Azura: I have a new PenName!

Mistpaw: Yes, we can see that.

Azura: Anyway, thanks, Amber342, Mormeril Dark Lady of Insanity, and xScarclawx for the reviews.

Mistpaw: Oh, and TheAzuraStar does not own Warriors.

Chapter Six

"Well, what do we have here?" The voice of the WindClan warrior made Mistpaw shiver. He sounded malicious and hostile, a tone that practically screamed, I hate ThunderClan cats!

Beside her, Foxleap had gone tense, his eyes narrowed at the WindClan patrol. Vaguely, Mistpaw also heard Brackenfur and Hazeltail approaching, but she was too focused on the enemy cats to give it much thought.

"It seems ThunderClan isn't as sharp as they used to be, if they can't tell the difference between their own scent and WindClan's." A gray she-cat, presumably an apprentice, sneered, glaring at the four ThunderClan cats with contempt shining in her green eyes.

That statement triggered a surge of anger in Foxleap, and he took a threatening step forward. "What did you say?" He growled deep in his throat.

The apprentice flicked her whiskers, in a way that said she clearly thought she was better. "Do you have hearing problems? I said-"

"Enough, Rainpaw." The tom who had spoken first interrupted, effectively silencing 'Rainpaw'. He turned back to the ThunderClan patrol. "So you've come to make sure we haven't crossed your borders, am I right?"

Brackenfur stepped in front of the still-angry Foxleap, and answered the WindClan cat coolly, "Yes. That is what patrols do, if I'm not mistaken." His tone was ever-so-slightly insulting, and Mistpaw felt a surge of satisfaction at the angry face of the WindClan tom.

The gray she-cat, Rainpaw, flattened her ears to her head. "Watch the way you speak to us!" She spat before either of her Clanmates could respond, fury glinting in her eyes.

Mistpaw immediately found she disliked this cat. Rainpaw obviously thought WindClan to be superior to ThunderClan. Feeling suddenly impulsive, Mistpaw dared to retort, "Why should we? WindClan can't order us around!"

Rainpaw's eyes narrowed to tiny slits. A snarl tore it's way up and out of her throat, and next the next thing Mistpaw knew, the WindClan apprentice had hurled herself across the scent-line at the blue-furred she-cat.

Mistpaw hadn't been expecting her words to cause such an extreme reaction, and found herself being bowled over by the other cat's weight. She yowled in pain when sharp teeth suddenly met in her ear, and thrashed wildly.

Then Rainpaw's weight was gone as fast as it had come. Mistpaw staggered to her paws to see Foxleap facing the WindClan she-cat as she crouched, still on ThunderClan territory, looking as if she was about to attack him next.

This was all it took for the WindClan tom to come barreling toward Foxleap snarling, "Leave my apprentice alone!" And then the two warriors were suddenly rolling over and over in the grass, biting and clawing.

The remaining cats of the two patrols stood frozen for a heart-beat, watching Foxleap and the WindClan cat, before suddenly leaping at one another. Mistpaw soon found herself locked in another battle with Rainpaw, who had once again initiated the fight.

The gray she-cat was obviously more experienced than Mistpaw, who was struggling to get a grip on her opponent. Rainpaw was battering her head with her forepaws, drawing blood with each hit. It went on and on like this until Mistpaw started to get dizzy. Instictively, Mistpaw rolled to try and escape the blows, and ended up exposing her belly in the process.

Rainpaw saw the opening, and with a shriek of triumph, dove for the soft flesh of Mistpaw's exposed stomach.

The ThunderClan she-cat yowled in agony as the claws tore down her belly. Acting once again out of instict, Mistpaw thrust out her hind legs, ramming them into the ribs of her WindClan attacker.

Mistpaw heard the sharp intake of breath Rainpaw took as she was kicked away. Mistpaw rose back to her feet shakily, wincing slightly in pain, and prepared herself to fight again.

"Get back to the other side of the border!" Mistpaw heard the call, coming from the third member of the WindClan patrol, whom Mistpaw had not heard speak until now.

Rainpaw threw Mistpaw one last baleful glare before obeying her older Clanmates' order. Just as she crossed the scent-line, she snarled, "Stay out of WindClan's territory in the future!"

The blue-furred she-cat watched with blank eyes as the three cats fled back up the moorland, not looking back once. When they were out of sight, Mistpaw slumped to the ground, sighing. Around her, Brackenfur, Hazeltail, and Foxleap were all sporting wounds themselves.

Hazeltail padded up to her apprentice slowly. "Are you alright?" She asked, eyes looking her over.

Mistpaw gave a shaky nod. "Yeah. Just some scratches." She got to her paws, a little more steady than before, and turned to the rest of the patrol. "Were any of you hurt?" She asked them.

"No, I'm fine," Brackenfur reassured her, and Foxleap just shook his head.

"Well then," Hazeltail meowed after a moment of silence. "Let's get back to camp, before some cat realizes we've ben gone longer than usual."

"And before WindClan sends more cats over here to make sure we're gone," Foxleap muttered. "You heard what that apprentice said. 'Stay out of WindClan's territory in the future'." He snorted. "They think we're the ones crossing borders? Mouse-brained fools..." he trailed off.

Brackenfur just shook his head. "Come on, let's just get going." He meowed. After a moment, the patrol assembled again, and the four cats were on their way back to camp.

"You should really be more careful in the future," Her mother lectured her, and Mistpaw just sat there taking it all in as Jayfeather applied some sort of poultice to her belly wound.

"Yes, Cinderheart," Mistpaw sighed.

"And don't be so impulsive, either!" Cinderheart meowed.

"Yes, Cinderheart," Mistpaw sighed again.

"Are you even listening to me, Mistpaw?" Cinderheart demanded, her tail flicking.

"Yes, Cinder-hey! Okay, okay, I'm listening!" Mistpaw said indignantly as her mother cuffed her over the ears.

"Good," the gray she-cat replied. "Now I have duties to attend to. Don't cause any trouble for Jayfeather, alright?" Her mothere gave her a stern stare, waiting for Mistpaw's response.

"I won't." Mistpaw meowed, forcing down the twinge of annoyance.

With one last stern look, Cinderheart turned and left the medicine cat's den. Mistpaw heaved an exasperated sigh.

Up until that point, Jayfeather had been seemingly ignoring everything except his task of treating her wounds, and only when he heard the yound she-cat's sigh did he 'look' at her.

"She's only worrying about you," he said, his tone clipped.

Mistpaw jerked, startled. Then she frowned. "I know."

Jayfeather didn't say anything else, instead continuing with his job. When he was done, he backed away from Mistpaw, turning away. "That should be it," he said. "You may go, but don't do anything too serious, and make sure you come back if the scratch on your belly re-opens." And then he busied himself in the piles of herbs, obviously dismissing her.

Mistpaw frowned again. Then she shook her head and got up from the nest she lay in.

Padding out into the camp, Mistpaw glanced around. Then she walked over to the fresh-kill pile, realizing she was hungry. Just as she reached the pile of prey, a patrol came padding into camp, loaded with fresh-kill. Mistpaw tensed as she saw Stoneheart at the back. The tom gave her a cold look as he passed her.

Mistpaw felt her fur begin to bristle. Again with the unfriendly glares? Couldn't he just get over it? Why did he have to hold Swiftpaw's death against her? Irritation surged beneath her pelt, and she found herself glaring right back at the older tom.

Stoneheart curled his lip, his eyes narrowing slightly. For a heart-beat Mistpaw thought he may growl something at her, but he didn't say a word, just turned and stalked off.

Nothing's changed between me and Stoneheart. I'm beggining to think it never will. Mistpaw thought sadly, watching him vanish into the warrior's den.

The rest of the day was just cleaning out old bedding from the dens and replacing it with fresh. The normal, boring apprentice tasks, since she could do anything else bacause of her wounds.

When nightfall came, Mistpaw curled up into her nest with a sigh, closing her eyes. She drifted off to sleep almost instantly.

And then she opened her eyes to a strange sight. She was on the moorland, but something told her it was not WindClan's territory. As far as she could see, there was a thick barrier of mist.

Puzzled, she stood up. Where am I? She thought. She dimly recalled curling up in her nest in the apprentice's den. Maybe she was dreaming, then?

Strange dream, she decided. I've never heard of anything like this before.

She started padding around, trying to see something, anything, through the dense mist, but failing.

"Mistpaw." A voice spoke.

The young apprentice whipped around, turning to face the speaker. She was met with the sight of a she-cat, one with blue-gray fur similar to her own, only Mistpaw's was darker. And this strange cat had blue eyes.

"Who are you?" She asked warily, forcing herself to stay still under the new cat's intense stare.

"My name is Bluestar. I was ThunderClan's leader before Firestar. I have a message for you, Mistpaw."

Done with chapter six! Hope you like! And please, review!

~TheAzuraStar