Badgerpaw thrust the ShadowClan apprentice off him with his hind legs, knocking the wind out of him, but not hurting him. Badgerpaw leapt to his paws, wincing. Rainpaw looked hungrily at the apprentice, as though she would like to shred his ears. Finally, Snowcloud shrugged, seeing that the ThunderClan cats refused to hurt the ShadowClan ones.
"Stop!" He called to his patrol. The apprentice got up raked his claws down Badgerpaw's shoulder one more time before padding to Snowcloud's side. Snowcloud must be his father, Badgerpaw thought, seeing the same white pelt and green eyes on both of them. "I suppose I could ask Nettlestar about your apprentice. He's not much use, anyway. Fat and lazy," Snowcloud meowed.
"And ugly and smelly, too," The apprentice added. Snowcloud smirked.
"Now, don't be rude to ThunderClan, Frostpaw," he meowed. Frostpaw shrugged. Rainpaw's fur bristled.
"Did you hear what he called Olivepaw?" She hissed. Cactustail put her tail over her apprentice's mouth to quiet her, giving her a warning glance. Rainpaw glared at her mentor, but forced her fur to lie flat.
"Mossyleap," Snowcloud meowed to the gray she-cat, "You take the lead. Ripplepelt, you take up the rear." Mossyleap and Ripplepelt nodded and took their positions. "Frostpaw, you make sure these ThunderClan cats," Snowcloud hissed the word ThunderClan in disgust, "don't try to steal any prey." Frostpaw nodded.
"Don't get any ideas," He growled, turning to face the ThunderClan cats.
"Wow, such a fierce warrior. I sure won't try to hunt with him around," Rainpaw mewed sarcastically. Frostpaw's fur bristled and Badgerpaw noticed him unsheathe his claws. But he stopped himself from attacking and simply replied,
"I'm glad to hear it." He turned around and padded behind Snowcloud, turning around every once in a while to check on the ThunderClan cats. Badgerpaw slowed his pace and trotted beside Blackice.
"They're treating us like prisoners," His mentor grumbled. "It's not like we're going to surprise attack them. We'd have much more warriors than this if we were." Badgerpaw nodded in agreement. He wished Bitterpaw were there. Badgerpaw suddenly tripped over a root sticking out of the ground. He got up quickly.
"Hurry up," Frostpaw hissed. Badgerpaw curled back his lips in the beginnings of a snarl, but Blackice put his tail over Badgerpaw's mouth, giving him a warning glance, as if to say, I know ShadowClan cats are a bunch of mouse brained furballs, but stay calm. Olivepaw could be hurt.
Badgerpaw gazed back at him. But we're being treated like slaves! And we practiced all those moves in the training hollow…. Blackice shook his head. Badgerpaw huffed. After what seemed like moons, they reached the ShadowClan camp. Badgerpaw wrinkled his nose in disgust. The smell was foul.
"Nettlestar!" Snowcloud yowled as they entered the camp. Several heads turned their way, anger replacing confusion as they recognized the ThunderClan scent. "We found a patrol on our territory," Snowcloud meowed as a completely black tom cat padded up, yellow eyes narrowed.
"I see," Nettlestar hissed. "And smell." He wrinkled his nose. Blackice bristled beside Badgerpaw. No, no, please don't do anything you'll regret, Badgerpaw willed his mentor. To Badgerpaw's relief, Cactustail flicked Blackice with her tail and Blackice forced his fur to lie flat. His eyes still blazed with fury, however.
"I made sure they didn't hunt on our territory," Frostpaw reported importantly, puffing up his chest. Nettlestar dipped his head toward the apprentice.
"Good, good," He murmured.
"Bighead," Rainpaw muttered. "What would we want with a bunch of frogs, anyway?" Frostpaw hissed. Nettlestar glared at her.
"If you don't want our frogs, why did you come here?" He demanded.
"Give us Olivepaw, Nettlestar," Blackice murmured, forcing his voice to stay level and calm. A crowd of cats was beginning to gather around them.
"And what if I don't?" Nettlestar mewed.
"Don't go looking for a fight, Nettlestar," Mossyleap warned sensibly.
"Why? ShadowClan is much stronger than puny ThunderClan!" Nettlestar growled stubbornly, turning to Mossyleap. "We could beat them easily! Unless you think we're too weak?" He eyed Mossyleap angrily. Mossyleap looked taken aback. She shook her head quickly and her gaze dropped to a leaf on the ground.
"You're not the leader, Mossyleap," Snowcloud added.
"I know, I didn't mean-" Mossyleap began.
"You can't tell Nettlestar what to do!" A yowl from the crowd cut her off. Murmurs of agreement came from several cats.
"I don't want to interrupt, but-" Blackice meowed.
"Quiet, you!" Nettlestar hissed. His fur was bristling, his claws unsheathed, and his teeth bared in a snarl. "Leave, now! We're keeping your apprentice, and you'll have to fight to get him back!" A shocked silence followed this. The ThunderClan cats were bewildered. Badgerpaw wanted to cry out, "You selfish, stupid, flea-bitten, fox-hearted, mouse-brained furball!", but he restrained himself.
"Fine," Blackice meowed finally, voice quivering with rage. He turned to leave, flicking his tail for the other ThunderClan cats to follow. "We'll go. But we will be back for Olivepaw, and we will die before we let you lay a claw on him. You've made a mistake, Nettlestar." As Badgerpaw hurried, limping, to follow his mentor, he heard Frostpaw mutter,
"I never thought I'd say this, but maybe not all ThunderClan cats are as stupid as they look."