"What in the name of StarClan are you talking about?" Mistblossom gasped.

Oh, no.

"The weather," Briarpaw said.

"My goodness," Twigpelt said flatly, "your lying skills blow me away."

The apprentice purred. "Thanks. I've been working on them."

Twigpelt stared at her, blinking, for a minute. Then he turned to Moonpaw. "Care to explain?"

Moonpaw swallowed, heart racing. "It's not my fault."

"Why thank you, Silver. That's exactly the question I wanted you to answer."

Moonpaw stomped her paw. "Oh, quit it with this 'Silver' stuff already! My name is Moonpaw!"

"Well, Silver, that was a wonderful way to avoid answering my question. Now, what were you and Briarpaw discussing?"

"Let me explain," Briarpaw said.

Twigpelt opened his mouth, probably to object, but Mistblossom cut him off. "Please do, Briarpaw."

"Um... I guess you already heard most of what we were talking about, so... Branchtail is starting a group to attack RiverClan. So they'll stop stealing our prey." Briarpaw ducked her head, then glanced at Moonpaw. "Don't punish Moonpaw, though. I was just telling her about it; she doesn't have anything to do with it."

Twigpelt's harsh gaze shifted between the two apprentices.

"Hey," Briarpaw added brightly, "wouldn't you think that stopping RiverClan would be a good thing? I mean, they need to be stopped. Why shouldn't we do it?"

Twigpelt nodded curtly. "It's not the idea I take issue with, are dismissed."

Briarpaw bounced happily into the air. "Yes! Thanks, Twigpelt!"

"However," Twigpelt said, "I do take issue with you, Silver. I clearly told you to look for chervil roots."

Moonpaw jerked. "B-but I was! I even told Briarpaw not to bother me!"

Briarpaw stopped bouncing. "That's right! She did!"

Twigpelt glared at the tortoiseshell. "We have already established that you are a liar. Silver-"

Mistblossom's fur ruffled. "Twigpelt! Moonpaw did not do a single thing wrong!"

Twigpelt twitched his tail irritably. "It's really none of your buisiness. Briarpaw, you may leave."

"Wait!" Moonpaw said. "You really don't care that... that some cats want to launch an attack on another Clan without permission?"

Twigpelt sighed. "Silver, I do not yet know what I'm going to do about this. Still, our Clan needs to eat. If Brackenstar won't defend that right, someone else needs to. The warrior code demands that all cats do what is best for the Clan-"

Mistblossom flexed her claws. "Not that you would know anything about that, Twigpelt."

"Mother," Moonpaw said, "do you think that Briarpaw's group is okay?"

Mistblossom looked up at the sky. "Well... I think it is very likely to go very wrong. But I cannot tolerate RiverClan's theivery."

"But-" Moonpaw started.

"Moonpaw!" Briarpaw said. "Do you want me to get into trouble?"

"No, but..." Moonpaw turned to Twigpelt. "I think this battle they're planning might be the battle."

Twigpelt blinked. "What battle?"

"You know! The battle I was telling you about? The really important battle that means a lot to certain cats present?""

Twigpelt glared at her. "I am absolutely sure that I have no idea what you are talking about. Let us not talk about it right now.

"What?" Brairpaw said. "Was there some kind of prophecy about us?"

"No!" Twigpelt said. "And if there was, then it would be something that medicine cats aren't supposed to talk about around other cats."

Brairpaw nodded. "Yeah, there's definately a prophecy."

"Twigpelt, we need to stop this battle from happening!" Moonpaw said.

"Silver!" Twigpelt raked the ground with his claws. "Please go somewhere very far away. Now."

"Enough, Twigpelt!" Mistblossom hissed. "She's not doing anything wrong!"

Twigpelt's fur ruffled and his muscles tensed. "I think this is a medicine cat thing."

"Sheath your claws!" Mistblossom arched her back. "Don't think you're going to attack me and win."

Twigpelt snorted. "You're not exactly the most gifted cat around when it comes to fighting, you know."

"Fight! Fight! Fight!" Briarpaw chanted.

"You go away too!" Twigpelt snapped.

Briarpaw impishly grinned.

"You're not employing terribly good tactics in avoiding getting in trouble," Moonpaw said.

Briarpaw flicked her tail dismissively.

"Look, everyone," Moonpaw said, "we're just fighting. Let's all simply forget this."

"Forget it?" Twigpelt shook his head. "Forgetting a thing like this would be absurd. This is something we have to deal with."

Moonpaw felt a glimmer of hope. "You mean the battle shouldn't happen?"

"I don't know about it, Silver. I only ever heard of it a few minutes ago!"

"But if it's the battle-"

"Silver!" Twigpelt's eyes flashed. "Since you have become my apprentice, you have shown absolutely no common sense and tact regarding your duties as a medicine cat. Especially in the most hallowed and secret areas. You might possibly be the densest cat I have ever met. As a matter of fact - and I am quite serious about this - you might possibly become the first cat in SkyClan to be kicked out as a medicine cat."

Moonpaw looked into his eyes and could tell that he was not joking.