Silverflame woke up to a misty dawn. She stretched and yawned as she groggily opened her golden eyes. Her soft, silver pelt was covered in leaves from where she was sleeping under a bush near Oceanclan territory. She was in Oceanclan territory because she was supposed to catch a rogue cat.
Silverflame looked down at the soft, mossy ground next to her at her companions. Firepaw and Brightpaw were going to help her on this mission. This was supposed to be Firepaw and Brightpaw's final mission before they could become warriors. Firepaw was a red tom with brown eyes and Brightpaw was a cream colored tom with blue eyes. They were all from Lightclan.
Silverflame was about to wake up the two sleeping apprentices to start their mission, but she decided against it. She thought it would be better if she could see the territory herself before she let the two weaker apprentices go out. As soon as Silverflame stepped outside the bush, Firepaw and Brightpaw were quickly awake. Silverflame turned around and sighed.
"You two should just stay here today, I'm only going to scout the territory for signs of the rogue," Silverflame stated. "I promise there will be no fighting, since I know how much you two love action."
"But…" Firepaw started, but Silverflame cut him off.
"You don't know who or what is out there. It could be dangerous, especially since this isn't Lightclan territory."
Firepaw and Brightpaw still stood by the entrance to the bush.
"Please let us come with you!" Firepaw yelled
"Yeah, please?" Brightpaw pleaded.
"Be quiet!" Silverflame said sternly. "Let's try not to draw attention to ourselves yet, you never know who could be listening." Silverflame then glanced around the small cluster of trees located around them. Firepaw and Brightpaw looked at each other, slightly scared about what Silverflame said.
"Well, I guess you two are almost warriors, and I can't detect any other cats, so you can come with me," Silverflame sighed. "Just try not to be too annoying, okay?"
"Don't worry, I'm sure we'll be helpful," Firepaw said.
"At least, we'll try to," Brightpaw added.
Firepaw seemed to brighten up a bit. "Let's get going now!" He said excitedly as he started running out of the trees. "Come on, Brightpaw! We're going to be warriors soon!"
Brightpaw stood cautiously by Silverflame. "I just hope Firepaw doesn't get hurt," Brightpaw told Silverflame.
"Don't worry," Silverflame said. "You two have me to protect you."
Firepaw ran ahead, scaring off some squirrels and birds as he caused a ton of noise. Suddenly, he crashed into a sandy-colored tom with red eyes. Firepaw gasped and fell back.
"Oh, watch where you're going, kid," the cat said as he walked away. Silverflame and Brightpaw quickly caught up to Firepaw, where he still sat on the ground.
"Hey, what happened, Firepaw?" Silverflame asked as she nudged Firepaw off the ground.
"Nothing, just bumped into this cat," Firepaw stated as he stood up and shook the dirt off his red fur.
Silverflame tensed up. "Well, what did this cat look like?" She asked as she seemed deep in thought.
"Huh, well, he had fur like sand and red eyes, why?" Firepaw said.
Silverflame gasped. "Sand colored fur and red eyes… It can't be him…" She mumbled.
"It's the rogue, isn't he?" Brightpaw asked suddenly.
"Well, yes, how did you know?" Silverflame asked, surprised.
"Um, I hope you aren't mad at me, but I overheard you talking with some other warriors about this mission," Brightpaw confessed.
"Hm, well, don't worry, I'm not mad at you, just a little surprised."
"Thanks," Brightpaw seemed relieved.
"Well, let's continue," Silverflame said.
The group of three cats soon reached Oceanclan's main territory. It was an area on the beach surrounded by a large circle of rocks. The ground slanted up to a cliff that went over the ocean. It was dusk when the cats arrived.
Silverflame wandered off to gather information about the rogue while Firepaw and Brightpaw sat on the cliff over the ocean, observing the setting sun in the red sky. Two cats walked up the cliff to where Firepaw and Brightpaw were sitting. They started having a conversation about someone.
At first, Firepaw and Brightpaw didn't pay much attention to the conversation, but started listening more as it continued.
"Yeah, I heard he's from Lightclan…" One of the cats said. Now, Firepaw and Brightpaw were alert and watching the two cats.
"Who's from Lightclan?" Firepaw asked Brightpaw, who was just as confused as Firepaw. The apprentices stared at each other for a while, then they both headed down the cliff to find Silverflame.
Firepaw and Brightpaw quickly found Silverflame walking by the ocean. They told her about how some cats were talking about a cat from Lightclan.
"Really? So there's another cat from Lightclan here...interesting," Silverflame said, a bit shocked. She sighed, "Firepaw, Brightpaw, we have to figure out who this mysterious cat is. I'm guessing they might be talking about the rogue."
Firepaw and Brightpaw stared at each other for a moment.
"I bet I'll be able to beat this rogue when we see him again!" Firepaw exclaimed, flexing his claws.
A strange black tom with brown eyes watched the three talk. The cat with sand colored fur and red eyes stood next to him.
"Sandclaw, they're starting to figure out about us," the black cat told Sandclaw, the rogue.
"Yes, just be sure not to call me Sandclaw, and I won't call you Badgermask," Sandclaw responded.