Bitterpaw dipped his head in respectful farewell to the ThunderClan deputy. He left the warrior's den in search of Foxfang. He spotted her sitting under the Highrock chatting with her sister, Copperfur.

He padded up to the inseparable—and indistinguishable—ginger she-cats. Foxfang flicked her tail cheerfully at the young cat.

"Hey there, Bitterpaw," Copperfur meowed, beaming.

"What can we help you with?" Foxfang asked.

The cats' upbeat moods cheered Bitterpaw. "Icefang said I could join the hunting patrol you're leading," Bitterpaw mewed. Foxfang nodded, standing.

"Can't argue with the deputy," she meowed. "Cactustail, Birdeye, and their apprentices coming along as well."

"That's a large hunting patrol," Copperfur remarked. Foxfang's whiskers twitched as though she hadn't realized just how many cats were going. After mewing hasty goodbyes to Copperfur, Foxfang headed for the camp entrance, and Bitterpaw headed for the apprentice's den. Olivepaw, the fifth and final apprentice, was eating a sparrow inside.

"Hey, Bitterpaw," he greeted him happily. "If you're looking for Badgerpaw, he's out with Blackice in the training hollow."

Bitterpaw shook his head. "I was actually looking for Darkpaw and Rainpaw."

Olivepaw looked thoughtful, trying to remember if he had seen them. "I think they're with Badgerpaw," he guessed, then shrugged apologetically.

Bitterpaw nodded. "Foxfang is checking there," he informed the apprentice. "I'd better be off! Bye, Olivepaw!"

Bitterpaw raced to the training hollow. Sure enough, Cactustail, Birdeye, Blackice, and their apprentices were all there. Foxfang chatted with the warriors while Badgerpaw, Rainpaw, and Darkpaw practiced their hunting crouches.

"Did you forget about me?" Bitterpaw huffed. As everyone looked up to see who it was, Rainpaw tackled Darkpaw, who threw her off with a playful hiss.

"Are we finally going hunting now?" Rainpaw asked, excited and impatient all at once. "We've been waiting sooo long!"

Darkpaw batted her gently, claws sheathed. "You're whining like a kit!" he mewed good-naturedly. "I, however, am patient, and so I didn't mind waiting." He hopped to his feet. "But I agree, let's get going already!"

Rainpaw batted him back. Darkpaw yowled and pounced on her. She pushed him off with her hind legs and stood up quickly, fur bristling.

"If you two keep fighting like kits, we won't go hunting," Birdeye warned. Darkpaw immediately stopped fighting. "Good. Rainpaw?"

Rainpaw scowled, but sat up and began grooming her ruffled fur. "We were just practicing in case we see ShadowClan while we're hunting," she argued.

Cactustail silenced her apprentice with a sharp look. "We will not fight any cat unless we have to. And ShadowClan has been surprisingly quiet lately. There would be no point in fighting them," she mewed.

"But what if they're on our territory?" Rainpaw objected.

"They wouldn't dare!" Darkpaw growled.

"Not with me around!" Rainpaw proclaimed.

"If they were on our territory, which they are not," Cactustail meowed, "We would tell them to leave and report them to Smokestar."

"I want to come and fight ShadowClan with you guys," Badgerpaw muttered, ignoring Cactustail's rational argument.

"Maybe Icefang will let us go on a border patrol later. The hunting patrol is large enough at the moment," Blackice told his apprentice, who scowled and stuck out his tongue. "I doubt you could even catch a sleeping squirrel," he added.

"I can too!" Badgerpaw argued, tail fluffing up in outrage. "I'll show you!"

"Perhaps later. But for now, we are going to continue your battle training. Good warriors can win battles."

"Good warriors can hunt!"

"Come on, let's go," Foxfang murmured to the hunting patrol, leaving Badgerpaw and Blackice bickering, Badgerpaw's fur bristling. Bitterpaw gazed sympathetically at his brother and trotted after Foxfang.

They'd not gone far when Darkpaw implied a competition. "Bet I'll catch more mice than you," he told Rainpaw.

"Well, I bet I'll catch more voles than you!" Rainpaw argued, eager to join in.

"I'll catch the most rabbits," Bitterpaw interrupted.

"Is that a challenge?" Darkpaw meowed, fluffing up his fur.

"If it is, I know who'll win," Rainpaw mewed. The toms turned to her, Bitterpaw quizically and Darkpaw defiantly.

"Who?" Bitterpaw asked.

"WindClan."

"My name's Darkpaw, not WindClan," Darkpaw joked. Rainpaw laughed.

"Be quiet or you'll scare all the prey away," Birdeye scolded the young apprentices. "And there is no challenge today. You're not being assessed for a while yet." Darkpaw pouted at this news.

"I'm still catching the most rabbits," Bitterpaw whispered. He ran ahead of the hunting patrol and heard Darkpaw's and Rainpaw's paw steps pounding after him. He skidded to a stop when he came to the WindClan border. He hadn't realized they had come so far.

"Careful! Don't cross the border!" Bitterpaw alerted Darkpaw and Rainpaw as he heard his denmates approaching. But Rainpaw didn't hear him. Instead, she picked up speed and went right into WindClan territory. Quickly she realized what she had done and ran back over to the toms.

Darkpaw gasped in mock horror. "You're joining WindClan, Rainpaw?" he mewed, pretending to faint. He burst out laughing. Rainpaw hissed in frustration and embarrassment.

"Quit acting like a mouse-brained fool, Darkpaw," Bitterpaw meowed. "What if WindClan saw Rainpaw just then? Would you still be laughing?"

Darkpaw blinked. He got to his paws angrily, a determined look on his face. "I would rip WindClan to shreds if they did anything to Rainpaw," he growled, his fur bristling.

"Why would you want to rip us to shreds? We're wonderful."

The apprentices jumped. Bitterpaw narrowed his eyes as he recognized Swiftpounce, the WindClan deputy. Swiftpounce didn't seem hostile, just a bit frustrated.

"You know, you really should listen to your denmate." Swiftpounce addressed Rainpaw, glancing at Bitterpaw.

Rainpaw flattened her ears to her skull, embarrassed. "I'm sorry for crossing the border. I didn't mean to, really I didn't," she mewed, looking at her paws.

"Kits." Another WindClan cat warrior, Thistletalon, rolled his eyes. Darkpaw's fur bristled yet again. Bitterpaw caught his eye and blinked a warning. They just want a reaction. Don't give them one!

"We're apprentices, actually," he meowed calmly, turning to Thistletalon. Thistletalon glared at him but Bitterpaw didn't flinch.

Swiftpounce's ears flicked with content. "Brave, aren't you?" He meowed.

"I'm brave, too!" Darkpaw protested.

"Why yes, you certainly are." Birdeye bounded up to the apprentices. Darkpaw blinked innocently up at his mentor. "Foxfang and Cactustail are just behind me," Birdeye went on. "Foxfang found a pretty juicy-looking mouse." He turned his steady gaze onto Swiftpoune. "I thought I heard WindClan."

Thistletalon looked a bit frightened. He clearly hadn't realized how many cats there were, assuming it was only the apprentices. This made Bitterpaw smirk.

Suddenly Bitterpaw smelled mouse. Foxfang and Cactustail were coming. The she-cats arrived and glanced confusedly at the WindClan cats. Foxfang dropped the mouse she was holding. "What's going o—?"

She stopped and blinked as a raindrop fell on her nose.

"Yuck!" Rainpaw meowed, in complete opposition to the begging to hurry up and leave in the first place. "Can we go back to camp, please, Foxfang?"

"Yeah, we can probably head back," Foxfang replied, flattening her ears in disgust at the rain. "The prey will all be hiding in their burrows to wait out the storm."

"Just as long as you keep your kits on your side of the border," Thistletalon growled. Foxfang glanced at the apprentices with irritated understanding. Then another raindrop fell on her ear. She flicked it away angrily.

"Come on, back to camp before it really starts to pour!" She grabbed her mouse hastily and raced in the direction of ThunderClan camp. Bitterpaw ran after her, darting around puddles. He thought of his dream.

"No, it was just a nightmare," he muttered. "I'm no medicine cat." He ran faster, though, hoping Badgerpaw was alright.