It had been too easy telling Gingerclaw that they would round back after catching one more piece of prey to secure their shot at becoming a warrior today. The dark brown-and-white tabby apprentice stretched their fore paws out in front of them with a show of teeth, this would be their chance to prove and show the younger apprentices that their stories of the monsters that were over the border; true. Stalking forward with a flick of the tail the apprentice made their way closer to the border that cut off PuddleClan from unknown and barely explored land.
The apprentice paused briefly when the fresh scent markers reached their nose before making their way through the undergrowth till they stepped over the invisible line. Puffing up their white chest the soon-to-be warrior gave up being quiet and steadily went deeper into the undergrowth and trees, their orange eyes glancing around for something they could use as their proof of being over the border. The sight of clumped grey fur grew their attention quickly when the apprentice slowed their steps to make it easier on themselves to look about.
Hurrying over to the fur the apprentice sniffed at it before pawing the clump away from the bramble it was stuck on with confusion. A strong scent of a cat was still fresh on the fur and it wasn't like the damp and heavy scent that most FernClan cats carried nor was it like their own clan's scent which meant a rogue must have gotten stuck here before managing to free themselves.
Now feeling nervous and giddy the dark brown-and-white tabby apprentice took in deeper breathes with their mouth parted, needing to figure out which way the rogue went within the undergrowth so they could track them down. Forgetting about the clump of fur the apprentice started off to the right with quiet steps having found the scent with a few tries of picking through the ones they knew. Rustling and a strange pleased voice of triumph from their far left startled the soon-to-be warrior though by instinct they dropped to a crouch to help stay unnoticed.
Laying still for a moment the apprentice narrowed their gaze to the cluster of brambles and ferns with their ears twitching, waiting for the cat for sure to speak or make a move. "Cuckoonose! I found some red and yellow flowers, do you think they could be useful?" Once more that pleased voice called out but the apprentice was stunned at learning from that sentence that there was another cat with the one they were tracking.
"Most likely not Silverpaw..leave the plants alone for now alright?" A deeper but lighter voice replied sounding too close to the apprentice crouched position for their liking. Attempting to back up the dark brown-and-white tabby flinched when their hind paw was swept from underneath them by an uneven twig that snapped as they tried to cover up their almost flopping to their right side. Blood roaring in the apprentice ear they stood froze in place too scared to move though surely the two strange cats heard the twig snap and the exhale that had escaped them when they managed to right themselves. Silence stretched out before a fury of movement over took the apprentice by surprise and they blinked dazed up into the face of a dark brown tabby cat as their vision swamped back.
"Your nose was right Cuckoonose…" The dark brown tabby spoke roughly with their teeth snapping into the apprentice face just inches from their nose. "We've finally found another clan" The tabby continued with a dark look flashing into their yellow eyes that made the apprentice shake violently with fear and the knowledge that these three cats were clan cats that they never heard of.