened harder, he realised it was the sound of a cat.
He padded back over to his patrol. Onewhisker looked half-asleep and Mudclaw let out a loud yawn.
"I'll finish the patrol," he told them. "You two can go back to camp and get some rest. I know you've had a long day hunting today."
"Thanks, Tallstar," Onewhisker sighed with relief.
"You'll be okay on your own?" Mudclaw checked.
"Hey, I'm a clan leader, not an elder," Tallstar said pointedly.
"Fair point," Mudclaw shrugged. "Well… thanks." He dipped his head and the two cats padded tiredly away in the direction of the camp. Then he turned and headed for Fourtrees.

"Nightfall?"
The ThunderClan she-cat had the fright of her life when a shadow appeared in the entrance of the cave.
"Stay away from me!" she hissed, backing up against the back of the cave, assuming it was Greystripe.
"Whoa, hey! It's only me," the cat said, taking a weary step into the cave, the light shining onto his back, meaning Nightfall could see the colour of his pelt.
"Tallstar?" she gasped in disbelief. She suddenly realised what a mess she must look and hurriedly swiped a paw over her tear-stained face.
"What's the matter?" he murmured.
"You wouldn't understand," Nightfall sighed, lying down and resting her head on her paws.
"You never know," Tallstar purred, settling down on the hard ground next to her.
"Long story short," Nightfall grunted. "My best friend just threatened to kill me."
"What?" he gasped. "They were joking, right?"
"You should've seen him," Nightfall rolled her eyes. "Only way I could escape was by slashing him across the face."
"But… why?"
Nightfall looked the WindClan leader in the eye. "You won't tell anyone, will you? It's just, if other cats find out, he probably really will kill me."
"Cross my heart," Tallstar shook his head.
Nightfall felt the fur along her spine bristle once again, though this time not in fear. "Well… I found him sneaking out of camp… and when I caught up to him he was with this RiverClan cat, Silverstream. He asked me whether I was going to tell anyone and… then he told me that I meant nothing to him. And he threatened to kill me."
"You loved him, didn't you," Tallstar asked sympathetically.
"Maybe that's all I am," Nightfall sighed, deliberately not answering his question. "Nothing."
"You don't mean nothing to me."
Nightfall's eyes flew wide open and she looked up at him in surprise.
"I… I mean…" he stammered, searching for words. "Well… you saved me when you were a kit. Any other kit would've just run away from the badger and stayed away. But you actually came back, and because of you I didn't lose a life."
"I… guess…" Nightfall smiled. She hadn't thought of it that way before. "That was why you came looking for me when I was attacked by the rats, wasn't it?"
"In a way," Tallstar purred. "Go on, you should get some rest. I'll keep guard and make sure we don't get attacked by any badgers in the night, eh?"
"What about your clan?"
"I let Onewhisker and Mudclaw go back to the clan. They looked half-asleep on the border patrol," he smiled. "I won't be missed much. Anyways, I'm sure you'll feel better in the morning."
Nightfall curled up against his side. "I think I feel better already," she purred, too quietly for him to hear.