Disclaimer: I don't own Warriors.

Rated: T

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed:)

Ashfur started as Cloudtail came out of the den. The fluffy white tom's whiskers twitched with amusement. "Jumpy today, Ashfur?" he meowed "If you're this scared of your own Clanmate, imagine if you met an enemy warrior!"

Ashfur twitched his ear, trying to breathe normally "I, uh, I was just wondering if you'd come on a patrol. Firestar wants us to take a look down by the ShadowClan border."

Cloudtail nodded, his tail twitched with excitement "Of course I'll come; I'm in the mood for a little scrape with a ShadowClan cat. Who else is coming?"

"Dustpelt, I guess, and-"

"Can I come?"

Ashfur turned, his heart beating faster and his paws prickling. Sootfur blinked at him, his amber eyes glowing like the sun at sunset and his light gray pelt was turned silver. As Ashfur hesitated, he flicked his tail "If you don't want me to..."

"No! I mean, of course you can come, Sootfur!" Ashfur blurted out. Then he felt the heat rise in his face and he scuffed his paws in the dust.

Sootfur nodded "Thanks, Ashfur!" he meowed. He sat down beside him as Cloudtail ducked back into the warriors' den to get Dustpelt.

Ashfur kept his eyes on his paws, afraid to look at Sootfur. He so longed to look into the other tom's eyes and lose himself in their intensity and feel his soft breath on his cheek, but he did not know if Sootfur felt the same. He sighed quietly, thinking again of how Brambleclaw had promised to keep his secret. If he broke his word, Ashfur's place in the Clan would be ruined.

"Ashfur, are you going to just sit there all day? Come on; we have to get going!"

The gray tom leapt to his paws immediately as Cloudtail meowed at him. "Yes, I'm coming, Cloudtail. Firestar put me in charge of the patrol, after all!"

Cloudtail purred with amusement as Ashfur hurried to the head of the patrol and began to lead the other three out of the camp.

-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-

Ashfur padded along beside the stream which formed half of the border with ShadowClan. The rest of the border was merely the scentline, as the stream curved deeper into ShadowClan territory. The gray tom walked under dark, forbidding pine trees, common in this part of the forest. He never could see why ShadowClan would want to live in such a dark place, but he had heard the tales of the darkness in ShadowClan cats' hearts ever since he was a kit. However, he had learned different on the journey from the old foret, and he could see that ShadowClan were merely a very proud Clan, and their greatest fear was having to rely on others. But that did not make them evil.

Then he heard pawsteps behind him and a quiet voice said, "Are you okay, Ashfur?"

He looked beside him and saw that Sootfur was matching his pace, his amber eyes showing concern for his Clanmate. He felt his paws prickle and he glanced away. "I'm fine." he muttered.

"Are you sure? You've been so distant lately, and you never like to look at me." Sootfur meowed "I thought maybe I did something to offend you. If I did, I'm sorry."

Ashfur shook his head, turning to blink at the other tom "No, Sootfur, you didn't. It's just...I've been thinking more about the old forest." he lied "I miss it."

Sootfur nodded understandingly "Well, every cat is, I'm sure. And no-one can blame us. The Clans have lived there for countless moons, since the days of TigerClan, LionClan, and LeopardClan." he sighed "I know that there have been other Clans here; Leafpool even said that at the Moonpool there were ancient pawprints in the stone. But they are not the pawprints of our ancestors; they are strangers to us. It will be difficult, but someday, our pawprints will be set in this forest, and our decendants will see them and know that this is truly their home."

Ashfur felt humbled by Sootfur's certainty and faith. He felt again the warmth of his feelings for him, and he wondered for the thousandth time if Sootfur felt the same way about him. He was glad, at least, that they could talk like this together and discuss their feelings about the new forest, but what Ashfur really longed for was to discuss their feelings for each other.

Suddenly, there was a flash of gray at his side and he felt something heavy land on him. There was a sharp pain on the back of his neck and he yowled, twisting and thrashing. Has Sootfur attacked me? he wondered.

Then he realized that the gray fur was much too dark to be Sootfur's, and the attacker smelt very different from his own Clan. It was a heavy, musty odour, and he nearly gagged as the stench washed over him. A ShadowClan warrior!

He continued to twist madly, trying to throw the enemy warrior off, but to no avail. The other cat was much bigger and stronger, and its claws were buried in his neck. Then he felt the claws tear free of his flesh as the attacker was thrown off him. In a haze of pain, Ashfur collapsed, panting, with blood oozing from his wounded neck. From where he lay, he saw Sootfur attacking the ShadowClan cat as Dustpelt and Cloudtail ran up. Two more ShadowClan cats exploded from the bushes and threw themselves on Cloudtail and Dustpelt. The two senior warriors spat furiously and scratched and bit at their opponents.

The dark gray tom that Sootfur had pulled off Ashfur lay on the ground, his pelt torn and bleeding. He hissed angrily and struggled, but Sootfur, despite his smaller size, managed to hold him down with his unsheathed claws at his throat. Cloudtail bit the ear of the tabby warrior he was facing the ShadowClan cat yowled, ripping himself free and running off into the bushes. Then the white tom turned on the last enemy, who had Dustpelt on the ground with her teeth in his shoulder. Cloudtail grabbed the warrior and threw her off Dustpelt. The she-cat spat, but rose to her paws and stood, hackles raised, facing her enemies. Dustpelt struggled to his paws and stood at Cloudtail's shoulder, menacing the ginger she-cat.

"Russetfur, what are you doing on ThunderClan territory?" he hissed.

Russetfur, the ShadowClan deputy, glared at him "You were trying to spy on ShadowClan!" she growled "Or else why would you be so close to our border?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe patrolling?" Cloudtail hissed sarcastically "We're only making sure there aren't any ShadowClan cats sneaking over the border to steal our prey. But Firestar will hear of this unwarranted attack on our patrol!"

"Like I care." Russetfur sneered "You keep your kittypet nose out of ShadowClan business, and we won't have to defend ourselves."

Cloudtail growled at the word 'kittypet', but Dustpelt stopped him from getting at Russetfur. "We can't afford any more injuries today." he meowed quietly.

"Right," Cloudtail muttered. Then he turned to Sootfur. "Let him go, Sootfur."

Amber eyes blazing, Sootfur stepped back and sheathed his claws. Immediately, the dark gray tom leapt up and growled, "I'll get you for this someday, foxdung!"

Sootfur hissed, but the ShadowClan warrior was already hurrying for his own territory, and Russetfur raced after him. Then Sootfur called to Dustpelt and Cloudtail, "We have to get Ashfur back to camp!"

Dustpelt padded over and nudged Ashfur. "Can you walk?" he asked.

Ashfur nodded and stood up. Then a wave of dizziness crashed over him and he stumbled, the pain in his neck burning hotter and hotter. Then he fell forward into the soft darkness of unconsciousness.