AN: This chapter pretty much covers all the bases- romance, drama, suspense, action, and the dark forces of the Land of No Stars... they have cookies!

The crisp morning air chilled Weedstripe's nose. He inhaled; nothing but Hollyclaw's scent wreathed around him.

Hollyclaw padded forward along the ThunderClan border with SkyClan. The attack had been a success. They'd caught the thieving mouse-hearts in the act- trespassing on ThunderClan territory and hunting. Well Finchstar's patrol had showed them not to mess with ThunderClan prey.

Suddenly, Hollyclaw raised her tail, signaling for the patrol to stop. "I smell something,"

"SkyClan?" Hollyclaw's fearful apprentice, Patchpaw, beat Weedstripe to the question. Weedstripe sniffed the air deeply. He smelled Hollyclaw, Patchpaw, SkyClan- though not on ThunderClan territory-, and…

"RiverClan!" he gasped.

"That's right," a deep voice growled. Weedstripe instantly recognized the black-and-white tom as he stepped out from a hawthorn bush.

"Splashwing," he addressed the cat. "You're an awful long way from Sunningrocks,"

"That's right. RiverClan has laid claim to the river and all of its shores. If you disagree, we won't hesitate to use our claws to get it," he slid out his claws. They glinted in the sunlight, as if anticipating the ripping of fur, the splatter of blood against silver fur as the helpless victim lay on the rock, her life seeping out of her….

"No," Weedstripe's mind was invaded with images of Pondripple's bloody body. The sweet she-cat had not deserved the cruel fate handed to her.

The trespasser sighed. "Then, I guess we're just going to have to go to war," he said calmly. The bushes rustled behind him and three more RiverClan cats stepped out.

"Patchpaw, run back to camp to get more warriors," Patchpaw froze, a look of terror on her face. "Now!" the apprentice started towards the camp at a run, just when Splashwing leaped at Hollyclaw. The dark brown she-cat was thrown back. Weedstripe was about to knock the tomcat off of her, when a slender gray she-cat stepped between them. She tried to claw his face, but was too far back. Weedstripe retaliated, throwing his paws up with unsheathed claws, scratching everything- her muzzle, ears, belly, shoulder, legs….

Weedstripe cried out in pain as a pair of strong jaws clamped down on his tail. He turned in agony to find an apprentice clinging to his tail. The bright ginger she-cat looked Weedstripe in the eye and released him, stepping back just before he could kick her back with his hind leg. He was thrust back into the trunk of an oak and was cornered by the two RiverClan she-cats.

"Hollyclaw!" he yelled, ducking repetitive blows to the ears and muzzle. One claw raked his ear, and a set of three scraped down his chin. He briefly saw Hollyclaw busy with Splashwing and a white she-cat, and was overcome by terror as she was knocked to the ground. "No!" he shoved the gray she-cat out of the way with a strength he never knew he had.

"That's right, use your true power," a whispery voice said. He was tempted to look around, searching for the other Weedstripe, but he had more important things to do right now than be distracted by that scoundrel.

Splashwing buckled under the force Weedstripe imposed on him. He knocked into the black-and-white tom and into the white she-cat. He stood protectively over Hollyclaw, fur ridiculously puffed out, with his ears flattened and his bushy tail swaying from side to side. He gave a drawn-out hiss until Hollyclaw stirred, picking herself up and shaking blood off her whiskers.

Weedstripe could hear movement behind him. Oh no, not more of them! He pleaded to StarClan inside his head. He whipped around, ready to pounce, still hissing, but ceased when he was met with the strong figure of Torneye, as well as Lizardtail, Birchleaf, Foxnose, Russetwing, and Tawnypaw.

"Don't think that this means we won't be back," the RiverClan intruders raced back through the bushes, towards the river. Torneye, Russetwing, and Birchleaf left to make sure they were gone. Hollyclaw pressed her cheek to Weedstripe's and kept it there as the rest of the ThunderClan cats made their way back to camp.

"That was amazing- I thought I was going to StarClan," she whispered.

"I would never let that happen," he answered.

"And for that, I love you," Weedstripe felt as though he were going to burst with happiness. "And you love me?" she looked into his eyes questioningly, full of hope.

"Of course, I love you," there, he'd finally said it. He saw joy fill her eyes. Her amazing green eyes. They were close enough that he could see the tiny brown speckles scattered throughout them. Sooner than he'd hoped, they reached the camp, and the new kits were on them immediately.

"Wow, you're bleeding!" the gray-and-white one, Ferretkit, announced. Weedstripe saw an eerily similar, overenthusiastic Patchpaw in this young kit.

"Did you actually claw off their ears?" the other one, a ginger tabby named Needlekit, asked. "That's what Patchpaw said you'd do,"

"Yeah, she said you'd rip off their fur too!"

"Did you?"

"Now, little warriors, Weedstripe and Hollyclaw have to go get their wounds cleaned now," Foxnose said. The two kits let out groans of disappointment.

"Thank you, Foxnose," Weedstripe thanked his former mentor.

"I wasn't joking, you know. Those there on your muzzle in particular look bad," Hollyclaw nosed him towards the medicine cats' den.

"Let's go," she said.

Ivythorn met up with them, along with Fogwhisker, halfway across the clearing to the medicine cats' den. Weedstripe noticed that the blue-gray tomcat could usually be found with his sister. Was she jealous? Did she get herself a mate when he'd took on Hollyclaw because she felt that he'd been neglecting her? He would have to ask her. Maybe go hunting with her.

He grimaced as he felt one of the claw marks on his muzzle reopen. Blood oozed out, and he twitched his whiskers to shake it off.

"So how was the battle?" Ivythorn asked.

"Eh," Weedstripe shrugged as Woodflower tended to the bite mark in his tail. Mistwind was working steadily on Hollyclaw, who'd received multiple blows to her shoulders and neck. "It was painful. I'm pretty sure they hurt us more then we hurt them," he winced as a sharp stinging feeling- like brambles being dragged along his tail- travelled upwards. Then he sighed lightly as it dispersed and was replaced by a cooling sensation.

"Well, I'm sorry that you didn't get to chase them off personally,"

Weedstripe suppressed a mrrow of laughter. "I doubt I could. I hardly had enough energy to get back to camp," he and Hollyclaw shared a glance. Of course he'd shared his remaining strength with her, and they'd made it back to camp leaning on each other's shoulder.

"I'm surprised that Russetwing was out so soon after her kits left the nursery," Weedstripe shrugged at this.

"She's a warrior at heart," he said mildly. Woodflower started to concentrate on the blows dealt to his torso.

"A lot of us are," Ivythorn said vaguely, with a certain sagacity not found in a cat her age. "We all become warriors when something we love is threatened," Weedstripe widened his eyes. "You knew that ThunderClan's borders were in danger," she said quickly. Just before a suspicious Weedstripe opened his mouth to reply, Torneye padded into the medicine cats' hollow, catching his breath. He must have run all the way back to camp.

"Torneye, what's wrong?" Woodflower said worriedly, her voice muffled by damp moss. The black deputy caught his breath.

"Nothing, Ivythorn I need you to lead a hunting patrol," he swiftly left the medicine cats' hollow. Weedstripe saw pride light up his sister's eyes.

"Well, Ivythorn, who are you going to take?" Weedstripe asked when Woodflower quieted him.

"No talking,"

"Fogwhisker, and whoever I can find in the warriors' den," Ivythorn brushed her tail along Weedstripe's uninjured flank as she left the den with Fogwhisker on her heels.

"You used your strength today," Weedstripe turned his head sharply to the left. There, suspended in the air, was the very faint outline of the other Weedstripe. "Don't worry, only you can hear me,"

"Weedstripe, is something wrong? What are you looking at?" Woodflower peered straight through the dark warrior, and Weedstripe almost convinced himself that he was hallucinating.

"Oh, nothing, just a… a fly," it was the first thing to cross his mind.

When Weedstripe looked back, he was fading away. What he said froze Weedstripe in a state of cold anger. "I couldn't be more proud of you."

AN: I have no idea what to put, so... just send me your thoughts!