Despite Fireheart and Sandstorm's best efforts, the rogue was nowhere to be found on their territory. They searched for nearly half the afternoon, but in the end, they were forced to accept that they must have gotten back to Twolegplace already. With no choice but to return home, the two cats did just that and were greeted by Bluestar, Yellowfang, and Ravenflight the moment they stepped inside the camp.

"Any luck?" Bluestar asked.

Fireheart shook his head. "We tracked them as far as the border, but they were already gone by the time we got there."

"We're sorry," Sandstorm added.

"I see," his mother murmured. "Don't worry about it, Fireheart, Sandstorm. You did your best."

"Did the talk with Leopardstar go alright?" the pale ginger molly inquired.

"Better than I expected," Bluestar replied, her tail twitching. "Although she was strangely callous about it. She thanked us for letting them know what happened and said that we could send Graystripe back to RiverClan as soon as he recovered. Based on previous experience, I would have expected her to be spitting fire at us. But I suppose she hasn't forgiven him for what happened to Whiteclaw."

Whiteclaw...oh, right, the cat that fell over the gorge fighting Graystripe when we brought WindClan back home, Fireheart thought. He hadn't been there for the battle, but he had heard the story about what happened from Bluestar. Out loud, he meowed, "I suppose that's fair. I mean, if a cat killed one of our warriors and joined ThunderClan later, I don't think I would feel too welcoming."

"I second that," Sandstorm added.

Yellowfang cleared her throat and everyone turned to look at her. "Graystripe is awake now," she meowed. "He asked if he could speak to you, Fireheart."

Fireheart blinked. "Me?" he repeated in confusion. "Not Bluestar?"

"Don't ask me. I don't have time to fathom the way his mind works, assuming it even works at all," the old medicine cat meowed, flicking her tail dismissively.

Bewildered, Fireheart could only nod as he turned and walked over to the medicine den. It had been several moons since he had spoken to Graystripe, and he couldn't help wondering what his former friend wanted now. The last time they had run into each other, he, Sandstorm, and Swiftrunner had done their best to drive him away with remarks, speaking to him with icy, sneering indifference. He doubted that the gray warrior had decided to come over for a friendly chat, but if he was here on important business, it seemed strange that he would ask to speak to Fireheart instead of Bluestar.

When he pushed his way into the den, Graystripe was sitting up in a makeshift nest, his pelt covered with various poultices. He dipped his head to Fireheart as he entered, and the flame-colored warrior nodded back silently. Fireheart suddenly realized that this was the first time he'd been alone with Graystripe since before the gray tom had left ThunderClan, and he felt his pelt prickle uncomfortably.

"Graystripe," Fireheart meowed curtly.

"Hello, Fireheart," the RiverClan warrior meowed quietly.

"Yellowfang mentioned that you wanted to speak to me?" he prompted, hoping to get the conversation over with as soon as possible. He didn't hate Graystripe anymore by any means, but he preferred to avoid spending time around him if possible.

Graystripe nodded. "It's about who attacked me," he answered.

"Do you know who it was?" Fireheart asked, flicking his ear in surprise.

"Not by name, no, but that's why I wanted to talk to you," Graystripe replied. "Leopardstar probably didn't mention anything about it to Bluestar, so I assume you don't know, but another warrior was attacked recently. Loudbelly, you know him? Mistyfoot's mate? We found him near the beech tree a few days ago. His wounds had the scent of crowfood and Twolegplace all over them. So I was just wondering...has something like that happened here yet?"

Fireheart narrowed his eyes. "And just why should I tell you if it has?"

"Fireheart, I know you have no reason to trust me, but I promise this isn't a trick," the gray warrior meowed, looking at him earnestly. "Rogue cats threaten all the Clans. You agree with me on that, don't you? Twolegplace is right next to ThunderClan territory; you're in more danger than anyone else. If these rogues are trying to hunt down Clan cats, don't you think we should be working together to take care of them?"

Fireheart studied Graystripe's expression for a few heartbeats, trying to see if he was lying, but saw nothing but sincerity in their yellow depths. He relaxed and meowed, "No, we haven't had anything like that happen to us yet."

"Okay," Graystripe meowed, nodding. "But you agree with me, don't you? That we would be better off dealing with the rogues as allies?"

"Perhaps," Fireheart murmured. He shook himself off. "We'll worry about that later, though. I'll leave you to rest, then."

"Alright," the gray tabby murmured. "Thanks for listening to me, Fireheart."

"No problem," he answered, twitching his tail. He paused for a moment, then added, "Just one more thing. Is there any particular reason you chose to tell me this instead of Bluestar? She is our leader, you know."

"Normally, I would have," Graystripe admitted, looking rather sheepish. "But I don't think she's ever forgiven me for attacking you...and I really don't need any more experience dealing with an overprotective queen."

Fireheart shook his head in amusement and padded out of the den, a slightly friendlier air between him and Graystripe now. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Bramblepaw and Tawnypaw play-fighting as his own kits looked on, but for once, he didn't pay them any mind. His thoughts were too preoccupied with his conversation with his former friend. If Graystripe was telling the truth, that meant there had been two attacks on Clan cats. What made it even more worrying was the fact that both attacks had been on RiverClan cats, not because Fireheart cared about the rival Clan (except for Mistyfoot and Stonefur), but because it meant that the rogues were clearly out for Clan blood. They must have been if they were willing to swim across the river just to attack a RiverClan warrior. He wondered briefly why they hadn't gone for ThunderClan first but figured that it was probably a trap to lure them into a false sense of security.

Perhaps they would be better off if they worked with RiverClan to deal with the rogues, he mused. But he still didn't feel too enthusiastic about the idea. It wasn't just Graystripe that Fireheart didn't entirely trust, it was Leopardstar as well and probably even more so. She wasn't the most honorable cat in the forest–nothing like Tigerstar, of course, but he often got the impression that she didn't care who she had to step on in order to bring RiverClan to the top. If ThunderClan allied itself with RiverClan, she would probably find a way to twist what really happened and use it as an excuse to take Sunningrocks.

There I go again, being paranoid about everything, he thought, shaking his head to himself. I suppose it doesn't matter for now, though. We have those kittypets to worry about; we don't have time to concern ourselves with rogues, especially since no ThunderClan warriors have been attacked yet. With our luck, I'm sure it will happen eventually, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.