Bluefur looked up at Sunstar through narrowed eyes. She was too late. He was going to announce Thistleclaw as Deputy and the Clans would be doomed.

She turned and saw Goosefeather, the Clan medicine cat, snarling with an unfocused gaze. She didn't know if he was looking at her or at the evil warrior but felt like she should shrink in shame either way. Goosefeather's eyes focused again and he glared at Bluefur with fire in his eyes. She lowered her head. She had failed.

"I say these words before StarClan, so they will hear and approve my words. The new Deputy of ThunderClan, the cat who will replace Tawnyspots as my second in command, will be Thistleclaw."

Looking right at the new Deputy, Bluefur joined in the chant. "Thistleclaw, Thistleclaw!" she yowled.

After the cheering ended, the she-cat turned and padded into the nursery, to be with her kits. Licking them each in turn, she curled herself around them, glad to be away from Thistleclaw and Goosefeather. She heard excited meowing outside, congratulations and cheerful conversation, as she fell asleep.

--

"Come with me, Bluefur."

A handsome tabby tom stared at her, his gaze soft. "Please," he pleaded. "I love you so much, and you'd be so much happier with me in RiverClan."

Bluefur guiltily found herself walking closer, looking right into the tabby's eyes. "I love you too, Oakheart," she murmured. "But I can't. We're in different Clans."

"Would you rather stay in a Clan with a murderous cat for a Deputy, or with me? Hailstar would let you in if I convinced him. We could raise the kits together."

Bluefur ripped her gaze away from Oakheart's face. She looked at her paws, feeling bad that she saw the sense in his words. Very slowly, she turned back to the tom and touched her nose to his. Immediately he disappeared and Bluefur was alone.

"Bluefur?" A voice snarled.

Bluefur snapped her head around to look behind her and saw Thistleclaw. His claws were unsheathed and blood pooled around his paws. Suddenly she was not in the starry meadow she was standing in a few moments ago, but in a horrible pine forest which smelled of death. She looked around at her surroundings, noticing that there was blood on the grass and in the streams. It seemed to stretch forever and ever and... She shuddered.

"What are you doing here? Why are you training here too?" Thistleclaw hissed, and Bluefur shrank back at the flurry of questions. Then the tom's eyes filled with malice and scorn.

"Are you still trying to become ThunderClan's deputy?" He sneered rather gleefully. "You do know last night I took your place?"

Bluefur's panic of being in a new environment faded, to be replaced by cold rage. "Of course I did," she hissed. "Training here too? You mean you train in this deathly place?

Thistleclaw ignored the question, his tail lashing. "Who was that you were with before?" He asked innocently, grinning. "What a handsome tom. What's his name again?"

"Oakheart," Bluefur replied after a brief hesitation. "I've seen him at Gatherings."

Thistleclaw's ears flicked up in interest. "Why is he in your dreams? What's going on, Bluefur? Are you a traitor?"

Bluefur stifled a hiss as she noticed Thistleclaw seemed excited to be getting under her fur and realising one of her deep secrets: that her kits were not Thrushpelt's, but Oakheart's, a warrior from another Clan. If this secret got out, all respect for her would be destroyed, and she could end up like Mapleshade, a she-cat from many, many moons ago who was in love with a RiverClan warrior and got exiled.

"Are you a traitor?" Thistleclaw repeated very slowly.

"Thistleclaw!" A she-cat's meow interrupted the blue-grey and the fluffy grey cats' conversation. From the shadows, a fluffy tortoiseshell she-cat padded over to the warriors.

Bluefur took a step back as the she-cat examined her. "Who's this?" She purred, but Bluefur got the impression her meow was anything but warm or kind.

Thistleclaw scowled. "This is Bluefur, a warrior of ThunderClan. I don't know who summoned her here," he grumbled. "Bluefur, this is Mapleshade. I think you two are similar in quite a few ways-"

Thistleclaw stopped talking as Mapleshade's tail moved over his mouth. She grinned.

"Similar, ay? How so?" She asked, padding dangerously close to Bluefur. Terrified, Bluefur took a step back. She was the villain who slaughtered cats because she lost her kits! "I-I know about you," Bluefur stuttered, all confidence evaporating. "Y-y-y-you-"

"I was getting revenge for a horrible thing that happened to me? Yes! Finally, someone understands!" Mapleshade meowed. "Now, how are we similar?"

Thistleclaw answered for Bluefur, his eyes sparkling. "Bluefur is in love with Oakheart!"

For a second hatred and disgust flared in Mapleshade's amber eyes, but was quickly replaced by fake pity. "I'm so sorry. That happened to me too. I hope nothing bad happens to you, dear."

Bluefur's blue gaze hardened. No one can know! She thought furiously. "It's just a rumour," she snapped. "I am not like you at all. I would not kill, ever! And my kits are not Oakheart's!"

Mapleshade's eyes narrowed and all warmth disappeared. "I also thought that, before I was exiled. The world is horrible to cats like you and me, Bluefur. The only cat there for you when everyone leaves you is yourself, and you do not want to be all by yourself," she snarled.

Bluefur crouched down, her fur bristling and tail bushing out. "I-I-"

Mapleshade smiled, beginning to fade. "Goodnight, sweetie."

Bluefur woke up with a start, terrified and panting. She looked down fondly at her kits. Mistykit looked up sleepily at her. "Are you okay, mama?"

Bluefur purred tiredly. "I'm fine, just a bad dream. Go back to sleep now, dear."

As Mistykit fell back to sleep, Bluefur stared at one of the den walls. As she stared, a thought wandered into her mind. At first a daunting and terrifying one, but she became more and more certain. She couldn't let her kits be in a Clan with a Deputy like Thistleclaw, who she guessed was training with Mapleshade. She closed her eyes.

She had to go to RiverClan.