Barrenfoot walked into the camp bouncing and carrying a rabbit in his mouth. He set the prey on the fresh-kill pile, looked around, and walked to the nursery.

"Dawnfeather? Are you here?"

When he found the nursery empty, his whiskers twitched and he glanced around the camp in confusion.

Unable to find his kin anywhere, he walked over to Pinestripe and Adderheart, who sat eating their midday meal. "Do you know where Dawnfeather and the kits are?" he asked the warriors.

"Oh! You haven't heard yet?" said Adderheart. Barrenfoot shook his head.

"They're in the Rainpelt's den," Adderheart said, pointing his nose to the crevice in the rocks.

"Why? What happened?" asked Barrenfoot rapidly.

"Um… Pinestripe, you wanna tell him?" said Adderheart.

Pinestripe licked his lips quickly. "Let's just say that Skunkkit took a fall." He prepared himself for an outburst from Barrenfoot.

Barrenfoot didn't have time, however. He was already halfway to the medicine cat's den, running as fast as he could, his WindClan-strengthened legs bursting ahead at top speed.

He stopped at the entrance and poked his head through. "Rainpelt? What happened? How's Skunkkit?"

Rainpelt stepped calmly to the deputy and meowed, "Judging by that last question and the rush you're in, you already know what happened. As for Skunkkit, she toughed through the fall with only a cut and a large bruise."

Barrenfoot looked at his sleeping family and sighed relief. It was impossible to tell that there was anything wrong with Skunkkit from where he stood, and they all seemed relaxed.

"I don't think there'll be any permanent damage on that leg, hon. She may have a small scar behind her ear, but it won't be anything out of the ordinary here," said Rainpelt.

"Where did she fall from?" asked Barrenfoot.

"The very top of the cliff, as high as she could get," said Rainpelt.

Barrenfoot's ears perked up. "Of course it was at the top," he thought.

Dawnfeather started to stir. She opened her eyes and glared at her mate.

"I told you so."

Barrenfoot ducked his head. "Yeah. Sorry," he mumbled.

Dawnfeather scowled at him a bit longer. Then she burst into sudden laughter. "You stupid dung-for-brains! Listen to me next time!" she said. "I'm just glad Skunkkit's okay."

Barrenfoot smiled and curled up against his family. He snuggled next to his kits carefully so they lay between him and Dawnfeather. Rosekit stretched her front legs and laid them on Skunkkit's face. Dawnfeather purred, and Barrenfoot joined her.

"Very sweet," said Rainpelt. "But now you're taking up half the den."


Barrenfoot felt a paw pat him on the head a few times. He opened his eyes a crack and found Blackpaw trying to wake him up without disturbing him.

"Uh, Barrenfoot? Rainpelt says you need to set up the night and morning patrols, now," the apprentice said.

Barrenfoot stretched with a groan. He nodded to the young cat. Blackpaw smiled and walked out of the den.

Barrenfoot stood up and stretched his hind legs. He heard a few satisfying cracks in his back and grunted, "I must be getting pretty old." He chuckled and padded out. He took one last look at his family behind him and saw the back of Skunkkit's ear. It was covered in cobweb and a chewed-up plant, but it didn't seem irritated. His whiskers twitched with both sadness and hope. He stepped into the evening light to find half of the clan already gathered in front of Tallrock.

He climbed up the cliff to Tallrock and stayed close to the side with bushes. Looking over the edge suddenly made him dizzy, but he acted unfazed and hopped onto the giant boulder.

He called the clan in for the announcement and the second half soon arrived. "For morning patrol we'll need Specklefoot, Rabbitpaw, and Adderheart on the lake path. For the horse-place path, we'll need Hollowclaw and Brighteye."

He was interrupted by Thornstar, who yowled attention. "I'd like to join that patrol," he said to Barrenfoot.

"Are you sure?" said Barrenfoot. "I can't deny you, but are you sure you want to do a patrol?"

"These old legs don't move as fast as they used to, but I need to be there for my clan. StarClan came to me in a dream and told me to join a patrol."

"Well, I suppose we can't argue with StarClan. You can go with Hollowclaw and Brighteye."

Thornstar nodded and walked back to the elders' den to sit with Whitefur.

Barrenfoot heard Hollowclaw whisper to Sunpelt next to him, "Thornstar's a little out there, isn't he."

"I heard that, Hollowclaw," said Barrenfoot. He reached his head down and whispered, "But yeah, a little."


Brighteye was lying on the sleeping grounds, lightly snoring. He felt a tongue licking his face and opened his eyes. He found Rosekit sitting in front of him.

"Brighteye?" the kit said. "I'm bored."

"You're supposed to be asleep."

"No, I'm supposed to be playing, but Skunkkit won't get up like she usually does."

"Why would you want to play now?"

"Because we always play when the sun starts to rise. Except for today. And now I'm bored."

"So you want me to get up to play with you," grumbled Brighteye as he stretched.

"Yeah! You can chase me, and then if you catch me, then I'll chase you!"

"And what if you catch me?"

"Then I win!"

Brighteye thought for a second. "I fail to see your logic."

Rosekit's whiskers twitched. "That's how Skunkkit and I always play."

"Alright," Brighteye groaned. He stretched again and got on his feet.

"Yay! Chase me!"

Rosekit bolted off.

Brighteye called after her, "Wait up! I can't run that fast this early!"


Hollowclaw, Brighteye, and Thornstar walked the edge of WindClan territory near the horse-place. The sun beat down more intensely that usual, making the cats' backs dripping in sweat. Not a single sound had been heard the entire patrol. All prey was hiding from the heat, and the cats didn't have the energy to start up a conversation.

They trudged along across the scorched ground and kept an eye out for any trouble. At one point, they reached a small puddle, which they quickly lapped up together.

Finally, Brighteye said, "Well, this has been pretty eventful. Thornstar, do you know why StarClan sent you on this patrol?"

"They said something about a carrot," said Thornstar.

"What's a carrot?" asked Hollowclaw.

"I dunno," said Thornstar, starting to lose patience in the heat.

They dragged their feet across their territory a little longer. Suddenly, Thornstar's ears perked up.

"I may be old," said Thornstar. "But my ears are just as good as they always were. Follow me." He ran under the fence at the edge of WindClan territory and to the old Twoleg barn. The two warriors chased after him.

Brighteye kept his ears perked up, and he heard a faint shouting coming from inside the barn. As they got closer, he could tell it was a she-cat, screaming "Help!" at the top of her lungs. The patrol bolted for the barn as fast as they could (which wasn't very fast because one of them was old, one was slow, and one was fat).

When they reached the barn, they looked inside its huge entrance to find a light orange cat against a corner with three cats crawling up to her threateningly. She saw Thornstar at the doorway and shouted, "Help me!" one last time before the cats pounced.

This chapter's split up into four sections because I have two plots sort of going at the same time and I had to alternate between the two. Hopefully, this doesn't bother you too much.