---Chapter Five---

Flamepaw peered through the bracken at what looked like a large clearing that spread out before him.

"Slowly and carefully," Brambleclaw advised, "ShadowClan is rather..." He searched for the right word. "picky. I wouldn't get too close to the boarder if I was you."

The tabby warrior padded slowly out of the cover of the forest and Flamepaw followed him. The flame-colored apprentice took a good whiff and recoiled as the horrible stench of ShadowClan filled his scent glands.

"So this is the boarder with ShadowClan?" He asked his mentor.

"Yes." Brambleclaw replied simply, "ShadowClan's territory begins just beyond that point," he meowed, indicating the boarder with a flick of his tail, "and goes all the way through those pines."

Flamepaw could hear the rush of a stream flowing close by. He tried to imagine what a ShadowClan warrior must look like. Big and scary, he thought, vicious and brutal...and very, very stinky.

"Do they know they smell so bad?" Flamepaw heard Brambleclaw give a purr of amusement for the first time.

"I don't think so." The warrior shook his head. "They're probably use to it."

He noticed his mentor flicking his eyes back and forth among the pine trees on the other side as if he were looking for something. Had he brought his apprentice here not just to show him the boarder but in hopes of seeing his sister Tawnypelt? Flamepaw remembered the elders in his clan telling stories of the day Tawnypelt--then called "Tawnypaw" at that time--ran away to go live among ShadowClan.

Giving up his search, Brambleclaw indicated with his tail for Flamepaw to follow him. "Come on, there's more interesting things to look at then just this." But as they went to turn away, they heard a rustling sound from Shadowclan's side of the boarder.

A heartbeat later, a patrol of ShadowClan warriors appeared from behind the bushes. They froze as they saw the two ThunderClan cats and hissed fiercely. Tawnypelt was not one of them, Flamepaw noticed. Brambleclaw waved his tail impatiently.

"You don't have to worry," He spoke up bravely, "We never crossed into ShadowClan territory."

The cat in lead of the patrol, a dark ginger she-cat, said nothing, but one of the other warriors stepped forward.

"How do we know that?" He spat, angrily.

"They're here to spy!" A second dark tom hissed.

"Rowanclaw, I promise you we never crossed the boarder." Brambleclaw meowed back to the first tom, his gaze never leaving the ginger warrior.

"O sure. I suppose you were hoping to see your sister, Tawnypelt, weren't you?" Rowanclaw hissed, "Just like last time."

"Knock it off!" Flamepaw spoke up at last. "Why would we want to go into ShadowClan?" and then he added teasingly, "Unless we want to smell like skunk."

The ShadowClan warriors bristled except for Rowanclaw who nearly laughed.

"Well, if it isn't the kittypet's bundle of joy," He meowed as he stared down at the young apprentice with amusement in his eye. "Got yourself a little boyfriend have you, Brambleclaw?"

Flamepaw saw the rest of the cats in the patrol laugh as they sniggered together. He felt Brambleclaw become tense next to him. The tabby warrior had his ears laid back on his head and he let out a loud hiss.

"I swear on StarClan I was not sent here to spy. I was merely showing my apprentice the boarder." He said flicking his tail at Flamepaw.

Rowanclaw stopped laughing and narrowed his eyes at the ThunderClan warrior.

"Of course you were. But just to make sure..." The ginger warrior dropped down on his haunches, ready to pounce. Brambleclaw imitated him with a fierce hiss. Flamepaw tensed. Were the two warriors about to fight? But just before anything happened, The dark ginger she-cat stepped in front of Rowanclaw.

"Enough!" She spat. "The ThunderClan warrior speaks the truth. There are no signs that they've been in our territory."

Rowanclaw sniffed the grass around him. After detecting no scents from ThunderClan, he sat up and flicked his ears back, embarrassed.

"So you're right, Russetfur." The ginger tom admitted. Flamepaw immediately pricked up his ears. He had heard about the dark ginger she-cat called Russetfur before. So she was the ShadowClan deputy?

"Then there is no need to start a fight." Russetfur meowed, and padding away she added to Brambleclaw, "But we're going to keep an eye on you. We'll double the patrols on this side of the territory."

Brambleclaw and Flamepaw watched as the patrol, including Russetfur and the aggressive Rowanclaw, was swallowed up by wildly growing ferns. Brambleclaw heaved a sigh and Flamepaw felt his muscles relax. The two ThunderClan cats had done nothing wrong. They both had stayed on their side of the boarder so why did the ShadowClan cats react so badly? It must be Brambleclaw's relationship with Tawnypelt. Flamepaw thought.

"You acted bravely." Brambleclaw meowed quietly, licking his paw.

Flamepaw purred at the praise and then added, "Great StarClan do they need a few thorns removed from their pads or what?"

His mentor said nothing but turned away, padding farther down the clearing with Flamepaw trailing behind him.