AN: This was possibly one of the funnest chapters I ever wrote. Ya'lls better be nice to it! ;)


The moisture-less, leaf-fall air greeted Ivypaw as she stretched and flexed her claws. She gazed quietly at her brother, still sleeping, and decided to let him rest. Though it had been a whole moon since the battle, she still didn't believe Weedpaw was back to his normal self. As she padded silently out of the apprentice's den, she couldn't help but overhear Birchleaf talking to Foxnose.

"Today is going to be dry. I can tell… and it's not going to help our patrol either," Foxnose made a comment that Ivypaw tuned out. She already knew it was going to be arid: she had smelled it last night while she was out on the evening patrol.

"Hi, Ivypaw," Ivypaw turned from where she had been sitting and looked at Hollyclaw.

"Oh, hi Hollyclaw," Ivypaw was suddenly thrust back to the days when Hollyclaw would hunt with her and Weedpaw. The three had grown to become good friends, until Hollyclaw was given her warrior name last newleaf. Since then, they hadn't really talked much.

"Hey I was wondering if you wanted to go on the next hunting patrol with me,"

"Well, you'd have to ask Birchleaf,"

"I did, and he and Foxnose said that they were going on a patrol, but that I could take you and Weedpaw on my hunting patrol," Ivypaw briefly wondered why Birchleaf and his brother would want to go on a patrol without their apprentices, though she quickly brushed it aside, remembering that she was still in conversation with Hollyclaw.

"Okay, I'll just go and get Weedpaw now," Ivypaw raced back to the apprentice's den and sharply prodded her brother with her paw. "Wake up you lazy lump!"

"I'm awake!" Weedpaw's long fur rippled as he arched his back in a drawn-out stretch.

"Hurry up; we're going hunting with Hollyclaw," Weedpaw's eyes snapped open and he quickly came down from his stretch.

"Okay, I'll be out in a moment," Ivypaw rolled her eyes and left the stuffy warmth of the den. She knew that he would be fastidiously grooming himself for his crush, and, with his long fur, she knew this would take a while. Her stomach grumbled and she picked out a small mouse from the well-stocked fresh-kill pile.

The sun was well visible from the gorge where the camp sat when Weedpaw finally finished his primping. Just in time for Torneye to release the announcements of who would be on the morning's patrols.

"Toadleap, Birchleaf, and Foxnose, you'll be patrolling the SkyClan border with Finchstar." Ivypaw glanced suspiciously at the group already assembled. It was uncommon for Finchstar to lead patrols. "Hazelstorm, you'll be leading the other patrol over on the RiverClan border. Take Minnowclaw and Fogwhisker. Hollyclaw, I heard you're taking Weedpaw and Ivypaw out hunting?" Hollyclaw quickly nodded her head.

"Alright, let's go," Ivypaw briefly glanced at her father and mother leading their apprentices out of camp. Ivypaw assumed they were going to train their apprentices together.

"C'mon, Weedpaw," Ivypaw said to her brother. They followed Hollyclaw out of camp at a brisk pace, and soon started to sprint towards the SkyClan border. It didn't take them long until they could see the tall pine trees where their rivals lived.

"Okay, since I'm the senior warrior here, I'll be assessing your hunting skills," Hollyclaw teased.

"Well, since you're so high and mighty…" Weedpaw crouched, ready to spring. Hollyclaw was thrown onto the ground as the two old friends tussled playfully.

"Hey, you're going to scare away all prey from here to Mothermouth!" Ivypaw warned. Hollyclaw cleared her throat.

"Ivypaw's right. We should split up- we'll catch more prey that way rather than if we all hunt together,"

"Okay, I'll take this area," Weedpaw sat up straight, listening intently for the scurrying of paws.

"Alright, I'll take closer to the river,"

"That's a long ways away, Hollyclaw," Weedpaw mewed.

"I'll be fine," Ivypaw threw a scrutinizing glance at Weedpaw. He didn't notice though, he was too busy staring into Hollyclaw's eyes.

"And I'll take closer to the SkyClan border,"

"Sounds good," Weedpaw said, breaking out of his trance.

"Okay, let's all meet here at sunhigh," the three cats moved towards their designated areas.

As Ivypaw moved towards the SkyClan border, she couldn't help but wonder about the romantic relationship between her brother and her friend that had so suddenly sprung up.

Suddenly, a sickeningly sharp, piney smell sought Ivypaw's nose. SkyClan had passed right onto ThunderClan territory! And as if to make things worse, they were headed towards her!

Quickly, Ivypaw dived under a broad hawthorn bush, hoping that her scent would be masked by the scent of her own territory.

"Are you sure this is the way to their camp?" a deep voice growled. It was the massive SkyClan leader, Bearstar.

"I know my way through here, Bearstar. We're skirting around it, remember," a feminine voice hissed. Bearstar's response was incoherent from where Ivypaw was crouched. She closed her eyes tightly as she heard approaching paws. The SkyClan cats had moved right passed her! Soon she discovered that the feminine voice was Fenpelt, the SkyClan deputy. There were also some of the most notorious cats here; Fangcrest, Vulturebeak, and Crouchshadow. The deadly trio had fought in many battles against ThunderClan and ShadowClan. Usually, their more reasonable sister would fight with them, though last time she'd heard, Quickriver was caring for her three kits. In addition to that was the overly-ambitious Webstep, who Ivypaw knew had his eye on Bearstar's position. Trailing at the end of the SkyClan patrol were two apprentices; Flypaw and Dewpaw. Flypaw was fairly aggressive, much like his mentor, Fangcrest; however, Dewpaw was nice enough to her at gatherings. She almost reminded her of Hollyclaw.

Once the patrol was out of sight from where Ivypaw was, she sprang up and raced back to camp.


"Torneye!" Ivypaw practically screamed the name as she raced into camp, interrupting Torneye's and Pondripple's conversation.

"Ivypaw! What is it?" the ThunderClan deputy's fur fluffed up in alarm.

"SkyClan… invaded our territory… they're coming here… to the camp!" Ivypaw caught her breath just in time to hear a cat's paws pounding towards her from behind. She was pounced upon by two furry bodies, and she recognized the blurred pelts as the two SkyClan apprentices. Soon, Torneye's battle cry was heard as he and Pondripple faced the rest of the SkyClan patrol.

Out of the corner of her eye, Ivypaw could make out Echowhisper leading the elders into the nursery. The queen spent most of her time in the nursery, but she was no push over. When Webstep ventured a bit too close, she swiped at his muzzle. The two began to tussle dangerously close to the opening of the nursery.

As Ivypaw swiped at Flypaw, Dewpaw thrust her back down from behind. As she attempted to buck Dewpaw off, Flypaw raked her ear, splitting the thin skin and sending rivets of pain to cascade onto Ivypaw. She collapsed under the weight of the two SkyClan apprentices. For the first time in her history of battles, she feared for her life.


AN: Oh noes! ThunderClan in peril! Ivypaw in danger! Will Weedpaw be able to save them in time? :O

PS: Hope you liked! R&R! I will update soonish- once I'm done with finals.