OMG, please forgive me for taking absolutely way too long with this crappy chapter. I blame it all on school--the teachers are just piling on one project after another. D:

I owe you guys a long chapter, I know. This one's really short...I kinda wanted to get it up sooner so you guys wouldn't be wondering if I was ever going to update. Even though, as I said before, this is a REALLY crappy chapter, I hope you'll like it. I don't really have writers' block anymore, so I know what I want to happen in the next one; it should be up soon, hopefully.

Also, please leave a review. I will update sooner if I get more reviews. ;D

Kyo's head shot up, his ears pricked at the immediate sense of danger. Next to him, Firestar leapt up and darted to Whitepaw, whose eyes were wide with fear.

"Where are they?" he demanded.

Whitepaw gulped. "O-over at the edge of our territory—at the border with RiverClan."

"Thank you," Firestar said. He bounded out of his den, calling over his shoulder, "You two—stay here." Then, he was gone, leaving Kyo and Whitepaw alone in the den.

An uncomfortable silence settled; outside, they could hear Firestar yelling to Sandstorm, Brackenfur, and Squirrelflight.

"Go find Brambleclaw and Tigerpaw. Warn them."

"You two, follow me."

'I should be the one to go and find them...Why is it that I'm left behind again?...with WHITEPAW, of all the cats…' he thought scornfully.

He looked at Whitepaw, who seemed to be calming down. She glanced at him, looking unsure of herself for once. The same could be said for Kyo.

Whitepaw glanced down at her paws, obviously nervous about being with Kyo after their last meeting in the apprentices' den. "So…uh, Sunpaw…when are you starting your training?" she timidly asked, unable to think of something better to say.

'What the hell? What nerve…after how she treated me back in the den, NOW she's trying to act nice?! She must be an idiot if she thinks I'm going to forgive her now!' Kyo rolled his eyes. "Cut the crap, Whitepaw. I know you hate me, alright? You think you're better than be, now don't you? Now, why don't we have a little contest here…"

Whitepaw's features hardened at Kyo's words, though she couldn't deny what he said was true. Her eyes lit up at the idea of a challenge. "You name it."

Kyo smiled approvingly. "Okay…You see, I have no intention of following Firestar's orders," he started, glancing sideways at Whitepaw. "…First one to get rid of these 'Twolegs' without being noticed by Firestar wins."

Whitepaw took a moment to decide. 'Wow….he sure is desperate to prove himself. That arrogant mousebrain…well, why not? I'm not losing to him!'"You're on!" she shot at Kyo, hunching her shoulders, getting ready to bolt out the den.

"Hang on, I'm not finished yet. The loser will have to do whatever the winner says, you got me? And the winner can say whatever they want to; the loser HAS to obey," Kyo added, smirking. 'And there's no way in hell that the loser will be me!' "Ready?"

"You bet!" came the heated response.

"Good. Just a little warning, though: I'm gonna kick your ass!" Kyo shouted, shooting out of the den.

Kisa sullenly followed Brambleclaw through the forest, her mind clouded with thoughts. 'WHAT is wrong with me?! First I ran impulsively into RiverClan's territory…and then I saw this orange fur…in MY claws. How did it get there? Does it belong to Kyo? Does that mean that I'M the one who wounded him?!' She felt her fur start to tingle uncomfortably, realizing that she might've hurt Kyo.

Brambleclaw turned around, fixing his eyes on her sternly. "Walk a little faster. We're almost--" His expression softened when he noticed how sad she looked. "Hey, what's wrong, Tigerpaw? Are you okay?" he asked, regretting talking so harshly. Besides, it wasn't really her fault that she had run into RiverClan's territory. She was new, after all; she didn't know the rules of the Warrior Code yet.

Kisa looked up. "Oh, uh, nothing Brambleclaw, really!" she said hurriedly, burning up after realizing how un-convincing she sounded.

Brambleclaw sighed inwardly. 'She's at it again…I've got to show her that she can trust me, as apprentices are supposed to of their mentors…'He opened his mouth, about to tell he was doubtful that "nothing" was wrong, when an urgent call reached his ears. His ears pricked towards the noise, as did Kisa's.

"Brambleclaw! Brambleclaw!" A flaming orange pelt came into view through the thick foliage that crowded ThunderClan's territory.

Brambleclaw stiffened. "Squirrelflight? What do you want? What's wrong?" he called.

Squirrelflight burst through a particularly thick bush of brambles, cursing gently under her breath as they ripped through her pelt. "C'mon you stupid furball! Don't just stand there! Help me, will you?" she shot a Brambleclaw, embarrassed though she didn't act like it.

A 'mmrow' of laughter escaped from Brambleclaw. He walked over and gently eased her out of the bush. "You should know better, Squirrelflight! What kind of warrior are you?" he teased her.

"Oh shut up, mousebrain." Squirrelflight rolled her eyes and batted Brambleclaw with her paw. She seemed to be about to say something else when she suddenly remembered why she was rushing over to him in the first place. "OH, OH, Brambleclaw! Firestar told me to warn you that there are Twolegs in our territory!"

"Twolegs? Where?" Brambleclaw hissed, unsheathing his paws. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kisa look around, almost hopefully, he thought.

Squirrelflight shook her head, worried. "I don't know! Firestar rushed off without telling me where they are!" Suddenly, she crouched down, instantly abandoning her fear. Her eyes lit up with the idea of a challenge. Glaring at Brambleclaw, she said, "Ready, Brambleclaw? First one to find and chase off the Twolegs wins!"

Brambleclaw sighed. "Really, Squirrelflight. What kind of warrior are you?!"

"One that actually has time for some fun," she shot back, flicking her tail. "So, you want a go or not? Scared?"

"Of course not!" Brambleclaw hissed, narrowing his eyes at her. "It's just not a good example for Tigerpaw here if we go rushing off into danger!"

"Oh, come on! We've had it worse! Remember when we went on that journey? We faced tons of danger then! And these are just some lousy Twolegs! We can handle 'em!" she mewed, her voice already tight with excitement. "Tigerpaw, just pretend this whole thing didn't happen," she said, grinning at her.

Brambleclaw glanced at Kisa. She stared at him, her amber eyes wide open in interest, not fear, surprisingly. He took a deep breath. "Tigerpaw…I'm going to go with Squirrelflight to try and find the Twolegs. You head back to camp—that way," he flicked his tail in the direction Squirrelflight came from.

Kisa nodded her head, faintly disappointed. "Yes, Brambleclaw." She turned around and slowly disappeared through the bushes.

"Be careful!" yelled Brambleclaw, full of worry. To Squirrelflight, he said, "I don't think this is such a good idea…"

"I'm not arguing with you anymore. I don't see what's so hard about this! It's just a few Twolegs! Let's go!" Squirrelflight snapped, running off in the opposite direction Kisa went.

Sighing again, Brambleclaw had no choice but to follow her, unwilling to let her get in harm's way either. 'Tigerpaw will be fine,' he tried to reassure himself. 'She'll be fine.'