Runningwhisker's head popped out of the long grass near where the monstrous dog had been sniffing, his eyes so wide they showed a rim of white. Making sure the dog's back was turned he bolted back to the camp.

"I thought I was dog kibble!" he meowed breathlessly as he scrambled through the heather to join the rest of the clan. "I was so close I saw the details of its eyes!"

"What were you doing out there anyway?" Silvershade demanded.

"I'm afraid that's my fault, Silvershade." Fawnspot meowed, padding out of her den, "I needed to know if the borage was growing back after the hard winter. Runningwhisker knows where my patch is and offered to go check on it for me."

"It's fine," Runningwhisker meowed to her, "If the weather remains steady, it will be plentiful by the time kits come along."

"Why couldn't your apprentice go check? Er, not that I'd want Lonepaw in danger any more than Runningwhisker mind you." Silvershade amended.

Both cats nodded their forgiveness and Fawnspot sighed, "Lonepaw's on the other side of the territory. Dock leaf I believe."

"Enough chattering," Swiftstar growled curtly, "Runningwhisker, I'll give you the same orders I gave the rest of the clan. No leaving camp without a patrol. And keep a sharp eye on your apprentice."

Ivytail kept his whiskers very still as Silvershade rolled his eyes out of his leader's line of sight. Apparently he wasn't the only warrior getting exasperated by their leader's abruptness.

As the sun began to sink toward the horizon, a patrol left camp for the border, Ivytail included. Silvershade insisted on caution, his eyes concerned, as there was no way to know where the dogs were or whether they were confined. The Windclan deputy seemed to be struggling internally with the need to do his border duty, while at the same time, urging the warriors not to dally. They had just reached the halfway point when Foxdash gave a yowl of terror.

The long legged dog had bounded off the porch of one of the twoleg nests and was barreling right for the patrol. Nearly as silent as a cat, its paws had not given them a warning clatter on the wooden porch as it raced for them. Cats scattered. The dog raced after them, following any cat it happened to be nearest to without seeming to care which one it was at any given moment.

Pebblepaw wailed as the dog abruptly changed direction and seized the apprentice in its long mouth. Shymeadow leaped to the rescue with a snarl, managing to make the dog drop the terrified apprentice as she lured it away on yet another chase. The beast seemed tireless, and no twoleg seemed interested in coming out to stop all the barking.

Panting and gasping, the cats vanished one by one into various hiding places until only Silvershade remained. Realizing that the sharp eyed beast wasn't interested in letting them get away until it was satisfied, the warriors set up a long loop, each cat diving into a hiding place and sending another out to takes his place, running about as long as he could until he dove into another, sending yet another warrior out to run.

It took hours, and the sun was almost completely down, before the beast was suitably weary, and turned away from the cats. Ambling back to the twoleg nest, it noisily drank from a bowl and flopped down, panting happily.

"Great Starclan," Pebblepaw complained, "My paws are worn bloody from all the running."

"Mine too," chorused every other cat in the patrol.

The four cats limped wearily back to camp, only to find Swiftstar glowering at them all. "Mouse brains!" He spat. "Did it never occur to any of you to slice the dog's nose open? You are warriors! It's what you are trained for!"

Affronted, Silvershade straightened up and leveled a cold stare at his leader, "The dog is fast, agile, and likes to run. Go ahead; injure it. Make it angry. Make it mean. Make it bite the next cat it catches. By all means, endanger the lives of the warriors of the clan. This dog wanted something to chase. It caught Pebblepaw and dropped her the instant something else to chase came along. It had every opportunity to bite, and did not take it."

"I would wager a moon of apprentice duties that the long legged beast is the safer one." Ivytail added, before Swiftstar could snarl at his deputy. "That big one looked more dangerous by far, and I for one, am grateful that it wasn't part of this evening's chase."

Swiftstar's ears went back slightly, but he finally growled, "Get to Fawnspot and do something about those paws." He glowered at Pebblepaw, as though it had been her fault for getting caught, and then stalked away without a word.

The apprentice wilted.

"You did brilliantly," Shymeadow mowed in low, warm tones, "It's not your fault that the dog caught you."

"But it did! It caught me! And I was so scared! Am I a Windclan cat or not?" Pebblepaw's eyes were limpid pools of misery.

"Of course you were scared," Silvershade cut in, also in low tones. "Come here and I'll tell you a secret no warrior likes to admit out loud."

Fawnspot drew Ivytail in next, so he missed the deputy's 'secret,' though he could easily figure the gist of it.

We were all scared. We'd be mouse brains if we weren't. But we kept running, just like you did. You were scared but you kept up your part of the plan, leading that dog on. You put your own fear aside to keep that dog from finding the camp. That will make you a noble and brave warrior some day.

Indeed, Ivytail had similar words on the tip of his own tongue for the apprentice; she had been grabbed in that dog's mouth and yet she had gotten right back up again. But perhaps it was best that the senior warrior was the cat to speak them; wisdom sounded better from a cat who seemed to have seen it all rather than a cat newly made into a warrior.

Ivytail winced as wild basil was licked into his scraped paws.

"I'll tell you what I told the others;" Fawnspot meowed when she was finished, "go to your nest and sleep it off. No patrols until tomorrow afternoon."

Nodding, he obediently padded off to his nest and wearily joined the others, every muscle aching from the long run. Warriors grumbled darkly as they tried to find a position that was comfortable with aching legs and throbbing paws.

.

The clan's mood did not improve over the next few days, though the monstrous dog did not put in an appearance. Windclan was forced to take to hunting at night; the long legged dog chased rabbits for nearly the entire day, every day. Patrols were impossible while the sun was up, as the beast had decided that cats were its personal toy to chase. More than one warrior risked being pursued, having to fetch rabbits for the prey pile that had collapsed with burst hearts.

Many a senior warrior grumbled that the prey was becoming tough and sinewy from all the running, and that the dog wasted prey's life by chasing it until it died rather than killing it with a proper hunter's bite. The dog had no interest in the rabbits that stopped moving.

The fourth day after the dogs appearance, the monstrous dog rediscovered the border scent and lumbered straight into the clan's territory; sniffing and prowling this way and that, its breathing heavy and foul.

Fortunately, by that time, Swiftstar had worked out a plan. If the dogs came too near the camp, queens, kits and elders knew the quickest route out, and both medicine cat and apprentice were ordered to take them to the Moonpool.

"If Starclan objects, well, we'll deal with that if it comes." Swiftstar growled, "It's the most defensible place to take them short of plowing through Thunderclan territory." Every cat nodded. Antagonistic he may be, but no warrior doubted that the clan leader would risk all in ensuring the clan was safe.

"Let the dog chase you but don't let yourselves be caught! This dog isn't that long legged idiot." His tail lashed for emphasis. "Stay close to one another. If it closes in on any one cat, don't hesitate to use your warrior training."

The sound of the dog grew closer and Swiftstar gave the signal with his tail. "First patrol with me!"

The cats streamed out of camp, racing low in the grass and spreading out in formation. The dog's head came up, locked on the cats sprinting so tantalizingly close that it uttered a roaring bark and gave chase. Back and forth they raced, the monstrous jaws snapping half a tail length behind the fleeing warrior's tails. Away they lured it: away from camp, away from the path to the Moonpool, away from the laden queens and tiny, tiny squirming kits.

The second patrol streamed out, leading the long legged beast on its own merry chase. Keeping the two dogs separate was key; if the dogs worked together at any point, it could mean trouble for the warriors.

The chase was surprisingly short. The bellowing of two dogs was too much to ignore. The twoleg stomped out and shouted at the dogs, and grew even angrier when they ignored their master.

"Oh help! Save me from this dim witted, clumsy, flea brained oaf!" Ivytail wailed in mock terror, and shot straight past the twoleg, ducking under a monster's belly and out the other side.

The dog growled in frustration as it was brought up short, and then caught by the angry twoleg. With the worst of the two restrained, leading the long legged beast back to the twolegs was an easy task and the two were tied up near the nest, the twoleg grumbling and muttering to itself as it did so.

Swiftstar rumbled his approval to both patrols and the cats returned to camp with high spirits. The menace was contained, at least for now, and duties could be taken care of properly.

As Ivytail followed the patrol back into the camp, the elder Poppyleaf caught his eye and jerked her head to call him over.

Curious, he obeyed.

"Ivytail," she began, and then hesitated. She worked her jaws, seeming to struggle with a request that felt important, but not wanting to burden the young warrior more.

"You called me over," Ivytail prompted gently, "You might as well ask."

"It's Fleetfoot," she finally admitted, "He…His mind… it's not the same… He keeps asking after you like you're still an apprentice."

Ivytail closed his eyes to hide the thorn that jabbed into his heart. He had been well loved in the elder's den as an apprentice, by Fleetfoot especially. The old tom had told wonderful stories of when he had been a warrior, and regaled the apprentices with stories of mischief… and Ivytail had groaned right along with the others at the 'horrible' punishments he had earned for himself.

The story of Fleetfoot, then Fleetpaw, tripping and landing face first in his wad of moss soaked in mouse bile had been the best – and worst—story any apprentice could think of suffering through. The elder had relished the squeals of horror at hearing the hapless former apprentice having to stagger to the nearest streamlet and frantically trying to rinse the horrible stuff off.

He had noticed Fleetfoot's slow decline as age stalked through the old cat's thoughts while he had been an apprentice, and had thought of visiting time and again, but the arrival of the dogs since his warrior ceremony had devoured time faster than a starving cat swallows a mouse.

"We keep reminding him that you're a warrior now, but thoughts seem to slip through his mind like water between reeds. Maybe…" again she hesitated.

Ivytail understood. "I'll do my best to visit more often," he promised. "I'll try to bring it up with Silvershade."

The deputy's eyes narrowed marginally when Ivytail made his request. "You are a warrior now, with warrior duties. No cat in this clan can pander to a single member's whims. The dogs are a serious threat to every clan member, and every warrior is needed to keep the clan safe."

Ivytail dipped his head, regret making his chest tight. The deputy was right of course. Every ounce of peace had to be taken advantage of. The foxes had proven that the heather around the camp was no protection from larger enemies, and he had no doubt that a determined monster dog could plow straight through it.

"Still…"

Ivytail blinked and lifted his head, a hesitant flicker of hope stirring in his thoughts.

"I think it would be a very good idea to leave a few warriors around camp at all times. At the very worst, they could provide enough of a distraction to allow the clan to escape." Silvershade nodded to himself, as though a plan had settled into his thoughts. "Keep in mind, Ivytail, that you still have to get your warrior duties done when you are sent on them. But I can give you a chance to spend a little more time with the elders, if only to help Fleetfoot focus on something."

"Thank you Silvershade," Ivytail meowed.

The deputy nodded. "Go ahead and visit for now. I'll put you and two others on the first watch."

As the deputy padded off to tell Swiftstar the plan, Ivytail picked up a bit of prey and joined the elders as they dozed in the warm sun.

Fleetfoot caught Ivytail's scent and snapped awake almost immediately. "Well, look who's coming back to torment us old cats." He meowed, turning his cloudy gaze in Ivytail's direction.

The warrior felt a pang as he realized that the elder had truly lost his sight at last. The elder's cinnamon colored fur was somewhat ruffled, as though he couldn't work up the energy to wash himself properly anymore.

"Sorry Fleetfoot," Ivytail meowed around the prey he brought in, "They're working us all hard these last few days."

"The dogs," Sundrop prompted gently when Fleetfoot looked puzzled.

"Bah, twolegs and their dogs." The elder grumped, "I say the only good dog is a dog on a leash."

"They're leashed right now," Ivytail meowed, glad to have some gossip to share with the elders for once. Every elder perked up as Ivytail told them all of his role in leading the ugly brutes straight into their master's clutches.

Several raspy purrs of amusement followed his story, though concern flashed across the old cat's face, "They let you be part of the patrol, Ivypaw? That sounds like awful dangerous work for such a young cat."

Sundrop cleared her throat uncomfortably but Ivytail meowed quickly, "It's all right. I stayed close to the other warriors, and that mousebrained dog was too fat and slow to catch me." He allowed a bit of pride to slip into his tone, like a proud apprentice who was given a big honor.

"Still, be careful. Windclan can't afford to lose any of its cats. Each one is important." Fleetfoot worried the grass beneath his paws and Ivytail touched his nose to the elder's cheek in reassurance. "My, you're getting big," the old cat approved, "It won't be long before you're a warrior and leading patrols all by yourself."

Ivytail's throat tightened. The old cat seemed to have forgotten the ceremony only a few days ago, when he had meowed his own congratulations to the newly made warrior. "Tha-That's right. Any day now."

"You'll make a fine warrior, mark my words."

Ivytail was spared from answering by Silvershade, who poked his head in to gesture to Ivytail to join him outside.

"Silvershade, you make sure this young cat doesn't get himself hurt doing duties that warriors are supposed to do," Fleetfoot rumbled warningly, "I'll have your ears if I ever find out about it. Ivypaw is a good cat and should be made a warrior soon."

Surprise flickered across the deputy's face, and his eyes darted to Poppyleaf's apologetic grimace and Ivytail's sorrowful expression. "Er, I'll tell Swiftstar you said so. I think you're right; this young cat should be a warrior."

"I better go, Fleetfoot; apprentice duties, you know." Ivytail followed the silver tipped tom out of the elder's sheltered spot.

"Don't let your mentor work you too hard, we miss you." Fleetfoot called after them.

"It really is getting bad, isn't it?" Silvershade meowed quietly to him as they chose a piece of freshkill and settled down to eat.

"I… I don't think he'll be with us too many more moons." Ivytail admitted sorrowfully.

"He's really fond of you. Acts like a proud mentor half the time and a father the other half." Silvershade sighed, "I'll do what I can. I can promise you that at least. Maybe if you visit him once in a while, he'll get more energy in those old paws of his."

"I hope so." They were silent for a heartbeat, then Ivytail changed the subject, "Was there something you wanted?"

"Partly, to see for myself how Fleetfoot was doing," the Deputy admitted. "but also to let you know that you're on evening patrol."

Ivytail nodded and joined his fellow warriors as they gathered.