Leafstar was sitting by herself in front of her den, enjoying the cooling breeze and the warm sun. Her pale gray fur was neatly groomed as her eyes occasionally scanned over the clearing.
At that moment, an odd, unfamiliar scent reached her nostrils. She straightened up. "…ShadowClan?" she meowed, guessing.
No, it wasn't ShadowClan, she thought. It can't be. Leafstar lifted her nose and parted her jaws to sniff. Still, there was a questioning look in her blue eyes. "Redwind!" she called to her deputy.
The ginger tom turned around. "What is it, Leafstar?"
"I smell something foreign. I can't get my paw on it." She sniffed and looked back at him, concerned.
Redwind drank in the air. The scent lingered, and he widened his eyes. "I can't either," he sighed. "Should we address the Clan about it?"
"No. It might probably be a rogue from a different Twoleg area. There is no need to bring this into the matters of the Clan just yet." Leafstar did look uncertain as she sniffed in hard. "But we should worry, because there is more than one cat."
Redwind stared at her, a bit nervous. "I will send a patrol in the direction. Don't worry Leafstar, whoever they are, they won't get too close."
Leafstar nodded in thanks. That was when Redwind turned and padded over to the warrior's den. He scented his leader's fear scent, and called back over his shoulder. "We will be fine!"
The pale gray leader looked at the ground and nodded slowly. When the foreign scent threw into her nostrils again, stronger than before, she got up and bounded over to the gorse tunnel.
There was a rustle in the trees. She saw them shake, one after another. "They are cats…" she figured. "But…" she seemed lost. "Where do they come from?"
There was also another kind of smell that sent Leafstar's fur bristling. "I smell something burnt. Perhaps fire." That was when she felt fury rise her hackles. "Are these cats bringing fire into our forest!" She ran through the trees, ready to hurl on her smoke scented enemies, her instinct urging her to drive them out.