DISCLAIMER: I don't own Warriors or The 39 Clues.

Chapter 21

ThunderClan

Things seemed to be calm in ThunderClan. No arguments, no battles, no injuries. Everything was peaceful. The ThunderClan cats were all happy.

So why was everything so wrong?

Brightpelt stared up at the sky. The quarry- err... stone hollow- was full of busy ThunderClan cats. The kits of Wishshimmer and Echobreeze squealed behind her. Even the pleased purrs from the elders added to the simultaneous noises rising up into the cloudless sky. All the loud noises and calming sounds made Brightpelt forget that she had to listen to the deputy.

"Brightheart? Brightheart!" Sunsetspirit called. Brightpelt flinched and sheepishly turned to the fiery she-cat.

"Sorry," she mumbled. Sunsetspirit rolled her eyes and turned back to the other members of the patrol.

"So we are going to split into two groups. The weather is cooler, so some animals might be sheltering near the abandoned Twoleg den. Lightshine, Lionsoul, Skygazer and I will hunt near there. Shinefeather and Sparkblaze will take Cherryblossom and Brightpelt near the WindClan border."

The cats nodded and exited the camp through the tunnel. The patrol split into two groups and went opposite directions.

"This is our first hunting patrol as warriors!" squealed Cherryblossom.

"We still have apprentice duties," Brightpelt reminded her. Even though they were now warriors, the oldest kits in the nursery weren't old enough to become apprentices.

"Yeah, but we're warriors!" Cherryblossom countered happily.

Cherryblossom continued to talk, but Brightpelt faded into her own mind. Nothing peaceful lasted very long for Amy and Dan, but so far, nothing went wrong in their Clans. Even Ian and Natalie were doing well in ShadowClan and RiverClan, other than the cats that disliked them so much...

Actually, the only bad things that had happened were that Violetpaw was hurt by those rocks and that Brightpelt had that unnatural injury...

Wait! Brightpelt stiffened. Bloodpaw had a similar injury, right? What did she say happened? She tore her claw? She had said that it didn't stop bleeding...

I was bleeding too...

"Blood!" gasped Brightpelt. Then the gears in her head turned. But we already know blood. It's a Lucian clue. Blood can't possibly be the last clue! Brightpelt was at a loss. The sudden feeling of victory faded into loss and hopelessness.

"Are you okay, Brightpelt?" asked Cherryblossom with concern. Brightpelt jumped in surprise and turned to the worried-looking she-cat.

"I'm fine," she responded. "Just thinking about apprentice duties."

Cherryblossom thought of that as a joke and let out a brief mroww of laughter.

"You two are being as loud as a rampaging badger!" snapped Sparkblaze. "You'll wake up the entire forest!"

"Too late," murmured Shinefeather as a sparrow screeched from its nest and flew away above the trees.

"You two are acting like kits!" growled Sparkblaze. "Keep quiet or I'll tell Wolfstar to relieve Skygazer and Violetfur of their share of the apprentice duties!"

"I'm sorry, Sparkblaze," grumbled Cherryblossom. Brightpelt nodded.

"We will stay silent."

"Make sure of that!" Sparkblaze scoffed. He turned and stalked off into the forest. Shinefeather continued to glare at the two she-cats.

"Just because you two are warriors now doesn't mean that you can trample through the forest like a group of angry badgers," she scolded. She followed Sparkblaze through the underbrush.

Brightpelt and Cherryblossom silently followed the two older warriors into the forest.

After a while of walking, Cherryblossom stopped and stiffened. Brightpelt turned to her friend.

"What's wrong?" she asked worriedly. Sparkblaze and Shinefeather turned to look.

"I think I smell rogues. They don't smell like WindClan, so I'm sure they didn't cross the border."

Sparkblaze shared a cautious look with Shinefeather.

"Cherryblossom, what direction is the scent?" he demanded. Cherryblossom stared back at him uncertainly.

"I don't know. I'm not sure," she replied sheepishly. Sparkblaze flicked his tail and opened his mouth. Shinefeather and Brightpelt did the same and scented the air.

Brightpelt understood what Cherryblossom said. She noticed a faint, unfamiliar scent in the air, but she had no idea where from. It almost seemed as if the rogues left their scent everywhere on purpose then disappeared.

"Split up," Sparkblaze announced. "If you find anything, meet back at the camp."

Brightpelt nodded and split away from the other three cats. After walking for a while, she decided she might as well look for prey as she searched. Brightpelt opened her jaws and scented the air.

The smell of the rogues was still there, but she tried to scent past it. In a few heartbeats, Brightpelt scented a mouse in the underbrush. She went into a hunter's crouch and stalked the furry animal.

It paused searching the ground for food when Brightpelt accidently stepped on the end of a twig. She froze in a slight moment of panic. Mouse-dung! StarClan, please don't let it run!

It also startled her to realize that she had just prayed to StarClan. Am I turning into one of them? She barely noticed that the mouse continued its search. Brightpelt shook off her worries and focused purely on the prey.

She thought of all her hunting lessons. She kept her tail limp. Her paws were set down so gently they barely touched the ground. She stayed downwind so that the mouse could not smell her.

Brightpelt held her breath and stalked closer towards the mouse. She was aware of every noise she made and every noise around her. When the mouse paused a second time, she knew it wasn't her fault.

The potential prey fled, but Brightpelt did not chase after it. She stood entirely rigid and glanced around. There wasn't any cat to be seen, but Brightpelt's Clan cat instincts and her Cahill instincts both told her that there was someone else there.

There was no more time to find out what had caused the prey to run when the answer attacked Brightpelt from her side.

Brightpelt yowled and landed on the ground, stunned. She tried to get up, but the rogue pinned her down. Her back legs kicked, trying to scratch the attacker's belly. Brightpelt tried to think of many fighting attacks, but she had a hard time rememebring useful attacks. I'm a hunter, not a fighter! Tears welled up in Brightpelt's eyes as she struggled against the cat. The rogue roughly cuffed the side of her head. She was momentarily paralyzed.

A sudden defensive move appeared in her mind. Brightpelt took a quick breath and went limp. The rogue eased off Brightpelt and she wormed out from under it. She rapidly swiped in the rogue's direction and tried to run, but the rogue had dodged her attack and leaped towards Brightpelt. She made a sharp turn to the left, trying to trick the pursuing rogue. She panicked when she saw that it turned perfectly and continued to chase her.

"Get away from me!"

The rogue vaulted towards her and scored deep scratches on her side. Brightpelt stumbled and fell on her side. She saw the rogue stalking up on her from the corner of her eye, but then darkness overwhelmed her.

-break-break-break-break-break-break-break-

"You idiot!" Lucy screamed. Henry cringed. The she-cat was much smaller and often looked harmless, but the incident with Shade proved otherwise.

"You told us we were getting rid of the cats!" Henry defended.

"Imbecile! The timing was absolutely idiotic!" Lucy shrieked. "It was the middle of the day! She was in a patrol searching for rogues! Could you be any more dim-witted?"

Shade glared at the argument in front of her. Lucy would have injured Shade before she could finish defending herself, but the giant rat-brain wasn't even scratched.

It's because both Lucy and I know Henry isn't keen or clever, but he is strong and is a powerful fighter. What he lacks in wits is made up with excellent fighting skills. Not even Lucy can match against him.

As Lucy yelled at Henry, Shade inspected her injuries yet again. It was only the other day when Lucy mercilessly punished Shade for talking back.

That she-cat made a ultimately fatal mistake, Shade fumed. I have not proved my full worth to any cat. No cat knows, not even my comrades.

The emotions of sudden fear of Lucy reminded Shade of her disgrace. She was better than that. Her intelligence was only a fraction of her capabilities.

Worthless, Lucy? Trust me, you will regret it. Soon, I will rule over you, and you will bow to my will.

Oooooh. Shade has plans. :O
Sorry for not updating. I know I over-use that apology, and I'm sorry for that too. At least I finally updated. :) I try hard to get past my multiple writer's blocks. I feel like I melt my brain! But I love the comments I get in reward, so I'm happy to melt my brain for you guys!
NOTICE: *No brains were (technically) harmed in the making of this chapter. However, blame for brain damage may go to excessive amounts of soda, sugar, and caffine. 200 pages of fictional books read each day may also be at fault. So may the sudden heat of the author's living area...*