Chapter One

A cat growled. "I bet you couldn't defeat a squirrel, even I you tried!" he teased. He was a lean tom, with a light brown pelt with dark brown spots that varied in length and size. His tail was longer than all his den mates, and his paws were always steady, as if he had been made for balancing on thin ledges. His eyes were golden, matching his pelt.

"We'll see about that, Riverpaw!" hissed another tom, circling the first. His pelt was brown with darker brown stripes across his back, tail, legs and head. A few light patches of orange-brown could be seen over the stripes. He had strong muscles, but was bulky, which was his weakness. Riverpaw saw this, and quickly darted around the back of the tom, nipped at his hind legs, then slid underneath, and battered it's belly with his paws.

The tom jumped away in surprise, and then sat down. "You win, Riverpaw. Your way too quick for me!" Riverpaw yowled in triumph, then padded over to the tom. "Come on, Owlpaw, lets go hunt before we go back to the clan." Owlpaw stood up and raced off, calling over his shoulder, "I bet I catch the first piece of prey!" Riverpaw bounded after him, and soon caught up; having longer legs certainly helped. Owlpaw stopped, and lowered himself into the hunters crouch, pulling himself through a group of ferns. Riverpaw opened his mouth and scented a mouse. Not long after, a squeal told him Owlpaw had been successful. As he padded back out into the open, Riverpaw congratulated him. Owlpaw had always been the better hunter, although Riverpaw was good at catching birds mid-flight. His jump would never let his paws miss, although he didn't understand why only he could jump this high.

As he and Owlpaw headed back towards the camp after their hunt, he heard high-pitched squeals and small yowls of "Shadowclan!" He suddenly realized that the camp was unguarded, with all the cats out on patrol, and quickly raced through the thorn barrier, ready to defend the nursery at any cost.

He stumbled over three kits as he dashed through the entrance, and stopped with surprise. There were no Shadowclan cats to be seen anywhere, only Blossompelt watching her kits. Pinekit, Yellowkit and Fernkit were tumbling around the clearing. Pinekit yowled, "I am Pinestar! Give up, Yellowstar, or face the consequences!" Yellowkit stood up. "Never, you stupid furball! I have the power of Riverclan with me!" Both Fernkit and Yellow kit then leaped at Pinekit.

Owlpaw sighed. "We should have known it would only be the kits!" They both padded over to the freshkill pile and dropped the mouse and blackbird, which Riverpaw had caught. As Owlpaw walked off towards the apprentice den, Riverpaw heard a rustle, and Darkfoot's patrol entered the camp. Following him was Ravenblaze, his mentor, Rippletooth and Fawnpaw. The she-cat headed over towards Riverpaw. "Hi, Riverpaw! You been hunting?" she meowed happily.

Fawnpaw was a cheerful she-cat, and was always fun to be around. Her fur was a dusky cream, and her tail, legs and face were just a bit darker than the rest of her. Fawnpaw's eyes were grey, although they never seemed to stop shining. She was also thin like Riverpaw, but she was better at hunting than him. A fair amount of cats believed she was the best hunter in the clan.

"Yeah, but we only caught a mouse and a blackbird" Owlpaw meowed as he bounded over. "It looks like most of the prey will be hiding soon, especially with these cold nights."

Fawnpaw shrugged. "Maybe your just bad hunters" she teased, and then quickly ran off before they could get her. Owlpaw turned to Riverpaw. "I'm going to go get a piece of freshkill with Fawnpaw, you want to join? " he asked, tipping his head to the side. Riverpaw shook his head. "I'm going to go for a walk instead." Seeing Owl paw's questioning look, he added "I just want to soak up the last of the Greenleaf sun before Leafbare arrives." With that, he padded off to the entrance, and although he hadn't lied about the walk, he wanted to do more than just take advantage of the sun.