It was just after sunhigh. The golden, warm morning had faded into a hot afternoon, and I felt itchy in my long, fluffy pelt. Smokepaw walked beside me, his black-tipped tail waving back and forth.

"How's Mothflame for a mentor?" he asked.

"She's alright," I said. Our two mentors were far up ahead- in sight, but probably not in earshot if I talked quietly and they weren't trying to listen. "I thought she'd be way nicer," I admitted. "Didn't you say something about her being sweet?"

"That's what Fernpaw told me," he defended. "She probably just doesn't like medicine cats." He looked at his paws.

"Do you like medicine cats?" I asked.

"I don't see what the fuss is about them," he responded. "Why can't we just treat them as normal Clanmates? I just don't get it." He yawned and stretched. "I guess it's because I'm only an apprentice."

"Maybe it'll make sense when we're warriors," I agreed.

Thundertail turned around. "Stop chatting, the two of you. You're going to give me a headache!"

Smokepaw and I stopped talking, walking in silence. If only Gorsepaw was here, I thought. Everything's fun when my brother's around.

"We've reached the border!" Mothflame announced. "Take a deep breath in, 'paws. You'll need to know this scent."

I sniffed, and Smokepaw took an exaggerated gasp, which got a snort of amusement from Mothflame. There was an odd scent mingling with EmberClan's. It was a foresty scent, with just a hint of moist earth and blackberries.

"MossClan?" I suggested.

"Correct," Mothflame praised. "Mark the border with EmberClan scent, and we can move on to the other borders. Wait till you smell IceClan!"

We marked the border quickly. Wanting to be thorough, I rubbed my paws and my face against the trunks of trees. It's EmberClan's, I thought eagerly. Not MossClan's. All of this land- it's EmberClan's.

We continued up the border, and I glanced at MossClan's forest. It was so green. EmberClan territory had some trees, but not many. You could see the the sky and the flowers and the streams, and not just green as far as the eye could see.

There was a sudden flash of yellow eyes in the forest, and the fur on the back of my neck rose. I bounded up to join the other cats. Smokepaw was looking at his mentor, confused.

"I don't understand why we have borders," he told Thundertail.

"What part don't you get?" his mentor grunted.

"Couldn't we just share territory?" Smokepaw's eyes drifted to the forest, and I knew he was looking at the warrior I saw hidden in the trees.

"No, we can't," Mothflame said. "IceClan cats would find some way to stir up trouble."

"I bet they'd take all of the prey," Thundertail said. "Have you seen those cats? They can hunt fast."

"But why does it have to be like that?" Smokepaw asked. "Doesn't it make more sense if we all shared territory, and didn't steal prey or fight each other? Couldn't we be one Clan instead of four?"

"If there was one Clan, where we all live?" Mothflame said with a shiver. "You wouldn't catch me in MossClan territory, and ShadeClan is too dark and remote." She looked thoughtful all of the sudden. "IceClan land is a lot like our territory, but they hunt in the hills and mountains too much. We couldn't be one Clan if we all wanted to stay in different places."

"Why do we even want different places?" Smokepaw asked. "I wouldn't mind MossClan forest, and IceClan and ShadeClan don't sound too bad."

I'd mind MossClan, I thought, glancing into the thick treeline.

"We just don't, kit," Thundertail grumbled to Smokepaw. "And that's the end of that."

Mothflame suddenly hissed. "Quiet, everyone. We're at the IceClan border." The chestnut she-cat gestured for us to lay down, and I lowered to a crouch. That's when I caught the scent. It was different from MossClan's, almost colder somehow.

"IceClan is nearby," Thundertail explained. "That's why the scent is so thick. We're a few fox-lengths from the border." I flattened down further, thinking of big, fierce IceClan warriors, strong enough to tear me apart.

"Ugh!" came a loud mew. "What's that awful stench?"

"Shh, Graypaw, it's EmberClan," hissed another cat. "Breathe in the scent. Remember it."

A loud sniffing sound. "It smells gross," the first cat complained. My heart started to race. A rival Clan was nearby.

"That's EmberClan's scent," the second, older cat growled. "Graypaw, lay low. I think they're nearby."

"Nearby?" cried the apprentice. I heard a crashing noise as he darted through the bushes. "All right! EmberClan cats!"

A gray tabby, nearly a head taller than I was, skidded to a halt in front of us. I saw Mothflame's pupils thin with anger, and she let out a low growl.

"You're on our land," she said in a harsh, low voice.

"Eww!" Graypaw wrinkled his nose at Mothflame. "You smell even worse up close!" He whipped around, and his grass green eyes locked onto mine.

"Get out!" Thundertail roared, pouncing on Graypaw. "Get out of EmberClan territory!"

"Graypaw, you dung-brain," cried the older cat, Hailclaw. "Get back here right now before you cause a big stink over nothing!"

Graypaw squeaked and rolled out from underneath Thundertail. The apprentice bounded over to Hailclaw, reeking with fear-scent. With one last glance at us, the two IceClan cats sprinted back for their own territory. I looked at Thundertail, confused.

"Why were you so harsh?" I asked. "It was probably just an accident."

"Nothing's ever an accident with IceClan," Thundertail said curtly. I couldn't think of how to reply to that, so I fell silent.

As we continued to walk, Smokepaw met my eyes, and I could tell he was just as confused as I was.