Grassclaw followed Hareleap, and Frogspring as they padded through moor. They were on a border patrol along the border with Thunderclan. The warm newleaf sun was beating on their backs. It was welcome after a long, harsh leafbare. The moor began to slope down towards the forest. The branches on the trees were beginning to regain their leaves. The scent of prey made Grassclaw's belly rumble. Hareleap glanced back sympathetically at him. "You can get something to eat when we get back to camp."
Grassclaw nodded as the patrol slowed to a stop at the stream. Grassclaw sniffed the air and smelled a rank scent. He paused, running through his memories as he tried to place the scent. Fox? No, it was musky but not dog-like. Dog? No, dogs only came when the sheep came. Badger? Grassclaw was sure that he would recognize the scent of badger.
Frogspring was the first to place the scent. "Weasel!" She gasped, her nose close to the ground.
"Weasel?" Hareleap was at her side in an instant. "Where?" Grassclaw padded over to join them, it smelled like the scent he was trying to place. The light brown tabby fur along his spine rippled. He'd never seen a weasel, but judging from the elder's descriptions it was not a creature to mess with.
"Over there," Frogspring pointed to a fern bush with her tail. The light gray warrior padded over, followed by Hareleap and Grassclaw. Before they reached the bush, a small brown and white creature padded out. Its face was as around as kits', and its small ears were pricked as the cats padded closer. It crouched close to the ground, blinking fearfully up at the warriors towering over it. It had claws that were attached to small, wide paws. The creature had a long, fluffy tail. Its face tapered to a black nose.
"It's a kit!" Grassclaw exclaimed, looking at Hareleap. "Were its mother?"
Hareleap opened his mouth, tasting the air. He frowned, his green eyes narrowing. "I can smell no mother nearby. They must have been separated somehow."
Frogspring had padded closer to the small weasel, giving it a sniff. "We should take it back to camp with us."
"No, we shouldn't!" Hareleap growled, unsheathing his claws. "It'll be a menace when it grows up."
"We don't want it attacking and killing the kits." Grassclaw added, agreeing with the senior warrior.
Frogspring wrapped her tail around the weasel, drawing it closer to her. Her blue gaze was soft, as she gazed at the kit. "It's only a kit. If we raise it as our own, it will know to never harm the kits. Plus it will be an asset to our clan."
"Fine," Hareleap grumbled, padding up the slope. "But you have to explain to Mousefang why we didn't mark the Thunderclan boundary."
"I'm sure she'll understand," Frogspring meowed breezily. She gently picked up the kit by its scruff, and padded onto the moor. It was slow going as Frogspring refused to increase the pace for fear of harming the weasel. The camp slowly became within sight of the patrol. They entered the camp, and were surrounded immediately by the clan.
Mousefang and Thrushstar pushed their way forward through the crowd of cats. Their eyes narrowed when they caught sight of the weasel. "Why is that here?" Mousefang demanded, her brown pelt bristling.
"We brought it here to raise as a clan cat." Frogspring explained, setting down the kit. "It has no mother."
"It will bring nothing but trouble!" Mousefang hissed. Murmurs of agreement rose from the clan at the deputy's words.
"Wait," Thrushstar rested his tail on the deputy's spine. "Perhaps it will be of some use to us. As long as it's raised thinking that it's a clan cat and nothing else, then we'll be fine." Yowls of protest rose from the clan.
Grassclaw shared dismayed looks with Hareleap and Frogspring. It didn't seem like the clan will agree, but Thrushstar raised his tail for silence. His black and white pelt was smooth as his green gaze raked across the assembled clan. "This kit will be known as Weaselkit. From now on no cat must tell him why he has that name. He must think and act like a clan cat from now till he joins Starclan. Understand?"
"Who will care for it?" Mousefang asked. "No cat will care for Weaselkit."
"I will take care of Weaselkit." Frogspring lifted her head and wrapped her tail around Weaselkit. Thrushstar nodded his agreement, and the clan melted away to their dens, murmuring discontently.
Many moons passed, and Grassclaw watched as Weaselkit grew into Weaselpaw. He was given the weasel as an apprentice. Weaselpaw trained hard and well, already full grown but not yet trained. The other clans had accepted it warily. As a kit, Weaselpaw had learned the language of cats, and has already proven that though he was a weasel, he didn't attack the kits.
"Hello Grassclaw," Weaselpaw dipped his head respectfully. The apprentice obviously had something on his mind.
"What's wrong?" Grassclaw asked, his ears twitching. He had a feeling at where this conversation was heading.
"I encountered a she-weasel while I was out hunting." Weaselpaw explained, shifting his paws. "I challenged her at why she was on Windclan territory. She looked at me surprised, and asked why I thought I was a cat when I was weasel." Grassclaw gulped as he anticipated the question. "Am I a weasel? And why did no cat tell me?"
Grassclaw sighed, beckoning the apprentice closer to him with his tail. He knew that Thrushstar had forbidden any cat to tell Weaselpaw the truth, but the apprentice had obviously figured it out. "When you were still a kit, not much bigger than my paw, Hareleap, Frogspring and I, found you on the Thunderclan border. We couldn't find your mother so Frogspring insisted that we take you back to camp with us. Hareleap and I were against the idea because weasels are dangerous to warriors and kits. Frogspring eventually persuaded us to take you with us. Thrushstar agreed to raise you as our own with the exception that no cat tell you the true nature of your name."
Weaselpaw didn't respond, instead he marched over to the apprentice's den and disappeared inside. Goldenpaw, who watched the exchange with wide eyes, followed Weaselpaw into the den. Grassclaw headed into the warriors den and went to sleep. He wasn't asleep for long though. Goldenpaw was standing over him, her green eyes wide with alarm. Before Grassclaw could ask why the apprentice was in the warriors den, Goldenpaw beat him to it. "Weaselpaw is gone!"
"Do you know where he went?" Grassclaw demanded, leaping to his paws.
Goldenpaw shook her head. "He said he will back by now before leaving the camp for a walk. He hasn't come back yet!"
"We'll find him," Grassclaw meowed. He padded deeper into the den and nudged Mousefang awake.
"What is it Grassclaw?" Mousefang raised her head.
"Weaselpaw isn't in the camp according to Goldenpaw." Grassclaw informed the deputy. "We need to go out and search at once!"
A few dawns later, Grassclaw was on patrol to the Thunderclan border when he smelled the scent of blood. After a few days of searching, the clan had given up on finding Weaselpaw. Rounding a bush with Mousefang and Goldenpaw, they found Weaselpaw's dead body on the border with Thunderclan. Thunderclan scent pooled around the apprentice's body and he bristled with anger. He swallowed it and exchanged a silent glance with Mousefang. Together they silently made a decision as Goldenpaw licked the blood off Weaselpaw's pelt. Grassclaw picked up Weaselpaw gently by his scruff and carried the weasel's body back to camp for a vigil.