A dark brown tom stood at in RiverClan territory, sniffing the air for patrols. When he smelled none, he was back on the move, weaving around trees and bushes with his ears and nose still alert. He continued to pad forward silently until he was face to face with three other toms.

They started to circle around him, growling, but then they recognized him. "There you are, Thornheart. We've been waiting for quite some time now," a gray tom with black stripes declared.

"It took me a while to come up with an excuse to get out of camp," explained Thornheart. "So are you ready?"

"Of course we're ready, now let's go get the others," an orange tom with light brown paws announced.

All four toms dashed quietly through RiverClan territory. Finally, they stood at the borderline between RiverClan and WindClan. They raced up and down hills until when they were at the bottom of valley. There, they met up with five cats, four of them were toms, but the last one was a she-cat.

"Let's get this show on the road!" cried a tom.

"Now we need to add those rouges I mentioned earlier. They should be at the island," Thornheart meowed.

"Not those guys again," groaned a tom.

"We need them, okay? They're an important part in this," stated Thornheart.

So the nine cats raced back through WindClan territory, running up and down the hills again. They passed horseplace and then stopped at the tree leading to the island. One at a time they crawled from the branch to the island, except for the RiverClan cats. They simply swam over, making some of the other cats envious. When they all had crossed, they padded into the middle of the island, where the Clans gathered every full moon.

There they met with fourteen rouges, all skinny, but strong looking. One of them stepped forward.

"You remember the deal, right Thornheart?" he rasped.

"Yes I do," replied Thornheart. "You help us, we give you guys food."

"Exactly," He grinned.

"Good, I'm glad everyone came today, now let's show ShadowClan that no one messes with ThunderClan and gets way with it!" cried Thornheart.

They all cheered, except for the one female in the entire group. "What do you mean? You're the only ThunderClan cat here."

"Whatever, now let's go!"

The twenty-three cats dashed off the island, once again having to get slowed down by the tree, and then raced around the lake. They finally came to a stop at another borderline, this one separating ThunderClan and ShadowClan. Without hesitation they all crossed it and ran through ShadowClan territory, obviously not caring about stealth. They made their way to the camp and burst in, roaring battle cries and leaping onto the ShadowClan cats' backs.

Thornheart jumped onto an enemy's shoulders and sliced a long, red gash down his back. The tom let out a screech of pain and shook Thornheart off. Then the tom barreled into him, knocking him down. The tom jumped onto him and reared back, about his claw his exposed belly. Thornheart kicked him off and got back on his paws. The tom hit the ground with a sickening thud and did not move. Not caring if he was dead or not, Thornheart raced over to a giant she-cat who had a rouge's neck under her enormous paw. She pressed down harder, and the rouge gagged, eyes clouded with the knowing that he was about to die. Thornheart moved closer and bit down hard on her tail. He heard a satisfying crunch as he reached the bone. The she-cat yowled and smacked his head with the full force of her free paw.

Thornheart saw stars and shook his head, trying to clear them. His head was throbbing with pain. While he stood there doing nothing the she-cat pressed even harder on the rouge's throat, and then let go. The rouge scurried away, gagging and choking. She turned her attention back on Thornheart and sliced his ear, blood flying everywhere. He screeched and dodged a blow to his side. The she-cat leaped onto him and started slicing his back. Thornheart yowled with each blow, enduring the pain. Then he rolled over, leaving her on the ground. He sliced open her belly with fury and rage. She managed to get back on her paws, but instead of attacking, she ran out into the forest, screaming in pain.

He stumbled over to the nursery, and beckoned to a WindClan tom that wasn't fighting at the moment. The tom followed him inside the dark and stuffy nursery. All of sudden he was face to face with a ShadowClan queen.

"Don't even think about stealing my kits!" she warned.

"I'm here to take back what you stole," Thornheart declared.

"What do you mean?" she asked innocently.

"The lion!" snarled Thornheart.

"Oh!" she said. "We didn't steal it, we found it. That helpless little lion of yours was sleeping in our territory. I guess it wanted to be with us."

"If you don't give her back, I'm going to fight you for her," he announced.

"Not near my kits," she told him. "Outside."

"I don't care!" he cried and signaled to the WindClan warrior to attack. They both slammed into her at the same time. Thornheart placed his paw on her throat, claws unsheathed.

"If you value your life, you will give her back now!" he roared.

"You would…kill me?" she gasped.

"Just give her back," Thornheart demanded.

"Okay, okay, now please let me go," she wailed.

He slid his paw off her and whispered to the WindClan tom, "Guard the entrance." The tom nodded and padded to the entrance.

The queen went to the back of the nursery and came out with Raykit dangling in her jaws.

"Put her down," he ordered.

She did as she was told and gently placed her on the ground at his paws. He picked her up and left, turning his back on her.

The she-cat took her chance and slashed with her claws down his already wounded back. He dropped Raykit and turned back around, glaring at her. Then he beckoned the tom and they both slammed into her again. This time, she stayed on her paws and knocked Thornheart over. She jumped on him and put her claws at his throat.

"Don't move, or he dies!" she warned the WindClan cat.

Then she whispered in his ear, "Now it's your turn," she told him. "You will give the lion back to me."

Raykit stared at the Thornheart. She didn't know exactly what was going on, but she did know that he had just attempted to save her. Without thinking, she let out a tiny roar, jumped up, and bit the queen's leg. She yowled and shook her leg, trying to shake Raykit off, but she was too stubborn to let go.

Taking use of the distraction, Thornheart kicked the queen off, grabbed Raykit, who took some fur with her, and made a dash for it. The tom followed him as he burst into the clearing. The battle was still raging on.

"Retreat!" he called. "We have what we came for, let's go!"

All the RiverClan, WindClan, and rouges raced behind him as he dashed out of the camp. A few ShadowClan cats chased after them at first, but they quickly gave up. When they left ShadowClan territory they finally stopped running.

"We succeeded!" Thornheart exclaimed.

Cheers sounded from the crowd.

"Thank you all for helping, you may now go back to your homes," he announced.

The group of cats broke into three sections and headed back to their territory.

Thornheart entered ThunderClan territory with Raykit at his side. She saved the day, he thought cheerfully.

For the first time in his entire life, Thornheart liked a kit.