"Get down," Snowfur hissed. "I smell ShadowClan!"
Bluefur ducked beside her. Sure enough, the stench of ShadowClan was fresh on the breeze. It mingled with the scent of the Thunderpath, several tree-lengths away.
Bluefur wrinkled her nose. More than one cat scent tainted the air. "Should I get a patrol?" she whispered.
"There are no more than three of them," Snowfur murmured. "We can take them ourselves." She crept forward over the tree root and slithered under a bush. Bluefur slid in beside her. Now she could clearly hear ShadowClan voices muttering a few tail-lengths ahead.
"You should never have chased it over the Thunderpath."
"But I nearly had it!"
"It's gone now."
Bluefur peered through the leaves and saw three pelts huddled in a small clearing between the pines.
"Let's go back." A black tome spoke.
"No!" a tortoiseshell she-cat insisted. "I can still smell the squirrel. It's close."
The black warrior flicked his tail. "ThunderClan has been as jumpy as fleas since RiverClan took Sunningrocks. We should go."
"I'm not worried about ThunderClan," meowed a mottled tabby tom. "They'll be busy patrolling the RiverClan border. We'll just get the squirrel and take it back over the Thunderpath. They'll never know we were here."
"You heard Sunstar at the last Gathering," the black tom cautioned. "He said he'd shred any cat who crossed the border - kittypet or Clan."
The tabby tom sighed. "Okay," he conceded. "Let's go."
The tortoiseshell stiffened. "No! I can smell the squirrel."
Small paws skittered nearby. The ShadowClan cats pressed themselves to the ground.
"This way!" The tortoiseshell began to stalk, keeping low.
Snowfur growled, "If they think they're going to hunt on ThunderClan territory, they've got another thing coming." She leaped out from the bush and skidded in front of the ShadowClan warriors, her back arched and her claws unsheathed. "Stop right there!"
The ShadowClan cats flinched away, tails bushing.
Bluefur pelted after her sister. "Mangy crow-food eaters!" She bared her teeth, a growl rumbling in her throat.
The tortoiseshell blinked. "Is that it? Two cats? Not much of a patrol."
"Enough to deal with you!" Bluefur spat.
The black tom straightened, eyes gleaming. "You think so?"
The tabby snarled. "If you're all ThunderClan can come up with, I think we'll catch this squirrel and then go home."
"Oh, no, you don't!" Snowfur launched herself at the tabby, knocking him sideways with a crashing blow from her forepaw.
The tortoiseshell's eyes widened with shock. Even Bluefur was startled. "Sowfur...," she began.
"I've been stuck in camp too long to miss the chance for a fight," Snowfur spat.
There was no way Bluefur was going to let her sister battle these trespassers alone. Springing forward, she lashed out with unsheathed claws at the black tom, slitting his nose. He pelted, yowling, into the bushes.
The tabby tom scrabbled to his paws. "Let's get out of here!" he yowled.
Snowfur hurtled after the fleeing ShadowClan warriors, screeching like a whole battle patrol. Bluefur was on her tail. They would teach those crow-food munchers a lesson they wouldn't forget!
The forest brightened ahead where the trees opened onto the Thunderpath. The ShadowClan cats pelted out into the sunshine, and Snowfur hared after them. Bluefur raced from the trees, blinking against the sudden brightness.
The ShadowClan warriors were already halfway across the Thunderpath.
"That's right mangy flea-pelts! Run!" Snowfur screeched, pacing in front of the Thunderpath. Bluefur skidded to a halt beside her, hissing and watching the retreating pelts of the warriors. The sisters looked at each other, breathless but happy, their earlier fight already drifting away in the thrill of the pursuit.
Bluefur purred, bumping her shoulder against Snowfur. "You were so brave! You must really be dying to get out of the nursery, huh?"
Snowfur shook her pelt out, "come on Bluefur. Let's go report this to Sunstar."