Fireheart watched in satisfaction as Brightpaw managed to evade Whitestorm's attack, weaving under his outstretched paws to flip him onto his stomach. He was still tired from the last bout when it had been Sandstorm moderating the fights instead of him.
"Nice!" He praised them both. "Whitestorm, you may want to brush up on working with smaller opponents. Brightpaw, remember to keep yourself guarded. Speed is important, but so is defense. You both put up a good fight, and I can honestly say that if ThunderClan comes through this, we'll be looking at four new warriors."
"Brilliant!" Brightpaw mewed. "Whitestorm, can you please work with me on some defense? "
"Of course." He mewed. "It'll be good practice for me, as well." He got into a battle stance with Brightpaw again.
"Hey, Lavenderfur! Is this what you were expecting?" Frostfur panted as she neatly dodged an off-balance blow from the gray splotched she-cat.
"Not exactly." Her combat partner wheezed.
"You're doing well, Lavenderfur. You certainly have the basics down."
"Yeah, now I just need the advanced stuff!" She puffed, leaping over Frostfur's outstretched paw and forcing her to turn around to face her.
"How is it, Cloudtail?"
"Oh, just dandy, Fireheart." He mewed, an edge to his tone. It was not hard to see why- he was paired against both Mousefur and Speckletail, both competent fighters. In the edge of the hollow, Cinderpaw kept the kits occupied, playing games of their own.
"I'd forgotten how fast you were!" Dustpelt exclaimed, hitting the sand as Ravenflight artfully dodged a blow.
"How am I doing, Fireheart?" Doepaw asked as she sparred against Fernpaw.
"You're getting there. Remember to use your attributes against her."
"Alright!" She called.
Behind her, Sandstorm was engaging Graystripe, while Silverstream took on Stonepaw and Branchpaw. Thornpaw and Brackenpaw were in the centre of it all. Fireheart surveyed his Clan proudly for a moment before yowling above the crowd.
"Alright, stop. Fights are decided based on who's got the most advantageous position."
Around him, cats were pushing themselves up, relaxing, or sighing in relief as the attacks stopped.
"Well done, everyone. You're certainly improving. Have a rest and then Graystripe will send out sunhigh patrols."
The group dispersed, Silverstream and Speckletail talking happily as they shepherded their kits away, Cinderpaw and Fernpaw carrying the youngest kits.
"Actually," Fireheart mewed, moving beside his friend. "We need to mark ThunderClan borders. Can you spare some for that patrol? If possible, I'd like a mix of gorge-born and former Clan cats."
"Will do, Fireheart." He disappeared into the bushes that led to the trail. Already from his vantage point Fireheart could see groups of cats drinking from the river as if their lives depended on it, and he hurried to join them.
The water was refreshing on his tongue and he lapped it greedily until his thirst was quenched before stepping back to allow the next group of cats to drink from the slope. Once the last group had had a drink, Graystripe assigned Runningwind, Lavenderfur and Snowfur to one hunting patrol while placing Whitestorm, Fernpaw and Dustpelt on the other.
"Sandstorm, Graystripe, Brackenpaw, Mousefur, Bluestorm, I'd like you for a special patrol." He called.
"Alright." They replied, curiosity burning in all but Graystripe's eyes.
"So, what are we doing?"
"We are going to be ThunderClan's first border patrol."
"But we don't have borders!" Mousefur said.
"We're going to set some."
He led them away with a flick of his tail. Around halfway through, Brackenpaw's stomach let out a large growl. The ginger tom looked abashedly to his belly.
"Can we please hunt soon?" He finally asked.
"Of course. We're the border patrol; we can hunt now for ourselves."
Brackenpaw's eyes lit up; he disappeared into the bushes. A heartbeat later there were two squeals cut short and he came out proudly holding a mouse and a vole.
"For you." He dipped his head to Sandstorm as he nudged the vole towards her.
"Brackenpaw, it's your catch. You're obviously hungry, just eat your prey!"
"At least take the mouse. I'd never know how to do this if not for you."
"Alright then." Sandstorm purred, letting her apprentice wolf down the vole hungrily.
"How'd you get two in one go, anyway?" Graystripe asked. "It's impressive when it's not a family you're catching."
"I found them fighting over a scrap of food. They were so distracted that it wasn't hard."
"Either way, very well done. You certainly have a warrior's hunting ability." Fireheart praised. Brackenpaw beamed as he buried the bones of the now-eaten vole.
Fireheart moved the patrol to a glade not too far from the camp. "We should set the markers here. This way cats know to stay away."
"Do cats respect them, though?" Mousefur asked.
"Clan cats think twice, and if we build a reputation the rogues will start to realize as well."
"We should try to be civil, first." Bluestorm pointed out. "Many of the cats here were like us a moon ago."
"Fair point." Sandstorm mewed.
Fireheart set the first scent marker carefully, letting all the cats see how he did it.
"That's not very strong." Brackenpaw remarked, giving it a cursory sniff.
"Scents build over time." Sandstorm answered. "Twice-daily markings mean that over moons you get a really strong scent."
"Great!" Brackenpaw purred. "May I set the next one?"
"Sure, go ahead. You saw how Fireheart did it, now go ahead and try on that large bush."
They continued downstream, stopping at the edge of the waterfall.
"You travelled through here?" Bluestorm asked.
"Yep. It was hard to get a good pawhold, but now it can provide a good natural blocker to some of the stuff that's downriver." Fireheart mewed.
They set the scent markers there twice, in order to remind those getting close of the impending drop.
"Any kit going out there, or any cat bringing said kit there without a very good reason, will be in big trouble."
"Certainly, Bluestorm." Mousefur replied. "I'd like to give those fleabrains a good clawing if it does happen. Or just ground the kits for a moon."
"What about the rest of the rogues living here?" Sandstorm asked as they started to approach the forest. "We should set our marks outside of their territory so that we keep a good relationship with them."
"Well, in that case, you're looking over here." Mousefur told them. "Plenty of good land. Most dens are outside of there."
"Most?" Fireheart asked.
"Thistle's just in that copse there, but I get the feeling that he won't want to come back there."
"And good riddance." Bluestorm spat. "Any cat who can pick on a young kit deserves any exile coming to him."
"What?" Brackenpaw asked, shocked.
"You've not heard of Tiny? How they found him badly roughed up and bleeding? Poor thing is too skittish to go outside. Hisses at any cat coming near his Twoleg nest. Thistle bragged about it until Snowfur finally saw sense and dumped him."
"That explains why Whitestorm hates him." Graystripe muttered.
"Yeah. When your father does that it's hard not to. He had the rest of us though."
They moved to another clearing.
"Hey, that dead tree looks like a good place!" Brackenpaw mewed.
"I think the ivy tree over there would be better."
"Why? If we used the dead one, we'd have more territory!"
"Look. If we went there there's no cover for either prey or you."
"Oh."
"It's still a good eye, though. Don't be afraid to ask questions and voice your opinion. Sometimes they're the difference between getting back with prey and getting back with bee stings." Graystripe told him.
Fireheart winced. "That was not fun."
"I told you feather-brains that going for the bird in the bee tree was a bad idea!" Sandstorm yowled.
Brackenpaw laughed, as did Bluestorm and Mousefur.
Finally, the last scent marker had been set and Fireheart led his patrol back, where the cats involved ran off to share tongues.
"That... felt like being in SkyClan again." Graystripe mewed. Fireheart agreed; he'd felt the pangs of homesickness ease with every new Clan member they took in and trained.
"We're doing it. We're finally making a real Clan."