Note: In the original version of this chapter, a scene was missing. To everyone who missed that scene, here it is. To everyone who is reading this... enjoy!


~Dovewing~

"Doveing, Bramblestar wants you."

I tiredly stumbled to my paws. Bramblestar's order for extra security had caused a small out of shock from the clan, but we were coping relatively well. The warriors like me had some of extra responsibility, but it was nothing we couldn't deal with. Unfortunately, the extra patrol did mean that some of us had to wake up earlier or stay up later, which meant we really relied on our sunhigh naps. Such as the one I had been having before a certain someone had awakened me.

"What is it, Blossomfall?" I asked the tortoiseshell she-cat that had awoken me.

"Bramblestar wants to see you in his den," she repeated.

I could detect the slightest amount of envy in her voice, but I was too tired to care. I nodded to her in thanks and stumbled out of the den, blinking as my eyes burned in the brightness of sunhigh. By the time I had made the short walk to Bramblestar's den I had somewhat woken up, but my head still felt like it was stuffed with moss.

"You called for me?" I asked as I pushed inside the den. I quickly found that it was already packed with other cats besides Bramblestar. Seeing Lionblaze and Squirrelflight was no surprise, but when I noticed Brackenfur and Millie, I paused.

"Good to see you here," said Bramblestar.

"Is that everyone?" Millie asked as she looked around. "I don't think your den could even fit an apprentice at this point."

"That's everyone," Squirrelflight confirmed.

"What's this about?" I whispered to Lionblaze.

He shrugged. "Bramblestar said he would explain when we were altogether," he replied.

"Yes, I have a mission for you," Bramblestar announced. "As you know, the rogue scents in the area has been a cause of concern for some time now."

"Are you asking us to go explore outside of territory?" Lionblaze asked suddenly.

Squirrelflight shot him a dirty look for the interruption, but Bramblestar merely nodded and said, "Yes. I want to know how many rogues there are, and how close they live to us. Follow whatever trail you find as far as possible, but I want you back at camp by moonrise."

"The five of us will be going?" Millie asked with concern. "Won't that leave camp vulnerable with the extra patrols?"

"I'm not going with you," said Squirrelflight. "You're correct; camp needs every warrior we can possibly have."

"Brackenfur will be leading your group," said Bramblestar as he gave a nod to the golden brown tabby. "I trust in his judgement."

Brackenfur nodded in respect. "When do we leave?" he asked.

"Now," said Squirrelflight. "You won't have to venture far, but every moment counts."

"Then why are you having us leave at sunhigh?" Lionblaze asked. "Shouldn't we have left at dawn to cover more ground?"

"It's not going to be a long trip," Bramblestar assured him. "Just go as far as you can, and don't take unnecessary risks. You all may go now."

I still felt confused as we left Bramblestar's den. "Should we get traveling herbs?" I asked Brackenfur.

The golden tabby shook his head. "If you haven't eaten, grab something from the pile before we go," he said. "We won't be needing herbs for a journey this short, but I don't want us to hunt in unfamiliar territory." I nodded.

After some of us had a quick meal, we departed from camp. Brackenfur took the lead, with Lionblaze right behind him. I came right after Lionblze, which left Millie guarding our rear. Well, she wasn't guarding anything yet, but she would be once we left territory.

There was no significant landmark that marked the northern border of our territory. The scent markers were laid out in a haphazard line from the Greenleaf Twolegplace to the Moonpool. Aside from the lack of the familiar scent of our warriors, nothing really changed as we crossed the border. The trees were lush and green, and the air was warm from the scent of prey. Still, it didn't take us long to find what we were looking for.

Lionblaze came to a sudden stop. "I smell rouge!" he announced.

"I smell it too," Brackenfur confirmed. "But I don't think it's fresh."

"Do we keep going?" Millie asked.

Brackenfur opened his mouth wide. "Yes," he decided. "Everyone keep your eyes open and your ears up. And remember, we're here to scout, not to fight." He gave Lionblaze a stern look as he said this.

Lionblaze rolled his eyes. "I get the point."

Brackenfur nodded, and signaled us forward with a flick of his tail. We remained silent as we continued journeying north. I opened my mouth to get a whiff of the rouge scent as we walked. I could immediately tell that it was not the scent of one cat, but four cats traveling close together.

"Brackenfur," I whispered. I saw his ear perk up and swivel in my direction. "I smell the trail of four cats, headed that way." I swiveled my ears in the direction.

"How fresh?" he whispered back.

I took another sniff. "About… three days?" I guessed. That wasn't too stale, assuming that these rogues had permanently moved into the area, at least.

Brackenfur nodded. "Lead the way."

A small amount of pride welled in me as I took the front of the line. While my abilities to see and hear things as far as other clans' territories were pretty much gone, I still was one of the best trackers in the clan.

"Dovewing, doesn't the scent go that way?" Millie asked me.

"Uh, yeah it does," I said with an embarrassed smile. "Sorry, my mind went elsewhere for a moment."

"Just remember that what we're doing is serious," said Brackenfur. "We can't afford to waste time."

I nodded. "Don't worry, I'll make sure to focus from now on." And I did just that as we followed the trail. The ThunderClan border was continuously in our sight until we reached a line of pine trees. A quick scent check caught until we reached a line of pine trees. A quick scent check confirmed that we were outside of ShadowClan borders. The ShadowClan must also lack a distinctive physical boundary for the north border of their territory, I mused. I quickly snapped out of my thoughts and resumed to follow the scent trail. The trail was easy to follow. I assumed it was due to the lack of rain, and these rogues lack of attempts to be stealthy. They didn't carelessly destroy everything in their path, but they didn't bother to remain undetected either. Which made sense since no one had claimed this piece of territory. But something else was bothering me about the trail. I just couldn't put my paw on it.

Around sundown Brackenfur announced, "Time to head back to camp. We need to leave now if we're going to get back on time."

"But we haven't found anything!" Lionblaze protested. He flexed his claws in and out of his paws as he kneaded the needle-strewn forest floor.

"We haven't found anyone," Brackenfur corrected him. "We may not have found any rogues, but we know where the scent trail leads."

"For some reason they were circling around our territory and ShadowClan territory," said Millie. "They stayed roughly the same distance from the border all the way around."

"They apparently didn't stop to hunt either," I added, noting the lack of deviation in the trail. "So it's rather they had a big meal before the left, or they were in a hurry."

Brackenfur shook his head. "They didn't leave enough of a mess to be in a hurry," he said. "If the had been running we would have noticed much more disturbance in bushes and grass. No, they were going for a long, slow trip over fast one."

"But why would rogues take a long, slow walk around the edge of clan territory?" Lionblaze asked.

"I don't know," Brackenfur admitted. "They weren't here for food, and they were too far away to scout or even scan our territory. There doesn't seem to be a logical reason for them to have come through here. Millie, you have more experiences with rogues since you've lived in the Twolegplace. Any thoughts?"

Millie thought for a moment. "Rogue groups tend to look at each other's territories to size each other up, but a group this small wouldn't be doing this to our clans. Even the most idiotic rogues wouldn't go up against such overwhelming odds."

"What if they were only a scouting party?" Lionblaze asked.

Millie shrugged. "It could be possible," she replied. "But that would mean that these rouge live nearby in the forest, and I don't have any more experience than you do with forest rogues."

"At least we have a start," said Brackenfur optimistically. "We're one step closer to solving this mystery."

Yeah, I thought glumly. But how many more steps will we have to take before we even have a clue about what's going on?


~Buddy~

The abandoned warehouse stood tall, dark, and ominous before the ginger tomcat. He steeled his nerves and padded forward, being careful not to show any signs of fear or hesitation. He kept his whiskers, nose, and ears sharp, following the sounds and scents that travelled on the breeze. The stench of carrion and the smoke of twoleg monsters choked the air, but he had enough experience to glean the useful scents from the overwhelmingly clogged city air.

Suddenly, two large cats leapt down to each of his sides. A normal cat would have been frightened by their appearance. Even Buddy would have been startled, if he had not detected their scent earlier. "Greetings," he mewed calmly. "The weather is pleasant today, don't you agree?"

One of the cats, a dark brown tom, hissed at Buddy. "What do you think you're doing here?" he hissed. His lone eye glared at Buddy. "Don't you know that this place is off limits?"

His companion, a pale gray tom, took a whiff of Buddy's scent. "You're a newcomer 'ere, ain'tchya?" he asked. His voice was slightly garbled, which Buddy presumed was due to the scars that littered his face and neck.

Buddy nodded politely. "Yes, I arrived here only two days ago," he replied. "I was hoping to meet with your leader—"

"An' why would we lechya go to our leader for?" the scarred tom asked.

"Am I afraid that the information you want is classified," Buddy replied. "It is for your leader's ears alone."

"Nice try," the one-eyed tom huffed. "Now get lost. We've got better things to do than humor you."

"Since you're new 'ere, we'll let you off with just a warning this time," said his companion. "But if you come 'ere again, we'll make sure to teachya a lesson you won't forget."

"I'm sorry, but I must speak to your leader immediately," Buddy insisted. "I came a long way just to meet him."

The brown tom raised his hackles. "Well, we tried the easy way."

"You just had to insist didn'tchya?" hissed the grey tom. He lowered his body and raised his hackles. "Let's see how long it takes for you to see thing our way."

The two burly toms began circling Buddy, remaining across from each other so Buddy couldn't track one without leaving himself exposed to the other. Instead of spinning around in circles, however, Buddy sat down calmly, and closed his eyes.

His opponent's were surprised by his passive action, but didn't waste time with questions. With a shared nod, the two toms leapt forward.

Buddy immediately sprang upwards. The toms, being unable to avoid the inevitable collision, crashed into each other in the place Buddy had been sitting.

The ginger tom purred as he watched his larger opponent's shake off their temporary daze. "That was one of the oldest tricks I learned, and yet it still worked on you," he said with an amused smile. "What kinds of guards fall for such an obvious trap?"

The brown tom growled and sprang forward again. Buddy ducked low and rolled out of the way, and then leapt into the air to avoid the pounce of the grey tom. "If I defeat you, will you grant me passage to your leader?" he asked as he landed on his paws.

"You arrogant little kit," the grey tom growled. He charged forward, making a prediction for where Buddy would go to dodge. However, instead of dodging, the ginger tom threw himself into a roll at the grey cat's legs. The brown tom pounced, and landed on Buddy.

"Now you die!" the brown tom roared as he brought down his claws. However, Buddy arched his back and heaved the other tom off him before his claws could connect. Stunned, the brown time eyed Buddy wearily, and then looked to his partner for support. The grey tom had fear-scent leaking through every pore of his body as he stared at the unharmed Buddy with wide eyes.

Buddy smirked. Just as he had expected, these cats were only as brave as their claws could make them. "As I was saying," Buddy said. "I wish to meet with your leader. I've traveled far to get here, and it would be a shame if I wasted all this time for nothing."


Escorted on both flanks by his former opponents, Buddy was led deep within the warehouse to a large storage facility. They passed through several of sentries, all of whom regarded Buddy suspiciously, but they merely nodded to the guards who were escorting him. After passing through a large open doorway, Buddy finally laid his eyes on the lair of the cats' leader. Across the room Buddy could see crates of various sizes that were disorderedly stacked. Atop a particularly large stack of crates sat a massive black tomcat with dark ginger forepaws.

"Who is this?" the black tom growled. His tail lashed with annoyance and his eyes scrutinized Buddy as if the ginger tom was a fat mouse.

"My name is Buddy," Buddy replied with a polite, being careful to maintain the correct balance of respect and composure. "And I wish to join your ranks."

The massive tom raised an eyebrow. "You do not need to come to me to join my clan," he sneered. "My underlings take care of that." He glared at the two toms who had escorted Buddy inside. "Why are you wasting my time with him?"

"I do believe I am worth a small portion of your time," Buddy interjected.

The massive tom slowly stood up. His eyes glittered dangerously. "Do you wish to die?" he asked as he bared his teeth.

Buddy shook his head, "I have a wealth of information that could prove useful to you," he replied. "Tactics, battle formations, combat techniques, management… I know of all of these."

The black tom grinned without mirth. "Too bad for you, I already have an advisor to do such things for me."

Buddy nodded slowly, eyeing the tom with caution. "And I don't suppose there's any other way I can be of use to you?" he asked.

"On the contrary," a new voice responded. "I have something in mind that'll work wonderfully for you."

Buddy looked curiously at the mottled tortoiseshell tom that slunk from behind the black tom's stack of crates. "And you would be…?

The tortoiseshell smiled, but his eyes were cold as he replied, "My name is Sol."


Sol may be a coward, but he's never one to back off from an opportunity for power.

'Till next time,

-RainEStar