Lionfire knew that Cherrybreeze could tell that he had been uninterested in Shadowpaw when she'd brought it up on the day of their naming ceremony. The subject of the black warrior had not been brought up again, and Lionfire was relieved. At the same time, he no longer saw Cherrybreeze in camp as often, which made him frown. Wolf-fly and Tigerspike were still very much present all the time, and he was glad to know that whatever she was doing had nothing to do with them. 

"Where's Cherrybreeze?" he asked as the group sat around in a circle, each eating a piece of prey. "I see her less and less. She only comes into the warriors' den to sleep, and I can't even talk to her because she looks so tired." 

Ferntail shrugged. "She's been spending less time with me, too," she said grumpily, and beside her Sandythrush gave her a sympathetic pat on the back with his tail. "I try to get her to take walks with me, so I can ask what she's thinking about, but every time we begin she insists on being alone. So maybe she knows something that's going on the territory that we don't." 

"You don't think it's like, a rogue or loner or something living there?" Mothcry asked, frowning. Lionfire narrowed his eyes, alert now. 

"I don't think a rogue or loner could hide so easily," Ferntail dismissed. Suddenly, she narrowed her eyes. "Speak of the--" 

"Hey," Cherrybreeze interrupted, hurrying over to them and plopping in between the two other she-cats. "Sorry, was doing something." 

"We know," Tigerstrike said gently. All eyes were on Cherrybreeze, and she glanced around, confused.

"What?"

"We--" Lionfire began, but Fawndust thundered into camp, fur disheveled, eyes wild. '

"WindClan has started a battle against our patrol!" she cried, tail waving frantically. "I'm here for backup. I need at least five warriors!"

Wolf-fly jumped up importantly, puffing out his chest. "I'll go," he volunteered immediately, and Lionfire took no hesitation in following. The rest of their peers stood up as well, and Fawndust nodded.

"Let's go," she said, and admist admiring stares they all raced after her without a word. Lionfire's blood pounded, excited at the prospect of his first battle. It was a short distance away; by the time he'd stepped out of the tunnel, he could already hear the cries and shrieks of fighting warriors. "A patrol invaded our borders," Fawndust panted as they ran, "and Yarrowtail impulsively insulted them. So they attacked. Furballs."

"We'll make them pay," Tigerstrike vowed. By time they arrived, it looked like the other side had brought reinforcements as well; seven warriors had just arrived on the other side, and everyone joined in the fray. Too busy with the thought of fighting to check on Cherrybreeze, Lionfire launched himself into the party and leapt onto a cream-colored WindClan warrior, who hissed and bucked, attempting to throw him off.

Lionfire finally landed with a hard thud, and he grunted in pain. Within seconds the other tom was on top of him, claws digging into his sides. Pain shot up, but the adrenaline numbed the effect, and Lionfire pushed back hard, grappling with the WindClan warrior. The yowls and screams thundered in his ears as loudly as his own pulse, and he was solely focused on defeating the cat in front of him.

He didn't know how many minutes had passed when an unfamiliar voice shrieked, "STOP!" And Lionfire and his opponent both paused, startled. Clambering off the ground, they both realized they were a distance away from the rest of the warriors, who were all crowded in a ragged circle around someone. Glancing in surprise at each other, the two toms crept closer.

"What happened?" whispered the cream-colored cat, craning his neck. Grimly, Wolf-fly and Mothcry stepped back to let them look. And Lionfire stared in horror.

A dead WindClan cat lay in the middle of the throng of warriors, her throat ripped open in a red smile, her eyes dull and unseeing. Recoiling, Lionfire frowned. It couldn't be a ThunderClan cat, he thought frantically. None of us are this evil! 

"I-I'm sorry!"

Lionfire's eyes widened in surprise. It was Cherrybreeze's voice who was apologizing. She had done this! It must've been an accident. It must've been an accident, Lionfire thought over and over. 

"I'm sorry!" she cried again. "I... I thought of this new move and I wanted to try it out, I didn't know that it'd be so... so gruesome!" 

"Any aim to the throat is bound to be gruesome," a warrior growled from the WindClan side, his eyes glittering in anguish and anger. "This battle was unnecessary from the start. We never crossed your damn borders, and we didn't need to be attacked! Look what has happened. I hope you're all ashamed." 

The ThunderClan warriors had no words. Lionfire dipped his head, heart pounding harder than it had been when he'd been fighting. It had all happened so quickly. Another death. Another life taken. 

The walk back was silent and tense. Cherrybreeze hung back, her head low. Lionfire hesitated, then fell back to walk with her. "So you... just thought of that?"

She audibly swallowed, her eyes watery. "I... I've been meeting Shadowpaw," she confessed quietly, so quiet that Lionfire almost missed it. A cold chill ran through him. I knew that Shadowpaw was bad news! "He... he said that it was a move that he learned when he was training, and it worked well when he fought his first battle. I thought he was so brave, so I when I saw him again in the forest when I was walking one day I asked him to teach me some skills. Please, please don't tell anyone!" her eyes widened with her last words, and Lionfire's mouth went dry. 

"Of course, of course," he spilled out hurriedly without any thought. There was no way he was going to tell on Cherrybreeze. No matter how much danger she had put the Clan in.