When he woke, it was with a start. Panic rose like a flame within him, immediately leaping upward to spread hot licks of heat across his throat. His dark gray eyes shot open and although he felt warm with a figure of a cat next to him, cold terror spread over him like water freezing over.

Though it was the next morning and now all the other thoughts and feelings were rising within him, his head now was a dull ache. It felt as though someone had accidentally poked his injury and allowed just a spark or two of pain to come through to him. He lifted a paw carefully to his skull, finding that the swelling had nearly dissipated. He laid it down gently.

The pale-furred warrior studied Pantherleap carefully, trying to fight down the waves of panic. Nobody has seen us, and if he wakes up in time, nobody will see us.

However, despite the clear reasoning within his thoughts, a different side of his head rose sharper and louder than all the rest within his already clogged and crowded head.

What if they think we're... we're...

No. They'd be stupid.

It's reasonable!

"Adderheart?"

The mentioned warrior lightly turned his head, allowing it to tip the side as if in question.

"Did we... I... fall asleep here?" Pantherleap's voice was soft and confused like a kit out of a nest for the first time.

He swallowed, a million emotions flashing beneath a mask he had hurriedly slipped on. "I believe so."

"Did anyone see us?" Of course that question would follow.

"I don't believe so." It was true. He didn't think anyone had seen the two, for if they had, it was likely that Cougarstar would have rushed in with his muzzle drawn back in fury, spitting insults and roaring for them to be injured and then thrown out of the Clan at once with no hesitation.

Pantherleap nodded slowly, laying his head back on his paws in a rather lengthy manner. He swept his tail tightly around his large and broad figure and the senior warrior seemed to settle in closer to Adderheart. Surprise flitted through him but he moved closer back to the tom. A small wave of warmth overtook the panic.

He inched a bit so that his left paw had laid delicately over Pantherleap's right. A light silence had filled the air, clogging his senses with a sort of nice white fluff that caused the wave of warmth to turn stronger as it lit a match. Adderheart gave a small smile, blinking a little, and the other tom allowed a frown to surface momentarily upon his features, nudging him a little bit.

"Hey, don't capture my paw. I need it."

With the spark of warmth dampening, he removed his paw, but Pantherleap looked over to Adderheart with an expression that said 'are you serious?'.

"What?" Adderheart questioned softly.

Pantherleap stared at him for a few moments longer as if expecting him to realize something, but he didn't, and the tawny tom simply suppressed a snicker and placed his own paw over Adderheart's. Swallowing, Adderheart shifted closer to Pantherleap, who murmured something.

"I'm cold." Pantherleap glanced at Adderheart, who in turn moved his tail around the other tom, and a smile rose upon the tawny tom's features. Adderheart pressed his features firmly against the ground, nodding somewhat stiffly, though he attempted to make it seem more casual.

Adderheart purred softly and Pantherleap murmured something inaudibly. He didn't care what he'd said. He was content as he was. Everything seemed to fade away, focusing solely upon the two within the den, comfortably settled beside each other. A few thoughts drifted into Adderheart's head and he lightly nudged them away.

They came back once more and he shifted a bit, shoving them away harshly. He didn't need to worry about that.

The two lay there for a few moments more until Pantherleap's ears perked sharply.

"Hm...?" Adderheart looked over to the tawny tom, who quickly sprung to his paws, pausing momentarily, before strolling right out.

"Pantherleap—?" Adderheart cut himself off and anxiously scrambled backward into the shadows.

"Tired, I see." The comment was accompanied with a soft sniffle. It was Tinydust. In the silence that followed, Adderheart could only guess that Pantherleap had nodded. "I see. Would you like an herb for energy? We could snag something from the stores."

"I'd rather just wait until they're awake... so we can get the most effective one," Pantherleap replied.

"But why would you wait?" A tinge of irritation filled her tone. "Just take some now, it'll be fine. I can get it for you."

"No, really. It's fine. I'll be fine." The tone was dismissive and a light shuffle reached his ears. A hiss soon came after, followed by the stomping of paws and a whisk of a furious tail flick.

Pantherleap ducked his head back into the offshoot and his voice echoed. "Come on!"

Adderheart rose to his paws and, glancing around at the area once more, bounded out. His pawsteps were soft yet quick, swerving as he came to the main part of the den. He heard the faint scuffling of paws and he sprung for the entrance, leaving to be met with a burst of light.

Quickly circling the den and taking a few more generous bounds, the tom eventually settled down near the camp's entrance. His tail wrapped around his slim figure and he began to groom his pelt, trying to smooth it down.

The sun had risen into the sky, providing lovely peachy tones for the camp. The entire territory was bathed in a tangerine light, accented by the pale blush tones that spread in the sky. However, despite the rather warm tones, it wasn't all that warm actually within the camp.

Chilly winds approached the camp carefully, racing in and ruining the fur of anyone nearby, for it was sure to kick up enough fuss to do so. It whistled, too, gently though not quietly, as if to indicate the approaching leaf-bare. Could it really be that soon?

This is... just a cold spell. Right? Adderheart's ear twitched as his mind wandered. If it happened to be an early leaf-bare then surely the rogues would be infringing much more, unless they didn't exactly know either and didn't wish to guess.

He was reminded of the patrol that Pantherleap had been on and his tail flicked sharply. He wondered where it had occurred, and if it had been fairly easy to access, perhaps he could go and do some digging to see what was really going on. Would it be possible to pick up scent trails?

It was a doubtful thing, he knew, to think that he would be able to go to the place where the patrol's incident had happened. Of course he wouldn't be allowed there — anybody else, as well, but him specifically. Well, not necessarily.

If Cougarstar were to find out, the leader would throw a fit, surely. After the explosive speech, Adderheart was sure that no cat was bound to stand up to him soon, for fear of Tinydust's situation happening again to someone they knew or even to them. He wants us to solve the problem, not inspect it.

If we want to learn more about it, then inspection is necessary. The thought flitted through his head and he huffed somewhat absently. Cougarstar didn't understand. He was so blinded by, what, power, he didn't know, but he was blinded. And the blindness caused him to be unable to see, of course.

He made no attempt to see. It was as if he liked being blind, for it protected him, in a way.

See what? Anything, really. It was as if the leader could only see his tawny paws beneath his large, strong, intelligent form. If he made a decision he could only see how it affected him and perhaps anyone within his tiny circle. If it affected him badly, then there'd be no doubt he'd go back on it.

And if he barely allowed his vision to expand past the usual circle, then there were cats like Tinydust surrounding him, cats like Palewhisker, even cats like Bearpatch. But before it could stretch further, it inched back in. If anything were to happen while it was expanded, it was sure to shrink back in.

Though, due to the lessened vision, he couldn't see when things were dangerous for others. And usually, a normal deputy would be able to assist in that field. The deputy of a Clan helped ensure that all the warriors were fine, as some of the opinions that warriors held didn't always get straight to the leader.

But the deputy was corrupted in a similar fashion to the leader above them, and the heir below the deputy wasn't able to speak up. Well, they could. Any and all heirs could if they truly wished to do so, and really under any circumstance, an heir would have more power than a deputy. But it was as if this specific heir was unable to speak.

Cougarstar's fault. Likely the upbringing that Bearpatch had suffered from had caused his silence. Absently, the warrior wondered if Bearpatch even liked Sootdawn. He briefly realized that even if he didn't, that didn't matter, as the two would be forced to have kits anyway.

He shivered absently, a chilly breeze dancing around his slim figure and he glanced around the camp. There were a few cats milling around, including none other than Bearpatch. The heir was settled near the fresh-kill pile, digging into a mouse. He appeared content.

Palewhisker padded out of his den nearby, and along with him, he dragged a plump creature. It was hidden from Adderheart's view, though he presumed it was also prey, as he bit into it with ease and happiness, apparently. A rather bright smile was present upon his features.

But it wasn't a true 'bright' smile. It was more of a sardonic smile, one that spread from the fact that he knew he was better than everyone else. That he could eat more than everyone else and nobody would say anything. That he could sleep wherever he wanted and nobody could do anything about it.

Bearpatch didn't carry that same smile. Well, he didn't carry a smile at all. Instead, he was just blank, appearing to simply be a slate of whatever the camp felt. Which, was mostly nothing, as only a few milled around. He did not take on the state of Palewhisker, though.

He wondered why, and absently Adderheart wondered if the two toms got along. If so, did they hunt a lot frequently? Well, Bearpatch doesn't leave the camp all too often. I'm sure Palewhisker prefers to be inside of the camp compared to wandering the territory.

Most do, I suppose. Adderheart's tail curled absently over his paws, shifting his position almost nervously as if he was worried that someone could see into his thoughts and read him exactly. What if someone can read my thoughts? Hello? Can someone read this?

Immediately after thinking so, he wanted to slam his head into the ground beneath his slim form for thinking something so dumb. He lifted a paw and rapidly licked it, drawing it briskly over his ear as if to cleanse himself from the idiotic thought.

Stop worrying.

He told himself in a rather strict way as he let his mind wander once more to the Clans' politics.

Politics... it was a touchy subject, and not one that many seemed to rush for. In SageClan, "politics" consisted of arguing over random things concerning the Clan, most commonly the rogues that attacked every leaf-bare. Usually, it happened outside of camp, due to the fact that Cougarstar would rush out and snarl at cats who disagreed with him.

Because of course, it just so happened that the tawny tom was listening the entire time and he had caught all of the sounds that every cat had uttered, and not only that. He'd learned precisely who disliked him or disagreed the tiniest bit with his ideals.

So cats took to discussions outside of camp... meaning that a lot of the lazier cats missed out. Or the cats who couldn't leave the camp, like elders or queens, and even kits. Not that the kits knew about the politics of course, but some knew bits and pieces of what was meant to be politics.

The kits had their own worries anyway.

Worries much smaller than the warriors' worries, of course, but not any less pressing. To them, a lost game of mossball was as important as losing a battle or something similar. The kits didn't necessarily believe their issues more important than the warriors.

Most didn't even know of the issues concerning the majority of the Clan. It was a heavily guarded secret. Well, there were many heavily guarded secrets. It seemed to spread outward. The first level was secrets within the two highest cats in the Clan, consequently Cougarstar and his mate.

Perhaps, the two highest would change at times. Some believed it to be Cougarstar and Palewhisker, others Bearpatch and his father. Regardless, from there it stretched down to the healers and the permanent queens. Furthermore, it skimped past them and toward the senior warriors.

The senior warriors didn't necessarily receive more information than other warriors. They, along with generally being more respected, just had more ties to the highranks and therefore seemed to gain a lot more quips of information. It wasn't like the leader shared information freely to the highranks. Of course not. That would be stupid to Cougarstar.

After the senior warriors came the usual warriors. They got information, mostly, from Clan meetings, however, some got bits and pieces of gossip from the older warriors. Russetpelt, although not the youngest warrior, was the younger brother of Fernfall.

Information was shared between the two, no doubt. After the warriors came the apprentices and really, they had no more information than the warriors. The younger apprentices had a little less, considering that their mentors usually didn't share much with them, and the older ones were around the camp less, meaning they missed meetings called by Cougarstar. Undoubtedly, he didn't care about that. He only wanted the best for him and him only. Perhaps a little bit of that care went to his mate.

After the apprentices, surprisingly, came the queens — those not permanent, obviously. They got little bits and pieces of information from the apprentices that came in to help them. Only some of the apprentices would actually have conversations with the queens, and if they did, they were usually rather short and sharp.

The queens liked talking to others, as far as he could gather. They spent their entire days with kits who either jumped around all day and all night or who cried and cried until they got what they wanted. He felt almost guilty for them, really.

They didn't get to converse much with warriors. Some of the queens' siblings or parents, if alive, visited them, but how long those visits were, he didn't know. He had to presume they were fairly short, however. The tom shifted upon the ground.

After the queens were elders. It was occasional that cats would stop by the elders and chat a bit. Mostly, the apprentices would gossip around and near the den, and despite the fact that some had suffering hearing, it was still rather sharp. They picked up on a lot of gossip that floated around.

The pale-furred warrior rose to his paws with a flicker of his tail.

He glanced around the camp, wondering what to do. He wanted to go hunting but found it useless to leave the camp at this point. The sky was somewhat light. It was mid-afternoon, at least he assumed so, with the sun hanging up in the sky.

It spread pleasant light across and around the camp, and although there were clouds up in the sky, it was still a fairly bright day. Though, he wasn't going to hunt. He just felt... tired. It was as if someone had plunked a heavy set of weights upon his shoulders. So, simply, he turned around and headed for the warrior's den. Ducking into the den with a swift movement, he slunk toward his nest.

He ensured that his pawsteps were soft and quiet. He wasn't about to ruin or disrupt any of the nearby nests, and so he crept carefully toward his own. As he reached it he settled down, wrapping his tail around his form.

And within a few moments, he had slipped into a comfortable and light slumber.