Silence filled the camp. By now every cat was awake and under the Highrock, shocked at Rosepetal's statement. Then suddenly, all the cats began yelling in fear and confusion. Blackthorn tried to get closer to the Highrock.
"Move! I need to hear! This is important!" she snapped. All the cats were speculating what this new clan could mean, when Silverstar broke up the chaos.
"Silence!" she ordered. Then she turned to Rosepetal. "How can you be sure?"
"Well," Rosepetal began. "Obviously they have some kind of group, even if it isn't really a clan."
"I think it's best that we confront them, just so they know we're here and to go over the rules before any more of this happens," Snowfang suggested.
"Yes, that's a good idea," Silverstar stated, deep in thought. "I'll organize a patrol to follow the scent trail."
"But we don't know anything about these cats! They could be really dangerous," Lotuspaw whimpered, trembling in fear.
"Yes, so I will only send the most elite cats to go," Silverstar said.
"Can I go?" pleaded Gingerpaw?
"No. Absolutely not. No apprentices," Silverstar said firmly. Gingerpaw sulked, while the other apprentices sighed in relief. "I will lead the patrol to represent us. Moonshine, you'll come too, as you can negotiate with them. Ivyblaze, Rosepetal, and Vixenstep, you'll come for reinforcements."
"Five cats? That's it? Why can't I go?" snapped Blackthorn.
"Blackthorn, I'll leave you in charge of camp while we're gone," Silverstar replied.
"Yes!" Blackthorn grinned. "Alright you apprentices, line up! Start cleaning out all the dens-"
"Blackthorn, we're not leaving yet," Rosepetal interrupted. "I believe it's noon, so we'll leave at sundown to follow the trail."
"We'll go make some poultices," Cloverpelt said. "You know, just in case."
As the sun began to drop and it began to get closer and closer to sundown, the cats began to feel more anxious. The four apprentices were lying down, chatting.
"I don't know what the big deal is," Gingerpaw remarked. "It's just some group of cats!"
"But we don't know these cats," Shadowpaw pointed out. "We have no idea what they're capable of."
"And who knows how long they'll be gone," whimpered Goldenpaw. "How is Blackthorn supposed to lead? She's new, and both our leader and deputy will be gone!"
"I'm sure Blackthorn will do a fine job in charge," a voice spoke behind them. The four turned to see Rosepetal. "I know she's new, but she's very strong-hearted. Respect her, and do as she says. We won't be gone for long. A few days at most."
"Rosepetal, it's time," Silverstar said. And so the patrol of Silverstar, Rosepetal, Moonshine, Ivyblaze, and Vixenstep organized themselves into a line, and gathered the few herbs they would bring.
"Be careful!" Skyclaw called as the five began to march off into the forest.
"Don't worry! Just take care of the camp!" Vixenstep called before disappearing behind a bush. The eight cats left behind watched the bush for a few moments, even though the cats had already left. Then Blackthorn turned on the apprentices.
"Alright, you four! It's time to stop sitting around and make yourselves useful! Start changing the moss in the dens!" The apprentices moaned. "No complaining! Get moving! And work double time!"
As the sky began turning a dark blue, the patrol moved silently but quickly through the woods. Several birds were still in the trees, chirping into the night sky. Silverstar was using her nose to locate the scent trail the four mysterious cats had left behind. Although it wasn't as fresh as it had been in the morning, the scent was still there. The five cats arrived at the spot where Rosepetal and Ivyblaze had been in the morning.
"You sure this was the spot?" questioned Silverstar
"This was definitely it," confirmed Rosepetal.
"Then let's keep following the trail." Silverstar led the cats off their border and continued to follow the trail. Moonshine got an odd feeling wandering off into the unknown, as if she were invading another cat's territory.
"We'll need to be careful," she said. "We're not in the safety of our camp anymore, and we need to make sure we don't step on another cat's land."
"Of course," agreed Silverstar. "Now- wait a minute- I'm picking up the scent of other cats!"
"They blend together," mentioned Ivyblaze. "They must have had a few other cats join them."
"I don't think we're dealing with any small group of cats," said Moonshine. "So we'll need to-"
"Shhh!" hissed Silverstar. "I hear voices!" And indeed, there were cheers of laughter and the sounds of loud, happy conversations resonating in the woods.
"Wow! They're closer to our territory than I thought!" Vixenstep whispered, faintly surprised.
"That's not good," said Silverstar, worried. "It means we'll be having more unwanted contact with them."
The five cats crept forward, being careful where they placed their paws so they wouldn't make any noise. As they got closer, Silverstar saw some strange light source glowing through the bushes. Wondering if it could possibly be a fire, the patrol nervously inched forward, peering into the bushes. They were able to see many figures and their shadows showing on the forest floor.
"Great Starclan! There are tons of them!" gasped Rosepetal. "We have- what- thirteen cats in our clan? These guys have one… two… three… who knows how many? We'd probably be outnumbered three to one! We'd never win a battle against them!"
"Then let's try to avoid a battle," commented Moonshine. Looking closely, Silverstar was able to observe the light source. What appeared to be a flame was enclosed in some weird twoleg thing, and all the cats were seated around it. How they managed to get their paws on it Silverstar couldn't guess, but that wasn't important.
"How are we going to introduce ourselves?" asked Ivyblaze.
"Let's just go out and say hello," suggested Vixenstep.
"Yeah, no. That's not a good idea," retorted Rosepetal.
"Why don't we just watch them for a bit, just to see how hostile they are? Then we can choose our means of introduction," Moonshine pointed out. Silverstar, observing her surroundings, spotted a pine tree good for climbing.
"Follow my lead," she hissed. She went up and dug her claws into the soft bark of the tree. The others followed, brushing pine needles out of their faces as they went up. The higher they went, the better they were able to see the group. When they reached a good spot, the five settled down on one large branch of the tree.
"Ugh, all this pine sap is sticking to my fur," complained Rosepetal. "I hate pine sap!"
They observed as the cats in the group talked about this and that, petty little topics that were of no concern to Silverstar. Quickly losing interest, the cats decided that they weren't dangerous. They were just about to decide how they would reveal themselves, when a brown tom with blue eyes stood up and cheered something to the crowd.
"Is he their leader?" Moonshine wondered.
"Must be," replied Rosepetal. The tom didn't look as fit as the skilled warriors in Cloudclan. In fact, none of the cats looked like skilled warriors. The brown leader cat then made a joke about how he'd convinced a cat that pieces of deer dung were really delicious berries. The five didn't think this was particularly funny, just shallow humor, but the group seemed to think this was hilarious and burst into laughter.
"Nice one, Starfire!" they called.
"Good grief. They're no better than kits!" Moonshine scoffed, rolling her eyes.
"Starfire? Is that his name? I want to get a better look at the leader cat!" Vixenstep said, trying to climb further out on the branch.
"Hey! Let me see!" Ivyblaze said, joining her.
"Don't do that!" Moonshine hissed. "You'll put your weight on the weaker part of the branch and-"
Moonshine's warning came too late. A loud crack was heard, and the branch fell down the tree, taking the five with it. When it hit the ground, the five cats tumbled out into the opening where the group of cats was.
