The night sky was dark, and small rain clouds were beginning to gather around a bright crescent moon. The light shone down on an intruder near the entrance of ShadowClan, making his bright orange pelt look like gold.
He saw the two guards standing near the entrance. He rolled his eyes in irritation. "They're so paranoid," the tom muttered to himself, grinning at the irony. He scuttled around, making sure that the guards could hear.
"What should we do?" guard one asked. The other shook his head like he didn't know.
"Probably a mouse," guard two replied hopefully. She took a deep breath through her nose. The orange tom tensed, hoping he wouldn't be smelled. "Actually, I do smell mouse."
The she-cat walked towards him, licking her lips in anticipation of a good dinner.
The RiverClan tabby, orange pelt still glimmering, raced away from her and went to distract the other guard.
When he too was distracted by a "mouse," the RiverClan tabby snuck into camp, completely unnoticed. He took a moment to take in his surroundings. The apprentice den to his left, the nursery on his right, and the leader's den in a small cave under a ledge. Behind him was his target: the warrior's den.
The orange tabby stepped lightly inside and over a light silver she-cat to reach his mother's brother. He was wrapped protectively around another she-cat who was quietly sleeping, confident that her mate would protect her.
As the orange tom stepped around, getting a good position, he snapped a twig. Instantly a pair of eyes stared into his own blue ones.
He had not come this far to fail.
Leaping as high as he could go in the cave, he landed on the tom as he formed one last cry of alarm.
"Autumnsecret?"