Chapter 12

Sootfall bounded out of the warriors den, yawning. He had been out longer than usual on his nightly hunt, and despite the longer hours, he had less prey than normal.

I was too busy thinking about Galestrike. Oh my StarClan, so much has changed! The first few days he was in charge, Galestrike had fumbled over his words and felt awkward giving commands to the senior warriors. In just a half moon, the gray and white tom had become so comfortable with his new status, it was as natural as breathing. Sootfall noticed a subtle change in his old friend. He was more argumentative, using his position as deputy to make his clanmates do what he wanted.

Sootfall glanced around, but it seemed that his littermates had already been sent out on patrol; they weren't in the clearing, and when he heard the rustling of the elder's den, it was only Cloudfall, Thrushwing and Shadowfoot. Since Whitesnow and Flarestep had been made warriors, everyone had to take a turn in helping Vinepaw care for the elders.

"Let all cats old enough to swim gather here beneath Mossrock to hear my words." Silverstar had regained some of the composure she had lost when Reedpelt had passed, but sometimes Sootfall could see the melancholy in her eyes. Oakstorm, Shinewhisker, Rosedrop and Shadewhisper were spending more time with her too, for her comfort.

The smudgy tom noticed Graymist, Splashspot and Wetfoot pushing to the front of the crowd. Growing puzzled, he took a spot next to Shinewhisker and Icepelt. Shinewhisker flicked her tail welcomingly at him and Icepelt blinked. Oakstorm and Thrushwing hurried out of the warrior's den and Whitesnow emerged from the medicine cat's den with Shadewhisper and Vinepaw.

Sootfall looked at all his clanmates but didn't see Flarestep. He guessed the young warrior was out on patrol; his siblings were too, so it was possible he was patrolling with them.

"Splashspot, Graymist and Wetfoot have decided to move to the elder's den." Her announcement surprised Sootfall, who never noticed how frail they were. Now that he made the effort, he saw the three cat's whiskers were gray with age and there were white spots around their muzzles.

"It is your wish to give up the name and life of a warrior and join the elders?"

Speaking for the three of them, Wetfoot meowed, "It is."

Nodding, Silverstar said, "Then I call upon StarClan to give you three many moons of rest. Thank you all for your service." Sootfall and his clanmates cheered for them.

Nighteye, Webpelt, Rockshade and Willowshadow pushed forward to greet their new denmates.

"Silverstar, I have annoucment." Shadewhisper meowed, standing up. The RiverClan leader nodded to her medicine cat, inviting her to speak. Shadewhisper turned to face the rest of the clan. "Vinepaw has worked hard and learned more than I could have hoped to teach her. She is compassionate and wise and I have decided to give her full name to her at the next half moon."

The clan roared their approval. Shy as he was, Vinepaw ducked his head and wouldn't meet anyone's gaze. Sootfall purred.

"The last thing it is my privilege to share with you is Icepelt is expecting Shadowfoot's kits."

Congratulations for the two cats poured out from the clan. Sootfall could see Icepelt looking blissfully happy and Shadowfoot leaned down to give her a lick on her ears. Straining his ears, he could just make out her purr of happiness. Good. The clan needs more warriors.

The tom recalled the story Silverstar had told him and his brother and sister about how Shadewhisper had met Shadowfoot and Nightfur in the mountains. Speaking of the medicine cat, Sootfall had never seen her so happy. Her apprentice was going to be made into a full medicine cat and one of her closest friends was going to be a father.

With the rest of the warriors, Sootfall padded up to Galestrike to receive his patrols for the day. "Sootfall, lead the ThunderClan border patrol. Take Nightfur, Rosedrop and Sandclaw." Then Galestrike turned to Whitesnow. "You'll be hunting with Icepelt and Duskflower. Shinewhisker will lead the patrol."

Sootfall and Shinewhisker led the patrols out of camp. Putting his paws on the trail that would take them to the border, the tom parted his jaws. There weren't any unusual scents. They remarked the stale scents and checked for any signs of invasion.

"All clear?" Sootfall asked.

"All good over here." Nightfur responded.

"No weird smells!" Rosedrop added from where she stood.

"Sandclaw?" Sootfall noticed her puzzled expression and padded up to her to get a whiff of the scent himself.

"ThunderClan scent, but I don't recognize who it is. Too weak for it to be more than one cat." Sootfall could smell she was right. And that scent seemed particularly familiar. I've come across this recently. The tom racked his brain for clues as to who it might be.

"Sootpaw!" Though it had been some time since he was addressed as such, Sootfall turned immediately at the mention of his old name. And that's when he remembered whose scent he smelled.

"Ratpaw?" Why was the ThunderClan apprentice leaving his scent in RiverClan land? The apprentice was running for the border.

"If he crosses it…" But Sandclaw didn't bother finishing her threat. Rosedrop and Nightfur bounded over to stand next to Sootfall.

"Sootpaw-"

"Actually, it's Sootfall now." The warrior told him. The ThunderClan cat nodded, but seemed too frantic too think about what getting his warrior name would mean to Sootfall.

"Flarepaw's been taken!" Ratpaw and his littermates had meet Flarestep and Whitesnow at previous Gatherings.

"What!" Sootfall was too shocked to worry about correcting Ratpaw about Flarestep's new name. Nightfur gasped and Sandclaw and Rosedrop's eyes grew wide with horror.

"What's your clan doing to him?" Sandclaw asked sharply.

"ThunderClan didn't take him! Twolegs did!" Ratpaw corrected her quickly.

"Take a deep breath. And then tell us the whole story." Rosedrop forced her voice to sound peaceful, to calm Ratpaw.

The brown specked tom took a gulp of air like Rosedrop said but it didn't seem to help.

"I was hunting when I heard the twoleg. It was blubbering through the forest, making as much noise as a badger. As soon as I saw it, I ducked under ferns. I didn't want it to see me. I don't think it did. And those noses they have might be big, but their sense of smell can't be worth much."

"Go on, please." Sootfall said.

Ratpaw nodded. "It jumped the stepping stones. As I watched it, that's when I noticed Flarepaw. I yowled to warn him, but it was too late. The Twoleg snatched him up and ran back there!" His tail waved wildly, pointing out the direction to the Twoleg place.

"I went back to camp and told Honeystar but she had no interest in helping. Said that RiverClan will look after their own clanmates as we will look after ours."

Sootfall felt a surge of anger on behalf of Honeystar's selfishness. Nightfur hissed, but Rosedrop laid her tail on the black warrior's shoulders and whispered in her ear.

"Sandclaw, lead Nightfur and Rosedrop home and tell Silverstar what happened." Sootfall meowed.

"What about you?" Rosedrop asked.

"I'm going with Ratpaw to get Flarestep." He announced with no hesitation, like the choice had been made long ago.

"Oh but won't…" Rosedrop's argument died away.

"Come on Rosedrop. Sootfall will be fine." Sandclaw flicked her tail and the other two she-cats followed her as she started back to camp. Obviously, the ginger warrior trusted Sootfall to take care of himself and to find Flarestep.

"I'm coming too. I feel bad for not helping Flarestep more. I need to do this." Ratpaw meowed.

Sootfall looked into his friends yellow eye and saw nothing but determination. Arguing would be a waste of time. Stifling a sigh, he said, "Come on then. We have to be quick." Maybe it's a good thing to have a ThunderClan apprentice with me while I travel through their territory. They didn't even finish crossing the stepping stones when he heard his sister's voice calling to him.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded.

Moonfeather panted for a moment before answering her brother's question. "I met your patrol on the way back to camp and they told me what happened. Birchpath was too tired to come with me. He didn't sleep well. And you can't rescue Flarestep on your own."

"I'm not alone." Sootfall nodded to Ratpaw, who straightened proudly.

Moonfeather resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Two cats aren't enough to rescue him. I'm going and you won't step me." Much as she loved her brother, he still saw her as a kit. And that annoyed her.

"Sootfall we're wasting time. Let her come. She'll be helpful." Ratpaw broke in unexpectedly.

Soorfall sighed but nodded. As the three cats crossed the river, the Riverclan tom whispered, "You know I worry about you cause I love you and don't want anything to happen right?"

"Yeah. And I'm lucky to have brother like you and Birchpath. But you have to let me live my own life and make my own choices."

The smudgy tom nodded.

"Come on you two. What's the holdup?" Ratpaw called. He was on the shore of the river already.

"We're fine. We're coming." Moonfeather yowled back. She and her brother quickly hopped the last few stones and jumped up to stand next to Ratpaw on the shore.

"We need to disguise your scents. With any luck, none of my clanmates will spot us and find out you two were ever on our land." Ratpaw meowed.

"Right." Moonfeather mewoed and Sootfall just nodded. He was beginning to think about that this mission would entail and it worried him. Tresspassing through another clan's territory, sneaking around Twoleg place! It was a wonder he didn't race back to camp with his tail between his legs.

Ratpaw nosed them over to The ThunderClan scent marks and the RiverClan warriors rolled into it until their birth scent was well masked. Ratpaw watched with an amused expression but didn't speak until they were thoroughly covered in ThunderClan scent.

"Ready to go?" Ratpaw asked. Sootfall looked at Moonfeather, who gazed back at him with an unwavering yellow gaze.

"Yeah. Yeah we are." Conviction rang through Moonfeather's voice. Sootfall wished he could share her confidence.

A/N And with this chapter we quickly approach the climax of the story. I wrote this Thursday but did have Wifi till now so here you go. May or may not be posting another chapter today. We'll see.

Thanks to all my readers and all my reviewers. I love you guys. Now it's time for this new idea I have. Answer my trivia question in a review and you'll get to decide what Icepelt's kits look like! Yay, what fun!

Q: Who mentored Thrushwing?

Answer and winner will be revealed in the next chapter! (*Btw, Blueblizzard, I'm not sure it's entirely fair you take part. All I'm saying.)