Riverpaw felt his heart ache for his friend as she lead them back to a nest.

We should have been able to save him. Even if I didn't know him very well. He was a nice cat from what I know.

Riverpaw let his feet drag a bit in his shame.

"That's unfortunate to hear." Sapwhisker meowed with a respectful dip of her head.

Zinnia nodded at them, approaching the nest with a scratched up cat.

She indicated with her head.

"That's Flare. If you could spare a moment or two after finishing up helping my group I would like you to bury him. He's my kin. His mother will be very upset when she wakes up to see he didn't make it."

Zinnia's face contorted in emotion.

"I will miss him greatly."

The dead tom in front of Riverpaw and his clanmates was a reddish Tom with white paws.

The Tom's eyes were opened, yet glazed dead. His eyes were a brilliant green color.

It was unfortunate he was dead because he looked like a fine young Tom.

And he would make a good warrior if he made it. I could have convinced him to join the clan as well, and he would be a very valuable asset to the Clan.

Riverpaw shook the thought out of his head.

But that wasn't going to happen. He was dead.

And it's all my fault. Why'd I have to talk a long time?

Riverpaw couldn't help the feeling of regret worm it's way into his mind.

He would definitely be in better relations with Zinnia if he had brought Sapwhisker in time.

He just prayed in the name of StarClan that Zinnia wouldn't hate him for as long as he lived and blamed him for it every single sunrise and sunset.

Zinnia laid a paw on her kin, sorrow in her yellow eyes as she dully stared at nothing.

She then came back, and turned to Sapwhisker.

"I'll show you to my mother, Gecko now." She told her.

Sapwhisker flicked her tail in confirmation with a confused look.

Riverpaw knew she didn't understand her slang either.

Sapwhisker's brown-and-cream pelt raised up in alarm as she followed.

She must of not been surrounded by so many injured or sick cats before. Especially since the clan had a lack of warriors.

Riverpaw prayed what he and his clanmates were doing was enough to keep the clan alive because Riverpaw didn't know what he would do if his clan went extinct.

It would be the ShadowClan and SkyClan problem all over again, except this time with the greatest clan to ever have existed: RiverClan.

Zinnia took Sapwhisker over to her mother, Moonshine flanking her with distrust in his gaze and his whisker quivering in hate.

"Is he going to keep flanking them the whole time?" Kelp wondered as the two young cats watched the interaction.

Riverpaw's ears folded a bit.

"I do not know. All I know is my clan seems to have some sort of grudge against outsiders." Riverpaw meowed.

Kelp jolted in shock.

"Huh. Isn't that a little odd?"

"A little...what?" Riverpaw asked in confusion.

He wish he understand these mouse-brains a little more.

The Orange-brown Tom mumbled something under his breath before meowing, "What I mean is it's kind of....mouse-brained how your clan thinks. It's hard to describe."

Amber eyes met with green.

It's mouse-brained how my clan has a grudge against outsiders? How? It's totally reasonable to want to keep things to yourself and make sure your comfortable, right?

Riverpaw was confused.

He never met anyone who thought differently. Then again, he supposed he had always been a clan cat, so he wouldn't have met anyone who was so different before.

Though, Gingerbreeze was one of the closest, but at least she understood boundaries. It was shown through the way she acted with her brown pelt when Riverpaw and Iceclaw met her, and through the way she respected the ways of the warrior when she accepted her new name, and the way her green eyes blazed with difference.

"What do you mean? Isn't it nice to have a sure home to stay in? I mean wouldn't you defend your territory with your life if you were threatened by outside forces?" Riverpaw wondered.

Kelp shrugged.

"Sure," he commented, shaking out his brown-and-Orange pelt a bit as they stood side by side, waiting.

Riverpaw hoped Gecko was alright.

If a young cat like Flare could die that fast, then it was highly likely Gecko could have an injury that was deadly as well.

Please let Gecko survive. He begged in his mind as the two sat down in silence.

Riverpaw wouldn't let himself relax, though.

He wanted to make sure Gecko was fully okay before he celebrated.

Please be able to save her Sapwhisker. Zinnia can't afford to lose anymore family members.

After a bit of long waiting, Sapwhisker came in with her paws a little bloody, and covered with juices from the herbs she was used.

"So, how'd it go? Did any more die?" Kelp asked with worry.

Sapwhisker lowered her head.

"No, but a few lost a lot of blood. One of the cats I dealt with, a white one, is going to be lame for the rest of his life." Sapwhisker informed.

"Arctic won't be able to walk normally? What kind of medicine cat are you if you can't even heal a simple injury?!" Kelp asked, in sheathing his claws in fury.

Sapwhisker took a step back, glancing  towards Zinnia for help.

Zinnia trusted her body forward to keep the Orange-and-brown Tom from hurting the cream-and-brown she-cat.

"Kelp! This is not her fault. She helped like she said she would. Only one cat died. It could have been even more. Let's be grateful instead of trying to blame a cat when they did their best. Plus, even a medicine cat can't save a lame paw if it's broken enough." Zinnia meowed smoothly.

Kelp relaxed a bit, his ruffled brown-and-orange fur smoothing as his amber eyes softened.

He stared at his paws in embarrassment.

"I suppose. Sorry, Sap cat." Kelp apologized.

"My name is Sapwhisker, but I understand the losses. My clan has witnessed a lot of them in the past moons. One of them was thanks to you, but I suppose it was long ago." Sapwhisker meowed as her tail twitched slightly.

"Hey, where's Moonshine?" Riverpaw wondered as he noticed the gray Tom with lighter green eyes wasn't anywhere in sight.

Sapwhisker and Zinnia looked around.

"Huh. I don't know where that other gray cat is, but he was flanking us suspiciously the whole time. Made me quite uncomfortable." Zinnia remarked as she continued to search with her yellow eyes.

He wasn't anywhere in sight.

"He was told to watch over me and make sure you wouldn't hurt me. Though I do suppose he went a little far with it. You haven't even laid a claw on me anyways." Sapwhisker meowed.

Zinnia's brown-red fur bristled.

She looked a little annoyed.

"Why would we hurt you anyways? That was a long time ago. My mom doesn't hold grudges anymore. Plus we regret killing that innocent." She meowed with desperation.

She was trying to convince herself that her mother had changed.

That's odd. Isn't Gecko nice, though? Was she not so nice a long time ago?

"What happened?" Riverpaw asked.

His voice cracked slightly in his mew.

He was confused.

These cats were nice, so why was there so much trouble involving them and the clans?

Sapwhisker sighed.

"Long before you were born." She began.

"RiverClan's own Hotpool killed a young father rogue on patrol. Gecko, or the mother of this cat right here," Sapwhisker meowed, indicating with a flick of her tail toward's Zinnia.

Zinnia's eyes shown with disgust.

Sapwhisker took a breath.

"She vowed revenge on our clan. She seduced one of our warriors, Pinestorm: mentor of Iceclaw. She lured him in with a false proclamation of love and lured him to his death."

Zinnia looked away as if embarrassed by what her mother had done long ago.

"My mom had a lot of time to think things over. She regretted killing him. He was innocent. Hotpool was the one who killed our kin, not that random cat. I'm sorry for what we've done to your clan. That was a while ago." Zinnia meowed sincerely.

Sapwhisker didn't respond.

Suddenly, a loud yowling sound stopped the reminiscing of Sapwhisker.

"Get off of me!" A masculine voice yowled.

Immediately, Sapwhisker glared at Zinnia.

"That was in the past, huh? Then why is my deputy crying for help?" Sapwhisker wondered.

Another yowl broke out, but this time it was female.

"Mother!" Zinnia yelped, glaring back at Sapwhisker.

"I knew your clan shouldn't have forced that strange deputy to come. Of course he'd be prone to fights. He only knows us the old way. Not the way we are. Trust me, Sapwhisker, your fight ways aren't the way with us."

With that, the cats all ran over to a nearby room where the gray pelt and brown tabby pelt of the two in question were fighting.

They both had fresh new wounds.

What is going on?! Why can't Moonshine leave things in the past?! Riverpaw wondered as Zinnia and him broke up the two fighting cats.
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Author's Note: If I make any mistakes please tell me. When I get back to this story I keep forgetting details like pelt colors and eye colors and I try to come back to them to remember, but sometimes I can't find eye or pelt colors, so yeah.

Anyways I left you on a cliffhanger.

After this chapter in the next chapter a couple things will happen. I won't tell you what happens, but one is important for plot, and another is just important because it involves ceremonies.

Thanks for reading! I'm so close to 300! Thanks so much! Next chapter should be either halfway or about halfway through this story!