"I'm Laurelleaf," Laurelleaf introduced. "And I'm not going to kill you unless you touch me with one of those fishy claws of yours."

"I'm not interested in killing you now that I realized you're as useless as most of your Clanmates," Vixentail, the velvet, formerly-RiverClan rogue, sniffed. She turned to pad away, but again realized that she was severely hurt. "Agh!" She gasped. She glared at Laurelleaf with her intimidating amber gaze, as if saying, Thanks for injuring me to this point.

You are the one who attacked me first out of nowhere! Rage burst into Laurelleaf's heart. He knew it was hopeless to talk with Vixentail now. All she seemed to care about was to kill him and run away into the darkness. I'm just going to leave you alone to die, then! He already have enough troubles, and he hissed once more at the velvet she-cat before ducking back into the undergrowth.

He backed away, and really decided to leave. He was sure his scent must have faded by now. He was so drenched in ThunderClan scent, bushes, and thorns' scent that he doubted his WindClan scent was still there. But Vixentail have recognized his scent, and that was making him uncomfortable. He looked around, and for once he seemed to be able to locate a fraction of a thread of WindClan scent. He perked his ears. I must've been closing on the WindClan border! An agonized yowl sounded beside him, and he saw Vixentail, dragging herself further into ThunderClan territory. Laurelleaf felt a slight twinge or sympathy for a small moment, but quickly shook it away. She deserved it.

He headed away, but stopped and turned back again. Vixentail have collapsed, looking smaller and weaker than ever. "Fish-brain..." he heard her mutter under her breath. Laurelleaf snorted. Still cursing about me?

"Hey," he meowed. Vixentail glared at him in response. "Go find yourself some shelter in ThunderClan. Or maybe RiverClan—" "ThunderClan doesn't have a medicine cat!" Vixentail snarled. "And RiverClan was better off without me." Laurelleaf was sure she was in no condition to crawl off to ShadowClan either, and he lashed his tail. "I guess you don't need help at all," he meowed and left. This time, he did not look back again.

When Laurelleaf finally returned to WindClan camp after long navigation through the forest and scent-detecting, the camp instantly burst into chaos. "Where have you been?" Windyfrost screeched. "You were gone the entire day!"

Laurelleaf half expected Grasswhisker to emerge from the nursery and start fretting over him, but instead it was Whitewhisker who poked her head from the warm dens. Cats poured out of their dens, and soon most of the camp was around the brown warrior, sniffing his pelt and examining him. Cats seemed to burst out questions and exclamations everywhere around him, and Laurelleaf didn't even know what to feel. He felt Bearkit and Wingkit's wide gazes by the nursery, but he couldn't risk going to them now when everybody were asking questions around him.

"You smell like ThunderClan!" Blackstorm remarked, sniffing his pelt.

"You're hurt," Larkwing commented, gazing at the sounds Vixentail inflicted.

"And you look like you're about to fall anytime," Liondrop said. A flash of gold, and Gorsestar thrusted his way into the center of the crowd. His graceful pelt gleamed in the moonlight, as if reflecting his StarClan-blessed authority.

"What happened to you?" He asked. Time seemed to slow down as Laurelleaf gazed around. Was it safe to speak the truth? About Brightspirit, and Manglethorn, and Maggottail, and Vixentail? Everybody were staring at him with anticipation in their eyes. Would there be a punishment?

No, he thought. I spied out useful information.

"I spied on ThunderClan," he meowed loudly.

Instantly the crowd exploded into yowls of disbelief and shock. Gorsestar's amber eyes were stretched wide when Laurelleaf said that, and he stared at him. "You what?" He asked, disbelief showing on every hair in his pelt.

"They were planning attacks on us!" Laurelleaf yowled. "Their awful deputy, Manglethorn, lead Silverhawk—"

"Spying was wrong!" Larkwing emerged from the crowd. "Laurelleaf, I can't believe what you just said!"

"Manglethorn directed the ShadowClan attack!" Laurelleaf snapped. "He was the mud cat! He lead Silverhawk here! He was planning all sorts of attacks and harmful things to WindClan! I heard every single detail when he was talking with this… this old brown elder! He lead Silverhawk here just to urge war between us and ShadowClan!"

The camp was filled with the shocked yowls of cats, but most of them still wasn't convinced.

"Deputy of ThunderClan!" Swiftrabbit protested. "Deputies wouldn't do that!"

"I saw it!" Laurelleaf protested. "I saw him washing himself by the river, with that... that spirit beside—"

"StarClan cats wouldn't do such things!" Sparktail's voice rose, and lots of cats stood up with her. Laurelleaf felt himself shrinking as more and more of his Clanmates advanced forward, eyeing him suspiciously and muttering to each other. Tension burned in the air and Laurelleaf felt like it could kill him any time.

"Silence!" Gorsestar raised his tail, his voice booming across the moor and shaking the grass. Laurelleaf flinched, and the crowd quieted down. Gorsestar padded toward Laurelleaf, his gaze dead serious and his pawsteps firm. "What exactly happened, and why did you spy without telling us?" Gorsestar asked.

—.—

At the end, he finished his story. But no cat was convinced enough. Gorsestar have restricted Laurelleaf to camp for three sunrises to do apprentice duties as a punishment for breaking the warrior code. "You shouldn't spy on another camp," Gorsestar have told him. "Especially without anybody's permission." "But I spotted important information!" Laurelleaf have protested. Gorsestar have turned to him, his amber gaze serious. "You're a warrior," he meowed. "Warriors don't spy for the Clan to prove their loyalty and potential. Spying was strictly against the warrior code as you trespassed and raided ThunderClan's privacy. Even if you spotted important information, it is even more important not to do it again, because spying is strictly wrong, and no cat should ever do it under my leadership again." Laurelleaf have dipped his head in shame, but he knew he would never be convinced. Gorsestar doesn't understand how dangerous Manglethorn actually is.

—.—

Bearkit and Wingkit were close to becoming apprentices, and Sparktail have been found carrying Swiftflight's kits. She moved into the nursery, with Swiftflight coming to bring her prey everyday. Meanwhile, Laurelleaf have been stuck at camp, pulling Littlepool's ticks, gnawing Brokenscar's fleas, and cleaning Flightfeather's pelt. It hadn't been fun, and Laurelleaf missed the wind on his fur. Occasionally he wondered if Vixentail died alone in ThunderClan territory, but he shook off that kind of thoughts. He needed to focus on proving Gorsestar that he was a worthy warrior again. Right now, his duties were humiliating him. All he cared about was to become a warrior again.

Sometimes he wondered if what he did was correct. Was he right to follow Brightspirit in the first place? She was a StarClan cat, but why haven't she sent Larkwing any signs, then? The medicine cat have reported so many times to Gorsestar that nothing have been seen those days that could prove StarClan was guiding them in any of the troubles. He have watched in the three sunrises how Larkwing kept a suspicious eye on him as he worked on the elders' ticks. Maybe he knew something was going on, but if Laurelleaf didn't convince any of his Clanmates about this issue, Larkwing sure wouldn't notice too.

He have watched, as patrols came and went in the sunrises, reporting the recent fox attack by their border, and then watched as the warriors padded out of camp for the new Gathering and came back bristling about how Oakstar have been accusing WindClan of stealing prey when the ThunderClan warriors scented WindClan scent along with blood in their territory. Many of the warriors have glared at Laurelleaf, and he knew it was his or Vixentail's blood in the attack. But he didn't steal prey—he spied, which, according to all his Clanmates, were a bad idea. If they didn't seem to get what situation he was in, then they have bees in their brain. Laurelleaf knew he was angry enough to be that rude, but he couldn't let go of that fact. It was just humiliating. Sometimes he even had to do ticks for the nursery cats, which was the most embarrassing because both Bearkit and Wingkit were there, and he had to hold on until the third sunrise.

It was a painful experience, but he tried to convince himself everything would be going just fine.

I would find out everything about Manglethorn, despite what my Clanmates say about me, and stop him with my life to prevent everything he is planning on WindClan.