She started to see his change in belief. Python knew that she had him hooked onto her words. It was nice, seeing that everything depended on what she said and what she did. Birch was just sat quietly. He didn't want to interrupt the words of wisdom that spewed from her mouth. The tone of his voice showed concern. It was exactly what the Brown-She wanted. Python wanted them to fear what inevitably was coming. It had not passed the Highrocks just yet, but they could finally have helped with the downfall of the Clans. She looked towards Mallownose. As he comforted the Kittypet, it made her think. She mused about the fear. She once felt it. She still did, towards this sickness. It was a scary thought, having something poison you and turn you into nothing more than a corpse. Ending a lot of Cat's lives because of the disease brought that smell of blood onto her. She knew they would know of her actions.

"You're welcome?" She said to start. "To start with your answers...I don't personally call it anything. It has gone by many names...for me, it is just simply Death. You can't escape it. And for treatment...try asking Birchy sometime. According to him it is relevant on the blood your body carries. Many die from it." She sighed, looking down slightly. "You wanna hear a story? Once upon a time, there were three of us. Another she-cat called Polo. She was an ex-kittypet who lived with us only recently. And she kept that name...maybe your Kittypet friends might've known her as she didn't leave that long ago. She became ill ever-so quickly. Birch tried to use every Herb he could scavenge from the Clan-lands...Pardon our trespassing...She was restless. She literally couldn't get to sleep. Finally, on the third day of pain...the pain stopped. She felt tired and fell asleep...she never woke up the following morning." She looked away slightly. She didn't like using her friend as an example. Though Birch was affected more. He had been visiting Polo in the Twoleg nests for quite sometime. He suspected that the Kittypets here would remember him as he visited so frequently..."And to answer the second point...I think I'll take back my request to join...although..." She stared Mallownose deep into his eyes. "We could strike a small agreement. If I pass and survive the backup this Warmpaw has gone to get...maybe I could keep you updated on the situation. Because me and Birchy make a lot of sightings and take in a lot of information of what it does and if anything can be done. If you trust me to some extent...maybe we could...work together?" She made a warming smile, signalling that she was actually going to be true to her word. Though obviously there would be a way of seeking out their clan-members if she befriended the Medicine Cat. She'd actually quite like to keep this one 'Alive' if she could. That is providing the Disease didn't get there first...

A heavy feeling sunk down inside his stomach like a large stone. Ravencoat? His old friend and loyal deputy? That, Ravencoat? Surely Redstar was ill-informed. Hawkstar gave the ShadowClan leader one last glance before bending his head in troubled thought. How could Ravencoat do this? Kits from another clan? A silent, but deathly growl formed deep at the back of his throat, his gritted teeth being the only thing containing it. He wasn’t going to show Redstar nor his own clan the rage which was building up within him, the sense of betrayal painfully cutting through.

His thoughts had been so focused on Ravencoat that he had completely forgotten about the matter at hand; those kits. It was clear now that he couldn’t turn them down, regardless of the new disease. But, he knew that the welfare of his clan was still the priority and bringing in a new disease into camp would be dangerous and extremely reckless.

Raising his head slowly, his stern eyes met with Redstar’s, holding that stare for a few moments before speaking. And when he did, his voice was quiet, yet firm. “Bring the kits to the border and I’ll have Mallownose look them over. We will welcome them to ThunderClan only when they have been cleared by our Medicine Cat.”

Redstar nodded as he turned towards two of his warriors, giving them a flick of his tail. With that, they both turned tail and headed back towards their territory. The ShadowClan leader returned his gaze towards Hawkstar, breathing deeply. He was just about to open his mouth when a loud voice boomed through the air.

"Hawkstar! Hawkstar! We need help!"

Hawkstar swung around abruptly, peering down at the approaching Apprentice as a warning of rogues spilled out. Rogues? He didn’t recognise the names which Warmpaw had spoke of, only Mallownose’s. Instantly, the old cat sprung into gear, flashing a look of seriousness towards Silverstorm. “Make sure ShadowClan get back to their territory safely, Stormstrike, come with me.”. He knew that Silverstorm was more then capable of holding the situation here, ShadowClan didn’t look in any shape to spring a surprise attack anyway. Before returning his attention back to the Apprentice, he quietly spoke again. “Silverstorm, keep the kits at the border until I come back.” He didn’t know if the she-cat had overheard their conversation or not, but he had to let her know what to do when those warriors came back. She’ll figure it out.

“Warmpaw, take me to the Rogues.”

"Yes, follow me!"

Warmpaw turned to lead the way for Hawkstar and Stormstrike, but his feet got tangled. Again. Really? What a time to be clumsy! After taking a moment to get a hold of his feet, he took off again. "They are over by the poppies."

It seemed to take longer to get back to Mallownose than it did to find the patrol. The forms of two larger cats and three smaller finally came into view. Warmpaw sighed in relief to see his mentor, Sketch, and Coochie were all still standing.
"Right over there, you can see them with Mallownose. The ones behind him are okay."

She knew he was still having doubts of her. Mallownose seemed to be quite the wise one. Though it filled her with slight joy as she heard the meeting plan. Python grimaced down at Birch as his face fell to a grumbled squirm. He didn't like the sound of being left alone...She found it quite amusing to see his reaction. Turning back to Mallownose, Python managed to sneak a quite peek at the hiding Kittypets and Clanner behind him. She was still fond of the fear she managed to deliver into the situation. However, too much fear meant too high-stakes of being compromised...

"Alright..." She began. Again, Python managed to catch the glimpse of Birch's face going rather folded as he held inside his Mind-Sulk. "I would happily meet. Birch would be understanding enough to wait behind. I completely understand that feeling of self-security. I felt it not too long ago..." Her amber-brown eyes flashed a stare at the hiding group. She grumbled words incapable of being understood. "And I assure you, we will work fine together as we try to tackle what lies ahea-" A call caught her off guard. Birch already turned and crouched, as if ready to withstand any offensive maneuvers onto the two. Python's view slowly moved there as well, as they began to hear the anger and challenge in the Tom's tone. The first to arrive was one not-much bigger than her, but even the smallest size difference could take a huge effect on Feline-to-Feline combat. It was harsh; it was hard-hitting. The way he spoke was deep and menacing, though in the 'Heroic' way. Python took instant offense for the thought of her Rogueship. The way they were treated was completely out-of-order. Oppression. Pretty easy to sum up. Even for a killer like her it was hard to withstand. It was one of the reasons why she killed without any reasons or manipulation...Eliminating Oppression was something that could be done to help ease the stress in her life caused by the epidemic, though she hadn't thought of what good effects it made on other's similar to herself. She stood straight, not battle-ready like Birch was himself.

"You've trespassed onto Thunderclan territory. I'm sure my leader would agree with me when I say that we'll have to ask you to leave." He said, living up to the challenge. Python only smiled her usual half-smile to him. She spoke in a slow tone to make sure he heard.

"Oh...I'm soooo sorry...I apologise for my rude entrance that could of potentially saved some lives or not. Oh woe is me..." Her tone was sarcastic, annoying and rather mimicking. "Fine...as you wish, your Clanner-ship. Come on Birchy, we got to prepare me with a meeting with 'Someone'." She looked back at Mallownose as she began to walk off. A small smile shot to him before she padded off, though she was unaware of Hawkstar having seen who she was and who the duo were when trespassing, Python didn't let the challenger say another word before they disappeared like Phantoms in a mist.

The trek to Snakerocks was brief, but enjoyably. Waves of excitement rolled off of Shadowpaw's fur like high tide on a full moon. His paws, abound with excitement, practically floated to the spot at which Snakerocks began. As per usual, Bravefeather settled himself in a patch indistinct brush, watching with a practiced eye for the hallmarks that indicated his apprentice was hunting with the valor of a cat who was shaping up to be an excellent warrior.

Bravefeather felt this hunt to be much less lengthier, and noted dolefully the fruitless results of what had transpired. Shadowpaw had ambitiously pursued a pigeon and slipped up at the last moment. He had twisted a paw, and limped towards Bravefeather sadly, his head hung low.

Bravefeather's ears flicked sympathetically and he reached down to like the apprentice between his ears.

"It happens to even the best of us." He meowed encouragingly, his eyes flickering to the branches above where the pigeon had settled. For a moment, he idly wondered if Mallownose and Warmpaw would be in the camp. Shadowpaw would need to be attended too.

"Come on," he said, flicking his tail, "Let's get back to Sandfire and Stonepaw, and get you back to the camp. Mallownose should check out your injury."



"You're quite welcome Snowpaw, I'd rather have my apprentice tell me what's wrong than not at all. And I'm sure it is, but that doesn't make you any less of a ThunderClan warrior in my eyes."

Snowpaw felt warmth spread through her pelt. For a moment, Tabbyfur looked lost in thought, before she shook her head out and focused back on her apprentice.

"Right, could you stand there as if you're about to attack me, so I can demonstrate this move." She shuffled a few paw steps away from Snowpaw, positioning herself in a stance that Snowpaw assumed was supposed to be one of battle. Her insides writhed in excitement. She was now fully prepared to take on the days challenges, and leaping to her feet, she aligned herself with her mentor.

"Once you're ready, I want you to start charging at me, okay?"



Sandfire's ear flicked, and for a moment, anger swum beneath her emerald green eyes, and she turned her searing gaze on Stonepaw's pelt. Then, with some regret, she realized the questions had been in innocence, and her gaze softened. Was her distress that obvious? Or was Stonepaw just being extremely perceptive? She paced back and forth for a moment, feeling her apprentice's eyes follow her with curiosity. Finally, she settled herself in front of him, and began speaking.

"It's got nothing to do with you hunting Stonepaw," she meowed, "You're shaping up to be an excellent apprentice, and I couldn't be prouder. Thing are just," her eyes seemed to glaze for a moment, and she zoned out, before focusing back on her apprentice with a snap of her head, "things are difficult."

Her paws shuffled together. She knew it wasn't a good answer, but she couldn't tell Stonepaw what was wrong.

She gazed towards the Snake rocks, where Bravefeather and Shadowpaw had disappeared. She thought if she listened hard enough, she could hear the shuffle on paws on stiff, bristling grass. But then again, it could have been the wind ruffling the leaves, or a shrew scurrying beneath the brush.

"They should be back soon," she meowed, "At least we'll have something to bring back to the fresh kill pile."

He followed as the Apprentice led the way, his long strides making it easy for him to weave through the overgrown forage. What was not easy for him, however, was keeping his pace. After running for just a few mere seconds, the sharp pain in his leg was making every step become agonisingly painful. Yet, he powered on. Mallownose was a cat whom he thought of highly, both as a well and trusted member of Thunderclan, and as a friend. He wasn’t about to risk the Medicine Cat’s life to some rogues regardless of what damage he was doing to his leg.

Stormstike and Warmpaw was in front of him, darting over branches and plants effortlessly. Hawkstar trailed behind, but only slightly, as they came towards a clearing. The scent of cats flared his nostrils but there was only one that was familar. Mallownose. Soon, the scene came into view and Mallownose’s figure became clear. Behind him, there were two other cats. Though they were not Thunderclan, it looked as if Mallownose was protecting them. He tried to recall the names which Warmpaw had mentioned to him earlier, but it was said so quickly that he didn’t have time to remember them.

Hawkstar was quick to survey his surroundings and each cat within the clearing. He swiftly put himself in front of Warmpaw, protecting the Apprentice instinctively as Stormstrike took front to challenge the two rogue. He had heard the mumbles of Mallownose’s voice just before they had entered, but what had been said was oblivious to him. Hawkstar assumed he must have been calming the situation down since a fight hadn’t broken out. Yet.

As he stood back, standing ready to defend in case the cats did decide to attack, Hawkstar took a moment to get a real look at who these ‘rogues’ were. Instantly, he recognised the she-cat, but not strongly. He knew of her. A face he had seen in a Gathering, a name mentioned to him, only briefly. Pythonteeth... He recalled Redstar notifying him of her exile quite a few moons ago and he hadn’t seen her since.

Well, her appearance was rather short-lived, for now that was, as the she-cat and her counter-part quickly disappeared back into the forest. There must have been a reason as to why the rogues were here, surely. Hawkstar looked across towards Stormstrike, and then back towards Mallownose.

“Mallownose, are you alright?” Limping slightly, he made his way over to him, flashing a look towards the two new cats. “What did the rogues want?”



She watched as Frostbite slowly made his way towards her, moving away from the rock which had been protecting him from her wrath. His tail hung long between his legs, dragging through the muddied dirt limply. It felt awful to see a cat like that, and Gingerflame couldn’t help the bottomless guilt which glued itself deep within her stomach. But, atleast, he had stopped talking.

“No, no, no.” Gingerflame mumbled quietly, feeling increasingly uncomfortable. “It’s me who should be sorry. I- I shouldn’t... You know. Look, thank you. For... That.” She stuttered, flicking her tail towards the direction in which they had came, back towards the bramble bush. She paused before continuing. “Look, Frostbite, I need you to keep this quiet. Just don’t t-”.

Suddenly, a sharp pain spasmed deep within her belly, making her bend her head abruptly, wincing. A silent yowl escaped her throat as she breathed out heavily. What was wrong? The kits? She stood, staggering towards the Thunderclan cat. “Frostbite... I, the kits...”

The apprentice dropped the bundle in front of her with a bit of a grunt. She licked her muzzle to clean it off and chuckled at herself a small bit. "Yeah, it would probably be easier if we split it up." She might have been able to get it back on her own, but Duskclaw's help would make the task that much easier. She pawwed at the bundle to take a portion of it off, and slid a healthy clump of it toward the warrior to add to his own.

"Thanks so much! And thank you for bringing me out this morning! I really appreciate it, and I'm sure Frostbite does too!" The apprentice's voice wavered a bit at the end, only because she wasn't actually completely confident in her words. Sometimes,her mentor could be hard to read. She put the thought out of her mind as she gathered up the moss. When Duskclaw was ready, she followed close behind him away from the sycamore.

Frostbite's eyes grew wide as the events sparked through his mind like an electric pulse. The events had to be processed with his brain. When it hit him, he grew fearful slightly. He knew that this was probably the worst occurance that could've aroused from Gingerflame's arrival. If anything, it was worse than her fighting and probably killing him. He hated dealing with situations that could impact someone's life if such a comrade were to fail. 'What if this was the real thing? What if it wasn't just a tease?' He wasn't prepared to get himself into the trouble of helping another if this was reality, not just a trick. Though he was neither ready to face sanctions from Hawkstar if he were to just stand there and watch everything play on. He had no choice really. It would make him seem awful if he just let her suffer in pain from something that could potentially change her entire life. Frosbite sucked in the pain and fear. He pulled his usual face of calmness, or what it seemed. It made him look exactly like he know 100% what to do.

Gingerflame stopped staggering, placing her paws firmly into the cold mud in an attempt to keep herself upright. The feeling was sudden, and strong, and it definitly wasn't a feeling which she had incountered before. She felt disorintated, unbalanced on her own four legs. Her first thoughts went directly to her pregnancy, to her kits. Was she in labour? No. No. It couldn't be. The pain was strange, sharp, yet, crawling, like a wave of spasms shooting through her muscles. It wasn't any labour pains that she'd felt before, surely, it was something else. But what? Her past two labours had been a breeze for her, they were simple, no complications or anything. All the kits had been healthy and the pain during labour had been somewhat miminal compared to what she had seen from some of the other Queens. But this, this was not miminal, not at all. She hadn't noticed anything abnormal about this pregnancy, except, maybe... she did feel pretty lethargic last night... No. She was getting paranoid. There was nothing wrong with her, nor the kits, they were fine. It was this whole Greencough scare which got her whiskers in a twist. The very thought of her lose any more of kits to that wretched disease brought shivers down her spine. Yet, she knew, she had to trust that Mallownose knows what he's doing. She had to trust that Mallownose would save her kits if they were in danger. Only Starclan knows what she'd do if she lost any more of her kits... She had to trust him.

Her legs felt stiff and heavy as she stood, leaning to the side slightly as she stared at the ground motionlessly. Her thoughts soon turned to Frostbite, who... she didn't know what he was doing. Watching, probably. Slowly, she raised her head, her pain-lit eyes reaching his. “Please... take me back to camp...” She muttered before collapsing towards her side, landing on the floor heavily. Her back legs had given way to her, leaving her consious but laying painfully.

Frostbite had no real idea of the situation. Of all the things that could've happened, this had to. He had to remain fully focused, though. One wrong move could really decimate his life; the only chance of survival he faced was with the clan. If he were to loose this, he would lose his life, more importantly Frogpelt. He found it surprising that he managed to calm down so quickly, expression-wise, and had held the face of seriousness, if that made sense. He nodded slightly, though it wasn't clear to the She that he did. Without further action or communication, he lay down. Scooting along the floor on his belly, he pushed himself until she turned horizontally onto his back. Giving full balance support with his tail, he struggled to his feet, managing to lift her on his back. He grunted slightly as he struggled to lift his own weight, doubled by her's. It was probably a foolish move, but he had no other choice. She needed immediate extractions (Tacticool Talk) and he had no time to hesitate and plan a route.

As he departed from his sanctuary, he began to regret his move. The pain started to enclose around his back as the preasure increased. It wasn't like he suspected. Her weight arched his back slightly, and so the battle between his body strength and searing pain ignited. Though he could not disappoint his 'Comrade'. He soldiered on, pushing his back into place as he continued to stride as quickly as he could through the forest. He wanted to reach the camp quickly; for his own sake, his reputation and his 'Intruder' He would mutter to himself as he moved, panting heavily to both ease the pain and keep his stamina high enough. He would mutter the words to himself.

"Keep...going...get...there...fast..." He panted within each word, trying to keep himself from collapsing under the weight. What had he gotten himself into today, he'd never know. Before he could fall prey to the pain, he emerged through the outer-borderline of the camp. Frostbite breached into it, without much word. He ignored the one or two questions that fluttered his way, the journey had felt like a trek up the highest of rocks. He placed her onto the ground, without a moment to spare. It took a few seconds to roll her off of him, but Frostbite managed to do so. It all felt so painful. His back ached and grew sore within the first seconds of carrying the she. The extra 'Payload' she was carrying didn't exactly help. He eventually laid next to her, as he couldn't draw himself far away to rest. He could barely move, as the pain wasn't evaporating as quickly as he hoped. This was probably going to last an hour or two...He finally looked up to the eyes bearing down on him and he muttered just so loud enough for them to hear..."Someone...get...Mallownose..."

-A collaboration by LetMeDoStuff and Ginger Kollie.-