Their attacks halted, but only for the two cats to hiss at the two cats who intervened.

"What are you doing, Riverpaw?! This she-cat purposefully attacked me when no cat noticed! She obviously faked her injury! She can fight just fine!"

Gecko hissed harshly.

Her tail lashed she spat out her next words: "No I didn't! He attacked me!"

Both the cats glared at each other harshly.

"It doesn't matter, mother. You wanted to be friends with the clans once again. Please, let's not create a war from this." Zinnia begged her kin, her eyes glowing in fear.

Riverpaw could clearly see the hatred between the two cats.

It didn't matter who attacked who. Whoever did was obviously in the wrong, and they needed to make peace.

Moonshine glared at Gecko.

His green eyes were blazing with anger.

"I don't want war with these cats, Zinnia, but I'm not sure this fur ball will agree." Gecko remarked, pointing her tail at Moonshine.

Moonshine gazed away with frustration.

"I don't want unnecessary war either, so you know, but she's the one who won't agree to peace. I tried offering my peace, but she attacked me."

Gecko rolled her eyes.

"I thought I was being attacked by WindClan, sorry I didn't recognize my own surroundings. Are all your warriors this tense, Riverpaw?" Gecko snorted as she casually approached the Tom, letting her brown tabby tail run across his chin.

Moonshine's face contorted into more anger.

"Your mouse-brained evil ways are what made us so tense, you Fox-hearts!" Moonshine snarled, baring his fangs and his back arched.

Gecko's claws unsheathed as the fur on her body stuck up, making her look twice her own size.

"Come at me then, uptight clan cat! Show me your clan is nothing but a bunch of pushovers!" Gecko challenged.

"Mom!" Zinnia exclaimed.

The gray tom unsheathed his claws, flexing them in anger.

"As the deputy of my clan, I won't stoop to a rogue's level. A warrior doesn't need to fight battles, unlike you, you purposeless rogue!" Moonshine flashed.

Gecko didn't hesitate to jump on him.

She still had her wounds, so what Moonshine meowed on about her faking her injuries was a lie.

Did he lie? Why would a warrior have to lie? Is my clan even an honorable one? Or are his eyes as blind as some elder's eyes are?

Riverpaw gasped as the deputy was taken down by the rogue.

Is she going to kill him?! I'm so confused.

Riverpaw was having conflicting thoughts within himself.

He wasn't sure if he could trust any cat at this point.

Zinnia told him her mom didn't want to hurt anyone, but Riverpaw could see how she was enjoying fighting the dark gray Tom.

The female had the upper paw for the time being, battering the tom's ears with her paws.

The tom furiously kicked her off of him.

The aftermath of his throw sent her against the wall.

A cracking sound could be heard as her body fell to the floor, and she was lying limp.

A cry sounded out, and a flash of red-brown ran past Riverpaw to the limp body.

Zinnia nosed her mother gently, her mother's eyes were glazed over, and her head was bleeding viciously.

Behind Zinnia, Sapwhisker padded up to the female.

She put a paw on her shoulder.

Moonshine, Riverpaw, and Kelp all were gazing at the body in horror.

Moonshine was the worst of them.

Riverpaw knew he meant well.

He was just so strong, and the wall was just close by.

He seemed to be taking this far more unpleasantly than anyone else.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!" Moonshine exclaimed with wide eyes.

Zinnia didn't seem to be paying attention to him.

"It was an accident. I hope she's okay. It's not right to lose two of your kin in the same day." Kelp meowed.

Riverpaw dipped his head miserably.

He couldn't bear to imagine losing his own mother in such a way.

It would be awful! Riverpaw thought as Sapwhisker bent her head down to listen to the brown tabby's chest.

Sapwhisker's eyes widened.

She lifted her head away from the unmoving she-cat.

She dipped her head before turning her gaze on Zinnia.

"I'm so sorry, Zinnia. She's dead." The cream-and-brown she-cat mewed.

Zinnia's yellow eyes widened in disbelief.

"No." She whispered, her tail dropping.

"She...she can't be dead." Zinnia mewed with grief in her voice.

Not even Flare had gotten this much emotion out of her.

Her face hardened as she turned to Moonshine.

"You killed her!" She yowled, baring her fangs.

Her back arched and her fur lifted double in size.

She hissed at Moonshine in anger.

"I-I know! I'm sorry! I don't know my own strength! We're leaving! I've had enough of violence for one! Let's go, Sapwhisker, Riverpaw." Moonshine meowed, fear in his gaze.

Sapwhisker blinked sympathetically at the young she-cat before turning around and following the gray Tom.

Riverpaw dipped his head in shame of what Moonshine did.

Sure, he didn't mean to kill her, but it still happened.

He wasn't sure if Zinnia wanted him to stay after what happened.

He decided he would ask her just to be polite, but not before he, Zinnia, and Kelp all stood around in silence.

He took the time to gaze at Kelp's orange-brown pelt, noticing how well kempt it was despite him running around all sunrise.

Zinnia didn't really mew anything, but Riverpaw could tell she was plagued with hurt and loss.

He gazed into her glazed yellow eyes, thoughtfully wondering what she was thinking about his clan.

He wasn't even sure if Moonshine deserved to be deputy after this event.

"Would you like me to leave, Zinnia?" Riverpaw wondered softly as he lowered his haunches a bit.

The sad she-cat glanced over at him.

She smiled at him.

He almost believed she wanted him to stay with her.

Loss could be hard to face alone sometimes.

He would gladly allow her to lean on him.

He lost his father when he was young, so he knew how she felt.

"Would you do that for me, Riverpaw? I know it's not yours, or that medicine cat's fault, but I would like to be alone. I'm still...mourning her loss. She was a great leader. Who will lead us now, Riverpaw?"

Zinnia wasn't even asking him anything at this point.

She was just truly in wonder at what the rogue group would do now.

Riverpaw didn't want to suggest anything to her just yet. She would definitely reject the idea right away.

I'm actually wondering what they will do now. Who will be their leader is a definite question I want to know.

Riverpaw dipped his head towards the beautiful she-cat.

"Of course, Zinnia. I'm sorry for your loss. I'll stay away if you want. You can send some cat over or come over yourself if you want me to come back." Riverpaw informed her.

The she-cat gazed at him with fondness.

"Of course you can still come over, but next time don't bring your deputy with you. He's very aggressive."

Riverpaw dipped his head as he quickly left, addressing what Zinnia meowed quickly before leaving.

The journey back to the other side of the river was quiet.

Riverpaw could tell both Sapwhisker and Moonshine were shaken up by what happened.

Whatever happened—however much of an accident, happened.

Gecko was dead, and the rogue group was left without a leader for now.

Riverpaw felt guilty for what happened, though knowing it was Moonshine who dealt the dealing blow.

It was silent until the reached their own territory.

A patrol that was made for them greeted the three cats as they crossed the river.

"Greetings," Iceclaw mewed with a dip of her head as she gazed at them in concern with green-blue eyes.

"How was the trip to the rogue camp?"

"It went okay." Moonshine informed, his gaze turning towards the ground.

The only one there besides Iceclaw was Hotpool, his green eyes flashing with excitement before noticing his grim expression.

"What happened?" Iceclaw wondered, her eyes widening.

She suspected something had happened.

"Just some troubles. One of their rogues died before we got there..." Sapwhisker informed, turning her gaze away from the two cats.

"Oh." Iceclaw meowed in confusion.

"I thought something worse happened."

Hotpool was bouncing on her feet.

What was up with him?

Realization hit Riverpaw like a fish out of water. His kits were getting their warrior names tonight!

He almost forgot Marigoldpaw was taking her assessment earlier.

"Anyways, Lilystar is calling a clan meeting when we get back. Marigoldpaw and Melonpaw have earned their warrior names. Hurry!" Iceclaw told them.

Moonshine and Sapwhisker both nodded in understanding.

The now five cats raced back into the camp, Riverpaw almost forgetting about the events that occurred earlier that day.

I wonder what warrior names they'll get! They seem so excited! Marigoldpaw worked hard for this!
—————

Author's Note: I might create an edited version of the alliances so I don't forget what's happening.

Also did Gingerbreeze have kits?

I think she did and she's in the nursery with them. I forgot what their names are...

This is why I want to create an edited alliance so I can keep track.

Anyways I don't know if I've picked a name for Melonpaw yet....

Either way, thanks for reading! A new cover will be added.

All three of these covers I made, but you'll see which I picked already.

This is the one that I wasn't thinking of using at all, but I still like it.

I like the text I used for the title in this, but idk about that cat that's why I went for the last one. Because Riverpaw isn't a tabby, not that it mattered. I just wanted to stay true to Riverpaw's pelt type.