In The Shadows {Chapter 2 is up}

  Rushfur walked into SandClan camp. He heard the crashing of the waves from the sunningbeach. "Hello, Rushfur." a silvery gray she-cat mewed, walking up to him. She nuzzled her muzzle into his fur. "Hello to you, too, Minnowtail." Rushfur mewed, and pulled himself away. He got away from Minnowtail and walked to his nest. Minnowtail followed him. "Minnowtail, I don't want to be bothered tonight." he mewed sternly, staring at the she-cat. His stomach tightened. All of the cats in SandClan thought that the two would be mates. But Rushfur didn't want that. "Why?" Minnowtail asked. The simple question irked Rushfur. "It's nothing important. I'm just tired." he lied. Minnowtail was a nice cat and all, but she wasn't right for the tom. He loved another cat. Crestclaw of GrassClan.

  Yes, it was wrong in the Clan's eyes, but they didn't understand. He stopped thinking about the GrassClan she-cat for a while, because she had kits with Mudfang. "What about our kits?" Minnowtail asked. Yes, Rushfur did have kits with
Minnowtail, but the only reason he had kits with the she-cat was to stop thinking about Crestclaw. Minnowtail and him
weren't mates, and their kits would be a mistake. They shouldn't have been conseved. Minnowtail still thought that they
were mates and Rushfur lied about everything. Rushfur turned away, and ran out of the camp. "Where are you going?!"
Minnowtail asked, shocked. He was going to see Crestclaw, no matter what. He had vivid images in his head of the two
running away, having kits, and not succuming to Clan customs. Rushfur ran and these images clogged his mind. He didn't
notice that Minnowtail was creeping behind him.

  Rushfur reached the GrassClan border. He looked around, not spotting Minnowtail. "No!" he heard Crestclaw wail. Rushfur immediatly ran towards the she-cat, scenting her in the distance. Minnowtail followed him silently. Rushfur reached the GrassClan queen and saw a small ginger she-cat. He assumed the smaller one was a kit. The ginger she-cat was mauled up by teeth, as if a dog got her. "What happened?" Rushfur asked shocked. "My kit. Gingerkit is dead." Crestclaw muttered. "Who, or what killed her?" Rushfur asked. "A dark ginger tom. He was big and had sharp white teeth. I tried to fight him off, but I couldn't." Crestclaw explained, scared. "Shade." Rushfur responded. "Who's Shade?" Crestclaw asked. "He is this rogue cat who appeared at the latest gathering. CliffClan's medicine cat apprentice, isn't his name Snakepaw, thought he was a reincarnated Dark Forest cat. That's stupid. But Shade needs to be stopped." Rushfur growled, unsheathing his claws. "He'll rue the day that he killed your kit!" Rushfur snapped. "Why do you care so much?" Crestclaw asked. "I never told you this, but from the first Gathering I met you, I loved you." Rushfur mewed.

  Minnowtail leaped out of the bushes, in the middle of Rushfur and Crestclaw. She faced the SandClan tom. "What in
StarClan's name is wrong with you?!" Minnowtail growled. "I never loved you!" Rushfur snapped. "You're nice and all, but
I love Crestclaw. And you are not changing that!" Rushfur hissed. "Is this why you ignore me? Just because you love another cat, in another Clan?" Minnowtail growled. "I didn't want anything to happen. I just didn't want to hurt you. But now I had no choice." Rushfur snarled. Minnowtail gave one last snarl and stepped away. Crestclaw walked over to Rushfur. "I didn't know your feelings were so strong. I love you too." Crestclaw mewed. "But I don't know how Mudfang will react." the she-cat mewed. "Let's not worry about that until it comes up." Rushfur assured her. Crestclaw and Rushfur fell down into the grass and licked each other affectionatly.

***

Both of the cats got up and turned to each other. Their ears both felt hot. "We shouldn't tell our Clans about this."
Rushfur mewed, being the first to speak, after what happened a few moments ago. "No, we shouldn't." Crestclaw agreed.
"Hopefully Mudfang won't be suprised when you give birth to more kits." Rushfur chuckled. "Hopefully he'll be so proud of
himself, that he'll think he sired more kits." Crestclaw mewed, smiling. "Hopefully." Rushfur mewed, nodding. "I should
go." he mewed. "I should too." Crestclaw mewed, walking away. Rushfur turned and started to walk towards SandClan
territory.