Viperpaw twitched his whiskers against the chilly wind. Leaf-bare had fallen onto MistClan quicker than anyone had the chance to say 'mouse'. He had only been an apprentice for a moon when the wind began to tare furiously through the gloomy forest, making MistClan's hunting grounds even more depressing. But that wasn't the only problem. The mud that he had finally gotten used too became icy cold, and when frozen made walking through clan territory hard on the slippery, brown ice.

Batflight had continued on with his training even harder, as if to make up for every time he complained about wanting to be an apprentice as a kit. "Come on Viperpaw, lets get going before our paws freeze off." She called briskly, trotting toward the apprentice's den. Viperpaw rolled onto his paws and out of his warm nest.

"We're not going hunting again are we? That's all I've been able to do beside cleaning out the elder's den." Batflight twitched her whiskers while looking highly amused at the same time. Viperpaw knew it meant no good.

"Not hunting today. We are going to escort Fernshower while she collects herbs."

Not far off Viperpaw could see Fernshower's ginger and black spotted pelt nosing about the medicine cat's den, while talking to her apprentice Mosspelt. Viperpaw groaned and Batflight's amused look warped into a grim smile. "MistClan's herb supply is dangerously low. We are escorting Fernshower into MoonClan territory to take herbs."

Alarm shot through Viperpaw."We're going to steal their herbs?"

Batflight let out a soft hiss."They stole our territory so why can't we take back what we can and more while we're at it? Not like they'll notice with all of their plants green year round." He detected a small twinge of jealously in his mentors voice at the mention of MoonClan's plants. It hit him then and he realized MistClan hunting grounds were never a bright green like MoonClan's.

A sudden angry feeling twisted in the pit of his stomach. If MoonClan had such nice hunting grounds, then why would they even bother to take MistClan's bit of swampy grounds? They had enough than they needed if Viperpaw had heard any better. Then excitement filled him up as he thought of what a great service he was doing to steal these herbs.

A wide grin split his face."Alright, let's take back what's ours."

Batflight returned the gesture."I'm glad you see things our way, now let's go."

-xxxxxx-

As it turned out, Viperpaw and Batflight weren't the only ones escorting Fernshower. Following was Twigsnap and Yellowpaw, who looked excited and kept lashing her tail. Twigsnap hissed at her to stop only after she batted him on the nose two times.

"Isn't this great!" She beamed at him, making him smile. "Wait until those MoonClan cats see what we took back."

Twigsnap turned his massive brown head toward Yellowpaw."If we are lucky, they won't see anything." Her ears turned red and she gave her mentor a sheepish look.

Viperpaw soon caught the fresh, yet fishy smell of MoonClan and the whole patrol paused. Not far away he could see the patchy clearing that Rosepaw had claimed to have trained in. He spotted the deep crack in the earth that made as the border between MistClan and MoonClan and watched as the patrol leaped over it easily, and he soon followed.

Fernshower turned on the patrol with her head held high."Okay I need Viperpaw and Yellowpaw to help me collect herbs while Batflight and Twigsnap guard. Is that alright?"

Viperpaw nodded along with everyone else.

"Now you two,"she directed at the two apprentices."I need as much catmint as you can carry. I also need coltsfoot, marigold, and some feverfew. I'm sure we'll find the other herbs I need back in our own territory."Fernshower explained.

"Twigsnap, I'll keep guard over here and you stay there."Batflight instructed, directing ahead with the tip of her tail. Twigsnap nodded and unsheathed his claws, letting them sink into the spongy earth. Viperpaw turned toward Yellowpaw.

"I'll look over there at the patchy clearing, yowl if you need my help."

Yellowpaw smirked and cuffed him over the ears."I will be fine Viperpaw, I don't need any cat looking after me."

He padded away from Yellowpaw, his pelt prickling in a pleasant way. Making his way to MistClan's old training area he caught the tangy smell of herbs. Growing at the edge of the clearing was a clump of marigold. Viperpaw bent his head and began to bite through the bottom of the stems, a strong and tangy flavor seeping in his mouth.

He picked up the bundle of marigold and carried it over to Fernshower, who mewled her approval before going back to gathering catmint.

Viperpaw walked past Batflight, who held her head high and kept letting her eyes dart back and forth from MoonClan hunting grounds, to MistClan hunting grounds, watching for any enemy patrols. Not far off Yellowpaw was chewing through a batch of coltsfoot, with a bundle of feverfew at her paws. Viperpaw stepped beside her and bent his head to help collect the coltsfoot. Has he did so her whiskers brushed against the side of his face and her warm scent wreathed around him. Yellowpaw smelled nice.

Viperpaw picked his batch of coltsfoot up and went to put it beside his stack of marigold when a sharp snapping noise made his ears prick. His mouth fell open and the coltsfoot fell in a disorderly pile at his feet. He glanced at Batflight and then at Twigsnap. Both seemed not to have heard anything. Viperpaw sniffed the cold air cautiously, but couldn't smell anything past the scent of herbs.

Snap.

There it was again.

Crunch.

Was he imaging it?

Crack.

Viperpaw turned to look back at Yellowpaw, everything appeared fine. The vibrant greens and lush plants rustled in the soft breeze and carried no scent of enemy patrols. That was when Viperpaw froze. No wind tugged on his white and gray patchy fur. It wasn't a breeze making the whispering sound of ferns and bracken being pushed against one another. It was the urgent paw steps of the enemy closing he saw bright amber eyes gleam in the dark. Viperpaw's stomach twisted in a knot as he saw the two glowing orbs heading straight towards Yellowpaw.

"Watch out!" He yowled.

Four dark shapes erupted from the foliage.

A stealthy black she-cat leaped over Yellowpaw's head and while in mid air smacked her paw roughly on the side of the small she-cat's head. Yellowpaw let out a surprised meow and stumbled onto her side. The black she-cat charged straight towards Batflight and reared up on her hind legs and brought her unsheathed claws down on the unprepared brown she-cat. Hisses and spits suddenly broke through the cold winter air.

Yellowpaw went to get back up only for a white tom with gray splotches to pounce on her. Viperpaw felt rage boil in the pit of his stomach, and the fear he felt moments before disappeared. He let out a hiss of fury and lunged at the tom pinning her down. The white tom stumbled, giving Yellowpaw enough time to get back on her feet but no less. He glared at the two apprentices side by side.

"How dare you steal our herbs! Thieves!" He spat.

Viperpaw's eyes went wide with a strange sort of rage he never felt before. "You have no room to talk! MoonClan stole this land from us. We are only taking back what is ours!"

Viperpaw went to swipe his claws down the warriors face but he ducked and bowled him over. He gasped in surprise and found himself fall and tumble down. It was heartbeats before he could clear his head, and when he did was disturbed to realize that Yellowpaw was pinned between the warriors paws, all the while she bit and nipped at his ankles. Viperpaw shook his head and ground his teeth. I refuse to lose!

Spitting with fury he lunged at the white warrior blindly. But Viperpaw landed awkwardly to the side and with a careless kick of the warrior's hind legs sent him reeling and falling back down again. Frustration burned his ears and without thinking Viperpaw spun around to attack. He dodged the warriors counterattack and slashed at his ears and slide quickly under his belly and rolled onto his back. Viperpaw kicked and pummeled at the larger tom's belly until he howled.

While the white warrior was distracted Yellowpaw manged to wriggle out of the tom's grasp and slipped behind him and bite his tail tip. He hissed and kicked out at Yellowpaw the same way he did to Viperpaw. She gasped and flew backwards onto her back. Viperpaw growled and clawed all the more at the tom's tummy. Suddenly the white warrior crashed down and put all his weight on Viperpaw. The smaller tom struggled in vain. White belly fur poked into Viperpaw's eyes and the large weight crushed down on his lungs. Viperpaw thought he was going to choke to death on fur and MoonClan stench.

Panic laced through him. Great StarClan I'm not really going to die am I? In terror Viperpaw kicked harder and struggled more but his lungs were burning for air and blood was roaring in his ears. It was the only sound he could hear and it seemed to get louder every heartbeat. Just as Viperpaw thought the huge warrior was going to crush his chest the weight was lifted, and jaws grasped his neck tightly.

Viperpaw took in a choking gasp and blinked furiously, everything looked fuzzy and dark. Blood still pounded in his ears and just faintly he could hear Twigsnap's loud and commanding yowl.

"MistClan retreat!"

Victorious howls sounded from the oppisite side of the clearing and Viperpaw could just barely piece things together. He felt his paws drag on the ground and the powerful jaws carrying him by his neck while he saw bleary browns and grays running together. The world was still spinning when the earth met him unexpectedly and he fell in a heap. Warm breath brushed against his ear.

"Viperpaw are you okay?" Batflight rasped, sniffing at him worriedly.

"What h-happened?" He groaned.

"We lost. We had to leave the herbs behind." She nudged him with her paw. "Come on now, get up. I can't image what Willowfur would think if I carried you in like a piece of freshkill." Viperpaw manged to stand up on shaky legs. His tail stayed down though and his ears bent back. Viperpaw felt as if he could have done better than that. He hadn't even been able to protect Yellowpaw.

The creamy dappled she-cat was leaning against Twigsnap but still looked defiant, much more than Viperpaw had done. Batflight was holding her right paw up as blood dripped down where a claw used to be and blood dribbled into her left eye from a scratch on her forehead. Fernshower looked better, but limped. They didn't attack our Medicine Cat did they!

"Come on troop." Twigsnap growled. "We got to report to Banditstar."