AN: So apparently this is chapter thirteen. Yeah, I kind of goofed up once again with the chapter numbering, so sorry about that. Anyways, this is a chapter in Leafheart's point of view. Riverspirit's up next! And thanks everyone for your awesome reviews, they're always appreciated :)

Chapter 13

Excitement coursed through Leafheart as she pushed her way through the undergrowth. She was a warrior now, and she could do things she had never done as an apprentice. Like find a mate, and fight for her Clan as a true warrior would.

A mate... the thought churned through her mind when she was reminded of her duty as a warrior.

Leafheart felt her stomach clench as she wondered if she would ever find someone she loved. There were so many choices in ThunderClan. Flamestrike was out of the question; he was rude and obnoxious to every cat that he met. Birchnose had never paid any attention to her when she was an apprentice, but they were moons apart by age.

"Stop daydreaming and do something useful!" Leafheart flinched when she heard Sootpelt shout at her. "We aren't hear to stare at the plants," he snorted when he stood beside her.

"I was looking for pray," Leafheart snapped.

Sootpelt only rolled his eyes and glared. Leafheart suddenly wished she could claw his ears off.

Of all the cats in the Clan, she was stuck patrolling with Sootpelt. He was almost as annoying as Flamestrike. Always ordering the younger warriors around, treating them like apprentices. He never acted this way around Whiteleaf. But if someone were to yell at his kits? He'd likely claw their whiskers off.

Leafheart did her best to ignore him as Longtail crouched nearby. This was supposed to be a border patrol, but it seemed as though they were all distracted.

Patrolling the ShadowClan border was what they almost always did. Brackenfur had been avoiding sunningrocks since RiverClan gave the Clan shelter during the fire. The last thing he wanted was to cause another battle between ThunderClan and RiverClan.

Her ears pricked forward in alarm when she heard the sounds of monsters roaring on the Thunderpath. Leafheart looked over her shoulder. Both Sootpelt and Longtail were distracted, so she took the chance to approach the border as cautiously as she could.

Tail lashing from side to side, Leafheart noticed that the scent of ShadowClan was fresher near the Thunderpath. Her eyes widened in alarm as she picked up more scents nearby.

"Who goes there?" she demanded when she heard the ferns rustling from in front of her. Leafheart's claws unsheathed as she prepared for a fight.

A lean looking light brown tabby suddenly emerged from the bushes that surrounded the Thunderpath. Leafheart stared at the tom in surprise. His chest was splashed white, and a single paw was white. Muscles rippled beneath the thick brown and white tabby fur.

"What are you doing on this side of the border?" she snarled after recovering from the surprise.

"Sorry, I was chasing a vole and didn't realize I was so close to the border," the tabby replied. His voice was filled with embarrassment as he gave his chest fur a few quick licks. "There weren't any monsters coming so I crossed without thinking."

Leafheart let her fur flatten when she realized that this cat posed no threat. He would have attacked her already if he did.

"What's your name?" she meowed warily.

"Branchtail," the tom replied. "I just became a warrior a few days ago." He flicked his tail, and Leafheart suddenly understood where his name came from.

His tail had strange tabby markings on it. She had never seen a tail like his before.

"Leafheart," she muttered with a dip of her head. She glanced over her shoulder when the scent of her Clanmates filled the air. "You better go before you're caught," she hissed.

Branchtail blinked in confusion until he understood what she meant by that. Sootpelt was complaining to Longtail about she-cats always getting distracted. Leafheart rolled her eyes and resisted the urge to spit something back at the older tom.

"Meet me here at moonhigh tonight," Branchtail whispered before slipping into the undergrowth.

Leafheart stared at the bushes in surprise. Silence followed until she was shaken out of her shocked position by Sootpelt.

"Hey mousebrain, time to get moving!" the lighter gray tom growled.

With a roll of her eyes Leafheart turned to follow them. Longtail shot her a sympathetic look before bounding ahead. At least he didn't say anything, but he wasn't helping either.

Thoughts of Branchtail kept coming back to haunt Leafheart when they returned to camp. Longtail had caught a mouse and a blackbird along the way, and dropped them on the fresh-kill pile. Leafheart wasted no time in returning to the warrior's den.

Whiteleaf's kits were playing outside the nursery, alongside Leafpelt's kits. Leafpelt had died giving birth to her kits on sunningrocks. Since that tragic day, Stormstar seemed reluctant to give them apprentice names. But they were more than old enough, and it was beginning to show.

"Stormstar, don't you think it's a good idea to make them apprentices now?" As if he had read her thoughts, Leafheart overheard Brackenfur talking some sense into the ThunderClan leader.

"Do you really think they're ready?" Stormstar always seemed off lately, ever since Riverspirit had returned from the medicine cat's den. Everyone had thought that she was dead, even Stormstar herself. Leafheart wondered if that was why her former mentor had changed so much.

"Holding off their ceremony will make them think that they are different," Brackenfur replied in a low voice. Leafheart's ears were angled in their direction, so that only she could hear what they were saying. "They'll know that something is wrong with them. Just like Tawnypelt and Brambleclaw thought something was wrong with them."

Leafheart remembered hearing stories of how her aunt had fled from ThunderClan. Tawnypelt had felt unwanted and mistrusted by her own Clanmates, so she joined the Clan her father had ruled. Many cats still resented Tawnypelt for what she had done.

"Fine, I'll give them their apprentice ceremony tomorrow at dawn," Stormstar sighed after thinking it over.

"Good," Brackenfur purred with a nod of satisfaction. "Shall I go and tell them?"

When Stormstar said yes, the deputy trotted away towards the nursery. Leafheart watched on in amusement, and suddenly remembered the promise she had made tonight.

I'll make sure I keep that promise, she told herself. She was going to meet with Branchtail, and nothing would stop her.